KP: The Weekly Challenge

[TeyaBrosna]

The Khally Project Weekly Challenge: "Let the whippings cease!"

It's another Monday morning and I sit here, flush with victory. Khallyope, the Elven 1 Rogue/6 Ranger, is one rank from being level 8. Do I have characters that are higher level than that? Yes. Did I invest anywhere near as much personal responsibility into leveling those other characters? Not at all! I played my part and did my best to level my other toons of course, but I also was able to concentrate on 'my role' since I was playing on teams. Never before have I truly had the experience of being the whole party, the one on whose shoulders ALL responsibility falls, the only one to blame if the quest fails, or the single figure flexing atop the slain body of the end boss.

Last week I found myself spending a great deal of time being lazy on Khally. I finally managed to fix her feat progression so that she could take the Arcane Archer prestige enhancements (YAY!), as well as Imbue Force Arrows. There was something stupidly thrilling about finally being able to make my own arrows.

(I won't confess how many times I forced this conversation to take place with my partner:
Me: No, I don't need those +1 arrows that just dropped for you in that chest. Ask me why.
<silence>
Me: No, really. Ask me why.
Partner: <sighing> I give up. Why?
Me: BECAUSE I CAN MAKE MY OWN. I DON'T NEED YOUR SILLY +1 ARROWS! <maniacal laughter>)

Yet in spite of this grand achievement, I still found myself reluctant to really quest, to really challenge myself. Instead I concentrated on finding rare encounters, exploring maps and working towards slayer titles. Halfway through Three Barrel Cove, I started actually feeling embarrassed about this. What was I doing? I *love* this toon! She hasn't let me down yet and I finally got the prestige enhancement for which I've been waiting! And then it hit me...that's exactly why I was being lazy. I finally got her the way I want her to be, and now I'm afraid to see her fail. I can still see the many variations of 'rangers suck,' 'AAs are gimped' and 'there is no reason to make any toon an elf' behind my eyelids.

I had to give myself a good shake and chug a whole Dr. Pepper to shrug off that laziness. I immediately embarked upon a series of quests, one after another with no pauses in between and no victory laps. I had to prove to myself once again that I *can* do this. I realise that I won't be able to solo forever with this character - she's probably not built correctly for that and I'm quite sure that I don't have the kind of playing skill that would require. But for right now, I'm going for it. Headed back to Three Barrel Cove and made my way determinedly to the fire caves. First quest, BAM! Done. Second fire cave quest, BAM! Done. Headed to House P. BAM! The Snitch got what was comin' to him.

VICTORY IS MINE.

So now I'm back in the saddle and ready for the next challenge. Analyzing my play during a lot of this past week, one concern that cropped up in my mind was my flagrant use of cure wands/pots. Wow, I burned through a lot of those, mostly when I was just slaughtering in explorable areas. It occurred to me that perhaps I was not treating my health bar respectfully enough. I certainly don't want to become one of those players who is constantly dependent upon a cleric, but I was starting to see that exact pattern emerging. Sure, I was wand-whipping myself and not asking someone else to take care of it for me, but it would be a short trip to total dependency.

So the challenge I have set for myself for this week is as follows - to allow myself to use a single Cure Moderate Wounds wand for self-healing. I will remove all healing pots from my backpack. I don't think I'll actually be able to go an entire week on a single wand, but I'm aiming for about three days. Stuff will happen, bosses will hit hard, I'll get knocked down and unable to compensate for some damage taken... But I am hoping that this will force me to really concentrate on the damage I am taking, and hopefully learn to mitigate it. I'll be more careful around ledges. <nervous laughter> I'll pay attention to the kinds of attacks I'm up against and utilise the proper resists. I may be slightly squishy, but that does NOT mean that I have to be a mana sponge or soul stone.

Let the challenge begin!!

[TeyaBrosna]

Challenge Results:

Cure Moderate Wounds wand chosen: 32 charges. (Admittedly, the wand with the greatest number of charges that I own.)

1. Chapter 6a of the Splinterskull chain, Doom of the Witch-Doctor. In spite of the glass spiders, I made it through. I only skipped the jail cells to the left and right of the main passage of the outer fortress (stopping, of course, to see if I could snag a Fragrant Drowshood or two). Completed the quest having taken only a single point of damage, no shrining, no charges of my wand used.

2. Chapter 6b of the Splinterskull chain. Completed the main quest without taking any damage at all. Wasn't a
particularly difficult quest, and the boss was only guarded by two of his friends, so I was able to range them without significant difficulty. I completed the quest before attempting the optional, the slaughter of his three pet earth elementals. I remembered that they were on a small island, so ranging would be an option. Sure enough, I got to them and they smacked me around a little bit before I took them down. Got me down to about 60 percent of my health, but no charges of the wand was required, as the entire quest was over after they were dead.

This is stressful! LOL Fun, though. I'm having the time of my life, even though breathing is difficult when things jump out at me. Thank goodness I have points in Spot - some of those rogue-y enemies don't sneak up on me nearly as often as they might otherwise. So after two quests, my wand is still full. YAY!

3. Under the Big Top, final quest in the House P chain. Slight hiccup here. Got to about 75 percent of my health bar halfway through killing the rave-music carnies when my game lagged and my character froze to the spot. When the game unfroze, I was dead. DOH. Several obscenities later, I released and hurried back...JUST in time to make it back in before the instance reset. Thank goodness!! I was pretty convinced that Malicia would be too much for me, but it actually wasn't that bad! I didn't end up using any charges of the wand at all during the quest, since I'd been planning on shrining after the fight in which I experienced lagdeath, and there simply wasn't any time during the Malicia fight. Fortunately, I had pulled a +3 Ghost Touch Adamantine Greatsword of Pure Good from my paladin, and that hit the demoness hard enough that she finally went down. I ended with about 60 percent of my health. YAY! I even got her top hat out of the chest. (I was really hoping for a pair of those fishnet stockings, but I'll take what I can get.) A token victory, but one of which I'm proud.

4. Chamber of Insanity, from House K. Well... Let's just say I'm *really* glad that I had that wand. Fighting the wraith bosses definitely took a toll on my health bar, even with the use of that lovely Ghost Touch sword. After the second wraith, I reluctant used the first charges on my wand since the experiment began. I used two, bringing my wand down to 30 charges. Still a respectable amount, but I was worried that this quest would require more. Darn near did! I sank gratefully at the feet of the shrine, hoping against hope that I'd survive the quest at all. Then, something inexplicable happened to my sense of reason and logic. I totally threw caution to the wind, hurling myself at the final boss like a 14-year-old girl who just saw Robert Pattinson at a Walmart buying hair gel. In spite of the whopping 32 points of health I was sporting, I attacked with ManyShot, picking off all of his friends and damaging the end boss himself just a tad, then resorting to the Big Sword for the serious fighting. In the end, I was victorious. With a single point of health remaining, I sneaked back into the final room to make sure the coast was clear, looted the chest, and ran like a rabbit. Two wand charges down!!

5. The Lair of Summoning, from House K. Thanks to guild ship buffs, my resists were well in place. I got about halfway through, not having taken a single point of damage, when the unthinkable happened. I was brought a bowl of homemade apple and blackberry crumble, topped with ice cream and whipped cream. The sugar...did things to my brain...things that felt REALLY good but in reality were really quite bad. (Paging Amy Winehouse, come in, Ms. Winehouse.) I completely forgot that I was in the middle of the quest, downed my bowl of dessert and began to tremble. Fortunately, I'd stopped in a safe area. By the time I returned however, I'd completely forgotten that I was standing directly in front of a sonic trap. Ten HP down. Oops. I managed to buckle down slightly after that, but my hands were still shaking a bit. Got lucky, and didn't take a single hit from the elemental bosses at the end, so I still finished only 10 HP down...a sugar casualty.

6. Archer Point Defense. For some reason, this quest has always been a tricky one for me. Most likely because I've never learned an efficient route to make all of the kills before the timer runs out. This time was different for some reason... I was hardly paying any attention at all, but was chatting amiably with my partner about random role-playing issues. ("So...what's your half-elf wizzie's story?" Kind of thing.) Next thing I know, BAM! Quest done. I was also pleasantly surprised to note that I was only 13 HP down from my total.

7. The Ruined Halls. I really enjoy this quest. I always forget about it, and then remember how awesome it is about halfway through it. Bugbears jumping out of boxes, kobolds popping out of birthday cakes, oozes slipping out of...vases? You can't tell me that's not cool! The mephits in one of the optional areas did chop about 40 percent of my health off, but a shrine was able to take care of that with no difficulty and I ended the quest only 10 HP down. Woots!

Summary: Clearly, I had too much playtime yesterday. That's my first conclusion. With regard to my health bar, I feel that these quests represented a luke-warm wake-up cup of coffee. Since they were by and large two levels below my level, the overall difficulty was low. However, that doesn't mean that I can be reckless - lots of quests have areas that aren't as challenging as others, but the challenge level can rise SO fast that I won't have time to switch gears back into "Careful Mode." The smartest thing I can learn is to utilise a modicum of care at ALL times. No one but me is responsible for my health bar.

More of the challenge awaits me today. There are 30 charges remaining on my Experiment Wand (ew!). Wish me luck!

[TeyaBrosna]

1. Final chapter of the Splinterskull chain. I'm a level higher than this quest, and it's easy peasy to begin with,
so...not much challenge here. Still utilising the care I established yesterday, and finished out only six HP down. No
shrining or wanding required. I gotta pick something harder...

2. The Forgotten Caverns, yet another little House K quest. Stupid trolls and their stupid regeneration. (How can I get me some of that?!) Didn't require shrining or wanding, but I did end 17 HP down.

3. Mirra's Sleepless Nights in House J. Managed to get through the entire quest, only taking 2 points of damage...until I got to the optional wraith boss. He decided to take another 12 points, just to remind me that I don't have undead-protection gear at ALL. Still no wand usage, but this quest was still lower level than I am. Next! (Is it just me, or is it *supremely* satisfying to disable all of those ice traps in that room with the ladder and the chest? Gosh, that always feels so good!)

4. The Bounty Hunter, long-ish quest from House D. This one required a bit more care than the previous ones did. That room with the archers shooting at me from the ledges above was a bit harrowing. I did have to shrine once, but still managed to complete without using my wand. Due to the large number of traps, I did go VERY slowly. Finished the quest with 16 HP missing from my total. Faced the first Drow in this toon's career, and it made me gulp a bit. They move FAST.

5. Tomb of the Immortal Heart, from the Necropolis I series. Man, those big balls of fire that get cast all the time are *annoying!* They rarely hit me (thank you, reflex saves!), but are still aggravating. I did use both shrines, but wasn't required to wand myself and ended the quest down by seven HP.

6. The Missing Party, the second quest in the Delera chain. Holy cow, that was intense! Completed in slightly under an hour, getting all bonuses and optionals. No wand usage, but I did shrine twice (and the second time I only made it to the shrine with 8 HP). Finished the last bosses and popups with 38 HP left. Was glad to leave since my wrist was aching just a tad, but am incredibly pleased with the accomplishment.

[TeyaBrosna]

1. Attempting to do a quest on level: The Haunted Library, in House J. So far, so good...but it's tough. Have had to use both shrines that I've come across. Thank god rangers get melee feats for free. So...got to the very end and I was doing great. And then...disaster. Death by PK. I had to end up wand-whipping myself a cringe-worthy seven times before I was able to take out that boss wraith and his caster goons. (Is using a hireling still considered soloing? I might shoulda done that...)

2. Redwillow's Ruins, from House J. Awesome quest, one of my absolute favorites. No difficulty until I got to the giants at the end. Even they weren't too terribly bad, although I have to confess that I did kite them more than I would have if I'd been in a group - my gear simply isn't good enough to help me withstand too many hits from those guys. (Certainly not while I'm surrounded by them.) Ended well, only about 25 HP down. No wanding required.

3. Dead Girl's Spellbook, from House J. I always forget how much fun this quest is! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish in time, but I had a few minutes to spare at the end. Great fun, and no wanding required. I did shrine, but ended just a few HP down. I'm really getting better about kiting in a tight circle as if there were melees there.

4. Decided to get a bit lazy and finish the slayer/rare-hunting for Three Barrel Cove. Half a rank away from level 9!

So...I spent some time at Three Barrel Cove with my wife. She's running a Helf wizard that just reached level 7 and got the famous Wall of Fire, and she wanted to practice using it. (She's watched a bunch of videos of how other wizards aggro everything, lay down a few fire walls, then kite the baddies through the fire until they experience Pompeii.) Since I've been trying to practice good kiting techniques, I decided to accompany her and see what I could do to help.

If I thought that MY kiting techniques were dizzying, it was nothing compared to doing it while half of my screen is in flames. I have a new-found respect for wizards who do this on a regular basis. I raise my bottles of water and tylenol to you. I also discovered that by letting her set the pace of the kills and following her lead, I *was* able to be helpful. Auto-attack is NOT my friend in most situations, and definitely not here. Choosing to only shoot when I saw a monster hot on her tail was the ticket; in this way, I was able to help pick off the monsters who weren't dead after the first couple of passes through the fire and help keep us both from taking more than a couple of points of damage. She didn't need to tell me when to shoot, I just had to watch very, very carefully.

This led me to wonder, how *exactly* should my technique vary when partnered with a melee type? Fortunately, my best friend has a new battle cleric. We set out for Searing Heights to see how our two soloists would mesh. Not surprisingly, we both made kills easily, but individually. I found myself hesitating much more often than I would have if I'd been alone and consequently took much more damage. It looked as though she was experiencing something similar. Additionally, my attempts to kite in a tight circle (the one I read about in the Dear Pew Pews thread) were a dismal failure. I need much, much more practice. Something else I want to experiment with is the notion of 'bringing the mountain to the melee.' Yes, I know I'll get aggro if I shoot, and the monsters will run straight to me. But what if my melee teammate positions herself either *directly* in front of me or occupies the same spot as me on the map (since physics don't seem to apply with regard to PCs)? Rather than forcing the melee fighter to chase anything, or worry about nausea-inducing jump-kiting, could this work under certain circumstances?

I am officially calling an end to my HP Care experiment, as I have derailed my own interest in it. Yes, I learned a bunch about how to manage aggro when I am soloing and how to consistently avoid damage against a variety of monsters in a variety of environments. That "Dear Pew Pew" thread has gotten me to thinking about kiting and the time I spent working with it yesterday has given me something else to work on.