The Joys of Frustration?

Earlier this week, I ran into a number of situations that were quite frustrating to me during my questing this week.  I wrote about some of these situations in my overview of my quest runs last week.  Just to review, early in the week I took Lorrikk (Level 12 Monk) into the quest, Spies in the House on elite and ran into some situations with the air jets in there which prompted me to eventually fail and exit the quest.  Then later in the week, I took Hamllin (Level 15 Fighter, Level 14 at the time) into the quest Dreams of Insanity on elite and ran into some maneuvering issues which stopped me from finishing quest with all of my equipment destroyed and only one rune to activate.  However, I also ran into some mildly frustrating issues with Kolll (Level 22 Ranger/Shiradi Champion) and the Risia Ice Games and the habit of over jumping the purple coin on the final ramp.

Lorrikk enjoying taking down the enemies in the Blood Road…too bad that didn’t last.

The sources of my frustration for all of these runs weren’t because of enemies I was facing, the traps I was dealing with, or the need to time jumps but mostly centered around the mechanics of the dungeons or the event themselves.  In Spies in the House, I just had the unfortunate situation of running into latency issues and lag spikes during my attempts at using the air jets.  As a result of this situation, I couldn’t navigate Lorrikk up the next level and eventually landed on the electrified floor one too many times and suffered a miserable death because of it.  As for Hamllin, I made it all the way to the last encounter without any issues in Dreams of Insanity however, as I was navigating through the skinny catwalks in the last room to turn off all of the runes I would accidentally jump over the catwalk or I would fall off.  Eventually I did this so many times that the respawning beholders and tharaak hounds just found enough time to eat me and they enjoyed nibbling on my broken corpse so much that I had no equipment left which meant I had no feather fall, no speed boost, and no weapons to fight with.  All of this occurred with me needing only one rune to activate to finish the quest.  For Kolll, I can’t say how many times I have made my way smoothly to that last jump and only to find myself sailing over that purple coin and trying to maneuver at the last minute to grab it to watch it float by.

Hamllin did great in Dreams of Insanity until he had to activate the last rune…

While all of this might seem like a complaint, it really isn’t.  Its more of a “reality check” to me than anything else.  It just tells me that there are other issues in each dungeon and in each event that can keep you from reaching your objective and that you should always prepare for them as well.  Whether it is taking your time with the quest mechanics, trying to work around the lag or latency issues, and trying to hone your “Mario Brothers” skills.  I’m sure that if I had a party in either Spies in the House or in Dreams of Insanity that I would have completed the quest.  Unfortunately my run through Spies in the House was solo because I was running while playing my weekly digital table top game and for Dreams of Insanity I just didn’t find any other takers to join me.  As for Kolll, everything is based on timing and I find my timing is more “on target” than off.

Kolll preparing for his jumping and vowing not to jump over that purple coin!!!

So even though “frustration” can be viewed as a bad thing, it has to be weighed in the context of the event.  For me, it was more of a lesson to being a better, more rounded player.  The next time I do those quests I will need to try to learn from my hardships.  It also keeps the game interesting for me.  I learn that I just won’t complete every quest with my eyes closed every time I enter it, even if I know the quest inside and out.  Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of times where frustration isn’t a good thing such as a whole party getting wiped because of a lag spike, or quest mechanic that breaks in the game not allowing you to complete a quest but those weren’t the situations here.

In either case, those quests are under my hit list for those characters and they will be completed.  As for the Ice Games, Kolll will continue to harvest those coins (and jump over that purple coin more than I would like) and continue to get better at it.

Thanks for reading everybody and remember to learn from your good sources of “frustration”.  Happy hunting everybody!!

Interesting Week of Questing, Quest Runs Jan 26 to Jan 29

This week, I had a number of interesting and challenging quest runs.  Monday morning, I started everything out with some slayers in the Korthos Island with Cannock (Level 7 Druid) and enjoyed running around and slaying some cultists and sahaugin.  Later that afternoon, I logged on with Hamllin (Level 14 Fighter) and took him into the Sands of Menechtarun and put up a group for the quest An Offering of Blood.  I picked up two others from the LFM post and we proceeded through the Spiral of Vulkoor.  I had to laugh, as I was the only one to die but besides that hiccup, everything went smoothly.  I wish I could say I had the same experience Monday night.  I logged with Lorrikk (Level 12 Monk) and took him into Spies in the House where the air jets just plainly decided to work against me and eventually I died on the electrified floor of the elemental level.  No matter what I did, I couldn’t get up to the mephit level which was frustrating.  However, I did rescue all of the prisoners so I did get some experience for that.  I called it a night after that.

Cannock exploring the wilds of Korthos Island.

Hamllin making his way to An Offering of Blood.

Taking on the scorrow of the Vulkoor Spiral.

Lorrikk making his way through the Blood Road.

I started out Tuesday with some slayers in the Sands of Menechtarun with my newest character, Tuhnn (Bladeforged Paladin Level 15).  It was first time taking Tuhnn to meet any enemies so I was excited at getting the feel for him.  I had a decent time slaying the gnolls and undead.  I look forward to playing with him more.  That afternoon I logged on with Erdrique (Level 16 Monk) who I took into the quest Dreams of Insanity.  This quest can be extremely tough as it contains quite array of tharaak hounds, drow casters and clerics, drow scorpions, and our friendly beholders.  The end of it also has a series of runes that need to be activated that are along the skinny catwalks that are difficult to get to and navigate.  Although I did get killed once, I did complete it on elite with him.  That night, I took Garrrin (Level 22 Barbarian/Fury of the Wild) out into the Red Fens to complete the quest Into the Deep.  I played it on Epic Hard and was quite happy that I made it through the quest with little difficulty, although I did get killed once.  I also took Kolll (Level 22 Ranger/Shiradi Champion) into the Harbor to collect some more of the Risia Ice Game coins.

Tuhnn takes his first steps in adventuring in the desert.


Erdrique making his way through the Dreams of Insanity.

Garrrin invading the underwater base of the sahuagin.

Kolll preparing to do some jumping and skating in the Risia Ice Games.

Wednesday was a tough day questing wise.  I took Stoorage (Level 11 Fighter) out into the jungles of Sorrowdusk Isle and wracked up some slayers out there but the real troubles came later that afternoon.  I brought on Hamllin and took him into the quest Dreams of Insanity.  Unfortunately he didn’t fair as well as Erdrique.  I had a hard time at the very end when I was activating the runes I fell a number of times allowing some respawning beholders and tharaak hounds to eat me up.  In the end I had only one rune left to activate but everything I had was broken and I was forced to recall.  That quest has become priority one for Hamllin.  I didn’t log in Wednesday night as it was date night.

Stoorage exploring the numerous caves in Sorrowdusk Isle.

Hamllin sealing some rifts in Dreams of Insanity.

Thursday was much better.  I brought Hamllin back on and took him back into Three Barrel Cove so that he can continue to work on his slayers out there and to lick his wounds.  That afternoon, I brought on Erdrique and took him into the Sands of Menechatarun and completed the quest Maraud the Mines.  I was also joined by Ramjam later and we did some more slayers.  That night, I brought on Cantlin (Level 12 Sorcerer) and took him into Sorrowdusk Isle and completed the next two quests (The Fane of the Six: Cleansing the Temple and The Fane of the Six: Fall of the Prelate) in the Cult of Six story arc.  In the process he hit level 12.

Hamllin enjoying the night in Three Barrel Cove.

Erdrique jading Whirling Ozann.

Erdrique dealing with a firebrand caster in Maraud the Mines.

Cantlin enjoying the use of electric loop on the trolls in Sorrowdusk Isle.

Cantlin approaching the worship hall in the Temple of the Six.

So the questing this week had its challenges, which is good.  It keeps me on my toes !!  I’m hoping for a fun weekend of questing as well and I hope everybody else had a strong week in DDO.  Thanks for reading and happy hunting!!

Strangeness with Risia Ice Games This Year

This year during the Risia Ice Games I have noticed a number of strange things.  I mentioned in another blog post how the snow from the Harbor carried over into the desert.  Well, I had the same thing happen to me recently with the guild airship.  This occurred after I zoned out of the Harbor and onto our guild airship.  I thought it was pretty cool to see the weather of the instance carry forward and couldn’t help by grab a quick screenshot of the event because I’m not sure how much more it will happen.

Erdrique enjoying the snowy weather on the deck of the Crypt Crawler airship.

In any case, I’ll be curious to see if the snow will “carry” forward to other areas.  Fellow blogger Tholgrin mentioned he saw it snowing in the Demonweb and Sschindylyrn the other day as well.  Now that sure would have been an interesting sight!!  Thanks for reading everybody and watch out for that pesky snow!!  Happy hunting!!

A Closer Look at the Quest Into the Deep

Recently I took Garrrin (Level 22 Barbarian/Fury of the Wild) through the quest, Into the Deep.  Into the Deep is the capstone quest for the Red Fens.  To access the quest, you have to complete the other three quests out in the Red Fens: The Last Stand, Fathom the Depths, and The Claw of Vulkoor.  The order in which you complete these three is open.

The quest Into the Deep is unique in a few aspects.  First off, it actually takes place at the bottom of the inlet that leads into the Red Fens on the seafloor.  So the quest actually occurs underwater.  Now there are plenty of quests where you have to swim through to get to one side or another, but this particular quest is entirely underwater.  Now, with that said there are three temples that you have to navigate to and once you enter those temples, the water is sealed out so it is like you are traveling above ground normally.  But, navigating the tunnels requires you to travel along the seafloor and completely under water.  To do this, a rebel sahaugin casts a indestructible air bubble around you that you can use to breathe, move, attack, and swim with.  You can encounter a number of sahaugin guards as you are moving along seafloor who will attack from above as well as from the seafloor.

Garrrin swimming around in Into the Deep and fighting sahaugin patrols.

The first thing you need to do with this quest, is to head into the east and west temples and free the imprisoned water elementals.  Once these elementals have been freed, then you will be able to access the main temple in the north of the map.  The water elementals have been frozen and you have to break them free from their frozen prisons.  In the west temple, you have an optional to free the drow slaves and in the opposite temple you have an optional to destroy the scrag miners.  In the west temple, there are also two secret doors, one of which hides a chest.  The enemies in the temples consist primarily of high priests, elite warriors, high mages, and other sahaugin badies.  You will also encounter corrupted water elementals and scrags as well.  The mages and clerics can be easily difficult to deal with in large numbers.  In the west temple, when you are working on destroying the frozen prison of the water elemental you will be attacked by wave after wave of sahaugin and corrupted water elementals until the frozen prison is free.  In the eastern temple you have to make your way past respawning scrags and sahaugin as well as destroying a huge scrag mutant to get to the higher level to take on the high priest and free its water elemental.

Once these two elementals are defeated, you can move to the northern temple.  In their, you find that the rebellious sahaugin, the ones that helped you as you started the quest, have taken back control of the front portion of the palace and are not ready to help deal with the high priest.  You basically get a hoard of sahuagin warriors to help you deal with wave and wave of enemies.  After a few waves, you will be able to make your way up to the higher level where the High Priest is taunting you and to defeat her.  At that point you have completed the quest.

Now, there is one more optional you could do.  You can leave out of the northern temple and head south to the main platform area and swim down.  This was blocked and sealed, which breaks when you free the elementals.  Down this deep shaft is a very dangerous Hezerou that repawns a score of fire reavers.  This particular fight can be brutal.  Howeer, on epic settings, this is the fight that needs to be completed to get your epic chest.  This is perhaps the hardest fight in the entire quest.

Another optional objective is to collect a special sea plant that can the bee turned n for some small reward.  On top of that, there is slaying optional in the swimming area where you can work on reducing the enemy forces.

Currently, this is the only quest you can fight underwater in.  It is a fun quest, but it can be challenging if you are trying to solo it and you gather too much aggro.  But it is a fun quest .  If you ever get into the Red Fens I would recommend completing the flagging quests and running through the quest Into the Deep.  Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting!!

The Frustration of the Air Jets

When I was kid, I loved playing Nintendo and mastering my skills of jumping, floating, sliding, and maneuvering in games such as Super Mario Brothers 1 through 3, Super Pitfall, Commando, Contra, and the like.  However, as I have gotten older I see those skills have started fade some.  Although Risia Ice Games has helped to reinforce those twitch skills, there is still one aspect in DDO where I suffer greatly with that respect: the air jets.  In this instance, I’m talking about the air jets in Spies in the House.

I just took Lorrikk (Level 12 Monk) into Spies in the House and was laid down with the horrendous curse of air jet bane.  What is really frustrating with this situation is that I have completed a number of runs through Spies in the House with a few characters over the past few weeks.  However, during this instance the air jets in Spies in the House just didn’t want to cooperate with me.  I the first jet controlled by the rune wheel and the second one that shoots you to the valve that opens the doorway to the first prisoner were fine.  In fact, I had little difficulty getting past the skeletons and making my way to the first lightning floor room.

Lorrikk making his way through the Blood Road and was doing great here…to bad the air jets didn’t agree with him.

My troubles didn’t begin until after I made my way onto the elemental floor.  The elementals were a piece of cake for Lorrikk but I failed at my first attempt to take the air jet from the elemental floor to the mephit floor and then everything fell apart from there.  After I didn’t make it the mephit floor I fell all way back down to the floor below the elementals.  I then hopped onto the air jet to get to the elementals and was kicked over into the middle of the electrified floor as far away as possible from the safe crates.  I was ok and made it to the plates, healed up, and then failed again trying to get to the floor above the elementals.  I did this about three or four times and during the last two attempts I was killed on the electrified floor on the elemental level as I continued to be thrown to the farthest point away from the safe area as possible.  The last time this happened to me, my cleric ported to me, and then promptly died.  Another issue during this whole thing was that it appeared that my computer was glitching during the air jet jumps, as it would appear I would be on top of a safe spot and then found myself falling or at times I shot up and then the next thing I new I was falling past the elemental floor level.

I didn’t have any problems when I ran it with Hamllin, Erdrique, or Charlock.  Unfortunately, Lorrikk wasn’t as fortunate enough.  Spies in the House is now on his list for redemption!!  In any case, I still got nearly 4,000 experience out of it by rescuing everybody.  So it wasn’t a complete loss.

Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting out there and watch those air jets!!

Risia Ice Game Madness and Main Character Questing, Activities from January 23rd to January 25th

For me, this past weekend can be summed by mentioning two characters: Kolll (Level 22 Ranger/Shiradi Champion) and Erdrique (Level 16 Monk).  My DDO fun over this past weekend was dominated by running Erdrique through a few quests and hitting level 16 and then taking my Kolll into the Harbor to show off his Risia Ice Games finesse (yeah right…).  Even with that said, I actually started my weekend by taking Garrrin (Level 22 Barbarian/Fury of the Wild) out into heroic Ruins of Gianthold for my morning slayer run.  I wracked up a few more Stormfist slayers before I headed off to work.  When I got back home from work, I took Erdrique out into House Phiarlan and took him into The Spawn of Whisperdoom on elite.  I didn’t have any major issues here and made me way rather quickly to Whisperdoom to finish off the quest.  That night, I logged Erdrique back on and took him into the Sands of Menechtarun and continued to work on gnoll slayers.  I then took Erdrique into Raid the Vulkoorim on elite.  After those runs, I then logged on with Kolll and commenced in collecting the Risia Ice Game coins.  I typically do this with Kolll just because I’m used to using him to do this event.  After I collected a number of purple coins, I headed off to bed.

Garrrin getting ready to surprise some of the Stormfist in Gianthold.

A sign of casters in the Spawn of Whisperdoom.

Erdrique dealing with the gnolls in the Desert.

Erdrique putting a scorrow cleric a tomb of jade.

Beautiful snowy night in the Harbor.

The first thing I did on Saturday was to log on with Kolll once again to do some more Risia Ice Game coin collecting.  I then logged on with Erdrique, and took advantage of the poor weather here, I ran through the Tomb of the Unhallowed.   I then logged out for awhile and came back on with Erdrique once again and took him Sands of Menectharun to try to hunt down the last of the rares out there and then I took him into the Enemy Within.  I was actually a little surprised in here.  I ran into a few issues where I failed a few saves on wound being danced one too many times, along with my cleric hireling.  I had to use a raise cake to get back to par, but I was able to finish the quest on elite.  After I completed that quest I had enough experience to hit level 16.  After I leveled, I went to the Cannith Crafting station and to the bank and upgraded a lot of gear in preparation for levels 16 to 20 :).  I then logged Kolll back on for more Harbor jumping.

Kolll working through the Risia Ice Games.

Erd noticing three different types of sarcophagi in the Tomb of the Unhalloed.

Erdrique fighting Vorvand in the Sands of Menechtarun.

Erdrique making his way through the quest The Enemy Within.

Sunday, I started off with Kolll once again and collected a few more purple coins.  I was then scheduled to bring on Erdrique once again and this time I took him into A Relic of the Sovereign Past.  I had no issues with the plethora of duergar and had fun making my way through those tunnels.  I called it a night after that run.

Kolll preparing to do some skating and jumping.

Erdrique hitting up the Black Anvil Mines.

So the weekend was dominated by running Erdrique, who I leveled, and with Kolll to grab up some of those Risia Ice Game coins.  Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting and jumping!!

Weather Changes in the Desert

After experimenting with Erdrique in the Risia Ice Games for a little while I left the Harbor and its snowy weather to head to the Sands of Menechtarun.  An interesting thing happened when I left the Harbor though and came into Zawabi’s Refuge.  The snow seemed to have followed me.

It is snowing in the desert.

Snowing into the many crevices of Zawabi’s Refuge.

It was a strange sight indeed and the weather cleared up when I came back out of the desert and back into Zawabi’s Refuge.  Well, I guess there is always the change for freak snow storms right? 😛

Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting in the desert!!

My First Iconic-Tuhnn Tantegel-Bladeforged Paladin

One of the things I have wanted to do for a little while now is to create my first Iconic Character.  So this is my first attempt at that.  I started out with a Bladeforged Icnoic and decided to level him up through the Bladeforge and Knight of the Chalice enhancement lines.  My main focus is for him to have a good source of intimidate and to have a decent UMD skill to use repair, displacement, greater heroism, and other buff scrolls.  This character will be an interesting compliment to my favored soul, Harrgon.  So here are my concepts for Tuhnn Tantegel.

Character Plan by DDO Character Planner Version 04.20.02
http://www.rjcyberware.com/DDO

Tuhnn Tantegel
Level 28 Lawful Good Bladeforged Male

(20 Paladin \ 8 Epic)
Hit Points: 454
Spell Points: 260
BAB: 20\20\25\30\30
Fortitude: 21
Reflex: 10
Will: 11

Abilities (32 Points)	Starting Base Stats (Level 1)	Ending Base Stats (Level 28)	Feat/Enhancement Modified Stats (Level 28)
Strength	16	23	25
Dexterity	10	10	10
Constitution	16	16	18
Intelligence	10	10	10
Wisdom	10	10	10
Charisma	14	14	16

Skills	Base Starting Skills (Level 1)		Feat/Enhancement Modified Skills (Level 28)
Balance	1		11
Bluff	2		11
Concentration	3		12
Diplomacy	2		12
Disable Device	n/a		n/a
Haggle	2		11
Heal	0		8
Hide	1		8
Intimidate	6		34
Jump	3		15
Listen	0		9
Move Silently	0		8
Open Lock	n/a		n/a
Perform	n/a		n/a
Repair	0		10
Search	0		9
Spellcraft	0		8
Spot	0		9
Swim	3		15
Tumble	n/a		n/a
Use Magical Device	3		21

Level 1 (Paladin)
Skill: Balance (+1)
Skill: Intimidate (+4)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+1)
Feat: (Deity) Follower of the Lord of Blades
Feat: (Selected) Two Handed Fighting
Feat: (Automatic) Attack
Feat: (Automatic) Aura of Good
Feat: (Automatic) Bladeforged
Feat: (Automatic) Composite Plating
Feat: (Automatic) Defensive Fighting
Feat: (Automatic) Heavy Armor Proficiency
Feat: (Automatic) Heroic Durability
Feat: (Automatic) Light Armor Proficiency
Feat: (Automatic) Light Fortification
Feat: (Automatic) Martial Weapon Proficiency (ALL)
Feat: (Automatic) Medium Armor Proficiency
Feat: (Automatic) Shield Proficiency (General)
Feat: (Automatic) Simple Weapon Proficiency
Feat: (Automatic) Smite Evil
Feat: (Automatic) Sneak
Feat: (Automatic) Sunder
Feat: (Automatic) Trip
Feat: (Automatic) Warforged Traits
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Improved Fortification (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Construct Toughness (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Fiendslayer I (Rank 1)

Level 2 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Automatic) Divine Grace
Feat: (Automatic) Lay on Hands
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Communion of Sentinel (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Mechanist (Rank 1)

Level 3 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Power Attack
Feat: (Automatic) Aura of Courage
Feat: (Automatic) Divine Health
Feat: (Automatic) Fear Immunity
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Extra Smite (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Extra Smite (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Attack Boost (Rank 1)

Level 4 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Automatic) Turn Undead
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Warforged Constitution (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Courage of Heaven (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Divine Light (Rank 1)

Level 5 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Automatic) Improved Heroic Durability
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Great Weapon Aptitude (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Divine Might (Rank 1)

Level 6 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Toughness
Feat: (Automatic) Bladesworn Transformation
Feat: (Automatic) Remove Disease
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Great Weapon Aptitude (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Fiendslayer II (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Extra Smite (Rank 1)

Level 7 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Improved Fortification (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Great Weapon Aptitude (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Extra Smite (Rank 2)

Level 8 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Communion of Scribing (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Communion of Scribing (Rank 2)

Level 9 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Stunning Blow
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Communion of Scribing (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Warforged Tactics (Rank 1)

Level 10 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Divine Might (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Divine Might (Rank 3)

Level 11 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Warforged Constitution (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Warforged Tactics (Rank 2)

Level 12 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Improved Two Handed Fighting
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Divine Sacrifice (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Divine Sacrifice (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Exalted Smite (Rank 1)

Level 13 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Warforged Tactics (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Construct Toughness (Rank 1)

Level 14 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Improved Courage of Heaven (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Divine Sacrifice (Rank 3)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Strength (Rank 1)

Level 15 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Cleave
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Divine Light (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Censure Demons (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Strength (Rank 1)

Level 16 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Exalted Smite (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Exalted Smite (Rank 3)

Level 17 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Fearsome Presence (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Weapon Attachment (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Censure Outsiders (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Holy Retribution (Rank 1)

Level 18 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Feat: (Selected) Greater Two Handed Fighting
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Brute Fighting (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Holy Retribution (Rank 2)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Holy Retribution (Rank 3)

Level 19 (Paladin)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Skill: Use Magic Device (+0.5)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Improved Fortification (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Power of the Forge (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Fiendslayer III (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Divine Light (Rank 3)

Level 20 (Paladin)
Ability Raise: STR
Skill: Diplomacy (+1)
Skill: Intimidate (+1)
Enhancement: Bladeforged – Construct Stability (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Champion of Good (Rank 1)
Enhancement: Knight of the Chalice (Pal) – Rally (Rank 1)

Level 21 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Great Cleave
Feat: (Automatic) Epic: Epic Skills

Level 22 (Epic)

Level 23 (Epic)

Level 24 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Great Strength

Level 25 (Epic)
Level 26 (Epic)
Feat: (Epic Destiny) Epic Destiny: Holy Strike

Level 27 (Epic)
Feat: (Selected) Epic: Blinding Speed

Level 28 (Epic)
Ability Raise: STR
Feat: (Epic Destiny) Epic Destiny: Forced Escape

My first iconic, Tuhnn Tantegel straight off the forge!!

I’m looking forward to experimenting with Tuhnn.  I’ll probably focus on knocking out a favor run and a regular run with him until I get all of those lower level quests completed.  Not sure if I will bother with the lower level slayer zones yet, I might but I’ll probably start with the Desert in that respect.  Should be some fun playing.

Thanks for reading and happy hunting out there!!

Mid-Level Questing this Week, January 19th to January 22rd

My questing this week was dominated by running characters through the middle levels.  To start everything off this week, I took Lorrik (Level 12 Monk) out into the wild jungles of Sorrowdusk Isle to continue his slayers out there.  During my afternoon run, I took my main Erdrique (Level 15 Monk) through the quest And the Dead Shall Rise and I was even lucky enough to pick up a random player to join me :).  During my night run, I took Kanndar (Level 11 Paladin) into The Tide Turns and completed the Sentinels of Stormreach Storyarc.  After that run with Kanndar I called it a night.

Lorrikk hunting in Sorrowdusk Isle.

Erdrique staring up at the Spire of Validus and preparing to enter the quest And the Dead Shall Rise.

Kanndar making his way through the Tide Turns.

For Tuesday, I took a lower level character on my premium account, Crawlller (Level 6 Ranger) into the deep jungles of Tangleroot Gorge and collected some more slayers of the hobgoblins and other denizens running wild out there.  During the afternoon, I took my other heroic true reincarnated character, Hamllin (Level 14 Fighter) into the Sands of Menechtarun and ran Raid the Vulkoorim with fellow guildie Doomhog.  Needless to say we blew through it.  That night I logged on with Hamllin again, and I was joined up with Stickthis, and we took on Tomb of the Tormented and Tomb of the Forbidden allowing Hamllin to get his revenge on Tormented when he had to leave the quest early last week because it was taking too long.

Crawlller exploring the wilds of Tangleroot Gorge.

Hamllin prepping to ruin the day for these gnolls in the Desert.

Hamllin taking on a scorrow cleric in Raid the Vulkoorim.

Hamllin hoping the “champion” rat won’t die easily in Tomb of the Tormented.

Dealing with some glass spiders in Tomb of the Forbidden.

On Wednesday, I took Berann (Level 7 Barbarian) and nearly completed all of the slayers in the Waterworks first thing in the morning.  That afternoon, I logged back on with Erdrique and took on Devil Assault on Hard.  Although I had already started the quest, I still brought in Stickthis to gain the experience and loot as well as taking care of teleporting mobs every once in a while.  I didn’t log in Wednesday night because it was date night.

Berann looking for some slayers to collect in the Waterworks.

Erdrique laying down the champions in Devil Assault.

Thursday started off with me taking Rimuldar (Level 23 Wizard/Magister) out into the Vale of Twilight where he continued to work on his Shavarath slayers.  That afternoon I logged back on with Hamllin and I took him into the quest The Enemy Within and actually had a little bit of a tough time in there.  I wound getting killed twice I believe, once because I fell into a trap, and then once again because my hireling cleric was having some issues and I failed to recognize that.  However, besides those hiccups I did wind up pushing through it on elite.  The last quest I ran for the week, was with Charlock (Level 13 Fighter) who I took into Spies in the House on elite and I had a surprisingly easy time in there.  Although I did struggle controlling him with the air jets, I didn’t suffer any deaths or any other major issues.  It was actually a refreshing run.

Rimuldar hunting for some devils in the Vale of Twilight.

Hamllin fighting the frostmarrow undead in The Enemy Within.

Charlock freeing some prisoners in Spies in the House.

Overall, a fun set of quests.  Again, it was a week with a lot of undead encounters but the quests were quite varied in terms of duration, traps, and map complexity.  I hoping to have just as much fun during the weekend as well as getting some Risia Ice Games into the mix :).  Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting!!

The World of Stunning

Currently, Erdrique (Level 15) is running through a monk life and so far I have been having a good time.  I have decided to run Erdrique as a Shintao monk primarily and as a result one of his abilities includes the use of Kukan-do.  Kukan-do is a fifth tier enhancement in the Shintao line that allows you to stun an enemy from a distance.  It is kind of like a ranged stunning blow.  The DC for Kukan-do is based on your Charisma Modifier and your monk level.  Although my Charisma score isn’t the greatest, it still appears to be working quite well.

Erdrique laying down stuns all over the place in Devil’s Assault on hard.

On top of Kukan-do, I also took the feats Stunning Blow and Stunning Fist.  With these two feats and the Kukan-do ability I have been having a blast stunning monsters all over the place.  Enemies I have particular focused on have included the casters, monster champions, and ranged type monsters.  It hasn’t been uncommon for me to have three stunned monsters around me, with their thoughts swirling around their heads, until I cleaved them to death :).  In any case, I have been having a lot of fun with these combat abilities.  I don’t have any gear to enhance my stunning abilities but I still land these attacks much more than I fail.  It has been a nice little form of crowd control for me.

Kukan-do and Stunning Fist both use up a small portion of my Ki so I usually focus on stunning blow until I have gathered a decent amount of Ki to expend.  At that point, I start having a grand all time with all three abilities.  In any case, it has been one of the more notable aspects that I have noticed with playing the monk class with Erdrique.  I’m looking forward to getting up to level 20 with him :).

Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting all!!