Alt Ending to Skeletons in the Closet Unlocked - Puzzle Finally Solved!

[Magnus_Arcanis]

Wanted to make a new post so folks intimidated by the original mega thread (https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/532631-Dark-Secret-Found-in-Isle-of-Dread) could find out the info.

After accidentally finding the first dark secret almost 5 months ago, 4 since the raid's release, the Dark Secret puzzle has finally be solved!

Huge thanks to everyone that helped and tuned into http://twitch.tv/arcanaverse. We got it!


https://youtu.be/G3oCUOCpjnc


Solution can be found in the master document (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FLZOnSzTTZE5bvCIqmM1oZMP6ZqZALzlfaMgIzS-1uI/edit?usp=sharing) and was updated to the wiki (https://ddowiki.com/page/Skeletons_in_the_Closet).

1. Run the walk the four paths of the dead. (order and when doesn’t matter)

2. Need to stand next to the spirit, not necessarily the platform (you don’t to be on the platform at all.) and while alive, use /say to say the dark secrets (more info in the wiki). Order does matter. Osfield > Alaric > Kelas > Gorth. Starting with Osfiled, this can be started before you finish walking the paths. The dark secrets you're to say can be found after you defeat each skeleton. Each one has its own set of secrets.

3. Then you can drop Death’s Teeth in the middle platform. Which will spawn Lindal's spirit. And then you say say his secrets (which are found in the quests) to perform the same mechanic a 5th time. Don't need to bother with GF at all damage wise.

4. Once completed, Ghost Flame will leave and you’ll start a new end fight against Vecna’s Wrathful Hand for an alternate end fight.

5. When defeated, you get 3 chests. Right one has more runes and special loot (new items and augments in addition to current raid loot). Left chest appears to just have more black pearls as the only thing special so far.

Speaking of Loot... we have new LOOT AND AUGMENTS

Ones we found so far, more being posted to the discord (https://discord.gg/6ZXCnQGB).


https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041560351222808706/image.pnghttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041540334980714598/image.pnghttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041539122260623361/image.pnghttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041537936295993375/image.pnghttps://media.discordapp.net/attachments/990073873775095878/1041549052015292466/image.png?width=363&height=912
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041536325649694791/newtar.PNGhttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041536817738043532/image.pnghttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041548940786532402/image.pnghttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041539426473492570/image.pnghttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/448476135760855052/1041569714020818964/image.png

If your groups find anything new, feel free to post here. Thanks and enjoy!

[Wahnsinnig]

Awesome, thanks for sharing.

[Cordovan]

Congratulations! We're excited that it's been discovered.

[Vooduspyce]

Grats dood, I know you been working hard to figure it out and thank you for sharing what you've learned with the community, you rock!! :D

[axel15810]

Grats. I never in a million years would have figured this out. I watched the video. A few questions -

Are there any specific requirements on when to do each of the 1st 4 /say readings and walk the paths other than to do them all before Death's Teeth is dropped?

From what I'm gathering you just proceed as normal, but you must walk each path and say all words to each of the first 4 ghosts BEFORE bringing down Death's Teeth. And then do the last ghost's readings after Death Teeth is dropped but without dropping the ghost flame.

Is that correct? Or is it mandatory to do the /say readings after each skeleton is dropped but before dropping the next one? The video seems to make it seem you can just do the first 4 all at once before dropping Death's Teeth but the wiki entry seems to imply otherwise so I'm a bit confused.

And is there any confirmation on whether the part 1 optional is required?

Thanks and again, awesome job.

[Abilbo]

Congratulations! We're excited that it's been discovered.

Now that it has been discovered, is there any chance, that in the future, those items will be available for rune purchase? I normally bring my shooter to this raid, for the DPS, but my main, who is a bard, would really like the boots.

[Magnus_Arcanis]

Grats. I never in a million years would have figured this out. I watched the video. A few questions -

Are there any specific requirements on when to do each of the 1st 4 /say readings and walk the paths other than to do them all before Death's Teeth is dropped?

From what I'm gathering you just proceed as normal, but you must walk each path and say all words to each of the first 4 ghosts BEFORE bringing down Death's Teeth. And then do the last ghost's readings after Death Teeth is dropped but without dropping the ghost flame.

Is that correct? Or is it mandatory to do the /say readings after each skeleton is dropped but before dropping the next one? The video seems to make it seem you can just do the first 4 all at once before dropping Death's Teeth but the wiki entry seems to imply otherwise so I'm a bit confused.

And is there any confirmation on whether the part 1 optional is required?

Thanks and again, awesome job.

Thanks and you got it. Just do everything before taking down Death's Teeth.

Doesn't matter if you walk the paths early or out of order, the secrets need said in order though, but as long as its done before dropping death's teeth you're good. can even do some before all the skeletons are completed.

[mikarddo]

Much appreacite all the work that went into figuring that one out. Thank you for sharing.

[Gordo]

Wanted to make a new post so folks intimidated by the original mega thread (https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/532631-Dark-Secret-Found-in-Isle-of-Dread) could find out the info.

After accidentally finding the first dark secret almost 5 months ago, 4 since the raid's release, the Dark Secret puzzle has finally be solved!

Huge thanks to everyone that helped and tuned into http://twitch.tv/arcanaverse. We got it!


https://youtu.be/G3oCUOCpjnc


Solution can be found in the master document (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FLZOnSzTTZE5bvCIqmM1oZMP6ZqZALzlfaMgIzS-1uI/edit?usp=sharing) and was updated to the wiki (https://ddowiki.com/page/Skeletons_in_the_Closet).

1. Run the walk the four paths of the dead. (order and when doesn’t matter)

2. Need to stand next to the spirit, not necessarily the platform (you don’t to be on the platform at all.) and while alive, use /say to say the dark secrets (more info in the wiki). Order does matter. Osfield > Alaric > Kelas > Gorth. Starting with Osfiled, this can be started before you finish walking the paths. The dark secrets you're to say can be found after you defeat each skeleton. Each one has its own set of secrets.

3. Then you can drop Death’s Teeth in the middle platform. Which will spawn Lindal's spirit. And then you say say his secrets (which are found in the quests) to perform the same mechanic a 5th time. Don't need to bother with GF at all damage wise.

4. Once completed, Ghost Flame will leave and you’ll start a new end fight against Vecna’s Wrathful Hand for an alternate end fight.

5. When defeated, you get 3 chests. Right one has more runes and special loot (new items and augments in addition to current raid loot). Left chest appears to just have more black pearls as the only thing special so far.

Speaking of Loot... we have new LOOT AND AUGMENTS

Ones we found so far, more being posted to the discord (https://discord.gg/6ZXCnQGB).


https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041560351222808706/image.pnghttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041540334980714598/image.pnghttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041539122260623361/image.pnghttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041537936295993375/image.pnghttps://media.discordapp.net/attachments/990073873775095878/1041549052015292466/image.png?width=363&height=912
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041536325649694791/newtar.PNGhttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041536817738043532/image.pnghttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041548940786532402/image.pnghttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990073873775095878/1041539426473492570/image.pnghttps://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/448476135760855052/1041569714020818964/image.png

If your groups find anything new, feel free to post here. Thanks and enjoy!

We were just did this quest together. You were testing something out last week. Awesome.
Well done!

[Arkat]

Is the order of the Secrets for Lindal in the Master Document correct?

On the wiki, the order is different. It is:

1. /say I king Lindal came to this island. I came for my people. I came for guilt. I came to hide.
2. /say Heavy is the crown. My kingdom besieged. Enemies on all sides.
3. /say She offered aid and blew on the embers of forgotten desire.
4. /say But first one last quest with old friends. I dared to dream again.
5. /say Yet the dream turned to ash. She had bargained with darkness.
6. /say I broke free. I left her. I left them. All doomed. My shame burns. The Beast consumes.



In the Document, you have it as:

1. Heavy is the crown. My kingdom besieged. Enemies on all sides.
2. She offered aid and blew on the embers of forgotten desire.
3. I king Lindal came to this island. I came for my people. I came for guilt. I came to hide.
4. But first one last quest with old friends. I dared to dream again.
5. Yet the dream turned to ash. She had bargained with darkness.
6. I broke free. I left her. I left them. All doomed. My shame burns. The Beast consumes.


Which order is correct?

[Magnus_Arcanis]

Is the order of the Secrets for Lindal in the Master Document correct?

On the wiki, the order is different. It is:

1. /say I king Lindal came to this island. I came for my people. I came for guilt. I came to hide.
2. /say Heavy is the crown. My kingdom besieged. Enemies on all sides.
3. /say She offered aid and blew on the embers of forgotten desire.
4. /say But first one last quest with old friends. I dared to dream again.
5. /say Yet the dream turned to ash. She had bargained with darkness.
6. /say I broke free. I left her. I left them. All doomed. My shame burns. The Beast consumes.



In the Document, you have it as:

1. Heavy is the crown. My kingdom besieged. Enemies on all sides.
2. She offered aid and blew on the embers of forgotten desire.
3. I king Lindal came to this island. I came for my people. I came for guilt. I came to hide.
4. But first one last quest with old friends. I dared to dream again.
5. Yet the dream turned to ash. She had bargained with darkness.
6. I broke free. I left her. I left them. All doomed. My shame burns. The Beast consumes.


Which order is correct?

I've updated the solution section of the document, but old guesses in the document are incorrect. The ones now in solution section, the google sheet, and the wiki should be correct.

However, here is the order for all of them:

Osfield (first, South West, defeated second)
1 /say Osfield joined first. Looking for a happy ending. A bard chasing my story.
2 /say The 1st verse. The Academy called me prodigy, and reckless. They were right.
3 /say The 2nd verse. The Common folk called me the Flame of Hope. Perhaps I was.
4 /say The 3rd verse. The Kingdom called me champion but feared me for I spoke my mind.
5 /say The 4th verse. Prince Lindal of the Elves called me Yarrow, as did my friends.
6 /say Yet only when the prince spoke my name did I feel the flame in my heart.

Alaric (Second, South East, defeated third)
1 /say Faithful Alaric came second, hoping to heal my broken heart.
2 /say It broke on his altar but it was not his doing.
3 /say Lindal's people would not accept me. Duty came before love.
4 /say Yet a broken heart is fertile ground for ambition.
5 /say My frail humanity, a chance thing of birth, would be no match for my will.
6 /say I would match elven blood with something greater. Power.

Kelas (third, North East, defeated first (will spawn Deaths Teeth)
1 /say My apprentice Kelas came third. He would never question an order.
2 /say Order keeps things in their place, and mages like order.
3 /say So I overthrew the headmasters and claimed the Academy.
4 /say Those mages who would not join became traitors.
5 /say Those who were wiser became servants and seekers.
6 /say With them I wrung every secret from my world until I found him.
7 /say The master of secrets would be a secret himself after all.

Gorth (fourth, North West, defeated fourth)
1 /say The pirate Gorth was the fourth. Always the gambler. He cheated. I cheated better.
2 /say We sailed every ocean seeking the island of my visions.
3 /say We found it and the darkness waiting beyond it's jungles and beasts.
4 /say From the shadows it told me the words. It showed me the symbols.
5 /say Five friends. Five Souls. Five fingers on a hand. The darkness beckoned.
6 /say I brought my friends to the volcano and sealed all of our fates in this secret pact.

Complete all previous steps before defeating Death's Teeth.

Lindal (final, Center, defeated last)
1 /say I king Lindal came to this island. I came for my people. I came for guilt. I came to hide.
2 /say Heavy is the crown. My kingdom besieged. Enemies on all sides.
3 /say She offered aid and blew on the embers of forgotten desire.
4 /say But first one last quest with old friends. I dared to dream again.
5 /say Yet the dream turned to ash. She had bargained with darkness.
6 /say I broke free. I left her. I left them. All doomed. My shame burns. The Beast consumes.

[Arkat]

Thank you for the correction.

BTW...+1!

[Deivonte]

For those of you who don't want to spend all day copying and pasting the phases that you tell the ghosts, here's a list of aliases that you can use. Beware that DDO only allows for 50 Aliases and there are 32 Aliases here. You can use the command "/alias clear" to remove all your aliases.

To add this, basically you

Go to Documents > Dungeons and Dragons Online > UI > Layout
Make a file with the .layout extension (or use an existing layout) Remember the name of this file.
Add the following text to that file. (if you are adding to an existing file, add the Aliases in between <Aliases> and </Aliases> or add that section if it doesn't exist.)
Open the game and use the following command: "/ui layout load {Name of File}" and replace the {Name of File} part with the name of your file WITHOUT the .layout
Test the commands. You can use the commands by typing ";guy11" or ";guy53"


A couple of note. If you want to change the actual name of the command you type, you can edit the section labeled String. So if i wanted my command to be guy11 to s11, you would edit the portion in that alias String=";guy11" to String=";s11". You need the semicolon, no matter the alias name.

Here's what it looks like:
https://imgur.com/a/n5uwa1y



File Starts Next Line:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?>
<UI>

<Version Value="1.0"/>
<Aliases>
<!-- Messages for Skeletons in the Closet -->
<Alias String=";guyorder" Value="Speaking Order: SW > SE > NE > NW > Center" />
<!-- Osfield -->
<Alias String=";guy11" Value="/say Osfield joined first. Looking for a happy ending. A bard chasing my story." />
<Alias String=";guy12" Value="/say The 1st verse. The Academy called me prodigy, and reckless. They were right." />
<Alias String=";guy13" Value="/say The 2nd verse. The Common folk called me the Flame of Hope. Perhaps I was." />
<Alias String=";guy14" Value="/say The 3rd verse. The Kingdom called me champion but feared me for I spoke my mind." />
<Alias String=";guy15" Value="/say The 4th verse. Prince Lindal of the Elves called me Yarrow, as did my friends." />
<Alias String=";guy16" Value="/say Yet only when the prince spoke my name did I feel the flame in my heart." />
<!-- Alaric -->
<Alias String=";guy21" Value="/say Faithful Alaric came second, hoping to heal my broken heart." />
<Alias String=";guy22" Value="/say It broke on his altar but it was not his doing." />
<Alias String=";guy23" Value="/say Lindal's people would not accept me. Duty came before love." />
<Alias String=";guy24" Value="/say Yet a broken heart is fertile ground for ambition." />
<Alias String=";guy25" Value="/say My frail humanity, a chance thing of birth, would be no match for my will." />
<Alias String=";guy26" Value="/say I would match elven blood with something greater. Power." />
<!-- Kelas -->
<Alias String=";guy31" Value="/say My apprentice Kelas came third. He would never question an order." />
<Alias String=";guy32" Value="/say Order keeps things in their place, and mages like order." />
<Alias String=";guy33" Value="/say So I overthrew the headmasters and claimed the Academy." />
<Alias String=";guy34" Value="/say Those mages who would not join became traitors." />
<Alias String=";guy35" Value="/say Those who were wiser became servants and seekers." />
<Alias String=";guy36" Value="/say With them I wrung every secret from my world until I found him." />
<Alias String=";guy37" Value="/say The master of secrets would be a secret himself after all." />
<!-- Gorth -->
<Alias String=";guy41" Value="/say The pirate Gorth was the fourth. Always the gambler. He cheated. I cheated better." />
<Alias String=";guy42" Value="/say We sailed every ocean seeking the island of my visions." />
<Alias String=";guy43" Value="/say We found it and the darkness waiting beyond it's jungles and beasts." />
<Alias String=";guy44" Value="/say From the shadows it told me the words. It showed me the symbols." />
<Alias String=";guy45" Value="/say Five friends. Five Souls. Five fingers on a hand. The darkness beckoned." />
<Alias String=";guy46" Value="/say I brought my friends to the volcano and sealed all of our fates in this secret pact." />
<!-- Lindal -->
<Alias String=";guy51" Value="/say I king Lindal came to this island. I came for my people. I came for guilt. I came to hide." />
<Alias String=";guy52" Value="/say Heavy is the crown. My kingdom besieged. Enemies on all sides." />
<Alias String=";guy53" Value="/say She offered aid and blew on the embers of forgotten desire." />
<Alias String=";guy54" Value="/say But first one last quest with old friends. I dared to dream again." />
<Alias String=";guy55" Value="/say Yet the dream turned to ash. She had bargained with darkness." />
<Alias String=";guy56" Value="/say I broke free. I left her. I left them. All doomed. My shame burns. The Beast consumes." />

</Aliases>

</UI>

[Tanky]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990444193291849818/1041891522771161108/raid_mount.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990444193291849818/1041891383704834048/unknown.png

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990444193291849818/1041892248209604739/extralanar_shadow.png

[rabidfox]

There's some damage effect that can get left on players after the alternative end-fight that's pretty nasty; where it'll keep ticking even after leaving the quest and applying it to others in the party.

[Mofus]

Awesome job, thanks.

[Magnus_Arcanis]

New detail discovered, you don't actually need to wait to kill death's teeth. Just don't kill the ghost flame and everything else can be done whenever. Very Nice.

[Epicsoul]

10/10 with the alternate ending. The loot is also cool.

[Oliphant]

Best DDO documented adventure ever, to possibly ever be!

[gravisrs]

GJ Magnus! I appreciate all the hard work to find out the alternative mechanics.

BUT SSG, please don't complicate things that much next time. We may not have sufficient effort to discover sth more complicated next time.

From now on people will hold on buying expansions knowing so many loot may be hidden behind tremendous "revealing" game - till it's revealed. They may feel cheated that paying for expansion (during first months/year) is not giving them the full value.

Dull dagger thing was fine, as it was obvious it was hiding something, same with Nebula fragment - but this?

I used to wait 3-4 weeks after releasing date of new expansions (after 1/2 patches) before buying, but this hide'n'seek thing - I'd prolly wait months after releasing next expansion before buying it.

[Govynda]

Gj

[salmag]

+1

Great Job

[Valerianus]

GJ Magnus! I appreciate all the hard work to find out the alternative mechanics.

BUT SSG, please don't complicate things that much next time. We may not have sufficient effort to discover sth more complicated next time.

From now on people will hold on buying expansions knowing so many loot may be hidden behind tremendous "revealing" game - till it's revealed. They may feel cheated that paying for expansion (during first months/year) is not giving them the full value.

Dull dagger thing was fine, as it was obvious it was hiding something, same with Nebula fragment - but this?

I used to wait 3-4 weeks after releasing date of new expansions (after 1/2 patches) before buying, but this hide'n'seek thing - I'd prolly wait months after releasing next expansion before buying it.



i agree that the work OP and others put into figuring all out is to be celebrated, and a big thank you is in order.



for the rest, i couldn't disagree more.

ssg introduced a proper mmo element, something that push towards community effort...and get complaints. given that ddo has zero mmo features, it has the features of a single player game with multiplayer options and that's it (this has super major good implications cause those singleplayer-like features alone they make it a good thing and define the best this game offers and its uniqueness but there's a never ending series of bad\lacking points never addressed), why do people complain even when ssg does the most right thing?

[Stravix]

Have to 100% agree with Valer on this one, we need more things like this, not less.

Things like this make an MMO feel like there is always something new to discover, which is a huge motivator for a lot of people.

[Magnus_Arcanis]

Thanks again all!

I have say though. I love the special surprises and secrets SSG has been putting into the game. Dull dagger, feytwisted, nebula fragment, dark secrets... are easily some of the most fun/cool things I've ever enjoyed in DDO. The rewards were above and beyond what even I guessed and I guessed pretty high.

If you're worried about complexity or how long it took... you can blame me if you want. One misleading (non)clue was all it took to derail me and by extension the rest (or a lot) of the communities efforts. It's my first time tackling something like this. Knowing what we know now. I believe I probably would've had this solved months ago otherwise.

I am curious if all the 'red herrings' I came up with in the wake of giving too much weight to a minor detail where meant to be red herrings or expert level clues or something else. The kinds of questions I plan on asking SSG if given the opportunity to conduct an interview on stream. Unfortunate timing for that though as we're about to hit some holidays, but hopefully maybe soon.

Even still, the rabbit holes we went down were really fun to go down. Sure I got frustrated from time to time, but I wouldn't trade this for anything.

Either way, SSG handled this perfectly and I really look forward to the next one.

[Lotoc]

GJ Magnus! I appreciate all the hard work to find out the alternative mechanics.

BUT SSG, please don't complicate things that much next time. We may not have sufficient effort to discover sth more complicated next time.

From now on people will hold on buying expansions knowing so many loot may be hidden behind tremendous "revealing" game - till it's revealed. They may feel cheated that paying for expansion (during first months/year) is not giving them the full value.

Dull dagger thing was fine, as it was obvious it was hiding something, same with Nebula fragment - but this?

I used to wait 3-4 weeks after releasing date of new expansions (after 1/2 patches) before buying, but this hide'n'seek thing - I'd prolly wait months after releasing next expansion before buying it.

Sorry but your post is simply wrong.
The design of Skeletons in the Closet itself screams there was a secret going on.
For a start the first optional you encounter in the raid to solve some anagrams? Did you ever do that? If not why not, every raid with optionals since Dryad and the Demigod has had a bonus chest for doing them.
If you do that optional the quest objectives come up with an objective to solve the secrets of the firemouth, that has been there since before the raid even launched and was previewed on lammania.
It absolutely was not hidden that a raid called Skeletons in the Closet contains secrets, it is in the quest name for a start.

Personally I'm somewhat glad it took so long, it's fun to get involved with such a thing but once a puzzle like this is solved the first time it basically becomes the norm.
Figuring out puzzles like this with a community is incredibly fun and interesting and "its bad and shouldn't exist because I personally don't feel like bothering until its solved for me" is just very rude not only to the people who design such a puzzle but to everyone who took part in solving it.

[Oliphant]

For those of you who don't want to spend all day copying and pasting the phases that you tell the ghosts, here's a list of aliases that you can use.

Cool! I got this working. Took a little trial and error.

I had to create the ui/layout folders and eventually found I could set file path in statements to wherever. Created a txt file and changed extension to .layout but the file would not load upon command. Messed with the file trying to get it to load and noticed Windows explorer still saw it as a txt file, a possible clue. Used google and saved my current layout to create a layout file and I inserted your aliases at the proper place. It absolutely worked! Decided to go with ;q11, ;q12..., ;q21... etc style (q is top right letter for convenience).

[Oliphant]

I meant q top left (the other right).

[LightBear]

for the rest, i couldn't disagree more.

ssg introduced a proper mmo element, something that push towards community effort...and get complaints. given that ddo has zero mmo features, it has the features of a single player game with multiplayer options and that's it (this has super major good implications cause those singleplayer-like features alone they make it a good thing and define the best this game offers and its uniqueness but there's a never ending series of bad\lacking points never addressed), why do people complain even when ssg does the most right thing?

For some odd reason I can't participate in any game feature that involves jumping.
This has been addressed by various players over the years.
There is to much lag going on, be it connection stutters or frames rates drops for a player to be able to rely on this.
Plus, in this case because you have to perform it while dead, there are odd calculations going on for your jump skill / actual jump performance.

[gravisrs]

"its bad and shouldn't exist because I personally don't feel like bothering until its solved for me" is just very rude not only to the people who design such a puzzle but to everyone who took part in solving it.

Just one thing, "If I paid real money for it". As long as there are super cool puzzles hidden somewhere between f2p content, even cheap adventure packs - I'm cool. As long as those puzzles takes less than full day for an average "escape room artist" to solve - I'm cool also. But that's me, just a casual player that spends a dime on this MMO, don't bother me. If I had no job, no family, no other IRL things - I will surely dig thru such puzzles for half a year - but apparently the game and community is not very casual gamers friendly. Maybe that's why numbers are in decline...

[hit_fido]

That's pretty cool. Big thumbs up to SSG for the design effort, I hope they keep putting little "secrets" in new quests even if they aren't as elaborate as this.

Even something as simple as the bowling pins in the Orchard crypt make me smile. Or the insane prisoner in splinterskull that shows up in the next quest as a skeleton. They're like little winks from the developer to players who try to go and look everywhere. Good stuff.

[Valerianus]

For some odd reason I can't participate in any game feature that involves jumping.
This has been addressed by various players over the years.
There is to much lag going on, be it connection stutters or frames rates drops for a player to be able to rely on this.
Plus, in this case because you have to perform it while dead, there are odd calculations going on for your jump skill / actual jump performance.


to be fair yes, the detail about jumping, can't argue with that, it's a fact that jump stuttering & general messiness it's a thing, so anything choosing jumping for its mechanic, like those sharn puzzles with things going up and down, it's a really poor choice. new is good, variety is good and we are grateful, but in practice ruined by game unaddressed flaws.

it could have been better, again, can't argue with that, but the alternate ending idea & concept is superb, both from a community perspective, putting ppl together, and from a world building perspective, making it more alive and worth exploring. and i looked at the video, the OP was so happy and focused...it made me happy. this just says it all, if players get such feelings from a game, and it feels good to see other players enjoing the game so much, it means it is a success.

[aurus33]

Thanks again all!

I have say though. I love the special surprises and secrets SSG has been putting into the game. Dull dagger, feytwisted, nebula fragment, dark secrets... are easily some of the most fun/cool things I've ever enjoyed in DDO. The rewards were above and beyond what even I guessed and I guessed pretty high.

If you're worried about complexity or how long it took... you can blame me if you want. One misleading (non)clue was all it took to derail me and by extension the rest (or a lot) of the communities efforts. It's my first time tackling something like this. Knowing what we know now. I believe I probably would've had this solved months ago otherwise.

I am curious if all the 'red herrings' I came up with in the wake of giving too much weight to a minor detail where meant to be red herrings or expert level clues or something else. The kinds of questions I plan on asking SSG if given the opportunity to conduct an interview on stream. Unfortunate timing for that though as we're about to hit some holidays, but hopefully maybe soon.

Even still, the rabbit holes we went down were really fun to go down. Sure I got frustrated from time to time, but I wouldn't trade this for anything.

Either way, SSG handled this perfectly and I really look forward to the next one.

Big Congratz on the achievement and the effort to solve all this!

SSG, you did a great job! This kind of things are GREAT to have in the game, I appreciate the effort you guys put into designing this, I wonder how many times you guys internally giggled about players not yet solving this ;)

[Reign.]

Holy smokes! This is amazing well done and thanks for sharing!

[jskinner937]

Cool! I got this working. Took a little trial and error.

I had to create the ui/layout folders and eventually found I could set file path in statements to wherever. Created a txt file and changed extension to .layout but the file would not load upon command. Messed with the file trying to get it to load and noticed Windows explorer still saw it as a txt file, a possible clue. Used google and saved my current layout to create a layout file and I inserted your aliases at the proper place. It absolutely worked! Decided to go with ;q11, ;q12..., ;q21... etc style (q is top right letter for convenience).

Strange I had zero issues doing from a standard notepad file and renaming. I know that if you have the box checked always open this type of file with x you probably have issues although.

[Dragonlover333]

For those of you who don't want to spend all day copying and pasting the phases that you tell the ghosts, here's a list of aliases that you can use. Beware that DDO only allows for 50 Aliases and there are 32 Aliases here. You can use the command "/alias clear" to remove all your aliases.

To add this, basically you

Go to Documents > Dungeons and Dragons Online > UI > Layout
Make a file with the .layout extension (or use an existing layout) Remember the name of this file.
Add the following text to that file. (if you are adding to an existing file, add the Aliases in between <Aliases> and </Aliases> or add that section if it doesn't exist.)
Open the game and use the following command: "/ui layout load {Name of File}" and replace the {Name of File} part with the name of your file WITHOUT the .layout
Test the commands. You can use the commands by typing ";guy11" or ";guy53"


A couple of note. If you want to change the actual name of the command you type, you can edit the section labeled String. So if i wanted my command to be guy11 to s11, you would edit the portion in that alias String=";guy11" to String=";s11". You need the semicolon, no matter the alias name.

Here's what it looks like:
https://imgur.com/a/n5uwa1y



File Starts Next Line:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?>
<UI>

<Version Value="1.0"/>
<Aliases>
<!-- Messages for Skeletons in the Closet -->
<Alias String=";guyorder" Value="Speaking Order: SW > SE > NE > NW > Center" />
<!-- Osfield -->
<Alias String=";guy11" Value="/say Osfield joined first. Looking for a happy ending. A bard chasing my story." />
<Alias String=";guy12" Value="/say The 1st verse. The Academy called me prodigy, and reckless. They were right." />
<Alias String=";guy13" Value="/say The 2nd verse. The Common folk called me the Flame of Hope. Perhaps I was." />
<Alias String=";guy14" Value="/say The 3rd verse. The Kingdom called me champion but feared me for I spoke my mind." />
<Alias String=";guy15" Value="/say The 4th verse. Prince Lindal of the Elves called me Yarrow, as did my friends." />
<Alias String=";guy16" Value="/say Yet only when the prince spoke my name did I feel the flame in my heart." />
<!-- Alaric -->
<Alias String=";guy21" Value="/say Faithful Alaric came second, hoping to heal my broken heart." />
<Alias String=";guy22" Value="/say It broke on his altar but it was not his doing." />
<Alias String=";guy23" Value="/say Lindal's people would not accept me. Duty came before love." />
<Alias String=";guy24" Value="/say Yet a broken heart is fertile ground for ambition." />
<Alias String=";guy25" Value="/say My frail humanity, a chance thing of birth, would be no match for my will." />
<Alias String=";guy26" Value="/say I would match elven blood with something greater. Power." />
<!-- Kelas -->
<Alias String=";guy31" Value="/say My apprentice Kelas came third. He would never question an order." />
<Alias String=";guy32" Value="/say Order keeps things in their place, and mages like order." />
<Alias String=";guy33" Value="/say So I overthrew the headmasters and claimed the Academy." />
<Alias String=";guy34" Value="/say Those mages who would not join became traitors." />
<Alias String=";guy35" Value="/say Those who were wiser became servants and seekers." />
<Alias String=";guy36" Value="/say With them I wrung every secret from my world until I found him." />
<Alias String=";guy37" Value="/say The master of secrets would be a secret himself after all." />
<!-- Gorth -->
<Alias String=";guy41" Value="/say The pirate Gorth was the fourth. Always the gambler. He cheated. I cheated better." />
<Alias String=";guy42" Value="/say We sailed every ocean seeking the island of my visions." />
<Alias String=";guy43" Value="/say We found it and the darkness waiting beyond it's jungles and beasts." />
<Alias String=";guy44" Value="/say From the shadows it told me the words. It showed me the symbols." />
<Alias String=";guy45" Value="/say Five friends. Five Souls. Five fingers on a hand. The darkness beckoned." />
<Alias String=";guy46" Value="/say I brought my friends to the volcano and sealed all of our fates in this secret pact." />
<!-- Lindal -->
<Alias String=";guy51" Value="/say I king Lindal came to this island. I came for my people. I came for guilt. I came to hide." />
<Alias String=";guy52" Value="/say Heavy is the crown. My kingdom besieged. Enemies on all sides." />
<Alias String=";guy53" Value="/say She offered aid and blew on the embers of forgotten desire." />
<Alias String=";guy54" Value="/say But first one last quest with old friends. I dared to dream again." />
<Alias String=";guy55" Value="/say Yet the dream turned to ash. She had bargained with darkness." />
<Alias String=";guy56" Value="/say I broke free. I left her. I left them. All doomed. My shame burns. The Beast consumes." />

</Aliases>

</UI>

This is amazing, but it took me a little while to figure out how to make it work, so for people at my level of technical skill:
The UI and Layout folders might not exist. If so, you can just make empty folders with those names.
If you do not have a .layout file, you can make the game create one with the command /ui layout save {desired filename}
Now you can open the file with a basic text editor like Notepad. This new file should have <Aliases/> near the top. This line seems to be a placeholder that indicates you have no aliases. Delete it, and paste in Deivonte's code starting with <Aliases> and ending with </Aliases>. The other parts of his code should already be in the file, at the beginning and end. Change the guy11 etc. stuff if you want, as he described, and save it.
Now the /ui layout load command in-game should work, and you're all set.

Apologies if this is different if you're not using Windows.

[jskinner937]

This is amazing, but it took me a little while to figure out how to make it work, so for people at my level of technical skill:
The UI and Layout folders might not exist. If so, you can just make empty folders with those names.
If you do not have a .layout file, you can make the game create one with the command /ui layout save {desired filename}
Now you can open the file with a basic text editor like Notepad. This new file should have <Aliases/> near the top. This line seems to be a placeholder that indicates you have no aliases. Delete it, and paste in Deivonte's code starting with <Aliases> and ending with </Aliases>. The other parts of his code should already be in the file, at the beginning and end. Change the guy11 etc. stuff if you want, as he described, and save it.
Now the /ui layout load command in-game should work, and you're all set.

Apologies if this is different if you're not using Windows.

Supposedly there is an alt tab way of cycling through these as well. Not sure how to setup although.

[dTarkanan]

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/990073873775095878/1041549052015292466/image.png?width=363&height=912 Any image of this equipped?

[jskinner937]

Any image of this equipped?

No image but I saw someone equip and it’s not impressive. Just looks like a light blue small bottle. Like a wino holding a small bottle of boone’s farm without the paper bag.

[rabidfox]

Any image of this equipped?

https://i.imgur.com/AJ8Hvm4.jpg

[Mindos]

Did I see a special Mount certificate? Does it look unique?

[rabidfox]

Did I see a special Mount certificate? Does it look unique?

Just a slight difference in color and saddle design to the existing raptor mounts.

https://i.imgur.com/Ba8k8q5.png
https://i.imgur.com/UVgbbVI.png

[Arkat]

Just a slight difference in color and saddle design to the existing raptor mounts.

https://i.imgur.com/Ba8k8q5.png
https://i.imgur.com/UVgbbVI.png

Yeah, there's a skull on the saddle of the new mount.


Ooooooohhh.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

I always feel so small and so stupid when people come up with threads like this ... I mean, I even have difficulties with more complex puzzles within the game, I will never be able to solve such a mystery. And that's a fact.

[Kelledren]

Yeah, there's a skull on the saddle of the new mount.


Ooooooohhh.

If only this could have been an undead dinosaur mount! Raptor with some of the same green effects as the t-Rex. That would have been ammmmmmaaaaaazzzzing!

Yo SSG- can we get an undead mount for us PMs?

[Arkat]

If only this could have been an undead dinosaur mount! Raptor with some of the same green effects as the t-Rex. That would have been ammmmmmaaaaaazzzzing!

Yo SSG- can we get an undead mount for us PMs?

Oh, now that would be pretty boss.