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Expeditionary Journal of Zarya bint Tala'an
01.14.01
Today's Excursion - Outer to Mid Obsidian Plains
Preparation for hunting in this area:
Spells
First Spell Tab - Flame Bolt, Cassius' Ring of Fire, Fire
Vulnerability IV, Stamina to Mana I, Stamina to Mana III, Drain
Health I, Drain Stamina II, Drain Mana I, Harm Other I, Heal Self
III, Lifestone Recall
Second Spell Tab - Stamina to Mana I, Stamina to Mana III, Armor
Self V, Bludgeoning Protection Self V, Impenetrability V,
Bludgeon Bane V
Primary Quarry - Tusker Slave/Gaurd
What to Bane - Tuskers do not hit the Head or the Feet, so Imp/Bane
everything else
Zone Description
The outer Obsidian plains is differentiated from the Middle and
Inner Plains by what spawns there. It is common to see Mid-Druges,
Iron Golems, Tumeroks, Gold Wasps and Silver Rats mixed in with
the regular Obsidian Plains spawn types.
Landscape
The Obsidian Plains is basically a big black circle of glass,
with "cracks" in it filled with desert-looking terrain.
The outer plains also has stretches of dirt on it...the area is
relatively flat and easy to toss your bolts around on. The "cracks"
are large ravines filled with sand, with slopes that lead to the
higher Obsidian area.
Spawns
I'll go into some description of the spawn types here, enough to
get a basic feel of what to expect. I'll go into depth on the
creatures of this area in later Journal Entries.
Tuskers (Slaves/Gaurds)
These are the meat and potatoes for basically every mid level
mage, and are found in abundance here. Expect the worst to be a
swarm of about 20 tuskers coming after you at once.
Virindi (Puppets/Servants/Masters)
Magic casting cloaked figures. Mid-Level mages should avoid them
due to their tendancy to cast Bludgeoning Vulnerability. Puppets/Servants
cast level 4/5 War, level 4 Life Magic, and level 4 Slowness/Enfeeble,
Masters cast level 5/6 War, level 6 Life Magic, and level 4
Slowness/Enfeeble/Arcane Benightedness. They usually don't follow
you, but they can chase you a fair distance. They are invisible
until you get within their agitation range, though they to show
up on radar when they Emote.
Obsidian Golems
These things are found in abundance here, and blend in rather
well to the black landscape. They are especially annoying here,
as they can chase you for miles and miles, while you're trying to
kill tuskers at the same time. Invisible on radar.
Shadows
Umbris groups are plentiful in this region, and are the targets
for higher level characters due to their tendancy to drop fairly
good or expensive loot. Mid level mages should avoid them, though
it may be hard to spot them since they blend in almost perfectly
with the landscape. Invisible on radar.
Grievvers
Venomous/Harrower/Destroyer Grievvers are found here, they don't
try to hide, so you can easily spot them on radar. They also have
bright colors that stand out against the landscape. Avoid...you
can't kill them at this point anyways.
Altered Druges
One of the two varieties of High Druges. They wield lightning
weapons and are basically anti-mage. Don't get too close or
you'll pick up something you'll have to wait out before trying to
hunt again. Watch out for the tell-tale sparkle of lightning
weapons in the distance to avoid them. Visible on radar.
Diamond Golems
Stay away from these at all costs. They're designed to be a pain
in the butt, and work very well with Tuskers since they cast War/Life
Inept VI, Imperil/Blud Vuln VI, Weakness/Clumsiness/Slowness VI.
Not many people hunt these, unless they have a deathwish/nothing
better to do. Easily spotted, unless hiding behind a ridge.
Invisible on radar.
The Trip
I started at Small Black Hill base, and ran out to the swamp and
south a little ways. There, I entered a ravine that granted
access to the plains area. I then buffed and went out to look for
tuskers. The first tuskers I spotted were at a 3 ravine junction,
a Slave and a Gaurd watching their Virindi pals. A Fire Vuln drew
them out and I drained to about 100 hp, then used Flame Bolt.
Watching for undesirable creatures (anything other than a Tusker),
I quickly made my way to the mid-plains area, killing Tuskers I
encountered on the way.
The Middle Obsidian Plains is an area berefit of the extra lesser
monsters found in the outer plains area, and the spawns become
more dense. Many mages who have the sense to stay out of BSD hunt
here, but there's plenty of room, and thousands of targets.
People who recieve twinking may also be found here ocassionally.
In this area, it is easy to find solitary Tuskers left over by
the rampagin of higher level Mages, so this would be a nice spot
to level on solitary or even pairs of Tuskers.
Things to look out for
Big open areas with junk lying around...they look safe, but
there's probably something that's going to spawn there soon. I
was tanking some Gaurds when a family of Altered Druges spawned
and caught me with two Lightning Bolts and an Imperil V...needless
to say, I died quickly.
Targeting the wrong thing
Tuskers are always found around Virindi. While picking out
Tuskers to Vuln, I accidentally Vulned a Virindi Puppet...I
killed it, dodged 4 volleys of spells and had to run from the
Tuskers charging at me due to a Bludgeoning Vulnerability VI from
a friendly Virindi Master.
The Super Resistant Tusker
Occasionally, there will be a monster of a type that will seem to
have high Magic Resistance than usual...much higher. This
characteristic is seen in almost every type of monster, from
Water Golems to Tusker Gaurds to Relic Bones...the thing just
refuses to eat the spell and die. This occured twice to me today,
once with a Slave and once with a Gaurd. The Slave just kept
resisting my drains to the point where I ran out of mana and had
to run. The Gaurd resisted 15 Flame Bolt 5s, then I had to run
from it. When this happens, a player will get frustrated and
usually start @telling their friends online and complain about it.
Oh well, at least it isn't a very common occurence.
Other players
Quite a few people hunt/twink out here, so expect a few
inconsiderates or people running away from something they can't
handle. Nothing like getting 3 Destroyer Grievvers trained into
you by a passing archer while you're buffing.
Monsters fighting each other
Relatively rare occurence, though not rare enough not to see it
once in a while. This happens when something fires a Volley at a
player, and accidentally hits something else along the way. I've
seen a Diamond Golem plow though a group of Shadows and Virindi,
then the Tuskers gaurding the Virindi killing the Golem...fun to
watch, get screenshots and post them when you can ;p
A relatively uneventful trip. Easy experience and little stress.
I estimate the xp gain for me was ~500k an hour once I got into
the swing of things...should get better once my skills become
more reliable.
Hmm...nothing much to say today...a tribute to the monotony of
leveling on Tuskers.
Q & A / Discussion of Journal 4:
Question:
Do you regret taking item and not creature? Considering your high str, I would think you could carry pretty good armor.
Answer:
I maxed out strength for the express purpose of being a long-excursion-type mage. Having 240 base strength at level 70 is a real bonus, especially when lugging around loot on Aerlinthe, or carrying tons of comps/peas for leveling on the Corals/Silver Tuskers on the far side of Aerlinthe. Greater Strength = Greater Efficiency. Plus if I choose to pull out my racial weapon and have fun thwacking something around, I'll be able to hit as hard as any Staff Melee :P
As for taking Item over Creature, I am perfectly happy with my decision. Even with a high-al suit, Tuskers would still hit for a heckuvalot, plus its easy to travel this way.
Question:
My battlemage wears some pre-patch GSA and al 183 gaunts, all becomes around al 350 with impen V and unparalelled to bludgeon with bludgeon bane V, but I still take decent damage from slaves, as in the 5-15 range. I don't bother to buff underclothes, do you, and if so, do you find it worth it?
My mage has really slowed down leveling since now he has to watch his back against more things (running smack dab into a virindi/tusker spawn which was invisible to me is bad). He can only hunt the drudges and iron/copper golems now, with an occasional malus shreth or tusker slave. The obsidians that now take residence there are way too magic resistant to me, along with the greivvers, shadows, and virindi. The dire ursuins just hit me too hard to be worth hunting, and the tumeroks are still pointless. Is there any other place you can recommend? Or is it drudges until I find taking tuskers alot less of a challenge?
Answer:
I use that nifty no-drop explorer gear, plus a Willpower II bracelet, since there's no Explorer item of Willpower. I don't buffed underclothes, in fact i sincerely doubt they make a difference...If they did, a mage with level 6 buffs on his clothing and armor would be getting hit for 0 unless hit on the hands.
As for Tuskers, I can tank up to 3 with little difficulty, unless one is particularly stubborn, then I have to run, hehe.
If you can put up with the monotony, a relatively quick and easy place to get xp would be the dual granite rooms in Metos. Myself, I hunted in the Mid-Dires earlier on...
Commentary:
Some observations
I just came back from a similar expedition, starting from the plains portal at Black hill that drops you near the lighthouse. Once I got about 0.5 klicks from the drop off point I didn't see a soul. And altered drudges dont really seem to be anti mage, almost everything in the plains casts debuffs, and as they cast only level V stuff, a quick dispell )for someone with critter of course will put you in fighting shape again. And altered drudges drop some NICE loot, mostly weapons, made almost 10k off just one drudgeOh, and some grievvers dont appear on radar. Talking from expirience here :)
-ArtemiusRE: Some observations
I do realize that they drop good loot, but they are one of the most anti-mage creautres the game has to offer. Aside from Diamonds and Bone Lords, Altereds are the only creatures that cast war/life inepts on the mainland (an exception is when the trigger Hellfire for the SoLL portion of the Aerlinthe quest is slain, then The Firestorm in Crater, and the Plasma Golems, Vapors, Firestorms and Hellfire at Lethe appear). Altereds debuffing a regular/Og mage is bad enough...imagine getting debuffed as a Battlemage without creature...that would bring my skills down to ~160, not even enough to kill a Ravener.
-Zarya bint Tala'an