Bard Epic 1.5: Prismatic Dragon Blade  

some fight info that I feel is worth being noted (as it is skipped over in the above walkthrough)

the second time you face vesthon in Dragon Necropolis, he spawns very close to where you find Tarn Macklin. he spawns as soon as the bard zones in.

the fight is timed. you have to kill vesthon in a certain amount of time, or else Hsagra's bones will disappear, and you will have to redo the event. in front of Vesthon (and circling around Hsagra's remains) are a group of liches, and their minions. the minions instantly respawn when you kill them, so you need to kill the corresponding liche so that all of said liche's minions will die with it.

once vesthon is dead, Hsagra spawns, and it's pretty much a straight fight. during my parse I found that the Dracholiche of Hsagra had 247k hp, vesthon had roughly 250k hp, and all of the liche's had between 70k - 80k hp. the minion's, however, somehow had anywhere from 5k to 90k hp (although this information isn't pertinent, considering killing the minion's is futile).

I hope this helps. I had to do the event twice, because I lacked this information, and I ran out of time. if you do lose, have the bard camp out, and once everyone is ready, have him log back in and the event will restart.





Edited, Nov 25th 2009 10:12am by Bethgin

Ok I have some finer points to touch base on here. I thank the previous posters for there info as I got my epic 1.5 lastnight.

1. Event 1 - Hsagra's Shade:

When Vesthon spawns do not worry about anything else and kill him. Its a timed event and if you dont take him down fast enough he will despawn. By reading these boards it seemed to me that if Vesthon despawned you won. There is a differance between his despawning and being killed. You need to kill him fast enough, if you dont you wont get the skeleton dragon to spawn which drops the piece you need.

2. Event 2 - Dracholiche of Hsagra

Yet again another timed event. Focus all dps on the 7 liches in a circle in front of the slanted platform. Forget about everything else... if these do not die fast enough the event totally despawns. When you kill these 7 then the mob spawns that you need to loot from.

I had to do both event over about 4 times each to know this, so i hope this will help the rest of you out...GL!

These are the names and number of minions that I saw while waiting for my friends to come give me a hand.

Vesthon Marijakin
Malikor Vikthule + 2 minions
Puella Opalis' Lich + 2 minions
Jalor Silin + 2 minions
Illishu Julque + 3 minions
Locis V'Sek's Lich + 2 minions
Xeegarn's Lich + 2 minions
Amilia Verisue's Lich + 4 minions


Note that the amount of minions change, once Puella Opalis had 4 minions, then Locis V'Sek had 4 minions, but what is shown here is was was on track the 3rd time I started the event. I was just bored waiting for friends and counting the mobs without track (I forgot I had it =P). So the number of minions change, along with who has whatever number of minions. There was never any less than 2 minions per person.

Edited, Feb 6th 2009 4:05pm by Simfony

I believe that each bard gets one of the 7 random notes.

Credit Harmonie of Bristlebane with compiling the notes at
http://forums.theconcerthall.net/viewtopic.php?t=2022

I checked her findings against:
1. The note I received.
2. The note with text posted in the Alla item database
3. The two combined notes in the quest description above

There were some minor discrepancies, which I resolved as:
---------------------------
I have managed to construct the bla
Unfortunately I found that the bla
first step. For now the sword is
me, as I do not have the neces
to create the focus gem fo
leave it in the care of Vha
won't survive my journ
perhaps another trou
have failed. I can o
my journey survi
me, For
imb
---------------------------
de.
de is only t
quite usele
sary comp
r the hilt. For
len. It's possi
ey. If I don't the
badour will take up
nly hope that the recor
ve to help lead
now I struggle to fi
ue the blade with the tru
now I travel through the ma
Veeshan guide my foot
---------------------------
he
ss to
onents
now I
ble I
n
the task I
ds of
those who follow
nd the method to
e draconic spirit. So

ws of dragons. May
steps.
---------------------------
el
most
embody
as well as
record of
swamp drag
These dragons
environment the
take the form of
native to their ha
perceived rarity. P
to create the focus cry
---------------------------
The annals of skyshrin
useful. Most people kn
emental dragons, fire,
people don't know is
the characteristi
the higher el
record of mountains
ons,
----------------------------
cs
emen
dragons,
and forest dra
seem to tend to s
y favor. These drag
a more mundane crea
bitat, which accounts
erhaps that's what I n
stal
---------------------------
e have proven most
ow of the 4 basic
water, earth, air. What most
that some dragons
of the natural world
ts. I have found
plains dragons,
gons of Norrath.
olitary life in the
gons often
ture
for their
eed
---------------------------
I have managed to construct the blade.
Unfortunately I found that the blade is only the
first step. For now the sword is quite useless to
me, as I do not have the necessary components
to create the focus gem for the hilt. For now I
leave it in the care of Vhalen. It's possible I
won't survive my journey. If I don't then
perhaps another troubadour will take up the task I
have failed. I can only hope that the records of
my journey survive to help lead those who follow
me. For now I struggle to find the method to
imbue the blade with the true draconic spirit. So
now I travel through the maws of dragons, May
Veeshan guide my footsteps

The annals of skyshrine have proven most
useful. Most people know of the 4 basic
elemental dragons, fire, water, earth, air. What
most people don't know is that some dragons
embody the characteristics of the natural world
as well asthe higher elements. I have found
record of mountains dragons, plains dragons,
swamp dragons, and forest dragons of Norrath.
These dragons seem to tend to solitary life in the
environment they favor. These draggons often
take the form of a more mundane creature
native to their habitat, which accounts for their
perceived rarity. Perhaps that's what I need
to create the focus crystal.

We just got done trying last DN Event. The last Minions have a major damage overhaul,it hit for 7-11k (at least on us) on the final lich. Also a glitch will be all despawn except for Vesthon. The glitch does not pop dracoliche. This is for anyone still out there doing bard 1.5 =)GL

For the first raid part in DN I had some trouble quad boxing. Being on combine server we don't have all the toys you guys got. My tank is a bit lacking. Anyhow, I had to improvise. Dps'n the first guy Vesthon Marijakin wasn't a problem. However, Vesthons Draconic Abomination is a real ***** when you have those undead in camp with ya. When he becomes Vesthons Draconic Abomination you have like an hour to kill him and he corpse camps. So I camped all my guys out and fd'd the tank. Camped right back in, and the undead guys were gone. All the others didn't bother me so I didn't bother them. Easy kill after that. My shammy ended up on rampage, but what could I do? Damage shields are really helpful here, especially both warmarch and veeshan. He ae rampages once in awhile and the ds's on everyone else is extra dps.

Heya,

I forgot to do a write up about the most important step - Dragon Necropolis (DN) event 2! DN #2 is definitely the most difficult step in this entire chain. All of the other fights are 1 groupable or less. Metala, the thief, the 4 dragons, and the merchants can all be done with 4-6 (just need dps), but the DN event 2 is still going to take some effort. Treat DN event 1 and 2 as just 2 parts of one trip. Get your groups together and have them head to head to DN. If you are smart, you will put a wizzie in siren's grotto to evac folks through to the other side. I actually had a boxed wizzie that camped there for weeks in preparation for this event :).

1) Event 1 - Hsagra's Shade

The shade is in the far east room. It's a purplish crystal dragon that spawns when the bard enters that room. Have your group clear all the rat men and do the beetle trap too. These are trivial. Set up the group in the east most nook in the room. It's pretty obvious. Turn in the bones. Slightly to the west of the shade dragon, 3 zombies and vesthon will spawn. For now, ignore the other 7 mobs by the door. Pull to your group. Have the main tank hold Vesthon and kill the 3 zombies. Then kill Vesthon. He will despawn and a skeleton dragon pops up. Kill him. Nothing special. This part is one groupable. But honestly, there's no reason to bring a group here unless you have 2 groups to do the next step.

Look the bone. Then use a gate potion or wizzie translocate back to wakening lands. Turn in, gate back, port to cobalt scar, and run back. This takes about 10-15 minutes. So, while you are doing all that, have your raid clear the 7 mobs that popped in the doorway and fight to event #2. Give them instructions while you're moving. The loc is below, but it's on the east side of the big wall, sort of in the north side of the zone.

2) Dragon Necropolis - Event 2 - Dracholiche of Hsagra

This is the event that everyone talks about for the Bard epic. I had heard sooo many horror stories about this event that I was terrified. But, it's not so bad. Just plan ahead and you'll be fine. This event has 7 liches in a circle in front of the slanted platform (which is where Vesthon spawns). Each liche owns 2 minions. Here's the key. In your raid, bring at least 2 good tanks. Have them do nothing but run around getting agro on all 14 minions. Assign one main assist to go from lich to lich. The liches will not attack until you start really damaging them, so just do one at a time. Each dead lich drops 2 of the minions. If your raid can survive long enough to kill the first 2 or 3 lichs then you will win this fight. The key is those first few minutes.

Note - the whole event is triggered when you zone in. So, have them be ready. The minions are weak, but there are 14 of them and they will eat the squishy clerics/casters if you don't plan ahead. Vesthon and the dracholiche are easy if you were strong enough to survive the 14 minions and 7 liches. So, plan ahead with your tanks, and it'll go smooth.

What raid/group size? We had 11 - most were level 80 - no deaths. The key here is 2 good tanks, 2 clerics, and some dps. If the tanks can lock onto those 14 minions, and you have a good main assister on the liches, you will most likley succeed. Note, our tanks were pretty awesome, so, this might be harder than what I saw. With the tanks we had, it might have been possible with 6 - pally, war, cleric, cleric, bard, 1 dps for main assist. The problem with that make up is that you really don't much left for dps. It might have been doable, but I expect it would have been MUCH harder and I wouldn't want to risk wasting friends time since DN is WAY out of the way.

Well, that's the big one. It's not as bad as it used to be, with the extra 15 levels :). I was ecstatic when we beat the dracholiche, because I knew the rest was easy.

I want to send a mega-kudos and thanks out to all the bards who posted their help on these and other forums. I read them all. So, if it was you, then you have my thanks and all my posts are a tribute to those who have walked this path before.

Good luck bards!

Wyndaria,
Nameless.

Heya,

I just got my 1.5!!! Wooters!

So, now I can finish my input to this great compendium :) in the hopes that it will help others. This post has the final 3 battles which are pretty trivial at this point.

1) Kithicor Forest.

NOTE - Do not start this part until you have ALL 8 gems AND the orb from the Dragon Necropolis event #2. When you zone into Kithicor Forest, the Cloaked Figure will spawn in about the middle of the zone. He will work his way to the N-S road in the middle-west. He will then follow the road and make his way to Highhold Keep (HK). He won't attack and is not attackable.

Take your group near the zone out to HK. Hail him when he is somewhat close to your group and he will despawn. About 15 seconds later, the 4 cloaked figures will spawn. They always run initially to the bard. They hit for about 100-200 and have a fair amount of hps for something that weak. We killed about 7-10. It doesn't matter who gets the last blow. Just plow through 'em. Eventually, the thief will come - plow him too. Thief hits maybe 1200, but it didn't feel that hard. We had 6 level 80s (3 were boxes), but I expect you could probably do it with 3 if you were more patient. Probably need at least 3 for dps alone. The whole fight took like 5 mins.

2) Metala in Torment

WARNING - The guide below is WRONG. Metala is in the bridge near pos 200, pos 600, NOT neg 840, neg 219. Once you get on the first bridges, take all rights. She is in the L shaped bridge in the NW area of the map.

Clear all the trivial stuff in the room. Set your healer up behind the wall (it's obvious where). SNEAK and give her the necklace. She will silence the group with line of sight and it's pretty much nonstop. Max resists made almost no difference. Silence prevents discs and weapon procs - less dps and more agro trouble. Melee her down. We had the same 6 for this fight. It took about 5-10 mins to kill her - she hits pretty soft, but has a decent dot and the silence and a bazillion hps. It might be possible to do with 4 if you have good melee dps and a good tank.

Wyndaria,
Nameless.

Heya,

I'm working on my epic 1.5, so just wanted to confirm or correct info as I go. I did the 1.5 prequest, and that worked like a charm. I just did the mercenary excavator steps.

For that, we killed mercenary excavator's from the 3 bunches up near the front of the zone. I believe there is a 4th deeper in, but I'm not sure if it was up all the time. Eventually, Excavator Quellin will respawn in place of one of the mercenary's. We killed a couple of them and just kept farming. When we logged in the next morning, and ran around, I found Tarn Macklin on track. He was on the other side of the big middle section, in a little room. He had 3 mercenary Guards with him.

These are all trivial mobs. Green to us. My wife (Cleric 80 with 1.5 epic), and me (Bard 80 no raid gear, 13k hps with just temerity) were pulling 3 or 4 of the mercenaries at a time. The Guards were a bit tougher and we only did 2 of those at a time and then pulled Tarn single. Probably we could have taken the 3 guards and Tarn at the same time, but they hit harder than I wanted for that. A really well equipped bard (ie, not me) might could possibly solo Tarn, but he does summon. His Guards summon too. Excavator Quellin summons also and should be solo'able by many bards. The regular's do not.

Killed Tarn, got the Cracked Dragon Bone.

NOTE - While doing this, take the time to run around the zone and search all the little piles of dragon bones. Little bags spawn on the ground. You need the 3 bones for your next step anyway, so get it while you're here. You will see other bones, like 'A Dragon Rib Bone' that are NOT what you want. We got 2 of the 3 from the ground and 1 from one of the constructs that occasionally spawns.

Have fun. I will report as I continue on the quest. I have found other peoples posts invaluable, so I hope this helps you.

Wyndaria,
Nameless.

if you have your 1.5 when you do the 2.0 bard epic do you lose your 1.5? or do you have both epics?

Respawned Veston had over 390k hitpoints.

Dragon Liche Fight:

Ok, 3 humans spawn, and 4 skeletons.

You must kill all the Lich skeletons and 3 humans or the minions will KEEP popping.
Once all the Masters are dead, (4 skellys, 3 humans), kill off the rest of the minions, and Veshthon will attack. Once you kill Veshthon. The big pile of bones turns into the Dragonliche.
He hits hard and has two AE's.
Venom of Veshon (400)
and
Tendrils of Oshiruk (500)

No idea how hard he hits, cuz he died too fast, and there were more people hitting on him then he could get hits in Lol.

All in all he was pretty easy.

Had 18 people. Avg. lvl 75. Most geared pretty well.
Good luck guys :)

I did this fight via 5 box. The warrior was anguish equipped, but other than that everyone was using tier 2 armor. The group setup is as follows, warrior, cleric, shaman, wizard, wizard.

It took me a few tries to formulate a good strategy, but here's what got me the victory.

I moved the entire group to the closest side, out of aggro range. Bard zoned/camped in, and started with a h.o.t on warrior, rushed using shocking defense discipline (mainly for aggro purposes, and you can stun the low level mobs). The main slow was lingering sloth which was on warrior, while shaman slowed every other mob with turgurs (not a single resist). Immediately after shocking defense was off of the warrior, I activated defensive discipline and continued to kill, moving from lich to lich... ignore their pets as they will just respawn upon kill. This was a good 10- 15 minutes of killing, and after all of the liches are finished, you may proceed to kill Veshton. After veshton dies the draco spawns... he has about half the HP as veshton, and you can only cast on him if youre within melee range... which is part of the problem because he has AE rampage. I chose to burn the final mob down by placing the wizzies under him, activating prolonged destruction and burning him down fairly quickly. It took me a few attempts to get this down with only 5 people... the fight does last a good 20 minutes with this #, and as long as the warrior can hold aggro, the fight gets much easier after each lich you kill.

I hope this writeup helps someone, I had to figure this all out the hard way. I see absolutely no problem with 1 group doing this fight.... it's actually a little bit of a challenge :)