3 man Tempest Spine - Our 1st ever Raid.

[WildCard]

Over the weekend me and two friends who casual play completed our 1st ever raid, Tempest Spine.

We were:

Level 11 Paladin
Level 8 Cleric / 3 Rogue
Level 10 Ranger (twf)

Some back story about our little group. We’ve been playing casually since Beta, took a break after Mod 3 and just recently re-upped a few months ago. Our guild at its height on the now migrated Aerenal server had in the range of 8 regular players who all knew each other in real life. There were a bunch of reasons back then that the players trailed off and went on to play other games one big one was our problem handling higher level content with a handful of players. The more people left the more this problem was compounded. Since coming back to DDO, it’s been in the back of all of our minds (the 3 of us) that the roadblock that impeded us before might still be there. However as we’ve begun to push the limits of our previous level boundaries, we’ve been pleasantly surprised to see that the content that used to be off limits now is doable and enjoyable. A few nights back we were so bold as to consider attempting Tempest Spine, a raid originally designed for up to 12 players. We threw caution to the wind and made a run at it, we got to the Inevitable (Marut) and met our match. While we didn’t complete the raid, we were confident that if we could get past the marut we could make it to the end boss and have a shot a completing the quest. We did some digging and all purchased chaos weapons for our next encounter. We went back into the Spine a much more efficient killing machine, laying waste to elves and reavers, and quickly making it back to our re-match with the Inevitable. The chaos weapons did the trick, and he went down in a matter of seconds! We cheered over game chat, and prepared for the final battle. We entered the top of the mountain with a plan, the Ranger had the 3 runes he would place them after the Cleric/Rogue completed the puzzle. The Pally would keep agro off the other two while not getting killed in the process.

The Paladin (me) went in 1st grabbed agro, the ranger and thief/cleric were quick to follow getting to work solving the puzzle. About 1 minute in the ranger (still holding the runes) was blown off the peak by a well placed foot stomp, and floated all the way down to the base of the mountain. We waited for him to make his way back to the peak as we continued with the agro and puzzle completion. After making it back up and placing 2 runes, we were all blown off the peak by another foot stomp. Disheartened but not beaten we regrouped, and made our way together back up to the giant, this time the cleric buffed us with freedom of movement which made all the difference. We re-entered the peak together, the ranger added the runes, the puzzle was complete and we battled the giant until he was bested.

I’m sure this is fairly common achievement for the die hard players, but for our small group, this was the most epic adventure and achievement for us. We’ve been talking about our accomplishment every day since, still finding it hard to believe we completed it. And because of our success in Tempest Spine, we’re newly inspired to push on to the next quest that seemed once un-attainable for our 3 man group, and see if we can continue to beat the odds.

[Thrudh]

Congrats!! 3-manning Tempest Spine with appropriate level characters... very nice work!

[Thrudh]

Level 11 Paladin
Level 8 Cleric / 3 Rogue
Level 10 Ranger (twf)

I played with two RL friends for a long time too (sadly, they've quit the game).

We got to about 12th level using

Barbarian
Cleric
Bard/Rogue

I'm guessing your group, just like mine, really misses having a wizard/sorc around (at least my group had Bard haste)

[DagazUlf]

Nice work. Tales like that live on forever.

[kingfisher]

nice work! thats an great accomplishment for any player. glad yall are back in the game

[Montrose]

Nice job! Always fun to hear about people pushing the limits and beating the odds.

Also cool to hear that ya'll stuck with it after the minor setbacks.

[Zenako]

Congrats, well done. Curious how you handled the Fire/Ice encounter with the group? That is often the make or break point for most parties in my experience. Can be especially exciting at times...perhaps too exciting....

[Whippy]

Great achievement, good job guys Its nice to hear that this game can still give such fun and joy to some.

[WildCard]

Congrats, well done. Curious how you handled the Fire/Ice encounter with the group? That is often the make or break point for most parties in my experience. Can be especially exciting at times...perhaps too exciting....

Interesting you asked that, on the second run through (the successful one) we decided to skip what we thought were “optional” side encounters and go straight to the Inevitable. We thought we’d get a portal to the end giant after dispatching him, but no portal appeared. We had only found the 1 ruin that unlocks after beating him. Remembering we found another ruin in an “optional” area the 1st time through we had to backtrack to get the other two. The last one we tried was the Fire Reaver / Ice Flenser because the 1st time through we left without being able to figure it out. ( We hadn’t split up) The second time through we did split up Paladin (Marrah) going to the fire side because it seemed like an easier run to get to the Fire Reaver, and the Cleric/Rogue (Kamina) & Ranger (Luclyn) going Ice side. We had our standard prots and buffs. I waited until they were in position then we both charged (voice chat makes stuff like this so much easier) The Reaver went down fast with a Smite, and they dispatched the Flenser quickly too. I ran out of there with Fire Mephits and Giants in tow, while they attempted the same. I think they both died trying to escape but it was in the rest shrine so they rezed and we continued on.


Thanks for all the congrats guys!

[BlackSteel]

thats extremely impressive, congrats

[WildCard]

I played with two RL friends for a long time too (sadly, they've quit the game).

We got to about 12th level using

Barbarian
Cleric
Bard/Rogue

I'm guessing your group, just like mine, really misses having a wizard/sorc around (at least my group had Bard haste)

Sorry to hear about your group leaving Thrudh, thats a bummer.

Not having a Wiz/Sorc has hurt us, most recently in the house P "Spawn of Whisperdoom" quest. We had no problem the entire quest until her, we barely coud scratch her...

[Nonan]

Its not about how leet you are, but how much you enjoy doing what you are doing. Congrats on Tempest Run!!! I hope you continue to have fun!!!!!!!!!

[soloman]

Very impressive guys. One of the most underrated requirements to be a great player (IMO) is gut and you guys showed that you got it. Raid gear and upper level content experience can allow many players to do amazing things on this game but nothing can substitute pure gut and determination. Well done

/Salute

Valintino/Snyper/Claymorr/Medie/Miagi/Totemm/Tahnke/Solobot/Ghrunt/Pashadenali all of Thelanis

[Slippy]

As a member of the party that ran this quest (the cleric/rogue), I want to thank you all for the positive replies!!

It's hard to describe the feeling of accomplishment we felt after defeating the giant. We knew we had achieved a personal high mark but it’s nice to be reminded that it was no easy task either!!

Glad to be back after a long time away from the game, we are certainly looking forward to many more nights like we had!!

[parvo]

This is very cool.

Mortal Voyage has dreams of returing there under our no-broker rules.

[Hadrian]

Sounds like it was a fun experience. Congrats on the completion.

[Kadran]

Screenshot or it didn't happen. :-D

Just kidding. What server are you all on?

[KGWiking]

Great tale... and good luck in the future.

The Valhalla Permadeath Guild plans on taking on Tempest Spine in August. Since we do not use the AH, Brokers, or buy consumable magic - and due to sometimes players we were working on getting there inconveniently die - this may present a challenge.

At this point it looks like a group of six to ten lvl 7 to 10 characters will enter the Mountain. We have to run the Second set of Necropolis for DB item that can be made there - and we're going.

Still time to join

KG Wiking

[Zenix_Leviticus]

Nice job!

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Tempest Spine!

I love that quest!

[rnor6084]

This is all that matters. The sense of accomplishment and the fun you had getting it. No matter your play style.

grats