July 26, 2007
I started this write up a while back, and didn’t get around to polishing it off because I never got around to going back and properly doing this dungeon. But recently, I got a nice tell from Thearon, from the guild Asylum, and we ended up chatting about this very spot. It really is a great dungeon, and the irony is that tons of people have done the River Valley quests, and probably never set foot inside this amazing palace, full of eye candy and fun events.
Above: The garden atrium in River Palace.
If you are looking for River Palace, there are two ways to get there. One is to head through the Shidreth Mining tunnel (west of Ahgram), and across River Valley (just follow the river west). The other is to use the Riftway to get to the River Palace rift, and then either hike or fly up the eastern hill till you see it.
There are only four quests there that we found – two at the entry stairs, and two in the sewers, which can actually be repeated if you choose. What sets this place apart is the number of neat events that you can trigger, plus the fact that there are many spots in this palace that make you pause and stare a while.
When you enter the palace, you’ll see a large hall. Invis works everywhere in here, as far as we could tell. If you head through the door on the left, it takes you upstairs, which eventually leads to Erthena’s chamber. She is the Queen of the Palace, and her son is the lumpy Cyclops, Serpeus, who hangs around on the island just outside. Killing him ticks her off royally, and you’ll hear her shout “SSSssssssserpeus, my son!” That’s a clear signal that you’ve just spawned her, and she’s not going to welcome you with a hug.
Above: Serpeus, son of Erthena.
To reach her, you will need a key to her chamber. This is a rare drop from any mob in the palace, but you’re better off getting it by killing nameds – we got ours in the basement while doing the Erthgar Broodmother event. (more on that later) Thearon said his group got it from a named cat found upstairs, in a small room near the cat-filled balcony.
We ran out of time so we haven’t killed her yet, but I’ll update with screenshots once we do. She does have a decent loot table, including a nice caster robe as one of her rarer drops.
The upstairs is also where you’ll find the High Temptress, and I believe the corrupted wells are here also. Both are needed for one of the quests you pick up at the entry. I should mention that the mobs in here are all pretty much 4 dot mobs. They tend to start around mid 30s, with high 30s mobs the further in you go. So bring a group.
In addition to the fun upstairs, you can also visit the garden rooms, which can be found if you take the door on the right as you enter the palace. (North side I think). Be careful in here, because you’ll probably get some terrific chain aggro in here. We killed some of the trash mobs and had two neat discoveries – one was a strange gem that looks like some sort of quest item, and the other was the curse that the siren mobs cast on you, called Curse of Beauty, which literally turns you into a hag.
Above: Me, as a hag. 
There are some clickable flowers in the garden wing of the palace. We didn’t have chance to try this yet, but apparently if you have any pristine flowers on you from those lovely flower quests in the valley, you can use them to trigger an event. If you have a pristine flower of each type on you, and you click on the flowers, it will start a ring event. There is a pedestal named the Eternal Fountain in here, and I believe that if you survive the waves of mobs, you are given an eternal flower. I’m guessing here, but clicking the fountain afterwards might lead to either some kind of boss encounter or a reward. Hopefully next time we check this out we won’t have such buggy aggro so that we can trigger the event, as well as figure out what that gem is for. (Ok, I really just want to go back so I can get some of my guildies turned into hags)
Tired of the beauty that surrounds you? Then jump down the well in the entry hall and visit the sewers! Just make sure to invis and cast lev before you do. While you can jump safely without lev, it’s a lot safer to grab one if you can, since you have to pretty much be spot on with your jump or you’ll smack the wall and die. The sewer pool is full of aggro mobs, both around the sides and in the water. If you swim to one side you’ll see a nook with another quest NPC. He offers two neat quests that lead to a couple of fun triggered events, and some nice rewards.
Above: The pool/entry room in the River Palace sewers. Hope that invis lasted the jump!
There are basically two routes in the sewers – north and south. Each quest has steps that involve both tunnels, so try to keep an eye on what you need while you explore. The North tunnel is full of walking clumps called Erthagon and tall walking mushrooms called Erthanid. The South tunnel is full of small serpents and giant tadpoles called Erthgar.
If you are working on the quest called “A Dangerous Proposition,” you have to kill the required number of mobs from the North tunnel, plus loot some nutrient lumps. When you get the required amount (I think it’s 10), you click on it to make a nutrient ball. At that point, you’ll need to head down the south tunnels, until you see a sparkly mist that floats you up into a tunnel, and drops down onto a platform surrounded by eggs. This is the Broodmother’s lair, and if you click on the egg it will summon her, along with about a dozen of her little broodlings. (Turn down your settings beforehand or risk a fierce lockup!)
Above: The Erthgar Broodmother.
There’s some decent loot from the event, and this is where we looted our key to Erthena’s chamber. Be careful, though, because our third time doing the event we got some wonky aggro from mobs under the platform, which caused them to warp on top of us. If you have time I recommend clearing under the platform before starting the event.
Above: The Ravenous Erthanid Sporebeast, in the sewers of River Palace.
If you are working on the quest called “Clearing the Way,” you have to kill a bunch of Erthgar from the south tunnels, loot a random drop egg, and then use the egg to spawn a named Erthanid in a mushroom filled room in the North tunnel. We invised into the room, set up on the left wall, and cleared the room before clicking on the mushroom and spawning the Ravenous Erthanid Sporebeast. The fight was pretty straightforward, and one of the notable drops is the Sentient Crystal of Mass Acceleration, a Psionicist group buff ability that gives increased attack speed and lower refresh timers.
Above: Mysterious flower room, upstairs in the palace.
There are still some things in the Palace that look like they serve some purpose (what’s with that giant flytrap upstairs?), but we had a lot of fun exploring this place and uncovering several neat events. If you have a good group of mid to high 30s, it’s a great place to explore. Thanks again to Thearon for his tips and advice!
Posted by jayernh under Archive,Vanguard Level 35-40 | Comments (3)
July 19, 2007
I wrote about Plains of Anguish in my “40′s Something Hunting” entry, but I’ve since learned about some of the little gems in this chunk. There are a lot of neat little side quests and events that are easy to overlook. Here’s an update to my experience there – with a few still unanswered questions that I hope to figure out soon.
Above: Andaraiel, Rancorr, Faunis and Sindya take on the Cartheon and Vaela.
Vaela Traxis and the Cartheon Conga Line
If you’ve ever been to Plains of Anguish, you’ve probably done the “Cartheon Invasion” quest, which is a repeatable quest to kill 50 Cartheon, which you can most easily find sauntering out of the Graveyard nearby Haven’s Edge. The Cartheon Pawns are summoned by Vaela Traxis, who is found in the middle vault of the Graveyard.
As you kill Cartheon, you’ll occasionally see the message “Vaela Traxis’ power is weakened…” and “Vaela Traxis is protected.” A group of us decided to charge into the Vault and see how long we could stay ahead of the spawn. What we learned (the hard way) is that Vaela, who is normally an untargetable and nonaggro mob, will become attackable if there is a long enough pause in the arrival of Cartheon at the gates to the Brotherhood encampment up the road.
Unfortunately, we killed her enough to make her aggro us, but she remained an invalid target, so we couldn’t attack her back. We plan to go back soon, only we’ll set up outside the Vault, to give a little wiggle room in case she tries to pull another fast one on us! (Thanks to “prp” for the tip)
Cartheon Summoning Stone
This is driving me crazy. I have killed about 309583259085 of the Cartheon pawns, and have never seen a “Cartheon Summoning Stone” drop, but several of my guildmates have, and some of them even have 4 or 5. I have one now (whining to guildies does work, I highly recommend it), but none of us really knows what the heck to do with it. Based on the description, it sounds like the stone will summon something, but what? And where? I’d love to know, it sounds fun.
Above: Ruined tower with strange fog in Drathel
Divine Amulet/Amulet of Divine Brilliance – Tower of the Forsaken (?)
I’ve been working on the Unmarked quest, which gives an armor item with skellie illusion, and while a group of us were killing Brotherhood, one of them dropped a “Divine Amulet.” The description said, “seek the unclean.” Later on, while we were killing the Brotherhood, the item upgraded into “Amulet of Divine Brilliance,” with the mysterious message “Awaken the forsaken one. Wear this amulet in his tower.” I *think* the tower is over in Drathel, but I will wait to try with some guildmates, in case the “forsaken one” is unfriendly.
Above: The forsaken’s tower?
*Edit* Tonight we checked out the tower, and sure enough, it was the right spot. If you have the Amulet of Divine Brilliance, and you approach the ruined tower in Drathel, it will awaken Ba’alesaz the Forsaken a 5 dot, level 41 mob. He has a mean dot, but we managed to survive him and the 4 trash mobs that we had run into on the way over (late nights = sleepy sloppiness) He dropped some nice martial arts handwraps the first time, and a good medium fighter chainmail the second. Fun stuff!
On a side note, there is a named up in the castle at the Brotherhood fortress. His name is Archbishop Draxis, and he dropped an unmarked mask as well as a bard gong. So if you are looking to start the unmarked quest, you can find the items on the Archbishop, as well as the Town Crier and Mayor Tresan in Drathel, and Captain Dreavers in the Cartheon Village.
Above: Strange tomb in the hillside near the Cartheon Village.
Hillside Vault/Soul Binding Specter
What is this all about! Why is there a tomb in the side of the hill over near the Cartheon Village, and why is there a fairy inside? Also, why is her twin up on a hillside near Haven’s Edge? And who is buried in the stone-covered grave in the tomb that opens up?
Posted by jayernh under Archive,Vanguard Level 40-45 | Comments (1)
July 17, 2007
Vanguard, Saga of
Coming to Xeth Server
August 11th, 8 PM EST – 11 PM EST
(Pending the Server Merge)
Details to come!
Posted by jayernh under Archive | Comments (0)
July 12, 2007
I’ve got an overload of screenshots and I’m falling behind. So… here!
Greetings from sunny Afrit! Wish you were here!
Oxianna The Cruel from the Sunken Temple. Why did I picture this place to be so much larger than it was? Maybe I’m missing something. Oh well…
The School of Mastery at night. Got a date with some mean books in here sometime soon…
Who cares about Sauron when you have…Sarom!
But then something happened that the ring did not intend….it was stepped on by a bunch of oblivious dungeon crawlers! (That’s a big ring btw)
In keeping with the Lord of the Rings theme, “Speak Friend and Enter.”
…And they called it a mine…A MINE!
Can Henry Kissinger do this?
I didn’t think so!
Posted by jayernh under Archive,Vanguard General | Comments (3)
July 7, 2007
Here’s a funny little secret about Vanguard – it’s one of the most maligned mmo’s in like, well ever, yet it STILL remains one of the most carefully watched mmo’s out there. Vanguard debate threads on mmo site are still some of the most active and emotional threads out there, and I am amazed how many threads there are from people mulling over giving it a shot. That’s a great sign, because it means there is still a large number of potential players when the game is relaunched at years end.
I’ve been asked about whether or not Vanguard is worth buying. The standard answer is yes, buy it now, but only if you are patient enough to deal with the rough edges.
There’s a better way for people to instantly know when Vanguard is “healthy,” and that’s to check the official forums. If you spend a few minutes there right now, all you will see is page after page after page of threads demanding changes to the game, some of the justified, some not. What you won’t currently see are any threads actually talking about “The Game” ™. There are virtually no threads talking about hunting tips, dungeon guides, class tips, spoilers, lore, etc etc. Sometimes I wonder if the people who post all these demands even play the game. I’d really love to see that change, and soon. The forums could use a clean up, quite frankly, and that would be a big step in the right direction. But the other part of it has to happen naturally, and that will only occur once the game is fixed enough that it no longer becomes a distraction to itself. The day that you read a multi page debate on class balance is the day that Vanguard is ready for purchase.
In any event, I’d like to talk about the game right now! July 4th was a milestone point in many ways – it was a holiday break, plus it was close to Vanguard’s 6 month anniversary. So the night before, our guild decided to try some big mobs for fun. I’ve probably said this before but we’re a guild full of players who used to have a much more hardcore playstyle back in EQ, and now we’re all old, employed, with kids, up to our ears in grad school research, or some combination of the above. So we’re a pretty mellow bunch, and our playstyle is pretty laid back. We’re over on Thunderaxe, which is soon to be merged into Server A along with Woefeather and Gulgrethor. We’re also recruiting all classes and levels, so if you happen to read this, and are looking for a Vanguard guild, look us up! Now that I’m done with my shameless plug, I’d like to cut and paste over some guild news that I posted on our site. I really think it gives a good feel for what the game is like, both good and bad. I also think it shows that, believe it or not, Vanguard is a fun game. Here is our night of guild firsts:
We definitely headed into the holiday with a bang. First, Falconstaff reached level 50 early in the afternoon. Congratulations Falc, the first level 50 in the guild! It’s a great achievement, especially since he’s also level 41 in crafting. Now he just needs to go parley!
Later in the evening, we decided it was time to kill something big as a guild. We found Lord Bamf Kya in Cragwind, although it took quite a search to find him. (I know, I know, how can you not see a giant in the desert, but he was very elusive!)
Here he is, strolling through Cragwind. Nice toes.
Here we are, engaged in combat.
And here he is, defeated by Revelry and Honor. Classic EQ death pose too, with the head and torso buried deep in the cliff wall. Congrats guild bank on cruddy merchant fodder!
We weren’t done yet! It was on to Jagund the Wavebreaker, over in The Deebs. We learned a few things about him and carefully put together a solid strat. The plan was to send in any and all pets we had, dot him, snare him, and hope for the best. Plan B was to run like hell to the Deebs outpost and cheerfully ask for help from the local denizens. Here is a shot taken a split second after we sent our pets in.
Don’t see any pets? That’s because they were already dead! We decided on the “run like hell” plan shortly after.
But we weren’t done yet! It was on to Renton Keep and Tharridon the Mighty. We buffed and sent Faunis in to see how hard he hits. Here’s a shot from the encounter. Tharridon didn’t seem to even notice Faunis repeatedly poking him in the toe.
So we all charged and hit him as hard as we could.
The good news was that we walked away without a single death. The bad news was that he was stuck in the chunk line so we couldn’t damage him at all. Maybe that’s not a bad thing for us though.
Happy Fourth of July!
Posted by jayernh under Archive,Vanguard General | Comments (2)
July 2, 2007
I’m finally at the home stretch now, and have mostly been doing some solo and small group content lately – partially because I’ve been out of town on and off, and partly because it’s hard to flesh out a full group. Can’t wait for the big merge!
I read a lot of posts complaining that there isn’t any content past level 40. While it does drop off, there is stuff out there, and some of it does require a little exploring. Since I love exploring the world of Telon, I figured I would post up some of the spots I found to be fun and rewarding for the low 40s.
Above: Razad (Oasis in the foreground). Rhaz Inkur towers nearby.
Razad – This is pretty much a quest hub for solo players and small groups. There are a lot of “kill 15 of this, collect 10 of that” type quests, but there is also a fun quest where you have to race the quest NPC from Razad up to a marked spot on your map. (Spoiler – rent a wyvern right before you grab the quest. The NPC is located right at the front corner of Rhaz Inkur, so use the quest marker to pin point her location) There is also an NPC that offers some armor rewards for tokens, which can be acquired by doing various quests for him. I recall belts and bracers were the rewards for 7 tokens. I’m not sure if there is another tier or if that was it, since I didn’t follow through with it. The only quest I felt was a pain was the shovel quest. Trying to find those sand moles was impossible! Even with a /targ Sand, I still found them to be very rare. Overall, it’s a fun spot, and easy to get to, since it’s right at a rift stone, and just down the river from Ahgram.
Ruins Falls (Elani) – I just found this place last week, so I haven’t done much here yet, but it looks like a spot that you can settle into for a good long time. It has a neat storyline, and several good quests. Here’s the lore behind it:
Above: Hegnerian.
Elani was a place full of lush, vibrant woods, and peaceful spirits that wandered and protected everyone. One of the residents of Elani was a high elf named Typhon. Typhon was a master of the elements, and had four apprentices, one of which was Hegnerian. Typhon was worried that outside forces were trying to pull his power from him, so he divided his powers to his apprentices. Sure enough, he did die, although it’s unclear what happened exactly. Of the four apprentices that were given his power, Hegnerian got the most powerful of the four – Ezigoth, the Fourth Wind. Hegnerian was favored because he was the most talented, and seemed very calm and able to control such power, but he loved his wife deeply, and that would turn out to be the cause of such misery and destruction in Elani today.
Sadly, Hegnerian’s wife was abducted by the Prince of the Cartheon Empire and treated brutally while in captivity. She later died in the hands of a peasant woman, who passed on the story to Hegnerian. Hegnerian and the elven leaders pleaded with the Cartheon senate to take care of the matter, but their way was to remove all trace of the peasant woman and her family, rather than punich the Cartheon Prince. So, a few years later, when the Prince ascended to the throne, Hegnerian called upon his power – Ezigoth, the Fourth Wind – which caused the upheaval of the Cartheon Empire and which has brought such destruction to the lands around Elani. Hegnerian was imprisoned for his actions, but the lands are still in turmoil.
Above: Fighting Hopper near Elani, in Ruins Falls.
I’ve begun some quests here, and based on the storyline, this will eventually lead to the Swamp of Rumog, which is where the high level armor faction quests take place. Most of the quests in Elani are good for small groups at the low 40s. There is an encampment of hideous hags nearby at the Deadbog, and yes, those awful cockatrices hang around Elani too, although under a different name. There is another quest to cure bears, and it took me a while to find them. The trick is to head up a windy path, past an empty cave that’s screaming to be populated, and on the top you’ll find the diseased greatbears. (Skeletal Lashers don’t count btw)
My favorite quest was the one to kill frogs outisde the outpost. It eventually causes a giant frog, named Hopper, to appear, and you have to kill him to retrieve a lost backpack. Gotta wonder what happened to its owner…
Lost Canyon/Winterfang’s Resolution (Vulmane camp) – Tucked in the Lost Canyon is an encampment of Vulmane, who offer lots of good quests for low 40s small groups. Again, I didn’t get through many quests here, but it looks like a lot of “kill 10 of these, scout this spot” type quests. There also seems to be some kind of dynamic event there, though, because there was a large named Sithar with two minions attacking the guards later in the evening, which were not there previously.
Above: Mysterious gathering of spirits inside ruined chapel at Haven’s Edge in Plains of Anguish.
Plains of Anguish – If you are low 40s, this is really the place to be. It’s easy to get to, since it’s right at a riftway, it has loads of quests for solo/small group, and full group, and it has some fun and refreshing encounters. This is also the home of the Cartheon, which I have to assume are the same Cartheon that caused Hegnerian to lose it. Haven’s Edge is where you’ll find quests, just make sure to have lots of room in your journal. First tip – don’t take the Bears of Beranid Hills quest, and in fact, stay away from the Undead Bears in general. They’re borked right now, and have regen on par with raid mobs, so it’s impossible to solo them, and almost impossible to kill even with a full group. Definitely not worth doing.
Above: Strange tower ruins near Drathel, in Plains of Anguish.
There are four areas that involve quests from Haven’s Edge – The Graveyard (which is right next to the Riftway), Drathel (Just across the road from the Graveyard, look for a bunch of run down houses), The Cartheon Village (When you head down the road from Haven’s Edge towards the griffons, take a right and follow the road), and the Brotherhood fortress (Past the Cartheon Village and up the road further).
Normally, it’s always prudent when traveling to stay on the roads for safety. Not here! Over at the Graveyard, Veela Traxis is summoning Cartheon Pawns from one of the vaults, and they slowly plod along the road, past the Cartheon Village, and all the way up to the Brotherhood Fortress. It’s like a big Cartheon conga line, but it means that following the road will net you a train from hell, and certain death. The nice part of that is that if you feel like having an evening of vanilla hack n slash, you can scoop up the repeatable “Cartheon Invasion” quest and settle in for a night of non-stop autopulls. In fact, one of the most enjoyable evenings I have had was when a group of us fought our way into the graveyard and right into the summoning vault itself. It was a ton of fun trying to stay ahead of the spawns, and there was little room for error! I had visions of Helms Deep as I sliced through scores of undead.
Above: Killing Captain Dreavers, in Plains of Anguish.
Another fun spot is the Cartheon Village, which has a multi step questline that eventually asks you to retrieve the body parts of Captain Dreavers, summon him, and then bring back his head. The Cartheon Village is more of a group spot, and it has its own mini-parade of cartheon denizens that roam around. If you are doing the Dreavers quest, his tombstone is a pile of rocks on the outer edge of the village. You need to collect an arm, leg, torso and head from the Cartheon Lieutenants, and then click the grave. He will charge across the village, and he’s not anything that tricky. He drops some nice loot, as well as some “Unmarked” items. These are important!
Unmarked items are the beginning of a questline that rewards you with a nice piece of armor that gives good stats and…skellie illusion! Funny thing is, it seems that hardly anyone knows about this. There are four items – shield (for tank classes), belt (for healing classes), mask (for casters) and gloves (for light fighters). Equip the unmarked item and then fight mobs – eventually you will get a quest window to open that asks you to see a guy in Haven’s Edge. Talk to him and he will direct you to kill 100 Brotherhood, and the questline begins. You can get the unmarked items from any named in Anguish, and so far, I have found Dreavers plus two nameds in Drathel.
Drathel is the village across the road from the Graveyard, and again, it’s more of a group spot. There is a multi step quest there that eventually has you kill Mayor Treslan, who is one of the named that drops unmarked items. There is also the Town Crier, who is found right along the road and has dropped unmarked stuff. One tip about Drathel – If you are doing the quest to kill forsaken scholars and get a scroll, you might have trouble getting the scroll. If you find yourself killing them with no luck, have the group disband and reform with you as leader (do that as many times as you need to in order to get everyone the scroll). For some reason, it sometimes gets fickle and won’t let anyone but the group leader get a scroll drop. I had my first horse pet here too – ranger tame + charmed steed = coolness.
Although there is a lot I learned about this place, there is a ton more that has me scratching my head. Why do I sometimes see a messsage saying “Veela Traxis’ power is weakened?” Does that signal some kind of triggered event in the Cartheon conga line? Who is the strange fairy in the hillside crypt near the Cartheon Village, why does she have a twin on a hill outside Haven’s Edge, and what’s the deal with the graves that I can open in the crypt? What’s the story with the smoke filled tower near Drathel that has the little red glowing dots? How come there are groups of spirits congregating in the Haven’s Edge chapel, only to dissapear in the center of the room? I feel like there’s either something I’m missing, or I’m experiencing what my guild has termed, “The Edge of Content.”
Above: Shipwreck near Tehatamani Harbor.
Tehatamani Harbor – Here’s another spot where I only scratched the surface. Again, this one takes a little traveling, and your best bet is to rent a griffon from Razad and fly east to the peninsula that juts out from the southern tip of Qalia. The harbor is right at the tip, and offers several quests. This spot really looks like it’s more suited to mid 40s, and does have a questline that involves grouping. The storyline here is really neat, involving the Lucent Circle, and the questline has several steps that allow you to upgrade a nice necklace:
The Lucent Circle is an elite group of fighters who are trying to drive back the Tehatamani Empire. Meanwhile, the Tehatamani found trouble of their own. They have been porting all over, swooping in on other civilizations and looting all of their treasure, but at some point, they became corrupted by one of the civilizations they had tried to pillage. The Xakrin, an evil civilization of stone cats and statues, is seeking revenge on the Tehatamani – and also looking to retrieve whatever the artifact was that the Tehatamani had stolen, and which had corrupted them even further.
Above: Quest hub at The Fallen Cove.
Fallen Cove – This one is not easy to get to, but quests are quests, and this is a cool place if you have the desire to explore a bit. The best way to reach it is to head to either Beranid Hills or New Targonor, and rent a griffon. Fly south to Flordiel, unlock the riftway there while you’re at it, and rent another griffon to fly further south to the Fallen Cove. Look for a little inlet on the eastern side of the peninsula south of NT, with two small islands near it. The quest hub is actually a ring of NPCs surrounding a flaming skull that reminded me of the Wizard of Oz’s floating head trick at the Emerald City. I have only begun questing here, but it looks like a good spot to solo and duo in the low to mid 40s. Lots of 2 and 3 dot mobs, and plenty of grind quests.
Above: The sun struggles to shine on this fortress near The Fallen Cove.
Still need ideas? You could try Dragon’s Backbone, Sunset Pointe, Rahz Inkur, Greystone, Ceros Island (great spot if you are a bard!), Xennumet Dungeon (although the final event, the All-Father event, is temporarily disabled).
Hope that helps! Happy Fourth of July!
Posted by jayernh under Archive,Vanguard Level 40-45,Vanguard Level 45-50 | Comments (4)