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Leveling a new character in Solhaven with bounties and there are several design issues with the town that I'd like to bring up.
First off is mixed-level creatures. These are evident in the following areas:
Outlands, Ruined Village has crested basilisks(level 22) and Dobrem(level 28). Only three creatures can be spawned here at a time - if you're a level 17 hunter getting normal-difficulty bounties you'll be forced to clear out creatures 11 levels above you to finish the basilisk bounty off.
West Road, Bog has crocodiles(8), shelfae soldiers(7), shelfae chieftains(11), panthers(15) and shelfae warlords(18). Getting crocodile or shelfae soldier bounties at level 2-4 and being expected to fight among shelfae chieftains and warlords is untenable. Even at-level characters will have difficulty competing with the warlords.
Onto the more egregious mix-matched creatures...
Foggy Valley, Pine Forest has coyotes(5), greater orcs(8), forest trolls(14) and mongrel trolls(16). You can get coyote bounties at level 2, required to fight against mobs up to 14 levels above you.
North Beach, Lagoon has dark shamblers(17) and sand beetles(33). Sand beetles have an SMRv1 maneuver attack that will floor lowbies in offensive with RT. At least this area seems to have a high enough spawn cap that clearing out the beetles isn't necessary to find more shamblers, but still, you can get shambler bounties at normal level difficulty at level 12, and be forced to contend with mobs up to 21 levels above you.
The two worst mismatches involve the foggy valley and Lake areas. Foggy Valley has wolverines(24), tree spirits(26u), pra'eda(29) and spectral shades(35u). A character at level 19 can receive a wolverine bounty, and must content with crippling sheer fear from the spectral shades 16 levels above them. There is no getting around the sheer fear - even wandering past them will catch you off guard, leaving you vulnerable to a tree spirit boil. Even a tree spirit spawning one level above their natural level (happens all the time) will sheer fear a level 19 character with a bounty for wolverines.
Lastly, the Lake. Cougars(22), Centaurs(23), Roa'ters(40) and Shan Clerics(42). Anyone that's hunted Shan knows that they fight more like a level 50 critter. Yes, you can use unpresence to avoid being fogged in by the Shan, but the fact remains that a level 17 and 18 character can receive cougar and centaur bounties respectively and be forced to contend wih worms 23 levels above them and pures 24 levels above them. It is an extremely difficult bounty to complete without dying - even with loads of gear, outside spells, and at-level friends.
Moving on, I'd like to speak briefly on the foraging bounties. My level 15 warrior received several foraging bounties where the only available room to forage was on The lake or the Foggy Valley. This sheer-fear inducing level discrepancy makes these tasks sheer suicide. Even for a cleric, empath, or a bard with the ability to cast a sanctuary, the creatures are a high enough level to prevent the sanctuary from going off.
And finally, gem bounties. Since River's Rest and Solhaven share shells, these woes apply to both towns. Shells weigh three pounds each. Three pounds! Normal gems weigh what - 1/8th of a pound? Shells cannot be jarred, either, so trying to horde them to complete local gem bounties is logistical nightmare.
I ask that a balance pass be made over the distribution of Solhaven's creatures, foraging bounty available to be tweaked to be completeable by less-than-titled characters, and that shells be reduced dramatically in weight and also made to be compatible with jars. Otherwise, Solhaven is a clearly inferior place for pre-title bounties compared with any other town.
Some excellent points. Hopefully some adjustments can be made in the future. I generally avoid hunting in Sol Haven prior to level 20 for these exact reasons. I think Ta'Vaalor is regarded as very well structured area for leveling to 20 and would like to see Sol Haven hunting grounds laid out as neatly as Ta'Vaalors are.
| As I gaze over the horizon, the wind tugs at my cloak and whispers, "Adventure" in my ear. |
| Whick's body sways back and forth for a bit. |
| * Whick drops dead at your feet! |
>First off is mixed-level creatures. These are evident in the following areas:
What? No...just no.
I can't comment on this area much. I don't enjoy the basilisks when I did try to hunt them a couple of times and a chunk of the area they roam around is anti-magic made it a pain in the rear. These basilisks are super powered versions of cockatrice with their stupid gaze ability. Unless you're really unlucky you shouldn't snag too many creature bounties in this area. Dobrem are pretty easy as long as you're near their level. If you need to hunt them, do it in the castle area if you need to cast magic. All professions should be able to handle this area without much trouble.
Not really that tough of an area. The panthers, I do believe, do not pounce like their cousins the puma (though I could be horribly mistaken and neither pounce or it's the panthers that pounce and not the pumas....been too long since I spent a lot of time around them) and aren't hard to defend from their AS attacks. The warlords, they don't spawn as often as any of the other creatures, they're just a slightly tougher chieftain. I find it a bit of a challenge when you're around level 8-12 because you need to be able to dance around the chieftains and their tremor spell and keep an eye on panthers that roam into your room because they do hit hard if you're caught in offensive. Not an ideal hunting area for a rogue/warrior if you're not spelled up enough.
Trolls are awesome. Good swarming area. Not a good place to hunt greater orcs if that is what you're after. If you want greater orcs, go just north of Hangman's Bridge. If you're getting coyote bounties for this specific area, simply turn it back in. This is a good hunting area for all professions once you're close to mongrel troll level.
One of my most favorite spots to hunt as a melee character in Solhaven. Shamblers are just walking hulks of muscle that love to take a beating. The sand beetles, easily avoidable, so is their poison breath - just get someone to cast some 207 (Purify Air) on you. As long as you're in defensive around them and have purify air on you, you shouldn't come to harm from them.
Any profession should be able to hunt this area as long as you can counter the sand beetle's poison.
OMG. My most favorite hunting area. I went through this area with a couple of wizards recently (1 that used bolting and one only using 917). I've also dabbled in the area with my rogue when he was around level 30 to kill mezics. You shouldn't have too much of an issue simply turning in any odd wolverine creature bounty. Passing through the area if you want to get to the lake, you can bypass most of or all of Sheer Fear if you have access to one or two of these things:
Voln - Symbol of Courage
Bravery (211)- spell or pure potion
Heroism (215)
Self Control (613)
Song of Valor (1010)
Dauntless (1606)
Anyone can get their hands on a pure potion easily, it'll grant 3 phantom ranks.
Tree Spirits - learn to control them (stun/knock down spells) and they won't be much of a threat
Wolverines - (used to be coyotes, if memory serves me right, but a creature shift a long while back shifted them to a low level - coyotes used to bite hands like waerns in Bonespear, so this was a welcomed change to see them go) are pretty basic and once you can easily handle tree spirits or shades, wolverines will be too easy for you.
Shades - just have a way to clear their clouds they cast (same with tree spirits) and keep from being warded, they're pretty simple.
Great hunting area for pures. Hard to do with melee characters, but it can be doable if you're like level with mezics/spirits and can keep the shades from warding you with their spells. Just watch out for clouds if you have no way to clear them.
Another awesome hunting area. Roa'ters aren't that frequent. If the ground starts rumbling or you see one, if you don't have a way to immobilize them just run. Roa'ters don't stay in rooms, they constantly move if they haven't engaged you or burrowed. About every 5 seconds they move rooms. If you know one is in the area, but you're too stubborn to leave, make use of the PEER verb. The Shan Clerics, they are annoying and it's best to just leave if one shows up or take your chances with the PEER verb and test your luck.
I used to play "dodge the roa'ter" when I was hunting the lake. I'd feel the ground rumble or if one burrowed, I'd run, run, run around the lake as I worked on freeing up a hand to remove my gold ring and then wear it. If I wasn't lucky enough to get my gold ring off and on, I'd work on dumping all coins and/or boxes to make myself unencumbered and test my luck on surviving the roa'ter burrow - usually I was about 50% successful.
Pra'eda are tough. They have naturally tough skin (akin to full plate if you ask me or they have natural crit or damage padding) and suck to try and bolt as a wizard. They also have a high amount of health, so if you don't want to take the chance something worse will come your way while standing there and plinking them to death, you need something to make them squish as easy as possible. I suppose an ambushing rogue/ranger would do well against them...
If you're tasked to get herbs off the Vornavis Coast - be sure to check north beach area as well, a good portion of the area is considered the coast and you can sometimes find the herbs there that you need.
As for Foggy Valley with the spirits and shades, I think the area can naturally dispel sanctuary spells, making them far less reliable...same with Song of Peace for bards.
I've done a ton of bounties single handed with my current wizard in Solhaven. I've taken him up from starting level to 60 now and finishing up my last level to 61 in Bonespear. I think I'm closing in on 500k bounty points for all the bounty work he's handled.
While I do agree that the gem bounties can suck in the area due to shells, but they're pretty easy to do. As long as you're in a hunting ground that's dropping decent loot, it shouldn't take more than a hunt or two (or a longer single hunt) to nab all the necessary shells you're seeking. Hoarding shells can be a pain if you don't have a gem mule, so I'd generally only hoard gems and sell all shells because as you said, they weigh a lot.
I enjoy Solhaven for what it has to offer and I'd absolutely hate to see it changed up. It's one of the more challenging pre-level 60 hunting areas that I enjoy leveling in. I've gone through many different classes up to level 30 (paladin, warrior, sorcerer, bard) or higher (rogue, wizard) and I haven't really had too many issues. Get a set of wizard spells and you should be able to handle most areas...sometimes toss in a small statue and your society abilities, you should be pretty good on defenses.
Not sure how else to say it, but if you don't like the bounties you get, turn them in and get another. If you don't enjoy some of the challenges presented in the hunting grounds, find other spots to hunt. There are many, many, many places to hunt in these level ranges all over the game.
What? No...just no.
| Outlands, Ruined Village has crested basilisks(level 22) and Dobrem(level 28). Only three creatures can be spawned here at a time - if you're a level 17 hunter getting normal-difficulty bounties you'll be forced to clear out creatures 11 levels above you to finish the basilisk bounty off. |
I can't comment on this area much. I don't enjoy the basilisks when I did try to hunt them a couple of times and a chunk of the area they roam around is anti-magic made it a pain in the rear. These basilisks are super powered versions of cockatrice with their stupid gaze ability. Unless you're really unlucky you shouldn't snag too many creature bounties in this area. Dobrem are pretty easy as long as you're near their level. If you need to hunt them, do it in the castle area if you need to cast magic. All professions should be able to handle this area without much trouble.
| West Road, Bog has crocodiles(8), shelfae soldiers(7), shelfae chieftains(11), panthers(15) and shelfae warlords(18). Getting crocodile or shelfae soldier bounties at level 2-4 and being expected to fight among shelfae chieftains and warlords is untenable. Even at-level characters will have difficulty competing with the warlords. |
Not really that tough of an area. The panthers, I do believe, do not pounce like their cousins the puma (though I could be horribly mistaken and neither pounce or it's the panthers that pounce and not the pumas....been too long since I spent a lot of time around them) and aren't hard to defend from their AS attacks. The warlords, they don't spawn as often as any of the other creatures, they're just a slightly tougher chieftain. I find it a bit of a challenge when you're around level 8-12 because you need to be able to dance around the chieftains and their tremor spell and keep an eye on panthers that roam into your room because they do hit hard if you're caught in offensive. Not an ideal hunting area for a rogue/warrior if you're not spelled up enough.
| Foggy Valley, Pine Forest has coyotes(5), greater orcs(8), forest trolls(14) and mongrel trolls(16). You can get coyote bounties at level 2, required to fight against mobs up to 14 levels above you. |
Trolls are awesome. Good swarming area. Not a good place to hunt greater orcs if that is what you're after. If you want greater orcs, go just north of Hangman's Bridge. If you're getting coyote bounties for this specific area, simply turn it back in. This is a good hunting area for all professions once you're close to mongrel troll level.
| North Beach, Lagoon has dark shamblers(17) and sand beetles(33). Sand beetles have an SMRv1 maneuver attack that will floor lowbies in offensive with RT. At least this area seems to have a high enough spawn cap that clearing out the beetles isn't necessary to find more shamblers, but still, you can get shambler bounties at normal level difficulty at level 12, and be forced to contend with mobs up to 21 levels above you. |
One of my most favorite spots to hunt as a melee character in Solhaven. Shamblers are just walking hulks of muscle that love to take a beating. The sand beetles, easily avoidable, so is their poison breath - just get someone to cast some 207 (Purify Air) on you. As long as you're in defensive around them and have purify air on you, you shouldn't come to harm from them.
Any profession should be able to hunt this area as long as you can counter the sand beetle's poison.
| The two worst mismatches involve the foggy valley and Lake areas. Foggy Valley has wolverines(24), tree spirits(26u), pra'eda(29) and spectral shades(35u). A character at level 19 can receive a wolverine bounty, and must content with crippling sheer fear from the spectral shades 16 levels above them. There is no getting around the sheer fear - even wandering past them will catch you off guard, leaving you vulnerable to a tree spirit boil. Even a tree spirit spawning one level above their natural level (happens all the time) will sheer fear a level 19 character with a bounty for wolverines. |
OMG. My most favorite hunting area. I went through this area with a couple of wizards recently (1 that used bolting and one only using 917). I've also dabbled in the area with my rogue when he was around level 30 to kill mezics. You shouldn't have too much of an issue simply turning in any odd wolverine creature bounty. Passing through the area if you want to get to the lake, you can bypass most of or all of Sheer Fear if you have access to one or two of these things:
Voln - Symbol of Courage
Bravery (211)- spell or pure potion
Heroism (215)
Self Control (613)
Song of Valor (1010)
Dauntless (1606)
Anyone can get their hands on a pure potion easily, it'll grant 3 phantom ranks.
Tree Spirits - learn to control them (stun/knock down spells) and they won't be much of a threat
Wolverines - (used to be coyotes, if memory serves me right, but a creature shift a long while back shifted them to a low level - coyotes used to bite hands like waerns in Bonespear, so this was a welcomed change to see them go) are pretty basic and once you can easily handle tree spirits or shades, wolverines will be too easy for you.
Shades - just have a way to clear their clouds they cast (same with tree spirits) and keep from being warded, they're pretty simple.
Great hunting area for pures. Hard to do with melee characters, but it can be doable if you're like level with mezics/spirits and can keep the shades from warding you with their spells. Just watch out for clouds if you have no way to clear them.
| Lastly, the Lake. Cougars(22), Centaurs(23), Roa'ters(40) and Shan Clerics(42). Anyone that's hunted Shan knows that they fight more like a level 50 critter. Yes, you can use unpresence to avoid being fogged in by the Shan, but the fact remains that a level 17 and 18 character can receive cougar and centaur bounties respectively and be forced to contend wih worms 23 levels above them and pures 24 levels above them. It is an extremely difficult bounty to complete without dying - even with loads of gear, outside spells, and at-level friends. |
Another awesome hunting area. Roa'ters aren't that frequent. If the ground starts rumbling or you see one, if you don't have a way to immobilize them just run. Roa'ters don't stay in rooms, they constantly move if they haven't engaged you or burrowed. About every 5 seconds they move rooms. If you know one is in the area, but you're too stubborn to leave, make use of the PEER verb. The Shan Clerics, they are annoying and it's best to just leave if one shows up or take your chances with the PEER verb and test your luck.
I used to play "dodge the roa'ter" when I was hunting the lake. I'd feel the ground rumble or if one burrowed, I'd run, run, run around the lake as I worked on freeing up a hand to remove my gold ring and then wear it. If I wasn't lucky enough to get my gold ring off and on, I'd work on dumping all coins and/or boxes to make myself unencumbered and test my luck on surviving the roa'ter burrow - usually I was about 50% successful.
Pra'eda are tough. They have naturally tough skin (akin to full plate if you ask me or they have natural crit or damage padding) and suck to try and bolt as a wizard. They also have a high amount of health, so if you don't want to take the chance something worse will come your way while standing there and plinking them to death, you need something to make them squish as easy as possible. I suppose an ambushing rogue/ranger would do well against them...
| Moving on, I'd like to speak briefly on the foraging bounties. My level 15 warrior received several foraging bounties where the only available room to forage was on The lake or the Foggy Valley. This sheer-fear inducing level discrepancy makes these tasks sheer suicide. Even for a cleric, empath, or a bard with the ability to cast a sanctuary, the creatures are a high enough level to prevent the sanctuary from going off. |
If you're tasked to get herbs off the Vornavis Coast - be sure to check north beach area as well, a good portion of the area is considered the coast and you can sometimes find the herbs there that you need.
As for Foggy Valley with the spirits and shades, I think the area can naturally dispel sanctuary spells, making them far less reliable...same with Song of Peace for bards.
I've done a ton of bounties single handed with my current wizard in Solhaven. I've taken him up from starting level to 60 now and finishing up my last level to 61 in Bonespear. I think I'm closing in on 500k bounty points for all the bounty work he's handled.
| And finally, gem bounties. Since River's Rest and Solhaven share shells, these woes apply to both towns. Shells weigh three pounds each. Three pounds! Normal gems weigh what - 1/8th of a pound? Shells cannot be jarred, either, so trying to horde them to complete local gem bounties is logistical nightmare. |
While I do agree that the gem bounties can suck in the area due to shells, but they're pretty easy to do. As long as you're in a hunting ground that's dropping decent loot, it shouldn't take more than a hunt or two (or a longer single hunt) to nab all the necessary shells you're seeking. Hoarding shells can be a pain if you don't have a gem mule, so I'd generally only hoard gems and sell all shells because as you said, they weigh a lot.
| I ask that a balance pass be made over the distribution of Solhaven's creatures, foraging bounty available to be tweaked to be completeable by less-than-titled characters, and that shells be reduced dramatically in weight and also made to be compatible with jars. Otherwise, Solhaven is a clearly inferior place for pre-title bounties compared with any other town. |
I enjoy Solhaven for what it has to offer and I'd absolutely hate to see it changed up. It's one of the more challenging pre-level 60 hunting areas that I enjoy leveling in. I've gone through many different classes up to level 30 (paladin, warrior, sorcerer, bard) or higher (rogue, wizard) and I haven't really had too many issues. Get a set of wizard spells and you should be able to handle most areas...sometimes toss in a small statue and your society abilities, you should be pretty good on defenses.
Not sure how else to say it, but if you don't like the bounties you get, turn them in and get another. If you don't enjoy some of the challenges presented in the hunting grounds, find other spots to hunt. There are many, many, many places to hunt in these level ranges all over the game.
"Not sure how else to say it, but if you don't like the bounties you get, turn them in and get another. If you don't enjoy some of the challenges presented in the hunting grounds, find other spots to hunt. There are many, many, many places to hunt in these level ranges all over the game."
I disagree with all of your opinions.
I disagree with all of your opinions.
Also, did you seriously respond with that wall of text telling me turn in all of the bounties for all of the mis-matched creature level areas? What? How about, instead, get this - the creatures aren't mismatched to the point of requiring someone to turn in 80% of the bounties the receive between levels 5 and 20?
>I disagree with all of your opinions.
They're not opinions - they're fact. I've hunted Solhaven area for a long, long time now. It's really not that tough. If you can't handle it, then find other areas/places to hunt.
Sand beetle - use Purify Air. It's fact that it will protect you from their poison.
Roa'ters - fact, they're not very common. Fact - they don't stay in a room and constantly move. Fact - if they burrow on you, ring out or have a macro setup to a script to beeline you out of lake area. You should almost never get hit with a roa'ter burrow when hunting the lake, unless you're always extremely unlucky.
Shan Clerics - fact. They fog to you but do not take another action until their next round comes about. You have time to run away from them unless you're unlucky enough to be stuck in a long stun or RT.
Sheer Fear - fact, can be managed with the options I laid out in my last post.
Foggy Valley - the area is safer to hunt since the level change for coyotes was made. The wolverines that took their place do not have a bite maneuver like the coyotes used to. It was a lot harder when coyotes would be around, you were always trying to avoid them or control them, along with the tree spirits and shades. Also more people hunted vesperties back in the day and you'd constantly have bats wandering around the valley - this isn't as common of an occurrence these days.
Shelfae Warlords - fact, don't spawn as often as the other creatures in the area. If you can defend against the panthers, you can defend against the warlords. If you don't enjoy the warlords, simply keep away from them or leave the area until they de-spawn.
Bounties - fact, you can turn in ones you don't like or can't do and try again.
I'm not sure what part of my last post you think are my "opinions" (other than the fact I made it clear about areas I enjoyed) and that you disagree with. You clearly don't seem to care for the area, so you want the GMs to change it for you. There are other hunting areas with less or no mixed level creatures all over the game, you're bound to find one that fits your needs just fine. Asking for an entire area to be changed because it's not something you're enjoying doesn't make sense.
I don't really enjoy the EN side - I've leveled up a few characters to 30 or 40 in that area, but I didn't like the hunting areas. I even spent a good chunk of time using Zul Logoth as a hunting town for a wizard and a rogue, but I didn't enjoy the area much.
I found that Solhaven fits what I like, so I mostly stick around there and the Landing area to a lesser extent, that is until the character I'm using simply out levels Solhaven's hunting grounds (bandits don't count as a hunting ground) and I have to go elsewhere. Which is where my current wizard I'm playing is nearly at. He'll be level 61 in a week or so and won't get anymore bounties for gems/herbs/creatures in the area without asking the adventurer's guild to give out easier tasks. So I either keep him in Bonespear strictly hunting until level 62 at which point it starts to become too hard to fill my mind simply with eidolons without 3 or 4 hunts or I move on some where else more to his level.
They're not opinions - they're fact. I've hunted Solhaven area for a long, long time now. It's really not that tough. If you can't handle it, then find other areas/places to hunt.
Sand beetle - use Purify Air. It's fact that it will protect you from their poison.
Roa'ters - fact, they're not very common. Fact - they don't stay in a room and constantly move. Fact - if they burrow on you, ring out or have a macro setup to a script to beeline you out of lake area. You should almost never get hit with a roa'ter burrow when hunting the lake, unless you're always extremely unlucky.
Shan Clerics - fact. They fog to you but do not take another action until their next round comes about. You have time to run away from them unless you're unlucky enough to be stuck in a long stun or RT.
Sheer Fear - fact, can be managed with the options I laid out in my last post.
Foggy Valley - the area is safer to hunt since the level change for coyotes was made. The wolverines that took their place do not have a bite maneuver like the coyotes used to. It was a lot harder when coyotes would be around, you were always trying to avoid them or control them, along with the tree spirits and shades. Also more people hunted vesperties back in the day and you'd constantly have bats wandering around the valley - this isn't as common of an occurrence these days.
Shelfae Warlords - fact, don't spawn as often as the other creatures in the area. If you can defend against the panthers, you can defend against the warlords. If you don't enjoy the warlords, simply keep away from them or leave the area until they de-spawn.
Bounties - fact, you can turn in ones you don't like or can't do and try again.
I'm not sure what part of my last post you think are my "opinions" (other than the fact I made it clear about areas I enjoyed) and that you disagree with. You clearly don't seem to care for the area, so you want the GMs to change it for you. There are other hunting areas with less or no mixed level creatures all over the game, you're bound to find one that fits your needs just fine. Asking for an entire area to be changed because it's not something you're enjoying doesn't make sense.
I don't really enjoy the EN side - I've leveled up a few characters to 30 or 40 in that area, but I didn't like the hunting areas. I even spent a good chunk of time using Zul Logoth as a hunting town for a wizard and a rogue, but I didn't enjoy the area much.
I found that Solhaven fits what I like, so I mostly stick around there and the Landing area to a lesser extent, that is until the character I'm using simply out levels Solhaven's hunting grounds (bandits don't count as a hunting ground) and I have to go elsewhere. Which is where my current wizard I'm playing is nearly at. He'll be level 61 in a week or so and won't get anymore bounties for gems/herbs/creatures in the area without asking the adventurer's guild to give out easier tasks. So I either keep him in Bonespear strictly hunting until level 62 at which point it starts to become too hard to fill my mind simply with eidolons without 3 or 4 hunts or I move on some where else more to his level.
He didn't tell you that, but the "slap in the face" comment was an effort to earn a free drink at Simucon as we talked in Discord about how no contentious thread is ever complete without a "SLAP IN THE FACE!" comment.
I will indeed now owe him a drink at Simucon 2021 or 2028 or whenever we are free to move about the country again. :)
--- Lauren, Lylia's player
I will indeed now owe him a drink at Simucon 2021 or 2028 or whenever we are free to move about the country again. :)
--- Lauren, Lylia's player
