Surefall Druid

6 November 2002

Levels 5 - 8, Qeynos Hills, Blackburrow and Newbie Armor

The next spell level is at level 5. Return to Surefall, and buy the following: Burst of Fire, Invoke Lightning, Whirling Wind, Gate, Grasping Roots, Harmony and Camouflage. Buy the rest too, if you can afford it. This will take several platinum (about 5pp, I think). Train 1 point into forage as well.

The hunting areas at this point will be all over Qeynos Hills, and on the top floor of Blackburrow, which will last to about level 7. The skeleton ruins in the NE of the zone can be pulled using Harmony. Only the central spawn area needs this treatment, everything else is either much lower level, or can be easily single pulled. To do this, cast Harmony on the mob you would least like to come with the rest, then pull any mob that is closer to you than that one. Unless its path takes it directly over the top of another mob, it should come on its own; harmony reduces the aggro radius of all mobs in an area. Standing in exactly the right place to harmony and to pull are vital to your success with this technique.

Finish up on the newbie armor at this point - get the rare and no drop items in Qeynos Hills, and collect the final ruined gnoll leather items. See above for details.

At level 8, immediately head back to Surefall and train one point into meditate. This is a major benefit to you immediately, especially in groups, where your role as a caster is more to the fore.

Combat technique will change very little; pull with snare or flame lick. Use burst of fire (replacing burst of flame); if you fight a caster, like some of the skeletons (putrid skeletons and dread corpses) use whirling wind to interrupt their spell casts; it will resist a lot more, and costs more mana, so isn't good for general use. One technique you can use when you have multiple mobs is to root one and back away out of its melee range; root at this level doesn't last long and costs a lot of mana, but it can keep one out of the fight for long enough to make a difference.

Grouping: you may want to join groups on the bottom floor of Blackburrow near the bridge. If so, make sure that you cast Skin Like Wood on all group members, and be prepared to back off and heal anyone who you see dropping below 50% HP. Snare everything your group is attacking; a snared mob won't run when low, and will turn its back to you and stop fighting, which is really great; if it is rooted, it will continue to fight. The rest of the time, join in the melee and cast nukes when required.

There are a couple of decent quests at this level. First, loot every gnoll corpse you see and collect the no drop gnoll fangs. Trade them in for moonstones to Captain Tillin, on the balcony above the arena, near the bank (you will need lots of free slots). Take the moon stones to Fish's tavern in south Qeynos and exchange them with Jocub McBain in the back room for Blackburrow Stout, which you just sell back for a few silver each. This gives a big faction hit (mostly good), and lots of experience, as well as a little money. An alternative use for gnoll fangs is to turn them in at the warrior guild in Halas, for faction there - but very little exp or money. For the other quests, kill rabid wolves and collect the diseased hides; turn them in at the Temple of Life in North Qeynos to Priestess Caulria, for decent experience and faction. You can do the same later on with putrid bear hides from rabid grizzlies, but you will need to be at least 10 (I expect) to kill them, and the hides don't always drop, unlike the rabid wolf ones. Expect 2pp per putrid hide turn in, as well as a lot of exp. Rabid animals wander on the east of zone, from the Blackburrow entrance to the milestone. Remember that Holly Windstalker roams the zone, and will protect wolves and bears.