Deserting the Ranks  

Quest Started By:Description:
Where:
Who:
Rating:
*****
Information:
Level:70
Maximum Level:125
Monster Mission:No
Repeatable:Yes
Can Be Shrouded?:No
Quest Type:Task
Quest Goal:
  • Advancement
  • Loot
Quest Items:
Related Zones:
Related Creatures:
Related Quests:
Era:Depths of Darkhollow
Recommended:
Group Size:Group
Min. # of Players:3
Max. # of Players:6
Appropriate Classes:
  • All
Appropriate Races:
  • All
Entered: Fri Sep 30 23:49:22 2005
Modified: Tue Dec 5 05:21:04 2023
This is a group mission which is an integral part of the Dreadspire Keep Access Quest.

Zahn can be found at loc -585, 725 in Undershore, on the shore north of the JTP camp.


You say, 'Hail, Zahn'

(The following is verbatim text, even if it looks oddly constructed.)

Zahn says 'The shiliskin regards you cautiously and speaks several garbled words which you do not understand. He speaks again, this time with different inflections although you still cannot comprehend what he is saying. Finally he speaks in a recognizable tongue, 'Or perhaps you [understand] the language of the clockwork traders?''

You say, 'I understand'

Zahn says 'Then please,' the shiliskin hisses. 'Spare me. I no longer fight for those that would harm you. There isn't much time. I need to make my [escape] into the upper caverns before I am found.'

You say, 'escape?'

Zahn says 'This cavern is a tomb. It seals the last remnants of the Shiliskin Empire behind the walls of Malgrinnor. Soon, even that outpost will fall, if not to the drachnids than to the cursed undead that infest the Empire's former capital. . . So I've made a deal with the clockwork traders in Corathus Creep. I've been assured that I will be well taken care of in exchange for information on Malgrinnor's forces and operations. I just need several things done before I can leave this doomed cavern in peace. Will you [help] me. . . Or better yet. . .can you gather a [group] of elite warriors to lead an expedition into Illsalin?'

You say, 'I can gather a group'

Zahn says 'Thank you, surface dweller! May your gods smile upon you.'

You have been assigned the task 'Deserting the Ranks'.

Whoever requests the task will receive a Shiliskin Heirloom Shoulder Guard to be used later in the mission.

The final mission of the Shilgrave, an elite group of warriors from Malgrinnor, was to attack the temple of Korlach in Illsalin. The frontal assault on the city failed, and the doomed legionnaires were either cut down or captured by the undead within. Zahn alone escaped by diving off a bridge and swimming out of the city. All who know Zahn is still alive are now dead, or soon will be, but still he must be absolutely certain that news of his survival will never reach the Shiliskin Empire.

Zahn wants you to take his heirloom shoulder guard and place it on one of the bodies of one of his slain comrades within Illsalin. If anyone comes looking for him, they'll find his armor and think he's already dead.

Bring back a Shiliskin Captain's Insignia from one of Zahn's fallen comrades. He needs the insignia to bypass several siliskin checkpoints on his way to the gnomes in the Creep of Corathus.

Enter the Nargilor Pits (0/1) - Ruins of Illsalin

Head to the Ruins of Illsalin and zone-in to your instance, The Nargilor Pits. Clear the mobs in the zone until you reach the Guardian of the Pit. Once you have killed him you need to find a randomly placed "ornate chest" in the zone (a tracker is handy). Open this chest and loot its contents. This is your "key" to the door behind the Guardian.

A cold voice echoes through the halls, 'Make haste to enter the chamber or face the end of your endeavor.'

As you enter...

A low rumble thunders through the hall as a heavy coral door slides closed. Hollow laughter echoes through the marble halls.

A strange chill fills the corridor as an ominous figure steps from the shadows. 'Your intrusion here is unwelcome, surface dweller,' echoes a hollow and distant voice. 'Have you come looking for the remains of the Shilgrave Legion? Very well. Soon you will join their souls within the carnivorous pages of Shadowspine. The doors are sealed. There is no escape.'

Find the Remains of the Shilgrave Legion (0/1) - The Nargilor Pits
Place the Deserter's Shoulder Guard on a Shiliskin Corpse (0/1) - The Nargilor Pits
Take a Captain's Insigina as Proof of Your Delivery. (0/1) - The Nargilor Pits

Now that you have entered the final room, move quickly to the left corner (hug left wall in the room).

Turn the Heirloom Shoulder Guard into any of the corpses in the final room (do this as soon as you can). Emperor Draygun will spawn and roam the room. He isn't attackable and just roams around and summons the dead shiliskin to life one by one (or occasionally many at a time if the task is bugged). These shiliskin seem to auto-aggro on the person who had opened the door, so plan ahead.

After approximately 10 mobs, you will get jumped by 3 at once, 2 x legionnaire and 1 x captain. Kill the captain and loot the Shiliskin Captain's Insignia, required to finish the mission. The captain also drops your loot "reward" for the mission.

Captain's loot
Deepskin Head Band (hard)
Dried Coral Mitts (normal)
Earring of Gray Waters (normal)
Illsalin Enforcer Boots (hard)
Illsalin Enforcer Greaves (hard)
Lake Tamer Staff (normal)
Nargilor Pearl (normal)
Sharp Tooth Fossil (hard)
Undershore Fish Liver (hard)


Deliver the Captain's Insignia to Zahn (0/1) - Undershore

Your task 'Deserting the Ranks' has been updated.

Zahn says, 'Well done, surface dweller. Here is your promised reward, a glittering gem I pried loose from the tomb of Illsalin. I consider it my payment for my service to the Empire, and now it is your payment for your success. With luck, we shall never meet in this cavern again.'

You have been given: Gemstone of Emperor Draygun

You also receive a Golden Shiliskin Tentacle Ring, the 4th and final part of the key that gives access to Dreadspire Keep, and a personal reward:

Normal reward
Melee/hybrid: Deep Dive Pauldrons
Caster/priest: Korlach Sacrifice Plate

Hard reward
Melee/hybrid: Shiliskin Reef Swimmer Fetish
Caster/priest: Shiliskin Reef Navigator Fetish


Need all dialogues; task stages and descriptions; name, /loc, level, and fight info for all quest mobs; quest items; quest prerequisites if any; faction hits if any.
Rewards:
Send a Correction
« Previous 1 2
Post Comment
quest info
# Feb 14 2021 at 12:57 AM Rating: Good
Avatar
**
356 posts
an ornate chest spawned at -123, 8, -68, at the trap floor spot near the entrance

after looting the Carved Nargil Triangle and clicking the door:

The stone door groans and slides open as the nargil triangle clicks into place.

after you give the "Shiliskin Heirloom Shoulder Guard" to a corpse, the task step for "Place the Deserter's Shoulder Guard on a Shiliskin Corpse (0/1) - The Nargilor Pits" is updated:

Your task 'Deserting the Ranks (Hard)' has been updated.

Each time Emperor Draygun is summoning a corpse to life, it shows:

The shiliskin's corpse shivers violently as Emperor Draygun begins channeling a dark spell.

after 7 "a reanimated legionaire" attacks and dies, the group of 2 lego's and 1 captain spawns. Not sure, why but they were misspelled as legionaire in the log.

Emperor Draygun says, 'I leave my newly created minions to deal with your intrusion. May your death serve as an example to all outsiders who cross into the hallowed walls of Illsalin.'

after the group of 3 dies:

You hear the mechanical clanking of unseen latches as the coral door unlocks.

after you loot the Shiliskin Captain's Insignia, "Take a Captain's Insignia as Proof of your delivery" is updated:

Your task 'Deserting the Ranks (Hard)' has been updated.

every kill for Guardian of the Pit, a reanimated captain, and a reanimated legionaire gave a faction hit:

Your faction standing with Fallen Guard of Illsalin has been adjusted by -1.
Your faction standing with Free Traders of Malgrinnor has been adjusted by 1.
Your faction standing with Scions of Dreadspire has been adjusted by 1.
Your faction standing with Agents of Dreadspire has been adjusted by 1.
____________________________
Thorque
Berserker
Fennin Ro (now Cazic Thule)

Qrow Magnon
85 Outrider
Dragonriders of Norrath
Fennin Ro
Chest doesn't appear on track
# Feb 03 2018 at 5:29 PM Rating: Decent
Scholar
*
96 posts
As of today, the chest did not appear on track. Ultimately found the chest in the eastern room, not in the NE corner as labeled on the map.
Zonewide rare
# Feb 10 2013 at 5:04 PM Rating: Default
Murky Pearl Ring
tasks
# Jun 22 2008 at 1:00 PM Rating: Good
***
2,308 posts
Enter the Nargilor Pits 0/1 Ruins of Illisan
Find the Remains of the Shillgrave Legion 0/1 The Nargilor Pits
Place the Deserter's Shoulder Guard on a Shiliskin Corpse 0/1 The Nargilor Pits
Take a Captain's Insigina as Proof of Your Delivery. 0/1 The Nargilor Pits
Deliver the Captain's Insignia to Zahn 0/1 Undershore
tasks
# Jun 22 2008 at 4:49 PM Rating: Excellent
****
6,998 posts
The One and Only fcoty wrote:
Enter the Nargilor Pits 0/1 Ruins of Illisan
Find the Remains of the Shillgrave Legion 0/1 The Nargilor Pits
Place the Deserter's Shoulder Guard on a Shiliskin Corpse 0/1 The Nargilor Pits
Take a Captain's Insigina as Proof of Your Delivery. 0/1 The Nargilor Pits
Deliver the Captain's Insignia to Zahn 0/1 Undershore


Updated, thanks.
quest bugged
# Feb 27 2008 at 5:22 AM Rating: Decent
7 posts
edit...scratch all that, figured out what I did wrong

Edited, Feb 27th 2008 8:32am by kuaharra
Key bug
# Aug 22 2007 at 2:50 PM Rating: Decent
ive done this mission a couple times and it seemed like key to door didnt work. today we got it to open by hitting U when clicking with mouse didnt work.
Eering of Grey Waters
# Feb 04 2007 at 12:55 PM Rating: Decent
25 posts
I can confirm that the Earring of Grey Waters drops in normal missions, we got one not 20 min ago when we finished the mission. Also had the murky pearl ring drop off a mob at the beginning of the zone that no one checked. Glad I looted that body. Brought my bst up to 8.4k unbuffed at 74. <----Happy camper!
Murky Pearl Ring
# Jan 20 2007 at 11:43 PM Rating: Decent
Dropped off of a shaman mob tonight, trash mob. Normal mission.

LORE ITEM NO TRADE MAGIC ITEM
Weight: 0.7 Size: SMALL
Slot: FINGERS
AC: +16 Str: +13 Sta: +14 Wis: +12 Int: +12 Agi: +12 Disease Resist: +20 Cold Resist: +20 Magic Resist: +20 HP: +230 Mana: +230 End: +230
Classes: All Classes
Races: All Races
Slot 1: Type 8
destroy leftovers!
# Dec 01 2006 at 7:55 AM Rating: Decent
Sage
***
3,008 posts
If you have to bail out of this mission (like when work or wife calls!) it's possible to abandon the mission and retain the two mission-critical pieces, the shoulder guard Zahn give you and the triangle key out of the chest which opens the door to the final fight.

I strongly suggest making sure everyone in your group confirms they don't posssess either of these, even in the bank.

I had both on my druid. I had my warrior get the instance. He got a shoulder guard. We zoned in and killed the Guardian. NO CHEST SPAWNED! This was troubling. I actually wanted to have the warrior loot a triangle so we'd have two shots at the door if we ran into problems in the final event.

I outsmarted myself. We opened the door, went in and turned in the shawl. The Emperor did spawn and he summoned one mob. We started to fight it and then.... <poof> ZONING PLEASE WAIT.

Entire party reappeared outside the zone-in. Instance still running. But when I zoned back in I discovered a fully repopped zone, with a new Guardian.

Not having the time or inclination to start over again with a potentially seriously bugged instance, I called it a morning and a lesson well learned:

DESTROY LEFTOVERS!
____________________________
Sippin 115 DRU **** Firiona Vie ****Agnarr
FV: 115 WAR ENC CLE MAG WIZ SHD SHM Master Alchemist ROG Master Tinkerer & Poison-Maker
Master Artisan (300+) * Baker * Brewer * Fletcher * Jeweler * Potter * Researcher * Smith * Tailor
Agnarr: 65 DRU ENC SHD MAG CLE ROG WIZ BRD WAR
drop
# Sep 08 2006 at 6:18 PM Rating: Decent
greaves still drop, today for me !
Drop
# Sep 04 2006 at 6:14 PM Rating: Decent
Lake Tamer Staff as of today confirmed drops in normal mission , NOT in hard ;)
Drop
# Dec 10 2006 at 11:05 PM Rating: Decent
***
1,352 posts
double confirmed. lake tamer staff is from NORMAL not hard.
Easy Win
# Aug 23 2006 at 7:45 AM Rating: Decent
Last night (aug22) we just had our monk get the quest and open the door. When we opened the door, he ran down to the pit, and everyone else camped out right inside the door. He handed in the shawl, and flopped. The mobs spawned normally, when they'd all spawned, he contacted us on trillian, we logged in, he pulled the captain, we killed him. Also, he dropped the plate legs, so they indeed do still drop. (The irony is they were the one drop no one in the group would use.)
Mission Bugged
# Aug 20 2006 at 4:03 PM Rating: Decent
As of august 19th this Instance is still bugged on BB server... after ya kill Guardian of the Pit and enter next room group gets banished and instance starts all over like we just got mission.. this has happened 2 times


Zizmere Daggerwood < Legion of Valor> BristleBane
Illsalin Enforcer Greaves
# Aug 19 2006 at 4:28 PM Rating: Decent
As of 19 Aug the greaves no longer drop in this mission as far I know. My group is currently:

6xDeepskin Head Band
3xSharp Tooth Fossil
6xUndershore Fish Liver
6xIllsalin Enforcer boots

Thanks to SoE for having the DoD mask quest busted so we could waste so much time trying to get greaves that dont drop either.

If anyone cn prove me wrong let me know.

New info.
# Aug 05 2006 at 9:35 PM Rating: Decent
*
61 posts
While this mission can be a PITA, we've come up with a new strategy that almost guarantees a win.

Make sure you bring along a FD class. I suppose a rogue with evade up, or a bard's FM would work as well. If things go sour on the captain, have the FD'er drop, everyone else dies... the mobs will walk to their spawn and remain there. Once aggro has reset, drag the corpses up to the door, have the rezzer run back, /assist on his corpse, and rez himself through the door.

After the group has been restored, the captain/legionnaires can be split normally, either with snare or however you like to do it.

I'm curious though, if you were to have all the people in the group but the FD'er (with the shawl) /camp out before the shawl turn in, then have the FD'er turn in and FD, would the mobs still autoaggro him? or would they merely stand there at their spawn points. Conceivably, even if they did aggro, you could just kite all the mobs in a big circle(I did that for awhile today heh) until they all spawned, then flop in the corner, tell your groupmates' twinks to log back in, and split the room without a fuss.
Item
# Aug 05 2006 at 12:14 PM Rating: Decent
We had this dropped off Captain last night. Earring of Grey Waters.
Ac 12,dex 12, sta 11, cha 12, wis 12,int 12
Hp 195, mana 195, end 195, sf 15, sd 12, sc 15, sp 12
Shades!
# Jun 10 2006 at 9:47 AM Rating: Decent
Only saw a tiny mention of this in the second post. When the Shilgrave legionnaire's are "rez'd" by Draygun and start coming to you they can pop a a Shilgrave shade like in 70.1

An unwelcome surprise.
Door opens once!!
# May 30 2006 at 10:49 PM Rating: Decent
once you get past the guardian of the pit, you can only open the door once, so you better make sure everyone is ready and able to go thru the door.... if anyone is left outside or you die and it puts you on the other side of the door or you Evac outside the locked door you might as well leave the mission and start over.... we all got kicked to Character screen. This is as of May 30, 2006
30 sec spawn times on hard...
# May 27 2006 at 11:30 PM Rating: Decent
Just tried this on hard for the first time... Did fine until the very end when Draygun was spawning the 7 mobs. He spawned one every 30 seconds. Ouch. On normal it was 1 per minute and that we did fine with. On hard, though, it was 1 per every 30 seconds and that wiped us fast.

Locked
# Apr 13 2006 at 1:26 AM Rating: Decent
Avatar
**
654 posts
IF you die when the captain is being fought, or anytime after unlocking the door you can NOT unlock the door.

We tried to pet pull the captain though the door after we were locked out, no luck. We got kicked out of the instance and into Illsailn, mission respawned and had no shawl to complete mission.
____________________________
http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=744646
----------------
ShadowSoldier
Antonius Bayle
Illsalin Greaves
# Apr 08 2006 at 8:31 AM Rating: Decent
Can anyone verify the greaves drop in this mission on hard setting? Have seen Illsalin Enforcer Boots drop several times which are not listed anywhere on Allahs that I can find.
Boots are: AC 53
Str 12
Dex 12
Sta 13
Wis 12
Agi 9
HPs 220
Mana 220
Mod Attack +20 (plate class)
Aug type 8
Could the boots be a replacement item for the greaves?
RE: Illsalin Greaves
# Apr 14 2006 at 4:26 PM Rating: Decent
drop quite often, not as often as those stupid aug's or the monk headband tho.
sweet ranged item
# Feb 18 2006 at 9:31 AM Rating: Decent
http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=83948 also drops of hard,very nice for shammy or necro
New item
# Feb 09 2006 at 5:57 AM Rating: Decent
Looted tonight on the hard setting:

Undershore Fish Liver

Magic, No Trade, Augmentation
Aug slots 7, 8
Mana +45, Enduarnce +45
Regen +3
Slot: Head, Arms, Wrist, Hand, Feet
Required level of 70
Class: All
Race: All
Class XVI distiller to remove safely
the referanced 2 hander
# Feb 08 2006 at 4:53 PM Rating: Decent
Lake Tamer Staff
MAGIC ITEM LORE ITEM NO DROP
Slot: PRIMARY SECONDARY
Skill: 2H Blunt Atk Delay: 36
DMG: 51 AC: 18
STR: +20 DEX: +15 WIS: +20 AGI: +20
HP: +250 MANA: +245 ENDUR: +245 SV FIRE: +20
SV DISEASE: +20 SV COLD: +20 SV MAGIC: +20
Recommended level of 70.
Required level of 65.
Effect: Freezing Strike IV (Combat)
WT: 0.4 Size: MEDIUM
Class: MNK BST
Race: ALL
More loot
# Feb 03 2006 at 11:20 PM Rating: Decent
Finished this tonight on Saryrn. Did it on normal new loot not mentioned

Dried Coral Mitts
MAGIC ITEM LORE ITEM NO TRADE
AC: 42
STR: +12 DEX: +10 STA: +12 WIS: +12 AGI: +11
HP: +200 MANA: +190 ENDURANCE: 190
SV FIRE: +12 SV DISEASE: +12 SV COLD: +12 SV POISON: +10
Recommended Level of 70. Required Level of 65.
WT: 3.5 Size: Medium
CLASS: RNG ROG SHM BER
RACE: ALL
SLOT 1, TYPE 8: EMPTY
« Previous 1 2
Post Comment

Free account required to post

You must log in or create an account to post messages.