Fedex quests. We do them as newbies, and then forget about them. However, with Chosen occupying lower, this is the perfect chance to make a fedex quest that's an actual challenge.

I'm thinking a quest that involves getting a package of essential supplies [lamp oil, food, etc] or maybe luxury booze for the Crone or something, down to a set location in Lower. There'd be several ways to do it (join a raiding party and smash your way through, cast invis after the Inbetween gate, then leg it, or just sneak), so it would be suitable for any class.

Level range should be wide, like 3-8, and party size 1-8. The idea would be that it could be a quest to be taken alongside doing something in Lower, rather than a goal in itself.

Reward would be a Weapon Charm like the one from Rat House for each party member and a token amount of GP/XP. The charm would be the reward.

The result of this would be an encouragement for PCs to risk going in to Lower, since by repeating this quest they could ensure a chance to defend themselves against Chosen attacks.

This sounds like it would be fun for those of us that understand what the actual risk is in running into Chosen. My only fear here would be a number of very bitter completely new players that get busted up not knowing what they are getting into.

Any more than would usually happen now? Stick the questgiver outside Lower's steps, and have him give a warning. It would actually help to tip-off newbies if it said "I need someone cunning to get a package past the Chosen. They are BIG, they are DEADLY, and without a spell of Magic weapon, Sneak Attacks or silver you have no chance of scratching them. Run silent, run deep. If you can do it, I'll pay well for the risk." That, but in an IC format :).

Hey that wasn't bad... I think you're right too, that would actually make it less likely that they'll go down there if they aren't properly prepared. Good idea...

Thought I’d give your invisibility idea a try and took my 3rd level wizard down the middle stairs invisibly. Transitioned in, got whacked and fugue’d in one swipe before I moved.

Invisibility doesn’t help. :cry:

Some Chosen types can see through invisibility, while others cannot.

Also even the ones that can, CANT ALWAYS. it must be something tied to their attack/chase commands that lets them see through it if engaged in a fight actively. Had a few ogres do this a couple times.

Also I've noticed wicked locations on chosen spawns also. These aren't spawns per se, but rather locations where players have been chased and when they transitioned, the chosen stopped and remained there.

Coming down those stairs is REALLY tricky now. Two arcanists were there and hit me with acid spray and took me for 60 dmg in one round. Thank god, I had more HP than that, but still....yeesh!

Anyway, back on topic, a cannonball run sort of quest to get supplies to refugees is a great idea.

Yeah, I can explain that myself. I've both succeeded and failed with invis vs Chosen. In the Sewers when it was just there invaded, I'd used invis to great event a ton of times. With the ones in Lower now, it works at range, but not well up close.

Turns out they can locate you EXACTLY from invis if they make a listen check by +20 or more. Which indicates this is either bugged for these Chosen or they have Listen skill through the friggin' roof. I'm going with Listen, as I was spotted once by one rat only, sneaking around on my stealther.

If one was sitting on the transition, that's likely what happened. He heard you and attacked.

I think the Chosen need toning down so they are easily dodgeable by using invis so long as you don't bum-rush past 3 inches from their beady noses. It would make Lower still dangerous but not insane, and be a good lesson in the "invis or die" method of escape. As it is, my Lower-born Ranger decided to do some nice, safe scouting dodging Umberhulks around Fort Mur rather than poke around Lower :P.

There would likely need to be a script to keep the stairs/ transitions clear so you don't get insta-fugue >.>

There would likely need to be a script to keep the stairs/ transitions clear so you don't get insta-fugue >.>

That is already a problem due to people running from the Chosen and leaving them by a transition. A script, if possible, to return them to their start position after several minutse have passed would prevent many near death experiences.

Yep. When I got detected from invis, it was by one damn near sitting on TOP of the entrance to the *spoiler* next to the stairs. The standard spawn postitions are alright, but I feel they could do with being more dispersed than "five in close, square formation blocking the entire street" so you're not sneaking past practically elbowing them (on account of it seeming silly every time I have to do it).

A bit of tweaking and toning down could make Lower into a real "ONE mistake, and you are toast" area as opposed to the current situation with spawncamping, randomly Seeing Invisible Chosen. With that in place, risky fedexing would be fun.

As a further note, if the unofficial Chosen hunts could be made more rewarding by putting in a drop collector NPC for XP or upping their XP on kill, it would help to reward fighting the things. As it stands, there are good IC reasons to fight them, but the "anti-farming" setup of EfU doesn't make this worthwile. Making the Chosen worth raiding in terms of XP or drops might be going against the grain if it's not a quest, but it would help to really create the idea of a constant battleground, with Chosen getting pushed back for a few hours, but more just streaming back up.

Chosen raiding could keep the streets a little safer until next reset, meaning that it would be worth listening out for raids to be ready to go and do business in Lower.

Chosen hunters hear you, i believe... And they are probably posted by the stairs as scouts to prevent us mages and sneaks from doing just what we'd like to do.

Yeah, that's the odd part. I've never been spotted first by one. I can sneak/invis past the hunters and rogues, gleefully making "wanker" gestures all the way, but then it's the warriors or mages that spotted me every time, and I've never seen Arcanists cast amplify or see invis.

Personally I think it is just luck of the draw. I ran my Paladin for the Spellguard Quest last night. And I was able to get into Lower, do the quest and get out again. I was using a Blur potion, but it held long enough to get all the way back up to Upper!

But on the other hand, I have also had a good friend working with me and both her and I were over ran by the Chosen just outside of the Canal District.

With the way the Chosen are exploding all over the city, and how hard it is to get above 3rd level. I think we need more +1 weapon drops. It is the only thing that will level the playing field. Otherwise, if your a lower level character... forget it.

We can't get +1 weapons, on this server, just ammo. More weapon charms definitely. But everyone with easy silver weapons would stop them being terrifying. Maybe more weak silver weapons though.

Sharpened Silver Tableware: Dagger 1d4 damage, 19-20 critical -1 Enhancement -3 Damage +2 vs Shapechanger +2 Cold vs Shapechanger

This crude dagger is actually a silver butter-knife, looted from the Montezzi Fortress and sharpened up by an enterprising Lowersman.

200 Gold, sold in market, or fairly common. Basically it's the anti- Chosen version of the Positive Club. Completely insignificant damage against anything but its intended target.

Something would be nice. I can tell you that myself and my friends are getting frustrated with being unable to advance in the game. Right now if you even run into a Chosen, your toast! And it is damn hard to get above 3rd Level. We need something to level the playing field.

I agree that a wider variety of silver weaponry would make things a bit more interesting.

It is possible to survive in Lower, and reach it without too great difficulties unless someone lead Chosen to places they are not supposed to be.

And regarding advancement. You still have plenty opportunities for leveling that do not involve Lower; you do not even have to be anywhere near it to get above level three.

Honestly, with the lack of silver weapons available as they have always been in the server, I feel that this lack of protection against them makes the 'fear of lower sanctuary' that much more real. People going in had better have a damn good reason, be smart and have something silver or like a wand of weapon enchantment to help out.

I say leave the weapon situation as it is, just make scripts to make the chosen go back to their spawn point after like 5 minutes or something.

Hmm, what about a more common drop of silver-studded gloves? One, it gives the few monks a useful Chosen-bashing weapon. Two, it lets anyone have a useful weapon but with a big drawback. They'd be able to hurt Chosen with punches, but of couse the trade-off is Attacks of Opportunity for using unarmed strike (unless you're a dedicated fist-fighter with Imp. Unarmed). That would make them useful possibly for seeing off a single Chosen, but if surrounded, the Attacks of Opportunity would make it more trouble than running.

I agree that it should be dangerous, but without a consistent way to see off the odd ones that always seem to hang out by the trapdoors after someone gets their attention, and the fact they seem to have either bugs or randomly have about 30 Listen Skill, there should be some "standard" way to avoid them to make the newbie quests possible. Hard, but not insta-gank in case of poor luck. I don't know, maybe common Sanctuary (1), Single Use items you can use to gain a few seconds to leg it to a transition?

What's the point of critters with DR if everyone and their monkey's uncle has a weapon that negates it?

And as far as monks go, TOUGH. That's what you get for looking at a hand and going, "hey, this could easily substitute for a two-handed sword!" :P

Ok, trying to be more positive here, why not look for a friendly caster to buff your weapon before going down? Seriously, I think silver weapons -should- be rare. Keep working at finding one, you'll get one sooner or later.

And for the record, a strength rogue sneak-attacking with a great-axe can power through a fair amount of DR as well...

Gloves have been modded to accept Magic Weapon, Darkfire and other boons on EFU.

Compliments of DM Johannes.

As for the original suggestion, unlikely to be scripted, but perhaps an idea for a DM quest of somesort...

If we are going to ask for ways to make it easier to go around Lower, how about we ask for easier ways to get through the second part of the Hoar quest, or perhaps an eaiser way in and out of Transyr. 'Cuz we all know we wouldn't get anywhere without the help of the DM's. :wink:

Joe Desu If we are going to ask for ways to make it easier to go around Lower, how about we ask for easier ways to get through the second part of the Hoar quest, or perhaps an eaiser way in and out of Transyr. :wink:

Nobody spawns in Traensyr... On the other hand, 8 foot tall 'Roid Rage Rats (this will be my term for Chosen until fruther notice :D)in the newbie area that randomly see invis and like spawncamping strikes me as a tad unfair on new players.

In both those cases, that's trouble you go looking for. The Hoar Quest Part 2 is an encore to another quest, and may as well have a "Go get some paladins or measure yourself for a coffin" sign tacked to the large suspicious hole. Traensyr's got a deserved badass reputation as the place many of the PCs escaped from.

Okay, maybe not silver weapons, they're unlimited use. But more common consumables to give you a chance to run or defeat a single Hunter, maybe.

Their was like 6 or more chosen hunters chasing my char I was lvl 5 and almost died HOW the hell is a lvl 2 supposed to survive?

You aren't supposed to survive.

Don't spawn in the Crone, simple as that.

I'd agree if it wasn't for the trouble the DMs went to to provide ladders as alternate entrances for the Lower Newbie Quests and Bazaar. It seems a bit pointless though when you know that even if you escape to the QA, the half-dozen Chosen will be waiting below.

Maybe just have one Chosen Hunter but infest the Tunnels with Rats? One thing you have to leg it from, but others you can fight off?

While I don't want to tell other people off and "act moderator", as a reader I can't help but feel as if this discussion is being bogged down by the minutiae of mechanics and spawn points.

Personally, I would love to see a whole bunch of new quests taking into account the Chosen situation. Rescue-and-retrieve type quests ("Go rescue my family/retrieve our heirloom which was lost in the last Chosen raid!") or Cleanse type ("Clear that area so that we may pass through with these refugees/so that those refugees may escape!") quests would be pretty awesome and (seems) pretty easy to construct. What I miss above all, though, is a "counterattack" quest - try and bring the fight back to the Chosen! Someone out there is bound to want to get square with the ratheads, or try and push them back, or something along those lines.

I don't think the whole "too dangerous for newbs" discussion is all that important. I'd just like to see more quests - whether they are Etorix-Class dangerous or cakewalk is to me less relevant than having a set of quests which I better can relate to the current Lower situation.

This discussion is going slightly off-topic. Let's keep discussing how the smuggler quest could be implemented.

To discuss whether there should be more loot drop when you kill chosen and the like, better make another thread. Tough I believe you can forget about them dropping weapon charms. I mean, chosen carrying stuff that help kill them??

Egon the Monkey ....Nobody spawns in Traensyr...

Not true. There have been players who were enslaved and were part of a rescue quest and spawned in the drow city repeatedly.

and to address chancelorondrugs' comment about how a level to is supposed to survive: RUN YOUR ASS OFF. Or find an escort. Or use an Invis potion (you're given at least one if you talk to a certain NPC at character creation).

Lower is supposed to be scary right now. Just like the Underdark outside the city is. You wouldn't send your level 2 character outside of the city where any number of beasts could kill you in one hit, so why would you send them to Lower when the same thing (to even high level characters) can happen?

Consider Lower to be part of the Underdark now. There are safe pockets here and there, but in general it's a place not to F with.

I'm hesistant to suggest that there be a fedex type quest for levels beyond 5. I've personally shown that with time and dedication, you can amass quite a bit of whatever the quest reward is (gold, xp, potions).

The fedex quests are meant to help you at the start. Having a staple like that all the way through level 8 cheapens that.

Well, yes - but Lower does pose something of an exception to the general rule of Fedex-quests in that pretty much everything down there can insta-gib many characters on the server, and just transporting yourself from point A to point B requires a lot of planning and adaptability. This isn't exactly required by any of the current low-level fedex quests.

SnottySnitch Well, yes - but Lower does pose something of an exception to the general rule of Fedex-quests in that pretty much everything down there can insta-gib many characters on the server, and just transporting yourself from point A to point B requires a lot of planning and adaptability. This isn't exactly required by any of the current low-level fedex quests.

There used to be a Fed-ex quest for up to level 4 that took you to Mur. WITH A 50LB PACKAGE! PLUS walk through at least 4 zones of the Underdark. What did people do in those cases? they took an escort.

Lower is no different right now. The difficulty is on part with other 'expedition' type fed-ex quests.

The difficulty is on part with other 'expedition' type fed-ex quests.

Going through Lower, especially to some parts of it, is more dangerous than going to Mur at this time. Really, if you just put the delivery point in a remote/difficult to get enough place, then I see no problem with a higher level cap. Perhaps even having the delivery point inside a quest area (a resistance pocket, for example, deep in some infested area), which would mean a lot more resistance.

Soooo... on- topic...

A possibility would be a merchant in Upper hiring people to take his wares to Lower. The adventurers would then have to go to several places in the area to deliver the wares, for example, at all the locked doors since they would be selling first necessity products to the people that barricade themselves in their house. The more places they go, the more xp and gold they will get when they complete the quest. The difficulty would vary depending on which places the party deliver the wares to: for example, it would be very difficult to deliver them in Sewer Town. The party can complete the quest at any moment, even if they don't go to all the places, although there would be a bonus for doing them all. This would allow for a wide level range.

What do you think?

Nobody has anything to say about my idea? :cry:

In my experience as running past Chosen while invisible, they do not detect you unless, you get in range of like 5 meters or something like that. And I like running around invisible. It is called a keen sense of smell, my friends. A keen sense of smell.