Thursday 3/23/06

[Erudite]

D'Allesario Seaboard, American District 1, 9pm EST.

More undead tonight, I would assume, so I'll leave Destrid in his smiting spec. I'll probably glance at the mission overview on Guildwiki beforehand to get an idea about the bonus portion.

[Raveneye]

I'll be there. I may keep Raveneye spec'd with Sword this time though, as I gained a pair of new skills that don't rely on Bleeding. I will probably respec his skills a bit before the mission though.

Remember to load up on Kryta Keys beforehand. Tonight's goal will be mission and bonus together! :smile:

[Raveneye]

Alright, I'm going to post the spoiler for the BONUS on tonight's mission because looking it over it's VERY complicated and easy to screw up, so I want us all to know about the pitfalls ahead of time.

SPOILER STARTS HERE: (emphasis mine)

In order to receive the bonus, you must save Benji Makala (http://www.guildwiki.org/wiki/Benji_Makala) in the village of Hakewood (http://www.guildwiki.org/wiki/Hakewood). As you enter the town, do not follow the path straight ahead to Benji. Take the first left and start with that section of the town. Kill the packs of undead starting from there and work your way up to Benji (Point 1 on the map). Benji may be under attack, but he will be locked in a stalemate and will continue to heal himself (as long as the only thing attacking him is the boss, which should be the case). If you save Benji first, he runs down into a swarm of undead and usually gets himself killed.
After saving Benji, exit from the right-most gate in the village (not the left gate which is closer to the fountain). Gate Guard Makala will thank you for saving his brother and let you through the gate (Point 2 on the map). Follow the path and you will get to a gate that leads to where Confessor Dorian is beseiged. Before opening that gate, head down the path a little more and you will find the urn (Point 3 on the map).
NOTE: Do not drop the urn. If the player carrying the urn drops it for any reason, the urn shatters and will respawn at the pedestal where you first picked it up. Your urn-carrier will then have to backtrack all the way there to retrieve it again. Because of this, you may want to have a spell-caster carry the urn, so that the urn-carrier can still use their offensive skills while carrying. To make matters worse, enemies tend to prioritize the urn-carrier as a target during battles.

Sounds lovely eh? Honestly it shouldn't be too bad if we follow the directions and tackle one group of undead at a time. Looks like we need to let Benji duke it out solo with the end boss until we have all other undead cleared, then we can save his sorry butt. One of you guys may want to pack an extra defensive skill or something since it sounds like the urn carrier is going to get beat on A LOT. :smile:

[Erudite]

Yay yippy what fun.

I can be the designated urn carrier, I suppose. I'll be sure to load Armor of Mist (+40 armor, 33% speed boost) and run like a little girl at the first sign of trouble. :lowrazz:

[GravenStone]

I really don't have much in the way of protection magicks. My best stuff involves having dead bodies about, and sadly undead aren't very accomodating with that.

Unfortunately, I think the bonus on this is a bit more drawn out than you've posted. I have seen info that it involves finding and escorting several "Chosen" throughout the region to a final location. We apparently get a bounty for each one we get there safely, but it also sounds like they're kind of thick and find trouble easily.

[GravenStone]

Nevermind, I was getting ahead of the game. That's the info for the next mission's bonus...

[Erudite]

I hope we get a man-eating pig again to help us again. That was kinda cool.

[GravenStone]

I hope we get a man-eating pig again to help us again. That was kinda cool.

The eyes, go for the eyes, Oink!

[Raveneye]

Yay yippy what fun.

I can be the designated urn carrier, I suppose. I'll be sure to load Armor of Mist (+40 armor, 33% speed boost) and run like a little girl at the first sign of trouble. :lowrazz:

So no change to your normal play style then? :lowrazz: :wink:

[Erudite]

So no change to your normal play style then? :lowrazz: :wink:

Hey, somebody's gotta stick around to rez you guys.

What? That's my story and I'm stickin' to it! :*

[Erudite]

Haha! Man-eating pig cameo in the cut-scene at the end of the mission!

After running the mission+bonus (which was surprisingly easy, although without some hints I think we'd have blown the bonus and had to rerun it), Raveneye and I did the quest to get a Signet of Capture. We also picked up a quest out of Lion's Arch to clear some ettins from a settlement in North Kryta Province. Starting from Beetletun (for the 12th level NPCs), we trekked over to NKP and found the ettins - and promptly got smashed. And smashed. And smashed some more.

There appear to be several groups of the things surrounding the settlement, in packs of six, with a 24th level boss. Death zerging didn't seem very effective, as at a very early point the NPCs are weakened to the point that they die very quickly. We even tried getting them to mingle with some neary Tengu tribesman. We had limited success with that, as these particular ettins seem to play nice with the tribesman unless their AoE stomp (or whatever it is) happens to hit them and generate some aggro.

After discussing it for a moment, we came to the conclusion that perhaps we'll forego the plot missions next week and instead focus on the two Lion's Arch quests (the ettin one and the Villiany of Gsomethingorother), as both have substantial experience rewards (2500xp and 4000xp, respectively) and would likely push us all over into 18.

[Raveneye]

Last night was FUN! We kicked major booty on the mission, the waves of undead came much slower than the "protect the village" quest, so that was a relief. I think without the spoiler we would have had to redo the mission as we wouldn't have known to save the guy last and he would have killed himself on the mass of undead we cleared out beforehand. Nicely done by us all around.

The Ettins that are part of the 2500xp main quest Erudite mentioned are CRAZY HARD. I can only assume that means the 4000xp quest to slay Galrath is even more difficult. Hence our discussion on skipping the plot mission next wee (we're down to only the one available now) and focusing on these two quests. It's not hard to reach the Ettins, especially out of Bergen Hot Springs, but they will require serious tactics to take down.

If we can take out both quests we'll generate 6500xp from quests and easily another 500-1000 on kills, which should push us all into 18th. In the meantime I'm going to try and finish off all the other little misc. 500xp quests I've got in the area, which is 3 or 4 of them.

[GravenStone]

Not sure we can do the 4k quest in one sitting. I've peeked ahead a bit and it looks like the zone we're being sent to is in South Kryta - two major regions down from where we are currently.

[Raveneye]

OK, regarding the 4K quest, GuildWiki says it's easier to do out of The Temple of the Ages, as henchmen there are Level 15 and group size increases to 8. Looks like the easiest routes to the Temple are South from Beetleton then West after zoning into the Black Curtain, OR straight SouthEast from Divinity Coast, which we opened up last night. I would suggest we each try to open up Temple of the Ages on our maps over the next week.

Once we set out from Temple of the Ages it's pretty straightforward. We head south and a little east through two zones until we reach Galrath, the bad guy we're sent to take out. Along the way we'll meet Necrid Horsemen, Damned Clerics (who have Smoke Phantoms and Wraiths as companions) and some bigger minotaurs than we've seen so far. Also several boss mobs, giving us chances to use Signet of Capture and boost the morale bonus (assuming we don't die). Looks like a nice full night excursion.

[GravenStone]

I wandered into that region south of Bettletun when I was originally scouting the region. Hordes and hordes (and hordes) of undead. Is not a very solo friendly spot, although I might have better luck now at 17.

[Erudite]

I'm fixin' to see if I can get to the Temple before Mel gives me the evil eye for playing so early in the evening. I'm staging out of Bergen Hot Springs, because that seems closest. There's a Lionguard there now that gives a quest similar to the one Raveneye and I picked up in Lion's Arch, but with the other faction (Kurzick) and against undead instead of ettins. Same reward - 2500xp.

[Erudite]

Go go death-zerging Destrid!

I managed to limp into the Temple of the Ages, dragging my 41% death penalty behind me. Geesh, do I feel underdressed. In American District 7 (gah!), I was the only person in the outpost that wasn't 20th level, at least that I saw.

The entire trip across from Bergen Hot Springs (the closest outpost that we've unlocked, by the way) was undead. Big groups of undead. Ghouls and wraiths and zombie warlocks and skeleton sorcerers, monks, archers, and bowmasters, damned clerics, and on and on and on. Hitting The Black Cauldron was a bit of a shock, as the roving bands of 13th level skeleton archers led by a 17th level skeleton bowmaster were replaced by roving bands of 17th level skeleton bowmasters led by an 18th level skeleton bowmaster. Bone dragons and clerics, and reed stalkers sprouting up in the swamp.

Nevertheless, with judicious sacrifice of henchmen and no fear of fleeing for my life (and no shame in skirting every encounter I could manage), I made it in.

Hurry up, slackers. :lowrazz:

[GravenStone]

Go go death-zerging Destrid!

I managed to limp into the Temple of the Ages, dragging my 41% death penalty behind me. Geesh, do I feel underdressed. In American District 7 (gah!), I was the only person in the outpost that wasn't 20th level, at least that I saw.

The entire trip across from Bergen Hot Springs (the closest outpost that we've unlocked, by the way) was undead. Big groups of undead. Ghouls and wraiths and zombie warlocks and skeleton sorcerers, monks, archers, and bowmasters, damned clerics, and on and on and on. Hitting The Black Cauldron was a bit of a shock, as the roving bands of 13th level skeleton archers led by a 17th level skeleton bowmaster were replaced by roving bands of 17th level skeleton bowmasters led by an 18th level skeleton bowmaster. Bone dragons and clerics, and reed stalkers sprouting up in the swamp.

Nevertheless, with judicious sacrifice of henchmen and no fear of fleeing for my life (and no shame in skirting every encounter I could manage), I made it in.

Hurry up, slackers. :lowrazz:

I got about midway through the Cursed Lands before I got nailed by two groups, each being lead by a 17th level Wraith. I took that as a sign to abandon the fool's errand just then. I may try it again later with a different spec setup. I can raise undead minions from the bodies of those ghouls, but they're few and far between, so I need to explore a different skill set or two.

[Erudite]

The 15th level NPCs are freakin' blenders. They mow through things at an incredible rate. Maybe it helps to have 7 of them instead of 5, including the elementalist I would never otherwise take - but they barely pause at the things the 12th levels struggle with.

Just for example, I walked them back through the Black Cauldron and the Cursed Lands without ever even coming close to anybody dying (the same zones that left me limping, ducking, and dodging my way through the first time), plowed through the undead for the Kurzick settlement mission, and set about chasing some ettins about for the quest Raveneye and I just couldn't do.

The ettins did give me a few problems, I'll admit. Not too many, though, as the only deaths my troop endured were the healer, necromancer, and mesmer (3 times, flimsy little nitwit), although I did have to tug some of them back to the Ascalon Settlement to break up some of the groups that doubled up on me.

All told, I went a little crazy with them and rolled out both the 2500xp quests, plus another quest/skill unlock at the Temple of the Ages, and skimmed into level 18. I highly recommend you guys get out to the temple. Totally worth it.

[Raveneye]

Welp, GravenStone and I are now in the Temple. We got a pickup group of complete tools ('cept for the Warrior, Ty, he seemed OK) and managed to kill our way mostly there, resorting to zergling rush at the very end. 60% debt all around. FUN!

I also completed the 2500xp Ettin quest earlier using henchies AND the four heros (I'd never led them to the settlement yet). With a virtual army at my side it was easy to mop up the Tengu and Ettins and claim the village back for the Luxans.

I will try to knock out the other 2500xp undead quest later this weekend with the 15th level henchies. That should pop me into 18th. So it looks like Galrath (4000xp) will be our sole focus Thursday night.

[GravenStone]

Sorry to inflict that group on you RE. I had hoped real live PCs might be more effective than the minions, alas.

Followed the trend here and grabbed the 15th level minions and expanded group size and plowed through the two new Factions quests. Now 18th level as well. I figure wrapping the next quest (Villainy) should get me within 4-5k of 19, then back to the storyline.

[Erudite]

I took the 15th level minions and walked down to Kessex Peak this morning. Really not too bad of a hike, although lots of swamp that the henchmen AI isn't really smart enough to avoid, which did cost me one of the fighters once.

The reed stalkers are 17th level, the minotaurs are 19th level, there are a few instances of undead (damned clerics, smoke phantoms, necrid horsemen, and wraiths), and lots of 20th level fog nightmares. Still, nothing I and the 7 henchmen had any real trouble with. When gold drops, it looks to be 60-100gp per mob. I didn't see any purple or gold items, but items do drop a lot less with that many goons tagging along.

I didn't venture too far into Kessex Peak, but from the map marker for the quest it looks to be pretty far in. I'm about 9000xp from 19th level now.

[Raveneye]

I used the big party of 15th level henchmen again this weekend to finish the skill quest in the Temple (Kill the Abbot). That was remarkably smooth. I was goign to play yesterday and finish off the other faction quest and the remaining couple of misc. quests in the area, but I spent the whole day working on my new PC instead. Got that up and running with Guild Wars installed, graphics on max. Looks nice, mostly I was only missing some of the effects on water, lighting and smoke before, characters and terrain still looks mostly the same from when I was playing on 3/4 settings.

[Erudite]

Got that up and running with Guild Wars installed, graphics on max. Looks nice, mostly I was only missing some of the effects on water, lighting and smoke before, characters and terrain still looks mostly the same from when I was playing on 3/4 settings.

Every now and then, the graphics in Guild Wars cause me to stop what I'm doing and just look for a minute or two. For example, I was doing the Hunter's Horn quest in pre-searing. It involves taking the horn to the spring in Regent Valley to be cleansed. My N/R was waist deep in the spring, having dispatched the skale broodcallers there, when I see something in the water. Turns out it's the reflection of the bear pacing about on the ridge above me. Little details like that impress me. :lowrazz:

[Raveneye]

Every now and then, the graphics in Guild Wars cause me to stop what I'm doing and just look for a minute or two. For example, I was doing the Hunter's Horn quest in pre-searing. It involves taking the horn to the spring in Regent Valley to be cleansed. My N/R was waist deep in the spring, having dispatched the skale broodcallers there, when I see something in the water. Turns out it's the reflection of the bear pacing about on the ridge above me. Little details like that impress me. :lowrazz:

That was the kind of feeling I had when reaching Lion's Arch and seeing the ships anchored in the harbor with the shark-like-thing swimming around, the underwater plants gently rocking with the waves, and the reflections of the ships and cliffs splayed out over the water. Wow.

[Charinida]

/agree

I LOVE the graphics... even the character designs are pretty good...

And the play style is very nicely done... Camera views is pretty smooth too...

The only thing that really bugs me is when I'm in town... All that spam... People don't know how to use the tradechannel there either... /grrr.

Otherwise, love the artistry... Even when clearing a zone out... I just like to wander about, looking at things, the reflection on the water, the birds in the sky... hrmm...

[GravenStone]

The only thing that really bugs me is when I'm in town... All that spam... People don't know how to use the tradechannel there either... /grrr.

The only channels I leave active are Group and Whisper. I will turn Auction on if I happen to be shopping for something. I will only turn Local on if and when I need a newbie group for an alt. The world has entirely too many idiots for my taste, otherwise.

I agree the visuals in GW can be stunning. I actually liked running through the Black Curtain the other day, going through waist deep (fortunately not poisonous) stagnant water, and seeing the plant life move as I passed.

The main thing I don't like about GW is their non-existent naming policy. If you can think of it, and it fits within the character count limit, you can pretty much get away with it... :frown:

[Charinida]

The main thing I don't like about GW is their non-existent naming policy. If you can think of it, and it fits within the character count limit, you can pretty much get away with it... :frown:

Oh yeah... I've seen that... I've wondered how to report the name, but...

Booty Hunter... OKay... but... other names... referring to body parts (just spread out to pass the naming scheme) ... bah...

I hate the tar!!!!

[Erudite]

The main thing I don't like about GW is their non-existent naming policy. If you can think of it, and it fits within the character count limit, you can pretty much get away with it... :frown:

Funny. I was playing around with Factions during the preview event, trying out the character build screen and assassin class. Got the naming part and didn't feel especially creative (and didn't care, since I'd be deleting the character in short order anyway), so I just hit a mishmash of keys for a name. It happened to start with "Jew", and the filter kicked it out as containing a phrase not allowed in Guild Wars. :crazy::*

[Raveneye]

Last night I finished the second faction quest (kill undead) using the 15th level henchmen. Man they mow through stuff like crazy! I also knocked out a smaller quest while I had them with me. The only remaining quests I have in Kryta seem to be the big 4K one and the "Reversing the Skales" quest, which I tried to complete with the level 10 henchmen out of Gates of Kryta because I didn't feel like traveling all that way with the 15's. Big mistake, as Lord Timon (no sign of Lord Poomba :smile:) and his Executioners and Smoke Phantoms (all Level 17ish) made short work of us, even zergling tactics were unsuccessful.

I'll see if I can't wrap up that one before Thursday, and then we can all group up to take on the big 4K assassination quest.

[GravenStone]

Forgot to mention that the undead Factions quest also afforded me my first Elite skill, Virulence. I was rather pleased with that.