Mage Project – 63
by paul on Jul.15, 2007, under Mage Project
62 was a problem for me. The only suitable hot zone was Acrylia Caverns, and Outer was all green, and Inner was starting to get tough on my pet. I was down to 1.0 – 1.2 AAs per lesson in Inner Acrylia; then I discovered that my exp rate on greens in Outer Acrylia was also 1.0 – 1.2 AAs! People wandering into Inner Acrylia could seriously damage my rate there, and there was usually at least one good camp available in Outer, plus the risk was a lot less, so that’s when I ended up. While getting level experience, my rate was about 15-18% per lesson, which is respectable.
At 63, I have 282 AAs spent; my purchase was the usual set of defensives, planar power/innate enlightenment, Fury of Magic, hastened mending, Servant of Ro upgrade and Host of Elements. One problem is that I don’t have a full set of spells for 63 (and am still missing Burning Sands from 62).
The past few weeks I have also played my mage a little less, for various reasons (some work, some personal). A big reason has been the drop in exp rate mentioned above.
For future, it seems likely that I will have to move away from hot zones, until I can solo in WoS (possibly at 66 with the new pet, which will definitely replace my epic). However, I may still end up in Acrylia; Outer seems to be mostly if not all green at the moment.
At 63, exp rate in Outer Acrylia is way down; I haven’t tested AA, but 10% level per lesson was what I was getting. Nurga tier 5 with epic was roughly 0.9 – 1.0 AA/lesson; tier 4 was roughly the same (may possibly be slightly less). I am going to try with WoX, using higher level pet gear, and I may try the same WoX pet in Forgotten Halls. Other options may include Chardok B, some of the PoP tier 1 zones, Bloodfields zone in, Grieg’s End, etc. Plane of Innovation would be good, especially for the saltpeter drops, apart from problems splitting; it’s all light blue to 63 around the main circuit.
Rather frustratingly, WoX on Nurga tier 4 gives only 0.9 AA/lesson (mixed light blue/green). Tier 5 worked out to about the same: 0.8 – 0.9 AA/hr.
Grieg’s End gives about 0.8 AA/lesson on a first try. This should get better with a known camp, but I doubt it would be any better than 1.0/lesson. This was on the shrouded willsappers in the first courtyard and beyond.
Plane of Innovation, disappointingly, only gave about 0.7-0.8 AA/lesson. The saltpeter for research is an important motivator. If you go anti-clockwise from zone in, there are no multiple pulls required before respawn, so long as you skip the tin soldiers at the factory entrance, and watch out very carefully for the wandering erratic models.
Forgotten Halls, at 63, is all single pullable. Rats are mostly dark blue; one kill requires about six Fire Bolts of Tallon, and three or four pet heals. Following this pattern, and medding to full between mobs (one kill takes about 40% of my mana, and pet ends up 20-40% hp), gives roughly 0.8 AA/lesson. I think this could be slightly improved upon (two kills per mana bar and med), but I would imagine that the pattern would hold true for all levels.
Update, 23 July: the last place I tried was Mavuin hall, aka Death Row, in Plane of Justice. This drops three types of diamond, Weighty Polearms, Hammer Emblazoned Sleeves (in the side cells), 2 or 3 ethereal parchments per AA, and junk loot worth about 500-700pp per AA (which is a lot less than Acrylia Caverns, which was more like 1kpp/AA). Everything sees invis, and there is a trap spawn of a banshee to the left of the door. I can keep the hall itself clear of punishers and enforcers (which are summoned). If you get a partner, you can sustain more or less the same exp rate by clearing the entrance corridor (4 mobs) and all the cells apart from the two giants, which have massive resists (malo doesn’t land, nor do any of my spells, fire or magic). Remembering to use a horse helps a lot with mana; each mob needs about 2x Sun Storm and a little nuke (or some patience with the pet) to finish off. A double pull isn’t a problem – wait for 90% on both, then Sun Storm, FBoT on pet’s target, Sun Storm, and finish off.
Exp rate here is 1.0 – 1.1 AA/lesson. I’ve done about 20 AAs so far, and expect to level from 63 to at least 65, probably 66, here. I am not going to pause at these levels for more AAs; I will buy what I can at 64 with a couple left over, then will spend those at 65, level to 66, and finish the 65 and 66 AAs there.
Update 26 July: exp gain in level 63 was 18% for one lesson, then 25% in 90 minutes. That was all solo time on Death Row. It was also better than my rate in level 62, which I spent in Acrylia, but which would have been better spent here (more experience, but less pp). The rest of the time in level I spent duoing with my wife’s (Vex Thall geared) level 63 mage, also on Death Row. I didn’t keep exact track, but my subjective estimate was that experience was roughly the same as solo, thanks to the extra prisoners avaiable.
I am missing two summoned item spells from 63/64: Blade of the Kedge, and Girdle of Magi’kot, plus the rain spell: Maelstrom of Thunder. The summonings don’t matter for immediate levelling, but missing the rain is a problem. I will shortly make a new post to cover my AA plan for 65-70.
