Allods - A League Perspective

The Story

2010-07-21T09:27:00.000-04:00

This kind of tells the entire story, doesn't it:

That steep drop in traffic? July 7th.

Patch Notes

2010-07-01T12:59:00.002-04:00

If you don't read the main site often, you may have missed the fact that the full patch notes are now available right here.

Quest Guide: Coldberg

2010-06-29T08:47:00.000-04:00

Coldberg is a relatively short zone, which introduces the first of the daily reputation grinds, this one for the Free Traders. As you can tell by the full quest list here, you won't be here for a terribly long time, which is a bit of relief after the very long-seeming Eljune and Coba Plateau.
To get to Coldberg, take the ship from Takalik Harbor in Eljune. Before you head over, be sure you have the quests Coldberg's Mess and Coldberg's Troubles (one from Asee-Teph, one from Novograd). Both of these will send you to Sigurd the Swindler, who will start you on your way through Coldberg. As always keep an eye out for additional quest givers, there are several right in the starting town of Swindlerville. Many of the quests here are straight-up kill or gather quests, but a few bear further explanation.

Conspiracy Against the Swindler - You'll pick up this quest pretty quickly, but it will take a while to complete. To finish this quest you'll have to find and speak with several other people, each of whom will have additional tasks waiting for you. The NPCs in question are clearly marked, and most of the required tasks are easy to find. The big exception is Nomarkh Nizamar. To complete his portion of this quest you'll have to find the somewhat hidden NPC near the wrecked ship on the western edge of the Ruined Shore and complete Ship of the Dead for him. Be warned that the skeletons in the ship ruins are tightly packed and prone to attack through floors and ceilings, so bring a long a friend and clear your way completely before engaging the boss. As you complete Conspiracy, you'll be rewarded with several single-use items that have a magical effect against the mine guards. Save these items! You'll want them later.
The New Sprout will send you to speak with the Orc Shaman in camp in hopes of forming a new sprout. The Shaman has several tasks of his own for you, involving killing lynxes for their souls then freeing their spirits across the distant reaches of the Allod. You'll find the release sites marked by large stone fangs half-buried in the ice. Once you've completed these tasks, return to the Shaman for his (probably predictable) answer.
You'll find The Spirit's Cargo scattered along the shore south-east of Swindlerville, guarded by a number of wandering lynxes.
South of Swinderville, be sure you rescue Ironfoot the Dark from the Mountainfolk camp for Captive Mountainfolk. Be warned that the Mountainfolk mages cast a rather annoying debuff that may cause you problems, so be alert.

A word on order here. Most of the quests in Coldberg are level 34-36, a pretty narrow range. You can complete this zone in a single day if you work at it and the exact order of completion isn't all too critical. The optimal order is probably Swinderville and the surrounding area, Snowy Waste, Ruined Shore, then Frost Peak, but there's not a huge difference between the various areas.

As you make your way around the Allod, you'll discover your way obstructed by deep chasms filled with giant astral fangs. These areas emit dangerous magical energies that can affect you with a damaging debuff, so watch your health if you're near the edges. Speaking of astral fangs, as you head north to the Snowy Wastes, you'll be asked to do the quest Astral Fangs. Be warned that as you sanctify each fang it will spawn a demon, along with a skeletal protector, so be prepared for a fight. Also note this quest is rather buggy in a group, with each member having to complete the quest independently and completions from one player interfering with those of another. The best way to do it in a group is have one person finish it completely before the next starts it. The other quests in the Snowy Wastes are pretty normal kill quests, though one should note one of the daily quests for the Free Traders is here. See the reputation guide for details on this and the other reputation quests here. While killing ogres for the reputation quest, you can take care of Gathering Information, which requires you to find a dead demon in the depths of the ogre camp, and killing Bolbru, an ogre boss who is surprisingly easy to kill.

Moving to the Ruined Shore, you'll have to deal with numerous undead as well as trolls. In The Lost Cemetary, you'll have to explore the two troll camps to complete the quest. This is a bit problematic since the 'explored' dings do not seem to be in a fixed location. Look for the two stone troll-huts and wander around each to activate the explored completion, but be warned it may take some time. While you're there you can kill trolls and their leader for Shameless Trolls. You'll also have to deal with undead over by the wrecked ship for Bones of the Undead.

Your last stop is Frost Peak, and a visit to the Demon Hunter camp there. You'll be asked to test Timur's Plan by killing skeletal lookouts, then risk further harm to Test the Protection, which requires you to try out his new artifact in the middle of the skeletal lookouts. Don't worry you can clear an area at the quest marker to try out the protection. While you're here be sure you find the Gibberling sprout on the west coast of the Allod near the yak herd. They'll ask you to kill a number of yaks, including the rather tough boss for Yak Hearts. Note that the boss only drops one heart at a time, so you may have to kill him repeatedly if you're in a group. Once you have the hearts in hand, you'll get to go fishing for demons at the nearby astral fangs. Again this quest spawns demons each time you set a bait out, and again it is buggy in a group, requiring each player complete the quest separately. While you're at Frost Peak you can also complete the zone's treasure quest.

Clean up the remaining kill quests then prepare to enter the Broderen Mine. Remember those items I mentioned before that you wanted to keep? Now is the time to use them. Each item can be used to destroy / weaken one of the very tough mine guards. Allowing you to get past the entry area. Once inside there are two tasks awaiting you:

The Elusive Necromancer is further back in the mine. Once you deliver the letter to Striga, you'll eventually be forced to kill her and recover the remains of the letter from her body. Again this quest is buggy in groups. I recommend doing this quest prior to Battle for the Mine so you can insure you get it done.

Battle for the Mine requires you to kill a number of fierce skeletal defilers who are working to destroy the mine. These are very tough foes that reflect a significant amount of damage back at melee attackers. This quest is best accomplished with a group.

Once you finish the mine you're pretty much done with Coldberg. As I said, this is a quick zone. Your next stop is Avilon, another pretty short zone. Note that you should probably be level 36 before moving on, if you're short then doing the daily quests here will provide a fair bit of experience each day. Stay tuned for the Avilon guide.

Plate Wearers: Be Warned...

2010-06-23T16:18:00.000-04:00

Don't ever buy these:

Unless you want your feet to look like this:

Bad shoes are a terrible terrible thing...

Quest Guide: Coba Plateau - Part II

2010-06-22T10:56:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to Coba Plateau, and Part II of the guide. If you missed it, Part I is right here. When we stopped, we were just about to head toward the Cordon and points beyond. Let's get started shall we?
Begin by finishing off some of the quests from the Northern Border station along the Cordon, including Lenta's Path, Breaking Up the Mafia, and Bon Appetit. These can be done right across the river without much difficulty. Finish off the quests right along the near edge with Blindsided, and Aviary Spies. You will also want to complete the repeatable reputation quest Historian's Robbery at least once to open up Zem Manuscripts (the items for this quest drop off skeleton monsters in the Cordon area). After all that you should be ready for for your first deep foray into the Cordon.

You can always fight your way through the Goblin guards at the gates to get to the far side of the Cordon, but there are two alternate routes that I'm aware of:

Use the Catapult at Meridian Outback, which is unlocked with the quest Catapult. Be warned that this is risky, and sometimes you end up spattered on the rocks by the Catapult instead of in the lake beyond the Cordon.
Head north along the wall to the northernmost edge of the Allod, then turn east. You can work your way around the end of the Cordon and then up a path to the area around Giant's Table. There are plenty of roaming monsters here, so be ready for a fight.

When heading into the Cordon, be sure you bring plenty of food and/or drink. There are lots of environmental effects over there that cause problems for various classes, so expect the worst. You should also clear as much bag space as possible, as there are numerous quest items to grab. Don't try to do them all at once, you'll go insane! Finally be aware that there are a number of quests offered in the Cordon area itself, and many of these require level 34, so be sure you have quest log space open. What follows is an area by area summary of the trickier quests over here. There are additional quests around, but most are pretty normal kill / collect quests. Note that the various gathered items for The Great Hunt are not bound, so they can be freely gathered / traded / sold.

Giant's Table

Head north and sneak around the shore to the path leading up to this area. The area debuffs here are growth / shrink effects.

Collect Black Marks for The Great Hunt.
Collect the crystal near the altar for Demon Hunters.
Kill the Lucky Family for Dubious Fortunes.
Kill Blightbone for the Giant's Table Relic for Mysteries of the Zem Ruins.
Visit the first anomaly site for the Beyond the Cordon (west side).
Find the First Debtor for One Good Turn Deserves Another near Rotbeak, a named vulture near the marker for Aviary Spies.

Spectral Gorge

Be wary of the many wandering monsters in this area, and the annoying anti-healing debuff.

Collect Strange Bandages for The Great Hunt.
Talk to the Prisoner for Victim or Traitor.
Pick up the two quests An Ancient Fresco and The Cult of Tep. Be sure you grab the Desorotype from the slow-spawning chest nearby. You can complete this quest in the center of the temple near Nomarkh Seku.
Visit the second anomaly site for Beyond the Cordon (near the center of this area).
Kill Nomarkh Seku inside the temple structure to the north for One Good Turn Deserves Another, The Cult of Tep, and the Spectral Gorge Relic for Mysteries of the Zem Ruins.

Barren Boneyard

This area has large pools of quicksand that slow movement. Be wary, some of these skeletons hit very hard.

Collect Heavy Shackles for The Great Hunt.
Be sure you visit the camp south of this site to talk to Vladimir Shiporov about his debt for One Good Turn Deserves Another. There are also a few other quests here.
The beacon for Demon Hunters is near the camp.
Vladimir's bag is a random drop from the skeletons here and will get you the second debt for One Good Turn Deserves Another.
Kill Kaput for the relic needed for Mysteries of the Zem Ruins.
Find the anomaly site for Beyond the Cordon. It's down near the ruins in the depths of this area.

Isle of Weakness / Husk Isle

This entire area drains energy and mana. You can find spots where this effect fades, so use these to your advantage, pulling monsters there to fight. Note you'll have to make two trips here, one to finish off Demon Hunters and one to complete the followup quest The Nature of the Darkness.

Collect Tainted Eyes for The Great Hunt.
Find the Fourth anomaly for Beyond the Cordon (near the treasure on Husk Isle).
Kill Nighthowl on Husk Isle for the Mysteries of the Zem Ruins relic and the kill quest from the Demon Hunters camp.
Collect the crystal near the north-east edge of Husk Isle for Demon Hunters.
Pick up the treasure near Nighthowl. Even though you can get the treasure quest at 33, you must be level 34 to complete this quest.

Demon Hunter Camp

This camp contains the only vendor east of the Cordon.

Talk to the Kiddy Family about their debt for One Good Turn Deserves Another.
Pick up the Nighthowl killing quest for the Isle of Weakness / Husk Isle.
When you've completed Demon Hunters, pick up The Nature of the Darkness.

Blackjack's

One of the last places you'll visit in Coba, Blackjack's, is swarming with hostile Goblins. The easiest access is probably the north side, near the edge of the Allod, but if you have friends along, simply heading in the main entrance may work just as well. The south side is very well protected by natural and artificial barricades.

Kill Yar and Goblin Watchmen for The Mafia's Days Are Numbered. Note that Yar comes with two wolf companions so be ready.
Defeat Blackjack himself to uncover the Secret of the Deal.
Put the beatdown on Sarang Petosiris to complete Alive for Thousands of Years.
Fight your way up the fortified position on the hill near the docks to complete Goblin Headquarters Hotspot.

With all that out of the way (whew!) you're pretty much down to killing the bosses in this area if you haven't already, Skarskull, Abordazh the Merciless, and the Shadowy Prospector. Once that's done, finish off the loose ends and running around followups, then get ready for Coldberg!

Morning in Novograd

2010-06-18T14:00:00.000-04:00

Here's a nice view of the main tower in Novograd for any Imperials that wonder what it looks like.

Quest Guide: Coba Plateau - Part I

2010-06-16T14:00:00.005-04:00

Coba Plateau is the last part of the Holy Lands Allod. It lies to the east of Asee-Teph, and can be reached by traveling east from Kotick, the Dead City. Follow the road to end up in Brazen Hill, the first quest hub for this zone. There are several reputation quests in this zone, which are listed in the Reputation Guide. Information on the zone's treasure can be found right here. The full quest list can be found right here.

Right off the bat Coba starts with a couple of confusing quests. The first of these is Prejudiced Countrymen. To complete this quest, apply a beat-down to the yellow-named rookies located within the fort's walls. Don't worry you can apply force freely, apparently the rookies don't feel their comrades are worth protecting. Next step right outside the walls to take care of Testing the Water and Search and Confiscate. The water samples can be found in barrels scattered around just outside the walls, while the chests you have to search for artifacts are among the tents right beside them. Be ready to fight the chest owners when you open them! The third confusing quest is Concealed Darkness, which requires you to use the Deadman's Eye to find your targets. Simply head to the quest marker and use the Eye on the neutral League Renegades, then kill them and take their stuff.

After that bit of chaos, the next bunch of quests lead you north-west for a lot of killing and pillaging. Nothing too difficult here, but be cautious about moving monsters and respawns. There are tons of wandering humanoids up in this area and you can find yourself overwhelmed pretty quickly. While you're up here, be sure you kill a few of the hostile League Guardsmen and get a League Recruit's Badge, which will start the quest (wait for it...) League Recruit Badge! Also be sure you grab the Dark Artifacts from the chests in the Smuggler camp for The Great Temptation.

Your steps should turn south next, for a couple of kill/drop quests and Cough Medicine, which requires gathering moss from within the termite mounds all the way to the south. The entry to the mound is a bit hard to spot. It faces the Asee-Teph border. While you're headed south, be sure you find Anton Loktev, A soldier south-east of Brazen Hill. He'll give you a kill quest leading into the Rusted Wasteland. You should also have Source of the Disease. This quest introduces the source of the various artifacts found in this zone, relic towers surrounded by glowing stones that float in the air. Loot these stones for the gland required for the quest, and various other goodies that randomly appear. A lot of bag space is required! Note that Zem Dolls are quite useful as they allow anyone to resurrect a party member, and there's a quest later on to gather five of them. There's also a quest that pops up soon to gather Scorpion Stingers, so keep any you find. Also note the Rusted Wasteland introduces the first environmental hazard, fire traps. These randomly appearing areas burst into flame when you walk over them, burning you and anyone nearby. Watch your health!

Two other tasks for the Rusted Wasteland (for now):

Kill Kobolds until you find a Tablet, which will start Clay Tablet.
Take the Scorpion Stingers you collected while doing Source of the Disease to the east end of the area and find the prospector there. He'll offer a quest requiring you to bring him three Stingers. Good thing you planned ahead!
If you can get a group, take on Fight for the Rusted Wasteland, but be warned that the boss in the crypt has a good bit of life. You'll need a group. Once completed you'll have a few more quests around Russet Station, including Light Versus the Darkness, which is buggy in groups. It's easy to sneak into the north part of the camp where these crates are located.

Also while southbound, poke around Russet Station, find a convenient Goblin Worker, and question them for Information on the Mafia. This quest will flag you and you may have to question several workers to get the quest completion, and only Goblin Workers seem to work.

By this point you should be ready to move on to Prospector's Inn, where more questing awaits. One of the first quests you get there, Tenderfoot's Dues, will have you running around Inn area visiting the guard posts. There are plenty of quests here so let's get started. Note that most of the monsters around here are level 31-32, so if you're not at least 31 you may want to grind a bit.

Defector's Friends - One of these is at a guard post, one is a corpse on the hill south-east of the Inn, and one has fallen victim to the ogre chief, Boog (there's a kill quest for him so be sure you get both completions).
Wagon Train Robbery - Put on the mask and rob the wagon train at the quest marker. Be sure you stand well back as the hat instantly makes you hostile to the guards!
Bandit killing - There are three quests that revolve around killing bandits, be sure you have them all before starting: Red Bands, Yesterday's Friends, and A Price on Emelian Razin's Head.
Proper Prospecting Equipment: A Pick - When you head into the mine in search of jewels, be sure you get the quest Kobold Lord from the caged prospector near the entry. When you kill the Cthulhu-like boss, be sure you start the quest from the artifact that drops as well, the Kobold Lord's Artifact.

Several quests from the Inn will lead you north to the Northern Border camp and south to Meridian Outback. The quests in these two areas are pretty straightforward, but it's worth mentioning two:

There's a quest from the Northern Border that will lead you to the Goblinball Stadium, Goblinball Game, which you can reach via the nearby June Stone.
There is a repeatable reputation quest for the Historians available at Meridian Outback, Historian's Robbery. Be warned that this area can be heavily contested with War Banners and high level players, so be prepared for PvP. Be sure you complete the quest Jumping an Abyss while here so you can use the Catapult to cross the Cordon wall.

You'll also see the first quests for beyond the Cordon pop up now. I would advise holding off on these for a while as A) getting across is hard, and B) the area beyond the Cordon is pretty rough. I'll finish off the Cordon related quests in Part II of this guide. Until then, quest smart, fight hard, and don't die!

A Nice Guide

2010-06-16T11:55:00.002-04:00

Saw this Heroic Darkblood Citadel guide mentioned on the official boards, and thought it worth a link. Great job!

http://allodsonline-en.ning.com/profiles/blogs/guide-compendium-heroic-dark

All's Quiet

2010-06-15T16:15:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I posted anything here, but never fear, there is progress! Daily quests for reputation have been consuming a lot of my playtime lately, but I have most of the first part of the Coba Plateau quest guide done, and I hope to have it finished up in the next couple days. I've also updated the reputation and treasure guides with new zones, so if you haven't looked at them in a while, take a peek. I've also been chipping away at the travel guide, but it's been slow going.

As always if you find errors or omissions, please leave a comment so I can fix it!

Quest Guide: Eljune - Part II

2010-06-08T16:30:00.001-04:00

This is part two of the Eljune quest guide. Part one can be found right here. When we left off, we had just done the first round of questing started in Maddox and had started working on quests from the Bazaar as well. Let's move on to the next wave.
Before we begin, one quick comment. There are quite a few quests around this zone involving various deserters and various paper notes, which can lead to confusion. Be sure you double-check both the item and the target you're dealing with for these quests, they're easy to mix up.

When you return to the Bazaar, you can take a quick trip south to the holy spring check it out for The Holy Spring. While there you can do the timed kill quest Cleansing the Holy Spring for the quest giver who sits nearby. Continue south to take care of Animals for the Arena: The Slugs. There's more to do down here, but I generally skip it for now and do the area around Jakala Ruins.

After you turn in your slug meat, get Animals for the Arena: The Treants, then head for Jakala Ruins. You should have a bunch of quests here to take care of, including In the Name of Free Trade, Second Chance, and Lost Pearls. Pearls drop from the various deserters scattered around the ruins, and the 'eyes' you need to light up are pretty obvious. The trees for Second Chance are scattered around the woods near the ruin, and can be hard to spot, so use your "T" key to highlight them. Note that the Treant, Windbough, that spawns here has a pretty long respawn timer, so it may take a while for him to pop. While you're there, be sure you find the escort quest Missionary in Trouble.

The next group of quests to take care include Stop, Thief!, which involves killing Imperial Deserters and placing threatening notes on their bodies, coupled with Burglary in the Tipsy Thicket, which you can pick up from the Free Trader agent nearby. Be sure you place the notes before you loot the bodies or they'll vanish before you can blink. Be sure you grab Undead on the Loose at the same time as those skeletons and zombies are right nearby. When you turn this in you'll receive The Mad Necromancer, another group quest. Finish up with Values-Based Brigandry, which requires wearing a silly hat as you kill the Imperial scientist in the camp near the quest marker. He's another slow respawn, so you may have to wait a while. Don't forget to put your regular hat back on!

Next head south of the Bazaar again, to take care of Death to Imperial Soldiers and Gallantry in the Cave. When you turn in Gallantry, you can pick up Sabotage, a quest to blow up nearby catapults. I wouldn't head for Kotelny Camp just yet, as there is a quest you probably don't have for that area, and why make two trips when one will do, though casters in search of a neck piece may go ahead and do the site of power quest down there for the quest reward.

By this point in your drive through Eljune, you really want to be at least level 29. The available quests dry up very quickly if you're only 28. There are quite a few good grind spots here, so find one suitable to your class and go for it!

Next up is Takalik Harbor for a few straightforward quests, including Takalik Tea Party, which requires gathering tea chests from along the coast west of the harbor. Double-check at the Bazaar for a referral quest leading to the harbor as well. This will open up a couple of Holy Weapons quests, which you can take care of just east of the harbor. Be sure you examine the cloak you get for Operation Holy Cloak, as it starts a quest which you complete right away, Operation Holy Blade. Be sure you get both Raiding the Raiders and Imminent Exposure when you advance these quests, as they're related. Note that the Holy Grenades (of Antioch! No not really.) are found in chests near the western goblin base, not dropped by goblins. Be sure you get the Pirate Map that drops from the goblin boss and starts a quest as well.

At 29 you can also start the reputation grind in Eljune. See the reputation guide for details. Along with the reputation quests, you'll pick up a few others involving the Forest Folk, including The Magic of the Forestfolk, which requires you to follow around their shaman and find three ingredients. This takes a while, as the shaman move slowly. You can also begin the search for The Lake Monsters' Leader, a short chain of quests. To complete it, you must, in brief, head to the altar up near Icemirror Lake, kill the psionicist there, grab the book he drops, hunt up some lizard blood, use it at the altar, then head underwater and kill the demon that appears.

Pay a visit to Itsmal to pick up a few quests there, noting that the Cursed Bark quest is a repeatable involving killing elite treants. You can also find the zone's treasure at Itsmal, see the treasure guide for details.

Onward then to Zosim coast, which offers up a few more quests including Pilgrims that Fell Behind (look in the werewolf den south of Itsmal Ruins), and The Werewolf in a Pilgrim's Clothing, which is a group quest. Note that this quest must be done for each member of the group, so be prepared to do it several times if you get a good party. Be sure you also visit the League camp further along the coast for several quests offered up there, including Meeting the Seers, an event / escort quest. To start the event, talk to the quest giver after you have the quest and activate the "Are you ready?" dialog option. This will spawn the Seers down on the beach, along with a bunch of Imperial guards. Run down and defend them, then begin the escort to the camp, fighting off several waves of additional guards along the way. If you're in a group you'll probably have to do this for each member.

By now you probably have three quests for Kotelny Camp. They're pretty easy but are PvP quests. The prisoners for AWOL are in the barracks-like buildings near the north-west corner of the complex. The gold for Sneaking into the Enemy Camp is located in the tent marked with red crosses by the food vendor and the goblin innkeeper. Note the innkeeper is hostile!

The final round of quests involve the Great Ascetic in the woods west of Zosim. He will test your faith with A Trial of Faith, which has nothing to do with faith and everything to do with the random number generator, then send you In the Edge of Eternal Night to cleanse the last site of power. Be sure you have The Kilza the Shadowy when you head that way as he stands right next to the cursed site. He can be a tough fight.

And that about wraps it up! This was a long haul, there are quite a few quests in this zone. As usual, it pays to take one last pass around the area to insure you didn't miss anything. Once you finish the reputation grind it's off to Coba!

Guide: Racial Quests

2010-06-04T14:00:00.000-04:00

Each race in Allods receives a racial skill at 7th level or so. Here's a breakdown of the process required to get the racial skill for each quest.

Elves

Speak with Pierre de Desirae to judge The Beauty Contest. Note that he stands under an overhang, so the quest icon is sometimes obscured. The quest itself is quite easy as the contestants are standing nearby.

Kanians

Speak with Izbor Yaversky at the top of the main tower to get Initiation Ritual. To complete this quest head to the church and speak with the priests / use the items to complete the ritual. If you're facing the row of quest-related priests and items, begin at the left side and move right, talking with / using each NPC / item. When done, return to Izbor and report.

Gibberlings

Gibberlings have a two part quest to get their racial. First they must do Flowers for the Gibberlings for the Gray family in the Gibberling quarter. Once that's done they must do It's Nice to Give, which involves handing out flowers to Gibberling families found in the Gibberling quarter.

Once you've completed the appropriate racial quest, you'll receive your racial skill, which varies depending on the class you've chosen. Note that the quest links above lead to one of several quest entries on the allodsdatabase.com site. Presumably each class uses a slightly different version of the quest because it rewards a different skill, but the completion mechanics of each are the same.

Quest Guide: Eljune - Part I

2010-06-03T14:00:00.008-04:00

After the chaos and strife of Asee-Teph, Eljune is a nice change of pace. This zone seems empty by comparison. Once again there are quest givers scattered all over the map, though not quite so many as Asee-Teph. The reputation grind here is a bit long, as the Forestfolk don't offer that many quests to advance reputation as you level. On the plus side, Eljune offers your first shot at an Adamantite treasure chest. You can find a full list of quests for the zone here.

Getting to Eljune is pretty easy. You can either follow the beach near Overcharged shore in Asee-Teph west until you reach Maddox Depot, or cross over further south, about mid-way down the west border, into the Bazaar. Eljune introduces the first portals tied to the Free Trader portal network. These portals connect to each other, but not to the main League portals. Be careful where you bind your Adventurer's Stone. The portal in Maddox Depot is part of the regular League network, but the portals at the Bazaar and Takalik Harbor are Free Trader. You can use either set of portals normally, but only to travel to other portals on the same network. I suggest binding your Adventurer's Stone to the Maddox Depot portal for easy access to other zones and Novograd. This means a bit of running to get to other quest locations, but once you've unlocked the Free Trader portals at the Bazaar and Takalik, you can use those as a shortcut.

Maddox is also where I'd suggest starting your questing. You should have a quest that leads you here from Asee-Teph (if anyone can provide details on the quest's name, please leave a comment!) Begin your work with Death to the Satyrs and The Squirrel Threat. The latter is a simple kill quest, the former begins a chain of quests that are part of a world mystery. Be sure you pick up Something's Not Right... from the Satyr leader when you do the turn in with him, it's easy to miss.

When you complete this chain of quests, including Purification Ritual (hint: the Stygian Passage is where you return from Purgatory), several additional quests will open up with Mikhail Selyaninov, including Epiphany which sends you in search of Selyaninov's nephew at Zoloi Outpost. Head that way and pick up the quests available there, which includes Unknown Variable, the group quest to kill the Demonic Shadow. Note that Selyaninov's nephew is a corpse near the stairs leading into one of the large buildings in Zoloi. Be sure you pick up the followup quest it provides. Also be aware that several of the quests given by Selyaninov will flag you for PvP. Not a huge deal in Eljune most of the time, but something to be aware of.

Continue south to the Bazaar, where you can take care of the second quest that lead you to this zone, A Tempting Offer. To complete this quest, simply talk to Stonesky the Crafty near the Bazaar portal (a Free Trader portal - be sure you activated it while you're here) and ask for permission. This will unlock the Bazaar area, and a quite a few quests, including:

The Holy Weapons quests - There are several quests involving testing holy weapons for the goblins. These quests begin with Weapon Testing and have you using holy blades, grenades and cloaks versus manticores, scorpions and a cyclops. All these quests are pretty easy, especially since you can simply run back up the ramp to the orc guards stationed there if you get in trouble. Note that you don't have to actually equip any of these items to use them, just follow the steps outlined in the quest and you'll do fine.
Plu's Weapons quests - These quests are tricky to complete, and somewhat buggy. Start this up with Backscratching, which rewards you one of several weapons. Be sure you keep this weapon! Subsequent quests for Plu will require it, along with Trader Notes, which are obtained by doing quests for other Free Traders. Also be sure you pick a weapon type you will use, even if the initial weapon is not an upgrade. The quest reward for completing these chains (assuming you don't hit a bug), is a nicely upgraded version of the weapon you selected to begin with.
The Peppy Family - This Gibberling sprout will have quite a few quests for you. Most will lead you further into Eljune and are pretty standard fare. Many people seem to have trouble with The Enemy's Weakness which calls for you to find some salt. The salt barrel is tucked away under some bushes and trees right near the quest marker.

There are quite a few kill quests right around the Bazaar as well, so knock those out quickly for some easy xp. Eventually you should have Wolves in the Forest, which requires you to kill 10 regular wolves and the three pack leaders. When you head up to do this, be sure you stop by the inn in Merry Forest to pick up The Butterflies are Gone, a quest to find three lost girls in the woods. You may also want to do Animals for the Arena: The Scorpions and Amnesty at the same time, since all these quests are in the same area:

Wolf leaders - Two of the pack leaders are right near the quest marker, in dens on the hillside. The third is way up north along the coast east of Takalik Harbor.
The girls - One of the girls is dead near one of the wolf pack leaders. Another is dead in one of the scorpion nests west of the deserter camp. The third is in the deserter camp itself, and must be escorted back to the inn safely.
When reading the amnesty order to the deserters, they usually, but not always, attack. Be prepared!

See the map for more exact locations. I recommend doing the northern wolf pack leader last, then heading over to Takalik Harbor to unlock the portal there. You can then use it to teleport to the Bazaar and turn in quests. Be warned, there are level 30 wolves scattered around Takalik, so use caution when you run through.

That pretty well wraps up the opening quests of Eljune. One final note on this zone. Many of the quests are level limited, so if you are scraping along at level 26 when you get here, you may not see all the quests available. Be sure you make a circuit of the various sites after you level up to insure you catch all the quests.

I'm currently working my way through the zone and taking notes for the second part of this guide, so stay tuned!

The View from Above

2010-06-02T08:46:00.001-04:00

Asee-Teph is often a tense area for players, since there is so much PvP around. Once in a while though, you have to stop and take in the views. Here's a screenshot from one of the cliffs surrounding the central temple area.

Sometimes you have to stop and smell the ravenous plants...

The Grind

2010-05-28T11:48:00.000-04:00

As you can probably tell from the fact that I only talk about questing here, I'm not much of a grind-player. Now that I've crossed the 30th level line with a couple of characters I've started to see that a little grinding is probably a good thing.

I currently have my Warden and Warrior in Coba Plateau, and I've noticed both are shaving the quest / level border very closely. I think I'm going to be altering my strategy a little bit with future characters and grind at least two bubbles of experience each level to give me a little more breathing room. Grinding, for those not familiar with MMO terminology, means gaining experience by killing monsters repeatedly. Some people really hate the somewhat mindless nature of grinding, others find it enjoyable. I don't mind the grind all that much, as long as it's somewhat effective. Here are a few tips on the grind to help speed it up and make it at least marginally profitable.

Targets - Choose the best level and type of monster for your class and attributes. It is often better to choose slightly easier targets for grinding as this reduces your downtime. If you can kill three level 25 monsters awarding 50 experience each in the same amount of time as one level 27 monster awarding 100 experience and come out with good mana and health levels, you're better off.
Treasure - Pick monsters that drop decent vendor trash. You may as well make some money while you grind. Be sure you clear your bags of extraneous junk before you start your grinding to reduce trips to the vendor. Travel time is non-killing time, and non-killing time awards zero experience.
Location - Realtors know the first rule: location, location, location! Don't camp where you're going to be PvP griefed by hostile forces or competing for monsters. Be sure you have plenty of monsters to kill. Know where the nearest vendor and resurrection site are in case the worst happens.
Downtime - The ultimate enemy of the grind is downtime. Drinking, eating, bandaging, and running from target to target are all earning you zero experience! Do everything in your power to avoid doing any of them.

That's all I have to say. Hope these tips are useful to anyone doing the grind!

Blog Progress

2010-05-27T13:10:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to share something with the readership, a bit of data from Google Analytics...

That's a graph of visits per day since I first started the blog. The big spike early on was the day the blog was featured on the Allods news page. Since then traffic has been on a pretty steady rise. The last few days have exceeded that original spike with regular traffic.

Thanks to all of you for visiting! As always if there are questions or comments, feel free to leave me a note or query. I'll do the best I can to answer them all.

Quest Guide: Asee-Teph - Part II

2010-05-24T14:29:00.003-04:00

This is Part II of the Asee-Teph quest guide. You can find Part I right here. I'll be talking about the quests in this zone area by area, more or less in order of difficulty, since there is no clear linear progression through the entire zone. As I mentioned in the previous part of the guide, you should be ready to adjust your questing plans based on the PvP situation in the zone. Let's begin.

Central League Camp

There are a number of quests to pick up here, beginning with a few PvP oriented quests. If you're not familiar with the PvP flag system, pay attention to the quest The Rules of War, which talks about PvP in general and explains how your PvP flag works. If you're not familiar with the flag, see the image at right. From top to bottom the flags are:

Unflagged - You can only be attacked by an enemy player with the Bloodlust buff from a War Banner.
Flagged - Your PvP flag is ON and you can freely attack or be attacked by enemy players.
Flagged Cooldown - Your PvP flag is ON, but the timer is counting down. At the end of the timer cycle your flag will switch to OFF.

Note that if you attack a PvP target, player or NPC, your flag automatically turns ON into Flagged Cooldown mode. The Cooldown timer is five minutes, after which you automatically become Unflagged.

You should also pick up The Sites of Power and keep the League Banner you receive handy. Use it to capture any of the four sites you happen to pass if they are available, as this quest is a daily repeatable and will reduce the total reputation grind for the League Army.

Any time you're in the Central Camp you should check around for new quests. There are several World Mystery quests here, and new starter quests show up quite regularly as you level. These quests often point the way to remote quest sites, so if you're heading out into the wilds, be sure you pick up the appropriate pointers.

The only quest I would not pick up immediately is the Orders for the Guerrillas, as it consumes three precious bag spots, and puts you in the middle of a PvP heavy area. I generally put off this quest until I've cleared some of the easier locations here. Speaking of easier locations...

Jungle Mine

This is generally a pretty safe area as Imperials that travel this far are either questing or headed for the Central Camp. It will also give you your first taste of PvP enabled NPCs, when you take care of Saboteur Hunting. These NPCs will flag you for PvP so be sure you understand the consequences and keep a sharp eye out. While you're here, visit the Site of Power above the mine proper and pick up Sanctified Mine, but be very careful if the site is controlled by the Empire. The Imperial Channelers are very aggressive!

Note: Be sure you swing back by the mine when you've advanced in level to pick up Underground Danger a higher level group quest.

Misty Slope

Things get interesting here, since there is often quite a bit of PvP around the Misty Slope area. You will get the quests Arisen Tricks, which requires you to steal missiles from the Imperial Camp near Texio Swamp, and Raiding the Imperial Camp, which requires you to kill various PvP guards in the area. Note that you can circle to the swamp-side of the camp and sneak in the back to grab the missiles without flagging yourself. Watch out for the very dangerous Battlelord guards in the camp!

The remaining quests here are pretty straight-forward, so once you've wrapped up, move on to...

Uskul the Dead City

This is the first Historian camp you'll encounter. There will be Imperial players questing in the same area, so be alert. Two quests lead to this area, The Historian's Documents, and Fury of the Fallen. There are Imperial Watchmen around the Site of Power here, so watch your flagging. Keep an eye out for the lost Historian for Historians in Trouble, and escort her back to camp. The other quests here are kill or gather quests, and they are pretty quick. Be sure you ask for a Historian Pamphlet after you finish the quests offered here, as that will complete Historians' Documents back in the Central Camp.

Take a trip back here later to pick up the higher level group quest The Tomb of the Dead City (no link available).

Kotick the Dead City

This is likely your first encounter with the Free Traders, another neutral faction like the Historians. If you've completed Historians' Documents, then you probably have the followup quest Reading Material for the Lamias. To complete this quest, simply talk to the roaming Missionaries around Kotick, the Dead City. As you make your way to the Free Trader Camp, be sure you find the tired Trader on the road , who gives the quest The Exhausted Trader. Once in the camp you'll carry out a few straight-forward, but slightly challenging quests for the Traders, including The Trader's Plan, a kill quest for three unique monsters, and Dueling Lamias, which pits you against three successively harder foes in the Lamia arena.

Tekyan Thicket

Be sure you find the small encampment south-west of the Miktlan Ruins, as the Big Cats quest in the Thicket starts there. Get familiar with this area as several quests lead into this tangled maze. The Tekyan and June Sites of Power are both in this area. Be careful around the June Site, as it is guarded by pretty tough June Golems. Getting the capture here can be hard.

The real challenge here is finding The Predator. You'll be looking for a dead Gibberling hanging from a tree. As you get close you'll see a quest marker pop up. Once you examine the remains you'll eventually get the quest The Second Victim. From the first victim, look down the slope and spot the dead Orc corpse stuck to the side of a big tree. That's your goal. Take the offered followup quest and find the Demon Hunter NPC, near the stair ruins north-west of the second corpse. He'll give you The Predator's Lair. Slay the demonic beast and gather it's heart. Talk to the Demon Hunter again, and deliver his present back to the Central Camp to complete the quest line.

If you've gotten this far, you've probably covered all the "A" category sites on the map. Time to move on to the "B" sites. Most of these are pretty quick kill or gather quests, but there are exceptions so here goes...

Overcharged Shore

This area is full of demon worshipers and elementals. The lead in quest to take you to the single friendly NPC in the center of this mess, who will give you two quests, killing demon worshipers then collecting essences from the elementals. Once you've done these tasks she'll point you back to the central camp and you'll pick up the demon hunter line with The Demon Worshippers' Ritual which is at the June Site of Power

Miktlan Ruins

Time to take care of the quest lines in the Ruins. Like the Uskul the Dead City quests, you are sent to this site with a purpose, Permission for Voisvet Belov. Carry out the quests on site for the Historians, killing elementals and gathering bones for the most part, and when your done speak to their leader and ask for permission, which he will grant. Note Asee-Teph's treasure is right in the Ruins, so now is the time to grab it if you haven't already.

When you're done at Miktlan, head about south-east along the road and pick up the quests offered at the camp there, Assault on the Hyenas and Rescue Mission. Note that Rescue Mission requires no fewer than SIX bag slots to complete (argh!)

Western Misty Slope

The western site near the Eljune border is a very quick stop, offering two kill quests, Hydras and Crocodiles, and one gathering quest, for vines from the local trees. You may want to take on the Texian Hydra while you're here.

Wild Corner

Head here when you have the troll killing quest Troll Camping Grounds. When you're killing the troll leader, be careful, there's a raid boss with the same name who spawns right next to the relatively easy quest boss. Make a stop at the marked camp to pick up Poisonous Medicine a quick kill for drops type quest. Make note of this camp, you'll be back later!

Swing by the Uskul the Dead City site, and turn in the zone's treasure quest if you haven't already.

Guerrilla Leaders

These three NPCs are located right near the Central Imperial Camp, the three eastern dots on the map. Each of these NPCs will offer you a quest or two, mostly involving PvP. Expect to die in this area, as it is heavily traveled by Imperial players and NPCs. You should have the quests Orders for the Guerrillas, and Imperial Heresy in your quest log when you head this way, as both those quests are resolved here. Be aware of the Channelers on the nearby site of power as they can be some of the worst NPC foes in the area.

Temple Camp

By now you've probably been to this site just north of Tensess Temple at least once. There isn't much going on here other than the reputation quest Imperial Sentinels. The other main quest here is Escape From Captivity, but this quest is very difficult to complete as the NPC can be attacked by unflagged Imperial players and her escort path leads right through the very tough Minotaur mercenaries. Seek high level help or wait a while to complete this task.

SCOSS

One quest leads into this complex, Imperial Science, which is obtained at the Central Camp. The surrounding area has a few others quests of note. The marked site north of SCOSS offers kill quests for the plentiful manticores and tough gar, and the Free Trader agent on the shore south of SCOSS offers a reward for killing Imperial Patrollers. It's worth having the Patroller quest when you do Imperial Science, since there are several inside the complex you'll have to kill. For Imperial Science itself, there are three crates in the complex, one at the rear of the office / barracks type structure, and one in each of the left- and right-most warehouses. These are on fairly slow timers, so if you're in a group expect to hang around a while.

Final Wrapup

If you've come this far you're almost done with Asee-Teph. By now you're probably familiar enough with the zone that the loose ends are easy to wrap up. I would advise a final circuit around the camps to pick up any higher level quests you may have missed the first pass, and to complete any outstanding deliveries or followups you may have in your log. In particular, getting to the quest The Voice of Truth takes some running back and forth as you complete the prerequisite quests. Note that the Prophetic Family, the goal of this quest, is the westernmost red marker on the map.

A final trip right into the Imperial Camp for The Treant Guardian should be one of the last things you do here, a relatively easy sneak quest assuming there aren't a bunch of Imperial players around. Most of your remaining quests will be PvP-focused, or raids, which can be hard to get organized here. In particular the quests Horrific Disfigurement and A Smelly Task seem to be hard to complete because of this.

That should do it! Congratulations, you're free of Asee-Teph!

Quest Guide: Asee-Teph - Part I

2010-05-20T15:27:00.004-04:00

Welcome to Hell.

I've heard people say that Asee-Teph is the zone that causes many people to quit Allods, and I can see why some people could get frustrated here. There are major changes in the style of play when you hit this zone from both the PvP and PvE perspective. Hopefully this guide will help you avoid the frustration and get through this area with your sanity intact. You can find the quest list for this zone right here. You can also read about the zone's treasure and reputation. In Part I of this two-part guide I'm going to cover general information and tactics for dealing with this zone. In Part II I'll move on to a more quest-oriented discussion.

There are two major changes in play here. The first is that Asee-Teph is a PvP heavy zone. Unlike earlier areas, both Empire and League players are questing here, and many quests will force you to turn on your PvP flag, as the target monsters are affiliated with the opposite faction. The main reputation quest for this zone is one such quest, leading to a pretty hefty PvP grind-fest as you work to complete reputation.

The second major change is the organization of quests and quest-givers. Previous zones have been pretty well organized so far as quests moving you from one part of the zone to another in a progression that matches up with your level. Asee-Teph is a different beast. Take a look at the map image to the right (click for larger view). See all those blue pins? Those are quest-givers (we'll get to the red pins later). As you can see there's no linear layout to follow here. This, coupled with the zone's convoluted terrain, can make organizing your runs difficult.

So that's the bad news. A tough zone layout coupled with PvP makes for some difficult times ahead. Let me make a couple suggestions about how to approach this zone. First, realize that PvP *will* happen. You will get ganked by a group of enemy players or a bored level 40 at least a few times while you're questing, probably more often than that. If PvP is not your thing, consider playing during off-hours, and join up with others when you are playing. These two tactics can help ease the PvP pain, though you can't avoid it completely. Second, use the scattered nature of the quests as a tool. If one area is overrun with enemy players, switch to another. As you progress you'll generally have at least three different areas you can quest in available. If neither of these tricks works, consider taking a break for a half-hour or so. Remember you're playing to have fun, so if you're not, stop. Do something else. Lastly, keep in mind that the next two zones are much less focused on PvP questing, so once you're past Asee-Teph, things do get better.

Sites of Power and War Banners

There are a couple of new features in this zone you need to be aware of. The first is Sites of Power. These are glowing pools of power scattered all over the zone that are controlled by either the Empire (orange) or the League (blue). They can also be guarded by Channelers, PvP-flagged monsters affiliated with the faction controlling the site. Players can change each Site to their side's control by using their Banner, an item given to each player when they take the daily repeatable quest Capturing the Sites of Power. To capture a site, you must kill the Channelers, wait a few minutes, then use your League Banner, an item you receive when you start the quest, on the Site. Each controlled Site gives a 10 minute attribute buff when you visit it, and if your side controls all sites this buff affects multiple attributes for 30 minutes, a very nice bonus for questing or PvP. Be warned, the Channelers can be tough for new arrivals, and at least one of the sites has additional guardians.

War Banners are the second new feature in this area. They are uncommon drops from various PvP-enabled monsters around the zone. If you use a War Banner, you and the allies around you gain the Bloodlust buff, which lets you attack enemy players who have their PvP flag off. Active War Banners usually show up on the map (blue for League, red for Empire), though players with the Bloodlust buff may not. Be warned: War Banners are a bit buggy, so you may not always see them until it's too late. If you want to quest in peace, avoid areas with active War Banners!

New Factions

Asee-Teph introduces two new factions, the Historians, and the Free Traders. These factions offer quests to both Empire and League players, so don't be surprised to see enemy players talking with some of your quest givers here. You will earn some reputation with each of these factions, but neither is the real reputation focus here.

General Approach

If you take a look at the map above, you'll note each of the marked quest giver locations has a letter next to it, A, B or C. The A quests are generally easier than B, which are easier than C. This isn't a hard and fast rating, but using this map should both help you find quest givers and figure out where to go if you're trying to avoid trouble. I didn't mark the Central League Camp, because you'll be back and forth here all the time.

A few extra notes:

The three eastern red dots are the three guerrilla commanders for Orders for the Guerrillas. They're tough to find, and in the middle of Imperial territory.
The western red dot is the location of the Prophetic Family, who you'll contact for the quest The Voice of Truth. Another tough to find target.
The unlabeled blue dot south of Texio Swamp is the location of the Chatterbox Family, an NPC that is part of an Empire quest (thanks to Berzhul for the info).

Final Thoughts

Two additional notes: The entrance to the Bazaar area of Eljune can be reached via the western path leading out of Texio Swamp, though League players may want to head north-west along the north beach to reach Maddox Depot instead. Coba Plateau can be reached by traveling east on either of the two roads leading out of the zone.

That wraps up part one of this guide. I'll be back soon with more detailed quest information in Part II. Stay tuned.

Quest Guide: Tenebra

2010-05-15T21:37:00.005-04:00

Tenebra is another divided Allod, with a northern and southern half. The instance here, Darkblood Citadel, sits between the two halves. The quests for Tenebra can be found right here. This is a relatively short zone, if you know where you're going you can clear it in one or two play sessions.

Tenebra has a unique debuff that each character accumulates as you travel through the uncivilized areas of the zone. This debuff will accumulate to a stack of four, then spawn a level 20 or 21 vampire that instantly attacks whoever it spawned from. Be warned, this is NOT the zone to go afk in. Also note that the debuff is removed by entering one of the three 'civilized' Elven enclaves in the zone.

One of the unique collection quests in this zone is a series of chests scattered around the area. Each chest contains a quest-starting Elven artifact, which you can bring to Summer Manor for the turn in. Turning in all six artifacts awards a followup quest that grants you a potentially useful item, so it's worth doing. Here are the locations:

One by one of the Vampire Stele's at the Western Border on the north island.
One by Vamp de Desirae on the Amber Coast on the north island.
One by the vile astral agents on the north island to the east of Summer Manor.
One by Shelba on the south island.
One by the leader of the Lamia on the south island.
One between the western most crevices on the southern Island.

The basic flow of questing in this zone is from Summer Manor, to Tainted Woods, then back to Summer Manor. The initial quests around Summer Manor are pretty easy, but a couple items of note:

Invitation to the Council - Two of this quest's targets are in Summer Manor, three are west in the small enclave there. When you give Vamp de Desirea his invitation, he will turn hostile and attack. Be sure you loot the diary he drops! It starts an important quest-line for this zone. If you are in a party, be sure everyone does this turn in separately to insure you all get the diary. The drop on this is extremely buggy, especially if using group loot.
Astral Clumps drop from many creatures in this zone. You can use the first you get to start An Interesting Find, but they will continue to drop for you throughout your time here. They have no other use so clean them out of your inventory from time to time.
For Necromancer's Lantern be sure you use the item he gives you on each wisp before you engage in combat. The item has a fairly slow cooldown so it will take a little time to do this.

Eventually you'll finish off the first round of quests in Summer Manor and receive Checking the Communications, a rather confusing quest the first time you do it. To complete this quest you need to visit the June Stone and click it as if you were using it to travel. In the destination list you will see TWO entries for Tainted Woods. Choose the SECOND entry. This will start you on your way to Tainted Woods, but will pause at each of the beacons along the way, allowing you to repair them with a click. Pay attention, you need to hit eight beacons to complete the quest! When you're done you'll be at the third Elven enclave in Tenebra, Tainted Woods. There's another round of quests available here. The highlights:

Cold Blood - The Lamia leader, Deianeira, is quite tough. Prepare for a difficult fight if alone. I recommend bringing a friend. While you're at the lake be sure you collect the treasure, a Mithril Chest, from beneath the dead tree across the lake from Deianeira. Also talk with the NPC for The Missing Groom, and pick up a Lamia Weapon from one of the nearby racks.
Talk to the Tree south of the Lamia Lake to pick up The Ancient Spider and The Rotten Tree. Briarstank is the only raid boss in the zone, and he can be tough to get a group for so take advantage of any raid you see forming.
Chapel of Tensess can be tough, as there are many bats in the area, and they run in fear when near death, often bringing back friends when they return.
Field Testing is the culmination of your activities in the Tainted Woods. It's another tough fight near the Chapel. Be sure you start the quest Traitor, which starts from the letter dropped by the vampire you kill for this quest. Completing the followup to this quest, Weapon Found!, unlocks the area's repeatable reputation quest, which I discuss in detail in this guide.

When you're done here, your quests will lead you back to Summer Manor. Don't forget to pick up the chest items from this area before you leave (see the list above)!

Back at Summer Manor you have some running around to do, along with a mix of kill and gather quests. A few standouts:

The Breeding Grounds of Darkness - Be careful, the bombs hit pretty hard, and as far as I can tell, you can't outrun the effect.
Exterminating the Demons - Be sure you do the escort quest Prisoner of the Demons and grab the chest while you're at the camp.

The rest of the quests are pretty straightforward drop or kill quests. Eventually you'll end up with a number of quests that lead into Darkblood Citadel, and one quest leading back to Darkwater and the Castle Blight instance there. Darkblood is manageable with a good group, but expect some tough fights.

Darkblood Citadel quests:

Quest Guide: Frozen Frontier

2010-05-11T15:13:00.004-04:00

Frozen Frontier is the zone following Siveria (quest guides for Siveria: Part I and Part II). To reach Frozen Frontier, use the June Stone at the Cape of Good Hope in Siveria. The complete list of Frozen Frontier quests can be found right here. The reputation faction for this area is the Gibberlings, and, as noted in the Reputation Guide, it's one of the easiest factions to grind rep for.

Unlike previous zones, Frozen Frontier is a collection of multiple small Allods. You begin your journey through this zone on Quiet Harbor, then, in order, move on to the Foothills of Arov, Shaggy Island, Urgrov Ridge, and Cold Island, finishing off your questing on Nordheim Island. You'll use the June Stone on Quiet Harbor to reach the other Allods in the cluster, and each remote Allod, except Urgrov Ridge, has a June Stone leading back to Quiet Harbor. It pays to set your Adventurer's Stone to the portal here as well.

The quest chains here lead very naturally from one Allod to the next, so it pays to finish off each Allod in order. Also, once you get to Urgrov Ridge, you'll start suffering from Frostbite, an environmental damage over time effect that can be countered by Burning Ale. Don't worry, you'll get more than enough Burning Ale from quests along the way to counter the Frostbite effect, but it pays to be efficient in your questing on the later Allods. I'll talk about each Allod in order.

Quiet Harbor

There are quite a few quests on this Allod, so watch your quest log and insure you don't fill it as you go. I recommend working from the east side to the west to most efficiently clear your quests and avoid accumulating the bear meat needed for the first quest leading to the Foothills of Arov until you've completed at least a few of the quests here. A couple quests of note:

Patrols - Each of the two patrols will give you a follow-on quest (thus my previous comment about watching your quest log). The eastern patrol's quest See for Yourself can be done right along the edge of the Allod near their camp. The western patrol's quest The Missing Watchman leads you to the Foothills of Arov.
A Strong Embrace - Watch your health when doing this quest. Your warming hug can do considerable damage!
Like I Said it's Bears and Like I Said it's Leopards - Be sure you shoot the flares to start and end these quests. These two quests are a bit fiddly, as the locations for the flares are restrictive and the quest seems a bit buggy. I've had to restart one of these because the flares didn't register.
Winged Sails - You can start this quest around Gray Lake, but don't fret if you have a hard time getting wings, there are plenty of harpies to kill on the Foothills of Arov too.

Most of the other quests on Quiet Harbor are standard gathering or kill quests. Remember to keep Extermination! in your quest log at all times so any killing you do registers. Not all monsters count, but it's worth doing the extra bit of legwork to keep this quest available on each Allod. Doing this will make your reputation grind go very quickly.

Foothills of Arov

This area has the zone's first raid boss for Demonstrating Strength. Along the way you'll turn in the bear meat for Good - Money - Goods (be ready for a fight), and find the lost watchman for The Missing Watchmen, who will give you another quest on this Allod, The Sacrifice, which takes you to the altar where you face a fairly tough fight. The monsters here respawn quickly and the shaman heal and wake up other mobs. All in all a tough little battle. Fight your way up the altar and find the dead scout, who will lead you to a new quest The Ice Drake. Finish off the remainder of your harpy killing and the collection quest Curly Lichen, and you're pretty much done with Foothills.

Shaggy Island

Shaggy is my least favorite Allod in the group. There are multiple gathering quests here which put a real strain on bag space. That, combined with the mean werebears, who like to knock you into their buddies or off the edge of the Allod, and you have the makings of a good time. The best advice here is to focus on one or two collection quests at a time and finish them off before starting the others. You'll probably kill plenty of werebears along the way. Don't forget to kill the big leopard for Silver Fur, his lair is near the highest point on the Allod.

Note that you can circle around the worst of the werebears by traveling along the northern edge of this Allod, a handy shortcut to reach Urgov Ridge, which does not have a June Stone of its own. Unfortunately most of the ore spawns for Ore in the Werebear's Cave is clustered around the center of the map. If you're patient you can get enough from the edges of the Allod to avoid this central area.

Urgov Ridge

Note: There's a small opening that requires a jump to get to this Allod. Don't fall!

There are only a few quests on this barren Allod, but note that this is the first place you'll start suffering from Frostbite. Have the Burning Ale ready and keep moving. Collect your Frozen Meat to the east, where the Elder Polar Bear for Decoration for the Cabin roams. You can also find an Astral Battery here on the sled-like contraption on the northern corner of the Allod. If you miss it don't fret, there's another on the north-east side of Cold Island. Talk to the shaman near the bridge leading to this Allod, then head to the altar on the south-west end for another tough battle to retrieve The Great Red Treasure. This altar is a slightly tougher version of the one on the Foothills of Arov. Be prepared. After you finish this fight, save yourself the run and portal back to town. You're done here.

Cold Island

Another fairly small Allod, Cold Island also has Frostbite issues. Be sure you have the quest Cold Island Navigational Directions, Papan's Expedition and For Safety's Sake when you head out. Be wary of the trolls that come very close to the June Stone landing pad. Make your first stop at Papan's Expedition to pick up The Troll's Ruins and Monsters from the Astral.

Start off with a loop or two around the outside edge of the Allod to do Navigational Directions. Don't forget to set the beacons by using the inventory items as well as getting the map location ding in your quest log. Along the way you can kill demons and trolls for Monsters from the Astral and For Safety's Sake. Note you can run the entire way around this Allod, but there are a couple of very narrow spots that could lead to a long fall if you're not careful.

Next head up to the center of the Allod for The Troll's Ruins, killing any Ice Elementals along the way for Soul of the Ice. Note that you don't have to finish this off here, as the Elementals on Nordheim will drop this quest item too, and you'll have to kill quite a few to complete the quests there.

That's about it. Stop by Papan's camp to turn in quests, then head back to Quiet Harbor for the next round!

Nordheim Island

Nordheim is easy to do in two trips. On the first round you can take care of Lapis Lazuli, and finish off Soul of the Ice here, since you'll have to kill a bunch of Ice Elementals to complete Lapis Lazuli.

Complete the quests above, and return to Quiet Harbor to turn things in. Prepare for The Fight, which you do right in town. Be sure you use the cannon in the center of town on the Ice Drake when it shows up, and even with that, it can be a tough battle. Completing this quest gives you the last Nordheim quest Drake Hunting, which requires a group or high level assistance.

Return to Nordheim for Stone Hearts, and Meeting the Dragon, along with the follow up quests it gives. After talking with the Dragon spirit inside the caves, be ready to take on a fairly tough June Golem that guards the altar further in. Note that the gargoyles in the cave drop a second quest item, Heart Shards, that don't seem to be for any known quest. Finish your second trip by going all the way through the caves to the Drake area to complete Drake Hunting and to find the zone's treasure. The Ice Drakes are red ring elites that respawn pretty quickly so the safest way to take them on is to pull them down to the entry path one at a time. Return to Quiet Harbor to wrap up a few loose ends, and you're done!

After you've wrapped things up in Frozen Frontier, your next stop is Darkwater, one of my favorite zones.

Quest Guide: Siveria - Part II

2010-05-07T17:25:00.001-04:00

This is Part II of a two-part guide to Sivera. Part I can be found here. I ended part one in Gravestein, ready to head north to Sieged Stronghold, but that wasn't quite accurate. There's one loose end to tie up in Gravestein. Let's get started!

Before leaving Gravestein, you should take care of Challenging the Orcs. Which requires you to gather ten tiger heads, easily done during Snowfall Tigers. Note that both this quest name and the tigers involved have changed names since allodsdatabase.com was last updated, so double check your quest log. Anyhow, take the tiger heads to the orc shaman in the village at the two giant pillars near the center of the map. He'll accept them, then give you the followup quest, The Climb, which leads you up a heavily guarded winding path to the war wagon at the top. Be quick here, as the orcs in this area respawn very quickly!

On the far side of the war wagon you can turn in the climb, then follow up with another quest and a fight, which will eventually take you back to Gravestein for the last time. While you're here, pick up the zone's treasure for Giant Guardians. It's located under a large boulder near the orc campfire beside the wagon.

All set? Time to head to Sieged Stronghold. The quests here are pretty straightforward, featuring kill quests for orcs, lynxes, bears, and ogres. There are a few highlights here, notably the quests An Important Witness, and On the Trail of the Spy, both of which are resolved up in the Ogre dens. You'll have to search out the rebel messenger, as he has no quest marker. Note there is a rare spawn raid level ogre that shows up near the entrance to this area, so watch out!

Bones for the Guardian involves another ambush situation, with angry yak spirits being summoned as you search out the bones required for its completion. Be careful as people often leave angry spirits piled up here leading to potentially hazardous questing.

As you advance through the quest lines you'll eventually end up killing orc fighters and shaman further north. You'll also discover the joy of questing through an eternal blizzard. Watch your position and scan the surrounding areas frequently to avoid stepping into a pack of orcs. And speaking of Orcs, you'll have to kill the undead leader of the orcs for On the Trail of Ermolai. This can be a bit tricky, but you can usually sneak along the cliff face south of the camp and pull him to a safe location. Be sure you get the amulet he drops to start The Strange Amulet. Beware, Ugluk, the raid boss for Arch Foes, wanders near the camp!

Now you should take on Zem Tablets for The Final Proof and Tombstone Crevasse Skulls. You should also be ready to take on Board Them in Grave Harbor, which is reached via a narrow passage beyond the tombs. Be sure you pick up the Mutineer's Documents dropped by the ship's captain, which starts The Rebels' Plans. It's easy to miss in the middle of the fight, and leads to further questing.

With all that cleared away, you're probably ready to head up to the Cape. Be sure you activate the portal there, then poke around for more quests. If you haven't been back to town lately you should pay a visit and insure you have A Glimpse into Patrons (no link), which will lead you to the quest chain at the Cape to get your patron.

Many of the quests around the Cape involve undead around the Cursed Temple. The Temple itself is sort of an instance, but you can solo the entire thing with care. More on that later. Also a word of warning, there are elite undead south and east of the Temple. They're pretty tough and aren't for any known quest, so watch out!

Most of the quests around the Cape are fairly mundane, and will have you killing various undead, elementals and wisps, gathering crates, blessing tombs, and doing a little running around. The big gotcha here is visibility. The perpetual white-out can be confusing, so take your time and be sure you know where you're running, especially around the tomb area. A few highlights:

Search for the Fugitive - Be sure you keep the Emblem of House de Doucer he gives you when you talk to him! This is part of a world mystery and can be very difficult to recover!
Men Khatton Executioners - This is a daily repeatable reputation quest, which also awards bandaids. To do the quest you have to use the inventory item while standing right next to the flag you'll see at the location marked on your map. It takes a little time for the undead to appear, so be patient.

Eventually you'll end up with the following quests, all of which are resolved inside the Cursed Temple. To enter the Temple, head for the entrance and hit the "Z" key in the golden glow area. Don't just jump! The Temple itself is pretty linear, with several side passages. Here are the quests:

Gold of the Damned - Looted from a slightly buggy and slow spawning chest near Rottentooth.
Ermolai's Fate - You'll find Ermolai near the end of the complex in a side room. Talk to him to advance this quest.
Strike Against the Undead - A simple kill quest targeting all the monsters in the temple.
The Ancient Lord - The final boss in the Temple complex.

While you're inside, be sure you pick up Recycling the Zem, also in one of the side chambers. Once you've made it through the whole temple, it's easiest just to portal out. If you're short on kills you can always run back through and use the golden gravity well to exit.

And that's it, once you've turned in your quests and picked up Lyubimetseva's Report, which leads you back to Novograd, you're ready to move on to the Frozen Frontier, where the Gibberlings await. To get to Frozen Frontier, use the June Stone near the Cape base. Be sure you have the quest Captain to Captain in your quest long when you head off.

By the time you leave Siveria you should be near the end of 15th level at the least. 16th would be a more comfortable place to start in Frozen Frontier.

Quest Guide: Siveria - Part I

2010-05-05T14:00:00.010-04:00

Welcome to Siveria, the first of two icy zones you'll face on your path to level 40. To reach this area, travel north-east through Lightwood to the big waterfall and follow the trail up to Molotovka in Siveria, the first quest hub. As always, a full list of quests is available. Siveria is another long zone, so this will be a two part guide.

There are two things you'll probably notice as soon as you start questing in Siveria. First, the monsters here are a step up in toughness. You'll face your first tough fight almost immediately when you go after Illyar for Poachers in the Way of Progress. The second thing you'll notice is the heavy emphasis on bag-space consuming quest items. The first few quests in Molotovka will squeeze your inventory hard if you haven't done the bag quest Almost for Free or invested in a larger bag through the Item Shop.

Also a word of warning for pet classes: your pets will get hung up on the ice floes in this zone. Pay attention to your pet! A handy trick for Wardens is to send your pet astral to free it from a snag. Summoners can try hitting the follow button on their pet controls to unstick their minion.

OK enough background, on with the questing. The first few quests you get here are pretty straightforward. The Nutty Bribe being a little tricky as you have to knock nuts out of trees (use the "T" key to highlight), then pick them up after dealing with the angry squirrel. For those that may not know venison, required for A Meaty Challenge, is deer meat. You can find Taiga Deer wandering in Taiga Glen.

You can also pick up the treasure-finding quest, Giant Guardians, for this zone, along with the repeatable reputation quest Tiger Rage. See the Treasure and Reputation guides for details.

As you continue doing quests in Molotovka, your path will lead toward Salt Lake. In the goblin village just south of the lake you'll face your second tough challenge, The Bear Totem, which requires you getting into the village and placing a collection of bear heads on the stone altar there. Be ready for a fight as this area is crawling with goblin hunters, and the altar will spawn a shaman who will try to rip your head off. Be sure you loot his remains for the quest starting helm he drops.

Once you've exhausted the quests around Molotovka, it's time to move on to Gravestein. Getting there involved the quest Drifting Down the Stream, the first timed quest you'll face. Don't worry, it's not that hard, but if you don't realize the quest is timed, you can easily fail. If you do just drop it and restart. To do the quest, talk to the quest giver and begin the quest, then run to the dock outside Molotovka (near the yaks out front) and speak with the Gibblering family there. They'll set you up with a raft with two guards, which you should board. Once aboard, simply ride along and insure nothing bad happens along the way. Yeah right. Of course something bad will happen. Expect a fight on the ride. Once you defeat the attackers your trip will continue to Gravestein. Hop off the raft as you arrive and talk to Yefim, who is right next to the docks. You can keep an eye on the timer which shows in the upper right area of your screen, but as long as you don't allow the guards to die and don't dally before boarding the raft, you should have plenty of time.

There are a few quest givers scattered around Gravestein, so make a pass around the village and pick them up. As you head in you'll want to light up the stone monuments along the road for A Safe Road. A couple quest givers can be hard to see because of the low roof-lines on the Gibberling huts. Once you've picked up everything available you can begin with Sabotage on the River, Rightie's Book, The Land Grab, and Battling Against Back Pain. All these quests can be done in the area just south of town. In fact the undead here are the only ones that drop the quest item for Battling Against Back Pain, so don't bother crossing the river.

Next up you can either head south to kill more Waterfolk for Ambushed by Waterfolk and The Waterfolk, or you can cross the river to do the somewhat annoying Test on the Graves and the Origins of the Undead.

For the Waterfolk, be sure you kill the orc in the Waterfolk village near their leader Slin and rescue the postman there. Also be sure you grab the armor off Slin when you kill him. When you turn in the courier rescue quest back in Gravestein, be sure you actually START the quest from the letter it gives you as a reward. This is an important quest chain and apparently quite difficult to pick back up if you mess up the quest line. Also the Waterfolk Wizards for The Waterfolk are a bit difficult to find. They're across the river and up on the high cliff, preparing to ambush the next raft that comes by!

To do Test on the Graves, be prepared for many ambushes. The small tomb markers scattered around across the river from Gravestein spawn one to three undead, which can be a challenge for squishy characters. Best bring a friend. These markers are somewhat buggy in that they sometimes do not flash with a "T" highlight, and sometimes don't do anything when active. The Zem artifacts for Origins of the Undead are tucked away in tombs underground and have a slow spawn time, so have some patience. You'll have to visit each tomb to get them all.

There are a few other quests around Gravestein, including the first raid boss in the zone Kosmach, but the rest are fairly mundane. After wrapping up the loose ends here, be ready to head north toward Sieged Stronghold and Part II of this guide!

Suggestion Hit List

2010-05-03T14:00:00.003-04:00

No, this isn't a post about skill changes, nerfs, or patch problems. I think anyone that's been browsing the forums over the last few days has had their fill of those conversations. Nope, this is about Allods as a whole and some ideas and suggestions about how the game could be made better for everyone involved. This is opinion only of course, and I'm sure at least a few people will disagree with what I say here. Such is the nature of MMOs. Here we go, my hit list:

1 ) Clean Up Game Text

There are dozens of places in skill and ruby descriptions, tool tips and quest text where a bit of cleanup would go a long way towards removing player frustration, especially with regards skills and rubies. As part of this process, developers should mark known non-working skills and rubies. This would reduce the flow of bug reports for known issues. And speaking of that...

2) Publish a Known Issues List

There's a sticky "coming soon" post in the Bugs forum about a known issues list that's dated December 2009. It's time for Gala-net to step up and publish this list so players aren't repeating the same questions and gripes about broken talents and skills. A single authoritative source of information on known issues would go a long way toward reducing some of the forum noise about buggy skills.

3) Support Schedule

Allods is a 24/7 product. While I certainly sympathize with the game masters, who go above and beyond the call of duty to provide support, Gala-net needs to bite the bullet and establish at least a seven day a week game master presence. I don't think a full 24/7 staff is needed, but an official presence on the boards and in-game every day of the week is certainly something MMO players expect to see.

4) Patch Scheduling

Thursday patches, especially given the world-crossing time zones involved between Gala-net and Astrum Nival, are just a bad idea. Gala-net should consider patching early in the week to allow any issues caused by the patch to be addressed during the regular work-week instead of festering over the weekend. The former shows proactive support, the later simply creates hard feelings.

5) Better Forum Organization

This is a relatively small one, and I'll use Chomp's posts on the Warden / Renew issue from the last patch as an example. When this issue flared on the boards, Chomp quickly posted a locked announcement in the General forum, directing discussion to a thread in the Warden forum, where he did a great job updating people. The only problem with this is the main Warden Renew update thread generated a lot of player responses, making it hard to track the official word. I'd suggest a slight change to the strategy used: create one 'official word' thread, which is locked to regular posters and only used to announce updates and official information. Create a second discussion thread, linked from the official word thread, where player discussion takes place. This gives Gala-net a clear channel for announcements about a specific issue and players a way to provide feedback without crossing the two up.

So there it is, my top five hit list for Gala-net. What do you think?

Quest Guide: Darkwater

2010-05-01T10:46:00.002-04:00

Welcome to Darkwater, a very atmospheric and fun area full of folklore and creepy quests. So far this is my favorite area in the game. What follows is a quest guide to help you through the many twists and turns of this shadowy wood. While you're there you may want to check out the reputation guide for more information on the zone's repeatable reputation quests.

Before going to Darkwater insure you have the following quests in your quest log. They're all World Mysteries so don't miss them! The quests are:

The final quest from Frozen Frontier: Great Tree Seeds
Talk to the Elven leadership in Novograd to pick up: A Sensitive Matter
Visit the top of the tower in Novograd to pick up: Darkwater

To get to Darkwater, exit Novograd through the east gates, and go past the sawmill and through the caverns in the cliffs beyond. After winding your way through the caves (and if you're anything like me, spending too much time trying to find the path through), you'll find yourself in the Border Outpost on the edge of Darkwater. Turn in the quest you have for this location and pick up any quests offered here, then follow the road to Valir Settlement. Along the way be sure you pick up the escort quest, A Miraculous Escape near the destroyed wagons on the road. If the quest-giver isn't present, wait a few minutes and he should reappear.

When you arrive at the main settlement, you can immediately pick up a bunch of quests, including two raid quests for the zone: The Bog Monster and The Deep-Seated Horror. You can also grab Trading Chitin from the Gibberling merchants here, but hold off on that one for now; you get more termite killing quests later on that can be combined with this one. There are two reputation quests available as well:

Crowbane - A relatively easy quest involving poisoning corpses back along the road you arrived on. This is the repeatable reputation quest and is best accomplished with a large group, since everyone in range gets credit for each poisoned corpse.
Ghost Hunt - A daily reputation quest, which you can complete in a few minutes right around the main settlement. The trick to Ghost Hunt is being close enough to the revealed spirits when you use the Soulsucker.

You also pick up the first slightly tricky quest of the zone, No Room for Error. To complete this quest, you need to hunt down the spiders and vipers around camp, reduce their hit points below 30%, stun them with the Paralyzing Staff, THEN use the Poison Remover to harvest the creature's venom gland. This quest can be a little frustrating as the creatures tend to die before you can harvest their body parts, so patience is required. Be sure you put the two quest items on your action bar in a convenient location. Also make sure you have the quest Reptilian Invasion in your quest log, so you can complete both quests at the same time.

On a similar note you can combine efforts on From the Frying Pan into the Fire and The Demolished Wagon Train, since the sacks of goods you need for the latter are surrounded by the monsters you need to kill for the former. Darkwater is a pretty big zone, so be sure you check your map often for conveniently clustered quests.

Darkwater quests seem to run well in pairs. Next up: Insatiable Boars and The Hunt for the Great Gray Wolf. You'll probably need to kill some extra boars for meat to complete The Hunt, since the named wolf is a random spawn from the baited traps.

After some mundane crab and bat killing, and a brief underwater treasure hunt, you should be ready to take on the next tricky quest A Lousy Shot. This quest isn't hard, but the location is not shown on your map. To find the lost arrow you'll have to find an unusual but friendly NPC in the Fusty Bog. On your way to the Bog, be sure you stop by the Great Tree to speak with the quest givers there and possibly kill tree slugs, including the easy to solo Fatso.

At this point you hit a whole ream of drop, gather and kill quests that are very easy to do. Just push on through until you reach your next challenges.

First, the termite quests. There are several quests for the termite mounds:

When you have all these quests in your log, head to the termite nests. First do the burning quest at the smaller mounds north of the main mound. Warning: burning these smaller mounds can aggravate several workers and soldiers, including somewhat buggy termites who cluster inside the structures. Clear some space and bring a friend along. Next head into the big mound, where you'll be able to kill the remaining termites needed, complete your chitin collection, break the eggs (which are tucked away in small chambers inside the main mound, and kill the druid and termite queen (also inside the main mound).

Kaah is your next challenge. You must kill this demon-dog-thing for the quest Serpent Bane. He's a bit tougher than the average quest monster, so help might be wise. You may also have a bit of trouble finding the The Xadaganian Rug, which is located way up north in the depths of the Werebear Grove. Be sure you have the drop quest Idol Worshippers, which requires you to kill Werebears and gather their totems.

By this point you should be pretty well done with the southern half of Darkwater. Your remaining quests are pretty straightforward, but be prepared for some tougher fights. Here are the highlights:

The Ritual in the Witches' Circle can be a bit buggy, especially with pet-using characters. Bring a friend.
After you've freed the unicorn spirits, collected their tears and dealt with the first parts of the Aviak threat, be on the lookout for a unique unicorn, Rageranter, that wanders the Amalthia Woods. When you kill him his spirit will give you The Unicorn Slayer. Note that the turn in for this quest is revealed when you slay Baba Yaga as one of the last quests in the zone.
Brothers is a bit convoluted, but easy. Gather nettles along the banks of the Rasberry River (look out for the elite mobs that roam the woods of Rookmore), make shirts from the nettles, then find the non-hostile Aviaks (also in Rookmore) and apply the shirts.
The White Knight is well protected in his lair, so bring a friend and clear his guards away before engaging him. He can be hard to solo for some classes.
Finally face off against Baba Yaga, who also guards the amulet for Liberation. The 'druid' for The Unicorn Slayer will also be revealed when Baba Yaga is slain.

That about wraps up Darkwater. Next stop Tenebra, which can be reached via the June Stone near the Great Tree.

As a final note, Darkwater has one quest for a Cash Shop item. The Astral Extract. This quest can take quite a while to accomplish as the demon-summoning item can only be used once every 30 minutes, and there's no guarantee the demon summoned will have the item drop required to complete the quest. One way to tackle this is to log out at a summoning location (any coast that shows as Astral Beach will do), then log back in every half-hour to summon a demon.

The Warden Effect

2010-04-30T09:07:00.002-04:00

If you follow the official forums I'm sure you've seen the storm of Warden comments concerning the changes to Renew in the current patch.

I was planning on playing my warden this AM, but after reading the threads on the forum, I decided I'd better test things out before venturing into the wilds. Good thing.

I'm level 28, with a mix of rep gear, spec'd for melee. Renew now ticks for 476, discounting crits/glancing blows. A quick test vs. a same level mob in Eljune quickly reveals how utterly hopeless it would be to attempt to play this character. Almost dying to an equal level mob is not really fun or viable. Waiting a minute or so for renew to tick up health to full afterwards isn't either.

To provide more concrete feedback: The change to renew is certainly greater than the documented 50%. Prior to patch renew was healing for 1500 or so on average. Now it appears to heal for 476 in or out of combat. That's a very significant change, and clearly greater than 50%.

There's a thread in the Warden forums requesting feedback here. I posted a very similar summary there, along with a brief explanation of why Renew is vital to the Warden class for the first of what I expect to be many trolls visiting the thread.

Hopefully the developers will take a hard look at the changes they've implemented and re-evaluate what they've done a bit. Renew probably was a bit overpowered prior to the patch, but in its current form it's pretty broken.

Edit: And the official word from Chomp in the Warden forum:

"The Renew change in version 6 is correct."

Oh well. Guess I'll be playing my Warrior a bit more.

Reputation Guide

2010-04-27T14:00:00.022-04:00

This article covers the various repeatable reputation quests zone by zone. Hopefully it'll help you obtain your reputation gear for each zone in a pain free manner. It pays to get the reputation for each zone done as soon as you can manage the reputation quests. The respected gear obtained from the various reputation vendors is some of the best gear available at the appropriate levels. That said, there's no need to grind all the rep for the zone as soon as you get there. Most of the quests in the area will give you reputation for the main faction, reducing the number of repeatable quests you have to do.

Evermeet Isle - Survivors

Medicinal Plantains
Vendor location: Scout Camp, Evermeet Isle

Reputation on Evermeet Isle is fairly easy. Just keep an eye out for Plantains, a short green plant that grows all over the Isle, and harvest it whenever you see it. You can harvest this plant without having the quest in your log, so start as soon as you step onto the Isle. Be sure you check the fringe areas that don't get much traffic, as the plant spawns will often accumulate there since no one harvests them. As always, use the "T" key to highlight plants, and check for multiple harvests from one spawn.

Note: Harvesting while in a group can be buggy, resulting in no item gathered. If you get hit with this, it's best to drop group. There doesn't seem to be a way to work around this problem at the moment.

Lightwood / Novograd - Novograd Construction Council

Flour Delivery
Victory Banner
Vendor location: Construction Office, Trade District, Novograd

The Novograd Construction Council is the easiest reputation around. All you need to do is spend half an hour running flour sacks to the mill. It's a bit boring, but well worth getting done as soon as possible. Victory Banner is a second category of reputation quest, a daily quest to kill rebels outside Oreshek Fortress. By the time you unlock it you are likely to be done with the grind. Note that Victory Banner is not Raising the Victory Banner, which is a quest inside Oreshek.

Siveria - Molotovka Traders

Tiger Rage
Copper Expedition
Men-Khatton Executioners
Vendor location: Molotovka, Gravestein, Sieged Fortress

Ahh Tiger Rage, how we hate thee. Welcome to one of the most annoying reputation quests around. There are two main problems with this quest. First it's hard to keep tigers alive long enough to do it, and second, properly capturing tiger's rage is only awarded to one person in a group, so there is no benefit to forming parties. These two factors lead to a fair bit of inconsiderate play as people kill or capture other people's tigers. My recommendation is to do this over a couple days, preferably at off-peak times.

Siveria also introduces the third type of reputation quest, the crafting quest. In this case turning in ten Refined Copper Blanks, a mining product, for reputation. This is a daily quest, and probably not worth pursuing unless you're a miner.

The Men-Khatton Executioners is another daily quest. If you level to the point where tigers for Tiger Rage are impossible to keep alive, this is the best alternative for finishing off reputation.

Frozen Frontier - Gibberlings

Extermination
Shall We Drink? We Shall!
Vendor location: Quiet Harbor; Novograd, Gibberling quarter

After the pain and suffering of Siveria, Frozen Frontier is a breeze. There's no real need to grind this reputation, simply keep Extermination active in your quest log at all times and you'll come very close to respected just through normal play. If you do have to grind a few times, there is generally a reputation party circling the lake near town killing harpies. It's very fast reputation.

Shall We Drink is another crafting daily quest, this time for alchemy. Again probably not worth it unless you're an alchemist (and even then it's probably not worth it).

Darkwater - Kanians

Crowbane
Ghost Hunt
Clothing the Troops
Vendor location: Valir Settlement; Novograd, near Auction House

The Kanian reputation quests, ignoring the crafting quest, are both pretty easy. Ghost Hunt, the daily, can be done right in town. Crowbane, the main repeatable quest, requires a bit of running, but other than that it's dead easy with a group. My impression is you need to do Crowbane several times to complete reputation here, but that could be a false impression, since I generally rush this reputation to gear up.

Clothing the Troops is the daily craft quest. Enough said.

Tenebra - Elves

On the Other Side of Darkness
Chic Shirts
Vendor location: Summer Manor; Novograd, Elven quarter

Tenebra reputation requires a little legwork. To unlock On the Other Side of Darkness you have to complete a number of prerequisite quests. You must complete Field Testing and its followup, Weapon Found!. I've written a detailed article on the repeatable quest right here.

There is no daily quest available in Tenebra as far as I can tell, other than the crafting quest Chic Shirts.

Asee-Teph - League Army

Imperial Sentinels
Capturing the Sites of Power
War to the Death
A Smelly Task
The Fashionable Army
Vendor location: Central League Camp; Novograd, Guildmaster Office.

Four reputation quests here, three with a PvP focus. Not surprising considering the reputation being acquired. The primary reputation quest, Imperial Sentinels, is a level 26 quest, so it may not be available right off the bat. Capturing Sites of Power is a daily quest, and requires a fair bit of running around. My suggestion would be keep it active in your log and complete it when you can as you quest. War to the Death and A Smelly Task are daily quests, the latter a group quest. The quest text on War to the Death is confusing, since the description says kill ten enemy players, while the actual quest counter says five. The Fashionable Army is this area's crafting quest, this time it's blacksmithing.

Eljune - Forest Folk

Let's See What We Caught This Time
Soothing Aloe
Vendor location: Forest Folk camp

Eljune reputation is a bit of a grind. The main quest Let's See What We Caught This Time, involves both killing and collecting, with limited collection points. The area is often contested with war banner groups on both side eliminating competition. Thankfully you can also grind this reputation by killing the Lake Lizard Warriors (and only the Warriors) in the area around the lake. Soothing Aloe is the crafting quest, enough said.

There are several other reputation repeatable quests here:

Cursed Bark - A (daily?) repeatable quest that rewards a Free Trader's Note instead of reputation. The quest giver is near the Itsmal Ruins
Did You Say Garbage? - A (daily?) repeatable quest to turn in buttons for Free Trader reputation. The quest giver is in the Bazaar.
On the Attack - League Army reputation.
Defend the Wall - League Army reputation.

On the Attack and Defend the Wall seem to vary depending on the status of the fortified wall between Eljune and Asee-Teph. The quest giver located right near the Bazaar portal, only offers one or the other quest. I haven't quite figured out the details yet, so if you know more, let me know so I can update the guide!

Coba Plateau - Prospectors, Historians

Coba is a bit of a break from the usual reputation quest structure. The Prospectors are the main reputation here, but there does not appear to be a respected-level quartermaster here, so the repeatable quests are almost needed as regular questing will get you most or all the way to trusted. The Historians also have several repeatable quests here, along with a trusted-level quartermaster. Here's a breakdown on the available quests, which include a mix of repeatable, daily and crafting quests.

Historians

Pretty Gloves for Getting Dirty - Daily crafting quest for Handwraps of Flawless Blessed Cloth. Prospectors' Inn.
Historian's Robbery - Repeatable quest to gather stolen crates. Meridian Outback.
Vendor location: Prospector's Inn

Prospectors

A Climactic Production - Daily quest to obtain water dropped from Kobolds and use it on a Rusted Waste fire trap. Prospectors' Inn.
That's Not Trash - Daily crafting quest for 20 pieces of dyed fabric. Prospectors' Inn.
Vendor location: Prospector's Inn

League Army

War Against the Arisen - A daily quest to kill Arisen players for League Army reputation.

Coldberg - Free Traders, League

Looks like Coldberg is the beginning of the end for reputation grinds. Lots of daily quests here.

League

Holding Out on the League - Repeatable quest to gather meteorite ore.

Free Traders

Preventive Measures - Ogre killing daily.
The Undead Army - Undead killing daily.
It's not Junk to Me - Crafting Daily, 20 Refined Mithril Chunks.

Avilon - Historians

The standard collection of reputation quests for the Historians. All of these are daily quests.

Drops of Water and Mantis Staves - Collect water from Elementals and staves from Mantis Wizards
Blood for an Elf - Collect blood from Mantises, Squirrels and Toads.
The Frilly Supplies - Crafting quest for Slippers of Pristine Blessed Cloth.

Dragon Ring - Demon Hunters

The Demon Hunters quests are pretty low reputation per run, so it looks like a long haul to get to respected here.

Jungle Supplies - Tapir hunting for hides.
Mending the Ship - Collecting wood samples from trees.
Spit of the Eye - Collecting eye spit (ew!) from... well, eyes.
Sitting Ducks - Crafting daily for Greater Armor Potions.
Danger in the Jungle - Kill demon mages.
Saving the Wounded - Collecting crocodile fat and plants.

Yazes Shard - League Defenders

Lots of PvP quests here!

War as We Know It - Kill Imperial players, 3 of each race.
We Weren't Born Yesterday! - Fire cannon from the crashed Imperial ship.
Inevitable Punishment - Killing Imperial guards.
Behind Strong Armor - Crafting quest for shields.
Astral Support - Collect Astral Crystals.