Having Some Fun in the Black Loch

Sometimes while questing in DDO, you will just run across one of those quest that is just plain fun.  One of these quests for me is The Black Loch.  While making my way through the quest, I always get reminded of the classic movie, Goonies.  I mean the feeling of running through the various caves and even having a pirate ship within a mountain just gives it that feel :).  I recently took Kanndar (Level 11 Paladin) through this quest and was reminded on how much it really is.

Kanndar starting his exploration of the Black Loch.

Kanndar admiring the pirate ship underground.

The Black Loch is part of the Sentinels of Stormreach chain.  It is a Level 7 quest on normal, making it a level 9 quest on elite.  The quest giver is Tyn d’Deneith, who is located in the House Deneith ward, not far away from transporters to Three Barrel Cove and Sorrowdusk Isle.  The storyline behind the quest is quite an interesting one.  Captain Tew’s Blood Tide pirates have taken complete control of the ruthless island of Three Barrel Cove and the local pirates have asked for help to recover their property and to drive the dangerous Captain Tew and his Blood Tide pirates out.

Kanndar attempts to surprise a necromancer in the Black Loch.

Kanndar dealing with the bearded zombie pirates…

One aspect of the quest is that it bring to life one of the explorer points found inside Three Barrel Cove, the Black Loch itself.  The Black Loch is a central location where the pirates dock their boats and store their bountiful hordes of loot.  You can explore this area when you are running around the wilderness area of three Barrel Cove and while running the quest The Black Loch it takes you “behind” the scenes so you can learn its secrets.

Dealing with some of the more annoying combatants in the Black Loch.

Those look to be some painful traps.

The Black Loch has a relatively windy map layout that is entirely in caves or caverns.  You have to obtain a few keys to unlock various doors that allow you to progress further in the quest.  These keys are protected by various Necromancer assistants who also need to be slain to complete the quest.  There is a large open cavern in the middle of The Black Loch that contains the pirate ship for Dheren Kiettuc, the head necromancer for the Blood Tide Pirates.  I’m not sure what it is, but whenever I enter this particular area of the quest I hit numerous lag spikes, so beware of that situation.

Kanndar wondering what evil rituals and spells were written in this necromancer’s spellbook.

While running through the quest, you will cross over suspension bridges, cave tunnels, come across a huge horde of gold, spot a large pirate airship sitting in an underground harbor, come across some nasty blade like spike traps, run through a portion of collapsing ceiling, and will have to take on a small army of undead failed experiments.  All of these little things make running this quest just that much more fun.

Kanndar taking note of the enemies guarding the pirate ship.

The monsters you encounter are not vary diverse.  You will encounter a bunch of undead, primarily various forms of zombie pirates or casters, who were revived by one of the necromancers in the quest.  You will come across annoying Blood Tide kobold stalkers, Blood Tide pirate hobgoblins, and Blood Tide orc shamans.  The end battles occurs on the docked pirate ship in the harbor and starts with a battle between a few waves of undead minions being sent forth by Dheren Kiettuc and then eventually you take on the head necromancer himself.

Look at the bounty!!

This dungeon even has some cave ins.

The length of the quest isn’t too bad.  It is a medium sized quest with a fair number of enemies to dispose of.  One thing to remember, once you defeat Dheren Kiettuc, his end chest contains the gold key that unlocks the wealth of The Black Loch but you have to make your way back their to uncover it, which you will want to do to get your access to two chests.

Kanndar paitently buying his time with Dheren Kiettuc.

Overall, the Black Loch is quite fun and I can easily draw a large number of similarities between in the classic Goonies :).  Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting out in the Black Loch 🙂