I play a lot of characters, and I try a lot of templates. Recently, I've been spending a lot of time on Peregryne and Keikorua, of Frostfell. Why, you might ask, as Gueron is still my main? Because of my children.

Both of my children like to watch me play, and some of their favorite characters to watch are Keikorua, with Peregryne as a close second. Keikorua is a Hive Keeper, and Peregryne (on Frostfell) is a Ranger. Peregryne very recently started capturing a lot of their attention, because she was 19th level and they really wanted to see her get a pet. A Ranger can get a pet at 20th level, so I duly put in a lot of time on Peregryne.

I was working on the Osteth Soulbound Weapons quest, and I had decided to do it the hard way, via the Fiery Crypt. I didn't realize just how hard that would be. After fighting my way to the Area surrounding the Crypt I took a leap of Faith, emboldened by a Health-Over-Time potion. I fought into the crypt and tried to fight my way through. Eventually I did get somewhere, but not having a map, since I was trying to do the quest without external support, I didn;t know where I needed to go. I kept going deeper, and deeper, fighting monsters, and I did make 20th level, right before I was killed by five creatures that were all stronger than Peregryne.

Not to worry, I got rid of the vitae, and then opened my skills panel. I went to the Missile menu, and chose Ranger skills, just waiting to click on Nature's Aid (The Lasher Skill) and found it greyed out. Nature's Aid costs two skill points, I only had one. I was somewhat put out. I went to my skill tree, and after careful consideration, I set my double-shot skill to untrain. I actually like the skill, but I could not justify keeping it based on usage. I had a lot of untraining to do, as it would cost nearly 5000 experience points to untrain.

I recalled to Cavendo, and went to talk to Kanten, getting one of the weaker quests. I had hoped for a better one, but I needed a quest so I took the business proposition for 250 experience points. I then went to Omishan, and started looking for the Darkenfowl Stray, for an incursion. Eventually I completed the quest and was able to get the skill but it was late and my children were not up.

The next day, I called my kids over and then I learned the Skill Nature's Aid, then for them I summoned a Lasher.

My kids were ecstatic. I went to play with Peregryne for a bit, and learned that I need to learn a lot more about pets. My first quest was the Drudge Potion Raid, to complete the Soulbound Weapon, but Piperyne, my lasher, drew some drudges to attack me before I had a chance to make it, and both of us were killed. We did eventually succeed though, but I find myself regretting that I have not yet the ability to heal my pet.

As for now, the problem is playing any other character when my kids are around, they always want to know how Peregryne and her pet are doing. Sigh!

Last time I wrote, we left Gueron with armor that was not quite up to par, a new shield crafted by Beren Telcontar, a certain amount of regret at the failure to complete the Drudge Citadel quest, and he was suffering from the Purple Plague. He had just created an effective staff for Abryna Blue, and had logged off in favor of Keikorua.

The next day, I logged him on. I knew I wanted to improve his Human Armorcrafting, but I was also short of a Drudge Citadel glyph. To enter any of the vaults, you need a glyph, and this glyph is used up upon entry. I wanted to be able to do the Drudge Citadel when I was given a chance, so I needed a glyph. The only way I could think of getting one, was to run the Warder Hideout quest, rather, the Drudge Potion quest. There is a way of getting one, by trading in a Prosper Reaches Glyph to Kanten, but the quest is a random draw, and I didn’t want to risk it.

I went to Rithwic, and spoke with the warder there. He gave me a quest to retrieve his notebook, which is a prequel to the Warder Hideout quest. I was going to do the quest, but instead got drawn into another venture. I had to log off for a little while, to deal with real life, and when I logged back in, I decided to do mining for a bit. It was a little late, by this point, and I was busily collecting resources, Silver I believe, when I noted a general message from Bidderdew. He wanted to do the Drudge Citadel, and he had an extra glyph. I responded, and told him I would be there shortly, and asked where he was. He was at the Citadel Northwest Outpost. I recalled to Cavendo, took the Drudge Citadel Ringway a couple of times, until I arrived at the Northwest Outpost, and then we formed a fellowship. Bidderdew was an Empyrean missile specialist, possibly even a Mentalist, the missile class of the Empyrean.

Bidderdew and I waited for a bit, and then, after we had no takers, we decided to try it on our own. Fortunately for us, a very high level player, whose name I unfortunately do not recall, showed up. He became a nightmare for the all the drudges that were between us and the entrance to the vault, ripping through groups of them at will. We arrived at the vault with no problem. He gave Gueron an overpowered Potion of Spines, a potion that reflects part of the damage back upon the creature dishing it out, and wished us luck. We entered the vault.

We fought competently, through the first part of the vault, but at some point, we were bogged down, and Gueron was the focus of the drudge attacks, as a defender should be. Gueron, in underpowered armor, fell again. I woke up at the Cavendo Lifestone, and made my way back to the Citadel Northwest Outpost. I was soon greeted by Bidderdew, who had likewise fallen to our nemesis, the drudges.

Bidderdew had another Glyph, and he gave me it. But we decided that we would try and find at least one more character to storm the vault with us. We were rather determined to succeed. As we were waiting, Gueron decided to take out his anger on the individual Drudge spawns in the area. He attacked all the spawns, be they Drudge Mystic, Drudge Prowler, Drudge Robber, Drudge Slinker, Scowl Drudge, or the occasional Soldier of Despair. Bidderdew joined me in this venting, as we waited for others to join us. We discovered that both Drudge Mystics and Gloom Drudges, would sometimes drop the Drudge Citadel glyphs.

Two other players had messaged us to join the fun, and they were on their way. Meanwhile, we collected enough Glyphs for everybody to have a spare. Armer, an Empyrean Templar, and Mockmaw, a drudge, joined the fellowship, and we decided that Ichors would be a good idea, just in case. Armer logged off and brought in another character that was able to provide each one us with a Bloodstone Ichor, a potion that has tremendous recovery power, and then logged on with Armer again. In the meantime, I was able to rid myself of vitae, and make 21st level.

I crafted some mounts for us, and we set off. I had feared having to ride through the drudge groups that I had twice made it past, or worse, having to fight so many drudges with only four characters. Armer, though, had a better idea. He knew a way to avoid the large groups, and led us around them. We arrived at the Vault entrance without too much incidence.

We entered the vault, and started fighting our way through. My soulbound flail wasn’t as effective as I had hoped, and though I did fairly well, Armer and Mockmaw easily out-damaged me. It’s amazing to me, just how powerful a drudge character appears to be. Mockmaw did very well, as far as I can tell. In the Drudge Citadel Vault, you first have to fight upwards and fight a Drudge Watchman, and take a key he had. We then ran back down, fighting only as needed, and worked our way down further down. We fought through the vault, into the inner vault, and there we used the Bloodstone Ichor and I used the Potion of Spines.

In the original Asheron’s Call, there was a glitch colloquially known as the ‘WI’ flag. This glitch caused the AI targeting to prefer to target a particular character. Wi was a person that seemed to be the favored target of a lot of mobs, be they Olthoi, Lugian, Tumerok, Drudge, Tusker, etc. Turbine did eventually admit this glitch. In AC2 there is monster aggressiveness, referred to as ‘aggro.’ A Defender’s job is to draw this agro, and he or she has many skills to do so with. Gueron though is apparently blessed with the ‘WI” flag. It seems as if he gets targeted with aggro even before damage is dealt.

I took a lot of damage, before we finally took down the Drudge Dictator. Had it not been for the amazing restoration powers of the Bloodstone Ichor, it is very likely that Gueron would have failed this quest three times in a row. However, this time he survived, and entered the Inner Vault. The Drudge Citadel Shard told the story of Gerraine and how he became The Firstborn.

From there, we recalled to the Portal or the Lifestone at the Northwest Citadel Outpost. Bidderdew had to leave. After some discussion, Mockmaw and Armer agreed to accompany me on the Prosper Mount quest. We returned to the Cavendo area, and took the Shoushi portal, and then the ringway to the Southern Prosper Outpost.

On this quest I again realized that Gueron had a long way to go as far as damage dealing. He was the highest level, but Armer was the first on to get credit for a kill, and then Mockmaw. I actually asked them to fall back, so I could kill an Empowered Scowl Drudge on my own.

The mount quests on Osteth are rather straight forward, after killing one of the undead creatures, you get the quest, and then you have to kill a total of five Skeleton Rangers, ten Undead Brutish Monougas, and ten Empowered Scowl Drudges. You loot these creatures, and try to pull an undead venom from the drudge, and an infectious slime from the monouga, and a diseased saddle from the Ranger. You combine the slime and the venom to make an Undead Antidote. The Undead Monouga can cause you to be cursed by the undead, and you will die unless you take the antidote within five minutes. When you have slain the required quota of undead, you are given a saddle pattern. You combine the pattern, the diseased saddle, and the undead antidote in a recipe to get the Veldt Ataur Saddle Pattern. When you use the pattern, you learn the recipe to make saddles.

We completed the quest, which is really all about fighting, and I have to admit, that though Gueron seems to get targeted a lot, Armer suffered a streak of bad luck. He was cursed a lot, and we joked at saying at least five times, though that is unlikely, as I was cursed twice, Mockmaw at least once, and we still all managed to complete the quest, which required an undead antidote, and at most we would have been able to craft 10 undead antidotes.

As we were cooling down, I noted Imad, the drudge, showing up with a fellow intending to do the Prosper Mount quest. He was now 17th level. Mockmaw left, and Armer was going to log off. I decided to practice crafting, and recalled to Cavendo.

I started crafting up curios, and transmuting them. Perhaps, subconsciously I wished for a better flail, but at some point I accidentally transmuted my Soulbound flail. When I realized this, I was very disappointed. It had taken a certain amount of time to track down a Flail Glyph, so I knew I would have to find it again. In the meantime, I seemed to be out a flail. On the trade channel, I was able to find someone willing to make me one, all I had to do was make it to Ikeras and provide the components.

After obtaining a new flail, I logged off. I figured there would be plenty of time to play the next day. Unfortunately, I didn’t actually get back to the game until Sunday, the 22nd of May.

I’m a little behind, as far as this blog, so I’ll try to blog a little more frequently. I’d really appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

Gueron

There is an aspect of PvP to Asheron's Call 2, that is not FFA (Free For All). It is called KvK, or Kingdom-vs-Kingdom. What are these kingdoms? Are they a superstructure built just for Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings? Do they have any real relevance to AC2, or are they just there?

When Asheron's Call 2 was just starting out, Kingdoms were one of the selling points. There were two KvK servers, Snowreap and Coldeve. What Kingdom allowed was a player versus player complex, as long as the player was not of your own kingdom.

There are three kingdoms that you can join, and one that you start with. Everybody starts as Neutral. This represents no particular bent. The three kingdoms that you can join are Order, Dominion, and Shadow.

Order represents something very similar to the chivalric codes of our history, but extending to all people, not restricted to nobility. This is very much the point of view to help all, that you can, and to sacrifice yourself to help others. In AC1, this path was represented by the High Queen Elysa Strathelar, her son Borelean, and Asheron.

Dominion represents a rigid structure, you are subservient to those above you, and over those below you. Harmony occurs when everyone knows their place, and remains there. In AC1, this path was followed by the Virindi, and modified by and followed by Martine.

Shadow is represented by the pursuit of power. Success is acceptable, failure is not. Personal goals are what matters the most. Bael'Zharon is an example of a Shadow, that failed. Isin Dule succeeded, and he founded this kingdom.

All of this is entrenched in game lore. There is a quest, no level restriction, that lets you go to different Kingdom shrines, and if you want, you can learn the doctrines. As a role-player, I found this quest interesting.

Do kingdoms affect anything other than PvP? Unfortunately no. KvK has not yet reached the level that was hoped for in AC2, and now there are no KvK servers. At this point, KvK is limited to specific areas on non-Darktide servers, but soon, Turbine has said, they will be making a quest to allow server-wide KvK. Many of us are looking forward to this, but for now KvK has little major impact on the game. On a side note, Darktide is full FFA server, so KvK does not have a direct impact on the game.

Kingdoms are interesting, though. They may have an affect as far as roleplaying and they offer a little bit in the way of resources. There is Kingdom chat, and I have been known to use Kingdom chat for advice. It is not as effective as allegiance chat, but it can still be useful. Perhaps, when kngdoms are once again server wide, this will be more useful.

Today I ran Samhuin, she is a human and follows the discilpline of magic use. She also is of the kingdom of Dominion. I originally logged her on, to see if I could get her into an allegiance, but before I really had a chance to start looking in to it, I saw a post trying to drum up a group for the Cobalt Sweeps Vault. Samhuin had only completed the initial three vaults, as discussed in Character Hopping, and needed the Cobalt Sweeps Vault. I checked out her level, and found that she was 12th level, the minimum level required for Cobalt Sweeps. I also found that Samhuin had a glyph to Cobalt Sweeps so I replied to Snowlock, and said I was on my way, reporting that I was just at the lowest level to qualify, and that I already had a glyph.

I was in Cavendo, Cobalt Sweeps is outside of Molwirth, so I took the Shoushi Portal, and then the Molwirth Portal. I ran through an area infested with Reed Sharks and Cobalt Drudges. For a twelfth level character, Reed Sharks are scary, as are Cobalt Drudges. Fearing a long journey back, I tied to a lifestone in the area, and then continued on, fighting a few reed sharks, just in case. I soon arrived at the Cobalt Sweeps Vault.

I was the second of the three confirmed characters to arrive. Snowlock the Empyrean invited me in to the fellowship. A Tumerok, 14th level, whose name I neglected to record also joined, and then Aryk arrived. We entered the Vault. We fought our way up through the vault, killing the Cobalt drudge prowler that held the key to a door allowing us entrance to the depths of the Vault, and then fought our way back down.

Another character Divinri, had fought the drudge mystic that guarded a door to the lower level. Divinri was invited in to the fellowship, and we opened the door, and leapt down. We fought our way through to the vestibule, and entered it. Here we fought the Drudge Warlord, the boss monster of Cobalt Sweeps Vault. I had targeted the Warlord, and kept my distance, but I had done enough damage that I was targeted by it. I did not realize, until it was almost too late, that I was taking a lot of damage. I started to back away, and then saw the message that I had killed the Drudge Warlord. Fortunately, the Warlords bodyguard had been slain by my party. We entered the Vault room, and using the crystal heard the story of Asheron, the last Empyrean. According to the history, he sacrificed himself after the Golden Age, to allow the Isparian Derethians to escape to the Vaults.

We came out of the Vault, and Samhuin was, surprisingly, 14th level. My first words, "Snowlock, you are Empyrean, no?" I then said "Asheron was a fool, he was the strongest, and those under him should have been sacrificed not him."

The Vaults fellowship continued on and decided to do the Mad Crone Vault. I did not have a glyph for this one, but Snowlock gave me one. I then ran to Cavendo, tied to the Cavendo Lifestone, and then ran back to the Portal loop, and took it to Rithwic. From there I tool the Mad Crone portal, and after one more hop, ran to the Mad Crone Vault. There I met the rest of the fellowship and entered.

This vault was not as difficult. It has a more complicated structure, but the drudges do not seem to be as strong, though they may be more numerous. Also, everyone had earned at least one level. In the Vestibule, the Drudge warlord is without bodyguards so he had virtually no chance. At the end, the shard tells the story of Bael'Zharon, the path of the Shadows, and warns against losing control of one's self.

At the end of this Vault, Samhuin was 15th level, and I now have the opportunity to choose a class.

The fellowship wanted to do Prosper, but that is a 21st level vault, and none of us were 21st level. They decided to start with Rashan's Revenge, but I unfortunately had to leave the fellowship, as I needed to deal with a real life situation. So at this point, I will conclude this blog.

Thanks again for reading, and I'll write again soon.

Gueron