More epic areas/bosses in the UD

[freekender]

As the Upperdark is shared space and two zones got moved out of the Underdark to the Upperdark, it would be nice to get some new zones in the Underdark to replace the ones we lost.

A new epic area would be great, one that sits between the Stone Guardian (low-epic), and the Pit Fiend (high epic). A shiny new Mid-epic are would fit right in.

As for the second zone, it would be nice to have a new map pitched the same as the Deurgar mines, and its spawn rate, as it still tends to be the goto area. That would at least provide a bit of variety.

BigJ

+1

[Tsidkenu]

Add a Gauth Grottoes beholder zone

[Flasmix]

No no no beholders lol

[Blackman D]

*enters new beholder area, takes 5 steps and instantly dies from beholder dispel/breach/stun/paralysis/slow/knockdown/??? (we havent lived long enough to figure this one out)/death ray*

[Eclypticon]

Leave the beholders to the DMs only. We have had to remove them in other places before.

[7threalm]

[BigJ]

As for the second zone, it would be nice to have a new map pitched the same as the Deurgar mines, and its spawn rate, as it still tends to be the goto area. That would at least provide a bit of variety.

After thinking about it the wilds / drider area would only need tweaking to make it as popular as the mines. Originally I think it was the only epic area, but after the other updates it now needs a little love.

1) The Wilds itself is a HUGE map so it takes a long time to run around it. Upping the spawn rate and adding another chest would help.

2) Remove Drider Warriors / Clerics and the beholders from spawning in the Wilds. This map can then be pitched at 14-20 if its mostly just the Drider Scouts and similar level mobs.

3) The East of Wilds map can then become the 'higher' level drider area with the Warrior and Cleric spawns, a bit like the lower mines and Duergar.

4) Add a small new map, a one cell cave or something to transition into, at the end of the East of Wilds map with a new epic Drider boss fight in it.

I'm no builder but I'm sure the above wouldn't take much time to make happen, just tweaking existing maps and adding a new cave. It would also be a nice progression from 14 to epic rather than the mix it is now.

BigJ

[Blackman D]

something needs to be done with driders yes

simply increasing the spawn rate as is would probably make it one of the most dangerous areas on the server, fighting a fighter, cleric and a rogue at the same time can get brutal, and then simply deadly when the beholders were spawning with them (not sure if they still do)

honestly dont know which is the easier of the three tho, the cleric spells can suck but i dont think they stood up to melee well, the fighter simply has high AB and damage, the rogue along with being stealthed has an adamantine dagger but is otherwise only dangerous to the blind

i would prefer if all 3 are kept tho, maybe having the warrior as the high spawn and the other two low

driders are suppose to be dangerous and it is suppose to be one of the epic areas so we dont want to make it too easy but atm the risk/reward isnt worth going there at all other than passing thru for the quest

[metaquad4]

Would it be so terrible if we let the UD folk access to grind (raid) on or near cetain maps on the surface?

Desegregation would be a wonderful thing, for both the UD and the surface. The separation of the UD and the surface is really a self-feeding circle with regard to play attitude. The rules and the DM team make it clear that the UD populace and the surface populace should only interact (RP together) in rare, DM approached situations. Because of this, the surface population (the UD population tends to be a bit more mature, but the DMs are also far more lenient on surfaces going to the UD than UDers going to the surface, so that plays into this too) gets the perception that UD character should never be on the surface and thus attempt to drive them out with any excuse them can (metagaming masks is a classic example. Bothering dark skinned masked characters, that is to say, but leaving other masked characters alone).

If the DM team makes it clear that its ok for the UD and the surface to RP with each other (and makes a minor alteration to the antiquated rules around their interaction) then, with a bit of time for (surface) players to adjust, everything would be ok.

The new UD passage is a step in the right direction, and a very good step at that. But, it can be improved simply by improving the DM and Server's attitude to RP between the UD and the surface. The players will follow, as the DMs (leaders of the community) serve as effective role models for appropriate behavior. And, of course, the server rules easily cover any infractions that occur as they always do (any suggestions that it will lead to more griefing are BS arguments, griefing/metagaming/whatever is covered and dealt with in the rules as is.) There might be some griefing, but historically it has mainly been surfacers metagaming drow using the aforementioned tactics. Even some DMs have been guilty of doing it DM-side. Though, that is born of the attitude that "some people shouldn't RP on the surface". That attitude really needs to die, its just holding the server down from even more potential. Any breaches of rules can be handled by the DM team in a professional and mature manner, just like always.

So, yes. Let the UD farm in the surface, and let the surface farm in the UD. It saves the developers time from creating zones for a hungry community, and it allows for more RP possibilities on both ends. The surface is huge at this point, more than big enough to share. Might as well fill the space up with people. It'll give the UD characters the extra content they want, it'll give the surface characters a bit of extra content, and it'll create more RP.

[Flasmix]

Any Devs able to take something like this up?

[Side]

The first thing I would recommend is adding "upperdark" to the name of the cave at the end of the new UD/Surface passage. I'll be honest, it's been a while since I was over there so I don't really know if anything changed in this regard, but it seems more reasonable for the upperdark rules to kick in where the sky ends and the cave begins, instead of somewhere within the cave itself. That cave is a decently high level area, and could easily be covered by the rules that protect the upperdark, which is one transition away, already.

Perhaps in an effort to take things one step at a time we could allow UD/Surface characters to target bosses on the other side of the barrier first, before touching any rule about grinding? Hunting an old and powerful creature with a stash of treasure is far more reasonable than "training" on the other side, and could be a useful first step to test the water.

[Young Werther]