My guild, Silent Tempest, was stalled for a long time on Phase 4 during the
Thanksgiving/Christmas break. This led to some mild frustration inside the
guild and some public taunting by members of the other Time-enabled guild on
Drinal. Interestingly, we turned that around, and an /ooc message by one of
the other guild's officers taunting us about our lack of progress became
part of two people's signatures within our guild. A kind of "we shall
overcome" theme I suppose.
When we finally got back on track, we really started making good progress.
We finally got into Phase 5 and managed to kill three of the four gods very
quickly. Only one god stood between us and Quarm: Innoruk. He was causing
us clerics no end of fits because we couldn't find a way to prevent
ourselves from being feared.
Theoretically the range on the AE fear that he casts is 100. Complete Heal
range is also 100, but if you have an Extended Range item you can heal from
as far away as 120. What's really useful is that the ER item will sparkle
when it's being used and *only* when it's being used. If you are within 100
and cast CH, your ER item won't sparkle. If you are between 100 and 120
away, your ER item will sparkle and your spell hit. If you are greater than
120 away, your ER item won't sparkle and you'll get the "out of range"
message.
What was frustrating me about Inny is that I'd see my ER item sparkle,
indicating that I was greater than 100 away from the tank, and then one
second later I'd get feared. And all indications were that the tank was
between us and Inny. It was a strange riddle, and we'd tried various
different positions, all to no avail - we'd still end up getting feared.
A thread on our guild message board was full of different wild strategies
for overcoming this. My own idea was to have a couple of clerics/druids
standing well outside range with the Main Tank on target, waiting for the
clerics in the Complete Heal Chain to get feared, then step up and spam fast
heals on the MT until the CHC clerics recovered and got back into position.
The biggest problem with that strategy was that we really couldn't afford to
have healers just standing idle - with the 72-person limit in Time, we can't
afford any wasteful, zerg-like strategies. Druids were going to be busy
healing the tanks on the adds, and the clerics outside of the CHC needed to
be free to cast Divine Intervention and do spot heals on the Main Tank.
Another thread was about ways to improve the CHC. It's been sloppy of late,
and our cleric officer has expressed frustration about how a Time-enabled
guild could produce such a horrible CHC. So we've gone back to basics,
making certain we're paying attention, that we have the chain down and the
tanks targeted, and that when we say we are good to go that means we don't
alt-tab out to browse a web page or respond to buff requests and lose target
on the Main Tank. Another thing we decided to do is to stop using the
cleric channel to call out the CHC and instead use the /auction channel.
The theory is that this will prevent lag associated with using the chat
server. I personally have never seen such a problem with lag, but I'm all
for preventative measures and using anything that will give us an edge. The
only thing I felt uncomfortable about was making our CHC so public - now if
you screw up, the whole guild can see. =/
Last night I logged in to find us once again in Phase 5, having just killed
Cazic-Thule. I get a raid invite and zone in as we're preparing to take on
Rallos Zek. I'm excited because this is another opportunity for a Timeless
Breastplate Mold. I mention this in the cleric channel, and get an answer
back that I shouldn't hold my breath - our primary Main Tank is online and
has also been holding out for a Time BP. He's more due for a good drop then
I am. Good point, but I'll still keep a candle lit for a BP mold of my own.
I get into the order. In our "back to the basics" theme, we run through a
couple of practice runs on the CHC. It's all good and we pull Rallos Zek.
The fight goes nearly flawlessly, although we do lose the first MT. Rallos
Zek dies but doesn't drop a BP mold, much to my disappointment. He does
drop a pouch that a monk can use to summon some jaw-droppingly awesome
shurikens, and a Darkblade of the Warlord, *the* best weapon for a warrior.
Good drops that make us pretty happy.
We run across the room to Cazic-Thule's cubbyhole to take down Bertoxxulous.
It's strange that some gods are tethered and some are not. Bert is not
tethered and will chase you anywhere you go in the room; the rest of the
gods will only chase you so far before warping back to their spawn point.
When we're ready, we pull Bert all the way to us. This fight is easy easy
easy, and in fact us clerics manage to keep the MT alive through the entire
battle. The MT comments that this is the first time he's seen a Time god
die. We get some more drops, then prepare for our current nemesis -
Innoruk.
Our primary MT walks us through a new strategy. He stands in a certain
point in the room (somehow not aggroing Inny in the process) and comments
that this is where he will engage. He talks to the other melee about push
control and stuff; I target him and try to find a place to heal from. I hug
a wall and keep casting Complete Heal until I see my ER item sparkle. I
then tell the other clerics that I've found a spot with the right range and
they all gather around me. Once again we test our CHC and get ready.
Inny is pulled and we begin the CHC. It goes well - we keep it consistent
and flowing. What's more, we're not getting feared. It continues smoothly
for a while - then the MT goes out of range. We switch to the second MT and
keep him up for a bit, but then he also goes out of range. An abort is
called, and we run away safely. I feel very excited and brightly comment in
guildchat that we seem to have a viable strategy - finally, we have a spot
we can heal from without getting feared. The primary MT tells us to move
just a bit closer next time. We find a new spot to heal from not far from
our old spot.
We begin again. CHC begins and goes smoothly. Again, we are not getting
feared. The MT is staying up. The adds spawn and are dealt with. Inny's
health drops below 50% and continues to drop. At 25% the last adds spawn;
with mana for everyone running low, they are simply snared and rooted and
everyone concentrates on burning down Inny. We lose one cleric to the adds
but the CHC adjusts. Inny enrages, making me smile. Finally, Inny falls,
and we cheer wildly. Many people then die because the adds are still there
and the clerics and druids are out of mana. We move back to the tables -
fortunately, the adds are also tethered - and rez. There is more loot to
award - nice caster shield, an awesome bard sword, etc.
I am in the same group as my guildleader. He survived the fight against
Inny, but at one point he says "Uh oh." I look and he's somehow died.
Evidently he zoned into Quarm's lair to check it out. The primary MT zoned
in also and also died. After a couple of minutes I zone in as well. Here I
am, in Quarm's lair, the end-game boss of the Planes of Power.
I can see a vague outline of Quarm, a huge four-headed dragon, in the far
distance. I dare not go any closer. I see a whole bunch of eyes moving
towards Quarm and I envy these casters who can go and take a good look.
We have had zero strategy discussions about Quarm. Our guildleader tells us
all he knows about Quarm, which is a lot. Evidently Quarm will randomly
spew four different AE's, which can drain both hitpoints and mana at an
alarming rate. Quarm also hits for 3700 - yeoch - but, interestingly, can
be slowed. So getting Quarm slowed quickly is a priority. Also, we'll need
lots and lots of AE heals, because Quarm has a ton of hitpoints and killing
him will be a long drawn-out battle. We set up a channel of everyone
capable of casting MGB heals - clerics, druids, beastlords. We want just
one AE heal at a time going, so we use this channel to coordinate that.
The clerics begin our own strategy discussion. It's decided to form
cleric/shaman groups so that the shamans can cure the clerics of the AE's.
Two such groups are quickly formed. As we're testing our CHC, I look around
for a spare shaman - I didn't get into one of the groups and I need a shaman
to cure me. While I'm studying the raid window and pressing my CHC key
during the test run, Quarm suddenly appears.
Oops.
The clerics are greatly surprised - no one asked us if we were ready. Since
we were in test mode, however, we merely continue our chain, this time not
ducking out of the CH. The AE's go off and I resist most of them. The
first AE heal goes off, and still I watch my groups' hitpoints drop
precipitously. I use Divine Arbitration to try and help but mostly it's my
guildleader, a paladin, who keeps everyone in the group alive.
We seem to be doing a reasonable job of keeping the MT up. I'm not certain
of our positioning, though, and I'm making mental notes for our next
attempt. I do have a good view of Quarm's huge tail and the awesome
fireworks display of all the spells hitting him. I'm hit by an AE and my
mana drops; I use my mod rod to gain some of it back.
We lose the MT and switch to the secondary MT. During this switch, Quarm
turns around and I get a good view of his heads - one of which is missing.
We're making progress, evidently. For the first time it occurs to me that
we might actually win. Our guildleader says "30" and suddenly my hopes
soar - our DPS is better than I had thought. Alas, my mana is dropping too
quickly; I ask for some twitches but the necros are really way too busy to
help. I finally run out of mana and have to drop out of the CHC. I use the
opportunity to cast an AE heal - thank goodness Celestial Regeneration
requires no mana. I cast Complete Heal whenever I get the mana. Quarm
enrages and the MT dies at that same instant. The clerics cast about for a
tank to heal while everyone screams "Burn it!". We start getting a
countdown... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... 0. Then Quarm dies.
We go nuts. Killing Quarm on our first attempt was way beyond our
expectations. Everyone cheers and cheers and cheers. We've won, we've
beaten the game. Or at least, this expansion. =) Someone in the guild
mentions that this is the first time we've beaten one expansion before the
next one came out. This is sort of true, in that we beat PoP before GoD
came out. But we haven't "beaten" LDoN - we've only tried two LDoN raids
and lost them both. Still, I feel like we've finally caught up with the
other uber-guild on the server - we've maybe even surpassed them, since we
managed to kill Quarm *and* keep our good reputation intact.
Quarm was guarding a vaguely spherical construct. Our officers spam into
guildchat that we should leave this alone at all costs, otherwise we risk
losing all of Quarm's loot. The officers take their time on each of the
loots. One of them is a Shawl of Eternal Forces - AC 25, DEX 20, STA 20,
CHA 30, WIS 25, INT 25, HP 210, MANA 210, effect: Maelin's Methodical Mind,
which adds 8hp/mana regeneration that stacks with KEI/VoQ and Flowing
Thought. I put my name in but don't expect to be awarded it since I already
have Emp's shawl, which adds a 5 mana regeneration that won't stack with
this effect. Clearly the Shawl of Eternal Forces would be best placed in
the hands of someone without that extra mana regeneration, and so it proves.
I'm not unhappy because that means I'll still be in the running for a Time
BP mold if and when it drops.
There are two other loots, and the last of them gets awarded with three
minutes on the corpse. Finally, we attack and kill the spherical
contraption that we call an egg for no readily apparent reason. This starts
the final bit of lore, which everyone follows. At the end, we all get
translocated back to the top of the library in the Plane of Knowledge. As
is almost inevitable, a few people die dropping down the elevator shaft.
I help rez them, then go to work on our web page update. We're in the
middle of a server move, so our current web page is horribly outdated.
Eventually we'll get the url redirected, but for now, if you want to see our
web page, go to http://www.kings-court.net/st-test for the latest news.
I spend a couple of hours getting that together, then log back in. I get
some feedback and make a few tweaks. My guildleader wants someone to group
him so he can get a quick 13% AAXP; I team up with him and we head to the
undead armor area in the Halls of Honor and quickly kill three mobs, enough
for him to ding another AA. We get into a minor loot discussion, and I
lament the fact that we had two opportunities for plate BP mold - Quarm can
also drop one - and failed. As always, my guildleader is thinking of the
bigger picture and comments that we've had eight opportunities for chest
mold/pattern drops - that includes leather, chain, and silk along with
plate - and so far have only gotten one drop. Still, we've also had some
good luck - we've gotten two legging drops, and the other uber-guild on the
server has a total of three despite farming Time for far longer than we
have. We also got a Darkblade, which is a rare drop. So really we're doing
pretty good on loot. After he dings, I log.
So, I'm very very happy. We've killed Quarm, and I was there to see it. I
stuck with my guild through some difficult times and watched us progress and
learn and adapt and finally take down the ultimate EQ mob. For the first
time in my EQ experience, there are no challenges left. Okay, well, we
still haven't beaten Bristlebane or Seventh Hammer or a hard LDoN raid. But
we could. If we wanted to, we could. There is nothing we are not capable
of. It's kind of strange to be in this position, but fortunately Gates of
Discord is looming, with all-new challenges awaiting us.
In the meantime, we'll have to content ourselves with boring old farming of
Time for loot. =)
I'm still feeling giddy. We beat EverQuest. Life is good.
--
-Richard
Monual Lifegiver
Archon of Rodcet Nife
Silent Tempest
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This page is Copyright by Skaarak; Everquest (TM) is property of Sony Online Entertainment
All stories and art work are Copyright@ by the origial owner/writer.
Most, if not all stories, were taken from newsgroup alt.games.everquest (AGE), I recommend that anyone who gets a chance to read it should!