Tales of a Newbie, Part 1

[Janus-SOK]

So there I sit, done with all I can do in Land's Edge. I realize that I'm probably somewhat behind the curve seeing as I'm now a 7 Cleric/2 War Priest, and it dawns on me that almost 1/3rd of my levels have been gotten all within earshot of town.

I decided to get a little more AC, so I did a quick last couple quests in Land's Edge to get some Zalantar Planks and made a tower shield out of them, and then set out to make my name in the world.

Lower Outpost. Pfft, no time for orcs, you guys are beneath me, I'm the liberator of the Middle Outpost dangit! I blaze through, shiny new tower shield in hand and quickly becoming filled with arrows. Thunk, thunk, thunk, I press onward oblivious to my attackers.

Ahh, the Plains of Grinding. Nothing here seems to pose much of a threat either. I run along, an endless army of Chodes angrily chasing me, exploring the place as thoroughly as one can with a score of angry beasts clawing at your back.

A cave! Let's take a peek inside, maybe I'll find a new challenge. I stop at the entrance, throw on my array of spells that take me from meager to a formidable opponent, and the real story begins.

Spiders. Why'd it have to be spiders? I hate spiders. Sneak Attacking, Poisoning spiders no less. Wishing for a giant rolled up scroll I instead have to use my blade to slowly carve my way through these spider infested caves. Eventually I round a corner to be greeted by a special spider.

A much larger spider than the rest, but one that looks the same no less. The Blood Spider Queen, apparently. My toughest opponent yet, to say the least. I couldn't land a blow on her, nor she myself. This epic battle would be reduced to which of us could roll more natural 20's than the other. But I had an edge: Touch of Healing. She hit much harder than I did, and I had thoughts of Recalling out and calling it a loss, but I stuck it out. As my health ebbed and flowed about the 50% mark like a tide, hers slowly waned away. In game time, this battle lasted hours. I watched the clock tick away, and eventually the spiders behind me were back, and 2 of them decided to come to the defense of their Queen, but still I persisted. Eventually, with a screech, she fell. I quickly snatched up my hard earned loot, and Recalled out of there as a 3rd spider had come to seek revenge upon me for felling their Queen.

A Ring of Wizardy. For a Cleric. Blast! But it was fun, and with renewed confidence I could take the Queen, I was ready to set back for the cave and see if I could obtain something a bit more usable for myself from her bloated upturned husk of a corpse. Then the server crashed.

Once it had come back up, I continued on my way to the Spider Caves again. This time however, when I rounded the corner expecting to smirk and greet the Queen with my sword between her eyes again, I was greeted by something different. This one didn't look like the rest, and it had a name as opposed to a title.

I faltered for a moment before I rushed forward at this "Bezbila." Whoosh, I connect on my first hit, but all the damage is ignored save for the 2 Magical of my Adamantine Longsword. "Uh oh." Whack, one third of my life gone. Whack, whack. Death embraces me.

It's time to look elsewhere for adventure, I wonder what awaits in this Chode Lair...

[Loudent2]

Heh, there's a world map and a zone level gude in the World Guide section of the main website that can give you a good idea of what level the zone is. (although boss mobs are always tougher)

Bezbila is the bane of many early adventures, eventually we all graduate past her and get new banes.

[Janus-SOK]

I swept through the Chode Burrow without too much incident. Picked up a couple levels and some nice gear in the process, which then led to the eventual demise of Bezbila. Several times. I likes me some revenge.

However, I found a new bane in Mirj, and it's not even a tangible one:



I died fully healed trying to open a door, that's got to be one for the record books.

Needless to say when I go back to Mirj I'll have a couple Protection from Elements spells memorized.

[Loudent2]

Every time I open a door in Mirj, I get a little twinge of fear.

Of course, there's nothing funnier than being killed by something you put in the module (darn that random trap generator!). Which, of course, means it's hilarous just about every time I die.

[Beldar]

Those traps are sadistic... I flinch every time I open a door.

I have spent a lot of time in Mirj. My personal record for a trap there was 154 from a fire trap. Some people claim the electrical are worse, but that has not been my experience (plus I have mostly used a couple of stormlords in there who kind of enjoy a good zap).

[profmonkeys]

On the note of Mirj, I think the DCs may be a little too high. At level 12, my rogue (who has been maxing disable device), does not even have a 50% chance of disabling those traps despite having a +4 int mod. Considering that rogues are otherwise are of very little use in mirj due to the golems crit immunity, it seems like a rogue with maxed disable device should have a relatively high chance of disabling those traps.

[Loudent2]

Thanks for the heads up, I'll adjust the traps a bit.

[nicethugbert]

Mirj is one of those places that warlocks don't belong. Peanut got fried by one of those electrical traps and he has electrical resistance.