Mith Medal Dailies Part 2

Quests at Gurriki Swamp and Lapidus Mineral Lake

These are the quests known in the lfg as "frog and lake" quests. There's a daily and weekly at both
locations. The daily is repeatable 30 times. For those of you new to Tiamaranta these quests are in areas beyond Kahrun's will, meaning you can be attacked by the opposite faction while questing.
The quests can be picked up in Rancora Fort from NPC Erephe and Karuti inside Rancora Fort. The daily quest in Gurriki Swamp must be done with a group because the mobs are elites, while the weekly can be soloed if you wish. It's the same with the quests at the Mineral Lake. 

Picking up the frog/lake dailies in Rancora Fort
 

I only needed the weekly for the frog quest here
 

Working on the Lake daily,  killing Crystal Mamuts
 

Killing Icemane Lindis to complete the Lake weekly - these can be soloed

Turning in the Lake quests at Rancora Fort

That concludes my 2nd article on obtaining Mithril Medals.   I hope you find it helpful :)

Mithril Medal Dailies Part 1

Mithril Medals:  they're the new form of medals needed in order to buy lvl 60 AP gear.   If you're saving AP
for a piece of that gear,  the minimum you'll need is 29 if you're buying the ring,  all the way up to 182 for the highest grade
Rank 1 locked AP weapon.  In this article I'll review some of the daily quests available that give mithril medals as rewards.

Quests at the Tiamaranta Forts

I can only speak for the Elyos here,  but I'm fairly certain that the quests are similar,  just different in name.
The daily "A Vital Assignment" and weekly "Divided Attentions" can be picked up at the Tia Forts that your faction owns.

Picking up the Mith daily and weekly at the Heart of Fissure

  
The daily asks you to kill 11 mobs to get a vitality crystal from each one.  You can choose from:  Desert Mookies,
I usually choose the mookies, because they're closer and they give a mana buff.  The weekly asks
you to kill "bothersome beasts".  You can choose from a variety but I usually choose the dust cloud
obscuras because they're close by.


Me targeting a dust cloud obscura for the mith weekly

Great Para shot here while doing the weekly :)

Location of desert mookies for the mith fort daily
 

A desert mookie:  these are non pre-emptive

Turning in the daily and weekly at the Tia fort
 

That about covers the Tiamanaranta fort mith medal daily/weekly.  In my next installment I'll cover
other mith medal quests that are available.  Stay tuned :) 

3.5: First Impressions

It's been almost 2 weeks  since 3.5 launched, and I've had a chance to experience about half of the new content.  Here are my thoughts on what I've checked out so far:

The Brusthonin/Theobomos Raids

This is a fun new addition to Aion that I think both factions enjoy.   Allowing PVP raids to
2 previously PVE only zones is bound to be popular.   I get alot of kills quickly and a fair amount
of AP depending on who's there.  I've run it 3 times since the launch.  It's kind of like a cross
between an abyss fort raid and the PVP at West Shard. 
There's about 4 quests that can be picked up before rifting.  The one that asks to kill 5 players
of the opposite faction is completed within about 1-2 minutes of arriving or even less,  if you're joining the
alliance later on.  Other members of your alliance are busy completing the kills for you,
and you get the credit. 
There's alot of guards and players to deal with,  so pushing forward really isn't that easy,  but thats
what's needed to complete the rest of the quests.  The Elyos quest asks players to kill NPC Gien of Baltasar
Hill Village,  and Asmodians are asked to destroy the dimensional generator. 
My only complaint is the rifting curse (Azphel's curse) that I've acquired twice.  On my 2nd run I got the curse after about 30 min or so,  and on my last run I acquired it within 1 min of arriving!  I told myself that I would only stay about 15 min or so in order to avoid it,  but I hadn't counted on getting cursed within 1 min....
The curse lasts for about 3 days,  and puts a stop on rifting anywhere else,  which is bad because rifting
in 3.5 is now open to level 60s for all previously low level regions. 
My conclusion?  I'll be avoiding the curse by doing homeland defense:  I'll be part of the "Welcome Committee" in Theo next time the raid begins :D 
The raids begin at 8 p.m. PST

Arena of Harmony

This is also alot of fun.  As mentioned in my earlier post,  this is the first time in the EC instances where
group chat has been allowed (not that there's much time for chat,  but a few necessary things can be said).  You're paired up with one other person to fight 2 other couples.  The stages are all new too. I like the ice one - its very pretty!  If you come in first you get the chance to receive an Arena of Glory ticket.  Get 3 of those and you get to run the Arena of Glory.  One other nice thing about this:  you can choose your partner and apply as a group.  This way you can run it with a friend. 

Dredgion on the New Instance Server

Let me just say this:  for those of us who like to run dredge but have had to wait 30 min or more for it to pop,  the problem has finally been fixed once and for all!  Thank goodness!
Fast service has arrived - dredge now pops within 5 min,  and often within 1 or 2! 
The reason? The new instance server sources players from across all the Aion servers,  so group formation
is alot faster.  Whether you queue with a premade group or request private or quick entry,  the instance
still pops quickly. 
The downside:  The instance server is laggy at times,  and had a problem with disconnects shortly after
the launch.  From what I can tell the dc problem has been fixed,  but the lagginess does remain at times.
This is because the instance server not only sources dredge,  but every other instance in the game,  so
its a busy server. 

That's my report so far.  I haven't run any of the new high lvl instances like Tiamat Stronghold or Dragon
Lord's Refuge yet.  I'll add some pics as soon as I can .  Thanks for reading and have fun in Aion!

3.5 Has Almost Arrived!!

As I write this,  there is 1 hour left until 3.5 launches.  There are so many new and exciting additions to the game that I'm not quite sure where to start!

To begin with,  and in my opinion one of the most awesome,  is the conversion of Theobomos and Brusthonin into PVP zones!  These 2 zones were strictly PVE since their launch in 1.5.  Players 45+
will now have the chance to rift to these zones through a Dimensional Vortex located in the Kaisanel
Academy and Maruchan Priory.  The Vortexes will only be open for limited times:  10 p.m to
Midnight,  Monday,  Wed,  Friday & Saturday.  There also seem to be some set rules:  the rifting
is scheduled to be in the form of "Raids"  of 24 group alliances.  Also,  the rifting is limited to the higher
level areas of the respective zones,  because Theo and Brust are both low and high lvl regions.

Next we have the addition of 2 instances to the Crucible Coliseum:  The Arena of Harmony and
the Arena of Glory!
These sound very interesting:  the Harmony Arena involves 3 groups of 2 players each  (12 total) battling
each other.  As always,  its faction vs. faction.  And for the first time in the Arena system,  chatting
will be allowed between the 2 group members.  I don't know whether or not you can make your own
group or if you just apply and you're auto grouped with someone.

The Arena of Glory will be available to the top 4 winners of the Arena of Harmony and the winner and first runner up of the Arena of Chaos. Its for lvls 56-60. The rewards will include the usual abyss points and also
Mithril and Platinum Medals,  as well as a new unit of currency known as Glorious Insignias.  Titles will
now be available based on number of wins of the glory instance.

The third item of interest in the 3.5 patch is the introduction of the Instanced Server System.  This will
allow players to apply for Auto Group Formation across all the Aion servers ( I assume NA only).
There will be benefits for forming a group through the new system: 
1.  XP and item drop increase,  and
2.  "Victory's Pledge" boost effect  (PVE DUNGEONS ONLY)

What this will do for static group formation of friends on one server is anyone's guess,  but this change
seems to point to a wish on NC"s part to level the playing field through the encouragement of random
group formation with incentives to do so.

The Involved Dungeons are as Follows:

PVE DUNGEONS
NTC
Fire Temple
Theo Labs,  Adma Stronghold
Steel Rake,  Udas Temple,  Dark Poeta,  Draupnir Cave
Empyrean Crucible

PVP DUNGEONS

Dredgion,  Chantra Dredgion and Terath Dredgion
Arena of Discipline
Arena of Chaos
Arena of Harmony

The Discipline Training Grounds,  Chaos Training Grounds and Harmonious Training Grounds are also
included however I've never run the Disc or Chaos so I don't know if they're PVE or PVP.


Finally,  in the list of the top changes in 3.5,  there's the entirely new PVE dungeons:

Tiamat Stronghold and Dragon Lord's Refuge,  both for players lvl 60
and both with an entrance in Tiamaranta's Eye.  This should make for some serious battles
between the factions for control of the Eye, eh?

and

A new Abyssal Splinter instance,  called Unstable Abyssal Splinter,  only accessible
by the faction that controls Divine Fortress.  This should provide some fuel to renew interest
in taking Divine Fort again. 


My final subect to note is the changes to Legions.   Extra levels have been added:  a legion can now
level up to lvl 8.  There's a cost for this, and it's not cheap. 
There'll now be legion quests to complete,  available for level 5 legions or higher.  These quests will
provide both legion and personal rewards for those who participate.

Legions level 6 or higher will have the right to purchase legion items,  a new addition to the game.
These can be bought with legion coins,  obtained through the new legion quests.
If this isn't encouragement to nudge legions to upgrade to level 6,  I don't know what is!  Not complaining,  just saying.


There are many more changes,  including housing zone quests which I've chosen not to cover in this article.
The full patch notes are here. 

I must take my leave now,  and go download the patch so I can see Brusthonin for the first time!

Test Drive A Pagati at Your Local Tiamaranta Outpost

Did you know that you can test drive a Pagati mount for 5 min. for free?  Pick up the quest called
"The Red Stallion" from NPC Vesestia at the Southern Guardian's Seal in Sarpan and you get to try one out!

Turning the quest in to Vesetia

Here's 2 of me on the Pagati:

It was alot of fun,  and I've gotta get a permanent one someday!  The only way to do so is with 1435
Kahrun Symbols or by running Rentus Base and getting the lucky roll on the Pagati drop.  You can also buy one from the BCM if you can't wait. 

By the way,  this quest chains to another called "The Yearlings",  where you have to kill a few Pagatis :( 

Aion's 3rd Anniversary

This September marks the 3rd anniversary of Aion's launch,  and to celebrate the occasion,  there's an anniversary event!  There's a huge birthday cake in the capital city of each faction,  and deavas are invited to light a candle,  which will endow them with the blessings of Aion.   The message:  get out there and start grinding mobs!  You'll need to in order to get an Aether Flame,  which is the event item that's exchanged by the NPCs in Sanctum and Pandamonium for a candle.   The Aether Flames
are somewhat of a rare drop during this event.  I haven't gotten one yet,  but my cleric alt did from an Earth Spirit in Heiron while on the Fast Track server.    If you haven't gotten one yet,  its not a problem,  because the effects of the candle buffs extend to a large radius (100 meters) around the daeva who lights the candle.  In other words,  just stand around the cake for a while and you'll receive the buffs from the candle just lit by the lucky deava who did get an Aether Flame!
There are 3 kinds of candles (buffs) to choose from:

1. Blazing, which triples the leveling speed,
2. Magical,  which triples the drop rate, and
3. Spiritual,  which recovers 2000 DP,  increases attack speed by 10% and reduces cast time by 10%

These buffs last for 4 hours.  Good luck on getting those Aether Flames,  but if you don't have the time to grind for them,  they can be bought from the Black Cloud Marketplace.  They're on sale
until Oct. 10th. 

Tiamaranta Puzzle Quests: Picking Up The Pieces

There's something new in Aion 3.1.  Its something that I've discovered only recently,  in the last month or so.
I was out grinding mobs one day a while back in Tiamaranta.  It was a typical day in Aion,  nothing new,  but when I stooped over to loot a mob I just killed I noticed something unusual.  An item called  "Bead Piece 1"was part of the loot.  It dropped from a Huge Desert Scolopen in the Adora area not too far from the fort.
It looked like a cracked piece of a marble. A week or so later I was in the Calcified Tundra area.  I was grinding Quartzite Hormuses for a quest.  To my surprise one of them dropped "Bead Piece 3".  It also looked like a piece of a marble,  but a different part of one.   All I needed was Bead Piece 2  in order to assemble the marble back to its original form.  I've heard that Bead Piece 2 is a very rare drop,  and after trying for quite awhile to get it,  I  gave up and threw the other pieces out.  I know that was bad (lol),  but I really needed the inventory space!  The other reason I threw them out was because I got these new puzzle pieces while grinding in Avad Village...  Take a look:

Mirror Pieces #1 & #3 in my inventory

It says:  "You can make Cracked Mirror by assembling Mirror Piece 1,  Mirror Piece 2,  Mirror Piece 3".

So far I've made 2 observations about these quests: 
1).  In both puzzle piece quests it seems that piece #2 is the difficult piece to obtain,  and
2).  These quests are only a part of Tiamaranta. 

I've never gotten any drops like these in Sarpan.  At first I wondered if the puzzle piece quests
were a part of both regions but I've concluded that they aren't.  Sarpan has extra quests that
can be picked up while killing mobs,  but they're engravings that can be clicked to start a quest.
Its not the same thing.

I'll keep searching and posting my findings on these mystery pieces.  Until then,  Happy Hunting
in Tiamaranta!

Update 9/21/12:

There's an article on Aion forums that talks about these quests.  Here's the forum page with some info .
These quests are completable,  all the needed pieces can be found and combined to open a quest.
My good friend Raxu found all 3 Bead Pieces and all 3 Mirror Pieces.  




 

 

Arcanus' Wing Feather Achieved!

I finally obtained all the Tiamat Legion Epaulets (150) to complete the quest "Their Deaths Are Legion"  mentioned in my last post.  Here's a couple of pics of the quest turn in:

Turning the quest in to Arcanus

About to receive the new Wing Feather!

  I was rewarded with Arcanus' Wing Feather,  which is significantly better than what I had.. and here it is..

Arcanus' Wing Feather Back View



Arcanus' Wing Feather Front View
 

Its a beautiful wing feather and the stats are good too! All in all its definitely a quest chain worth completing.

Tiamaranta Daily Quests: Flavia's Proof

This quest is picked up from NPC Flavia,  who can be found in Petro Outpost in Tiamaranta.  If you're new to Tia,  fly from Rancora Fort to Notus Outpost and from there fly to Petro Outpost.   Flavia is standing inside one of the tents.  She gives you a daily quest called Flavia's Proof,
which asks you to get 10 Tiamat Legion Epaulets.  This quest can be repeated daily 30 times.  The reward for completion is a contribution bundle,  which gives you an AP relic or a mithril medal. 

Talking to Flavia in Petro Outpost

Where are the Epaulets gotten?  From female Balaur mobs in Tiamaranta's Eye.  These mobs are found in the side rooms called antechambers and in the central rooms that surround the commander's room.  The drop rate isn't the best,  I'd say 1 in 5, but it varies so you'll have to find out for yourself. 
I find that the drop rate is in waves,  meaning that for awhile there won't be any drops and then finally they'll drop one after the other,  e.g.  I'll kill 7 mobs,  get no drops,  then the next 2 or 3 will drop the epaulets,  then back to no drops for awhile. 
In the above pic I'm completing my 30th and final rep of the daily quest.   The good news is that after you compete the daily 30x,  you're given a new quest called "Their Deaths Are Legion",  which offers
a set of wings called Arcanus' wing feather as the reward. 


Taking the quest that offers the wing feather

 

The quest asks you to obtain 150 Legion Epaulets,  which is alot and should keep you busy for some time.  I know it has for me,  but I really could use the new wings!

Kahrun's Symbols and the Sandstorm Legion

The awesome city of Kamar can be visited when you reach level 55.  When you arrive there you can begin to quest for Kahrun's symbols by taking quests from the Sandstorm Legion NPCs.   The official way to be introduced to the legion npcs is by talking to this guy:


Ajenos is the official intro NPC to the Sandstorm Legion

I admit I just discovered this NPC after all my time in 3.0,  but hey,  its a big place with alot to see!
He sends you off to meet these 2,  who give out daily and weekly Sandstorm quests for solo,  groups and alliances.  The solo quests are a good way to begin.  They ask you to kill an offensive villain of the Sarpan region,  which is a good reason to get out and learn more about that area.  There's a variety
of mobs to choose from in different locations,  so no matter where you happen to be in Sarpan,  it won't be too difficult to complete a daily.

Baia and Betios give out daily & weekly Sandstorm quests

I'll have more on these quests and the gear that the symbols can buy in the near future.

3.1 is coming on July 18th!

On July 18, 4 days from today,  the 3.1 update will be brought to the NA servers.  The update will bring some changes to the game,  such as the introduction of a second  "fast track" server for players 1-50 who want to level up quickly.   The fast track server will have rift buffs up,  which makes it more of a pve power leveling server.  The other server won't have rifting buffs,  which is for those who want to experience the pvp aspect of the game. 
Another new feature is the addition of a new world boss into the abyss region:  Moltenus.  It'll be fun to see how he looks and fights! 
Also,  the NC store is gonna be updated on the same day as the 3.1 launch. 
See you in game on launch day!

Update 7/17/12:  The patch notes are published - read them here,  but if you dont have the time,
here's my list of the 12 most important changes:

1.  The addition of a new world boss that spawns in the Abyss.
2.  The lowering of rent on estates and mansions.
3.  An increase in the amount of Kahrun's symbols given for completed quests
4.  The opportunity for Elyos to run Adma Stronghold and Asmodians to run Theo Labs
5.  The addition of a "fast track" server
6.  The lowering of the entry level for Besh Temple to 53
7.  The ability for spiritmasters to remove  BG Vasharti's reflect buff in Rentus Base
8.  The removal of the daily quest in Tiamaranta's Eye for both factions that asks for 10 outer ring
     mobs to be killed.  It will now be a one time quest.
9.  The addition of fabled and heroic gear drops in Aether labs and Alquimia Research center
10. The removal of mobs near the entrance of Aether labs/Alquimia Research that made it difficult to reach the instance
11.  Reduced the amount of AP lost  for 3 star and  4 star officers and generals when killed and reduced the amount of AP gained by the player killing them
12.  Added teleports to reach Draupnir Cave

Level 60 Abyss Armor: A Discussion

3.0 has brought many new things,  and among them,  a new set of abyss gear for level 60 deavas.  When I first took a look at the armor and weaps,  I was very surprised.  NC added something new.
They added a term of use to the 60 E (eternal) armor and weps that requires the wearer to maintain an abyss rank of at least 3 or 1 or the gear cannot be worn.  What this means in terms of pvp is that a rank 1
player wearing a 60 E piece of "rank regulated" gear will lose 885 AP every time they're killed.  A player loses AP based on their rank.  The higher your rank,  the more you lose when defeated during pvp.  For those of you unfamiliar with the abyss point ranking system,  please see this page at the Aion website that explains the concepts further.   It also means that if your rank drops below rank 1,
you can't wear the gear.  This probably won't ever happen tho,  because the new 3.0 end game content
has so many ways to get AP,  which are given out in bundles of abyss relics,  that a player is sure to have a savings hoard of them to boost their rank in an emergency. 
To my mind its more a question of control:  should I allow myself to be held to a constant rank by acquiring a set of gear that has a program limit,  or should I retain my freedom to be a lower rank and go with a set of gear that is very good but gives less stats?
It isn't an easy question to answer,  and a comparison of the gears might help in reaching a decision.

We'll begin by taking a look at the lv 60 rank regulated Fabled Gear:

The 60 fabled leather jerkin for rank 3 or higher

As you can see,  it has 6 slots (standard for fabled or higher AP armor).  It is only wearable by Rank
3 or higher players,  and it gives a set effect of magic supression for a wearer who has 3 or 5 pieces of it.  It also gives a hidden set effect that will activate and become known when the entire set is worn.

And for those of you who are fashion concious,  here's how it looks on a female toon:

Next we'll take a look at the pricier fabled jerkin,  also for rank 3 or higher:

The difference between the two is that this one has no set effects available but it does have augmentation.  Augmentation is practically the same idea as with the crucible armor:  you pay an NPC to augment the armor,  which gives a specified stat boost that lasts for a certain amount of time,  at which point you either re-boost it or leave it on its base stats.   The augment stats on this jerkin are +4 crit strike,  +hp 27 and + 27 magic supression.

Now lets take a look at the eternal armor:

Once again I've selected the jerkin for an even comparison.  This item requires rank 1 or higher of the wearer.  Like the previous jerkin it has no set effects.  It also has augmentation,  but it has 2 levels available.  I don't know why anyone who could have a lvl 2 would only choose 1,  but I think the idea is that if you forget to re-boost it you won't immediately go back to base stats,  you'll just drop down a bit.  The lv1 augment stats are:  +32 hp,   + 5 crit strike,  + 32 magic supression and  +10 magic resist.   The lvl 2 augment stats are: +33 hp,  +32 magic supression,  +12 Accuracy and +5 attack.
That last stat really wowed me!  I've never seen a +attack stat on a jerkin before.  As far as I know this is a first in the game.  Its pretty cool. 
And here's how it looks:

And a pic:

Ok,  now that we've seen the rank regulated armor,  lets take a look at the no rank required armor for comparison.  We'll start with the fabled jerkin:

The lv 60 "no rank required" basic fabled AP jerkin

It has the standard 6 slots,  no set effects,  the same defense stats and the same pvp defense as the greater fabled jerkins.  Of course its also less expensive. 

And heres the eternal no rank jerkin with pic:

Its the same setup as the fabled jerkin. 

As you can see,  theres a trade off for retaining the right to be low rank.  The armor has less stats available and is just basic,  which is just fine,  but if you want access to the extra stats and the best that the game has to offer,  you have to settle with staying either rank 3 or 1. 

It alot to sort out and consider,  and I still haven't made up my mind yet on what I'll be doing as far as eventually upgrading my armor from EC armor to AP armor is concerned. 

I hope this article  has been helpful and your comments on this new change in the AP gear are most welcome.

Special Guestblooms: Kahrun's Grace

Some guestblooms provide players with special items only obtainable thru quests.  Kahrun's Grace is one such bloom.  KG gives a gift of 14 Kahrun's symbols when finished,  which is helpful if you're collecting them.  Kahrun's symbols are units of currency used to buy armor,  weps,  and accessories for players 56 and up.  There are many quests that give them,  but you need alot of them and having a guestbloom that gives them helps to collect them faster. 
You can obtain Kahrun's Grace once a week,  thru a quest called "How to Garden Aggressively".
 The NPC who gives this quest is in Oriel Village, and his name is Izunius.   He's the NPC near the teleporter.

Getting the weekly quest from Izunius

  The quest asks you to kill either fanned dionae or poisonroot fungies in the Trepone Forest area of Sarpan.  See the map below.

 You have to collect 6 roots of poisonous plants.  While you're questing,  make sure to look out for this guy:

Crazy Kubaka can get in the way of your guestbloom quest!

Steer clear of him and go after these mobs:

Poisonroot fungie

When you're done getting the roots you need,  head back to Izunius,  turn in the quest and get your guestbloom.  A free 14 Kahrun's symbols every week!

Turning in the quest

Guestblooms and Hearthblooms

One of the cool new things in the housing aspect of the game is guestblooms and hearthblooms.  These are items that you place in your studio, house, mansion, etc. that give you a gift after a certain amount of time. 
There's a difference between the two.  Hearthblooms are personal,  that is,  they can only be used by you,  once daily,  usually for about a week of time.  They give things like construction fluxes,  manastones and AP relics as a daily gift.   Guestblooms,  on the other hand,  can be "fed" or "watered" by your friends.
Guestblooms need a certain amount of feedings.  You can feed your own guestbloom, and the cd is 3 min.,
but they were designed to be visited by other players,  hence the name.  Most guestblooms require a minimum of 30 feedings,  and the more advanced ones that give better gifts can require as many as 400!
If you own a studio,  this is where it's good to have a big list of friends.  Studios can only be visited by friends,  whereas houses and higher can be visited by friends and  random visitors who might be walking around the neighborhood where the house is located. 
In order to feed a guestbloom,  you need fertilizer.  This can be gotten from the butler in your studio from a daily lvl 21 quest.  He'll give you a sack of both hearthbloom and guestbloom fertilizer in case you need some of each. 
Every time you feed a guestbloom,  be it your own or someone else's,  you receive a friendship bundle.  Open it and you get a guestpetal.  Collect enough guestpetals and you can exchange them for gifts
at the store in the main village.  I won't ruin the surprise,  go see for yourself!
Guestblooms yield some good gifts and can be bought in Oriel Village at the housing supply store.  You can buy a guestbloom that will give any level of coin in the game.  This really helps when alot of coins are needed
and you don't have alot of time to do repetetive coin quests.  I have one set up in my studio for my alt and its very convenient.  Other guestblooms give dye petals,  supplies for certain classes and general goods supplies.   Each level of housing has a limit on the number of blooms that can be placed. 
Studio: 3
House: 4
Mansion: 5
Estate: 6
Palace: 7
Special blooms can be acquired through quests or the running of an instance.  More on that in a later article.
Whatever type you decide to buy,  they're a great way to stock up on needed items without having to quest
or shop at certain times.  And it's always nice to get a gift!

3.0 Final Stigma Slot Quest

The launch of 3.0 brought with it one extra,  final stigma slot.  This is especially important to those of us who were lvl 55 at the time of the 3.0 update. We want to be as geared as possible and an extra stigma skill is a
good thing to have. Many players think the quest is a lvl 60 one,  but it's actually a lvl 58 quest.  The quest for the final stigma is given by an NPC in Kamar named Bariunos,  who is situated in the Kahrun Guard Headquarters.


Talking to Bariunos

 He gives a quest called the Stigma Master's Challenge,  which earns you a Mysterious Stigma when completed.  You are given a choice of 2 paths to earn the stigma:  1.  Defeat 10 opponents in the Crucible
arenas,  or,  2.  Participate in fort sieges in Tiamaranta


Picking up the Stigma Quest

 I chose the Crucible path quest,  called "Ten to One Odds",  and I just completed it today.  Here are some pics I took of my quest completion.


Turning in the Ten to One Odds Quest



Finishing the Mysterious Stigma Quest

And there it is!  Final Stigma slot enabled!

 I was ready with my stigma stone because the NPC can equip it.  I chose good ol' flurry,  which I've missed for a long time. 


Yay! I got flurry back!

 And that's it.  I hope you found this helpful.

The Nomad Shugo Quests Part 2 - Finding the Audria Ore

In my last post I spoke about the nomad shugos and the quests they give.  In this post I'm focused on completing the quests by gathering the necessary Audria ore around Oriel.  Yesterday I queued in for T dredge and toured around Oriel to find the needed ore.  After awhile of looking around I found something called "sweltering audria".  I had to hit it rather than gather it,  which was a bit surprising.  It's very much the same as the janustones quest for the Alabaster Order in that way.  I kept looking around and came across another type of Audria,  this time "rain audria":

Discovery of the Rain Audria

Looting the Aether gem for the quest after bashing it

It's counted towards my quest

I've got a ways to go to finish the quest (I need 25 of these and 2 other items) but I've begun my collection
towards completing a quest that'll yield a hanging letter for decorating studios with.  More on this as I go along...

Oriel Quests: The Nomad Shugo

Out of all the quests in Oriel,  the ones that involve the nomad shugo are the most confusing. Alot of players want to know how to find him and how to complete the quests he gives.  I don't know much about him,  but I'm learning,  and I'll pass on the info as I figure it out.    The first I heard of him was when I looked on my Oriel map and saw quest markers in 8 different places with "nomad shugo"  marked when I moused over each one.   There's a notation of 4 quests for hanging letters and wall hangings.  Trouble is,  he's not always around,  and he only spawns at certain times (I don't know when).  One day I popped a 1 hour running scroill,  determined to visit every spawn point ,  thinking I would definitely catch up with him if I put my mind to it.   I had no luck that day - every campsite spawn point was empty!



Nope hes not here




Or here



Checking my map while searching

 I got to see just about every neighborhood in Oriel tho,  and that was fun.   A day or so after that,  I was in Oriel again and when I looked at my map there were no quest markers for the shugo!  This confirmed something I had read when I searched for info about him,  which is that he only spawns on certain days.  The very next day I was doing my grab bag quest.  I saw the spawn point on my map  - it wasn't very far,  so I headed over and there he was!

Finally  I found the nomad shugos!

 There's actually 2 nomad shugos,  each with 4 quests.  One shugo has quests for hanging letters and the other has quests for decorative statues.  I picked up all four of the hanging letters quests,  and 2 of the statue quests.



Picking up the 4 quests

  What do these quests ask you to do? They ask you to get a form of aether thats only obtainable from Audria Ore,  which is only found in Oriel.  I have yet to search for it,  as I've been busy with quests in Sarpan/Tiamaranta,  but I'll soon be working on completing them,  and I'll post my findings then.  Good luck
in your search for these 2 elusive shugos!