I See You But I Don’t

One of the things that I liked to do with as many of my builds as possible is to boost up their spot skill so that I can notice as many hidden enemies as possible.  However, one thing I have noticed is that there are cases when my characters spot an enemy but I, as the player, cannot literally see them.  As I continue to take Hamllin (Level 16 Fighter) through the Red Fens I notice this quite a bit.

Hamllin picking up the spider approaching him head on and in this instance I was able to see it as well. 

There are a number of “sneaky” enemies in the Red Fens, primarily the darkfang hunters (spiders), Fen cats (black panthers), and vine stalkers.  Like the above screenshot, my character will pick up on these stealthy enemies and in most cases I will notice them as well and can see what direction they are coming from or where they are hiding if they haven’t spotted my character yet.

This time Hamllin spotted something but I couldn’t see it.

However, in other cases, my character will pick up an enemy with their sport skill and it will pop up in my focus orb but as a player it takes me forever to either locate the enemy or I just simply don’t find it and just continue on until the monster attacks me.  That’s what happened in the second screenshot their, although I wasn’t quick enough to capture the appearance of the enemy in the focus orb (I believe it was another spider).  Sometimes this happen for a few reasons.  One, I just simply am blind and can’t see the enemy :P, two the monster/enemy has just moved out of range (so it is a patrol and was actually walking away from my character instead of towards it), or three the creature is actually being hidden by my user interface set up/hot bars.  Such as this:

If you can’t see the Fen Cat, look up to the top right of the screenshot and you will see it under my mini-map.

Needless to say, I find this to be an interesting and sometimes annoying phenomenon.  It sometimes makes me wonder if I need to my eyes checked…lol.  Then again, I am getting old so maybe my sight is going :P.

Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting in the wilds of the Red Fens!!

The Smuggler’s Warehouse, A Staple in the Harbor

The wide variety of quests in the Stormreach Harbor makes questing in that area interesting and introduces new players to the various types of encounters and situations that they might run into later.  One of these quests, and a staple for me to run through with every character and/or heroic true reincarnation life, is The Smuggler’s Warehouse.  The Smuggler’s Warehouse is a level 2 quest on normal which makes it a level 4 quest on elite.  The quest giver is named Fitzpat the Fence.  Fitzpat is standing just outside of the entrance to the warehouse, not far way from the Wayward Lobster Tavern.  As you talk to Fitzpat, he tells you that the warehouse has been abandoned for over a year and that it used to be own by House Jorasco.  It also turns out that it used to be a smuggler’s hideout as well, where some smuggler’s would hide their goods to retrieve later.  Evidently Fitzpat has learned that the warehouse still contains some ruby-like gems that are made of glass that evidently seem to contain some type of magical property.  Of course Fitzpat doesn’t tell you how he has learned this information or what type of magical property these gems have.  But since you are looking for a job anyway, what does it really matter, right?  🙂

Fitzpat also mentions to you to expect to come across kobolds and then he used the term “vermin” later on.  On the original pass through of the conversation one would think that he was simply calling the kobolds vermin but you learn so enough that isn’t quite the case.  He also doesn’t mention anything about traps either…again not quite the case.

The warehouse itself is a dingy building composed of series of long and danky hallways and corridors.  It is filled with various crates, barrels, and sacks.  As you enter the warehouse it doesn’t take long for you to encounter the ever so familiar kobold of the Harbor but you also encounter a large scorpion.  The pathways through the warehouse are pretty straight forward.  There are a couple of traps in there which could be quite annoying if you aren’t prepared for them, one being a cold trap just in front of a locked door and another being a large blade trap leading down/up a ramp (depending on the direction you are going).  There is also a nice little fire trap to deal with.  There is also one secret door that hides a party of scorpions and a chest.

Your primary objective to completing the quest is to find the various “rubies.”  The rubies are stored in the barrels  that are dispersed throughout the quest.  You have to find 10 of them.  The one thing this quest teaches for those new to game is how important breaking barrels and crates can be.  If you miss a barrel, it could be the one barrel containing that last gem you need to complete the quest making you run back through the entire map to find it (my guildie hates this quest because of that).  I still have yet to see a ruby drop from a breakable crate, they only seem to drop from barrels.

The enemies you encounter in here are either kobolds, scorpions, or spiders.  Their is a chance to come across three different orange named kobold witch doctors, an orange named scorpion, or an orange named spiders.  Each one of these critters has a special named item that they can drop, but nothing extremely ground breaking.  The main thing to realize here, is that after you pass the first few rooms and hallways of kobolds the “vermin” Fitzpat was talking about because more apparent as you start to fight more and more scorpions and spiders.  The three little “factions” have seemed to split the warehouse amongst themselves, not really overlapping all that much.

Cannock dealing with one of the optional orange named kobold witch doctors, Raktu, in the Smuggler’s Warehouse.

The quest is a good beginner quest for sure but it can also be frustrating if you are zooming through it and don’t break all of the barrels to find the rubies to complete it.  This will force you to waste time by going back through the warehouse to find those barrels you skipped.  It is best to take a thorough look around you and see what is left to break before zerging off.  Like I said earlier, it is always a staple for me to run.

Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting in the Smuggler’s Warehouse.

What a Reward from Catacombs!!

Over the weekend, I took Crawlller (Level 6 Ranger) through the rest of the Catacombs story arc.  Crawlller is on my premium account and as a result can only open the quests on normal so I’ll have to run it two more times to get the maximum amount of favor out of the quest.  So, as I completed my first run through the chain, I went to go and collect by reward and was offered this:

Crawlller receiving a guild amenity as a story arc reward for Catacombs. 

It was pretty cool to see a guildship amenity drop as a potential award.  I was offered the “Danger Room.”  I gladly accepted it as we still needed it and it is actually our first astral shard based amenity.   Now this gives me another incentive for running the chain once again on hard and on elite :).

Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting!!

A Challenging Type Weekend, Questing April 24th to April 26th

This past weekend was primarily dominated with runs through some of the Cannith Challenge quests as I keep working to upgrade Erdrique’s Ring of the Stalker and Spare Hands.  However, to begin the weekend I took my first iconic character, Tuhnn (Level 15 Bladeforged) out into the Sands of Menechtarun to enjoy the beautiful moonlight and to do some slaying :).  That afternoon, I logged on with Erdrique (Level 7 Rogue) and took him through the Depths of Discord.  Later on that night, I logged back on with Erdrique and I was joined by Hellbanisher and we headed our way over to the Marketplace and completed Archer Point Defense on elite and then we made our way to House Phiarlan to tackle the Carnival Series.  We completed Partycrashers, The Snitch, and Under the Big Top, all on elite, before Hellbanisher called it a night.  I then took Erdrique into a slayer run through Tangleroot Gorge and then logged on with Berann (Level 8 Barbarian) to try to run the Cannith Challenge, Lava Caves: Colossal Crystal.  By using the advice from Grimorde, I was able to get some completions in this tough challenge 🙂 (thanks Grim!!).  After that I called it a night.

Tuhnn enjoying his nightly stroll through the Desert.

Erdrique making his way through the Depths of Discord.

In the midst of battle at Archer Point Defense.

Ranging the Mark of Shadow from afar to avoid the spikes.

Erdrique and Hellbanisher running through the pipes to find The Snitch.

Erdrique and Hellbanisher fighting against Malicia in Under the Big Top.

Erdrique coming across Kornak in the Gorge.

Berann hoping to find a colossal crystal.

Now on Saturday I didn’t actually plan on logging in but my wife was asked to do some babysitting so I took advantage of the time by bringing in Berann once again to do a couple more runs through the Lava Caves: Colossal Crystal.  Once I figured out I had enough jaded scorpions for my Ring of the Stalker, I then noticed that the next challenge I need to run was Extraplanar Palace: Labor Shortage.  Since that quest range starts at level 14, I logged out with Berann and back in with Charlock (Level 14 Fighter).  I then worked my way through three iterations of the Extraplanar Palace: Labor Shortage and received enough Arcanaloth Scrolls.  Now the only thing I need are the Jeweled Goblets.  Hopefully will get those this week.  After that, I called it a night.

Berann fighting the unusual lions in the Lava Caves.

Charlock protecting the kobolds in the Extraplanar Palace: Labor Shortage.

On Sunday, I logged on with Crawlller (Level 6 Ranger) and took him through the rest of the Catacombs story arc on normal.  I completed Setting the Wards: The Lower Cathedral, Setting the Wards: Patriarch’s Crypt, Endgame: Marguerite, and Endgame: Archbishop’s Fate.  Once those were knocked out, I took Crawlller into a Cannith Challenge as well, Lava Caves: Circles of Power and was happy to knock that one out.  After that run, I called it a night.

Crawlller taking note of the altar.

Crawlller fighting ghasts in the Patriarch’s Crypt.

Crawlller dealing with the undead swarm.

Arkasic reveals himself.

Crawlller directing traffic in Circles of Power.

So it was a “challenging” weekend indeed :).  I hope everybody else had a fun weekend!!  Thanks for reading and happy hunting!!

A Walk Through Archer Point Defense

The one thing your character learns as they progress through their adventuring career in Stormreach is that the city is constantly under siege by one monster force or another.  Sometimes is from kobolds (Kobold Assault), sometimes its from more potent enemies such as hobgoblins, bugbears, and ogres (Gladewatch Outpost) and sometimes if from the forces of a monster nation (Attack on Stormreach).  Another instance of this type of situation also exists with the quest Archer Point Defense.

Archer Point is the Fortress for Jasper’s Raiders.  Jasper’s Raiders are a mercenary group who are hired out by merchants to provide protection for their traveling caravans and to ward off enemy monster invaders.  The group’s leader and quest giver Jasper Cruikshank agreed to a lucrative contract with the coin lords that required him to send all of his troops to do the job.  This has left the fortress completely vulnerable and Jasper has another caravan he has committed to protecting coming in.  To make matters worse, an large contingent of hobgoblin forces have picked up on the caravan and are trailing the caravan to Archer Point Defense.  Jasper wants to hire you and your party to protect the caravan by taking out the enemies.

Erd making short work of the hobgoblins, bugbears, worgs, and ogres in Archer Point Defense.

This particular quest can be quite challenging if you don’t know what to expect.  You have two main objectives that must be completed before your time runs out.  This is also is probably one of the first quest you will come across that is timed.  The main objectives include thinning out the enemy monster forces by killing 45 different enemies and the second is to kill the hobgoblin chief.  Taking out the first objective will be easy enough, however finding the hobgoblin chief can be tricky and this is where you will lose the majority of your time.

As you enter the quest you will have some time to get your party together and buffed before the enemy ogres and hobgoblins break down the fortress doors.  Once you take them out, you will then be able to enter the surrounding forest to hunt down the enemy forces and to find the hobgoblin chief.  Luckily the hobgoblin chief is always located in the same location.  I typically head to the south as soon as the initial fight is over and follow that path.  Along the way you battle numerous hobgoblins and bugbears, including their worg pets, and a few orges.  The shamans in this quest are particularly annoying.  Eventually the path will lead you around the fort where you will encounter an optional to kill an ogre shaman, who is guarding a chest, and then heading straight into the woods from that point you will come across the camp of the hobgoblin chief.

The hobgoblin chief will be guarded by a decide size contingent of hobgoblins, ogres, and worgs.  Once you take the hobgoblin chief out, the quest will complete (assuming of course you have also taken out the 45 other kills, which should easily occur by then).  There are two chests to loot after that fight.

Once you get a path down to the hobgoblin chief, the quest is relatively easy, even on elite.  However, with that said, it is also very easy to get overwhelmed.  The mobs in this quest tend to hang out in camps, with more enemies than just those in patrols.  To make things more interesting, the camps also tend to have shamans that need to be destroyed or taken care of first.

Overall, the quest is unique in that you don’t have to stay within the fort to protect anything.  Instead you invade the enemy forces that are surrounding the fort and create havoc.  The fact that the quest is timed can be annoying but becomes more or nuisance as you get the hang of it.

When you get a chance, check it out.  It is a Free to Play quest and can be quite challenging on a first few go rounds.  Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting in Archer Point Defense.

Enemy Profile- Bonechewer the Foul

Well, it has been a little while since I picked an enemy to do a profile on and I figured it would be nice to pick it back up.  With Erdrique (Level 7 Rogue) currently working through his next life I have been going back over those lower level quests and encountering some of those enemies that I have forgotten about.  One of these enemies is a nasty troll named Bonechewer the Foul.  Bonechewer the Foul is found in the quest Depths of Discord, and in this instance, I found him guarding the fist valve.  According to the DDOWiki, he can also be located guarding the second valve as well.

Bonechewer the Foul in the Depths of Discord.

When Bonechewer is guarding the first valve, he isn’t alone.  He tends to be associated with annoying slimes which makes things a little complicated because you have to deal with them as well as Bonechewer, doing everything you can do to avoid destroying your best weapon because of the damage the slimes put on your equipment.  Like most other trolls, Bonechewer is armed with a primitive but brutal club.  He can also inflict slashing damage with the claws of his other hand.  He also has a longbow when he needs to range us annoying adventurers.  Also, just like other trolls, he has a special three sweep attack that can land a large amount of damage.  The club inflicts bludgeoning damage, the claws rake you with slashing damange, and longbow inflicts piercing damage.

Erdrique battling Bonechewer along the sloping sewer in the Depths of Discord.

Bonechewer, on elite at least, appeared to have just under 425 hit points.  Of course this could have been skewed a little bit because he was also champion during this situation.  Like other trolls, he is vulnerable to fire and acid damage and he is also evil so holy and pure good damage is also quite potent to him.

So if you are venturing into the Depths of Discord in House Deneith be weary of this monster.  If he is present in your run he will be guarding one of the valves.  He is an optional, orange named rare encounter so he doesn’t always spawn.  He also appears to have a comrade as well, Slimepus the Foul Breathed, another vicious troll.  These particular brutes can be extremely dangerous to our low level adventurers if they aren’t prepared.

Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting down the trolls in DDO!!

Another Diverse Week, Quest Runs April 20th to April 23rd

I had another wide variety of questing activities this past week.  To kick off the week, on Monday morning I took Berann (Level 8 Barbarian) out into the wild jungles of Tangleroot Gorge.  He continues to collect his slayer kills out there while also hunting down the last of his rare encounters.  That afternoon I logged on with Erdrique (Level 7 Rogue) and took him into the Halls of Shan-to-Kor and completed the quest on elite.  Later that night, I logged on with Berann who finished up the last two quests in the Waterworks: Venn’s Trail: Clan Tunnelworm and Venn’s Trail: Venn’s Fate.  After completing those quests I then had enough experience to move Berann up to level 8.  So after that, I called it a night.

Berann fighting the spider queen, Silkweave.

Erdrique coming across a minotaur in the Halls of Shan-to-Kor.

Berann looking for Venn in Clan Tunnelworm.

Berann exploring the cells of Clan Tunnelworm looking for Venn.

Tuesday started off with a slayer run in the King’s Forest with Rimuldar (Level 23 Wizard/Magister).  I still have quite a bit to explore in this area.  I think I just need to devote a whole night to running around the King’s Forest so that I can find all of the journals and quest entrances.  I’ll hit it up eventually.  Later in the afternoon, I logged on with Hamllin (Level 16 Fighter) and I continued his slayer runs through the Red Fens and I took him through a few circuits with the Festival of the Traveler.  Speaking of the Festival of the Traveler, I also logged on with Stoorage (Level 11 Fighter) to do a few circuits through the Marketplace as well.  Later that night, I logged on with Sludgge (21 Rogue/Shadowdancer) and I worked on resetting his enhancements and then I tested them out by heading out into the Red Fens and working on the last quest in that chain, Into the Deep.  Needless to say I was quite impressed with a few things.  Although Sludgge is a two weapon fighter, with the changes to repeating crossbows he has also become quite a ranged threat.  I also really enjoyed using his Mechanic ability Time Bomb and had fun time blowing up sahaugin on epic normal.  I then closed out the night by taking Sludgge through a circuit of the Festival of the Traveler.

Rimuldar making his way through the King’s Forest.

Hamllin coming across a sneaky Fen Cat in the Red Fens.

Hamllin decides to take a run with the Festival of the Traveler.

Stoorage making the route through the Marketplace for the Festival of the Traveler.

Sludgge invading the sahaugin base in the Red Fens.

Sludgge hunting for some eggs in the Marketplace.

Wednesday, it was Garrrin’s (Level 21 Barbarian/Fury of the Wild) to enter the King’s Forrest to do some exploration.  Garrrin has just started to work on the epic slayer zones so it should be a productive time for him.  That was the only run I was able to get done on Wednesday.

Garrrin battling the evil drow in the King’s Forest.

For Thursday, I logged on with Cannock (Level 7 Druid) in the morning and took him through Korthos Island where he is still working on his slayers out there, although he should be wrapping that up soon.  During the afternoon, I took Hamllin back into the Red Fens and continued to work on his slayers out there.  On Thursday night, I logged back on with Cannock and took him through the wilds of Korthos Island once again and then I headed out to the Harbor and completed The Smuggler’s Warehouse, Recovering the Lost Tome, and The Miller’s Debt.  I also took Stoorage through one last run of the Festival of the Traveler.  I called it a night after that.

Cannock attacking the cultists in Korthos Island.

Cannock dealing with the enemies in Korthos Island.

Cannock stunning Witch Doctor Raktu in the Smuggler’s Warehouse.

Cannock dealing with the Miller’s metal dogs.

Stoorage making one last circuit in the Marketplace for the Festival of the Traveler.

So that was my week in DDO.  Not a bad week at all.  Hoping for a productive weekend as well.  I hope everybody else had  wonderful week and has a great weekend.  Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting!!

Liking the Change to Time Bomb

This past week was the first time I have had a chance to log in with Sludgge (Level 21 Rogue/Shadowdancer) since Update 25 was released.  Along with one of the most anticipated quests to be released, The Temple of Elemental Evil, Update 25 also brought with it a significant change to the rogue prestige enhancement lines.  Needless to say it had a significant effect on Sludgge.  Sludgge is primarily focused as a Mechanic.  One of the unique features of this prestige enhancement is the tier 5 enhancement, Time Bomb.  This particular enhancement involves placing a supercharge explosive at your feet and that then explodes in a spectacular fashion dealing damage to all your enemies within its blast radius.

The specific changes to Time Bomb are the following:
*    Cooldown set to 20 seconds
*    Animation for setting the bomb is quick
*    Time before it explodes has been reduced to two seconds
*    Saving throw against knockdown effect is now 10/14/18 per Rogue Level + Intelligence Modifier + Trap Bonus as the DC
*    Action point cost per rank was reduced to one

Shortly after I reset Sludgge’s enhancements I took him into the quest Into the Deep on Epic Normal to try these new things out.  Now I know I was on Epic Normal but I was still very impressed with the changes made to this enhancement.  The quickness in setting up the bomb was a great change.  The only issue I had was that it seemed to take a second or two after I stood back up to re-engage in melee combat.  However, what I really liked was the impressive change to the DC.  When the bomb explodes it deals 10/25/50 Sonic and 10/25/50 Fire damage per tier per rogue level to all nearby enemies.  This was a tremendous boost.  It wound up being an extremely effective crowd control for me as I would wait to have a party of sahuagin gathered around me and would simply drop a bomb and wait for the carnage.

Taking a look at Sludgge’s combat log, notice the 1,000 points of fire damage and 1,000 points of sonic damage per hit by Time Bomb’s explosion.

On nearly every set my Time Bomb was dealing 2,000 points of damage to all enemies that were around me.  In many instances this seemed to take the majority of the enemies out and if they didn’t get burned up they then simply fell over because they would fail their knockdown save.

Looking at Sludgge’s combat log after a Time Bomb explosion and after the damage output to see how many creatures went down in a single blast.

Needless to say I was quite surprised and impressed by the change in this ability.  I had liked using time bomb in the past mainly because I thought it was fun to watch the animation go off and see a few things fall down but now it is an extremely useful tool :).

I’ll be curious to see how this works in other instances and quests.  Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting!!

A Nice Little Prize from the Traveler

Well, today is the last day for the Festival of the Traveler which was turned on to help usher in the special set of bonuses from Air Week.  In celebration of the release for Update 25 Reign of Elemental Evil, the four following weeks are being loaded with special bonuses with each week being called a different element.  During Air Week, I have run the event about 10 or so times (and will probably get another run or two today in).  I first tried the runs with Stoorage (Level 11 Fighter) on my premium account.  On my second run I was able to reach the Ultimate Aura.  Stoorage happened to still have a Blessing of the Traveler as way so I turned in the reward with the blessing and got a very interesting award.

Stoorage admiring his award for participating in the Festival of the Traveler, a Ruby Eye of Righteousness.

Stoorage was awarded a pretty cool ruby augment called the Ruby Eye of Righteousness.  I would have to say that is probably the best reward I have received out of this festival since it started years ago.  This particular augment has a 2% chance to deal 4 to 16 damage per minimum level of the weapon to all nearby enemies.  I’m guessing I’ll pass this ruby off to Erdrique at some point or another, although he is already using a Meteoric Star Ruby.  In either case, I’m sure I will be able to find somebody who can use it :).

I hope everybody guess does well in the Festival of the Traveler (I haven’t gotten anything else worthy of noting).  Happy hunting and thanks for reading!!

Some More Interesting Banners

I’m not sure what it is with me and these banners or standards lately.  A little awhile ago I wrote about an interesting banner I noticed in the Catacombs and since then I have come across a couple more that I have found quite interesting, for one reason or another.

The first banner is probably more of a standard but I’m calling it a banner anyways.  It is the banner you see when you come across the hobgoblin outpost in Tangleroot Gorge.  The outpost marks the outlying boundary of the hobgoblins of Splinterskull.  The banner itself is consists of a deep red backdrop with a black line running down the center which occasionally breaks off in opposite directions to various spikes and curves on both sides.  The deep black line is then bordered by a thinner yellow line.  The banner is hanging off of post that is accentuated by a large humanoid skull.  I’m not sure why I find this banner interesting.  I just think the mixture of colors, the sharp design of the black line, and of course the skulls just symbolized a very strong and confident, and downright evil, clan of beings.  That is probably something a banner should do.

Containment in the Gorge taking note of the banner representing Splinterskull and its hobgoblins.

The second banner is more intriguing to me.  I noticed this banner when I was taking Erdrique through the great quest, Partycrashers.  As you make your way through the Illusionarium and then into the Chapter House you may seen a beautiful banner hanging on the wall alongside one of the fountains.  The banner depicts a couple serpents entwined with another in the center on a dark backdrop that is bordered by a lighter purplish color.  Along the border on each side is a red line in a swirly design.  Beneath the serpents is what appears to be some type of an anvil or bush or possibly a creature of some sort with a sword thrust into it.  Above the serpents is a leaf shaped symbol.  I believe the symbol with the serpents has something to do with the Mark of Shadows, but I’m not entirely sure what the other figures represent.  Actually after looking at the Eberron Wiki it looks like the bottom symbol might be the Siberys version of the Mark of Shadows.  In either case, it is a great banner to portray the intrigue that surrounds House Phiarlan and its network of spies and assassins.

Erdrique taking note of the fascinating banner hanging in the Chapter House.

Thanks for reading everybody and happy hunting!!