Well, my good DDO buddy (and favorite Twitter cheerleader), Mari from The Thieves Guild on Argo, requested a walk through of a few Cannith missions . . . so here is the first of possibly many?
If you don't see annotations along with the video, try heading over to YouTube to see it here.
. . . if only I had a full crew of six people to back me up and who also knew this instance! I dare say 5-stars would be a possibility then. ;)
I mostly solo these and shoot for 1-2 stars . . . 3 stars if I get lucky. :)
GUYS! GUYS! I'M SO LATE TO THE NEWS TRAIN ON THIS!!
DDO TURNED 10 YEARS OLD! (yup, old news)
HOLY SHIZ-MOLY! I GOT 100,000 XP BECAUSE OF IT!
Thanks, Turbine! (And if I didn't want the xp, there were a ton of old school iconic gear items I could have chosen from . . . all pretty amazing . . . these weren't cheap gifts.)
Not only that, I also got the opportunity to undertake an amazing quest so full of meta and inside jokes that any old fan will find something to entertain them. Behold the Anniversary Party quest splash screen.
What better iconic creature to represent DDO than the ever lovable Kobold? I remember asking a friend of mine why she stopped playing DDO, and she said (and I'm paraphrasing despite using quotes), "Well, after a while all it felt like I was killing was kobolds--it was like it should just be named Kobold Hunter instead of Dungeons and Dragons." OUCH! Obviously she didn't make it past Waterworks. But, given that, I frickin' love kobolds, so it's no problem for me, and they're full of funny banter as always in the Anniversary Party quest.
There's also things like this . . .
What party would be complete without an appearance from Coyle Lovell face down on the ground?
In fact the whole thing centers around Jeets . . . you know the halfling rogue from the tutorial quest? (Well, and a handful of other appearances in game.)
He's taken to calling himself an Overlord and made a horrible decision to be the king of the Kobolds all because (. . . seriously, did some people on the DDO forums try to ship Malicia and Jeets? Is this some kind of weird inside joke? It smacks of it lol) he's got a thing for Malicia the Succubus, another iconic NPC/Boss from a handful of quests like Under the Big Top. If you don't know who she is . . . just think succubus in a top hat and fishnets, and you'll be getting the picture.
Anyway, by the end of the instance you're inside Jeet's head, helping him shake off the bad thoughts.
BAD JEETS! BAD! NO SUCCUBUS FOR JOU!
And to get the full five stars on this particular anniversary quest, you'll also be taking out a handful of devs in their various game forms. Cordovan? Severlin? Steelstar? Vargouille? ALL DEVS SHALL FALL BEFORE THE MIGHT OF THE PLAYERS!
If you'd like to read more about it, definitely check out the wiki page. It'll point you in the right direction. Just make sure you do these quests before April 17th, 2016. It's all going away soon. Make it so!
As for my own personal feelings about the event? Well, first, I liked it. I had a lot of fun, and I forsee me running this quest a few more times before it goes away. It's good. The rewards are cool, and I dig it. I really think they did a great job with it. You can tell Turbine wanted to make this special, and they did! The hard work was noticed and the care given to those who've played the game a long time was shown. From my point of view, this was perfect.
Now, it did feel very meta and full of inside jokes as I said earlier, but that's TOTALLY FINE! It's a 10 year anniversary--meta that thing up! AMIRITE?!
Thanks Turbine for letting me join in this celebration, and I think it was done extremely well.
I just wanted to give a huge virtual high five to "frimless" who left a comment on my "welcome back" / "I'm a necro now" post!
"Lesser Death Aura does a pretty good job of healing you up (and your skeleton too). I still miss the days when it lasted a bit longer... You can buy potions of Inflict harm at the Portable Hole & maybe somewhere else. But yes, there were a couple of times when I was lying on the floor with -5 hit points that I really wished there was another mage around with the death aura active. I think a party of necromancers with skeletons and summons would rock. - Frimless"
That's the key I was missing. DEATH AURA. And to make things even sexier, Lesser Death Aura stacks with Death Aura. I've been having a blast running around with my amazing heal-over-time while in vampire mode and smacking things to death as a necromancer.
HE'S GONNA BE SINGING AN OCTAVE HIGHER! *sings* "Pelvic punch man!" I was having so much fun punching things with my handwraps, that I started to feel like I wanted to take a level of monk. (Oh wait, there's that whole "lawful" alignment thing . . . um, maybe fighter?)
As I get deeper into the skill trees, I'm getting more and more excited about this necromancer. I'm level 11 now, and things just seem to crumble. So much more fun with that death aura / vampire combo running.
Anyway, I'm level 11 now. On my way here I've conquered the usual fare of foes . . . like beholders in need of a little trim off the top . . .
Yup, I did the whole Vault of Night / Laughing Knives suite of quests as well as headed over to the Red Fens and conquered the ziggurat . . . inside and out. There are some amazing screenshot moments in this quest series btw. Here's a few I snapped that I felt were worthy of a share (click on these to enlarge):
PRETTY! (Also deadly . . . I didn't survive that pit)
Also, remember last post where I was going off on how hilarious the kobolds were with their one-liners. Yeah, the Blessed Drow Scorpions just don't pack the same punch with their one-liners.
NOT FUNNY, GUYS! NOT FUNNY!
Anyway, I've ventured into the Menechtarun Desert for the time being and hope to grab more stellar screenshots while there . . . like this one I snapped earlier today! Check it out:
Now that's worth the price of admission. Am I right? Did I mention how much I love snapping screenies in DDO?
I've recently been playing through the second tier of the Lava Caves Cannith missions to earn more jade scorpions so I can upgrade the items I bought at level 4-5. It was tough remembering the routes to the progenitor crystals, but eventually I got it and ye' ol' memory kicked back in . . . and after a couple of fails . . . I was ROCKING THE SCORPIONS!
Can I just say how much I love the commentary from the Kobolds as they pick up that giant progenitor crystal and haul it back to camp? It's my new favorite thing in DDO.
You may have to click on these pictures to see them fully, but:
"Wide load kobold, coming through!"
"Are you telling me I have to haul this thing ALL THE WAY!"
"Oof, this thing is heavier than it looks."
"Kobold can't... see... anything."
I remember struggling quite a bit with this mission back in the day, and Ophiga actually ranted about it on her blog once . . . but I've got this DOWN now. No worries. In fact, it's probably something I should make a YouTube video of.
We've all lived through the Dell Eras, but have we all lived through Deleras? eh? eh? See what I did there?
*cough*
Can I just say this NPC gives me the heebeejeebees?
That FACE! I get it though . . . poor guy is all haunted and standing outside a necromancer's lair for his whole existence. The Friendly Necromancer needs his own NPC as well.
I think I'd want the NPC outside of my lair to be a green unicorn though. Yeah, that sounds about right for The Friendly Necromancer's Lair. Anyway, yes, I did the whole suite of Delera's missions twice and ended up solidly into level 8 in the process. Good times there, and I ended up doing a lot of commanding of undead! There's nothing more satisfying than having this guy chuck lightning bolts for me (although they seem weaker than my lightning bolts /shrug)
This led to a lot of awkward moments for my cleric hirelings though. I don't know how appreciative they were of all the backhugs from skele-friends. I guess as long as they're getting paid, right?!
Lemme tell you, getting a cleric hireling with Dispel Magic is a good idea when you're a necromancer in a Delara's dungeon. Waiting 1-4 minutes for these guys to be uncharmed in a situation where you have to defeat all of them to get a door to open is not ideal. (I know what you're saying . . . stick to Firewall, kid. SHUT UP!)
OK, fine, Firewall it is . . .
*wipes hands* and that's Delara's! Can I just say that the end of the Delera's adventure is really weird still? I remember being a little confused because it wasn't 100 percent clear you were supposed to go talk to Delara in an instance after talking to Mr. heebeejeebee above . . . and then do it again a second time?! Amiright? It's strange! Are you feeling me on that?
Anyway, if you just READ the quest text and piece it together (yup, I had to go digging to find out you press "L" to open up your quest log in DDO), you eventually find your way around to wrap it up so you can get your amazing VOICE OF THE MASTER trinket. word? word!
So what's next for Mr. Necromancer? Well, I'm open to suggestions, but I was thinking of wandering over to the Necropolis (another seemingly great spot for necromancers) and maybe back to Cannith for a bit to get upgraded versions of my favorite gear. I LOVES ME SOME CANNITH MISSIONS!!
Why hello there! It's been, what, three and a half years?
WHAT?! No . . . say it isn't so! Three and a half years was simply a blink of the beholder's eye!
Well, that's what happens when real life gets in the way and your static group becomes lost in a world of superheroes. It's true, we entered into DC Universe Online and . . . we're still in there. I really think Lord Spode of Team Spode finally found his perfect game. He loves it. It wasn't all DCUO though, we also took a short break to play some GuildWars 2 . . . yeah that didn't last long. Let's just wrap up the catch up in general and say . . . LISTEN, I'VE BEEN PLAYING A LOT OF OTHER GAMES! SHEESH!
So why am I back in the world of DDO right now? Well, a week ago, I felt something . . .
It was this feeling that maybe, just maybe perhaps I was feeling a bit unfulfilled because I never rolled a necromancer in DDO and tried it out. I mean, after all, I am The Friendly Necromancer . . .
And that's exactly who I am now. Without further adieu, I would like to introduce you to . . .
"Thefriendly Necromancer"
My little Drow Necromancer is now level 7 and rising. Here's how it's broke down so far:
1- I started him at level 4 . . . because I could . . . some old veteran's benefit thing let me do that. WOOT!
2- The first "real" thing I did was run him over to the Cannith missions because that was totally my gig back in the day, and . . . yup . . . it was like riding a bicycle.
IT'S RAINING MAD TALISMANS!
3- At the end of the day, I was bouncing a bit between Cannith missions and Searing Heights and dinged level 5 without many issues. Sure, it took a bit of figuring out which keys did what, and I'm still amazed at exactly how many hotbars it takes me to play DDO, but it is what it is.
4- By the time I hit level 6 I had a full set of Cannith mission gear. You know what I'm talking about:
Rock Boots
Frozen Tunic
Bracers of Wind
Blasting Chime
Cloak of Flames
Ring of Master Artifice
That stuff!
5- After that I looked up Level 6 missions and saw that good ol' Three Barrel Cove was right in line for that level, so I went and did the suite of missions once through, killed 750 things in the cove, and payed a visit to my all time favorite party barge:
. . . and my all time worst puzzle room (Not really, but it feels that way) . . .
. . . and as they say in Finding Nemo, just kept swimming.
(I love screenshots in DDO)
So there you go! For now I'm enjoying all that is the world of Eberron.
What's next, you ask?! Well, I'm thinking I may go check out Delera's Tomb and surrounding quests. It's been a while since I've been over that direction, and as a master of necromancy, this should be right up my alley. (If there's one thing I do well as a necromancer in DDO so far, it's stop the undead in their tracks.) What do I think of the Necromancer specialization so far, you ask?! (You're asking all the right questions today . . .) So far it's not bad! I like my skeleton pet, and I've got him pretty buffed out. As long as I keep him hasted, he does pretty good. I also like my health sacrificing spells. I'm not quite sure what to think of the undead combat forms though. I soon realized that my cleric henchman didn't seem to want to heal me or my skeleton, since we're classed as undead. Hmmm, I need to read up a bit on how that all works or what would work better. I'm not really doing much with multiclassing . . . just sticking on the necromancer line so far, but . . . if I have any revelations, I'll be sure to pass them along. (and vice versa!)
Servers are down for maintenance this morning, so . . . once again . . . time to type up a bit about what's going down with Lifin the cleric, and a few other side notes.
Lifin is now level 11. I was riding kind of a nice wave of experience with Skifty, my artificer lady, and then she pulled ahead big time. I've been taking it all extremely laid back and casual whereas Skifty was living the big exp life. I think the major difference here is that Skifty is VIP and I'm FTP (although I've unlocked pretty much the whole game through the DDO store). I don't worry about things like "breaking a hard mode streak" or anything like that. As long as I'm running with a VIP I have immediate access to Elite instances that shell out a ton of exp. Skifty is also running with the 20% exp pots as well. Me? I'm using the 5% pots you can get for cheap from the Cannith missions.
Skifty is on a quest to run through his second life, then work back up to 8th and use the stone of experience to get his character back up to 16th. Genius plan, right?
Stone of experience you say? Oh yeah, the Stone of Experience is all the rage right now. Actually, it was all the rage like a month ago. ;) The Stone of Experience is a little thing VIPs get to help people boost their exp from level eight to level 16. If you use all three shots of your stone of experience on lowbies, you get a free cool white panther cub. It's beautiful actually. I had a guy named Achaius on Cannith use it on my bard last night.
Remember my bard? No? I don't blame you. I hardly remember him. LOL. Yeah, he had been sitting at seventh forever because I leveled him for one purpose, and that was to get into and hold open the doors to the Shadow Crypt for the static group so we could run it over and over and milk it for exp. Once you get the compass directions down, it goes pretty smoothly. Team Spode milked that. I digress.
So, anyway, yay! I leveled up my bard to eighth last night and started asking for people to hit me with the stone! I found that the most effective method was to start a high level group that just said "I'm looking for someone to hit me with a stone of experience." BAM! Archaius tells me to run over to the Wayward Lobster and ding 16! That's right! I now have a severely under geared 16th level bard sitting on Cannith right now WOOT!
I'd like to do the same thing over on Thelanis with my second level Artificer, but I don't know if I'll make it to eighth with her before the Stone of Experience promotion end date comes up around 20 August. If I was a betting man though, I'd bet DDO would put the stone of experience into the DDO store after all has been said and done. /shrug
Wait . . . wasn't this post about Lifin? YES, IT IS! I have screenshots from my soloing adventures . . . like these:
Smolder is a little fire elemental boss out in Searing Heights. A lot of my recent exp hunting has just been soloing around. 750 kills, 9 rares, and however many locations later, Searing Heights provided some fun! I wonder if they'll ever fix the music bug in Searing Heights? Have you ever noticed that? There's a spot over in the Sulatar stronghold where the music starts to get extremely psychotic and looping over itself, then when you exit the instance, it . . . never . . . goes . . . away. You have to log out to clear it.
Here's another great pic, Lifin's Hireling shaves the legs of Dr. Rushmoore's Girlfriend:
Like I've said before, when I'm on my own, I'm pretty much a Cannith mission guy. I've got these down pretty good. Dr. Rushmoore's is probably the most frustrating out of the bunch because it's pretty much a crap shoot whether you'll get all the crests you need on your Pathway to Victory!
I've been doing pretty good on these though! Check out my exp report here for The Dragon's Hoard mission. Three stars!
I've gotten my kills to within 30 of getting four stars here, but I'm convinced it's just too big of an instance to cover all by yourself like that. Instead what I've found is that the best course seems to be getting just enough crystals to get the instanced finished, then killing through the corridors looking for the dragon. Since the foreman dying is actually one of the objectives, there's really no worry about returning to help him and the kobolds out once you have your crystals. In fact, this is the best place to be right here . . . Dying dragon with dead foreman:
Yay for death all around!
Another thing . . . see that treasure bag in the screenshot above. Yeah, there's another glitch in these I've always wondered if they'd fix. The creatures in The Dragon's Hoard drop all kinds of little baggies for you to pick up off the ground, but you never can collect them. Click--nothing. Click--nothing. And sadly, even knowing I can't pick them up . . . I always try. LOL. Why do I do that? Conditioning from the rest of the world I suppose. ;)
So, in general I've been having fun. Hope you all have too.
