Three More Levels

This weekend's special "Weekend Budget Box" from LC's chancellor, Exchequer, isn't too exciting, as it doesn't include a tiered spender event - so there are no freebie packages for spending aeria points on other things. The Loot Forge has temporarily reverted to offering master stones, but the BOGO offers are less than thrilling... except that, leading up to the weekend's start, which from their point of view is the middle of Saturday evening, we do have "buy one get one" applying to experience, skill, and item drop boosters - and if MistressDomina is to get the skill points she'll need to progress, skill point boosters are what she will need.

After coffee, I found that the Auzura Tomb of Theos was set to 90%, and the Cariae one was on 80% - and since it is so unusual, recently, to have the Cariae Tomb set so far towards the easy end, it seemed a great opportunity for my wizard Keerella and my phoenix ranger RedRydeR to gain a little experience.

Kee and Red entered the Tomb on Cariae-6, and headed for the anubis spear men. There were some people in the first room, but the spot on the first corridor corner after that was available, so that is where my duo settled in. It was only just approaching 10:30 then, so there was half an hour to go before the dungeon time started; RedRydeR just fought the sphinx fighters unboosted, while Keerella fought without any boosts until the hour began, and then started the usual hour-long potions and pbi.

The double experience and skill exp from yesterday had been absent-mindedly left running by the GMs, so RedRydeR actually levelled up to 94 before the hour began. During the hour, Keerella added 17.13% from 30 experience boosters, while adding in the kills from before that, and one after, her total gain came to 17.89%. RedRydeR earned 6.22% during the hour, and 8.81% in all; Kee's drake Greedo earned 1607 pet points, and Red's drake got 1549, while both Kee and Red gained 11 skill points.

As well as RedRydeR reaching level 94, Keerella reached level 100, which is a bit of a milestone - while Kee has no skill points for the level 100 skill, I can at least create a new phoenix character, if I can bear to delete either Enchantrella or Karella to make space. And Kee will once again be able to form a combat party with Barbarienne, so Barb will have the chance to go on to level 111 fighting the anubis spear men. RedRydeR apparently doesn't have any new skills to learn until level 98's Controlled Shooting level six, which increases her attack while decreasing her defence.

After lunch, for the two to three dungeon time hour MistressDomina and Kaerella went to the Tomb of Theos on Auzura-6. At the start of the hour we just about had the ancient grey mummies room to ourselves; an archer called Morphee did try killing a mummy or two, but wasn't really high enough level. I think she died at least once, and didn't stay around very long. The specialist sorcerer Voldemort turned up again, which was okay - but he brought a night shadow guildie of his along too, which made the room rather crowded, especially as the night shadow did like to fight a group of mummies together - and while they were clustered around him, they weren't available for anyone else. Still, he vanished before long, thankfully.

MistressDomina added 18.78% in level 102, from 43 experience boosters - another session like that would get her a few percent into level 103, and the whole of that level ought to be devoted to skill point farming, so we will need to go carefully. Kaerella used 50 boosters to add 21.71% in level 100. MD's drake got 1170 pet points, and Kae's got 1233, and they both added 42 skill points. The killing was slow because the Tomb on Auzura was at just 70% when MD and Kae entered...and was down to 60% at the end of the hour.

The rest of the afternoon involved moving items around - getting MistressDomina a good supply of skill point boosters for a start, and platinum super skill pills too. I managed to find thirty skill boxes, and some of those gave a pssp, or 5 boosters, or indeed the 15% extra skill exp "training spells". Various bits of loot were passed across to MistressDomino; I did see a tempting pair of b5e mage boots +15 in Roy's merchant mart, which would have made a useful replacement for her current +13 pair, but they were just too expensive.

After the food break, MistressSabina and RedRackham headed for Maargadum Jail; Sabina set to work with the beast flyers, and didn't get any interruptions until a sorcerer right at the end who seemed to think we were in the same party or something, and RedRackham went to the fifth floor, and his usual death mask lancer. He did have some problems with a rather nasty ks-er later on, a titan called Mostarda, who tried to blackmail Red into giving him a hundred green herb leaves for his pet. I suppose it wasn't too many minutes he was there, repeatedly killing Red's lancer, but it was annoying. He never did answer my casual question as to whether or not he ever went to a PvP server...

Still, RedRackham made useful progress with the pet-levelling, and MistressSabina added 28.11%, plus 273 skill points and 2348 pet points. The session started just as the five until six o'clock dungeon time began, stacking usefully with the extra experience and skill exp...and it ended with the eight until nine dungeon time hour on the horizon. The double experience and skill exp must have been switched off at about six, UK time, but a "Turbo" event had replaced it, which meant that the double skill exp, at least, did continue through the rest of evening.

I checked the Cariae-6 Tomb of Theos again, and it was on 100%, so this time my cleric Kaerella and RedRydeR teamed up, on the ancient grey mummies, and had the room to themselves, except for the occasional passer-by. I checked Kae's killing speed with the bow and the wand, and there wasn't a whole lot of difference, less than 10% I'd say, so Kaerella stuck with the cleric weapon. She was a lot slower with her kills than RedRydeR, though, who of course is helped a little by the special buff a phoenix character gets. Kae started the hour just below level 94, but soon levelled up.

Kaerella added 36.49%, from 36 experience boosters, while RedRydeR, who also uses a g5 +15 level 85 weapon, added 60.99% in level 94, from 63 boosters. Are rangers better at killing than clerics, or what? Kae's drake, SirFrancis, added 1180 pet points, and Red's drake added 1193; they both gained 23 skill points

Back in Dratan City, Kaerella was able to learn the ninth level of Greater Heal, for 600 skill points, increasing its power from 830 to 920 hp. That seems to be her last skill this side of level 100. And then RedRackham logged back in - the Cariae version this time, with his level 43 drake, which he managed to move on past the two-thirds mark in that level.