I spent a little (actually a LOT) of time in Fearstone today due to being extremely bored while waiting for an Everchill group to get a spot for me. I'm an easily amused individual so I figured beating up some lizards would help pass the time. Besides, I could use a few items for my new baby warrior.
Fearstone is... unimpressive. To say the least. I realize that as a 65, I'm not exactly the best judge of this, but I HAVE played in Fearstone as a low level character and I HAVE spent time in the throne room as a level 28 trying to get my MQ piece. Fearstone is quite frankly, simply a very unimpressive zone. It just doesn't feel like it's being USED to the best of it's potential.
The exp there is fairly nice I suppose. 30% ZEM is always appreciated, and it's well earned given the sheer toughness of the mobs that hang around. HTing, Fearing, DoTing mobs are not favorites of low level groups. Sure, I can wander around the castle and take 179 damage Harm Touches all day, but any group that would get worthwhile exp from these guys can't. Not easily at any rate. The exp bonus is nifty, but the sheer difficulty of killing the mobs means that most people would rather go to BB. Yeah, the exp might be worse, but you won't get harm touched every other pull. Less deaths > exp bonus.
That isn't my main issue with the zone though. My main issue is the incredible lack of anything INTERESTING. There's precious few named mobs, no quests involving Fearstone whatsoever beyond the standard "go get Frilakh tails", there's just... mobs. It's quite bland to be honest. There are, according to the wiki, 5 named mobs in the entire zone. One of them is Fakzuath who drops absolutely nothing besides the Old Letter for the main quest. And I've never seen Ta'Firyik in my life (Or anyone with his loot for that matter) so I have to assume he's about as common as old school D'Vinn.
There's plenty of space for a few more fascinating mobs. Trainer Hill is barren and devoid of any life whatsoever. There aren't even any standard trash mobs. Just... nothing. The slave caves look like they SHOULD be interesting but they really aren't. Why look! Bloodclaw orcs! Maybe if I helped them, they'd repay my kindness somehow! Except you can't actually free them because the Grimguards don't drop anything besides leather whips. And don't get me wrong, I love the leather whips. Nothing starts up an interesting conversation in guild chat like a leather whip, but most newbies won't find them that spectacular. The tents not too far from the slave tunnels are also devoid of anything beyond the standard mobs, and besides the gruesome spectacle of the bloodclaw sacrifices near the cabin, there's really nothing around there either. There's that frenzied fellow, but his loot is pretty substandard, even considering the level of people who'd be killing him. His boots are the only thing worthwhile on him.
The castle fascinates me because in large part... it's worthless. Completely worthless. The mobs which spawn there ALL harm touch. They are all mean. They are much higher level than the rest of the zone (which is exactly as it should be, it's the goddamn castle) and they almost always come in packs of 2 or 3. 2 or 3 Harm Touches for nearly 200 damage a pop = teen or even low 20s tank taking a dirt nap. The loot in the castle is more or less worthless. Fakzuath spawns half the time on the throne and again, he has no loot besides the letter. Terror Master spawns the other half of the time and while his tunic is fairly worthwhile, his 12 AC, -5 armplates leave something to be desired. ALL the lizards died to me in one good nuke so I have no idea if he's significantly harder than his Blackguards. I'll have to melee him down next time instead of nuking to see if he's any more difficult.
It hardly matters though. It would take a well twinked and very well coordinated group to successfully take on the castle. In which case they don't need the loot. In which case they wouldn't bother with the castle because frankly, they can go to Warpstone and soak up the exp and FAR more impressive loot. There's a reason Fearstone is pretty much empty.
I don't think it'd take a great deal to revitalize Fearstone. Add in a few more nameds, drop some quests in (I realize Kelethin is only barely back on it's feet again, but that just makes it the perfect opportunity. Kelethin is busy trying to rebuild itself, so we need ADVENTURERS to take out the Fearstone threat!), maybe tweak the castle a bit because at this point, the castle is utterly impossible to any group where the mobs don't con green already.
I like the concept of the zone. I think it's fantastic to introduce SK and Necro mobs early in the game. It gives the zone a challenge that BB is distinctly lacking. But right now, it simply isn't worth it.
I'm going to spend some more time in the zone on Sunday, or at least try to. I sitll can't get that bastard Ta'Firyik to spawn, and I want to prove to myself that Fakzuath DOES spawn alot more often than Terror Master, and that WASN'T just a really bad go at the RNG. Plus I need to find out if Terror Master is harder than his Blackguards (I would assume he is, but one Sound of Belief and they all drop like rocks...). So while I will attempt to provide a little more information, I'd like to see what you thought about it now. Updates will be as soon as I can find myself with more free time than is strictly necessary.
Fearstone is... unimpressive. To say the least. I realize that as a 65, I'm not exactly the best judge of this, but I HAVE played in Fearstone as a low level character and I HAVE spent time in the throne room as a level 28 trying to get my MQ piece. Fearstone is quite frankly, simply a very unimpressive zone. It just doesn't feel like it's being USED to the best of it's potential.
The exp there is fairly nice I suppose. 30% ZEM is always appreciated, and it's well earned given the sheer toughness of the mobs that hang around. HTing, Fearing, DoTing mobs are not favorites of low level groups. Sure, I can wander around the castle and take 179 damage Harm Touches all day, but any group that would get worthwhile exp from these guys can't. Not easily at any rate. The exp bonus is nifty, but the sheer difficulty of killing the mobs means that most people would rather go to BB. Yeah, the exp might be worse, but you won't get harm touched every other pull. Less deaths > exp bonus.
That isn't my main issue with the zone though. My main issue is the incredible lack of anything INTERESTING. There's precious few named mobs, no quests involving Fearstone whatsoever beyond the standard "go get Frilakh tails", there's just... mobs. It's quite bland to be honest. There are, according to the wiki, 5 named mobs in the entire zone. One of them is Fakzuath who drops absolutely nothing besides the Old Letter for the main quest. And I've never seen Ta'Firyik in my life (Or anyone with his loot for that matter) so I have to assume he's about as common as old school D'Vinn.
There's plenty of space for a few more fascinating mobs. Trainer Hill is barren and devoid of any life whatsoever. There aren't even any standard trash mobs. Just... nothing. The slave caves look like they SHOULD be interesting but they really aren't. Why look! Bloodclaw orcs! Maybe if I helped them, they'd repay my kindness somehow! Except you can't actually free them because the Grimguards don't drop anything besides leather whips. And don't get me wrong, I love the leather whips. Nothing starts up an interesting conversation in guild chat like a leather whip, but most newbies won't find them that spectacular. The tents not too far from the slave tunnels are also devoid of anything beyond the standard mobs, and besides the gruesome spectacle of the bloodclaw sacrifices near the cabin, there's really nothing around there either. There's that frenzied fellow, but his loot is pretty substandard, even considering the level of people who'd be killing him. His boots are the only thing worthwhile on him.
The castle fascinates me because in large part... it's worthless. Completely worthless. The mobs which spawn there ALL harm touch. They are all mean. They are much higher level than the rest of the zone (which is exactly as it should be, it's the goddamn castle) and they almost always come in packs of 2 or 3. 2 or 3 Harm Touches for nearly 200 damage a pop = teen or even low 20s tank taking a dirt nap. The loot in the castle is more or less worthless. Fakzuath spawns half the time on the throne and again, he has no loot besides the letter. Terror Master spawns the other half of the time and while his tunic is fairly worthwhile, his 12 AC, -5 armplates leave something to be desired. ALL the lizards died to me in one good nuke so I have no idea if he's significantly harder than his Blackguards. I'll have to melee him down next time instead of nuking to see if he's any more difficult.
It hardly matters though. It would take a well twinked and very well coordinated group to successfully take on the castle. In which case they don't need the loot. In which case they wouldn't bother with the castle because frankly, they can go to Warpstone and soak up the exp and FAR more impressive loot. There's a reason Fearstone is pretty much empty.
I don't think it'd take a great deal to revitalize Fearstone. Add in a few more nameds, drop some quests in (I realize Kelethin is only barely back on it's feet again, but that just makes it the perfect opportunity. Kelethin is busy trying to rebuild itself, so we need ADVENTURERS to take out the Fearstone threat!), maybe tweak the castle a bit because at this point, the castle is utterly impossible to any group where the mobs don't con green already.
I like the concept of the zone. I think it's fantastic to introduce SK and Necro mobs early in the game. It gives the zone a challenge that BB is distinctly lacking. But right now, it simply isn't worth it.
I'm going to spend some more time in the zone on Sunday, or at least try to. I sitll can't get that bastard Ta'Firyik to spawn, and I want to prove to myself that Fakzuath DOES spawn alot more often than Terror Master, and that WASN'T just a really bad go at the RNG. Plus I need to find out if Terror Master is harder than his Blackguards (I would assume he is, but one Sound of Belief and they all drop like rocks...). So while I will attempt to provide a little more information, I'd like to see what you thought about it now. Updates will be as soon as I can find myself with more free time than is strictly necessary.
