The Path To Power: A Critical Path Guide

[Kistilan]

Thanks Sirgog!

Yeah, I ran all the Shroud content last weekend. I need to run it a few more times to be able to hand-pick the quests and give critical tips, but I definitely agree level 13 on normal. I did it with a level 12 character, but he was supported by level 13-15 characters.

Reaver's Fate & Gianthold will definitely be in the level 11-16 range. I have to run the Necropolis high-level stuff to be able to determine if any of these fit the PtP mold.

So far I've got Ritual Sacrifice & Let Sleeping Dust Lie pegged for high-level zerg fests. Rainbow and Coalescence required more knowledge. Running with the Devils was harder (but I ran it on hard at level 12 too). Maybe that one is good -- seemed straight forward.

Continuing to gather info on quests for faster speeds and Chrontrigger Alliance Initiative too! Feel free to post "speed tips" for the high level quests in Shroud, Gianthold, & High-Level Necropolis! I need to update this thing after all.

Here's a couple of suggestions for higher levels (13-16).

Level 13: Immediately on hitting level 13, get Shroud flagged. This involves running each of the following quests once on normal (all of the quests are good XP anyway):

Running with the Devils
Ritual Sacrifice
Let Sleeping Dust Lie
Coalescence Chamber
Rainbow in the Dark

I recommend allowing level 13-16 groups here - less XP than an all-13 group, but you'll do the quests far faster. Once you have done these quests, you want to run The Shroud to completion (30K XP for first run and lots of great loot), and start running it on normal every time you come off timer until you are capped. If you are not in a powergamer guild, you may have trouble finding a Shroud group at level 13 unless you are a pure-classed Cleric, but it is possible to make one yourself.

Also, if you have not already, make sure to flag for the Reaver's Fate and run it every time you are off timer - it's a lot of XP and also has good raid loot. If you know the quest well, at level 13 or 14 you can start also running Hound of Xoriat the same way - also excellent XP.


While you are on raid timers, I recommend choosing one of the following paths for XP running.

Option 1: The Necropolis path (requires significant quest knowledge but is very efficient in a good group)
Run Desecrated Temple of Vol, Inferno of the Damned, Ghosts of Perdition and Fleshmaker's Lab once each on normal, then hard, then elite. This will award a lot of XP and you should also have a completed Sigil by this time. Once you do, start running Litany of the Dead (the Black Abbot preraid) over and over - that quest has utterly insane XP, can be easily done on normal, hard and even elite, and has excellent loot as well. As an added 'bonus', this makes you flagged for the Abbot raid, so if you are feeling suicidal, you can feel free to jump in there too.

Option 2: The Gianthold/Meridia path (more PUG friendly, but slower)
Do any remaining Gianthold quests once each on elite, then do the Shroud flagging quests an additional two times each on normal, once each on hard, and once each on elite. Bring your A-game to Running with the Devils elite, that one can be mean.

[sirgog]

Thanks Sirgog!

Yeah, I ran all the Shroud content last weekend. I need to run it a few more times to be able to hand-pick the quests and give critical tips, but I definitely agree level 13 on normal. I did it with a level 12 character, but he was supported by level 13-15 characters.

Reaver's Fate & Gianthold will definitely be in the level 11-16 range. I have to run the Necropolis high-level stuff to be able to determine if any of these fit the PtP mold.

So far I've got Ritual Sacrifice & Let Sleeping Dust Lie pegged for high-level zerg fests. Rainbow and Coalescence required more knowledge. Running with the Devils was harder (but I ran it on hard at level 12 too). Maybe that one is good -- seemed straight forward.

Continuing to gather info on quests for faster speeds and Chrontrigger Alliance Initiative too! Feel free to post "speed tips" for the high level quests in Shroud, Gianthold, & High-Level Necropolis! I need to update this thing after all.

Speed tips on Meridia quests:

Running with the Devils: All melee-oriented toons should dualwield Wounders (W/P optimal, but Wounding is sufficient). Arcanes play a support role (especially if running this underlevel where SR is a killer) and save their SP for the boss fights. Eladrin have low Con scores, they go down like butter. For the final fight, make sure to fight them one at a time unless you are feeling very, very cocky. Can be speedrun. Bring Transmuters for the rednamed eladrin. He's a mongrel.

Ideal party makeup: 1 melee bard, 3 TWF melees with wounders, 1 Cleric, 1 Arcane with Acid Fog and Firewall
Classes that shine: Ranger, Cleric
Spells that shine: Haste, GH (if no bard, the +4 to hit helps a lot), Recitation (same reason, some foes have high AC)



Coalescence Chamber: Get a WF 16 Wiz or 16 Sor to solo it. Stand at the entry. Run to chests if you can make it without falling.

Ideal party makeup: 1 WF caster, 5 anything
Spells that shine: FoM or Fire Shield (prevents Web), Symbol of Persuasion, Firewall (latter two for crowd control in the corridors)
Spells to avoid: Jump (actually makes the jumps harder in places due to hitting overhead obstacles)
Items that make the quest much easier - Kundarak boots, Resist Lightning 30 on an item


The others I can't think of any particularly fast ways to do, but on the plus side, many of them are frequently lootrun by level 16s who will happily take another character along.



The Necropolis stuff is faster for levelling but requires a lot of quest knowledge (for instance, Inferno of the Damned can be run in 10 minutes by a group that all know it backwards and are prepared to split the party - a PUG may take 90 minutes and not complete)

[Arianrhod]

Just thought I'd get this back to the first page, since some people might not have known about it...no need to keep rewriting the same guides when excellent ones like this already exist

[sirgog]

Another tip for powerlevelling, using a quest few people ever consider.


Inferno of the Damned powerlevelling guide:

Recommended group level: 13-14 or 13-15 (highly twinked lower level toons welcome too)
Ideal party makeup: 2 Clerics, one of which can at least hold their own in melee, 1 Arcane with D-Door and Haste (can be a bard), 1 Arcane with Flesh to Stone (can be the same person as the other arcane if they are not a bard; Web and Discoball are both inferior but acceptable substitutes), melees.
Items that make the quest easier: Disruptors, Con damage weapons for Fire Eles only. If the first Arcane is a Bard, they must have UMD and Fireball or Burning Hands wands.
Spells that shine: Banishment (should be named Mass Swat Mephit), Fear, Flesh to Stone, Mass Suggestion, Suggestion

Strategy:

First, kill as little as possible. Everything that is killed on the Light Side is reincarnated as an undead on the Fire Side. These undead are tougher than their live versions and mostly fire-immune. Charm spells create excellent distractions - either charm one mob and run past as the others turn on them, or mass charm a pack and run past while they salute you.

This quest is organised like a bicycle wheel with four spokes. To make things more confusing, there's two copies of the quest (it helps to think of one being vertically above the other, that's the way the game engine has it) and you must frequently port from one to the other. I will refer to the quest as though it were a clock face - you have the centre, north is 12 oclock, east 3, south 6 and west 9. The two levels will be referred to as the Light Side and the Fire Side. Some passages are blocked on one side but notthe other. Oh, and the wheel isn't perfectly round, but is pretty close to it.

You enter the quest at Light Centre. After buffing (Resist Fire, Cold and Lightning, GH on those not immune to fear, Deathward on all, Stoneskin on squishies, extend nothing), split into two groups. Group 1 has to have the melee-capable cleric and the D-Door caster; group 2 optimally is the other 4, but you may want an extra melee with group 1.

Group 1 and 2 both go west to Light 9 o'clock, then port to Fire 9. Here they split.

Group 1 goes counterclockwise toward Fire 6 (they get stuck at Fire 7), ports to Light 7, then walks to Light 6, CC's the mobs there (Charm effects are optimal here), lights the four torches with Fireballs, and kills the Fire Elemental that spawns. Then, they D-Door, and run to catch up with group 2.

Group 2 goes clockwise toward Fire 12. At Fire 10½, they'll be able to port to Light 10½ and they should. They then return south to Light 10, light torches and do a Fire Elemental fight. Then, they port back to Fire 10½, go to Fire 10 and use cold spells (Cone of Cold scrolls, Ice Storm wands) to put out the torches, summoning a Cinderspawn (these are killed rapidly by Disruptors even on Elite; DPS is a solid option too).

By this stage the groups should have reuinted and you are probably low on SP. Keep progressing clockwise until you reach Light 11 and a fork in the road. Northeast leads to a shrine and a chest that can easily be screwed up. Take that path first.

In the next room (Light 12), you can see a resurrection shrine but no rest shrine, and several human mobs. One is named Acolyte of Flame - when that mob dies, a once-only teleport to the Fire Side happens within a Haste radius of that mob. Optimally, you want to immobilize that foe without letting him leave the room, gather the whole party on him, then kill him so you all port to the Fire 12 room - a locked room with a chest, and a rest shrine. (If you fail and only some party members get the teleport, they can open the locked door from inside Fire 12 - if you fail badly and noone gets the teleport and survives, the shrine and chest are lost (probably costing blue bar folks 1 mana pot each) and anyone dead inside Fire 12 must release and reenter). Flesh to Stone is the best spell to immmobilize the Acolyte, but Web or Discoball will also work in a pinch.

Once you finish, return to Light 11 or Fire 11 (can't remember which, but the one that allows you to leave via the southeast exit, think it's Fire 11), and run through that to 1 o'clock. The north wall has a secret door holding a portal, use it (if needed) to reach Light 1 and do a Fire Ele room, then port to Fire 1 and kill a Cinderspawn.

From here on, the quest is much easier. Just keep to the outer rim of the quest, and go clockwise. Port only when forced to, kill as little as you can, and you'll have the Light 3 fire ele down in no time, then the Fire 6 Cinderspawn (there's also another Acolyte of Flame room at Light 6 leading to another chest and another shrine), then run north to Fire Centre, kill everything, then east to Fire 3 for the last non-rednamed Cinderspawn. Then rebuff if needed (Fire and Cold resist, DW) and pick a fight with Cinnis, the Cinderspawn that will not disrupt. Use Cone of Cold, Bladebarrier, melee DPS and Heal to kill him.



Once you are done (probably takes 30 minutes if you are using this guide but not experienced; 35 if you don't split into two groups early and instead have the whole party do Group 1's job), return and repeat it on normal. Over time, you'll get it to 15 and maybe even 10 minutes. 3 normal runs, 1 hard, 1 elite and BAM - you have the hardest to find Sigil piece, 40000 XP and 15 chests (20 if you do the optional I haven't covered).

[Arianrhod]

Any plans to update this guide for mod 9 (many quests have had their XP values changed, and several new quests have been added in the low level range, like the Sharn Syndicate series)? Might be of use to the expected influx of new players (though it may need to include a guide to which Adventure Packs free players would be advised to pick up).

[Yargore]

You have a thing or two to learn about power leveling and zergin...

[Kistilan]

Any plans to update this guide for mod 9 (many quests have had their XP values changed, and several new quests have been added in the low level range, like the Sharn Syndicate series)? Might be of use to the expected influx of new players (though it may need to include a guide to which Adventure Packs free players would be advised to pick up).

Yes. I've written a version 2.0 in my mind with a lot of corrections, clarifications and stream-lining plus blatant removal of out-dated or unnecessary quests.

I also am considering incorporating The Chronotrigger Alliance Initiatives into version 2.0, although I'm worried about how it will be moderated.

Yargore - This guide is essentially 2 years old. I know a lot more about power levelling and zerging than this lets on. For instance, I know how to reach level 16 in about a day (25 hours). And yes, that's a lot of serious playing and preparation to do.

[Uberbaby]

Kistilan, nice post... I have been using it as a guide as I have been leveling! +1 Rep.

[barlion]

for 15-17 lvls i suggest orchard quests litany and abbot along with some reaver raids.