Back to the Temple

Overnight pet-levelling worked well, I'm glad to report, though the hours spent getting Samael's pale blue horse through most of level 33 were a bit of a waste - when he came online later, he definitely wanted the horse back, and didn't want to wait any longer, so getting it to 9083 out of 10309 pet points through that level hadn't been necessary. He traded five heaven stones across to me, as well as the level 24 horse I'd loaned him, which was a nice bonus. By now he is, I assume, happily riding around on his level 33 mount. Having that horse out of the way meant CaptainScarlet could go back to working on his level 36 pink drake, while SirPerivale continued to work on his horse.

After coffee, it was time for my level 17 rogue RedRider to start her supporting role in Prokion Temple. As SirDarth was just a level too high to team up with her at that point, RedRackham got an opportunity to fight there, and add some bloodseals to his armour and weapon, but it didn't take very long for RedRider to reach level 18, so then RedRackham logged out, and SirDarth hurried to the Temple to take over.

RedRider's first trip to the back room was not without incident - she was still in the starter armour and didn't have any health potions, while RedRackham didn't have a mount to provide the horse buffs, all he could provide was the Divine Shield armour buff. We did almost get to our destination, but RedRider died just one room short. Before the second try, RedRackham traded across some small health potions, and using one of those was enough to get RedRider to our destination safely.

The back room was free, anyway, as it usually has been recently; Ratel was saying that he thinks people are not bothering to sp-farm in Prokion Temple as long recently, and feel that perhaps 4000 skill points, if they pick and choose the skills to get along the way, is enough.

By lunchtime SirDarth had gone up 11.48%, and added 57 skill points - having a low-level companion there really boosts the experience gain. While in a solo party, killing an Orc Axeman brought in 1,283 experience and 1,650 skill exp, but with RedRider there, Darth's gain, while it varied from one kill to the next, was usually in the region of 8,000 or so experience and perhaps 2,450 skill exp.

After the lunchtime pet-levelling, the RedRider/SirDarth team returned to Prokion Temple, and added a healthy 26.26% for SirDarth, and 102 skill points, over the course of the afternoon. Everything went smoothly, so that's about all that I can say about it.

Ratel had decided to level Liezl some more, and I volunteered my services to help, assuming he wanted to go at least some of the way at a reasonable speed. Liezl was level 17, so again I called RedRackham in to get her through that first level; I then switched back to SirDarth, and over the session he added 28.15% more, which took him up to level 34, making a low-level companion even more important for getting that last bit of skill exp out of his Prokion Temple time. 112 more skill points will come in useful, too.

Liezl reached level 22, which was a good stopping point as it means she can wear the whole new armour set now, the 25/27 set, so Ratel needs to get a set suitably upgraded for her, do the newly-available quests, and contemplate some regular-speed skill point farming. He then switched across to Elvastar and rejoined the party for the solo boost. Elva too is level 22, and carefully farming skill points, then investing them in skills before returning to the Temple and dying a few times to get back to the bottom of the level.

RedRider got some better armour from a character of mine with my stock of such rogue items, and so was in a better state to run back to the back room - and SirDarth can provide horse buffs, too, so the run was pretty easy. So for the rest of the evening it was RedRider and SirDarth in the back room, with Darth adding another 17.62% and 121 skill points, so that in all his efforts today had moved him on by 72%, which can't be bad.

As for RedRider, well, she had joined the Discipline guild before her trips to Prokion Temple, and been put on the 50% experience freeze, but even so she had just passed the 50% mark in level 21. Each level takes a little longer, though, so she should be able to continue as the "junior partner" for Darth until he graduates from the Temple and heads out into the wider world, and hopefully provide a similar service for Galahad and JohnWellington too when required. So far, she has earned her guild 296 guild points; she doesn't have many skill points yet, all she's spent them on has been a second level of the first attack skill, and four levels of one passive skill, but she still only has 265 of them to her name.

Ratel was wondering what I would do with all my characters at level 31-35. JohnWellington is really just to see what playing as a specialist sorcerer is like, if I find it congenial I can always continue with him; Galahad, as a royal knight, is mainly to supply the Concentration buff, which can come in handy when it increases the chance of a stun or a snare working. RedRackham is intended to be a pet-leveller, set to level 35 to be less expensive in the use of quality stones than Peri is, and thus more often able to pet-level overnight. If Memree is going to be a useful healer-cleric she will need some substantial farming in Prokion Temple once she inherits the +13 armour set - while MistressSabina is going to see what the life of a witch is like.

I couldn't really see much future for RedRider once she reaches level 31, but it is possible that she might, after perhaps donating some skill points to the guild, be a useful character to take to Mad Monster Spawns and similar events, once Memree moves on and starts acquiring a store of skill points.

Memree may well have to follow Elvastar's example, and SirPerivale's, and use multiple deaths to get down to the bottom of her current level, then farm skill points, spend them on skills, and go and die some more. Or maybe I'll be too busy playing my higher level characters for a change, if the servers remain reassuringly stable?