May 31, 2002 - Solclaim
Littered with Standing Corpses
I managed to fill my decanters on that quest tonight with the help of
another archer and an alchemist, both over level 100. Neither of them got
their essence, the dungeon was quite challenging.
You fight the new mixed elementals most of the way down. We fought our way
down the first time, subsequent times we ran to the penultimate jump and
logged out. The monsters vanish in 10 seconds. The alchemist proved unable
to survive the logout, melee D is very helpful. So we were down to two by
the final room.
The final room is pretty much impossible to muscle through. A team large
enough to do it would probably lag out. After doing one point of damage to
the Crystal Golem Imperitor after an imperil, we decided to give up on
fighting.
The key to getting the essence filled with a small team is to have one guy
with a shield jump down and tank in the west corner. That lets the other guy
fill his essence in the corner near the exit portal. Both can get out if the
guy filling his jars runs back to draw off some spawn and open a hole. He
will have to tank a few elementals in peace mode while filling jars. Your
back will be to the monsters when filling the jars, and it is quite slow and
fiddly.
My companion failed to get it to work at all.
Corpse retrievals in the final room are possible, using the same basic
tactics. One guy jumps in and tanks, the other sneaks in and retrieves.
Good luck to all future people. On Solclaim the room is littered with
standing corpses.
Sol Chen of SC
Level 74 Archer
Hi Sol Chen -
Thanks for the tips on filling the Decanters. The Imperitor can be killed,
however! Not easily, though. The next letter is Thistledown's attempt to
conquer the dungeon.
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - Thistledown's
Fight with the Crystal Golem Imperator!
Maggie:
A number of us could not rest in the dungeon high about Shoushi. While our
under-70 friends were being shell-shocked in their attempts to fill Decanters
with pure essence, we mustered a party of two full fellowships and fought
the beast guarding the flow of pure mana -- indeed we fought it for two
hours. It stood three times the height of an adult diamond golem and its
protectors were elemental beast that resisted the mages and melees alike.
Its protectors were killable, but each took minutes per - enough time to
allow a replacement to respawn.
Many folks were instrumental in the kill, and I'm sure I will miss a name;
but for approximately one hour, Puncture stood steady engaging the elemental
beasts while we all re-buffed, re-engaged and continued the fight. Hannibal X
had the wherewithal to obtain a portal tie and recruit more into the fight.
It took the skills of spec life mages to land yields, specialized warriors
to whittle at him, and even a few non-spec mages like myself to assist with
some melee fighting, rebuffs, supplying stamina, supplies and support for
the fight.
Tarnellius won the kill... and the prize. He will have to settle for
bragging rights. This golem with tens of thousands of hit points and stamina
dropped a Coord 4 Gemstone and a nonsense gem worth 135 pyreals.
But the
victory was a sweet as if it had dropped Crystalline Armor.
Thistledown may not be safe from this menace or its creators, but we have
proven our will and might this long evening.
yours in service,
Doogens Mage of TD
Level 101 Archmage
--------------
TD killed the Imperiator golem
team included
Myself, Tyr Grimnirsun, Thor Azoroth, Puncture, Rey, Steeda, Rictor,
Hannibal X, Doogans Mage, Zedjin, and many more
Tyr Grimnirsun of TD
Dagger
Hi Doogen and Tyr Grimnirsun -
Sounds like a great adventure. Say, could you do me a favor and go back and
kill him again and let me know how much xp you get. I'd like to add him to
my
Creature XP list.
(Just kidding! ;-)
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - Battling
the Exarch Magma Golem.
I went down the dungeon with an Axeman, an Archer, and a Mage accompanying me. The four of us failed on the
first attempt, but reaped rampant vengeance on the second attempt after
getting VII's put on all of us (we tried with one buffer and some VI's
thrown in... I guess I should've waited for him to turn in his scrolls...
oops...). I also managed to get his stats off of him while we had most of
the spawn wiped out (I thought of the site just before going down and asked
for a Monster Attunement buff).
The first attempt, he wasn't fully debuffed, so I was only doing 6-10 (my
dagger ran out too) damage. On the second, he was fully debuffed (Imperil,
Frost, and Pierce... ok, I didn't get a chance to make our archer those
greater frosts I wanted to give him) and I was getting shots off of 60-80
with crits of 170 thrown in. Our three main attackers and our mage throwing
in frost bolts now and then managed to topple this horrible giant.
The initial spawn was wiped out in seconds, ring spells and mage defense
methods are a good idea here (get anything attacking your mage to attack
you). Our archer shot down from above. We cleared all but one or two from
the main room. Guess they didn't want to join the fun. During the main
battle with the Exarch, we immediately got rid of any flammas that were
spawned. We kept this up until the Exarch was fully debuffed, then we whaled
on it with all of our might. After a minute or two, we had crumbled the
monstrosity and filled our decanters from the mana font waiting just beyond
the ramp. I would've taken a screenshot of our little group in front of the
Mana Font itself, but I wasn't looking forward to seeing the Exarch again
that soon (that's what my Axeman is for).
Several suggestions to those who read this: Get level VII buffs for life
(Bludgeon and Fire). Settle for nothing less as they will NOT last long
enough to complete this place (it isn't so easy to rush down there, we lost
our archer pretty quickly trying to do that). Have MANY stam elixers (I was
carrying 80, as many as I could to remain unburdened). Melees take treated
kits, you'll be healing a lot and often (hotkey two of them if you want).
Vulns are ESSENTIAL! You'll be whaling on that Exarch forever without them
(5000 health and I as a dagger started hitting fully buffed with 10's -
20's) and you don't have that kind of time with the flammas spawning.
Many thanks to Mecha Prime (the archer), Gothmog Axe Wielder (the other
melee of course), and Ein-Aldron (the mage) for accompanying this lunatic on
an early morning quest of madness!
- Pc the Blade
"Questing Lunatic of Morningthaw"
Hi Pc the Blade -
Another great story! And great information! This part made me laugh:
"I also managed to get his stats off of him while
we had most of the spawn wiped out (I thought of the site just before going
down and asked for a Monster Attunement buff)." You're
too good to me! I appreciate it. I do, I do!
I'll try to get the pic and
stats up on the patch page soon.
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - Diyas
al-Yat
Dear Maggie,
I was recently exploring your site when I came across a Picture of Diyas
al-Yat removing his head in a screen shot. I would like to know how to do
this trick. I think it would be fun to scare people on-line =).
Please let me know what you *type* to do that.
Sincerely,
Shadow Rising of Solclaim
Level 25 archer/mage
Hi Shadow Rising -
I can tell you how you can lose your head easily enough (go play with a
Crystal Golem Imperator! ;-), but as far as I know, Diyas al-Yat's head
removing trick is unique to him alone. It can't be done by players. As an
alternative, you could always get one of the
Inviso
Masks!
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - Level
VII Spells
Even realizing the the methods of researching and casting will be changing
shortly, I am still trying to learn my Level VII spells by turning in Level
VI scrolls. Can you direct me to where I can find a listing of possible
Level VII spells?
Your site it terrific and I cannot count the number of times I've been able to
learn from it. I recommend it often in-game. Keep the great stuff coming!
Crystl The Fearless of WE
Level 49 Xbow Life Mage
Hi Crystl The Fearless -
A list of Level VII spells is something I've been meaning to get up on the
site for a long time, but just haven't had time. But... you're still in
luck! I can direct you to a list of them that Ellen Ripley, Monarch
of The Renegade Guild of Solclaim & Harvestgain,
put together. What's cool about her list is that she also has a collection
of some of the name origins for the spells! Ever wonder where Kwipetian
Vision came from? You can find out here:
Level VII spells:
http://www.geocities.com/therenegadeguild/levelviispells.html
Their name origins:
http://www.geocities.com/therenegadeguild/spellorigins.html
Thanks Ellen Ripley!
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - Welcome
Back
Well welcome back to your normal site. I must admit I am very jealous of
Ned. 80+ archer is very hard to do. Look at me, I'm only Level 57. The only
issue I have is the BSD's are getting rather boring...my melee hunts there,
as well as Miach my archer, and well, enough tuskers is enough. Just curious
if you or Ned the BSD master lol=).
Have any suggestions on where I might go
dungeon-wise as a change up? Anyway, welcome back and you do have an awesome
site. Oh, and when Ned hits Level 100, let us know cause we will be sitting
here waiting in anticipation. Laters.
Miach of TD
Level 57 Acher
Hi Miach -
Thanks for the welcome back, but as most of you know by now, I was never
really gone. I'm sure Ned Cleversun will be pleased to hear about all the
folks wanting a reprise down the road. He's been bugging me BIG TIME to
celebrate level 85 in a similarly spectacular fashion, since the level 80
shin-dig was such a rousing success. I put my bunny-slipper clad foot down
and told him absolutely not. I *still* haven't gotten the pizza stains out
of the couch! ;-)
- Maggie the Jackcat
P.S. You might poke around the
Recommended
Hunting Areas section for some new ideas on where to hunt!
May 31, 2002 - A
Job Well Done
Dear Maggie,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the work you have
done on this site. For those of us who play on Darktide, some of the
information you have gathered would be nearly impossible for someone below
80th level to obtain. When attempting a quest on DT, knowing exactly where
to go and what to do can be the difference between success and failure. On
our server, players are the real danger, and your site reduces our exposure
time. When I completed the Caulnalain quest, I had to contend with a level 70 melee
who was camping the crystals. Although only 35th level at the time, I was
armed with information from your site. I managed to sneak in, kill the
crystal, and grab the loot before the level 70 cast "Recall to Lifestone
Other (with Vitae)". Thanks Maggie.
Aron Von Corrigan of DT
Level 54 Archer
Hi Aron Von Corrigan -
Thank you so much for taking the time to write. I'm glad the site has been
helpful to you! As you may know, I've been playing a bit on Darktide myself
these days. Sadly, my site doesn't seem to be helping me at *all*, darn it!!
;-)
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - The
Boobie Dress Redux
I remember reading about the dresses on your website a few years ago. One of
the goals of almost all my female characters (and I have a few, as a
Role-Player, though I am a male in RL) is to get all the dresses.
What this concerns is your feelings on the so-called boobie dress. Do you
feel that the Devs have resolved the issues you were concerned about, or do
you feel they slid more?
Thanks
Gueron of FF
Level 31 Axe Specialist
Hi Gueron -
Interesting question. It's certainly been a while since the Great Boobie
Dress Wars. ;-) For the newer people to the game, I'll just briefly recap
some of the concerns that were expressed when the dress was added. My personal disappointment was the addition of asymmetrical sexual
content; the women had content added to make them look "sexy",
but the men did not. I felt that they had hard-coded an attitude about women
into the game that had not previously existed on Dereth.
(I will refer to the dress as
the "Boobie Dress" because that is the name that has "stuck" over time in
the community, as often happens. I'd also like to take this opportunity to
apologize for coining the term "Chicken Hat" for the beautiful Siraluun
Headdress! ;-)
One Boobie Dress critic said
that she felt "betrayed" by the addition of the dress. I understood what she
meant. When I first began to play AC, I was so taken by the way the men and
women were designed equally in every way. This was *real* fantasy!! You
know, the kind where the size of a woman's breasts or being "sexy" was
irrelevant. So totally different from other games I had seen (UO's Xena
armor, EQ's Elf, and more recently, AO's implants). I said to myself: "This
is a company who realizes that over half the current Internet users are
female and is making a game that has a completely non-hostile environment
for girls. They are forward thinking and enlightened." And then I added: "Wheeeeee!
oh-my-god-this-is-so-cool!!!"
The outcry and strong feelings
on all sides was a good indication that the dress really touched on tensions
and issues that currently exist in the culture at large. I think some of the
initial responses were handled badly by the Devs and they perhaps should
have anticipated the possible range of reactions ahead of time (such as the
187 screenshots I got in my email that patch with overhead views of cleavage
and "BOOBIES!!!!!!" in the subject line ;-). Turbine finally publicly
settled on a position of "more choice" along with assurances that they
weren't heading down the slippery-slope. That was definitely the stance to
take and one I couldn't really find fault with (although the question, and
the crux of my concerns remained: why was it necessary for the women only to
have the choice to be "sexy").
I feared, however, that the
damage was done. Something was gone irretrievably. Forever. That's how I
felt then. Which brings us back around to your question. Do I still feel
that way?
I must admit, I look fondly back
on my gut level appreciation of the early (what I always liked to think of
as) purity of vision with nostalgia. But maybe it was unrealistic to not
expect the real world to intrude, with its market forces and messy
multitudes of viewpoints and desires.
Here is where I stand now: the
game is not the same game it was then. The Boobie Dress is just one of the
many gender specific pieces of clothing to have entered the game. It no
longer has the same impact it had when its uniqueness emphasized its
over-obvious sexuality. Then there's the Siraluun Dress which I like to
personally think of as "balance" for the Boobie Dress, showing that gender
specific clothing is more than just about exposing some breastage and sexy-ing
up the chicks, but can also be about strength and power and kick-ass
protections.
So in conclusion (hee hee, yes,
finally! how I do run on!), I think Turbine has kept their word and has
*not* gone further down the slippery-slope. When this particular camel stuck
his nose under the tent, someone on the other side whapped it.
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - An
Eerie Resemblance
Dear Maggie,
I was just relaxing in my cottage the other day, polishing my garden
drudge, when my AC husband Lai Blip came rushing in through the door, a look of
bewilderment on his face, as well as a healthy shiner to boot! It would seem
that while adventuring, he happened upon a woman who he thought was his
cherished wife, and had snuck up behind her to giver her the ol' bum
squeeze. Flinging around in shock and outrage, this woman, who was not his
wife, did not seem to appreciate strangers fondling her bottom, and popped
him a good one, right in the eye.
He later discovered that this woman was the famed 'Maggie the Jackcat', and
had rushed straightaway to my cottage to tell me of the remarkable
resemblance between us, squinting through one purpled eye. I immediately set
about locating a portrait of you, and discovered that indeed, we could pass
as twins, if not clones! What is at play here, dear Maggie? Some foul magic,
perhaps... or is there something our parents did not tell us?
Yours Truly,
River Nightwind
Duelist on Thistledown
Hi River Nightwind -
That was your husband? Oh dear. Well, I apologize for popping him in the
eye. Nobody, but *nobody* touches my purple yoroi leggings!! ;-)
What an amazing resemblance! I
definitely see it around the eyes. And the nose. And we look to be of an
amazingly similar build. Fair complected, to be sure. But your hair. It's
much darker. Almost black. And I would think that from the back... I almost
hate to suggest this... but from the back, without seeing my face... are you
sure he mistook... well, uh, nevermind! Thank you for writing. It's a
pleasure to meet someone as good-looking as you! ;-)
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - You
Know You're All That!
Team Short Bus would like to thank you for the incredible amount of
information you've provided us. Actually, I don't even know if anyone of my
crew has ever visited your site. I keep telling them to, but they don't
really follow directions real well, which is ok. I know I have, and the
knowledge it provides me helps me maintain my illusion of omnipotence. Now
that I think of it, I'd appreciate it if you could somehow filter out the
following folks from accessing your site: Guesclin, No Bueno, Eloy,
Moirgainne, Big Gay Chris, Okn the Wikkid, I Dont Wanna Die, Death's
Nickname, Lancelot of Hebian, and Abbo.
Yours Truly - Gareth ibn Soud
Leafcull
Some kind of Mage
Hi Gareth ibn Soud -
Made me laugh. I'll promise I'll never tell. ;-)
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - Atlans
May Now Be Given
Sure you probably already know, since your all knowing.
But along with this patch all old Atlan Weapons are now passable!! Even
with the stones in it! The
Black Fire Atlans weapons are not passable
though.
But on the plus side my cottage now has Atlans of all kinds hanging!
Keep up the good work Maggie!
Head Mage of SC
Level 88 Life Mage
Hi Head Mage -
Thanks for the info! The way I get to be all knowing (hear that, Ned
Cleversun? ;-) is by people telling me stuff! I was thrilled to hear about
this change. I've been carrying around a couple of Atlans for ages, and just
couldn't bear to give them up to a Town Crier. They were tucked away in that
pack with my Mace of the Explorer and my Mi Krau-Li's Jitte, and my Major
and Minor Stones, and my Gwillim's Alchemy Bag, and my Tumerok Banner bits,
and... and... and... :-).
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - Soft
Portal Ties
Hey Maggie,
I was just reading
Danier's excellent article on the changes done to the
portal system in Dereth, and I'd like to point out one thing - soft ties
still exist, in the form of the old portal recall spell. In fact, you can
now have a soft tie even though you have tied to both a primary and a
secondary portal. This is HIGHLY useful when out questing, since it means
that everyone can get back for their corpse....
Thanks for an outstanding site,
Cheers =)
Tanti of HG
Hi Tanti -
Thanks for mentioning it. I've found soft ties to be very useful, indeed!
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - Shortcuts
You may want to make the shortcut to plateau read something like:
Go to any wedding crafter, buy a plateau invitation gem, use it.
Just thought you might want to change it :)
Seriously though, all the invitation gems are invaluable aids for bopping
around quickly. Need to get to
South Eires? The 1K gem gets you a portal
there (recallable even), same with south dires. You may want to put
mention of them in the travel pages.
Corwin of LC
Level 50 Swordsman
--------------
A very quick way to get to Baishi from
Qalaba'r is to use the
Mammet Foundry
portal under the golem statue. It has connecting portals to the other places
with Mammet Foundry portals.
Gerrard Capshen of SC
Level 36 Swordsman
--------------
In case you were unaware the Broze creature dungeon (high end) that is
accessed under the Virindi statue in Ayan, contains a surface portal. That
lets out RIGHT IN FRONT OF TETH. Just an fyi! Thanks.
Marsal of FF
Level 56 xbow/master fletcher
Hi Corwin, Gerrard Capshen and Marshal -
Thanks for the shortcut suggestions! I'll try to get the page updated soon!
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - This
is a great web site
Thank you,
This is why I love the Internet.
Lance
Hi Lance -
Thank *you*. This is why I love fan mail. ;-)
- Maggie the Jackcat
May 31, 2002 - Tales
of Martine
While outside hub, Martine showed up and
I took a few pictures. While he
was killing and talking, 3 Virindi Renegades Spawned! I proceeded to kill 1
one of them and got a token which looks like the Mask Martine wears.
You
give Martine Renegade Token.
Martine says, "I shall receive my tokens."
Martine gives you Quiddty Ignot.
After that he did a few war spells. One
with purple Flame and one with red flame. Then did a non animation volley!
Then cloaked himself and logged.
P.S. He doesn't use an Orb.
He uses a claw I think which when he moves gives
off purple energy effect.
Apocolypse of ThisleDown
--------------
Martine Sighted.
I count myself among those he had killed!
Foolish Hermit SC 61 Mage
--------------
Martine attacked hub again this evening... this time asking for Keys...
Well, someone gave him Singularity keys after a time and he left.
(Looks like
the lug's just searchin for phat lewt like all the rest of us. Hehe).
He starts off at level 757 and levels fast.. hehehe... he only attacks who
attacks him...
Gheres Reficul of TD
Martine says, "I have decided that I need to be paid for my continued
patience with you. Bring me keys. Singularity keys."
Martine looks about.
Martine cackles madly.
Martine says, "Not all at once, now."
Martine says, "Pain and suffering, glory and joy, glory and joy, glory and
joy."
Martine says, "Bring the gifts to the madman, or see the world through his
eyes."
Martine says, "Bring me the keys, or die."
Martine screams and the air splits in two swallowing
him into a void.
--------------
Martine made an appearance in subway on the Leafcull server and left this
carnage.
