Part 95: Crows Nest
Chapter 71 Crows Nest
Mardaneus Plaza Zombies (Whirlwind, before and after)
Into Crows Nest
BOSS: Nerus
Tom and Taurus
Video: Mardaneus Plaza Zombies
A plot-light update today, thankfully. I thought Id begin by comparing the damage Yara does before and after boosting Whirlwind. Lets begin.
Im doing 400 at the low end of a powered-up Whirlwind. Its not complete garbage, but its not doing much.
(Yara) Hmmm that didnt go as fast as I would have liked and these were pretty weak zombies. I think some training might be in order.
(Hermosa) Lets get it on.
Your Whirlwind skill can now be increased up to Rank 10! Cost: 750 Gold.
Im ready for another round if you are!
Your Whirlwind skill can now be increased up to Rank 13! Cost: 3500 Gold.
That was a nice warm-up, but how about some real action?
Your Whirlwind skill can now be increased up to Rank 15! Cost: 10,000 Gold.
That only increased the cap, though. I need to deallocate my skill points. Because I havent done that before, it will cost me 5000 gold for the first time, and it doubles each time. The amount of gold you can have is limited to what you can get from merchants, so dont go too crazy or else youll run out of resources to reallocate skill points.
Life Leech
Decreased from Rank 13 to Rank 8
Chance of Leech: 34% -> 24%
HP Drained: 32% -> 22%
Thousand Strikes
Decreased from Rank 12 to Rank 10
Damage Multiplier (per strike): 1.7x -> 1.5x
Mana Cost: 238 -> 220
Cooldown: 20 -> 15 seconds
Knockdown Chance: 65% -> 55%
Whirlwind
Increased from Rank 1 to Rank 12 (+1)
Mana Cost: 11 -> 52 (56)
Cooldown: 5 seconds -> 2 seconds
Bonus Damage (fixed): 1.5 -> 378.5 (451)
Knockdown Chance: 10% -> 43% (46%)
I took points out of Life Leech and Thousand Strikes because I wasnt planning ahead when I put the points in there to begin with the Order of the Viper set provides +5 bonuses to each of those.
Video: Into Crows Nest
Hey! Its that Black Ring spy, and a Champion?
Pause a moment, Dragon Knight, to learn what they are scheming.
(Kenzo) You are late, Nerus! Here, I have the spell. Take it and good riddance!
(Nerus) Calm down! Everything is in place and soon it will begin. This should be a moment of triumph, not apprehension!
Says the man who has but to lurk in the shadows! I had to kill two Champions on the way here and nearly fell foul of a bloody Dragon Knight!
Well, never mind all that now. Your angst was not that misplaced anyhow. You have outdone your use, my friend, but you shall not outlive it!
Damn! Im sure that whatever that spell is for, itll be bad news for Aleroth. I cant let him get away!
Be careful, Dragon Knight. The streets are swimming in the dead.
Weve actually met Nerus, the guy who just killed the other guy. He was annoyed at Yara for throwing open the door to the Circle of Trust. No, he didnt stick in my mind either.
Music: Into Crows Nest
Welcome to Crows Nest. Population: 16 Living, 800+ Undead. Its hard to keep count, because unlike the Ego Draconis part of the game, enemies here will respawn after a while. You can never fully clear Crows Nest of foes, and several quests will make you pass through here in and out of the buildings, so repeated fighting is assured.
Now Whirlwind is hitting in the sub-600 rage at the low-end, and its going above 1100 at the high end. Much better.
Theyve been here for a while and no one has pulled these before now? The people of Aleroth have more common sense than
You do?
Rune Handles Pulled: 3/5
Most of the doors in this area have been boarded shut, and you can expect trouble in many of the ones that arent. But those are questing houses, and we arent here for that yet.
Again, I should note that I needed 140,000 XP to reach the next level after completing the tree quest.
Level 37.
I decided to put points into Dexterity to try and give myself a bit of a boost to Ranged armour, even if it isnt very much.
That debt was wiped out in pretty much no time at all. Enemies give a ton of XP, although gaining the level means they give me 10% less per kill now. Its still really generous.
Whirlwind
Increased from Rank 12 to Rank 13 (+1)
Mana Cost: 52 -> 56 (59)
Cooldown: 2 seconds
Bonus Damage (fixed): 378.5 -> 451 (503.5)
Knockdown Chance: 43% -> 46% (49%)
The gate behind Yara leads to Source Square. Its sealed shut and will never open. Also, there seems to be a woman standing by a house on fire. Just pointing that out for now.
Video: BOSS: Nerus
There he is! Whats he doing to that teleporter?
(Nerus) Stand back! Youre too late anyway!
Relax, its not my habit to spy on those who publicly urinate in alleyways.
I see you are prepared to die with a smile of light amusement on your face, O great scaled one. With the magic I acquired, Black Ring troops will soon flood the city! Aleroth will fall!
So the undead uprising is a Black Ring plot?
Well not as such, no
Then the Ring controls the giant tree that zaps anyone trying to enter the safe part of the city?
Uh not quite Your attempt at distraction has failed!
Now behold as the legions of the Damned One tear ever living thing from limb to limb!
(Behrlihn) (-7500 XP) This fellow is about to fail. Miserably
Any any minute now, theyll be here! You just, er prepare to die, Dragon Knight!
Oh, the painful death youll suffer at their hands! Tremble, shiver, cower in fear!
Youd better run and hide and hope that
Hahaa! They are here! Damian be praised!
Three soldiers. Im impressed.
Damn this Ancient Maxos Magic, its so unreliable! Come on then, let us deal with the Dragon first!
Yaras alternate line changes nothing.
Are you quite sure that is what the spell was supposed to do?
Damn this Ancient Maxos Magic, its so unreliable! Come on then, let us deal with the Dragon first!
Nerus
The Black Ring were pretty dangerous when I was a higher level than they were. Two levels below them is even more dangerous. This is how much damage I took DODGING half the Magic Missiles. Granted, I didnt have on my helmet.
Nerus is actually the easiest one to kill, despite being level 40. The others have really nasty Magic Missiles and powerful Healing. They can both take a lot of damage and dish it out, which makes this fight fun and challenging.
The best way to pull through, Ive found, is to focus on one at a time and wear them down, then use Thousand Strikes to finish them off.
After that, the Crows Nest waypoint shrine is open. We now have fast travel to four of the five districts of Aleroth.
Video: Tom and Taurus
Theres another Rune Handle.
Rune Handles Pulled: 4/5
(Tom) Good heavens, Dragon Knight! Hes after me, hell kill me!
Tom? Who? Whats going on?
Its Taurus, sent by the General. Please stop him!
General Augustus? What?
(Taurus) Ha! Ive got you now, you slippery coward! You may skitter like a rabbit with its tail on fire, but you cant outrun the fox!
Easy there, Taurus, the rabbit enjoys a Dragons protection.
Truly? And what is a Dragon but a mangy reptile that soars instead of slithers? A Dragon indeed! Out of my way, you lunatic, so I can finish what I came here for.
(-22500 XP) This joker has another thing coming if she thinks shes a match for me and my enchanted bracelet!
And when I return your ring finger as proof of your death, Tom, that sad little stump will be worth many pounds of pure gold!
Am I the only one who remembers about the fleet of Flying Fortresses ready to bombard this place into chunks of stone no bigger than a fist?
Seriously, dont waste your time on this mind-read. Its just a waste. The bracelet is the worst piece of magical equipment in the game. It has no properties and only two enchantment slots.
Tom is the guy we met earlier in Hansels house. This is actually the first time we meet him in the real game.
You can try to tell Taurus to go ahead and kill Tom, but Taurus doesnt want any witnesses, so hell try and kill you first regardless. Dont worry, while the game wont let you kill Tom, you can be nasty to him in other ways! Theres even an achievement for it!
Despite my low health, this isnt really a dangerous fight.
(Tom) Good heavens! Well fought, I didnt think anyone could beat the Generals bulldog!
Okay, lets stop naming animals and cut to the chase.
Thats the thing, my friend: my story revolves entirely around the most exquisite of creatures. Anne is her name and she is to be the next victim of General Luxurius, the greatest pervert in all of Aleroth. Good heavens, he is a monster, a a vampire I say, who snatches away each girl his unending lust drives him to possess. Some return with blank, evasive eyes, flushed cheeks and trembling hands laden with the gold that bought their silence. And some, some dont return at all.
And people know of this and do NOTHING?
Yes, Dragon Knight. Many do know, but they pretend not to.
Wait I do remember that name from somewhere Farglow
How is that medicine coming along?
General Luxurius shall soon feel like he was twenty again.
Yes. Which is not such an appealing image knowing his preferences, but he pays good money.
What a callback, eh?
Apparently standards for what constitutes a good general have slipped since my day.
Now he has my Anne and there is nothing I can do about it!
Why is that?
I dont dare! Luxurius is a mighty General, he has his own guard of Champions to challenge them it would be suicide!
I can handle the guards. Taurus mentioned proof of your death. Perhaps I can use that to talk my way in.
What? Youd cut off my finger? Please, no! There must be another way!
(-15000 XP) Good heavens, Taurus was right: I am a coward. The love of my life is in mortal danger, but still I dare not try to save her!
Hmm
Mardaneus Plaza Zombies (Whirlwind, before and after)
Into Crows Nest
BOSS: Nerus
Tom and Taurus
Maps
Im leaving this map in every update until near the end, as an easy reminder.
Many of the names on the map dont mean anything to us yet. So were not going there, obviously. Well, except for one place, but were only going there for a look, not to do anything yet.
(Nerus) Stand back! Youre too late anyway!
Too late for that chap I saw you kill, yes, but not too late to stop whatever shenanigans youre up to.
My master plan would be a more apt description! With the magic I acquired, Black Ring troops will soon flood the city! Aleroth will fall!
(Taurus) Ha! Ive got you now, you slippery coward! You may skitter like a rabbit with its tail on fire, but you cant outrun the fox!
Then feast away, Mister Fox, and leave me one of his feet for luck!
Its charm will come too late, stranger: witnesses to this execution are quite unwelcome. The General values discretion, you see, and your being here presents a pleasant coincidence: I think Ill make this whole affair look like a murder-suicide pact.
(Tom) Good heavens, finally he is dead. For a moment there I thought you wanted to leave me to perish by that maniacs sword, but you came through for me in the end.
Why dont you tell me the reason for dragging me into a fight to the death?
Because my cause supersedes the cold hand of the reaper: it is love that drives me!
A worthy effort!
None more worthy, Dragon Knight! <snip> Now he has my Anne, and there is nothing I can do about it!
How can I help her?
I havent a clue! Luxurius is a mighty General, he has his own guard of Champions to challenge them it would be suicide!
(Tom) Good heavens, finally he is dead. For a moment there I thought you wanted to leave me to perish by that maniacs sword, but you came through for me in the end.
Because I had do. And now I must take my leave.
No, please hear me out! Her life depends on it!
Because my cause supersedes the cold hand of the reaper: it is love that drives me!
Ah, yes, the reapers hand or cupids arrow: both will strike you down with ruthless force.
You understand then, Slayer, my lovelorn pain!
Reader Participation
1. Toms woman Anne has been kidnapped by the greatest pervert in Aleroth General Luxurius. Hes not a match for Luxuriuss corrupt Champions, so he wants us to help him. How should we help him?
a) Investigate Taurus house. (Default = 1 vote Theres an extra dungeon this way. )
b) Cut off Toms finger to get the guards to let you in, then fight your way to the General.
c) Cut off Toms finger to get the guards to let you in, then get paid by the General.
We arent necessarily going to do this quest now, this is just voting on the method for when it is time to complete this.