DDO Video Fun (Wandering Monster)

Created by a loving gaming couple and children, Wandering Monster is a series of short cartoons from the perspective of the monsters. They did an episode focusing on DDO, and while trying to find it again I also found out they did a lot of DDO machinima videos. Here are three of their videos, one of the traditional Wandering Monster show, and two of their DDO machinimas.

1) WanderingMonster.com Meets DDo

2) Town Hall Meeting

3) Ddo Poker Night

Neverwinter: Another Heroes of Neverwinter Giveaway

Hey guys, sorry I'm slow on getting this to you, but there is another giveaway similar in nature to the one at Flames Rising. This one is at Geek Native, you can find out more here.

Sadly the giveaway ends tomorrow, so be sure to grab the goodies today. There are currently no entrants, stands to reason you will be chosen.

Neverwinter: An interview with the Director of Product Marketing and a Giveaway!

I dropped by the Flames Rising blog today to read their great interview with Peter Banks of Atari (Director of Product Marketing for Heroes of Neverwinter). Not only is it a great read with lots of information on the direction the game is meant to take and what Peter's favorite parts of it have been so far, but Flames Rising is also hosting a contest on the site to give away some great in game items.

You can read and interview and enter the contest at the Flames Rising blog.

Walkthrough: Mystery of Delera's Tomb

From the start of My Life In Stormreach I've wanted to post in depth tutorials for some of (maybe someday all) the quests. That dream has been a bit in the making, but I'm ready to unveil the first few, which will focus on the Delera's Tomb quest line (I'll go back to do the other's in the adventure pack at another time). So, without further ado, let's get to it. Oh yeah, and there will be massive spoilers, obviously. If that's something you want to avoid you should probably avert your eyes now.

Preparation
Getting the Quest/Getting To The Quest
The Drawbridge
The Shortcut
Drawbridge Continued
The Locked Door Optionals
The Annoying Ambush Halls
The Final Chamber


Preparation:
Before attempting this quest you should take the time to prep yourself for combat against undead.

 For warriors this means you should snag some Ghost Touch and Undead Bane weapons. In addition, there are enemies that appear near the end that have some pretty nasty DR against everything but good weapons, so a flametouched or Pure Good might be a nice addition to your supplies.

For casters you'll want spells that allow you to control or outright decimate undead. Command Undead is invaluable in this for getting control of some of the combats. There is nothing like taking control of nine out of ten arcane skeletons and watching them own everything in the room. If you're coming back to elite this (and why wouldn't you?) then I suggest Wall of Fire, few spells have the usefulness of this one against undead. It utterly obliterates.

The Quest

Ah Derek, the House Jorasco tool.

You're going to want to pick up this quest from Derek Grospic in House Jorasco. He's to the right of Airship Access and directly in front of the access area for Delera's Graveyard. This is a pay to play quest, so if you haven't done so you can purchase it from the DDO store for 850 Turbine Points (trust me, this quest line is worth it, but we'll get into that later).

Once you're done agreeing to look into the situation you'll want to enter into the graveyard and find Delera's Tomb.

You can't miss it.

What a creepy looking statue.

Once you've reached Delera's Tomb you'll want to go inside the middle door--labeled Delera's Antechamber. Don't worry about the other two, those are for other quests (and we'll get to them later.) Once inside you'll be greeted by the familiar narrator's voice who will inform you that the rest of the module will be narrated by the one and only Gary Gygax (rest in peace Gary). Once through the foyer and into the dungeon proper you'll see a raised drawbridge to your right and an alcove to your left...there are also four wooden coffins in between these two areas. To lower this first drawbridge you'll want to use the lever in the alcove.

But WAIT, if your party's jump is high enough (or a wizard can give you a high enough jump with the Jump spell) you can skip this entire portion of the quest...which consists of two combat encounters, and pulling four switches to lower two drawbridges and open two doors. However you'll be missing out on a treasure chest. If you don't want to here about the shortcut then click here to skip it.

I prefer to do the first two switches, which unlocks the door with the treasure chest and then use the shortcut.

So what's the shortcut? Well, if you just swim to the other side and have a decent jump you can grab the ledge, pull yourself up and crush the undead guardians before moving on.

Didn't I help someone destroy a Sovereign Host temple once...yeah...

But for those who are unwilling or unable to skip this section, let's go back and cover it. Or skip ahead if you want to use the shortcut.

Be ready because once you pull that lever the caskets are going to bust and four skeletons wielding bows are going to come out and attack your party. Make quick work of them and then get ready for a swim because even though half the drawbridge is down the other side isn't, and the two doors to either side of the bridge are both closed off.

Maybe the wizard shouldn't be the one to get it.

Underneath the opposing drawbridge (the one still up) in the very center there is a pillar, dive here and look on the side closest to the ledge. There is a small switch underwater which you will have to pull, this will raise one of the doors--the one with the treasure chest. Swim back to the entrance and either climb the ladder on the left side or jump and grab the ledge (if you're skill is high enough). Return to the center of the bridge to find the open door.

There is a switch inside. There are also some more coffins...they will burst open once you pull that switch so get ready...If I am partying or have a hireling I drop a few fire walls or other damaging area spells inside the room and then have the tank, hireling (or pet for artificers) pull the switch.

Once that switch is pulled the door shuts, locking you in with the undead. This is why I like to have someone else do it, while they are battling those undead I can cross the hall to the other door (now open) and pull the lever inside to drop the second half of the drawbridge. Once the first door opens head in and collect your chest, then continue along the drawbridge.

Before moving on be sure to collect the white mushroom (because we always get our collectables, right guys?)

See those glowing green corpses on the ground inside the door? Yeah, those will come to life when you walk near them, they are also the only way to get the Conquest bonus for this quest. They will respawn, which is necessary because there aren't enough enemies in the quest to get the 25% bonus for killing monsters (you need to kill about 160, if you straight run through you'll be about 30 short). I like to drop a wall of fire or flame turret at the door, run in to grab aggro and then retreat back through the door, letting the spell deal with the enemies.

Just try not to get hit by archer while you disarm it.

After you've slain the zombies head in and turn right, there is a spike trap here so let your trapsmith take care of it. In the meantime you will want to use ranged weapons to take out the archers on the other side of the trap.

If you don't have a trapsmith don't worry, this trap is easily avoidable. See those holes in the ground? Just walk in between them and no spike will touch you.

After the trap and skeletal archers there is a fourway. The room on your right has shrines (as well as a couple wights), the room to your left is locked and has an optional scorpion boss named Vengeance. Before taking on Vengeance try to smash the sarcophagi with ranged attacks as they will burst open on your entrance...preventing you from getting the Ransack bonus. You'll want to do this for every room you enter. If you try to go forward from here a gate will slam shut and trap you in the room with some spawned undead. Get used to this, you're going to want to move together as a party into all new rooms in this quest because they will almost always close on you.

On higher difficulties these traps can be a real pain.

Deal with vengeance and the spawned undead and take a second to search for the control panel for the cold trap in this hallway. If you don't have a trapsmith take a second to cast resist energy cold or protection from cold and attempt to jump over the cold streams. Sometimes you can make it through without a scratch this way, if not the resist/protection spells should keep you from death.

You are once again in a fourway. Straight ahead and the to right are some optionalls. If you turn left you'll continue the quest.

+1 Cool to Turbine for the Iliad reference

The optional to your right is Myrmidon Patroclus, a wight myrmidon guarding a chest. Once you take him out you should stop and search for the control panel because the chest he was guarding is trapped with a stream of poison. If you don't have a trapsmith you can avoid this trap by standing to the right of it when you open it up.

The control panel is on the right of the chest.

When you try to return to the main room you'll be greeted with a group of undead and a locked door. I know it's beginning to feel like Devil May Cry but you'll have to take out the undead to get that door open again. Grab the collectable in the corner of the room and head out.
 

The next optional is an altar which needs to be cleansed. This one is pretty straightforward, walk in, use the altar, and defeat the spawned baddies to progress.

After dealing with the optionals you'll want to continue along down the path (facing some ghasts on your way who may or may not respawn). Two thirds down this hall is another cold trap. Disarm it or prepare to jump over it and then proceed to the end of the hall...which will slam shut in your face. Destroy the spawned undead and then continue on.

The control panel is on the right side of the hallway, right before the first cold stream.

Oh goody, my favorite area. Remember how I told you that the party should move together? Well, the PARTY SHOULD MOVE TOGETHER, because otherwise you'll be split up when an army of undead and a few wraiths come knocking on your door.

If you go right then you'll clear an area to a few shrines, but left leads to a collectable and then a chest.

Once you get through this first half of annoying ambush after ambush there is a long hall that serves as a point of, you guessed it, ambush. Deal with the undead, snag the collectable and then head into the middle chamber to face off against a wraith called the Shade of Destruction. Do the whole trapped hallway thing again, pick up the collectable and then proceed to the final chamber.

Loot first, note later, just in case the ambush kills you.

Inside is a chest and a group of corpses with a note on the ground next to them. Snag your chest and then prepare for a battle because as soon as you pick up that note it's ambush time. You'll be facing off against myriad undead who will spawn inside or outside the room as well as the Omaren Deathguard, a spectre who always seems to die before I can get a picture of him. While the quest itself is finished now there is an optional that becomes available now. You can slay 40 ghostly skeletons for 20% of base xp. There are ten inside the room with you, to kill the rest you'll have to backtrack through the dungeon, slaying them as you go.

What advance? You didn't award me anything. Not a single copper.

Finish the quest and head back to Grospic, he'll tell you to meet up with a priest in the graveyard who will give you the next part of the quest. There you have it, you've just finished the Myster of Delera's Tomb so go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back.

While you're at it, let me know if you liked this guide and would like to see more. It took me a bit longer to complete than most of the articles, but I think it was worth it, do you?

Picture Teaser

A few pictures from the upcoming article.

Bear with me guys, it is coming along.

Sorry About the Delay

Sorry about last week guys. New content is on its way, and in depth content at that, but I need you guys to hold off just a little bit longer. I'll have something posted up later tonight, so be sure to either check in then or tomorrow to see it, in the meantime though I hope everyone is having a great December.

Cannith Crafting Planner

My haggle bard Ahshoka happens to be the Cannith Crafter for my guild, until recently this meant very little as I just wasn't good enough at crafting to create the unbound shards required for useful items. However, that has recently changed.

What has not changed though is how much planning has to go into making an item. You've got to acquire the essences, build the shards, pray to the lords that be that the item slot you want to use can accept the shard.

It's a hassle to be sure.

So I looked around for program to help me, and my guildmates with the process.

I found quite a few actually, but they all used excel and I'm afraid I don't have excel. I would have used them via Google Docs but...well, they didn't work with that program.

But I did find one I liked and I'm posting it here so that my guildmates, and of course you fine readers, can enjoy it.