I originally posted this on the official message boards a few years ago Those boards are gone, but FHP hasn't changed a bit. An AIEW should be able to do everything but the 9 Lich and 7 Fury fights by level 100-150.
More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Festering Hate Pool
by VeraGemini
Festering Hate Pool (FHP) is located 6 up and 6 right from the Wen teleporter, in Zender's Woods. It's a good cave for any mid-low level toon, but it is especially good for wizards, as it is one of the few caves we can solo at an earlier level than the ASGWs. To survive FHP, you need at least GM Thaum, Myst, Med, and Thowing Dagger, shift potions, and greater invis potions (or the spell).
Go load up the FHP map at http://www.realmoracle.com in a seperate window or tab for this tutorial, as I'll be referring to specific room numbers. Go load it up now, I'll wait.
Go invis, invul, and drink a shift before entering. The entrance (000 on the map) contains the "Gatekeeper" (who is really just a garden-variety Wraith), a sarc, 2 buttons, and a lever. Kill the Gatekeeper (Light Dart or a throwing dagger will take him out fast. Wraiths are undead, and 100% myst resistant, so don't waste your time casting Hold.) and go through the sarc. This will take you to room 002 on the map, where you will find a small group of Screeching Horrors. They have 0 MR, so cast Mass Hold and then Multiblade. Go 1 down (room 001) for a larger group of Screeching Horrors, then go back up 2, left 1, and then up 1 to room 056 where you will find 2 Dark Faeries. (You can go from the bats up 2, left 2, and down 1 to kill 1 Hellhound if you'd like. It only ever drops a pelt, so this is up to you.)
After you've dispatched the Dark Faeries, go up 1 and right 3 to room 015, and a group of 5 Troll Kings. (This is also a good point to re-shift, and re-invis) Troll Kings like to cast Earthquake, which can tear up a low hp toon, so I recommend summoning a Faery Queen (or better yet, a Daemon if you have GM necro) right into the middle of the group. Troll Kings cast, but they seem to prefer melee attacks when there's a target within range. Mass Hold next round, then keep summoning, casting on them, winging daggers, whatever you like.
Go 1 up and 1 left from the Troll Kings to the bonepile in room 018. It often contains an obs cowl or a pair of Boots of Nimbleness, and I've found a few Belts of Carrying here as well. (Always ID boots or belts found here before putting them on, I've found many pairs of Boots of Tripping, and not a few Belts of Load or Belts of Weakness here too. FHP is a cave with a twisted sense of humor.) There may or may not be one low-level monster (Ratlings, assorted bats, Pixies, occasionally a wasp.) here. Then go right 1 and through the trap door.
(Yes, I'm aware there's a whole left side to the first floor of FHP, but in my opinion, running through it is pointless. There are low-level, low-exp, low-treasure monsters like Undead Necromancers and Ratlings guarding an empty sarc, followed by the 5 Fury and 7 Lich fights that can kill a low level wizard, and really aren't worth the trouble at higher levels. There can be good treasure in the sarc behind the Liches, but there's an alternate route to get there. If you really want to take on the Undead Necromancers, in the hopes they might drop a spellbook like Unlock, Greater ID, or Mass Fumble, they can be found in room 053 of the Oracle map. In my experience, the Wraiths later on are much better bets for spellbooks.)
Once through the trap door, you'll find a single Cyclops. 1 left is a group of 7 Imp Kings. Imp Kings can be tough for a low-hp toon, but the experience is good, and I've gotten Bonecrushers, Fin Shoes, Fin Bracers, and Wraths from this fight. Imp Kings are 75% MR, so it's best to get some summons out to soak their damage before trying to myst them. Imp Kings cast Light Dart, Flame Orb, Ice Orb, Combat Teleport, and occasionally Lightning Bolt, but they don't cast any mass spells like the Troll Kings.
Go back 1 right from the Imp Kings and through the door, then go 1 right and 1 down to the Bounty Hunter group. Mass Zerk is nice here, as is Mass Fumble if you have it. (Those obs and adm weapons can add up to a nice little pile of gold.) Go back up 1, left 1, down 1, and left 1 for a small group of Screeching Horrors. Don't pull the lever here, it will take you back to the entrance. 1 down from the bats is a group of 2 Furies. I like Gust of Wind or Sandstorm for Furies, if you have those spells. If not, Stoning does a number on them. Another good Fury strategy is to drop a Faery Queen right in the middle of them, and hope they Fireball themselves to death. Watching that never gets old. :)
From the Furies, go up 2, right 1, up 1, and through the trap door. This will take you to room 021. Invul, re-shift, and re-invis here, and put on a Thaum ammy if you have one now. Go down 1 and kill the Devils. Summon FQs, myst them, then cast WoG, devils are pretty easy, and they will ignore you as long as you're invisible and have some summons on the screen. Devils are also a good source of Fin Shoes and Fin Bracers. Once they're dead, pull the lever. (Praying at the altar on this screen does nothing.)
The lever takes you to room 040. Invul, shift, invis again and go 2 right to a group of 5 Devils, who will promptly jump you if your hp are low enough. Kill them, then raid the bonepile behind them. This bonepile is often where the best treasure in FHP will be, Bonecrushers, Wraths, SoTs, Fin gear... or, you might find a nice pair of Iron Sollerets. Treasure ain't ever guaranteed. Go back 1 left, kill the Cyclops, then go through the door. Go up 2, kill the group of Thieves, then go 1 right and raid the chests. Don't forget to check the backpack on the floor, sometimes it contains a nice orb or wand. Backtrack 1 right and 2 down, back through the door, and take the stairs. Go 2 down and kill a group of Wraiths. (Semi-rare spellbooks can be found in this fight, like GiD, Summon Doppelganger, Mass Fumble, or Acid Rain. However, don't expect to find Enid's Blessing or Anti-Magic Aura.) Then, go 1 down, kill the single Ghost if you feel like it, and check the bonepile. It is often empty, but I've found several Orbs of Holding in it before.
Backtrack 3 up, go back through the door, and kill the Cyclops there if you haven't already. Then, go 1 left and 1 up to the Control Center, a/k/a "The Lever Room". This is a good place to drop off any heavy loot you've picked up, as you'll be coming back here several times, but kill the Cyclops guarding the levers first, so he doesn't pick it all up. Pull the middle right lever first, the one that appears gray on the Oracle map. This takes you to room 024. go 1 down, then 1 left, where you will find a large group of Warriors. The same tactics that work for the Bounty Hunters work here as well. Once they're dead, go back 1 right, 1 down, 1 left, and 1 down, to a large Medusa group. The same tactics for Devils apply to Medusae. This is an especially nice fight, for experience and shop food. Medusae often drop mundane helms, and once I got 4 Wizard's Hats from this fight.
After the Medusae, go 1 left, where you'll find 1 Devil and 1 Warrior. Also a lever, but don't pull it yet. Kill those 2, then go 1 up where you'll find a couple of Wraiths guarding a chest. Kill, raid, then go back 1 down and pull that lever now. It will take you back to the Lever Room. Drop the heavies (the chest with the Wraiths often contains obs weapons), then pull the bottom right lever, the one that is green on the Oracle map. You'll appear in room 044, where there will be 1 Wasp Worker and 1 Wasp Warrior. One square to the right you will find a mixed group of Wasps, including 1 queen, and another lever to take you back to the Lever Room. You can kill these bugs or not, doesn't matter. You can also skip the green lever entirely if you prefer. The wasps can be ok for experience, but seldom if ever drop anything good.
Back in the Lever Room, pull the middle right lever - the one that is peach-colored on the Oracle map. This takes you to room 044, one right of there you will find a group of 5 Cyclopi. Summoning Daemons is good here, as well as Mass Hold or Mass Zerk, and Mass Fumble if you have it. Those adm clubs alone can recoup your mana and repair costs for the entire cave. Also, this fight has been known to yield up Bonecrushers and Fin items. Once they're dead, pull the lever back to the Lever Room and pick up anything you've dropped on the floor there. You've reached the Point of No Return, and the end of the cave, as far as fights go. Pull the top right (orange) lever, which will take you to room 049, the sarc behind those nasty Liches I mentioned earlier. Raid the sarc, then 'port out and sell your goodies.
Showing posts with label Wizard's Guide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wizard's Guide. Show all posts
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Wizard's Guide - Furies
Furies use one of four different types of attacks: electrical, fire, acid, or poison. They never switch attacks in the middle of a battle, so a Fury that starts out electrical will stay electrical, and so on. The spells they use are as follows:
Electric: Lightning Bolt, Electric Fury, and Lightning Curse.
Fire: Flame Orb, Fireball, and Fire Curse.
Acid: Acid Bolt and Acid Curse, occasionally (recently) Acid Rain.
Poison: Poison Bolt and Poison Curse.
It would seem like the acid Furies would be the easiest, and while they do the least amount of overall damage, they're really not. The fire Furies are, and you'll see why in a minute. This advice is written with Wizards in mind, but it works equally well with Thieves and Adventurers, and even a Warrior can use this method, if they'd prefer not to play Fury tennis. All you need is GM Thaumaturgy.
Go into the fight with Greater Invisibility cast. First round, cast one Faery Queen right in the middle of the group of Furies. (You'll need to replace this FQ every few rounds.) Second round, summon another, a couple of spaces behind the first one. FQs #3-5 go further back yet, in front of you. Actually, it doesn't matter where you put #3-5, as long as they're not too close to #1 or #2. FQs 1 and 2 are your decoys, 3 through 5 are your Fury killing machines. Furies will ignore an invisible toon so long as there are other targets on screen, and they will always target whatever is closest to them. You're hoping that one of the Furies in the group will be using a fire attack, cast Fireball on FQ #1, and do fire damage to herself and her sisters. FQ #1 will die often, FQ #2 is placed where she is so they will target her in the round it takes to replace #1, and not do an area attack whammy that takes out #3-5. If you have an electric casting Fury you may have to replace the other FQs from time to time, along with #1, due to Electric Fury. Once you have a full complement of 5 FQs up, use Duach's Vengeance or either Wrath of the Gods or Light Dart. (Don't cast Wrath of the Gods if you aren't Benevolent, Good, or Beatific, as it will damage you, too.) Furies are neutral, but they don't resist Thaumaturgy spells. Don't throw daggers at them, you want them to stay clustered together. Killstar or Multiblade works well, too.
This is the most painless method I've found for groups of Furies. It works well for singles, too, but depending on your toon and weapon, you might prefer to just hit or throw.
Electric: Lightning Bolt, Electric Fury, and Lightning Curse.
Fire: Flame Orb, Fireball, and Fire Curse.
Acid: Acid Bolt and Acid Curse, occasionally (recently) Acid Rain.
Poison: Poison Bolt and Poison Curse.
It would seem like the acid Furies would be the easiest, and while they do the least amount of overall damage, they're really not. The fire Furies are, and you'll see why in a minute. This advice is written with Wizards in mind, but it works equally well with Thieves and Adventurers, and even a Warrior can use this method, if they'd prefer not to play Fury tennis. All you need is GM Thaumaturgy.
Go into the fight with Greater Invisibility cast. First round, cast one Faery Queen right in the middle of the group of Furies. (You'll need to replace this FQ every few rounds.) Second round, summon another, a couple of spaces behind the first one. FQs #3-5 go further back yet, in front of you. Actually, it doesn't matter where you put #3-5, as long as they're not too close to #1 or #2. FQs 1 and 2 are your decoys, 3 through 5 are your Fury killing machines. Furies will ignore an invisible toon so long as there are other targets on screen, and they will always target whatever is closest to them. You're hoping that one of the Furies in the group will be using a fire attack, cast Fireball on FQ #1, and do fire damage to herself and her sisters. FQ #1 will die often, FQ #2 is placed where she is so they will target her in the round it takes to replace #1, and not do an area attack whammy that takes out #3-5. If you have an electric casting Fury you may have to replace the other FQs from time to time, along with #1, due to Electric Fury. Once you have a full complement of 5 FQs up, use Duach's Vengeance or either Wrath of the Gods or Light Dart. (Don't cast Wrath of the Gods if you aren't Benevolent, Good, or Beatific, as it will damage you, too.) Furies are neutral, but they don't resist Thaumaturgy spells. Don't throw daggers at them, you want them to stay clustered together. Killstar or Multiblade works well, too.
This is the most painless method I've found for groups of Furies. It works well for singles, too, but depending on your toon and weapon, you might prefer to just hit or throw.
Wizard's Guide - Drear Valley
Drear Valley is normally thought of as Magic Macer heaven, but a low level wizzie can solo there for great experience, too. To get there, go right from the Monmouth teleporter, through the Downs. If you're not Malevolent, Evil, or Demonic, you will have to flee a few Hellsnakes and Kilrogs on the way.
Your target is Aegiscians. They are evil, and they have 0% Mysticism resistance. They also like to zerk or stun you and then summon Elementals, so it is vitally important that you cast Hold on them first round. Aegiscians have no armor to speak of, so there's no need to cast Defenselessness on them, just cast Extension and start the fight. Cast Hold first round. It will take, it always does. Then, summon up 5 Faery Queens. After that, Duach's Vengeance, Wrath of the Gods, and Light Dart all work well. (Don't use Wrath of the Gods unless you're Benevolent, Good, or Beatific, or it will damage you, too.) Start with the smallest Aegsicians (3k or so) until you get a feel for how much damage you can do. I found that at level 100, with a 12 round hold, I could take up to 10k hp ones.
The experience is good, and they drop a lot of orbs and amulets, as well as talismans and the occasional Wizard's Cap, so this is a good way to make some gold to fund the less lucrative but better experience runs to the swamp or Greater Hives.
Slightly higher level wizzies (200+) can make some quick shop food gold by Death Wishing or casting Duach's Vengeance on Dolus Thralls. The higher level cows either are too much for a solo wiz, or just aren't worth it, as the experience isn't great, and all cows srop the same.
Good luck!
Your target is Aegiscians. They are evil, and they have 0% Mysticism resistance. They also like to zerk or stun you and then summon Elementals, so it is vitally important that you cast Hold on them first round. Aegiscians have no armor to speak of, so there's no need to cast Defenselessness on them, just cast Extension and start the fight. Cast Hold first round. It will take, it always does. Then, summon up 5 Faery Queens. After that, Duach's Vengeance, Wrath of the Gods, and Light Dart all work well. (Don't use Wrath of the Gods unless you're Benevolent, Good, or Beatific, or it will damage you, too.) Start with the smallest Aegsicians (3k or so) until you get a feel for how much damage you can do. I found that at level 100, with a 12 round hold, I could take up to 10k hp ones.
The experience is good, and they drop a lot of orbs and amulets, as well as talismans and the occasional Wizard's Cap, so this is a good way to make some gold to fund the less lucrative but better experience runs to the swamp or Greater Hives.
Slightly higher level wizzies (200+) can make some quick shop food gold by Death Wishing or casting Duach's Vengeance on Dolus Thralls. The higher level cows either are too much for a solo wiz, or just aren't worth it, as the experience isn't great, and all cows srop the same.
Good luck!
Wizard's Guide - Greater Hives
Greater Hives is located 2 left and 12 up from the Asgard teleporter. This is Acestos Desert, so if you've got less than 2.5k hp, you'll need a ride. The first fight can be soloed at about level 200-250 for an AIEW. Most people only do the first fight over and over again for experience, so that's all I'm going to cover right now. (I will do a walkthrough for the entire cave at some point.)
The first fight is 5 Hornets, so the advice about getting Malevolent or lower and running Dark Gauntlet for the poison resist applies here, too. You will also want shift potions or a Hood of Shifting, and regen potions or Perfect Roses if you don't have the Enid's Blessing spell. (Regeneration potions work like Greater Heal and Cure Poison potions in one. You can buy them at Marvin's, or alch them, which is much cheaper, and gets you experience points.)
Before the fight, the highest level wizzie in the group (if there is a group) should cast Fire Grasp, Arctic Grasp, and Immolation on each bug. As these spells are blessings, not curses, they won't cause the bugs to jump you. Next, cast Extension, then Greater Invisibility. Invul yourself, drink a shift potion (if you don't have a HoS), and def the biggest bug to start the fight. Cast Mass Berserk first round. Hornets have around 33% MR, so if less than 4 are zerked, recast until you get them all. (Single zerk for just 1, it will last longer.) Once they're zerked, cast Mass Drain until they're dead. (Mass Drain should make up the damage you take from bites. If you need a round to breathe and recast, Zombies work well. They will die with 1 sting, but they will keep the bugs off of you for a round.) Reset the cave, rinse, repeat, until you see bugs in your sleep. The experience here is pretty good, the treasure not so much, although you will probably break even if you're soloing.
Good luck!
The first fight is 5 Hornets, so the advice about getting Malevolent or lower and running Dark Gauntlet for the poison resist applies here, too. You will also want shift potions or a Hood of Shifting, and regen potions or Perfect Roses if you don't have the Enid's Blessing spell. (Regeneration potions work like Greater Heal and Cure Poison potions in one. You can buy them at Marvin's, or alch them, which is much cheaper, and gets you experience points.)
Before the fight, the highest level wizzie in the group (if there is a group) should cast Fire Grasp, Arctic Grasp, and Immolation on each bug. As these spells are blessings, not curses, they won't cause the bugs to jump you. Next, cast Extension, then Greater Invisibility. Invul yourself, drink a shift potion (if you don't have a HoS), and def the biggest bug to start the fight. Cast Mass Berserk first round. Hornets have around 33% MR, so if less than 4 are zerked, recast until you get them all. (Single zerk for just 1, it will last longer.) Once they're zerked, cast Mass Drain until they're dead. (Mass Drain should make up the damage you take from bites. If you need a round to breathe and recast, Zombies work well. They will die with 1 sting, but they will keep the bugs off of you for a round.) Reset the cave, rinse, repeat, until you see bugs in your sleep. The experience here is pretty good, the treasure not so much, although you will probably break even if you're soloing.
Good luck!
Wizard's Guide - Fafnir's Swamp
(Not including Dragon Pit, although I'll cover that in a later post.)
Fafnir's Swamp, located right of Wen (through Zender's Woods) or left from Silverbrook (through Devon Forest - the Wen route is shorter) is a good place for experience, but bad for treasure. What you'll be hunting are Slimes, Sludges, Goo, Gunk, Muck, and Mire, hereafter referred to as "goo". Dragons bite too hard for a wizzie to safely solo, and the various Souls (the floating skulls) give no better experience or treasure than goo, at a much higher risk.
Before hunting the swamp, you will want to get your alignment to Malevolent or lower, for two reasons. First, the Souls in the swamp are evil, and will jump you repeatedly if you're neutral or good, and second, the 90% poison immunity from running Dark Gauntlet and praying at the altar for Duach's Blessing helps immensely.
You can start with single goo at around level 150 or so. Green goo (Mucks and Mires) are the lowest level, blue goo (Goos and Gunks) are in the middle, and brown goo (Sludges and Slimes) are the highest level, and therefore the hardest. Start with a single green one if you're low level and/or have never fought goo before, to get an idea of what you're facing. You will want shift postions if you don't have a Hood of Shifting, and a few regen potions aren't a bad idea if you don't have the Enid's Blessing spell. Cast Greater Invisibilty, invul yourself, drink a shift (if needed), and cast extension. Start the fight without casting Defenselessness on the goo or cursing it, goo has very low AR, so it's not needed. If you're under level 200, summon a Daemon first round, placing it on the far right side of the screen. (Daemons are much better than Faery Queens where goo is concerned.) Placing it on the far side of the screen will get the goo away from you if your hold fails, and make it waste some of its movement rate. Second round cast Hold. Goo is approximately 33% MR, so sometimes it takes a couple of tries. Once the goo is held, summon more Daemons, then cast Duach's Vengeance (if you have it) or Mass Drain or Lightning Bolt (if you don't) until it's dead. You can also throw your dagger, if you prefer, just keep a few Daemons out at all times. Stay invisible and stay shifting.
Groups of 3 or less work better held. Groups of 4, and especially groups of 6 can be zerked. This is where the real experience bonanza comes in, a group of 6 will give you 10k points even at level 500. Don't try zerking the big groups solo until you've got some hit points (level 350 or so for an AIEW), and do use Mass Drain to make up the damage you'll take from the occasional zerked hit. Groups are excellent levels for a wizzie/BC'er combo, as well, just make sure you keep your hitter healed and invulled. The down side to goo hunting is that it's a gold losing proposition. The drops are terrible, and will not pay for your mana or repairs.
Good luck!
Fafnir's Swamp, located right of Wen (through Zender's Woods) or left from Silverbrook (through Devon Forest - the Wen route is shorter) is a good place for experience, but bad for treasure. What you'll be hunting are Slimes, Sludges, Goo, Gunk, Muck, and Mire, hereafter referred to as "goo". Dragons bite too hard for a wizzie to safely solo, and the various Souls (the floating skulls) give no better experience or treasure than goo, at a much higher risk.
Before hunting the swamp, you will want to get your alignment to Malevolent or lower, for two reasons. First, the Souls in the swamp are evil, and will jump you repeatedly if you're neutral or good, and second, the 90% poison immunity from running Dark Gauntlet and praying at the altar for Duach's Blessing helps immensely.
You can start with single goo at around level 150 or so. Green goo (Mucks and Mires) are the lowest level, blue goo (Goos and Gunks) are in the middle, and brown goo (Sludges and Slimes) are the highest level, and therefore the hardest. Start with a single green one if you're low level and/or have never fought goo before, to get an idea of what you're facing. You will want shift postions if you don't have a Hood of Shifting, and a few regen potions aren't a bad idea if you don't have the Enid's Blessing spell. Cast Greater Invisibilty, invul yourself, drink a shift (if needed), and cast extension. Start the fight without casting Defenselessness on the goo or cursing it, goo has very low AR, so it's not needed. If you're under level 200, summon a Daemon first round, placing it on the far right side of the screen. (Daemons are much better than Faery Queens where goo is concerned.) Placing it on the far side of the screen will get the goo away from you if your hold fails, and make it waste some of its movement rate. Second round cast Hold. Goo is approximately 33% MR, so sometimes it takes a couple of tries. Once the goo is held, summon more Daemons, then cast Duach's Vengeance (if you have it) or Mass Drain or Lightning Bolt (if you don't) until it's dead. You can also throw your dagger, if you prefer, just keep a few Daemons out at all times. Stay invisible and stay shifting.
Groups of 3 or less work better held. Groups of 4, and especially groups of 6 can be zerked. This is where the real experience bonanza comes in, a group of 6 will give you 10k points even at level 500. Don't try zerking the big groups solo until you've got some hit points (level 350 or so for an AIEW), and do use Mass Drain to make up the damage you'll take from the occasional zerked hit. Groups are excellent levels for a wizzie/BC'er combo, as well, just make sure you keep your hitter healed and invulled. The down side to goo hunting is that it's a gold losing proposition. The drops are terrible, and will not pay for your mana or repairs.
Good luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)