Curse

zdude255 · Jun 24, 2005, 03:11 AM // 03:11

The UW can be a lot of fun to explore and do quests. The monsters are hard and quests difficult, but overcoming these obstacles only adds to the challenge and fun.

That's not the viewpoint of most people, who only go to UW for smite runs for loot. But if you're one of the people who like to explore and get mad xp at the same time, I'm trying to start a group to fully explore it.

The group isn't really a guild thing, but it could be one if enough people feel that way.

Anyway to join please have visited the UW before and done a few of the quests. You have to be willing to strategize as a team, IE considering your role in the group in conjunction with others. Having a Teamspeak client is a bonus too.

If you'd like to join, leave your contact info, and character classes available here, or email them.

If you have any questions post here or send me a message:
IGN: Blitz Master
Email: [email protected]

Borealis · Jun 24, 2005, 04:02 AM // 04:02

I'll give it a go if a competent group can get together. I've got a w/mo e/mo and a mo/me that can go whenever. Maybe tomorrow night if anyones interested.

IGN Malus Somnium

zidane888 · Jun 24, 2005, 10:23 AM // 10:23

My ingame name is Leon of Troy. I have a tactics W/M fully equipped for Underworlding'. I have gotten quite far there and its alot of fun if you can get the right team together.
Tomorrow night would work out great.

Snowman · Jun 24, 2005, 10:49 AM // 10:49

Brilliant Idea!

I like going to Underworld just because I want to see more of it.. We managed to get a very good team together the other day.. we absoloutly OWNED.. we completed three of the missions... then it was too late and a few people had left.. those left were guild memebers.. we tried running.. just to see what was further on

discoverd some huge chasm with Halflife-style tenticles coming out of the ground... and there were strange spirits which just kept dying..

Took some wicked screen shots, will post some later... but yea, Exploring the UW... now that would make a good treaure hunt

Dont think I will ever be bored of the underworld

The Snowman

AspireX · Jun 24, 2005, 11:33 AM // 11:33

Anyone knows who drops crystalline swords? My party killed all the dead collectors but not even a decent drop from them.

Snowman · Jun 24, 2005, 11:43 AM // 11:43

ok here are some screenshots for your ammusment.. and to see what you can expect from the underworld

http://www.sistersofthedagger.com/ds/halflife_again.jpg

http://www.sistersofthedagger.com/ds/melted_snowman.jpg
(ps: maybe you get the crystalline swords from this baddy?)

The Snowman

Shadowsting · Jun 24, 2005, 01:31 PM // 13:31

IGN -- Master Shadowsting (E/Mo)

I've been doing Smite runs recently, and because of bad groups, I've only really seen up to the village, and the Ice Wastes (which are VERY pretty though).

I'm a Pyromancer, but I can switch to Aeromancer if needed.

Finally, I'll probably be an E/R the first time (if) we try this, considering how much I want that damn spider.

Spike · Jun 24, 2005, 01:46 PM // 13:46

Well if this group can survive more than 10 seconds, I suppose I could give it a one last try.

Snowman · Jun 24, 2005, 02:08 PM // 14:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike

Well if this group can survive more than 10 seconds, I suppose I could give it a one last try.

see... if it were me I would be trying and trying and trying until I managed to do what I wanted to do.... one last try?.. I would never give up!

The Underworld to me is the last un-discoverd world.. see where my Snowman died on that screenshot I posted?.. that was the furthest I have ever managed to get.. Each time I get a bit further I am more determined next time.

But I want to do it with a party of just Devils Scorpions, its a great team-building activity

The Snowman.

arredondo · Jun 24, 2005, 03:05 PM // 15:05

I'm in....

MeNe
IGN: Ono Udidnt

Fire Childe · Jun 24, 2005, 03:07 PM // 15:07

dream riders to my knowledge (the ghostly horseman in the picture) do not drop crystalline swords. i have never actually seen a crystalline sword drop in underworld. i got one in beta in pre sear around foible's fair but thats it.

dream riders have a chance to drop pretty much the same things smite crawlers drop (eternal items/storm bows/ectoplasm/ghostly staves/various cheap monk staves and rods).

dead collector's dont really drop anything.

actually, aside from dryders/smite crawlers/riders and sometimes squid/aatxes for the chance for ecto and jewels, every other creature in underworld drops junk.

this is one reason why smite runs are popular and its another reason why few groups go beyond the first few quests. the drop rewards diminish outside of the labyrinth and the ice shrine.

people dont farm the chaos planes because it simply isnt worth the hassle of killing all the dream riders when they spawn 18 mindblades each.

also, the spawning pools consists of nothing but dryders and charged blacknesses. dryders typically drop some good stuff and have the same chance, if not a higher chance of dropping eternal/storm type stuff. but in the spawning pool they all seem to drop crap.

overall, once you've explored the surface area of underworld (which isnt as big as it initially seems), you'll find the rewards for clearing up the the rest of the shrines other than the ice wastes is simply not worth the time you have to invest in order to accomplish this feat.

Snowman · Jun 24, 2005, 03:47 PM // 15:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire Childe

overall, once you've explored the surface area of underworld (which isnt as big as it initially seems), you'll find the rewards for clearing up the the rest of the shrines other than the ice wastes is simply not worth the time you have to invest in order to accomplish this feat.

Thats the point of this thread... to EXPLORE... nothing to do with farming or getting drops...

The rewards for taking a team into the underworld and succeeding are far more valuble than that of any materialistic rewards.

dont let this 'only do things for drops' kind of attitude put you off.. this kind of attitude will make you very bored, very quickly. (for any game)

The Snowman.

Dralon · Jun 24, 2005, 04:22 PM // 16:22

I have never been to fissure or underworld, though I have completed all the other game missions. As I understand it you have to pay 1 platinum to go there, and have to be with a full group of people, not henchment. My small guild doesn't have that many upper levels yet. Is it possible to form a group once you are there, or do you have to have it fully assembled before you pay? I am also more interested in questing and exploring, but people looking for groups in temple of ages don't seem to be, so I haven't ponied up the dough yet to go myself (I only have 25 plat and didn't want to waste it)

Instead I have spent most time gathering elites with a group of henchmen usually, unless in the fire islands where plenty of people are doing skill cap runs.

Talesin Darkbriar · Jun 24, 2005, 04:24 PM // 16:24

I'd be happy to assist in this endeavor as well.
My Character is the same name as my handle here.

Talesin

ikolian · Jun 24, 2005, 04:29 PM // 16:29

I've done a great many Underworld runs, exploring most of each area save the spawning pools. I've even been compiling a map (have the vale, labyrinth, and twin serpent mountains nearly complete) and have cleared most of the monsters in each area I've been to at least once, even those mindblades. In game name is Eanow Ikolian and I have a Mo/Me and R/N available, the monk has all his skills except a few mez ones unlocked.

Snowman · Jun 24, 2005, 04:58 PM // 16:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dralon

My small guild doesn't have that many upper levels yet. Is it possible to form a group once you are there, or do you have to have it fully assembled before you pay?

Dont worry about having a small guild or your levels, Underworld really is for those that have gone through the game and need extra difficult places to explore.

If you really want to go though, yes, you do have to be fully assembled BEFORE you pay your 1 Platinum Peice.. most people are willing to chip in on this though.

Unfortunatly people you meet at the temple very often only want to 'farm' or get some high XP.. I suspect though that these exploration teams will become more common place as they slowly get rid of the need to 'farm'

I say its best to leave it until you have a really good reliable team and have been in there a few times yourself... otherwise you might just get frustrated with how difficult it is in there.

Fire Childe · Jun 24, 2005, 05:52 PM // 17:52

Quote:

Thats the point of this thread... to EXPLORE... nothing to do with farming or getting drops...

The rewards for taking a team into the underworld and succeeding are far more valuble than that of any materialistic rewards.

dont let this 'only do things for drops' kind of attitude put you off.. this kind of attitude will make you very bored, very quickly. (for any game)

The Snowman.

uhhhh. the point to my reply was that there really isnt very much to explore. each shrine is very small and usually consists of 1 or 2 enemy types.

as for the rewards. i never said that getting far in underworld wasnt rewarding in itself. however if you do alot of underworld raids in excess of 5 hours (and it takes about 5 hours to complete monuments of grenth) then underworld will really burn you out. i definitely feel burnt out by it.

i dont farm or anything like that. dont have the patience for it. but few people who have attempted to clear all the shrines and do all the missions can say that it was not an exhausting and somewhat anticlimactic experience. whichever way you choose to spin it, you dont get much out of the hours you put in. especially when you have a routine down for how to clear it.

the only goal for me and the people i play with now is 100% completion of underworld. which we estimate to take in excess of 8 hours. its not so much the size of the levels that make it take this long - as i said before, underworld is not very big. what takes ages are getting through mobs. all of which attack in predictable ways and all of which can be exploited so that they can be easily killed. but it takes quite a while to do so.

maybe im jaded by the whole experience, but areas like the serpent mountains - theres not alot to see and do. just kill behemoths. they arent even threatening. that whole shrine just feels like it was designed to slow you down. the same with the spawning pool which puts you up against a vast army dryders...in tar. and you could say the same of the bone pits which is just laughably easy if you have a few hex strips but the going as always in these shrines is very slow.

theres not alot to see and do in all of the shrines actually :/

-------------------------------------------------

with respect to the difficulty of underworld. its highly variable. for example dryders are extremely difficult in large numbers if you do not have any mass interrupt. if you have alot of interrupts they are very very easy. difficult in underworld corrolates roughly with how prepared and organised your team is. all of the creatures attack and move in a predictable manner and there is usually always a way to exploit enemy attack patterns via corner blocking/body blocking/use of counter skills and counter builds/forcing groups of creatures to get stuck on bits of scenary and so forth.

the only really challenging aspects of underworld are the shrine missions. and even then they are significantly more manageable when you know whats going to happen and you think about how you can deal with it. everything else is pretty slow going but if you do things by the numbers its not that difficult. the satisfaction really does wear thin when you work all this out and underworld raids are reduced to rote learned routines and glitch exploits.

i detailed a method on setting up a pull and a rough team build which works as an all purpose solution for most areas in underworld. this team build is the one my underworld groups typically use and it was built to exploit the way in which underworld creatures target and aggro.

our team build (and the walkthrough for the servents of grenth mission) can be found here:

http://forums.gwonline.net/showthrea...4&page=2&pp=10

you can find our pull set up here:

http://forums.gwonline.net/showthread.php?t=352683

you may find both helpful if your intention is to survive and clear out all the shrines since using a similar setup and keeping your wits about you will give you the means to tackle pretty much all the shrines. you might find it helpful for your groups so you can see what all the shrines look like. setting up a pull like this typically means only 1 target ever gets hit and most of that damage is limited or eliminated altogether from protection spells. means no messy fights. casters dont have to worry about getting beat on and monks only have to worry about maintaining 1 unit. more people survive. better chance of seeing all of underworld.

now doing the shrine missions...thats different and is probably something that needs its own thread...

Static · Jun 24, 2005, 05:54 PM // 17:54

Ill give it a go, W/Mo Meatshield, i can take quite a beating

~Static X

Snowman · Jun 24, 2005, 06:43 PM // 18:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fire Childe

uhhhh. the point to my reply was that there really isnt very much to explore. each shrine is very small and usually consists of 1 or 2 enemy types.

theres not alot to see and do in all of the shrines actually :/

But you have obviously already done it.. there are thousands of people out there who havnt! and really want to!

This thread is for people who want to do it.. yes it might not be what they expect, but thats the point of exploration!.. let THEM go there, let them put the effort in and let them decide if its worth it or not :/

Did mountain climbers who reach the peak come back and say "ahh it wasnt worth it.. just a bunch of rocks, not many baddies.. and only a few statues" ?

oO

The Snowman.

dansamy · Jun 24, 2005, 07:44 PM // 19:44

I would love to fully explore the UW! Most PUGs I get into are doing smite runs. While I enjoy them, I'd love to actually explore the whole thing.

IGN Killashandra Ree - Fire AoE Ele/Mo