End of the Golden Age of AC.
There was a time when the game was young. People were naive and grief play was unheard of. A 50lv was God. Players were considered high level at 25. Items were rare and valued. No one every asked for buffs. Only the bravest or foolhardy went to the Direlands, which was much tamer than it is today. A gift of a C-Note by a patron made you feel rich. Only a few powerful players had D-notes. The ultimate goal for a melee was to kill an Olthoi Noble in single combat. A good melee template had 50 endurance or more. Archer's were the supreme killers.
That all changed. It changed abruptly. Something new was put in that made 50lv an average player. Helping others became a waste of time. People sold anything below level IV with low difficulty. A pack full of D-notes was common. Few players bothered to hunt Nobles, and then only for the loot. Anyone without an extreme template was a gimp. People were getting portal stormed out of Teth. Everyone knew that Archers capped and were not worth playing. Grief players abound.
What made this horrific change to the game? On one patch they added three OHN's, BSD's and Citadel's. Suddenly the name of the game became leveling. An extreme template could be created and within weeks be over the level that use to take months. Helping others only slowed you down. With the new power came the ability to get more loot. Cash became cheap and powerful items were being traded daily.
With that one patch the players gained far too much leveling ability. Turbine realized their error and the next patch slowed down the spawn rate in all but the Citadels. The damage had been done because they could not remove them completely.
At this point we have a totally different game than before. Whether this game is better or worse than the other one is a matter of debate. I'm still having fun, but I have an experience that the new players will never have. They missed the golden age of AC, may it rest in peace.
Being effective on quests
While reading The Riddler's journal he had a good point. (Recommended read at http://www.derethgeographicalsociety.com/) He was on a quest where his skills were too low to be of much use. Rather than spend time trying to futility toss spells he parked next to the most effective mage and healed him.
This hit me because I saw two new mages do the same thing on a quest the day before. That will be the next story. The two mages decided their job was to heal those doing the fighting. Because of this we had no one in any real danger.
There are few players who understand their job in a team situation. I learned early on how to support mages. Sidhartha and I would hunt the beaches east of Awric. He could war kill everything there without danger. Where the problem came in were surprise spawns.
Sid would be blasting a golem and a Lurker would surprise him. Results were one quickly killed mage, if there was no fighter to guard his back. Back then we did not understand protections and banes very well. Most mages depended on a few buffs.
I took some flack for over buffing with Fist de Yuma. I had on every protection I could get. Of course I was called crazy for the way I fought. Later they were much surprised with my few deaths. It is easy to be crazy if you have done your homework.
Anyway my job was to guard Sid's back while he did most of the killing. I never saw any other team do this. For that matter I seldom saw fighters and mages teaming. Those that did had a reputation for doing great deeds, especially as PK's.
In the shadow wars I knew that I might do ok against one Shadow but against LT's and Pans I needed too much time. Against more than one I had to draw. So when our group gathered to fight the Shadows I would park next to a good mage and protect him. As the mages were doing the most damage they were the ones taking the attacks. By having a good melee next to them they could be more effective.
Later when the big guns left we had a hand full of mid-level melees and one low level mage. Because he could not land a spell on a shadow he spent him time healing us. With his help we were as effective as the bigger group in clearing the spawns.
The ideal in-group play is to find your niche and fill it. This is hard because most feel if they are not killing their not helping. This is far from the truth. If your trying to kill but being resisted or getting killed yourself, your hurting more than helping.
Qubblie Orb quest South
Deadeye Fist was getting close to 36. He was planning to stay at 35 for a while and build up Qubblie Orbs for the family. Well he picked up a great vassal who out leveled him. In doing so he pushed him to within 700k of 36lv.
So I figured I better go get one for him before he leveled. Fist de Yuma got the first one and Fist de Yuma Jr got the second. Mages does not really need it so one more was fine.
I put on my gear and headed to Awric and the Mountain Short cut. Last time we found a spawn close to that exit. Traveling the same route came up empty. I moved north for a long time without seeing a Claw spawn. Finally I hit the far north beach. Feeling discouraged I ported back to Lin.
A short while later I spotted a group for the quest forming on the board. I logged in and stocked up on stones. They had the coodi of a few spawns and hopped to find one quickly.
First had stopped spawning. We spread out over the land looking at the different spots where Claws had been seen in the past, no luck. Finally one was spotted around Qbar. I took a subway portal so I could get to Qbar.
I hit the Sub and it was very laggy. After several stops and goes I locked up. Took a full reboot to get back into the game.
Stupidly I never wrote down any of the names of the questing players. I knew their mains but they were not playing them of course. I headed back to Lin in hopes of meeting someone who know a name or two.
That did not pan out so I said the heck with it. I headed out on my own again to find a spawn. Going South West from Lin I did not see hid nor hair of a spawn. After what seemed like hours I was close to Qbar. Working my way south I hoped to hit Qbar and spam for a sighting.
LOL just outside of Qbar I found a Black Claw Spawn. A few arrows later the portal was made. A horde of Drudges attacked me but I just ran around them and hit the portal.
I found someone at the entrance. I asked him if he was going for the orb. He said yes and we joined up. We decided to run through rather than hunt through. I did not have acid protection on and know from last time Drudges would use that a lot.
Run was uneventful. Never got lost, never got separated. I was quite surprised to find I had caught up with the family questers. They had either moved slow or took their time after I was booted. After about 20 minutes I had the southern half.
Quibbie North
We had fewer people for the north one. A lot of people thought it was too late. I knew I was under a time limit and pushed for us to keep going. Strangely after we started we had a bunch join with us. As many or more that the first one were with us.
The leader had a solid spawn point. We got a Crater ride and ran out. The leader had a good idea and used the "Slot" exit. This kept us from fighting the flame monsters at the official exit.
We ran far but nowhere near as far as some quests I had been on. Getting to the spawn point we found no Drudges to fight. We spread out hunting. The word we stated repeatedly was, "Don't kill the Black Claw." If it was killed at the wrong time we might leave people behind.
We did not find anything and the word was spread to meet at a coodi. We lucked out and the Drudge spawned right as I got there. I did not see the Black Claw but had plenty of Drudges to fight. In the middle of the battle the Portal formed. Some moron had killed the Black Claw.
I disengaged and after a bit of running got to the portal. A full half the party missed it. We waited until the rest got in. It took a while.
We moved forward at a rush. Any Drudges that got in our way were quickly dispatched. I was especially pleased that one of the mages decided to keep me targeted. He sent me a bunch of heals. None were needed as my melee D was making any melee attack futile. I was lucky in that no spells were sent my way.
The mage was quite surprised that I never got hit. Of course that will change a lot as I move up in monsters. At high levels Deadeye will need to team with a mage to be effective. No shield means a hard pounding. Melee d does not work for an archer that well when fighting the big stuff.
We quickly reached the orb spot. I parked in front of the over pass where the Claw spawns. My plan was to target and hold until he jumped. Using this I had the kill on every spawn.
The rest of the party was in a side passage. Not sure of their levels but they wanted nothing to do with fronting.
After several quests where nothing attacked me I was feeling cocky. Bad idea in AC. Today I was the major target to everything that spawned. The other players were joking about my cologne.
This is where two mages earned my respect. Both kept me healed up. A few times I was ready to stop fighting and heal when they would start hitting me with heals. After an hour or so we all had the northern half and ported home.
Tool quest
I was hanging in the hall when someone said they wanted to do the stone tool quest. Fist de Yuma Jr did not have the tool and will need it in time. We did not get enough people who could do it but arranged to meet and do it the next day.
Some real life stuff prevented me from making it. When I logged they were already done. William the Bat was in the hall and said he could go with me on the quest. Fire-lady's vassal BalXXXXXX XXXXX XXXX. (hate long names.) wanted to go as well. At 26 I said he might die but he said he was willing to take that chance.
William made a portal to a dark and dingy dungeon filled with Shadows. We killed a bunch of them before finding a place that looks like the subway. I'm guessing this is the new subway. It is kind of a dangerous place for simple traveling.
That got us to the north dires. A little run got us to the dungeon. I had done this quest once before. I was better at jumps now but knew Jr would require a bit of training to get the timing. His jump is different than Fist Sr.
First jump I was long with a three-fourths jump. A half jump got it. The other jumps were simple shift or tap jumps, both I'm good at. The last set of jumps is a bit tricky. This is a set of platforms along the wall of a deep shaft. William just jumped down but I don't have those kind of hit points. Balxxx followed William and proved me right.
After looting Balxxx body we quickly got the doors open, got the tool, and ported out.
Most of the quests I'm going on seem so simple now. When I first did them it was a lot harder. Fist Sr was even at a higher level than Jr then. Guess knowledge and a good template help. Of course having the king of questers, William the Bat, along helped a lot.
Frost stone
Hanging in the hall again when Mortok asked if I would help them get the frost stone for his new player. Of course I agreed. Wanted to take Jr on this but keeping others alive meant taking Mage. As it turned out I could have taken Jr as Rizean went with us.
A quick run to Awric Mine and a little ways to the Old mind portal got us close. A few clicks and we were at the vault. I saw someone standing there. After I buffed the others were putting on armor and buffing their weapons. I had filled in any holes they had.
While waiting I tossed a full set of protection buffs on the guy standing there.
As we were running one of our party never put on his armor. I kept subjecting that he might want to do that. It was not until we were at the vault that he said he had lost all his armor on the island the day before.
We headed in and the undead did not know what hit them. A 75lv Og mage and a 55+ Battlemage can make short work of about anything.
There were other people there. Some were having trouble with the jumps. I buffed them for jump while blasting anything that tried to hurt them. Rizean jumped back down to clear it again. Our naked bowman bit it at that point. Rizean looted his body for him.
We got everyone on the ramp and headed out. Rizean cleared all the undead before we got there. Only bad part was one of the guys I had helped. I buffed him for jump so he could get to the ramp, I defended him as he failed. I healed him at least twice. As a reward he grabbed the stone and ported.
This is not a big deal now as the spawn is 20 seconds not 5 minutes like before. Still guys like that are the reasons many hesitate to help others.
Everyone got the stone except our naked bowman. Rizean got to the hall to give him his stuff but he was trying to run back. His death message came in shortly. He thought he could make a jump and was wrong. Rizean gave him his stuff from the first death.
After that I saw two more death messages from him. We still had the fellowship going. William the Bat headed off to help him while I buffed. By the time I got there William and recovered the bodies.
I told him to see me later and I would see what armor I could cobble together. The next day he told me his patron had fixed him up.
Later I saw this message on the board of this web site. Message title was "Thanks you Fist de Mage".
Id been hunting in Serec Vault with my Patron and a friend. Well buffed our little fellow worked our way in deep. The battles were great! I was doing fine until I made a stupid move and ate a war spell I shouldnt have. Too bad for me my Patron had forgotten to buff me for lightning.
So I found myself at the Vault portal, talking in fellow with my group about how to get back to them. Since they were in a pit, I needed to get to them. My jump skill is not that great and with the vit it was that much worse. I was about ready to just call it a night when you and your group showed up at the portal. I was really surprised that you Buffed me because I didnt ask. Because of your kindness I was able to hook back up to my fellows and gain a ton of xp and a little loot!
Thank you!
BTW- Who was that guy running around with no clothes on? Now that was a treat!
The Bore
I was in the hall when William the Bat showed up. We had been talking about Fist getting a Bore tie for a while. William was saying he had just got his tie back and was relieve to have it. I said I was ready to get mine at that point. He volunteered to help me get the tie and kill the monster that let you get to the island.
Now I was thinking all I would have to do is take the portal outside and quickly tie. I knew the Bore portal is in the very center of the plains, no place nastier.
After we put on our armor and buffed up William made a portal there. He said we would have to run a bit from the portal. That was when I found that the exit portal for the Bore puts you south of the plains. This meant a very long run over the worst place you can go.
William had level VII buffs from Mage so even with my 300+ run I was having trouble keeping up with him. We did not try to fight, with only two it would have taken forever to get there. The monsters were so thick I have trouble running without bumping into one.
Finally we hit the center. We were fighting Virindi and Tuskers. I had taken a some damage and was approaching my no heal point with 125. I stopped fighting and healed. I'm not sure what hit me. I'm think it was a Tusker. As I hit heal my health went up to full and then dropped down to 35 from a big hit!
A quick heal elixir and another heal got me back but that was scary. After we cleared it I tied.
Back inside William lead me into the passages. Just following him this trip. Next trip I'll learn the passages. We killed a bunch of Augmented Drudges and Virindi. Seems the Virindi here drop sing keys so William hunts them a lot.
My biggest problem was having the right weapon out. With the little damage a UA weapon does you have to have one to match the monster to be effective. With little mana having a lot of weapons buffed is hard. Switching weapons is not hard if I can get them buffed.
I had buffed a Fire weapon for the run but needed slashing for the Virindi and cold for the Hollows. As Hollows seemed to me to be the biggest danger I buffed my cold weapon. Cold worked ok against Virindi but not great.
As we went deeper we ran into a new tusker. (New for me anyway.) The Rampagers are kind of hard. To begin with my 392 UA skill was missing them. Now I have missed monsters with this skill before, Umbris's mostly, but only with weapons I had not buffed. With a +28% to the skill it was ridicules that I was missing. At one point I missed 6 swings in a row.
The hits were not much. It took me minutes to whittle one of them down. William on the other hand was sweeping them aside. New Bandit weapons really make sword strong. William is 15 levels below me. He has a better template but the Bandits made all the difference.
At last we cleared it and attacked the boss Virindi. That got me the rights to go to the new island. Not sure how well I'll do there. Might be best to hook up with a good mage. Have to see how Rizean feels about it.
After that we killed a bunch of stuff. I got a sing key out of it. I felt William would do better xp and loot wise if I was not there so I ported back to AB and ran to Lin.
Caulnalain Quest
Someone was talking about going to the Caulnalain Vestibule. They were kidding me about being angry that Jr had leveled so fast, he is 44lv now. Seems there is a 40lv restriction on this one. I said that Deadeye Fist was 35 and could go with them.
I needed to pick up some stones and charge my stuff before leaving. They said to meet them at Holtburg. After charging up my items I headed out. The Lin mage only sells tiny's so it takes a lot of stones to get my items at full.
At Holtburg we started a long run. At one point I decided that running in my robe was not too smart. I stopped to put on my armor. They kept going.
After a long run I made it to Caulnalain. I was surprised to see I got their first. One had got himself trapped in the mountains. He fell off a cliff and died. The other got to within one click of the dungeon and died. I recovered his stuff.
I decided to head in and take a look at the place while waiting for them. After a fall I found myself in a room with no exit. There were two drops to a room with Shadows in them. I waited to them to waste their mana trying to kill me. After they stopped sending spells my way I jumped down and killed four or five of them.
Moving along a passage I killed a bunch of Shadows. Glad I was using an archer as a melee might have a hard time with this many. I found a room with a pit and a surface portal in it. Clearing the room was not easy but with hit and run I did it.
That got me out of there. Finally one of the guy, the one who fell off a cliff, showed up. We started forward. Melee/Archer combo is good but we really needed a mage. We got to the room with the portal ok and he tied.
We advanced and found a room with Shadow Cyct's and Grievvers. I did a lot of research but could not find any information about Cycts. In any case my study showed we were going in the wrong direction anyway.
After a while of fruitless battle were retreated. We did kill a few of them but it was going far too slow. I pulled out wand to try a buff. As I did a shadow spawned right in front of us. I took a hard hit. I quickly used my heal keys. Unfortunately I was still in spell cast mode. Guess what spell is the same as my hot key for heal, you guessed it, Lifestone recall.
It was just as well. I hit the LS with 10 hit points. The other guy was able to get away as well. As I really do not need any item on this quest I'm not sure if I'll go again. Still I would like to finish it just for GP.
Virindi Amulet Quest
There was a massage about the Virindi Amulet quest on the boards. I had family coming over so I was not sure if I would have time for it. Everything worked out ok and I showed up on time.
I got Jr into one of the fellows. As normal there were a load of people going on the quest. I checked my item mana levels and charged anything that was low. I was fully stocked up with comps as I had not been using spells much. Nice when Mage is doing the buffing for him.
This time we did not start at the edge of the plains. We had a tie in the plains itself, not sure where. The run was shorter and simpler if not as safe. We lost one guy who stopped to help someone.
We had a little wait while they recovered him so I took off my armor. There is a decal plug in that lets me set up a sting of moves automatically. Getting my armor and items on is an add and remove process. Buff items to add buff items to add items is a pain and a half. Using the plug in I just have to say do it and it is done.
After everyone got there we put on our armor and buffed up. After being use to 30 minute buffs from mage it was hard to use shorter lasting level V buffs. As my skills are still a bit low it takes a bit to get the buffs as well. This means about 10 to 12 minutes between buffs.
First part went well with the two leaders keeping everyone in line. Shrug was the low side leader. About the only criticism I had of his leadership was wanting to lead from the front. He is an archer and I prefer to see some heavy shielded no necks in front.
Only problem I had was people who forgot what we were there for. They would rush off to attack Tuskers and split the party up. I would end up with the wrong group and have to back track with them to catch up.
At the split we buffed again and now thing were better. People got smart enough to stay with the group. At the first point of danger we had a wall setup in the corner while waiting for the high group to make it to the door. I could see we did not have enough melees to make a good wall. One Hollow was able to slip into a gap and mix it up with the Archers and Mages.
About halfway through my thoughts on Shrug was right. A few Tuskers pounded him into a red spot on the floor. I was a bit worried at that point. We had lost a few people at the jumps. The Mage I was teaming with said he got the nerves on a jump and let the bar go too soon. I did that once in the Nexis so I understood. (I was lucky that I have such a high jump as I made it anyway.)
The route was straightforward at this point so even though no one knew this quest we did not get lost. I took over running the melee's. At the last door no one was guarding the back. I called for some melees to help me block it.
It was just in time as a minute after I set up the wall a Tusker spawned and several Virindi showed up. We beat them back until the door was opened by the high side.
We got to the last room and set up the wall. I was surprised to see we had about half the people we started with. Most of them did not die but we had far to few people. We had enough melees to hold the wall but the Mages and Archers were being picked off by the Virindi's spells.
My luck with attacks had changed on this trip. I was being drained, de-buffed and spelled from the second I stepped into the place. It is a good thing I was putting level V protections on as the spells really hurt.
At one point I was blasted to 50 hit points. I hit heal just as another spell hit me. I healed to over 100 just as I was blasted to 35. A failed heal at that point would have killed me. The de-buffs were the really bad thing. I was so de-buffed that redoing my protections were out of the question. My Virindi helm ran out of mana and I found my lore had been de-buffed with a VI spell. I could not get the helm to work.
When my buffs were about to run out I got smart. I use a gem to dispel all the de-buffs and quickly got my protections redone. I was attacked before I could buff my weapon but was hoping not to fight.
People started to panic at this point. I called for calm and asked them not to port. Did no good and all but four of us ported out. I was able to get an Amulet off the floor. The panic was so bad that the person who got the kill did not have time to open the body.
I was not sure how many needed the Amulet out of the people left. We were all melee so it did not look good. I was determined to say and die if necessary for everyone to get it. Two Virindi spawned, one of which was the one with the Amulet. One melee attacked a Virindi and I attacked the one with the Amulet.
I was really lucky at this point. The Virindi attacked the other melee who must have been sliding or running. My un-buffed weapon was not doing a whole lot of damage but at a fast hit it added up. As it dropped I opened up the body and called for someone to grab the Amulet.
It turned out only one person needed it from the four of us left. With great relief we ported out.
It could easily have been a disaster. This was shown later that night when a second group did it. When I logged in later I heard that the entire low side had been wiped out. One guy lamented how his Amulet dropped to protect his death items.
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