Utter Futility
Feb. 10th, 2003 12:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
terryclothTonight, I tried to do a nice long quest in AC2, but it didn't turn out so well.
It was the 'sclavus hierophant' quest, which involved running all over Omishan (well, okay, around Shinoko and Ikarus) tracking down the four Sclavus Preceptors, of escalating difficulty, to get their keys, which are then used to open the four doors of the big evil sclavus temple.
The first couple preceptors were easy, but we discovered that one person taking a key advanced the quest for everyone -- which meant no one else could pick up a key. That was okay, though. We'd just complete it together, right?
Right. The preceptors kept getting harder and harder, as did the monsters nearby. The second to last, the highest level member of the party managed to get the key and run away, after the other two of us died. The last was a very, very, VERY long run -- and in sight of the goal, the third member of the party got killed by a random wandering monster and logged off. Which left two of us, to face the hardest preceptor.
With potions, anything is possible. Luck helps too. So does 'hunger'. The two main badguys (a 'gatekeeper' and the preceptor) got stuck inside the temple, so we only had to face their dozen or so guards. Then I lured the preceptor out of the temple, and hit him and hit him and healed myself with 'hunger' and used 'stolen youth' until luck caught up with me and I ended up with no vigor and died. Then the other guy killed him and took his sigil.
Yay! We were ready for the dungeon!
The dungeon itself was in a really dangerous area, with level 32 monsters... where I normally hunt solo, at level 24. We finished both incursion quests we'd picked up accidentally along the way, with less than 5 minutes on the timer for both. Nice XP for me, although not *that* nice. Got rid of vitae, at least.
Then into the dungeon! We had to use each seal to open a door, then fight the sclavuses of the type that had had the seal, including a gatekeeper (but no preceptor). It was fun, and appropriate, too. I was impressed...
...then we got to the last door, where the monsters were all piled up right behind it and able to hit us through the doors. The guy who had the key managed to open the door, but the press of monsters kept us from going through it before it closed again. And re-locked.
Which left us without a key, and with our quest advanced to where we couldn't even go pick up a replacement. Nothing to do but recall to our lifestone and wait until the '48 hours online' timer ran out and officially failed the quest for us, then start over from the beginning. Ikarus lifestone has nice music, though... all sad and stuff. Appropriate.
Still, I may have failed the quest, but I gained half a level in the process, and it was fun while it lasted. Hopefully they'll fix the quest to not be so damned anal about the keys, someday.
Oh! And I figured out how to stop being shadow kingdom. Seeing all the other shadows lit up in pink was giving me the creeps... I'd rather Just Not Know.
It was the 'sclavus hierophant' quest, which involved running all over Omishan (well, okay, around Shinoko and Ikarus) tracking down the four Sclavus Preceptors, of escalating difficulty, to get their keys, which are then used to open the four doors of the big evil sclavus temple.
The first couple preceptors were easy, but we discovered that one person taking a key advanced the quest for everyone -- which meant no one else could pick up a key. That was okay, though. We'd just complete it together, right?
Right. The preceptors kept getting harder and harder, as did the monsters nearby. The second to last, the highest level member of the party managed to get the key and run away, after the other two of us died. The last was a very, very, VERY long run -- and in sight of the goal, the third member of the party got killed by a random wandering monster and logged off. Which left two of us, to face the hardest preceptor.
With potions, anything is possible. Luck helps too. So does 'hunger'. The two main badguys (a 'gatekeeper' and the preceptor) got stuck inside the temple, so we only had to face their dozen or so guards. Then I lured the preceptor out of the temple, and hit him and hit him and healed myself with 'hunger' and used 'stolen youth' until luck caught up with me and I ended up with no vigor and died. Then the other guy killed him and took his sigil.
Yay! We were ready for the dungeon!
The dungeon itself was in a really dangerous area, with level 32 monsters... where I normally hunt solo, at level 24. We finished both incursion quests we'd picked up accidentally along the way, with less than 5 minutes on the timer for both. Nice XP for me, although not *that* nice. Got rid of vitae, at least.
Then into the dungeon! We had to use each seal to open a door, then fight the sclavuses of the type that had had the seal, including a gatekeeper (but no preceptor). It was fun, and appropriate, too. I was impressed...
...then we got to the last door, where the monsters were all piled up right behind it and able to hit us through the doors. The guy who had the key managed to open the door, but the press of monsters kept us from going through it before it closed again. And re-locked.
Which left us without a key, and with our quest advanced to where we couldn't even go pick up a replacement. Nothing to do but recall to our lifestone and wait until the '48 hours online' timer ran out and officially failed the quest for us, then start over from the beginning. Ikarus lifestone has nice music, though... all sad and stuff. Appropriate.
Still, I may have failed the quest, but I gained half a level in the process, and it was fun while it lasted. Hopefully they'll fix the quest to not be so damned anal about the keys, someday.
Oh! And I figured out how to stop being shadow kingdom. Seeing all the other shadows lit up in pink was giving me the creeps... I'd rather Just Not Know.
