GW:EN Sneak Peak: Live Thread 7, Hunting For a Mission

Welcome back to the thread that never ends. I know last time I said I was going to be heading on into Jaga Moraine to follow the primary quests but while I was eating my pizza, it occured to me that I should traipse back through Drakkar first. You see, I realized that there are six boss warning totems in Sif's pad. But the quest she gave me to hunt them down only involves three of them. I know two of them are in Drakkar because I killed them before, the third is named the Lady of the Lake, where do you think she is? I'm guessing, if I finish that quest - which I want to since it's worth 15k - then there'll be a follow-up. And it's likely gong to be hunting those last three bosses in Moraine. I have a few other quests in Drakkar, too, so I'm going to finish those up and then press on.

Okay, so I know where the first boss, Nulfastu is, he's in the rabbit cave. The second one, a Centaur Ranger is roughly northeast of the lake. The third, the Lady, I figure is somewhere in between on the lake itself. There's no outpost nearby so I'm going to have to fight my way from Sif's chic little split level. That's okay because my other quest is to kill some of the Jotun in the cave just to the west of it. That'll lead me to the lake and I can swing down past the wimpy centaurs and finish off the shadow surprise group.

There's something new. I didn't mention it before but after the cutscene to end off the Nornbear chase, there was a little flash not unlike what you get at the end of mission. Except it was a quest. Now, in the quest area is a little marker commemorating my victory over the Nornbear. Slick.

Alrigh, got the gang back together, not going to switch anything up since it worked last time. Put us on the zone diet and here we go.

Oops, looks like I was wrong, the Jotun I have to kill is due south from Sif's country chalet, but that's even better since it'll lead me right to the centaur guy.

My rank 2 Norn title is good for a 60hp bonus, by the by. I'll have to check with the storyteller if there's more to it because that just doesn't seem worth it.

Woo, that's a lot of Jotun. They're listening to the boss I've been sent to slaughter make a compelling argument vis a vis the smashing of things. It's a mixed bunch, besides the boss, there's two of each kind of Jotun except the Necros. The ones that really scare me are the Warriors, the Skullsmashers. They're hammer guys with Earthshaker, Irresistible, Yeti Smash, and that Giant Smash, it's just knocklocking hell. The others are a pair of Mesmers, the Mindbreakers and Bladeturners, one devoted to caster shutdown, nailing me with Arcane Conundrum and Guilt/Shame , the other for melee shutdown, tagging Devona, who's my only banger with things like ineptitude. Then there's a Necro one, the Bloodcurdler, who's also annoying and lays down wells but he's the lowest on the "I hate 'em" list. And he's the one who's not there. Oh well, we're right by a rezpad so enough typing, let's get to killing.

Yeah, got slaughtered. Took out two of them, though, and managed to split the pack up so it should be smooth sailing now. And by smooth sailing I mean a tough fight with my guys going down left and right, especially Mhenlo, who's so DPed as to be one-hit by the Jotun Warrior boss who hits like a freight train. Sheesh. I preprot him as possible but the stomps and KDs always seem to leave me helpless at just the wrong time. But we finished him off and that quest will net me a smooth plat, 100 rep points with the Dwarves, and a skill. Not bad. On to the bossly trio.

And just a short jaunt down the mountain is the Centaur Ranger boss himself. Easy prey.

Now I have to find the Lady boss. She's the one I didn't see before and I'm guessing is by the lake. On closer inspection there's some kind of huge Pleisiosaur buried underneath the ice there. Packs of elementals with coordinated Ice Spikes on the ice just aren't fair, just for the record. Found her, dead center in the middle of the lake. She's a Wisp or blue colored Djinn. Must be a Dervish. Yeah, a dead Derv. Som elementals nearby and I think a stray Wisp group patrolled in - they move quick across that ice - so tougher than it should have been but no contest.

Snerk. Time to flex my valor muscle description says, in the bunny cave. I'm wise to the rabbit's tricks this time and I try to stay on the bridge and outside of the circle of doom but, no, you have to go down and trigger things. It's a tough fight, hardest of the three, but a lucritive one. He's a Mesmer boss, elit is Lyssa's Aura so, no.

I've made easier 15ks, but not by much. Time to cash in, dump inventory, and move on.

New skills. Kinda a matched pair:

Dwarven Stability. Enchanment Spell. 5en, 1/4csat, 30recharge. For 20 seconds, your stances last 30% longer. If you activated this skill while drunk, you cannot be knocked down. Dwarf.

You Move Like a Dwarf! Shout. 10en, 10recharge. Target foe is knocked down and takes 32 damage. When that foe gets up, it is crippled for 7 seconds. Norn.

And, as I expected, there's another quest for the rest of the bosses in the next zone. I love it when a plan comes together.

So, moving on to Jaga Moraine. First impression. I see tall mountains in the distance and a trail, an icy path twisting its way towards them. Looks a lot like Drakkar, to be honest.

Well, I'm hunting for three bosses, another boss, and a Norn.

There's an interesting enemy. Berserking Bison. And Minotaur and Aurochs. Big herds of them just running about the middle of the zone.

There's Krak, the Stone Summit boss I have to kill off for a quest. Annnnd, now he's dead. Well, that was easy.

Heading through a mountain pass there's a sign warning of avalanches. You know what one of the the mobs around here are named? Avalanche. My ears are perked up and alert for designed awesomeness. But nothing immediately happens.

And now I see the green arrow leading me to the NPC I need to talk with. I'm going to look around for those bosses a bit more first, though.

Found one of the bosses now. White Out, apparently a super version of an Avalanche, he's up a little mountain path and....giant snowball of doom! Run, run! I play Indian Jones in the Temple of Doom and barely manage to avoid getting squashed. That was pretty neat, actually. It's an ele boss and a nasty one. Those Deep Freeze spikes hurt. Plus a nasty Shatterstone.

A little further on is a group of festive Norns. And a quest for 10k XP, 750 points, a 2plat. Master one, apparently, to hunt some Wurms in the next zone over. We'll take a pass for now.

Interesting collector here. He's looking for 35 of whatever geegaw it is and in return he'll give me some gauntlets. Looks like an interesting skin, could be somthing to this.

Right nearby is the next boss on the list, a Necromancer who summons some nasties. His spot is a little overlook of some cloudy mountain peaks. Pretty.

Now, the next boss my log says is not in Moraine but someplace called the Sepulchre of Dragrimmar. Haven't seen that yet but it's probably close by, oh well, time to backtrack and talk to that quest NPC.

There's the perch and there's Roy boy. Yo Killroy, what's up? Oh, you gots a quest for me? Wanna kill some stuff. As the acceptance option sez "You're insane, Killroy. I love it."

Bah, lagged out in the middle of a monster pack. Quest failed, going to have to restart it, sometime. For now, time to advance the plot. Looks like I gotta head south to talk to a Bear about a girl. The NPC Norn comes with me. He's a Paragon. A Bear Paragon. I shall call him a Bearagon. We head throgh the gates into this littel area around an altar surrounded by shadow critters.

There's a little bit here with some special higher level shadows trying to put out a flame. The skill they use is a spell so my interrupter makes short work of them. Then it's a cutscene. Heroes not in the part make an appearence which is nice since I don't have to lug them with me but a little weird since they just apear out of nowhere. As for the cutscene, well, there's something about calling a bear. He fails to say "hey Boo-boo." And then let's just say Jora is still my kind of girl.

Next up is another instanced quest to wash some blood with blood which, I have to say, only gets things more in my experience. But first I have to lead a bear by the horn or something.

New zone, the Bjora Marches. First impressions? None. Because GW fucked up on me. Unable to find the mission I requested, err=19 and I'm kicked to the login screen. Ef. Uck.

I'm taking this as a sign I need a break. I'll be back.