October 2006

The return of the Gods, live events

stargrace October 5, 2006 No Comments

Yesterday Faydai (rp story to follow shortly) took a trip to Lavastorm and Antonica to check out the new live events. I must say, I was pretty impressed. Walking along the beaches of Lavastorm, she came across these two fire dancers, twirling their flaming batons, she offered them some sort of gnomish device that would enable the flames to climb higher but not burn them, they sort of eyed her in fear and went back to their twirling. Who could really blame them.

The prophet for the burning prince himself, sent her on a mission to prove her faith. Teleported into a room she was forced to burn her arm in order to sacrifice her flesh and build a bridge that would not be complete until each flame had tasted. It was a fairly simple quest once I figured out which order the torches were in, and that there were 9 to light and not 8 as I had thought previously. Learned that the hard way first of course by falling into the lava below. The hand of ro was the reward, a house item that buffs against heat for an hour. Not exactly the most useful of buffs, but you know me, house items are always huge winners.

The quest for the duke of below was slightly more involved. Finding Bronlor Stormhammer in Antonica outside of BlackBurrow warranted in me going around talking to various tribes and figuring out what each needed. I was first asked to slay canines for food, then sent to trail after someone in the underground. They gave me this little sniffer dog but he was not exactly good at his job and I had to (often) lead him back to the tracks.

It was still a lot of fun none the less. The reward (after the earthquakes had settled, no matter how many times I should expect them and know they’re coming they still cause me to jump!) is a pick axe that can be mounted onto your wall and gives you a buff for tradeskilling. Pretty fun all in all.

Game update notes : October 4th

stargrace October 4, 2006 No Comments

*** Headlines ***

– Tradeskillers can now craft in the fresh air in many city zones.

– The hand of the gods can be felt once again with two new Live Events!

*** The Hand of the Gods ***

– The power of the old gods can be felt on Norrath as the prophets of the Burning Prince and the Duke of Below seek your assistance.

– If you are fearless enough to embark upon a trial of fire, speak with Civean on the beaches of Lavastorm.

– Stout adventurers can meet Bronlor Stormhammer outside of Blackburrow to serve the Duke of Below.

*** Crafting: No Longer Just Underground! ***

– Have you ever wondered why poor crafters have always been forced to forge their creations in the damp, dark reaches of Norrath? Blame the gnomes!

– Tradeskillers will now find crafting stations placed throughout their home cities.

– Now you can display your skill to all your potential customers, without having to work in cramped quarters.

*** Tradeskill ***

– The Ironforge Exchange and the Coalition of Tradesfolk will now sell Tradeskill Writ Clipboards for use in your home when you have achieved amiable faction with them.

– Leona Ward has checked with her suppliers and now sells the necessary fuels.

– The amount of fuel needed for rare potions/poisons that Alchemists make has been reduced from 8 to 4.

– Old tradeskill “Reagent” items can now be used as primary components in spell recipes much like Inks/Dyes.

– Dusts can no longer be used instead of normal Imbue items in imbue recipes.

*** Art ***

– All female run animations have been updated with the exception of frogloks, halflings, and gnomes.

*** Gameplay ***

– You can now find an option under Controls -> Keyboard Settings called Automatic AFK. Enabling this option will cause your status to automatically be set to AFK whenever there is no keyboard activity for 5 minutes. Using the keyboard again after this will remove the AFK.

*** Items ***

– Swapping wielded or worn items will no longer cause you to lose the benefit from both pieces.

– The Ancestral Sarnak War Bow will now work properly.

*** Quests ***

– Adventurers on the Shiny Brass Halberd heritage quest should now find owlbear meat and undead flesh much more often.

– Adventurers who have completed the Ashen Order solo quest line in Pillars of Flame, then betrayed and started the Ashen Disciples line, should now be able to complete it successfully.

*** User Interface ***

– Houses will tell you how many broker slots they have before you buy them.

– The Quest Journal will no longer expand all trees every time the player logs in or zones.

– Looking for group and looking for work at the same time will no longer confuse /who lfg.

– There is now an option to increase and decrease the font size in text and response bubbles.

– The timer display in the group quest window will now align and count down properly.

– You will now receive a notice if you have already been awarded Achievement Experience for a named NPC kill.

– Consigned items purchased while possessing a pet will now go to the pet owner?s inventory.

*** Zones and Population ***

– Plumptucket’s Love summoned pet is no longer affected by pet spells.

– The Direvine Matron will no longer be affected by her own attacks that have been reflected back to her.

– All the creatures in Blackscale Sepulcher can now be effected by spells that target undead.

– The Transmogrification Elixir should be able to be used more reliably now in the Halls of Fate.

Mark of the Awakened.. what a pretty dragon

stargrace October 1, 2006 No Comments

Doesn’t Stargrace just look wonderful here as a dragon? After having done the chain of quests with the warden, I wasn’t exactly that happy about doing them once again. I feel that way about a few of the T7 chains of quests, Claymore being the other huge pain, and the class hat quest being another. Anyhow.

A mark of awakening, starts in bone mire from an exiled droag. You have to be 60+ to start the quest. It has four trials to it, after you’re required to read 3 books first. First one is in SoS, the second in PoA, and the third in HoF, each one of those books has a little sub-quest (annoying might I add). Then the trials start. The first trial is the Trial of Alacrity. You basically invis to a back corner, stand there, and kill. Everything. Until at the end a named spawns. Power regen is the way to go. Next is the Trial of Endurance. You go through 15-20 rounds of mobs spawning until you spawn some named mobs. The third trial is solo and quite fun if you play any sort of caster / dps class. The Trial of Spirit reward you with a house item of a small white dragon exactly like the one you turn into. It also updates you for the final trial, the Trial of Leadership, which is an epic raid with x4 encounters. FAST respawns, your raid has to be on their toes.

With the coercer and warden at 70 I’m relaxing and enjoying the game again. I spent some time mentoring Defect’s alt, a dirge in guild who has a 35 necromancer. It was really fun to play my templar who’s been at level 61 for as long as I can remember now lol. Last night I also had fun playing with a small guild group, we just puttered around Sinking Sands working on various little quests. Willamina has fallen behind in tradeskilling and well, everything else for that matter, so I’m hoping to get her a few more sage levels if not adventure levels. Guild leader’s wife just had their first baby, so we’ll have to see how deathtoll goes tonight without him there.