Be Yourself

Well this piece took it's own sweet time coming. Will admit to having a bad case of altitis recently and focusing on the characters that I am enjoying because of their multiple lives. However the past weekend's bonus days was on crafting which meant I picked up my crafter for the first time in a long time. And then went through the other 3 first lifers that will never see life beyond the one they are living. So let me introduce you to my little gang of 4.

Just hanging around

Grousesor who was my first character that I had any real affinity for, he is a level 22 Wizard. The original intention was to start out as a wizard and finish as a sorcerer, however that got side tracked with the "need" for me to buy more character slots. He is also intended to be my crafter. Which okay he has gone up 16 crafting levels over the weekend but I had a massive shortfall in essences. So I bought out 10% of the epic equipment that wasn't special named, and they turned the lot into essences. In total over the weekend I got through about 10,000 essecenses. So he will slowly grind through to 30 with the intention of being chief guild cratfer by focusing on unbound shards.

Devil's Assault? More a case of queue up and die

Next we have Grousefly level 30 Sorceror Air Savant. He could be much mnore powerful but that is for Merlin, this guy is the one I go to when facing a new quest etc and I want to learn it. I know him inside out and all the things he can and can't do. Which makes a massive difference in how he is played. Certainly he is my go to guy when I need tokens of the twelve. His fall back is water which means I have innate water breathing and feather fall from my savant abilities which frees up an equipment slot. I have on a couple of occasions though about a TR or even an ETR but I am really comfortatble with him as he is so going to stick with him as is.

I use to have friends till I found out they had pockets

Thirdly we have Grousesly level 28 Rogue with the acrobat abilities and he primarily uses quarter staff. He will be the guy I go to when learning a quest that is trap heavy. I want to know where the trap is and where the control panel is. Yes it spoils the fun of finding it using a toon as a bomb detector but it is more efficent. Strange thing is at the moment with the armour he wears he really looks like Garrett the Sainted hireling. He was created before I ever met Garrett but who is going to believe that lol. I am happy with the quarter staff he got years ago and he can clear out most things below 23 without any real help. Nice to see he out kill anyone in Devil's Assault.

Ahoy me hearties

Finally we have Grousemuse level 17 Bard, single weapon fighting. I don't much care for bards but he will be my chief mule and also the key seller of goods as he has a great(ish) haggle. Just slowly easing through the levels but with him I struggle sometimes even though I personally like the build but dislike the class. And there in lies the problem, he is more fun when I treat him as a swashbuckler rather than a bard. I have elected to go down the route of rapiers just because it seems more appropriate. Against the living he has next to no problem.... however the undead are a bit of an issue. Still when he finally caps I know where he will run for treasure and tokens of the twelve so not the worst issue.

This is a real case of photobombing

Some people just have to get in on the act

If I don't get round to blogging before Happy Holidays.

Grousemuse

Conan the Barbarian/Monk/Monk/Monk Nope Fighter

So finally through the final life as a Monk and it had become a chore that really dragged. Because I have decided to play through as a Half Orc, the monk is a challenge because of the best builds focus on the use of a quarterstaff and he just felt so slow versus a dexterity based monk and it felt like hard work which is probably what has slowed my game play and blogging. However I am now through the monk lives and to go forward I am spending the next 3 lives as a fighter and a falchion wielding Kensei will be a lot more fun as the build does feel more natural after the first couple of levels. Plus I already had some falchions that I had prepared that have festival Icy burst so I am often slaying with a single blow anything at level or below apart from oozes of courses.

Getting cold feet on Kothos

There was one issue that really annoyed me though. I had a bravery bonus going over 300 quests, for those reading this that are not familiar with with a bravery bonus it is when your first attempt at a quest you do it at hard or elite. In this case after 327 quest on hard I did information is the key on normal. Frustrating is the polite way of describing how I felt after realising what I had done entering on normal. Still Conan has 6 quests back on his hard bravery bonuses and has run around Tangleroot and is ready to level to 6 although as per usual I am power leveling.

Odd lights from the Cerulean Hills

I was going to write after Night Revels about the stuff I got but as a side note I picked up two cosmetic helmets, two cosmetic armours, a death smile and a silence of the tasty hams. Plus obviously quite a few Greater Mabar summons.

Conan in a Tangle

So we are sort of back on track and as a plus for needing to gather tokens of the twelve for some reason Grousemot has reached cap on his epic. So now I need plans for Motty and I am feeling both Heroic and Epic reincarnation and will be moving down that route when I finish Merlin and Conan or have got a long way towards the end.

One set from Night Revels and great fun against Undead

I have to say this one has taken more time to write than I expected but I had turned out half a book discussing the virtues of dexterity versus strength for a monk. And there are better blogs that consider monks much more in depths.

Happy Reincarnation

Grouseconan

Chain Gang (ddo Version)

So I feel like I have been back on the chain gang. Conan who will finish as a barbarian has just finished his third life which was his second as a monk. Normally not a problem but Conan by preference is working his way through lives doing two handed fighting. Which as a fighter or barbarian is fine but as a monk that really gives me one option.... quarterstaff. Also for some strange reason I have decided because of the two handed business Conan in my world will be a half Orc.

Last look at the Vale of Twilight for some time.

So 3.8 million experience is bad enough but when I finally get to level 20 I find I haven't topped up the tokens of the twelve so at least another 4 sessions grinding Devil's Assault which is fine normally but because I got power shards instead of tokens on a couple of occasions I had the choice run with a character I don't like or run it multiple times or add another day to the schedule. So given the time to acquire that much experience with maybe an hour to two most days devoted to ddo it has taken a few weeks to get here. I have been grinding on my own personal Chain Gang and Conan starts life 4 with his third Monk life.

Oh God Misery's Peak again

Because of how I am building it is easy to slip into building without thinking, which is how it felt starting this fourth life. At the present time I have got through the Korthos quests on hard including Misery Peak, the downside he is still level 3 and the quarterstaff that will take me through to level 10ish I can't use till level 4. So back to grinding out the harbour quests and even the Korthos quests for a while longer. Strange with some characters I can play and play and play but when the build feels wrong I have to force myself to keep on track. Quarterstaff and Half Orc feels nothing like Halfling using hand wraps. I love the dex builds for monks and I have been gritting my teeth for the last week or so to get to where I am.

Obligatory Dragon Selfie V1.

I must admit taking a break from Conan and working with one of my casters would be good but I really want to feel like I want to come back to conan and a build I dont like is not going to help so going to puch through this last life as a monk and then do the 3 fighter lives.

Dragon Selfie V2, show me the money

Hoping none of you are on a chain gang grinding through those lives you want but don't enjoy playing.

GrouseConan the Monk

Prisons to Purify

Music choice this week is more to do with the theme rather than loving the band or song. Sundara Karma are interesting and indie pop rock but the song title fits so well I had to use it

So normally I write about Eberron, I am a real novice in the Forgotten Realms. However I am working on my 13 life Sorcerer and want to complete everything I can with him for a change. So normally I would skip Wheloon Prison which although I have the Shadowfell Conspriscy expansion pack I have barely touched. I would jump straight from Orchard to the Vale of Twilight. Decision made though time I taught myself the roofs and paths of Wheloon Prison.

Almost 1500 at this point

I am still to deal with the quests which has put me at a disadvantage because some of the areas require quest completion to unlock the areas. So grind the first 1500 slays which is where I am at the moment, I find it strange that chain lighning is effective but not as much as expected. Still electic loop works well and the stunning effect help my Owlbear and Cleric get some slaying in rather than the usual 90% of kills being down to me. At least I am able to plan where and when I will do thuings but I am slow in learning this wilderness. The high Road and even Kings forest has presented no real issue but now I need to learn Wheloon and Stormhorns.

Not a red sky and not sure what it means to Sorcerers rather than Shephards

Interesting how we become accustomed to quests and wildernesses and will avoid new stuff and grind what is familiar. I have drifted into other games but DDO is a constant be it 15 minutes or 5 hours in a day. I need the new challenge which I have avoided for so long to draw me back into ddo. Although the drifting in and out shadowfell is strange at first and probably does nothing for my migraines (although meds seem to have eased that issue). I am switching between electric and cold attacks to find what works best for what.

Time to refresh the blue stuff

My intention is to take 3 hours of major slayer boost and smash the 3000 slays as quickly as possible. Depending on how close to having to level up that leaves me I will base the next stage on the result. In all probability I will level up to 17 and then do the quests in and around the prison. Running with a hireling cleric and an owlbear should be enough although as I don't know the quests adding a gold seal cleric or favoured soul may be wise to avoid breaking my bravery bonus streak. After you get past 150 you do want to be sure you avoid having to start all over again. Plus I have no inclanation on another reincarnation for Merlin. 13 lives has achieved the key targets so I just want to run through as much as I can. Learn the route in Wheloon and the quests there.

As my guildie didn't buy shadowfell this is a little me ddo. We have new quests in Eberron to do soon so looking forward to that as I decided it would be much more fun if we were both clueless rather than me shouting about things that you would only know having done the quest.

Happy escaping the prison

Grousemerlin

The Boys Are Back In Town

The Boys Are Back In Town

As people may have noticed I am an irregular poster, especially true at the moment as I am missing my guildie. I am playing daily and currently grinding my way through Gianthold and getting close to the 9000 slays, which I completed before I posted this. It has been slower than usual as I am running down the existing slayer boosts that Merlin has, it came as a surprise when I had 12 hours of minor slayer count boost. So now down at 10 hours I am missing how quickly I can clear under the infuence of Major Slayer boost.

Some rares occur less often than others

Now the mathematics of the slayer boost is understandable but I have admit sometimes the way calculations are done is confusing. With Slayer Boosts I would go with Major every time but with Guild renown elixir I prefer the lesser, I would rather buy 25 lesser than any other option. Still given all the things in the game I still spending fairly regularly which is what I guess the powers that be want out of their VIPs. I just wish I could get my head round who wrote the calaculations for the effects of some of the elixirs and at what point they gave up on simple maths.

Gianthold has paid quite well

Now I have only really played Merlin recently and he is ready to level to 16, so of course I am not going to do that until he has maxed out and can power level. But this is the problem with having so many alts, even when you have made a decision to concentrate on one character for a while you get a guilt trip over the rest of the boys. So over the next few days I will dive in and play with some of those characters I haven't touched for a while. Certainly Conan will get some attention and as I intend to push him hard I am going to dive into my store of cookies to help him achieve a bit of monster bashing with his stick (quarterstaff).

Only 2 accounts linked to the guild and some characters who haven't been touched since the anniversary event

Merlin is still the priority though at least till I get him to epic! I can slow down then and have more fun with him on working through the monster manual. And there in lies one of the keys to why I am focusing on the lesser slayer boost as the bonus slays don't count towards the monster kills. If they did I would be burning through even more slayer boosts.

All Done

Merlin

It's My Life

I thought I had used this previously but it seems not so a chance to use one of my favourite songs of all time as a title. I have seen Bon Jovi a few times and I have been avoiding using his songs as blog titles. But today I want to talk about the slow growth of Merlin in his 13th life and the changes to Ziggy as I have finally got round to using a tome of him. I play one or two other games and a guy I tlaked to use to play as a Sorc but stopped years ago so tempering this to encourage him to come back and making things simple(ish). Draylis if you are reading this hope it helps bro.

Pre-Tome

So Grouseziggy the Iconic bladeforged, for those who are new to the game or have been away for a while this is a warforged paladin who as an Iconic character starts at level 15 fully equipped to jump straight into adventures. There are several different iconic characters and Ziggy will play them all before finishing as a Gnome wizard, but today I was doing a clearout of my mule/bard/hagglebot and working through the tomes I have and who needs what. Well Ziggy hasn't got much play time recently but I am hoping that I can give both him and Merlin more time even though I will need to reduce the time in other games. Digging through the mule I found 2 +5 supreme tomes that I got some time ago but as I haven't used the Bard I sort of neglected. Well Ziggy has grown a bit thanks to the tome and it's value for future lives is going to make me a happy boy.

Post Tome

And the other toon out of my 27 that I am devoting time to at the moment is GrouseMerlin, air savant which means he specialises in electrical and sonic spells which is you look at the spells on my hotbar is what I use, I have frost lance as a back up which will work well when I use the options in the enhancements to take water as my secondary specialisation. The neat thing about this choice is I will have feather falling as a enhancement from the air savant tree and as I will take the water savant as a second option I will also get water breathing. Given the cost of equiping those items and the freeing up of equipment slots benefits me greatly. Having run redwillows for the first time in this life wioth Merlin and a hireling cleric and just spamming the spell electric loop you realise that it has become more effective with the power bonuses from the previous lives. It is oddly satisfying to just mash a group of giants so easily. Yes I am level 8 and the quest on hard is level 7 but I still take pleasure in how easy it has beome.

Re Willows with just a Hireling 

Red Willows with lots of dead bodies

Show the Power of tomes Used

Enhancements and not in the trouser department.

Prestige Enhancements will take time for people to get use to.

Now merlin has used a +4 supreme tome in the past so his power is that bit greater than he might have had but he really has become a great deal of fun just blasting away with one or two ultra effective spells and leaving bodies everywhere. Of course I will run into monsters that are resistant to electric but sonic and water spells should be able to cover the shortcomings. I have tried the various options and to me Air Savant is the most fun. Now I never run raids as I solo or run with my guildie (welcome home) and I am not an epic elite person, this is about fun, the moment it stops being fun I can't really see the point in playing. But till then It my Lives and I do enjoy them to paraphrase.

Happy Spell Spamming

Grousemerlin

Journey of the Sorcerer

Great track by the eagles and also was used in Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. And very appropriate for Grousemerlin my 13th life Sorcerer who has been put away for a while. I was so busy with Ziggy and moving his Iconic lives forward so I left Merlin alone. I know some people plan who they will play and when so they make time for them all but mine is all down to moods and what I want to be doing, I was quite happy cleaving but last night after taking Ziggy into Devil's Assault I still wanted to play but I had out cleaved myself. So I flicked through a couple of characters, was very tempted to take my bard out for a change but wanted full blown magic and not a melee with a touch of magic. So Merlin came out and after all the effort to get the 12 past lives I am seeing spells work more effectively at least the 2 I am focusing on.

May be a bit early in this life to play with dragons

As a level 4 Sorcerer you don't really have much in the way of offensive firepower but I am finding Electric Loop with all the past life bonus's stacking very, very effective for this lowbie. Running round Tangleroot with a cleric and a summoned dog is so easy, I am one shotting small groups or on the odd occasion using Sonic Blast as a back up. The stun effect is great as it  leaves monsters open to nips from the Celestial Dog or a whack from my hireling. I know at level 4 it is all very easy when you are trawling over old ground and we could really do with so more low quests to increase favour farming and make it a little easier to level but more importantly to avoid or minimise staleness for those of us who are reincarnating for the Nth time.  But having the ability to clear a room at level with one shot is awfully nice no matter what room you are in.

All finished now,  amazing what a little shocker can do

Because of the fact it is a 36 point build does mean I am running quests again and again. But this is Merlin's last life so I can take my time and smell the roses with him rather than just run the best experience per minute quests and it does add to the enjoyment of running quests I have run in the hundreds of times, if you look at the depths quests in house D I would not be surprised if those ones were in the thousand plus times completed. I have a liking for the structure of 4 short quests piggy backed if you want to have choices and I am comfortable blasting them out in 12 minutes, I don't run every optional but I do have a lot of fun and it has been my go to set of quests when I have been testing builds. So sort of a good feeling being back in there even though I have run it enough times to know exactly what is where and what is a possibility.

Not even holding a beer? Well that sucks!

Remembering that I do not raid so equipment wise I am just going on what I can get out of the auction house or stuff I have put by in previous lives. In 12 lives you do pick up some interesting stuff but with the new loot tables it seems I may want to rethink my strategies on what I have been holding onto. I need more and more magnetism and as I will be taking water as my second choice some frosty enhancements are on the agenda just a case of stocking up on wands to cover things I haven't put in my spells list/

I have a little history 3 times over

Have a Great Journey

GrouseMerlin.

Neon Knight

So this is yet another post about my Iconic and his first life, and the cosmetic armour does make him look like he has been lit up by neon lights which gives me an excuse to use this title via Black Sabbath from one of my all time favourite albums. I wasn't sure when I was going to write this and the screen shots are from when Ziggy was a hero but now he is Epic.

Lots of things for Ziggy to use

However this is much more about how well two attacks are working. For experienced players who play Paladins regularly this will be no news but for players who haven't got use to Paladins this is a good set of super powered strikes. The healing ability of a Paladin is one thing but to be able to cut down opponents with easy is a joy. Having used the abilities through Gianthold, Orchard of the Macabre and Vale of Twilight and seen rares fall before the strikes it is worth pointing these out for newer players or players who are unfamiliar with Paladins and are thinking about playing Knight of the Chalice(KotC).

Bodies and a Warm fire makes life fun

So first we have Exalted Smite which is a tier 3 ability which you can get after level 3 and spending 10 action points in KotC. An improved smite that adds +2 to your weapon's critical damage multiplier and to your weapon's critical threat range (I have maxed the ability). Which in layman's terms means doing a shed load of damage, I have seen many mobs drop to a single blow. It recharges like Smite Evil so you can get some back without needing to shrine. I have got into a bad habit though of spamming this attack to get rid of more effective mobs to bring them down with a single blow. I love how this brings down targets and as it recharges itself it really is a bonus although it is a little slow.

I see dead people, lots of dead people

The other attack that I love to bits is Holy Retribution which is a tier 5 ability so requires at least 5 level of Paladin and your character to be minimum level 12. Executes a powerful holy strike that deals +1[W] damage. On Damage: Evil creatures with less than 1,000 HP have a 50% chance to be forced to make a Will save (DC 10 + Paladin Level + Charisma Mod) or be destroyed. On a successful save, the affected creatures take 100 holy damage from this attack as well as -6 to all ability scores for ten seconds. (Cool down: 6 seconds) This ability also recharges one Smite Evil. In short it smashes opponents down like chopping wood. And because it recharges Smite it helps if I have been a little greedy in using Exalted Smite.

Nothing to do with Ziggy just a pic I love a lot.

Now every class and prestige tree has abilities and special attacks that work well but I am in love with the effectiveness of this for a bladeforged using a great sword. I have made Epic and this has had a lot to do with it, the constant use of exalted smite and then taking out the bosses with the retribution. Of course recharging another attack is a real bonus. So as much as I love standing off and blasting with magic there is a certain charm in smashing opponents.

Happy Smiting

GrouseZiggy.

Ziggy and the Spiders from Whisperdoom

So started messing around with my intended Iconic completionist GrouseZiggy and realised I need to test him out. So as I prefer squishy (non warforged) I really needed to find out what he can and can't do. I have run Paladins before but they have all been sword and board until now with both Ziggy and the newly created Roland using two handed weapons, so I needed to get my head round cleaving everything.

Lock up your daughters

First port of call was good old Whisperdoom, I know this was well below level but you don't test something you are uncomfortable with at full strength until you at least know how things work plus it is always good for favor. Not found a really comfortable way of getting the right keyboard layout so combat doesn't functions the way I want. I had a melee mindset but with all the combat abilities that Ziggy has I am findng I am playing closer to how I run a caster than a melee. Certainly taking a little time and I hate having too many clickies on hotbars which so many others use, personal choice.

Just how many more do I need?

I have a habit of power leveling characters and Ziggy is no exception, he has got a lot of his experience through running in gianthold. The slayer boosts have made a massive difference as 9000 slays is a big number and hard work in GH but halfway there so will smash my way through the bodies. Nice step into Orchard after which is my favourite wilderness for speed to get the big numbers. A short route with maximum benefit from the wagon train and the rats in the mound of bones.

Shiney and Pointy

I do have one other non squishy character, AgentGrouse the warforged articier with his defender MrBond. All I need is an adventure with plenty of gold and a villian who uses a giant swinging axe to chop up his opponents. I do find that I have had to struggle with certain races and force myself to play them, mainly because I know what works for me and tend to stick with what I know, but it is nice to challenge my precepts with races that I normally avoid. Certainly AgentGrouse will always be warforged and because of Mrbond (yes I do use the accent in my head) he will always be an artificer.

Looking for Blofeld

GrouseZiggy the non squishy

From The Ashes

So Mike Oldfield gives us then title this time and I think it is incredibly appropriate given the fact we are going to discuss my current progress and where I have shifted and concentrated my focus. If you read this blog you would know I have started an Iconic Hero Ziggy but he has suffered because I have gone back to characters I was into prior to him coming along. I am hoping that I will have 2 characters to reincarnate next week if I put the time into the second one.

Standby for action (I do love old tv)

Now Merlin is already to reincarnate, this is after 3 Wizard, 3 Sorcerer, 3 Favored Soul and 3 Warlock lives. Because of the bonus to evocation from past lives it really seems that Merlin will take the Air Savant route in what I am expecting to be his final heroic life. The progress has been slow but given his past life bonuses he should be pretty good for running with a hireling healer. Now he is ready to level and I have to say the main reason is the ease with slayer bonuses he had of hitting the 7500 slayer in Orchard. There has been a lot of grind with certain quests in one case to the point where I am at the point of never wanting to run it again (at least for a couple of weeks).... I hate runways and fashion.

Still a little way to go

Next up is Conan the Monk, I know just looks so bleah but this is just his second life and he has another 2 as Monk to come before 3 fighter lives and back to Barbarian 3 times. Because this is early in his multi life cycle there were others I could have chosen to work on but as I am working on a caster with a legendary name thought I would work on a Melee type at the same time. Because of the amount of lives yet to run I am more comnfortable with him except when  running a quest that works better if you have a ranged solution. Shuriken are not the fastest solution to a giant Mindflayer and because I have completed the slays in Orchard Conan is now in Merida banging out the slays there. I am not sure if I will do the 10k or stop at 6k and jump to Reavers yet???

One thing I did notice in Orchard that I hadn't seen before or seen notification of is the werewolves and vampires near the entrance along with the silver flame paladins up by the Black Abbot graveyard, now as I haven't done epic Orchard I don't know if there are CR14 to 16 Werewolves in there but I certainly don't remember ever seeing them before. Lag? I missed a slight change to heroic Orchard? Or some dev is playing with my head? Not sure so confusion reigns.

Colour coordinated with the Panda 

Yes I quest but I do enjoy wilderness a lot even if I do get through a ton of slayer boosts each week. I tend to spend most of turbine points on those boosts. I did almost move to my ranger Tanis rather than Conan but I will say Tanis does look right with a Panda but Conan got the vote over both Tanis and Ziggy for the time being. But I change my mind constantly so no idea what I will be like once Merlin and Conan rise from the ashes to start their next lives.

Happy Rebirth

GrouseMerlin

The Laughing Gnome

And the Icon Bowie before he became famous has inspired me not just for a title for this piece but to use that wonderful gift Turbine gave us of a free additional character slot. I had actually bought a slot with the intention of building an Iconic completionist to go with my Heroic one and that plan at least has continued. So Grouseziggy has been created, however he is not yet a Gnome but is starting with as Bladeforged for his first life. It is something I want to do just because I can and I understand the active/passive benefits but hey it is about having fun. Certainly an illusionist focus with the Gnome will get me away from my evocation or necromancy focus that I seem to play all the time.

There may be an Art to this but my cure is a ton of bolts 

So as Ziggy is not a Gnome yet and obviously I have to have a Gnome immediately I decided to reincarnate Art the Artificer, boring name might get changed one day if I can find a suitable Gnome Artificer name to use. Anyway second life so 34 point build and so far seems to be fun, the grind through the first few levels wasn't too bad. I enjoy Kothos, not too challenging the sort of quests you want just before breakfast. I have to admit permablur is a wonderful addition to any character and given the fact Art is intelligence driven the overall abilities from picking locks to use Magic Device they are working pretty dang well. Already hit level 7 and probably in the next day or three will be level 8.

Ziggy played guitar but still looks like metal mickey

And as I had bought a character slot with the intention of going Iconic and turbine gave us a slot I had an additional character slot, which will be my second Paladin GrouseRoland. Now those with a European history background will know just why I named the character Roland, this will be a Two Handed combat solution rather than Sturm who is a bastard sword and tower shield. I do enjoy exploring all the different choices we have as players but given the fact there are so many options in builds this is just a taste in the options available. I prefer being a combat caster but given the variety of builds a cleave based paladin is going to be fun. I will run him at some point however the priorities for me are somewhat different.

Chanson de Roland? Big cleaver time

So at the moment Merlin is level 8, his next life will be his final heroic life as a sorcerer. Now this generates an issue as I have still not decided if he will go Earth or Air? 3 Sorcerer/3 Wizard/3 Favoured Soul/3 Warlock given all  this still not sure just which way to go. Conan who is only on his second life is Level 15 as a monk, he will eventually get back to being a barbarian but he is hard work and I seem to be dragging my heels with him rather than pressing on. Of course I should devote time to Ziggy but Iconic whilst fun is a lot of work and I want Conan moving forward along with Merlin before I dig myself further with other toons. Sometimes my willingness to explore concepts is a pain because I end up with characters that I want to play that do not get the time they deserve. Mouser, Tut and Tanis should all be moving a

lot faster but they are currently stuck and I need to focus.

So apart from when running with my Guildie who has things going on in her life at the moment that mean I miss her very VERY much I am going to focus on Conan and Merlin. I have enough tokens of the twelve for them to reincarnate once each before I have to go back to Devils Assault. The plans within plans are there but I have so much to do with 27 toons and perhaps I may have over extended myself but what the heck it is fun.

GrouseArt

The Monster Mash

Well been a few weeks but here is some more thoughts, a real blast from the past.

You can't kill what is already dead?

I want to discuss the monster manual which is a wonderful tool for recording just how much combat you go through and get rewards for doing so. And I have to say the bonus experience has become a wonderful way of adding character development. The problem is primarily getting some of the hunter kills as it requires variety rather than quantity. And when you consider the kills are only are only since the inception of the monster manual perhaps for me it tells me I have over done some quests and wildernesses.

I thought it would be more because of the Fens

The fact it also lists defeats reminds us that we are all prone to errors or over estimation of our abilities. Or in at least one case being left alone when answering the door. Now I was going to list everything in the monster manual and show just how many monsters I have killed but when the 5 images I am including in this blog entry lists over 150,000 kills you suddenly realise that someone has spent far too much time playing. The Monster Manual does record enough kills to make me realise I am spending more time in game than I am writing.

I feel sorry for the little guys

The rewards you earn from completing tasks in the Manual have become more than just a nice to have. Obviously there is the experience for completing tasks but there are other rewards that makes the manaul a very nice to have if you have VIP status but for those who have to buy the monster manaul the question of is it worth it is down to how much time you spend playing. Every reincarnation resets the personal targets so it is a gift that keeps giving in my mind but then I have done around 20 reincarnations of characters I still have. Rewards include mysterious remnants, turbine points, experience and cosmetic pets.

Okay so just how did I get to this many?

I guess everyone will have their own take on the value of the Monster Manuals but on a personal level seeing the number of bodies I have left all over the place it is worth having it. But I play every day and that is a reason I get value from the Manual. I would say though I felt a surprise when realising Hobgoblins were getting killed more often than Kobolds or Sahuagin.

I'll grind their bones to make my bread

Enjoy leaving bodies everywhere

Grouseconan