Completing [Spy] A Teleportation Adventure, and others…

The following is a brief guide regarding how to complete the first series of Aion (Elyos) [Spy] quests…

Beginning at level 20-26 you receive a series of quests that require you to travel to Morheim in Asmodea:

Lvl 20: A Teleportation Experiment
http://www.aionarmory.com/quest.aspx?id=1430

Lvl 22: [Spy] A Teleportation Adventure
http://www.aionarmory.com/quest.aspx?id=1482

Lvl 23: [Spy] Celestine’s Antidote
http://www.aionarmory.com/quest.aspx?id=1462

Lvl 25: [Spy] A Gift of Love
http://www.aionarmory.com/quest.aspx?id=1464

Lvl 25: [Spy] Message to a Spy
http://www.aionarmory.com/quest.aspx?id=1463

Lvl 26: [Spy] A Letter to Medea
http://www.aionarmory.com/quest.aspx?id=1950

I failed miserably trying to do them on Uthiir. He might complete them one day, but getting back to Morheim, post level 28, becomes increasingly difficult, as you can no longer use the rift that takes you closest to where you need to be.

Before you start, make sure you pack/check:

• Have accepted the first 3 quests listed above
• Verify your gathering skill is at least 130
• 1 self-resurrection stone
• 2 group kisks
• 1 +run speed scroll
• 1 or more health potions (used in case you encounter an enemy near the quests, and need a few more secs to complete them before dying
• 2 Eltnen fortress return scrolls

Here’s how I did it with Straad:

1. Plan to do these tasks on server off-hours, like 7:00am EST, when fewer people are playing. Less people = less likely to run into an enemy.
2. Begin the “A Teleportation Experiment” quest. You’ll eventually end up in Asmodea on a cliff overlooking Morheim.
3. Plant your first group kisk on this bluff.
4. View the [Spy] Message to a Spy quest, and get the location of Medea marked on your map. This is your target.
5. Deep breath. Calm the nerves.
6. You now need to glide from this point in direction ENE over the Morheim gates and onto the main path leaving the area.
7. After you glide over the gates, you’ll see a snowy ledge to the right of the path. Your glide time will be almost up, so land there.
8. Quaff your +run speed potion.
9. Glide down to the path and start running. Stay on the path until you reach Medea. You are basically on your own at this point. Stay clear of NPC aggro, and hopefully you will not run into enemy players. If so, deal with them accordingly. If you die, resurrect to the kisk you set in step #3.
10. Reach Medea — she’s located to the right of the path, up a slight hill, next to a cabin.
11. Set up your 2nd group kisk – preferrably in a somewhat hidden location (like behind the cabin). This will replace your initial kisk. (I never did this step, but I probably should have.)
12. Complete the [Spy] Message to a Spy step.
13. Obtain from Medea the [Spy] A Gift of Love quest.
14. Kill Shade Arachnas immediately in this area to complete the [Spy] Celestine’s Antidote step.
15. Gather the Theonia immediately in this area to complete the [Spy] A Gift of Love step. Required gathering skill is 130. The plants are thin, and look like Elyios’ Lumesia. When done, turn it back in to Medea.
16. Use your scroll to return to Eltnen fortress.
17. Turn in all quests.
18. Pick up [Spy] A Teleportation Adventure from an NPC at the Eltnen teleporter.
19. Pick up [Spy] A Letter to Medea from the NPC you complete one of the prior quests from. I can’t remember, but I think it’s Valerius.
20. ‘Cide yourself, and resurrect to your kisk (by Medea in Asmodea).
21. Complete [Spy] A Letter to Medea.
22. Use your scroll to return to Eltnen fortress.
23. Complete [Spy] A Teleportation Adventure.

You’re done! Three really nice items (a belt, ring and necklace) await you, along with a bunch of XP.

The next series of [Spy] quests starts around level 27, and are easier as they seem more often the beaten path. These were a hassle, so hopefully this guide will help.

Straad

We’ve moved to our new home. Aion.

Sons of Myrkwood moved to Aion last fall on opening day… now it’s time to resurrect the blog.

Our roster is available on NCSoft’s Character & Legion page.

The Forest Wasp

Sons of Myrkwood have reached Rank 10, and as such can now reserve guild heraldry. Cadrar has been toying with various designs, but the Forest Wasp seems to be most approved of. Thoughts?

Guild night recap 6.30.2009

Well, I had meant to write up about how much fun we had in Gunbad last Tuesday, but got distracted.  If we have as much or more fun tonight, I’ll be sure to do a write-up…In summary, though, there were four of us who made the attempt on Gunbad: Me (Cadrar – Chosen); Neal (Grekstem – Shammy); Ryan (Phell – Zealot); and Ebbey (Arjun – Squiggie).  We quickly crushed the spiders and gobbos that had given us so much trouble before, and slowly but surely made our way down into the depths.  We encountered all sorts of fairly high level mobs, and were just on the verge of finishing a fairly hard PQ when we ran into a slight problem. Its name is the Herald of Solithex, and it looks like one of those specters from T2 Orc lands, but bigger…much much bigger.  Its also one that randomly drops a Pit of Shade every few minutes…and the reason we had to call it a night due to overwhelming wipage. Lets just say, that The Herald’s name is a goin’ on da list if we don’t take it down tonight…

Anyway, we’ll be attempting Gunbad again tonight.  Anyone 20+ welcome.
Rally is in Badlands at the usual time.

Waaagh!

R

Guild Night recap 5.19.2009

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…Oh, wait!…That’s another story. Plus, I know that although I’m somewhat wordy, I’m never quite that wordy! However, it does somewhat describe our experience last night, so it makes a fitting start to this chronicle of our adventures.

Last night we decided to try something different. Lured by the promise of something strange and wonderful (not to mention the thought of experience and uber loot!) we decided to try our luck in the Sacellum dungeons beneath the Inevitable City. It was…hmmm…underwhelming? Disappointing? Fun, and yet, somehow not fun? Whatever it was, something was definitely missing from the experience. I think I was hoping for a mini-Gunbad, or a lower-level Halls of Helgardh from DAoC, but got nothing like it. Ah well. Live and learn, I guess. It was a bit of an adventure, though, so that was good! But just a bit.

We started the night by gathering in Ostland as we usually do for these Tier 2 affairs. For once, though, we didn’t rush off and take the Crypt of Weapons. One reason is that we were scattered all over the place, and for another, people were still tying to figure out which alts to bring. While we waited, Ryan, Bren and I decided to investigate rumors of fighting outside Mandred’s. En route we ran into a level 21 Warrior Priest, and thought we’d take care of him first…Wow! That was tough! And not helped by the fact that a BW decided to join in the mix and that we had mostly healing and only puny DPS (Bren and Ryan on their Zealots and me on my 14 BG). In the end we managed to pound him down, but Bren paid the price for the victory, receiving as she did the brunt of the WPs wrath. By this point everyone else had arrived so we staggered the few paces back to the war camp and joined up with the rest of the party.

In the end we had a single solid group:

me – Rardthiel (BG 14)
Ryan – Yveos (Sorc 20-ish)
Bren – Bremage (Zealot 16-ish)
Neal – Grekstem (Shammy 13)
Bill M – Colnar* (BG 19)
Doug H – Camaith (DoK 21)

Obviously a little high in healing and a little light in DPS, but we managed…

The first step in our adventure was actually finding the dungeon. Luckily we didn’t have to wander around IC all night looking for it, or spend time doing some strange quest that illuminated the way. Instead Ryan led us straight to it and we hopped through the portal…and everyone died. Well, not quite everyone. I didn’t as I ended up back at the entrance wondering where I was, but I think I was the only one who didn’t have to respawn.  Look! Something strange and wonderful right from the start! How exciting! Now wtf is going on?

Our next passage through the entrance was much more straightforward, and we managed to group up a bit before we were attacked by the gate guards. This was almost the toughest fight of the dungeon as the mobs used strange magic to travel through the walls and kill a few of our healers. However, we regrouped at the base of the stairs, rezzed our dead, pulled the guards from the walls and killed them all. It was a nasty little fight, especially since we didn’t know what else to expect. Eventually we learned that the ‘dungeon’ is basically a short passage with a rooms off each side, comprising somewhere between 6 – 8 encounters, almost all of which were champion mobs plus adds, or solo heroes (at least two of them). Here’s what else we learned: NO XP! We got NO XP for any of the kills except for the heroes, and what we did earn was piddley. The loot items were ok, but I’m not sure whether they were worth the effort yet. Bah! No wonder there wasn’t a line formed up at the stairhead of people waiting to get in…

Well, it was new and different, and the art and monsters were kinda cool, but it wasn’t as much fun as we had hoped. I may see if I can come back later with a high level toon and farm the thing for loot. No worries about leveling too fast, at least…

The dungeon crawl being a bit short (kind of like a pub crawl that goes to one bar, has a drink, and calls it a night ), we decided to try our hand at RvR. Another less than satisfying experience . After a bit of confusion (ok, I admit, this was my fault), we ended up in the war camp outside Spite’s Reach which was under attack by Order…or maybe Destro…I can’t recall, but it was the only action going on. Unfortunately, the passage to the Keep was also being camped by Order and after being pummeled by them for a bit we decided that maybe scenarios were the way to go. I queued us up for a scenario and at the same time we took off to Ellyrion to kill Drielis Windform yet again, so that Bill and Bren could get their Tracker chest pieces.

As we gathered at the quest turn in NPC we got a pop for Phoenix Gate. We all accepted the challenge and off we went. As I alluded to earlier, our experience was not a good one, although I’m not sure why. Of course, our first mistake was allowing Camaith to join another group :), but from a realm-level point of view it was the right thing to do. We had three healers and the other group had none. However…things just didn’t go well, not the initial push on their flag, or the final defense of ours. Maybe it was from everyone playing lower-level alts, but level really wasn’t the big issue. We had some coordination issues, and some lag issues, but, but, but…I dunno.

Here, the following example will give you a sense of how the scenario went: Bren and I were charging along the river up to the back bridge in order to intercept their flag carrier when we came across a Witch Hunter. I immediately snared him and began trying to hammer him down. He was fairly high level, 19 or 20, so he’s a bit tougher than me, but I’ve got a healer and he doesn’t, and I watch his health going down down down…While I’m pounding on him, he’s dodging and jumping, circling and fighting for all he’s worth trying to get away. He’s finally down to about 1% – you can’t even see any green on his health bar! – and all of a sudden he’s at half health. And then more. And then he’s got a runepriest and an engineer and probably a BW helping, and next thing you know, I’m dead and Bren is dead. Talk about frustrating. No more scenarios after that.

Back in Ellyrion, we head off to kill Drielis Windform. Mission accomplished, his head in a bag, we return to the appropriate NPC and Bill and Bren get their gear. Yay! A success! By this point, though, Neal (and me, truth be told) is dying to get some xp. So, we head down to the Reaver’s End PQ. The PQ is empty – well, except for all those High Elves wandering all over the place – and we set up the standard and commence with the killing. Although we did have a bit of trouble while killing the last two Elites, we manage to pull it off, and everyone ends the night with some decent xp, some elven influence and a loot bag.

In reality, the night might not have been as dreary as I made it out to be. I was sick (and getting sicker) throughout the night, so my experience might just possibly have been influenced by my feelings of ill health…just possibly. I mean, how bad can it be when you get to play a great game with a bunch of friends! OK, so we didn’t rock the way we usually do, but there will be other nights. Maybe even tonight… 🙂

Guild Night recap 5.5.2009

So this week we ran an almost gank-group in T2, and performed quite well…mostly. I say an ‘almost’ gank-group because: 1) not everyone was top level for the Tier; and 2) we’re still working on tactics and getting the most out of our abilities. Still it was a mostly (there’s that word again!) rewarding experience, and I think everyone had a good time. Mostly. 😀

Here’s who was there:

me – Cadrar (Chosen 21)
Ryan – Phell (Zealot 20)
Ebbey – Zheni (DoK 21)
Neal – Kylet (WE 20)
Bill S – Rynic (Marauder 16)
Doug H – K-something (his son’s Sorc 15)

A very good set-up for a gank-group, even though two of our primary damage dealers were a bit low-level. However, our 20+ toons were all very well kitted out with both Obliterator gear and RvR Influence gear…woot! Uber pwn-sauce!

The plan for the night was to win scenarios, hunt down enemy players needed for the Tracker gear quest(s), and kill Tracker heroes in between scenario pops. At least that was the plan, and amazingly enough, for a while things went exactly according to plan.

We started off by heading to Ellyrion to kill Drielis Windform, the Hero at the end of the Tracker chest piece quest (Bladed Whispers). At this point we had everyone but Ebbey. We killed the hero easily enough (as well as everything else that crossed our path in getting to him…at least the wolves gave the butchers something meaningful to do), and just as we finished, the Phoenix Gate scenario popped. I was a bit concerned about being under-represented in healing, but Ryan claimed that he could handle it, and so off we went…

My strategy in Phoenix Gate is to rush along the back way – hopefully killing any Order force trying to come that way to get our flag – and take the Order flag. We stuck to this strategy, and although we missed intercepting the White Lion who was heading towards our flag, we did manage to capture the Order flag. It was a tough battle…OK, actually it was undefended, but we still managed to do it! As you no doubt know, grabbing the flag is only half the battle. We also had to get it back to base, and kill the Order flag carrier so that we could plant first. Which we did. And then did again. After which we just played defense, and repeat killed this crazy level 15-ish White Lion who must have thought he was superman, or something…he kept rushing in to take our flag even though it was well-defended. I’m not sure what he thought he was doing . I wish he had been a Sword Master or Iron Breaker, though…at least then some of our party could have gotten kill credit!

The final results of the scenario were a bit disappointing. Yes, we won, but our group was way behind in kills, xp, and renown. Of course, it was our efforts that allowed our side to win, so this points to some defect in the scoring system. But, we were on plan! Scenario domination! Muahahahahaha… Sorry…carried away a bit there.

After the scenario we hooked up with Ebbey, then decided to cross the mountains and jump into the RvR lake which was pretty much all Order controlled at that point. The closest BO was the Needle, so we started to take it. We’re halfway through when…pop! Phoenix Gate again. OK, this was still all according to plan, so we withdrew from combat – I had to kill one of the Champs before the timer counter down to do so – and then joined the scenario. Like the last time, we followed ‘Rob’s Plan for Phoenix Gate’ and took the flag. Actually, there was a bit of resistance and Ebbey ended up taking the flag…funny to see a skinny DoK running through massed defenders on his way back to base, laughing all the way in Vent because a) he had a head start, and b) he could just heal himself as he went…I captured this on Fraps, so I’ll post it up later.

Since we were fairly certain we could dominate this scenario, we spent the rest of our time there killing the Order toons that folks needed for the Tracker quests. There were a couple of Sword Masters and at least one Iron Breaker who were tracked down (get it?) and dispatched as often as they appeared…I’m sure they cried over the unfairness of it all . As expected, we won the scenario, with some more acceptable scores this time around thanks to all the gratuitous killings…

Unfortunately, after we tallied our scores it turned out we were no longer poised to capture the Needle. Most of us (not all!) had been returned to the Warcamp near Spite’s Reach. We decided to head back out into the RvR zone to see what was happening, and came across a Destro WB that was just taking the Staging Camp. We joined in while waiting for the rest of the group to get to us. While we waited, a group of Order appeared in the gap just outside the camp (not in the direction of their Warcamp, but as if they were coming from Cascades). Sensing an opportunity to flex our muscle I charged at them, forgetting completely to make sure I was being followed by the rest of the group. While the Vent chatter suddenly turned to cries of “Rob, where are you? Rob? Which way did you go? Rob!!” I found that the ‘group’ of Order was really the vanguard for an Order WB, which of course led to my over-extended demise, and further proof of why over-extending is a BAD IDEA!

After I released and rejoined our group the rest of our scattered members had arrived, so we spent some time pushing the Order WB around – not alone, mind you, but with the help of the other Destro WB. If memory serves, I think we also helped take the Unicorn Tower, and learned about the defensive benefits of high ground (on a mountain spine just outside Spite’s). Then we headed off the take BOs again. We were determined NOT to follow the other WB, and when they pushed on to Cascades we stopped to take the Reaver’s Stables by ourselves. Afterwards we were lucky enough to play a short game of ‘Chase the Slayer’ followed by a more challenging game of ‘Chase the Archmage as she hides in the trees.’ I got both these events on Fraps…including a lot of close-up foliage shots! Eventually we joined the siege at Cascades even though it was short-lived and kind of uneventful. We all had low participation scores – and generally pathetic rolls – so no phat loot for us. We were just trying to figure out what to do next when…pop! Mourkain Temple. Yay! A different scenario to dominate!

As I recall, we had fun with this one. We were a little late to the party, so instead of joining the mad rush for the bauble we headed around the back way to either a) head off Order if they had the bauble; or 2) take Order from behind if they didn’t. They didn’t, so we unfairly butchered them from behind. Muahaha…oops, sorry. 🙂 It was a fairly short scenario and Destro had it well in hand, so again we hunted for Sword Masters and Iron Breakers. Or at least I did, and since we were pretending to be an uber gank-group and everyone was supposed to be assisting, the group did as well…Seemed to work anyway and we picked up a few more appropriate kills.

Scenario over we were left with the difficult choice of what to do next. In the end – based on some bad information on State-of-the-Realm – we headed off to help defend the Keep at Barak Varr. We got there and there was nothing to defend. Hmmmm… OK, queue for scenario and head to MoM and see what’s happening there. MoM was also Order controlled, but the Destro WB we had met earlier was preparing to storm the Keep, so we joined in. Again there wasn’t much defense, and again we all had poor participation rolls, but this time at least one of our group members managed to snag a loot bag. Let’s hear it for the RNG!

Once the Keep was secure the zerg headed off to take the Tomb BO and we followed along. I think we had just gotten within range of the BO when we got a pop for Mourkain Temple. This one…did not go well. I’m not sure why. Maybe we were over-confident based on our previous successes, or maybe it was the three BWs raining death on us at every opportunity. Whatever it was, the scenario started poorly and went downhill from there. Part of the problem was the bauble not spawning at the start of the scenario. This happened in each of the Mourkain scenarios we participated in – the bauble not being in place from the start, which led to a crush of people fighting in the little alcove. I’m not sure whether this was a planned change to the scenario or just bad luck, but it certainly was annoying. In this scenario, although I was there first, by the time the bauble appeared, I was dead, and Order ended up taking it. After a lot of pushes against the Order troops, eventually Neal killed the Order bauble holder and got it back to our side of the zone. Too little too late, unfortunately, and Neal’s subsequent death while holding the bauble was the bump that pushed Order over the finish line….

The hour was late at this point, but we didn’t really want to end on a down note, so we moped around the MoM Warcamp waiting for another scenario to pop. Eventually one did: Mourkain Temple…again. And we lost…again. This one should have been ours, but in the end we lost by a landslide (as I recall…but maybe this is just a false memory resulting from the psychic toll the loss caused…) I don’t think we got the bauble once during the scenario, even though the final scorecard showed that Destro had a higher-than-average toon level than Order. I make no excuses, but there were two things that did hamper our effectiveness: 1) for some inexplicable reason Ryan wasn’t in the group with us, which made keeping me – I mean, us – alive a bit difficult; and 2) we just weren’t working well together. I’m not sure why, but for whatever reason things weren’t clicking. Guess we’ll have to practice this uber gank-group thing some more… 🙂

Anyway, down note or not, by the time this one was over most of us bolted off to bed. It’s unfortunate that we had to go to bed feeling the agony of defeat, but really, compared to some of other scenario experiences we’ve had as a Guild we did quite well. And more importantly, I don’t think anyone leveled up during the night, so maybe this weekend we can work on this uber gank-group thing again! Woo hoo! Watch out you Order thugs…you’ll get what’s coming to you!

The dangers of over-extending

 

And when you find yourself over-extended and
you’re stuck in a situation that you can’t get out of,
There is one thing you should always remember…

Not everyone who shows up…

Is there to help you!!!!

If lovin’ chipwiches is wrong then I don’t wanna be right

The History of …

Each race has a tome unlock documenting their humble beginnings.

• The History of the Dwarfs: Kadrin Valley 34.5 x 7.0 (Discarded among a jumble of rocks.)
• The History of the Dark Elves: Eataine 30.0 x 36.0 (Next to three barrels near the tower.)
• The History of the High Elves: Caledor 38.0 x 30.0 (Between the ribs of a dragon skeleton.)
• The History of the Greenskins: Black Crag 39.5 x 61.0 (In a cave; resting in mushrooms.)
• The History of Empire: Chaos Wastes 22.5 x 9.0 (Behind the stone pillars.)
• The History of the Servants of Chaos: Reikland 17.0 x 64.0 (Laying discarded on the ground.)

All of these Tome Unlocks are located in Tier 4.

What Do We Have Here?

Each class has a bestiary unlock named What Do We Have Here?.

These unlocks are activated by finding and inspecting a Hidden Scroll. According to HammerWiki, each Hidden Scroll is a letter left by the Bretonnian Knight of the Realm, Sir Reynolds Ianeaux, during his quest for the Grail.

The known locations for the unlocks are listed below. Rumor has it that the 4 classes introduced to Warhammer after the game went live (KotBS, BG, Slayer, Choppa) have not yet been added, though speculation abounds of their existence…

Tier/Zone Unknown

• Choppa
• Black Guard
• Slayer
• Knight of the Blazing Sun

Tier 1

• Chrace: White Lion 28.0 x 11.5 (Just to the left of The Shard of Grief by some rocks.)
• Ekrund: Ironbreaker 50.0 x 9.0 (Just to the left of the big gate doors.)
• Mount Bloodhorn: Squig Herder 22.0 x 10.0 (Follow cave to end; laying by a pillar of rock.)
• Nordland: Bright Wizard 24.0 x 11.0 (Behind a bush near some rocks near the cliff side.)
• Norsca: Zealot 42.0 x 63.0 (Behind a burned-out house on a cliff bordering oRvR lake.)
• The Blighted Isle: Witch Elf 26.5 x 62.0 (In a pile of rubble at the base of a tower.)

Tier 2

• Barak Varr: Runepriest 31.3 x 35.0 (Against the keep; near the postern door facing the water.)
• Ellyrion: Disciple of Khaine 36.0 x 32.0 (Near a waterfall between the stones, laying in flowers.)
• Marshes of Madness: Shaman 29.0 x 29.5 (Sitting on top of a pile of refuse.)
• Ostland: Marauder 34.0 x 8.0 ( Just behind Tainted Earth.)
• The Shadowlands: Shadow Warrior 35.5 x 54.5 (In the middle of some trees.)
• Troll Country: Witch Hunter 3.5 x 54.0 (In some bushes at the base of a tree.)

Tier 3

• Black Fire Pass: Engineer 13.6 x 14.5 (East of Gnol Baraz between a siege weapon and bush.)
• High Pass: Magus 15.0 x 63.0 (Next to a broken section of wall lying on the ground.)
• Saphery: Archmage 16.0 x 10.0 (Behind a rock and small bush.)
• Saphery: Swordmaster 40.0 x 6.2 (In a dry fountain.)
• The Badlands: Black Orc 22.0 x 55.0 (Laying in a pile of rocks underneath the dragon bones.)

Tier 4

• Dragonwake: Sorcerer 21.5 x 32.5 (Within a jumble of rocks.)
• Praag: Warrior Priest 35.0 x 58.0 (In a fountain.)
• Praag: Chosen 30.0 x 17.0 (In the remains of a burned-out building.)