From:  Zarya bint Tala'an 
ID:  eJ8y9Xhrr96
Date:  1/11/01 at 3:17 am
Subject:  For anyone who cares, here's my progress report!
 

Yup I decided to post some progress reports, daily perhaps. This report will now be known as "Zarya's Journal" =)

***THE ZARYA FAQ 01.11.01***

What was your starting template?

My starting attributes were 100/10/10/10/100/100, with the Battlemage skill set (Spec War/Life/Loyalty).

Where did you level? What did you hunt?

I started on the beaches of Mayoi from Level 1. I started just like every other mage, basically (aside from Og), killing Druges, Shreth and Wasps. At level 5 or so, I had my endurance/health/stamina up to a decent amount, and I progressed onwards to the regular beach stock creatures. I did this until level 15 due to my relatively extreme stats, especially the endurance thing, ugh.

After that, I hunted in the desert around Al-Jalima/Samsur. The desert is well, deserted! No one is ever there, so I had free reign over the hordes of Sandy/Stony Dillos and Sandstone Golems. I played there until patch day, about level 20 or so.

Patch day was a godsend for me. After level 20, I had planned on sitting around in Metos all day and killing endless Granite Golems. This would have generated 2 problems: dying under some lich or lich lord, and BOREDOM! Gah! I can't stand hunting in a small stuffy dungeon for very long. However, Troop (I LOVE YOU KENNY!), had changed the location spawns for the direlands to make them more friendly to mid-levels for this patch...and suddenly I'm presented with a much more challenging and fun alternative. I made my way to the Accursed Halls Staging Point to take a gander at the new spawns and was amazed: No more Bone Things, Thrasher/Enforcers, or Shadows! Well, I lied about the Shadows, I saw one Umbris spawn today. Tumeroks were also scarce, I've only run into a single spawn so far. In their place, there are Mid-Druges (Lurks > Ravs), Golems (Copper > Obsidian), more Grievvers (ugh), and pockets of Virindi(boo!) with a Tusker Slave(woot!). Gold Wasps are still there, Berzerker/Strikers are still there, Silver Rats are still there.

Where/what do you hunt now?

Currently, I am hunting in the mid-direlands (not the mid-direlands dops for Carved Caves and Sylsfear). I use the Accursed Halls Staging Point as a...staging point for my excursions. The main reason I hunt there is because of the ease of hunting. Archers and Mages have the edge out there due to the large, relatively flat expanses of land. I easily dispatch 2 Druges or Golems before they can reach me. I can even tank(and kill) a Tusker Slave.

Things I leave alone:
Virindi (They debuff you)
Berzerkers/Strikers (They debuff you...well the strikers anyways)
Grievvers (Resistopolis)
Gold Wasps (Not worth the effort)
Silver Rats (Not worth the effort)
Obsidian Golems (Not skilled enough yet)

Most of the creatures in the above list are easy to see and run away from.

How are you faring without Creature Enchantment?

AC is a skill-based game. To be potent/uber in AC, you must make sacrifices. Such examples of sacrifices are apparent in many templates, including the Og, the 10 End Melee/Archer, and the Battlemage (like me!). I don't gripe, whine or complain about it. I accept the lack of Creature until level 50 as a neccessary sacrifice for the power I hope to achieve at later levels, and make due with what I can use. Currently, I'm using the nifty explorer set of wands/jewlery, plus a willpower 2 item (there's no explorer will item! NERF! NERF!). I do fine with it and I consistently cast level 5 War Magic and Life Buffs, though not debuffs.

What are your plans for hunting in the future?

In the near future, I'm looking into finding a hunting partner (archer preferred) out here. I can Imp/Vuln while the archer kills...it should also expand our potential quarry to Virindi, Obsidian Golems, and Grievvers. Anyone interested? I hunt at night.

I plan on hunting out here until I have the skill and mana conversion necessary to cast level 5 Item Enchantment consistently, plus about 240 buffed war/life. Then I'm off to the open plains.

Why aren't you in BSD like the rest of the aspiring mages?

There are a number of reasons I don't frequent BSD:
1. Answered in the question. All the other mages are there.
2. Melees own BSD. A good melee can kill four Tuskers in the time it takes a Mage to kill One. I suspect with this patch, an adept Sword Melee should be able to kill six to eight Tuskers in the time it takes a mage to kill one.
3. Similar situation as Metos: Cramped and Boring. I hate sitting in a dungeon with a static spawn and nothing interesting to see.
4. Sitting with all the *other mages* would remind me of how stupid I am, running about in endless circles looking for a tusker to skim from a skimmer that's skimming from the melee that did 221 damage with his/her first hit.

What is your age?

A girl never reveals her true age, silly ;)

Well, there you have it, my first report. I hope you've enjoyed reading it and have gained some insight on the career of the Battlemage. Any further questions or observations? Suggestions on hunting? Flames/Rambling? I'll take on all comers, post here now!

 

Q & A / Discussion on Journal 1:

Question:

I was planning on taking creature at level 20 for the buffs and more importantly, the yields. I have two portal mules who can move me around. I see you took item however. Any reason why one should take item first, especially if you have armor and are not baneing a robe?

Answers:

Two Resons:
1. Ease of travelling - So much more convenient to recall back to a dungeon/location where you died instead of annoying people by spamming for portals or logging out to pull out your handy-dandy portal mule/main to summon for you.
2. No buffs/banes until level 50? Ouch! What are you going to level on in the mid-30s+? Zarya has an outfit (all pieces al 190+) and the tusker slaves I tank still occasionally hit me for 49, with regular hits 8-24...i couldn't Imagine trying to tank Gaurds or Corals without Item, lol.
-Zarya bint Tala'an

You would need some fairly incredible armor selections to make up for not having item.

I'm not saying that it can't be done, I'm certain it could, but I would choose item over creature easily.

Best of luck.
-Og the One Eyed

Commentary:

My Own Way of Leveling Up a BattleMage.....
I've got a level 28+ BattleMage that I've actually played for about 3-4 hours in-game time.

How?

Vassal farm!

Call me lazy, insane, or very ambitious, but I'm aiming to get my BattleMage up to Level 50 strictly through vassal XP's.

Already being the level 50 all-trained (gimp) Archmage that Da'covale is, I take people in my allegiance that want to reroll, have them swear under my BattleMage, and then I level them up to level ~35 out on the obsidian plains.

It seems to be working pretty well so far; I pump all his XP's into willpower so his leadership rating is as high as possible (I think his willpower is 199 base now; can't remember exactly)

At least this way I am helping other people in the process of levelling up my own character!

My BattleMage currently has 9-10 vassals, one of which just hit level 35, and two more are getting very close.

The only problem now is getting the time/pyreals needed to continue leveling his vassals! =)

BTW, I started the same as Aluvian with 100/10/10/10/100/100 and Spc'd Life/War/Loyalty.
-Da'covale

Tip : When i levelled my mage, i used level 3 jewellery...
at your level, i got someone to buff me with Focus/Arcane mastery, and equipped jewellery. I never took it off, and just kept it topped up :) Its costs in charges, but having Mana C, Focus, Willpower, Endurance, Barons Amulet on permantly helped me a lot when hunting Tuskers etc...

Its worth considering if you are twinking from another character who can get cash easily, and judging by your GSA id say thats you ;)
-Silva

 

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