Isya Chronicles: My Return

I received many callings over the last two years.  Callings of a return to a simpler time, a simpler existence.   I never expected to ever hear them again once I had made my choice to leave, but the voices were persistent, beckoning, hopeful, and yet, suffering.  I did my best to resist answering.  I had left that life behind, promised myself never to go back. 

I was strong in my absence, though my skills as an Isyan Mage may have diminished over time, my interests evolved and expanded.  I sought out new adventures in other lands; I became an Archmage of a magical college and helped squash an upstart rebellion while learning the Way of the Voice in a far off, snowy land.  I helped a sentient plant species defend their home world against an undead invasion.  I even helped a red-suited, loud-mouthed mercenary save the world from a Sinister villain, we celebrated with a feast of chimichangas afterwards.... but I could not avoid this calling any longer. 

 With each passing month, the messages became more desperate.  The messages came, one by one, trying desperately to feed on my sentimentality.  The letters told me that my friends needed me, yet never got into specifics.  Later letters spoke of further exploration and that my help was needed on these expeditions.  With each letter came promises of rewards, and with each letter I ignored, the bounty grew more abundant.  The desperation was clear to me, but I thought I had calloused myself enough to resist.

I did not.  I fetched my Storas Wand from the trophy case in my Winterhold quarters.  It was time to return to the world where my legend was born.

... So yeah, this just happened....

So.... the million gem question of course is, "Am I back?"  You know, I can't really say for certain.  I've logged in, spoken with some folks, and of course, that's always the question I've been asked.

It's interesting to see the impact one positive player can have on others.  When I couldn't give these players a definitive answer to their question about my return, many were a bit disappointed.  One player even told me that my return gives her hope that the game will get better.  I found that really interesting and really flattering.  I had never met her before that I could recall and she confirmed as much.  She went on to say that she was sad when I left the last time, but seeing me in Elderine really got her excited, that if I've returned, it must be a sign of good things to come.  Wow, that's a lot of pressure!

I've been asked a bunch about the merge, what my thoughts are on it, and where I plan to go.  Sadly, again, I don't have much of an answer.  As of this day, I'm signed up for Isya, but I've been asked by a few friends, old and new, to join them in Pagel.  It's such a hard choice.

Bijou has always been home to me.  While I have "vacationed", of sorts, on other servers, I've always come back to where my heart was, the lovely jewel of Bijou, the one server that has truly stood the test of time.  It's truly amazing that so many old players still reside here, nearly 8 years after the server opened!

I've run into a few familiar faces, which is always nice.  In Bijou, we have a buffing machine by the name of fluffytails that's always, and I mean ALWAYS in Elderine, happily buffing newbies and veterans alike.  Most times without even being asked.  It was really nice to see this friendly Guardian still doing what she loves after so many years.  If there's one constant in Bijou, I honestly think it's her.  Much praise to you fluffy for being that beacon of safety in Elderine.  May you continue to do what you love.  While we aren't close friends, I've always had much admiration for someone as selfless as she.  If we end up on separate servers, I will feel some sadness, definitely.

Pressed for time today, so I'll post again later....

Bye for now,
Fatal

Farewell Epith ~ 1.11 Gems in One Week

Well, my one week stay has come and gone and as I stated before, I thoroughly enjoyed myself noobing it up on an unfamiliar server.  I came in with nothing, used no SparkCash (aside from a Beauty Shop Coupon), and am retiring with a decent amount of money in the bank.  My inspiration for this whole journey was the numerous postings I see complaining about how expensive it is to get established on a server, I intended to prove otherwise, and I think I've accomplished that.

This post is actually a week late, but I haven't logged back in to Epith until today for the sake of taking some screenshots and doing some last minute vending.  Keep in mind too that this was before the recent patch that increased dungeon drop rates tremendously, your results now should actually be better.

So how did it go?  Pretty well I think.  A lot can be learned for the budding adventurer here.  Hopefully someone will be able to follow along with what I did and get themselves set up to be financially successful in whatever server they choose.

Where to begin?  Well with the sword and shield of course!  Starting from scratch, the Fighter is the best choice for the new adventurer who finds themselves with nothing but lint in their pockets and a mystery vault in their inventory.  With the highest base HP and DEF along with decent damage even with a 1H, the Fighter class is truly ideal.  Remember, this is starting from zero, if you're financing gears using another "main" then your experience will be different.


The Build: The build I used was full STR.  I wanted as much damage output as possible to make up for the fact that I will not be enhancing gear into the "break" point of enhancing, that meant a maximum of +5 on my one-hander.  With how I planned out this character along with other alts to do my alchemy, the STR build was fine.  If you want to add some DEX, END, or SPR, by all means, that's your choice.  In my opinion, it's easy to add Aim/Evasion/HP/DEF via T1 or T2 buff scrolls, no need to alter your build to boost these.

The Empowerments: Since this character will only be used for farming low level bosses using a sword and shield, I fully empowered Slice and Dice for both damage and cooldown.  Remaining points could possibly go into Concussive Charge duration.  Again, she has no other purpose than low level farming.

Crafting: Potion crafting needs to be started immediately.  Since potions become the life-blood of the "farmer" character, my Fighter needed to be able to make these while she was out adventuring.  Stone production and Scroll production I left to two other alts that did nothing but stay in Roumen to craft these items from materials transferred through storage.  All the scrolls and potions I crafted, I kept for my own use.  Stones were also made, but I did sell some T1 Lix to add some additional income.  If you are ahead of the game and get on your crafting early, this saves you a tremendous amount of money.  It also keeps you alive out in the field, making your adventure time longer and more profitable.  I'm also on the cusp of T2 Elrue which is exactly where I need to be given my character's level.

What I Didn't Do That May Surprise You:  Many people suggest farming the Ratman repeat for easy money being that you can sell the town scrolls and what not.  However, since I only had a self-imposed one week deadline, I needed to make more money sooner.  I did do the Ratman repeats for the EXP gain, but banked all of the town scrolls.

Academy Rewards:  As stated in a previous posting, this is essential to getting yourself geared early on.  I was able to join a good academy that had excellent rewards, all told I was able to earn 12.6g leveling from 10-30.  It could have been a bit more, but my academy's funds dried up by the time I hit 29.  I had one level with no reward and another level with a fairly small 300s reward from another academy.  I stumbled upon the first academy by chance, they were roaring to join, so I did.  Thankfully, their rewards were true to what they were advertising.  You can also check the rewards for your academy at the Guild Manager in any town.  Be advised that you need to join the academy before you can verify what they are offering.  Also, you need to be a member of that academy for 1 hour before you can leave, unless you request getting kicked out, though most guilds I've seen don't accommodate such requests so I never ask.  If you do your research and ask around, you should be able to earn quite a bit here.

Mentor/Apprentice:  Just as important as the Academy rewards are the Mentor/Apprentice rewards through the Holy Promise system.  The most important thing to earn here are the 1 hour Hunter's War Rant cards.  These are extremely precious to you as you try to earn your own money.  These should be saved for when you are sure you can dedicate the time to farming.  Use these in conjunction with a high-level Endure buff from a 100+ Holy Knight if possible.  The better your survivability, the more able you are to take advantage of your drop-rate boosted time.

Cards:  Cards at this early stage in the game are truly a luxury item.  Valuable cards should be sold, not used, unless you have many multiples of cards that give you a title and stat boost.  Personally, I stuck with the Quest Expert title which gives a 1.3% increase to HP/SP and +10 to both Physical and Magical Defense.  The Slime S and King Crab A cards I received, I sold for 5g and 10g, respectively.  I also sold various other cards like Hungry Wolf for 3-5g while some others sold at 100-300s.  Again, an easy moneymaker for the newbie.  Look around the marketplace and see what the prices at which cards are being vended for.  If you're unsure, ask in your academy.  More on cards later.

Get Geared:  I was fairly lucky in that I was able to find a +0 level 20 Bone Top in a vendor for 10g.  I only had 8g at the time, so I whispered the vendor hoping he would accept my 8g, which he did.  The level 20 blue shirt, even at +0 is a huge improvement over the white NPC armor.  Just in base form, it has nearly double the DEF and also gives a +200HP bonus.  If you can find one, do whatever it takes to get it, you will need it.  I spent nearly all the money I had on just the shirt, but I was confident that I could earn it all back and then some.  At this point, you should have somewhere in the ballpark of 220 base DEF.   If you are unable to find a Bone Top, getting a decent buff is essential.  Moral here:  You often have to spend money to make money.

Enhancement:  By now, you've accumulated tons of old dusts from killing Greenkies, Phinos and the like.  You will need to start enhancing all of your gear.  With kind of a bare-bones approach to farming, you need every extra bit of DEF you can muster out of your gear.  Everything should be at a minimum +3, while going to +5 on your essential pieces, namely shirt, shield, and weapon (I did not enhance my NPC pants because at level 20 they are T2, I did not find Bone Pants which would have been a T1 enhancement).  Hats and boots give fairly low DEF gains even at +5, so take care of the bigger pieces first.  If you need more dust for stones, you can buy stacks of dust directly from Nina in Elderine then transfer them to your stone maker through storage.  Same goes for Lix[1].  If you find yourself out of Lix[1] and out of dusts, you can opt to just purchase the Elrue[1] from Kenton in Elderine of Pey in Roumen.  They sell them for 2.700s for a stack of 10.  If you've got a bunch of extra LQ Copper Ore and don't mind vending stones, you can also just buy the Elrue[1] and craft them into Lix[1] and sell them at a decent profit.  Check the other vendors around you though and price accordingly.  With a cost of only 810c +  3 LQ Copper Ore, you can easily vend at 20-40s and make a sizable (relatively) profit.  Copper Ore, you need to farm it yourself, take a pickaxe and go, don't be lazy.

What to Farm - Preparation:  Epith's Mara in Sea of Greed was always occupied whenever I went past there, so it was off to the Marlone Clan Hideout, where I intended to go anyway.  Before setting out you should have a ton of HP/SP potions (think 200 HP/100 SP, if you can manage another 50 T2 HP, that's great).  If you're running short on materials to craft them, go ahead and buy from Nina.  You will pick up quite a bit in Marlone Clan Hideout (MCH), but not unless you have your rant active.  Enough potions should be made that you are able to continuously spam them while fighting King Marlone.  Your DEF is not that high and you will get stunned and you will have a bleed debuff almost constantly.  Altogether there are seven King Marlones waiting to be farmed.  Respawn time on each is about 5 minutes from time of death.

What to Farm - Execution:  If you have your level 25 Mystery Vault Raccoon, great, it's ideal for fast travel within the MCH going from KM to KM and avoiding the other mobs along the way.  If not, then go with the hobby and do the best you can.  Try to avoid as many battles along the way as possible as these not only cut into your 1 hour War Rant boost time, but also heavily deplete your HP/SP stones and potions.  If mobs are following you, try to pull them as far as you can, dismount and kind of "wiggle", basically just move back and forth a bit.  Many of the mobs will give up and turn around, others may run up and hit you once then leave.  Unless they hit you multiple times, don't bother fighting them.  Remember, your target here is King Marlone, not the rest of his gang.  Fight what you have to, avoid the rest of the battles as best as you can.

What to Farm - The Target:  King Marlone will always have 2-3 minions surrounding him.  Once you approach one of them, they will all chase after you because their aggro is initially linked together.  In these fights, you should kill them in the following order:  Marlone Archer, Marlone Fighter, Marlone Megaton, King Marlone.  The Archer has the faster attack rate and also has a bind skill that locks you in place for a few seconds, take her out first.  The Marlone Fighter has a short stun skill and does decent damage.  The Megaton is basically just a grunt, he has no special skill to watch out for.  If you are able to confidently switch targets during battle, try to save your Concussive Charge (stun) for KM himself.  He will stun you often. If you're down to just the 1 vs 1 against KM, you can use your Rest House while stunned.  This helps alleviate some of the damage by recovering your HP a bit.  Just mouse over the stun debuff icon so you'll know when to pop back out of your house and immediately go back on the attack.  Always stun when you can and try to keep Bone Slicer on him since that will slow down his attacks meaning, hopefully, less stuns of his own thrown your way.  Another reason why the Bone set is great for Fighters farming KM, the two piece effect increases Bone Slicer's duration.  Another note:  if you do not kill all of his surrounding minions, he will not respawn.  The 5 minute respawn timer begins upon the death of the last mob in his grouping, whether it is KM himself or a Megaton, Archer, or Fighter.  Be a responsible and courteous farmer, please kill all minions.

What to Farm - The Payoff:  Remember how I said cards are a luxury?  This is the biggest example of such.  The gear that KM drops is honestly, not all that valuable, but the cards can be.  The Marlone S (Marlone - King of Thieves) card can be sold for 40-60g, while the Marlone-A (Marlone) card can be sold for 20g, the final A card that he drops "Path of Sin" can be sold for about 5-15g.  The Marlone A card does grant a title and a good bonus to both damage and attack, a 2.5% increase in both and is desirable.  The S card will sell to collector's as well as the Path of Sin.  Most armors from KM can be sold from 1-10g depending on stats and class, typically fighter and mage stuff sells for more than the other 3 classes.  Rings can be valuable based on their stats, END/DEX preferred as base stat along with huge bonuses to them.  The weapons will also sell from about 300s-3g depending on stats, number of slots, and class.

Things to Keep in Mind:  While more expensive, it's better to use T1 HP pots to heal yourself rather than your HP stones.  Normally this is not the case, but because your stone capacity is so limited, use the stones when you need that bigger boost in HP recovery, use the T1 HP potions mid-battle.  Plan to carry about 4 stacks of these if possible.

Treasure Chests abound in the Marlone Clan Hideout

Other Loot:  There are some other decent cards to get in the MCH, including Grave Robber A (Tenacity Towards Treasure), Grave Robber B (The Gold Miner), Mage Book S (The Mage Book of Doomed Spirits), Mage Book A (The Mage Book of Darkness), Mage Book B (The Mage Book of Light).  There are also Treasure Chests galore in there, the best items being the occasional pet (500s-1g).

The Verdict:  All told, here's the bottom line.  One week of adventuring, averaging less than 2 hours per day, I amassed a total of 1.11 Gems, with still a ton of items remaining unsold.  My highest level character remains at level 30, the remaining are two level 1s, used strictly for productions.  The main character could be remade over and over with similar, if not better (because of the increased dungeon drop rate) results.  For someone without any SparkCash investment and new to the server, it's a great way to get your feet on solid ground financially.  The character's equipment can easily be passed along as you remake your farmer character once his/her War Rants have expired.  It's a bit of work, but there's potential there.

The Disclaimers:  Your results may vary tremendously depending on the server you choose to play on.  Epith has one of the highest populations and that helps when factoring in prices.  On a lesser populated server, items such as cards may not sell as well simply because there are less players.  It is up to you to analyze your own server's marketplace and see where you can fit in.  Epith and Bijou both suffer, surprisingly, from very few vendors selling gear of low to mid quality for the level 20-35 player.  This is a market that can be tapped into.  Not everything you sell needs to be uber godly, there is a market for players of all budgets, just price accordingly.  The lower quality items will keep your cash flow high while you can sit and wait on cashing in on the best items you've collected.

Some Other Differences - Know Your Server:  Between the hours of midnight and 3am, server time, Epith really is a ghost town around Elderine and the surrounding areas, many vendors, but few active players.  This is perfect for the well-equipped farming character, but makes finding a buff difficult for the farmer using lesser gear.

Epith Adventures - How Could I Forget! My Mentor... Onoh!

After my last two entries, how could I forget mentioning my Mentor, I hate the term "Master" so I won't use it here.  Her name is Onoh, I met her on my first day on the Epith server in Roumen.  She was kind enough to make room on her Apprentice list for me and I've been grateful ever since.

She takes time to check up on me offering her help in any way.  I always decline, I don't know if she's surprised by that or disappointed, but it's just my way.  No offense Onoh!

Here's a great shot of Onoh taking care of a Marlone Megaton that was trying to photobomb us!

Thanks Onoh for everything... =)  Perhaps now she will know who I am? 

... I'm really starting to dislike my hair, can't even see my face in the first shot!  *sigh* ... I realize again why I never use this. =P

Epith Adventures - A Week Long Saga

Epith.  My time here is fleeting, unfortunately.  My self-imposed deadline is swiftly approaching.  Though I do still have more days ahead of me than behind, seeing the finish line is a bit saddening.  What makes it sad?  I'm really enjoying myself here.

I honestly didn't expect to make any friends here.  I figured I'd just go about my business, get on with my project and be done with it, leaving no footprints of my existence on the Epith server.  Get in, get it done, get out.  Gone, without a trace.  But nope, that hasn't happened.  I made friends, quite a few of them actually, and none of them know who I really am.

To them I'm "SweetEscape" a 2x Fighter with a fire in her eyes and skill that betrays her modest 20+ levels.  I'm friendly, especially generous, and extremely protective of those around me.  We've quested together, hung out a little bit, farmed dungeon bosses and conquered KQs together.  It's pretty amazing what can be done in a matter of days based off of a chance meeting.

The Cleric in our group, AzianHealer, is very capable and confident.  Even in her mid-twenties, she's tested herself against Burning Hill's Marlone and come out on top.  Happy to receive quest help, but not bothered by having to get her own hands dirty and soloing.  Didn't spend too much time with her, but I love her attitude.

The Trickster is DeathwishReborn, an alt of a 7x Cleric here on Epith.  Cheerfully he greets me in academy chat when I log in.  I appreciate that a lot actually.  It was nice to have some stability in Classified's Academy.  Perhaps it was because their GM wasn't around to clear out the academy, but it was nice to login and still see their guild name emblazoned above mine.  Familiarity is a nice thing.

The Mage is iCantEven, he has a few other characters on the server, but this Mage wields the lucky pickaxe.  During the Gold Hill KQ, he successfully found three of the four keys.  Needless to say, he was a bit peeved when I discovered the fourth and final key.  We had a most profitable time in Marlone's Hideout after the KQ, he logged on to his Cleric and dutifully followed me around as we farmed King Marlones.  We got two card drops, Marlone A and Path of Sin A.  I was happy to let him have both.  He also picked up some 20 blue pants for his Mage.  I was grateful for the heals and just for keeping me company in there.

Not pictured is _Ryero_, a level 3x Fighter who I bumped into a couple of times during the Gold Hill KQs.  He led the charge the first few levels while I tagged along and eased some of his tanking burden here and there.  Even at 2x and with just +5 gear, I'm a capable tank, Cleric or not, but I'm more than happy to let him take charge and set the pace.... though I tanked the boss.  *wink*  Hey, I can't let him have ALL the fun!  The second KQ was even better, we work well together as a duo within the party, mocking and kicking the mobs into our range.  He even gave me a green level 30 shield, it was nice of him.  He called me beautiful in party chat, I thought that was kind of him.

Also not pictured is V4nill4, a 2x Cleric from our academy.  She was the lucky recipient of a level 20 blue Cleric top that dropped while iCant and I farmed, she also got a nice max-END, 2 slot, KM Hammer that we picked up.  Items were donated to her despite her insistence on paying.  I told her to just believe in the generosity of strangers sometimes.  She seemed happy and the gear was better than what she was currently using, so that made me happy.

I've told a few people that I'm only planning to be here for a little while, which was received with a bit of sadness, much to my surprise.  I guess even in as little as 24 hours, you CAN have an impact on people you meet.

So what have I done in my time in Epith so far?  Here are some highlights...

Soloed the Slime KQ at level 17/18 - I had joined the KQ while I was level 16, but managed to hit level 17 while doing the Ratman repeats before the KQ started.  Midway through the KQ I leveled up to 18.  I used a bit of strategy on the final boss, kiting it a little bit using Kick.  Similar to what we do in the Henneath KQ to get the boss away from his spawned minions.  Worked like a charm!

Soloed my first King Marlone at level 20 with only +3 white shirt, 1h, and shield, a single T1 vit scroll and no buff.  I burned through quite a bit of HP Stones and T1/T2 HP Pots, but it was worth it.  I got a decent ring that I saved for my troubles.  My gear was only +3 because I didn't hit Lix[1] yet at the time, nor was I actively making T1 scrolls, both have been remedied since then.

Trio'd the Mara Pirates KQ with a Trickster and a Cleric who only had Bash, a T1 Heal, and Revive.  I'm pretty sure I could have soloed it, but they both joined the KQ at the last moment, I was happy for the company at least.

So where am I financially? I think I'm pretty well off and geared up well enough to be able to farm successfully alone.  My stones, scrolls, and potion productions are all up to date, I can make up to Lix[1] for my gear and all T1 scrolls and potions.  Marlone's Hideout drops T2 HP/SP pots by the dumptruck load, so producing those aren't an issue.

I've made 12.3g simply through academy rewards.  I used 6g of that to purchase a +0 Level 20 Bone Top for my Fighter.  Even at +0, it has nearly double the DEF of the 20 white shirt I was using as well as +200 HP.  I NEEDED this to farm.  At the time, this was nearly all of the gold I had on-hand.  Thankfully the seller lowered his price by 1g for me so I could afford it.

I made another 9g selling a Slime S card that I picked up during my solo run through Slime KQ.  I used a bit of that money to buy a level 30 green shield as well as a ZK 1H with additional evasion stats as well as 2 empty sockets.  I may just end up staying at the 2x levels though for KM, the money generated is more consistent I think.  But, I have those equipments waiting for me should I decide to continue to level.

I potentially could have made another 25g off of one of the two Marlone cards that my friend kept as well as the sale of the Cleric items.  5g was offered by V4nill4, but I turned it down.

Among the cards I still have remaining, I estimate the value of all of that to be about another 10-15g, that's conservative if I wanted to vend them.

Altogether, potentially, that's nearly 70g in the matter of about a day and a half of playtime over 27 levels, that figure could be higher if I was able to keep both Marlone cards.

So what's my build?  I'm pure STR, but will use only sword and shield.  I've empowered only Slice-and-Dice for full CD and max DMG.  My base DMG maxes out around 230 or so with my DEF around 260 before scrolls. I guess those are your benchmarks if you decide to do what I've done.

I did not quest too much, I mostly grinded my levels out as I wanted to collect as many mats as possible to build up my skill points in those areas (I did not want to buy anything produce-able from vendors).  

Oh! And I ran into a minor-celebrity, Tromgar of Epith!  Don't know him?  Well I only knew him from the forum as he went on a pretty heated rant about powerleveling.  I was so dying to ask him to powerlevel me, but I resisted.  Oh well, opportunity missed!

Although they may never read this, I also wanted to thank the "Classified" guild of Epith.  Without your generous academy rewards, much of this may not have been possible.  Thank you for advertising your academy through roars.  I was walking around Sand Beach trying to farm King Crab for a card (which I got!) when I saw the roar.  I joined and have been extremely happy here, so thank you.

Epith Adventures... I Think The Game Is Telling Me Something

So here I am, spending a week in Epith starting today.  Why?  Just because, I guess.  I'll still pop in to Bijou from time to time, but I wanted to spend a week away just by myself meeting new people and seeing the same game through another server's eyes.

This is by no means a permanent move, please keep that in mind.  I just wanted to see what I could accomplish in a week, living SparkCash free, notoriety free, and without massive sums of money and equipment already sitting in my storage.  I'll be playing as a newcomer to the game, but unlike a normal newcomer, I already have a lot of knowledge about the game to carry over with me.

I've kept a little bit of a diary, but I'll get more in-depth into certain areas if I feel they are of importance, if you like what I've done over the course of a week, by all means feel free to follow along and copy.

In the sake of full disclosure, I started this project on April 10th, but shelved it immediately after the damage bug was discovered after maintenance and Fiesta shut down again for emergency maintenance.  At the time of emergency maintenance, I was level 6, so this is where we will resume.

So, what's the title have to do with this entry?  I'll tell you...


Starting off, the easiest class to play and succeed with is the Fighter class.  There really is no comparison.  Highest base DEF, highest HP, very good damage early on.  With any "farming" class I create, it's typically going to be the Fighter.  The Fighter, if played right, doesn't normally need to depend on others for their successes.  Fighters make excellent solo-adventurers and farmers, while they have a low SP pool and carry few SP stones, SP potions are easily made and drop fairly often enough in the area I plan to farm.  So here she is, my Epith Fighter is born.

Of course a makeover is a must have, so off to Vietree we go!

Much better!

So.. what do I think the game is telling me?  Well considering that all of my green equipment drops tend to be Archer drops... maybe that really is my destiny.  But it's not only drops... take a look at this!

Yeah, weird huh.. I thought the days of the bugged titles were gone, but apparently not.  I don't know how, why, or where I received this title, but my Fighter is apparently a Hawk Archer now.  Oh well, let's go with it!  "Imma be the best damned Hawk Archer Epith has ever seen!" So if you see a blonde newbie Fighter running around Epith with the Hawk Archer title, that may just be me!

So yeah... perhaps it's in my destiny to fling arrows at my enemies.  Just not today.

TBT: Old Lifetap Animation

Wasn't it just epic looking?  This was before skills could be cast while running.  Life Tap was just extraordinary....

The Simplest Leveling Guide 1-59 (Part I)

Hi everyone! FatalLace here, just wanted to share with you an AWESOME leveling guide created by RikoRain.  The guide has been featured on the forums and has received tremendous positive feedback.  Since I'm often asked about stuff like this, I figured I'd reach out to RikoRain and see if I could use her guide, she agreed.  No sense rewriting the bible right?

The all-inclusive guide will be broken down into three parts covering levels 1-59, 60-89, and 90-114.  The guide has been updated numerous times to include the most recent quests and strategies for maximizing your playtime.

Just be advised that I AM NOT an advocate of powerleveling.  So if that is your answer to your leveling issues, this guide is not for you.  However, if you want to play and work at your craft, learn your class inside and out through in-game experience (not following along on the back of a Hobby Horse), then please stick around and read through these great guides.

My contribution to the guides will be some of the screenshots, artwork, and videos.  The text comes courtesy of Riko.  I may make my own notes here and there to give some extra insight.  That all being said, let's go!

Beforehand Notes:

• KQs will be listed in detail on the first level available, and abbreviated from then on.
• PVP KQs will be listed on the first and last levels they are available for only, with a mark to their range.
• PVP KQs will not be listed until the first available (level 35).
• Repeats will be listed every level, but detailed only on the first level they are available for.
• Instances will be listed every level they are available for, if there is no instance available, it will be listed on the first level that no instance is available until one is available.
• Instance listings will not be shown until the first instance is available (level 20).
• Due to the quickness of these levels, they are bundled into groups of 5.
• Hidden Mine is for all levels, so I will not bother listing it for level specifics.
• Event specific or Temporary KQs will not be listed.
• Daily quests (for fame) will not be listed.

Important Note: Sometimes the level ranges of Instances change. As of April 15 2013, they are accurate.

Tactic: Pick up your initial Baby quests and the "walk through" chatter beginner quests. Equip your weapon, and go kill Slimes, Mushrooms, and Imps until you hit level 6.

Notes From Fatal:  Definitely pick up the Daily Quest from Town Chief Roumenus as well.  I would suggest going with the 10% Drop Rate Increase.  Some of the early level cards, especially the Slime S Card, which gives you the Warrior of Roumen title, can be financially lucrative.

KQ: King Slime's Counter Attack (5-16) (King Slime KQ)
KQ Video:  King Slime's Counter Attack - Archer
Quest Repeats:
Working for Julia (6-10) - Collect 1 Sea Mushroom and Two Starfish
Beat Speedy Honeyings- Defeat 5 Speedy Honeyings (6-8)
My Favourite Clam 2- Obtain 3 Clam Meats (8)
Blue Crab Dish 2 (8-10) - Collect 12 Blue Crab meat
Despicable Little Ones (8-10) - Defeat 5 Little Hobs

Tactic: Pick up quests if you like. Pick up Essential Gift from Town Chief Roumenus for a free 7 day hobby horse that is faster than the basic one upon reaching the milemarker. As soon as possible, join King Slime’s and attempt to win. Otherwise, do repeat quests or pick a monster and grind.

Note: Be sure to add a higher level player as your Master at level 9 (before reaching level 10), as well as joining the active Academy of your choice also at level 9. The rewards from both of these begin as soon as the player actively levels into 10 from level 9.

KQ: King Slime
Quest Repeats:
The Mini Greenky (11-14) - Deafeat 5 Mini Greenky
Disease Carriers (12-17) - Defeat 5 Ratmen
Medicinal Herbs (12-15) - Collect 1 Herb Leaf and Defeat 15 Ratmen
Working for Karl (12-15) - Collect 10 Broken Blade
Clam Chowder (13-16) - Defeat 5 Boogy

Tactic: Use the Teleport Gate and complete The Mini Greenky and Disease Carriers over and over until 15, at which point continue to complete Disease Carriers repeatedly until 18. These two are wonderful for creating a stock of Roumen and Elderine town scrolls to help you later. 

Notes from Fatal:  In Bijou, these teleport scrolls can sell for anywhere between 100-150s a piece.  This is a pretty lucrative quest early on.  The other servers are probably pretty close.


Notes from Fatal:  Unfortunately, it's rare that the Slime Kingdom Quest fills.  If you're fortunate enough to be able to get through it with a party, great!  However, be prepared to just keep questing.

 
KQ: Mara Pirates' Rage (17-25) (Mara KQ)
KQ Video: Mara Pirates' Rage KQ Mage Solo
KQ Video: Mara Pirates' Rage KQ Tanking
Quest Repeats:
Clam Chowder (13-16) - Defeat 5 Boogy
Joker Kebings 2 (18-20) - Defeat 17 Joker Kebing
Speedy Boogy 2 (18-21) - Defeat 20 Speedy Boogy
Ruined Garden 2 (20-26) - Defeat 7 Prock Zone

Tactic: Continue to complete Disease carriers until you reach level 18. At 18, join Mara KQ. Each success will grant you one level until about 22. If you cannot complete KQ, simply complete the other repeats. However, avoid the Ruined Garden 2 (its experience is too low).


Notes from Fatal:  Again, like the Slime KQ, it's rare that the Mara KQ fills.  However, with a decent enough gear, a little know-how, it can be done with minimal participants.  If you're extremely well-geared, the Mara KQ can also be used to farm both the Mara and Marlone A and S cards, extremely valuable.  From here on down, please be aware that KQs may not fill, it's best to continue focusing on your quests and finishing up your levels in the Abyss.

KQ: Mara Pirates' Rage (-25) and Gold Hill Adventure (20-32) (Gold Hill KQ)
Instance: Tower of Iyzel (20-70)
Quest Repeat:
Speedy Boogy 2 (18-21) - Defeat 20 Speedy Boogy
Ruined Garden 2 (20-26) - Defeat 7 Prock Zone
Working for Raina (21-22) - Collect 5 (each) Red, Yellow, and Blue Petals
Poor Merchant (22-23) - Defeat 20 Silver Slime
Kid Woz's Small Wish (23-24) - Defeat 20 Skeleton
The Marlone Clan Megaton (23-24) - Defeat 25 Marlone Megaton
James' Request 2 (24-25) - Collect 1 Prism Powder
Herb Plant Set 2 (25-27) - Collect 5 (each) Herb Leaf, Stem, and Root
Insomnia 2 (25-27) - Defeat 15 Glow Wolf

Tactic: Complete Gold Hill KQ (and Mara if you please, but more-so Gold Hill) for quicker levels. Please remember to take a pickaxe! Each completion will grant you either a level, or a notable amount of experience. Do the above repeats between KQs for added experience boosts.

KQ: Gold Hill
KQ Video:  Gold Hill KQ - Tanking
KQ Video:  Gold Hill KQ - Cleric
Instance: Tower of Iyzel (20-70)
Quest Repeat:
Herb Plant Set 2 (25-27) - Collect 5 (each) Herb Leaf, Stem, and Root
Insomnia 2 (25-27) - Defeat 15 Glow Wolf
Frozen Ice Cream 2 (28-29) - Defeat 20 Ice Vivi
Roumen's Security Issue 2 (29-30) - Defeat 20 Cave Archmage Book
Hobby (30-31) - Collect 1 Sticky Spider Web

Tactic: Keep doing Gold Hill. You will notice you get less and less per success as you level up, but it is still good experience. Do quests in between. If you dare, you can also grind in the abyss.

KQ: Gold Hill (-33), The Millenium Robo Plot (33-45) (Robo KQ)
Instance: Tower of Iyzel (20-70)
PVP KQ: Amateur Fighter (35-49)
Quest Repeat:
Roumen's Security Issue 2 (29-30) - Defeat 20 Cave Archmage Book
Hobby (30-31) - Collect 1 Sticky Spider Web
Working for Wishis (32-33) - Defeat 30 Flying Staff
Purging The Moonlight Tomb (33-34) - Defeat 20 Bat, 15 Zombie, and 1 Zombie Master
Eyes for the Magic Staff 2 (33-35) - Defeat 25 Magic Staff
Ruby's Request 2 (34-35) - Defeat 30 Grave Wolf
The Wild and Master (35-39) - Collect 1 Wolf's Claw

Tactic: Do repeats, KQs, and quests in between to help level. At 33, Robo will offer quite a bit of experience. At 35, PVP KQ is by far one of the best ways to level up. A few Tower quests done at this time also provide a nice chunk of experience and are easy enough now that you are 10-15 levels higher.

KQ: Robo, Mean Giant Honeying (40-50)
Instance: Tower of Iyzel (20-70) and Devildom Mine (40-50)
PVP KQ: Amateur Fighter (35-49)
Quest Repeat:
The Wild and Master (35-39) - Collect 1 Wolf's Claw
The Oppression of Ghosts (37-38) - Defeat 30 Ghost
Harvest 2 (38-40) - Collect 40 Hoes
Bitter Old Myzen (39) - Defeat 30 Bone Imp
Bone Imp Bags 3 (39-40) - Collect 35 Bone Imp Bags
It Drives Me Crazy 2 (40-42) - Defeat 20 Earth Spider
For My Friend (40-50) - Defeat 1 Storm Citrie and 1 Ice Citrie (Instance repeat)

Tactic: Join Robo KQ every chance you get in an attempt to complete the KQ Questline. Also, join PVP KQ when you can. Between, complete repeats, grind in abyss/dungeons, or complete other non-repeat quests. Generally save the non-repeats for levels with no repeats, but this should not hurt you too much.

 

KQ: Robo (-45), Honeying (40-50)

KQ Video:  Mean Giant Honeying KQ - Tanking

Instance: Tower of Iyzel (20-70) and Devildom Mine (40-50)
PVP KQ: Amateur Fighter (35-49)
Quest Repeat:
It Drives Me Crazy 2 (40-42) - Defeat 20 Earth Spider
For My Friend (40-50) - Defeat 1 Storm Citrie and 1 Ice Citrie (Instance repeat)
Ugly Goblins 2 (42-43) - Defeat 50 Goblins
The Prock's Poison 2 (42-44) - Defeat 40 Prock
A Bet with Marty 2 (43) - Defeat 50 Goblin Swordsmen and Collect 20 Goblin Sword
Strange Cave of Wind 4 (43-46) - Defeat 50 Cave Archmage Books, Collect 10 Windy Cave Maps and Silver Ores: 10 LQ, 5 MQ, 1 HG
Fantastic Items (44) - Collect 22 Werebear's Claws
Best Broomsticks 3 (44-46) - Collect 50 Werebear Armpit Hair

Tactic: If you have not completed the Robo KQ Questline, now should be the time you press on to do so. Join PVP KQ as well, of course doing repeatables between KQ, and normal quests between repeatables. Should those fail, abyss, dungeons, or normal map grinding will become the default. Notable repeats are Ugly Goblins, Fantastic Items, and Best Broomsticks. 

KQ: Honeying (-50), Lost Mini Dragon and Lost Mini Dragon (Hardcore) (46-60)

KQ Video:  Lost Mini Dragon - Tanking

KQ Video:  Lost Mini Dragon - Archer

Instance: Tower of Iyzel (20-70), Devildom Mine (40-50), and Devildom Barracks (50-60)
PVP KQ: Amateur Fighter (35-49)
Quest Repeat:
Best Broomsticks 3 (44-46) - Collect 50 Werebear Armpit Hair
Athlete's Foot (46-48) - Collect 10 Sand Mushroom's Heads
A Secret Request (47) - Collect 30 Goblin Captain's Helmet
Mannequin Lips (49) - Collect 10 Mini Lips' Lips
Release from Pain 2 (50-60) - Collect 20 Feather of the Foras Tribe (Instance repeat)

Tactic: Mini Dragon KQ will provide optimal experience. If you choose to join (you should), please remember to participate fully and avoid leeching at all costs. Aside from MD, complete the repeatable quests. Each one has a decent amount of experience reward, as well as a set, specific, and well-placed spawn point for the target monsters.

KQ: Mini Dragon

Instance: Tower of Iyzel (20-70) and Devildom Barracks (50-60)
PVP KQ: Brave Warrior (55-69)
Quest Repeat:
Release from Pain 2 (50-60) - Collect 20 Feather of the Foras Tribe (Instance repeat)
Grandma Myzen's Wrath (51) - Defeat 80 Weakened Ogre
The Unbreakable Chisel (52) - Collect 10 King Donkey's Tooth
Delivery Delay (53-54) - Defeat 100 Vampire Bat and 20 Lighting Vivi
Escape from Concealed Prison 2 (55) - Defeat 120 Prisoners

Tactic: Mini Dragon KQ will still provide notable amounts of experience. Repeats at every level will make saving the normal quests easy (as you should save them for 56-60). This level is all KQ and repeats.

KQ: Mini Dragon

Instance: Tower of Iyzel (20-70), Devildom Barracks (50-60), and Crystal Castle (60-69)
PVP KQ: Brave Warrior (55-69)
Quest Repeat:
The Master Criminal (57) - Defeat 50 Senior Torturers
Castle Lords's Goods 2 (60-61) - Collect 50 King Spider's Webs and 10 Queen Spider's Claws

Tactic: Since you only have 1 repeat at only 1 of these 5 levels, join PVP KQ and in between complete normal quests. At 57, do only the repeat as much as possible. For 57-60, do any and all quests while joining in PVP and Mini Dragon KQ. Usually you will reach 60 by completing all quests available - if not, you should be incredibly close. For the extra bit needed if you do not reach 60, simply spam KQs.
 

SixUnderground - Another Prestige Joins the Ranks

Well, here she is!  I had thought I'd keep her identity a secret, but meh.. what the heck, it was long enough.  Besides, a few people already knew and my own carelessness revealed her name to a few of you out there that were quick enough to point out my failure to mosaic out her name in one of my screenshots previously... man you guys are good!

Anyway, so may I present to you, SixUnderground.  She is now my sixth "prestige" character and my second Archer to hit that mark.

Someone along the way asked where my name came from, it's actually a song title from a group called the Sneaker Pimps.  Here's the video below if you're curious.

I just always liked the beat, very haunting, very.. i dunno, sensual?

Anyway, it's late here, I'll do a write up later on my Ranger first impressions... Hey, at least my first two attempts at Hide were successful!  Or is that 100% success rate now? o_Oa gnight all!

Who Says Henneath Never Fills, Much Less Succeeds?

So there I was grinding and questing away on my ultra-super-top-secret Ranger project when I found myself needing to turn quests in in Uruga, but I was all the way out in Swamp of Dawn.  I only had a single Uruga scroll left, I didn't want to burn it just yet. The Henneath KQ's recruiting just went live so I figured I'd join and in about 30 minutes, when recruiting ended, I'd suicide out of the KQ and end up back in Uruga... at least I think it takes you to Uruga. 

But slowly the KQ started to fill... three people, then six, a roar went out to the server calling for participants, then eight, nine, and finally thirteen!  Wow!  Still short of the maximum twenty, but still a really decent turn out.  Running perilously low on both HP and SP stones, those Laplans were just whacking me to death earlier, I quickly tried to teleport to Sand Hill.  Unfortunately, I got the "Disconnected From Server" message as the game consumed my teleport scroll.  Fearful I'd run out of time to get back in, I hurriedly restarted Fiesta and was able to join in time, scroll (again) to Sand Hill and restone as the 10 second timer was counting down... WHEW!

So there we were, a bunch of 9x players thrown into the fray, no idea of the capabilities of the other players, we threw caution to the wind and headed out.  With just one Cleric amongst us, the road ahead seemed a difficult one, but with enough Fighters, Tricksters, and Mages, we'd be able to put on a decent showing.  Hordes of mobs were gathered, stunned, and frozen in place, we were making great progress and facing zero adversity so far.

We cleared the first floor, then the second, then the third.  It was like we've done this before!  Well, I think many of us had on other characters... but anyway, /insert tense, dramatic music.  The Boss had arrived and I went to pull it, I got it down the hill when suddenly a fighter kicked it!  Oh no, what was he thinking?!  Thankfully, the fighter had some sense and continued to just kite the Boss, not try to tank it in place.  Whew.. disaster averted!

So round and round we went as the Boss summoned her minions.  We kited the Boss to death and then went back to clean up her leaderless followers.  Their arrows and fireballs mowed down some of our ranks, but we persevered.  We summoned up whatever courage and fight we had left and prevailed!

Thirteen brave souls, a hodgepodge of classes with little experience together accomplished something I didn't think we would do.  With a smile on my face, after arriving in Aberstoll Ruins after the successful KQ, I gladly consumed my last Uruga scroll and turned in my quests.

Thank you brave adventurers of Bijou, you made my day.

Participants:

Player Feature: Kolmen (Bijou - Level 43 Fighter)

 So there I was sitting around my Estate, not really doing much of anything, when another adventurer strolled on in and had a seat in the empty chair in front of me.  He didn't partake in my tea, declined to read a book, he just continued to sit there staring at me. 

With writer's block creating a stranglehold on my creative juices, I figured, why not take this opportunity to meet someone new and maybe interview them for my blog?  And that's where this story begins...

Kolmen

Fighter:  Level 43
Age: 14
Time in Isya:  11 days

FatalLace: Kolmen, so how did you end up with us here in Isya?
Kolmen:  I was watching anime online and saw an ad for Fiesta, so I joined.

FL:  Are you enjoying the game so far?
Ko:  Yes, absolutely.

FL:  What's the most enjoyable thing about your adventures here so far?
Ko:  Making money, I've been selling cards and other stuff.

FL:  Has there been any bad experiences?  Any frustrations?
Ko:  No, not really.  Only frustrating thing is when nobody buys from my shop, I also wish there were more classes of characters.

FL:  Have you tried all the other classes?
Ko:  Yes, fighter is my favorite, Trickster is my least favorite.  I don't like the Trickster class because their defense is poor.  One hit makes up for all the rest that didn't hit him.

FL:  So far, how has the Bijou community treated you?
Ko:  I've had no problems, there are some aggressive players, but I enjoy it.

FL:  Do you see yourself continuing to play Fiesta in the next six months?
Ko:  Yes, I see myself at around level 85 by then, hopefully leveling in Aberstoll Ruins.

FL:  Would you suggest Fiesta to your friends?
Ko:  I already have, they've started to play also.  They're trying to catch up to me, they're all enjoying it.

FL:  Have you played other MMOs before?
Ko:  No, this is my first.

FL:  Any suggestions for the developer to make the game more interesting?
Ko:  I would like to see a character with guns, not rifles, but pistols.  Something that's more powerful, but slower than the other classes.

Admittedly, I chuckled at the last suggestion, but who's to say what does and doesn't belong in this game anymore?  I mean we've gone from animal mounts to cars, motorcycles, and hoverboards.  Will guns be in our future?  It's probably doubtful, but you never know.

I really did enjoy my brief time chatting with Kolmen.  For a player that's relatively young and new to the game, he has a good handle on things so far.  I would be interested to see where he ends up six months from now. 

Game imbalances and reliance on the cash shop aren't so apparent early on, hopefully he maintains the positive attitude he displayed today. 

Weekend Connections - April 6, 2013

Attendance Event Recap - An Exercise in Idle Activites

Hello Isyans!  So far the past month since I've returned has been great!  I'm settling back into the swing of things, catching up with old friends and making lots of new ones.  Unfortunately, I seem to be spending more time chatting than actually grinding!

So I logged in earlier this month and lo and behold a cutesy little slime icon appeared on the bottom of my screen!  I clicked it and a calendar appeared with some empty spaces and enticing looking present boxes at the end of each week. 

I was actually quite surprised at the interface of the calendar; it's attractively designed and easy to understand.  Since this was my first attendance event, I did not know what I had to do to fulfill the requirements of being counted.  How long did I have to stay online?  Do I have to gain EXP?  Since I didn’t want to ask... I just kinda stood around and went about my usual business.  Turns out you just need to be online for 1 consecutive hour, easy enough.

And now the dilemma, how many characters am I going to actually try to do this event on?  How will I keep track?  And what am I going to do for an hour on all those characters?  Well first thing was to prioritize, without knowing ahead of time what the prizes would be, I figured I’d let those characters most likely to be used in the near future have highest priority.   

After all was said and done, I attempted the event on 13(!) different characters with varying levels of completed attendance.  Of the 13, four were online for all 28 days, six claimed the prizes for 24 days of attendance, and three finished with the 20 day box.  I'm a sucker for free stuff, sue me.  

So what was received?  Here is the comprehensive list taken from the forums, originally posted here.

Week One:

Minimum Prize: Red Menian Top (7 days)

Other Possible Prizes: Tiny Voices Pet (1 day), Mouse Ears (7 days), FrostBite the Stag (7 days)

Week Two:

Minimum Prize: Red Menian Pants (7 days)

Other Possible Prizes: Kaffoo Costume (1 day), Green Dragon Tail (7 days), Small Box (7 days), Secretary’s Nightmare Minihouse (7 days)

Week Three:

Minimum Prize: Blue Menian Top (7 days)
Other Possible Prizes: Jewel Carrot (1 day), Tik Tok Pet (7 days)

Week Four:
Minimum Prize: Blue Menian Pants (7 days)
Other Possible Prizes: Revolutionary Steampunk (7 days), Killer Bee (7 days), Captain Wheels (7 days)

20 Days of Attendance: Puppy Ears (7 days), Peacock Tail (7 days)
24 Days of Attendance: Elvis Hair (7 days), Sonia the Snow Leopard (7 days), Epith's Box (7 days)
28 Days of Attendance: iGlasses 3000 mk2 (30 days), Tofu Mini House (30 days), 20% Charm of Might (6 units), Imperial Gala (30 days)

That's a pretty nice haul considering you only needed to be online for an hour or so each day.

There were a few bumps in the road that hopefully will be smoothed out the next time Gamigo decides to roll this event out.  2 days were messed up when the switch to daylight savings time in the US occurred.  Another day was lost later in the month for no apparent reason.  On both occasions, attendance was restored for those affected days for everyone.  Honestly, that was the only right course of action, I just wish the GMs would address the issue sooner with an announcement of what will be done to correct the issue.  Some players may have given up on the 28 day prize when that first error occurred.

However, fun event aside, but it's stuff like this that irritates me:

 
I know the term "fail" has caught on like wildfire on the interwebz, but to automatically brand something as a "fail" because of a few issues is extremely mean-spirited.  People behind the scenes worked hard to plan and execute this event for the masses and it went off without much difficulty.  Issues that did come up were addressed and handled.  It's really cruel to just throw that word out there, even in jest.  So please, unless you're participating in self-deprication, go easy on the term.


So anyway, how did I spend all that time?  Well let me tell ya!

The Hidden Side-Benefits of Attendance Events

.... And Some of the Drawbacks of Attendance Events: