Cutting It Close

Going into last night, Obsydiian was still sitting fifteen thousand experience points away from Level 11, and he still needed to complete the quest Bring Me the Head of Ghola-Fan! With only a few hours available to play before having to turn in or risk calling off work the next morning, Stonehands and Obsydiian set out early to knock out the experience deficit.

To make the most efficient use of our time, we decided to visit the Madstone Crater out in the Ruins of Gianthold. Mind you, this is a Level 14 quest on Normal, so a group of Level 10-13 characters would have their work cut out for them, even with a good plan in mind. Fortunately, we were able to play smartly and by-pass many of the unnecessary elements that might have protracted the quest into a nightmare.

Now, you might wonder why we elected to by-pass anything when Syd needed fifteen thousand experience points, since the bonuses for conquest and ransack could be helpful in achieving the group's objectives. Well, when you consider that we stepped into the quest with seventeen thousand to be rewarded on completion, Syd wasn't going to ask any of the other below-level characters to risk anymore than necessary, particularly the three PUG players we added to our group, along with Kaami from our allied guild, the Lifetakers and Heartbreakers.

It was still a bit of a challenge, though. Syd ran out of mana very quickly, even after each use of the available shrines. Which, of course, saw Syd switch to using his Barbarian skills once the well had run dry. That cost him very dearly twice within the quest where, although he had the ability to hit the enemy mobs, he didn't have the Armor Class or Constitution to survive the simultaneous aggro of three giant skeletons.

In fact, at the time, it seemed odd that Syd was pulling such aggro away from our group's tanks. Especially considering that in the second instance, Syd hadn't cast any spells that might cause such a diversion of aggro. But, in retrospect, the obvious reason for the happenstance was that Syd was only Level 10. The AI seems to prefer targeting the characters with the lowest level of experience first, as they *should* be the easiest to kill. Well, I'm here to tell you that the AI certainly figured that one out correctly. It really is much easier to kill a Level 10 Sorcerer/Barbarian than it is a Level 13 Fighter/Ranger.

(rolling eyes)

However, all that really did was prompt me to adjust Syd's tactics, and ensure that he was well out of range of the mobs until the tanks had the aggro well established. Even then, though, there were a couple of close calls.

Perhaps the most interesting encounter in the entire quest came during the battle with the end boss, the arcane giant skeleton camped out atop a pinnacle in the heart of of the crater. The skeleton quickly cast a Hold spell on both of our tanks and our Rogue. Curiously, though, he ignored Obsydiian, Kaami and Segna. Well, at least until Syd started landing a few hits here and there with his greataxe. (Spells weren't doing any good against him, so it only made sense to switch to a two-handed melée weapon...)

Of course, that prompted the skeleton to respond with a sweep of his quarterstaff that sent Obsydiian flying off the top of the spire. Fortunately, he was able to keep himself from flying too far away, and landed on the sprial ramp that lead back up to the skeleton.

I was surprised to see that the Skeleton had never released any of the Chaos Orbs, though. Perhaps the quest is bugged. But, with a Level 10-13 adventure party, I'm not complaining about their lack of participation.

Just when it looked like we'd fail by way of a party-wipe, one of our PUG tanks broke free of the skeleton's Hold and landed the killing blow. Our Rogue ran back down the spire's ramp to find Blaze and deliver the news; Syd was rewarded with nineteen thousand experience points. That was four thousand more than was required to earn his Level 11. The Madstone Crater was certainly worth the effort, and we managed to complete it relatively quickly, considering our party composition.

From there, it didn't take long for me to finish out and begin the process of levelling Syd up to 11, though I was caught a bit off-guard by the option to select three new spells (Syd's 9th Sorcerer Level), one each of Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4 spells. Decisions, decisions...

For the moment, Web, Heroism and Phantasmal Killer are on Syd's list, but those may change, depending on Syd's luck with landing PK. He may swap that out for Stoneskin if he proves to have too many problems with enemy spell resistance.

While Syd was levelling up, Belzur joined the group, but Kaami and the three PUG players had left to log out for the evening. Belzur had observed that both Stonehands and I were pushing the length of our play-time just a bit, particularly for a couple of early risers. Still, we insisted on pressing forward with Bring Me the Head of Ghola-Fan!, as it was the only thing left to bring Belzur, Segna and Obsydiian up to raid-readiness.

Running the quest with only three characters would be a bit more challenging than necessary, though, so we brought Jaecen (Branwynn/Daerius/Fahrn, L&H Guild Leader) and IamBob (CaptinBob/Nemo) in to give us a hand. After a bit of work to make our way out to the quest, we decided that time was ticking away too quickly to run the quest to absolute completion, including all optional objectives. So, we took the express route instead.

You know, it's amazing how effective the combination of Greater Command, Wall of Fire and a Paralyzing weapon can be. We *ran* through the quest. Of course Syd did pay the price for poor aggro management yet again, but I find it difficult for Syd to use high-powered spells without stealing aggro from the tanks. Perhaps it's something I'd find a solution to as his progression plays out...

At any rate, we made it through. I was getting late, but it wasn't as bad as I'd feared it would become; Ghola-Fan fell much like the claims of RedRaider's prom date(s), for what it's worth. And, the quest gave us all plenty of opportunity to heckle IamBob.

All in good fun, I assure you; we just can't help ourselves. CaptinBob reacts to our jests *so* well. Not that he can't return the favor, mind you. We've all learned that many times over. But, it's part of what makes having him in the group so entertaining.

Still, in one evening, Syd finally earned his level, and he and Belzur and Segna finally completed the prerequisites for the Titan raid.

I'm really looking forward to possibly pulling the Seven-Findered Gloves from the Titan's chest...

Keep it fun!!!