Mana Warrior Guide (not valid anymore)

Mana Warrior Guide (not valid anymore)

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost (1874–1963)

So you want to be a mana warrior? Want to rely on the powers of the mind to defeat your foe versus strength of muscle? I have only begun my journey towards defeating the Evil Warlock, but there is much I would share with you. “Who are you?”, you may ask? My name is Silenus, a Satyr, and the adopted son of Alyssa Aarilax. It is said that satyrs don’t make the best mana warriors, which is true. The races more inclined towards mental strength may have an easier time causing more damage with their weapon, but to survive a hit from a minion of the Warlock takes strength of body as well. So if you have the gold, buy me a tankard and I’ll tell you a tale. –Silenus

I don’t have much advice on character creation. Generally speaking if you chose a race that has low mana stat costs then they have high life stat costs. I chose a male satyr because that is what I wanted to play. As a satyr I’ll have a harder time getting mana stats, but getting life won’t be a struggle. I would suggest adding to your dex and int with your stat bonuses. You’ll be using the knife for little while, but until you switch to the Obsidian Wand you’ll be relying on dex for your attacks.

Shillatown

Shillatown with its scowling guards and the huddled masses yearning to be free. Shillatown is the center of all things. I grew up on its winding, dirty streets, having the advantage of a powerful foster mother to protect me from its rougher elements. I’ve found that if you ignore the town guards they’ll ignore you too. –Silenus

Every good journey begins with a single step, to paraphrase Lao Tsu. Yours, like the thousands that have come before you, begins at the Fountain. Begin your journey by talking to the Wise Sage and take his tutorial. Proceed through it, picking up the knife, and fight some Half Slimes. They don’t drop gold anymore, sad to say, but the Green Jelly is a good food to stock up on. Fight them until you grow bored then move on. You should train any experience you might have gotten from Half Slimes (E, E, E, E, E, S, W, from Fountain). I suggest raising your dex first for some much needed attacks and life. Now sleep at the fountain and go see the Mayor for your first quest. (E, N, E, from Fountain). After that go see the Scribe to be validated. (W, S, S, W, W, W, W, N, from Fountain)

The Beach

Not what you would call a happy place with white sand, fruity drinks and children building sand castles. You’re told to “Clean the Beach”, but the crabs that infest this area seemed endless to me. The Obsidian Wand my foster mother gave me became light in my hands in short order, causing me little fatigue, and I was able to turn even the Stone Crabs to green goo in no time. It didn’t take long before the taste of crab was causing me to gag though. –Silenus

Having goals is good. It give you something to look forward to and passes the time as you click. At 40 chr an Obsidian Wand, your first mana weapon, will cost you 283 gold. You start out with 100 gold so you’re stuck with your knife until then. Head south to the beach, dropping off that 100 gold on your way. It doesn’t take much to 1 round the toughest customer on the beach, the stone crab, but make sure you keep at least 35 life before taking them on though. Use crab legs to heal yourself or sleep at the fountain. Train your dex to 30 and your grope (str + con) to 50 to 1 round them pretty consistently. Your next goal is 40 int to lower the fatigue usage of your Obsidian Wand to 1 per attack. 40 int (36 or 44 for some races) will also complete the “Clean the Beach” quest. Its pretty much a toss up which will come first, completing that quest or getting the gold through training, but either way have someone send you and Obsidian Wand, pick it up, and whack a few more crabs.

The Outskirts

The spicy bat wings were a nice change from seafood, but the riff-raff that choose the outskirts as home can pack a wallop, so proceed cautiously. The guards that are stationed at the north gate, the entrance to the outskirts, are sticklers for protocal. Make sure you have all the necessary paperwork filed at the mayor’s office and have aligned yourself with a force of nature, otherwise they won’t let you pass. –Silenus

After getting the “Rescue the King” quest from the mayor your next step is to pick an alignment. Take look at Bp’s alignment guide for that debate. When that’s done your text in chat will change color and you can enter the Outskirts. At wis 45, int 50, chr 45, I was 1 rounding the toughest of the Outskirts creatures, the Convicts. They can hit for 90 life, though I never saw anything higher than 50. Get used to using your Obsidian Wand. Its going to be your weapon for a long time. You’ll need at least one Glowing Ring and 40 str to move on to the sewers. Glowing Rings are pretty cheap, 83 gold at 60 chr, so pick up a pair of them. Continue training, spending your experience, and putting your gold in the bank for awhile.

The Sewers

What is that smell? Nasty, wet, filled with huge sewer rats and a gang of warriors of limitless numbers, the sewers weren’t a place I wanted to hang out very long. –Silenus

You’re moving right along now. I was 1 rounding the sewers at wis 85, int 110, and chr 85. Warriors can hit for as much as 200, but seemed to average a low 60. Enjoy the Whey Bread. If you have any Spicy Bat Wings left, make a sandwich.

The Vast Valley

From slimy and putrid, to the clean fresh air. From wading through watery sludge to being burned by fire. The old wizards in the Vast Valley are cantankerous and grouchy, but only hit a little harder than the warriors do. Picking up the ability to bend time and space made the walk back and forth from Shillatown easier. The wooziness of teleporting wears off quicker and quicker the more you use the spells. –Silenus

The Vast Valley, the home of the Drunken Monks and Old Wizards. They have a lower max hit than the Warriors, but averaged around 80 points of life when they hit. Here are my stats when I 1 rounded them. wis 100, int 170, chr 100 Be sure to pick up a Shimmering Cloak when it drops. It’s not much as armor goes, but its better than nothing. If you’re thinking about other accessories, besides your Glowing Rings, the Ring of Bone will cost you 66K gold at 100 chr. Pretty spendy at the moment, so I would wait. I would suggest spending some experience on spells at this point, that walk back and forth from the Vast Valley can be tedious and a waste of time.(W, N, N, W, W, N, N, from the Fountain) You won’t need much in Town Portal, 20 should be fine, but train Teleport up to 35. Peeza, such a nice pun.

The Cemetery

After the nice stroll through the Vast Valley fighting in the Cemetery was a bit spooky. I stayed away from the Crypt, my foster mother warned me not the tangle with the green slimes and emerald golems. Those two will kill you deader than dead and quickly too. A miss-calculated teleport and a couple of wrong steps and I found myself naked at the fountain before I realized what mistake I had made. At least at this point in my adventuring career death is only an annoyance. The fruit punch left by the zombies is pretty tasty though. –Silenus

The Cemetery/Crypt is a big, sprawling area. While the hardest hitter, the Nightstalker, resides only in the Crypt, I saw hits of 180 from the Old Witch before 1 rounding. I avoided training in the Crypt. The extra experience/gold from Nightstalkers isn’t worth the risk of attacking a Green Slime/Emerald Golem by mistake. For whatever reason this area seemed to take me the longest to complete. I was 1 rounding the Cemetery at wis 130, int 210, chr 130. Getting a Ring of Bone at this point is possible and will cost you 50K at 130 chr, 37K at 175 chr. The extra attack per ring would be nice, but with the challenge of rescuing the King and defeating enough Green Slimes/Emerald Golems to get their drops still ahead of you, I would wait. Mix that Zombie Punch with vodka for a nice Friday night training drink.

The Druid Valley

If ever getting enough food was a problem then that problem is solved. Kreens drop so many dehydrated druids that I had to buy an extra backpack to carry it all. I felt that at times that my Obsidian Wand was not up to the task of killing the creatures of the Druid Valley, but after training my mind a little I found these foes easy prey. –Silenus

Druid Valley and home of the infamous Kreens. This is your last stop before the assult on the Castle. Kreens can pack a punch at 410 max hit, but even with the small amount of armor you’re wearing their 4 attacks are cut down a bit. I chose at this point to boost my wis and chr, only adding 20 to my int. At wis 200, int 230, chr 200 I was teaching the Kreens and Druids the art of dying quickly. Avarials can be found at the northern part of Druid Valley, but why walk more than you have to. A Ring of Bone will cost you 32,500 gold at 200 chr. Still a big investment and would make the jump to the Castle a little quicker. I still suggest waiting until after the big battles mentioned above.

Drakmor Castle

Its kind of fun being inside of the castle I have heard about my whole life. The rookie guards are so stuck up and it was a pleasure knocking them around. Their cooked meat is good and a welcomed change from the hundreds of dehydrated druids I have had to gag down. –Silenus

Once you can 1 round Druid Valley its all about life so that you can complete the “Rescue the King” quest. I chose to train a bit on the first floor of the Castle prior to completing the quest, but it certainly isn’t necessary. At wis 200 int 310, and chr 200 I had the Rookie Guards beaten. Its good experience and it helped getting the 715+ life needed to survive a Drakmor Dragon hit easier and quicker. Most players tend to go the “All Life” route at Druid Valley and probably would have beaten me to the King.

Rescue the King Quest

It is almost a letdown how easy it was to battle my way to the King, get my reward, and teleport out. I looked rather suave, all decked out in silver chain mail, and the blue amulet around my neck caught the sun nicely. The King was a nice enough fellow, though I didn’t think he was as grateful about being rescued as he should have been. The reward from King and the town Jeweler sure made battling castle guards easier. I didn’t realize that 10,000 gold pieces weighed that much. Luckily the bank is only a short walk from the jewelry shop – Silenus

Once you have the necessary 715 Life (more if you are Earth aligned) and collected a good supply of food you can start your trudge through the Castle. I like Alpha’s description of it being a hollow wall, always makes me laugh. Rookie Guards will fall quickly, especially if you did what I did and are already 1 rounding them. Castle Guards won’t pose much of a problem either. If this is your first trip to this level of the Castle pick up and equip their armor drops. Elite Guards will start knocking you around some, just remember to eat and you’ll be fine. Pick up their armor and a pair of Blue Amulets. Equip one and save one of the amulets for the Jeweler quest. You’ll have to decide whether to keep your Shimmering Cloak on or trade it for Silver Chain Mail. They have the same defense, but the Chain weighs ½ a str point more. Basically, that means you will be able to carry one less Cooked Meat then you could with the Cloak on. Drakmor Dragons are on the top floor and can kill you if you’re not careful. Keeping eating those Dehydrated Druids/Cooked Meat and make sure you’re life is maxed before starting each battle. When you reach the end click on the king link for your reward and then Town Portal. Take your spare Blue Amulet to the Jeweler, get his quest, and then give the amulet to him. Wowsers! 90 million exp! Not bad considering it probably took you less time to complete those quest than it did for me to write about them. I spent all of that experience on int and was 1 rounding Castle Guards. If I had to guess to finish off a Castle Guard in one hit 99% of the time would be wis 200, int 360, and chr 200. You should now have a complete set of Silver Chain (63 points of defense), a Blue Amulet, and your pair of Glow Rings. I would wait just a bit longer for those Ring of Bones…

Green Golems and Slimes

After rescuing the King I was strong enough to make the castle guards cry, but those elite guards just laughed at me. What was I missing? –Silenus

Elite Guards will seem unreasonably powerful, even after training awhile on Castle Guards. That’s because they are the jump with your next weapon, the Emerald Orb. Three things stand in your way at this point: 500 int to make the fatigue usage for the Emerald Orb 1 per attack, 750 life to survive a hit from a Green Slime/Emerald Golem, and a massive amount of Cooked Meat. Having someone send you an Emerald Orb isn’t impossible, but at 300 chr it will cost you 243,100 gold. So unless you want to spend that amount start training and gathering Cooked Meat, lots of Cooked Meat.

Nothing could prepare me for the battles I fought against the green slimes and emerald golems. They are opponents worthy of both respect and fear. –Silenus

It took me 160 Cooked Meats and 8 to 9 rounds of combat to defeat each Green Slime and Emerald Golem. Have someone with a high Magic Shield zap you for some extra life insurance. A miss click here or a bit too much lag could kill you as well. Once you have that Green Emerald and Green Pixie Dust you are sitting pretty. Time for your first forge. Go buy a Chain Mail Coif and pick up a Crab Leg. Add those to your hard earned gem and dust, throw in your well used Obsidian Wand, and you’ll have an Emerald Orb. Its like adding 10 attacks, so enjoy.

Looking Ahead

Those elite guards aren’t laughing anymore and it didn’t take me long to be kicking some Drakmor dragon tail either. Gold came in piles and I felt myself growing in leaps instead of steps. I began to wonder what other challenges lay ahead. –Silenus

After the excitement of completing the quests and forging an Emerald Orb returning to “just training” can be a drag. The good news is that the experience in the upper levels of the Castle is outstanding and you should feel a sense of accomplishment about finishing the first leg of your Shilla journey. More options and different paths are now open to you and I’ll explore those in the next segment of the mana warrior guide.

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