The Rescue of Vodrak  

I have attempted to 4 box this mission several times so far but Vordrak always ends up dead. My thinking is the mission would be easy as cake with 5 or 6 players however. I am going to hopefully try this new strategy out soon:

Have 6 players, all Arcanists, Get the full fire nuke AA and improved fire damage AA and mana preservation. Suicide run to vordrak and hail, same person that does suicide run to vordrak if they do it right should also be able to locate chest before death. Everyone loot shard / item / key.

Next step which I attempted with 4 is to clear all mobs between you and vordrak except the zone out mobs. Use the nuke die method on all toons. Boxing 4 arcanists I was able to clear the entire area including spawns in cave and at vordrak within 10 minutes. Issue? They started to repop as I handed the key and each mob repopped fast since they died right after each other. BUT with 6 players that is 2 extra nukers so I am almost certain you could not only clear them but do it with about 3 minutes to spare. After key is handed to vordrak have hander follow him to let group know when he is attacked. the other 5 players should kill the zone out area mobs and repops and run to vordraks rescue when any mobs come to attack him. This method would have you win / or lose the mission in about 12 or so minutes. I am trying to get some people to attempt the MM following this strategy, could someone POST a reply if they get to try it before me and have success? Thanks!

Mendriel’s Guide To The Orc Monster Missions
The Rescue of Vodrak

This guide is written assuming that the reader has never participated in the Orc Monster Mission in Nektulos Forest.

These Missions are very simple and when done properly, take less than 10 minutes of your time. The only drawback is that after successfully completing the mission you have a timer. You can view your timer using the command /taskt. This timer may seem ridiculous to you, but look at it this way…when I have my AAXP set at 100%, I get 70% of an AA point per mission. That ends up being about one AA point per hour. Not too shabby. I haven’t watched regular XP too much, but if I have AAXP set to 50%, then I get about 35% AAXP and 3% XP per mission at level 66.

As an additional bonus, there is a decent item in the chest each mission. There’s usually a pair of slippers that are decent for casters, but occasionally there is a decent augment. Usually the people you are with have already looted these, so as long as nobody wants them, they are yours!

So the young players reading this are thinking, “That’s nice, but it’s too bad I can’t roll with the big dogs.” Well, not true! The great this is that ANY level, class and race combination can play, and even better, there is no level difference restriction between players. That’s right, your brand new toon that you created can do a MM with your buddy’s level 70 toon and both characters contributions are equally as important.

In the guide below, I am going to talk to you about setting up and obtaining the mission, different roles within the mission and how to complete it in the fastest time I know.

Mission Setup

When you are ready to start rolling in the experience, head to Nektulos Forest. The location of general congregation for other MM junkies is in the middle of the forest at the location -390, 370. From there, you can start asking for a group or you can start your own. Try to use a full group. A group of 5 can finish as long as everything goes according to plan. A 3rd cleric though can be crucial in case anything goes awry. The best way to get a feel for the missions is to get into a group where you can observe people that have been doing it for a while. This guide will provide you the understanding to correctly perform your role that way you can finish the mission as smooth as possible. The more you do, the more fine tuned your skills will become.

OK, now that you have a group, it’s time to assign roles. Here are my suggestions:
• Suicide kiter (1st kiter)
• Main kiter (2nd kiter)
• Keyer
• Duel Mezzer
• Pop Mezzer
• Utility healer
I will talk about each of these roles in detail below. The kiters and the keyer are Orc Brutes (warriors) and the Mezzers and the healer are Orc Spiritists (clerics).

When you are ready, speak to A Crushbone Thaumaturge to obtain your mission. He can be found to the southeast at location -640, -150. Hail him and the following dialogue will take place:

You say “Hail, a Crushbone Thaumaturge.”

A Crushbone Thaumaturge says “Away wit yer blades! I’m loyal to da [dark elves] of these woods! My death will bring a grave vengeance.”

You say “What Dark Elves?”

A Crushbone Thaumaturge says “Yah, da dark elves o’ Neriak! My war party guarded Ambassador D`Vinn’s aide, Vodrak, one of da dark elves brave enough to negotiate an alliance with we Crushbone orcs! So we decided to escort him ‘ome ter show our loyalty. `Cept we wuz attacked last night in da darkness by da cowardly Deathfist orcs. They don wanna see an alliance ‘tween our clan and da Neriak elves. They jealous of Crushbone’s power ya see. You can get on da dark elves’ good side by rescuing Vodrak. [Interested] in testing your blades?”

You say “I am interested.”

A Crushbone Thaumaturge says “Good. My war party fell and in the confusion I could not see exactly where the Deathfist dragged ‘em bodies. To but I think it was just down the road some wheres. Youse a scrawny looking bunch but wit da Crushbone magic I can transfer your spirits into the bodies of my slain kin. When you awaken you will be in the body of a Crushbone orc in the Deathfists’ war camp. Find dis Vodrak and lead’em to safety.”

Once the dialogue is finished, a window will appear for the entire party that will allow you to choose your class. Now you choose either a warrior or a cleric as decided previously. Some people like to choose the wizard when they are the keyer, but I prefer to use a warrior in case something goes wrong and he is attacked.

After you choose your class, you can zone in and let the fun begin!

Abilities

Once you have zoned in, your first priority is to spend your ability points. Press V to bring up the abilities window. After you have spent them, click the save button. Now when you zone in for your next mission, you can just hit the load button and it will automatically spend your ability points just as you saved them. If you think you can better allocate the points, then just manually spend them during the next mission and save the new setup.


Cleric Abilities
Grim submission (mez)
Heal Wounds
Orcish Regeneration
Soothing Remedy (heal over time)
Weak Knees (snare)
Cleric Innates
Improved Healing
Mana Preservation
Spell Haste

If you are playing a cleric, I suggest spending your first points so that your mez and regen are maxed out. Use the rest however you feel appropriate. Heal Wounds and Soothing Remedy are automatic and you don’t need spend points to have them available. I would suggest spending the remainder on Mana Preservation, and if there are any left over, put them into Improved Healing. You won’t ever need Weak Knees.

Warrior Abilities
Blind Fury (combat buff)
Blood Rage (haste)
Dark Bellow (opponent debuff)
Lesion (damage over time)
Smash (stun)
Throw Stone (short range direct damage)

If you are playing a warrior, the abilities aren’t too important. The only skill that is truly beneficial is the Throw Stone ability and I will discuss that below for the kiters. Lesion, Smash and Throw Stone are available without spending points and Throw Stone is maxed automatically. I recommend putting points in Blood Rage, Blind Fury and Lesion. If any are left over, then spend them on Smash and Dark Bellow.

After you have spent your points, create your hotkeys. In the abilities window, select the ability you want, press the hotkey button and drop the created button in the hotkey bank you will use. Again, if you are playing a cleric, make sure to make hotkeys for regen, hot, heal and mez. For a warrior, make a Throw Stone hotkey and any others you want.

Map

The zone is set up roughly like a T. The zone-in is in an alcove in one of the branches of the T and the zone-out alcove is in the opposite branch. Vodrak is located in the cave at the bottom of the cave. The chest will spawn either between the T branches or in the zone-out alcove. Emote point one is near the first tree stumps on the left as you exit the cave. Emote point two is at the edge of the zone-out alcove and point three is right next to the exit.

Cleric roles
Utility Healer

The easiest role in the entire mission is that of the utility healer. Your first duty after allocating your ability points is to cast regen and hot on the suicide kiter before he leaves the zone-in alcove. This duty usually is not specifically assigned, so don’t be surprised or upset if another cleric beats you to it. Shortly after the suicide kiter runs off, you will see two task update messages. After the second one, a chest will appear at either point A or B. It is important that you let the Main kiter and the keyer be the first two to loot. Once they leave the chest, then you can go grab a shard. There is a shard in the chest for everyone and it allows you to collect your experience after completing the mission. Take it from me, it sucks if you forget to grab it!

Now that you have your shard, you should head back to the zone-in alcove. When the suicide kiter respawns there (he will have died) he will be at 50% health and will probably need a heal or two.

A few minutes later, two orcs will spawn in the zone-in alcove, and unless they are mezzed, they will hunt down Vodrak, significantly complicating things. It is not your job to mez them, but it is a good idea to hang out there to backup the mezzer. Keep in mind that if a warrior zones, he cannot be mezzed. The suicide kiter should be there to draw the agro on himself and kill it. A few minutes later, as long as the rest of the group performed correctly, you will get a message saying the task was completed successfully. Now you should make a beeline for the zone because the main kiter is about to bring a bunch of angry orcs up who will have no problem pummeling you into the ground if you draw their attention. Have no fear, everyone else is zoning as well because there is nothing left to do but collect your experience!

Pop Mezzer

The pop mezzer is another simple role. After zoning in, assign your abilities and stay in the zone-in alcove. If you want, you can cast regen and hot on the suicide kiter. After the main kiter and keyer get their shards, go ahead and loot yours, then go back to the zone-in alcove.

This is probably the most boring job because all you do it wait in the alcove for the two zone-in spawns. When they do spawn though, you should be on top of it because they will run after Vodrak pretty quick. As a contingency, the suicide kiter should be sitting in the alcove to draw their agro. Regardless, mez any casters that pop immediately to keep them there. Remember the warriors can’t be mezzed. Your job for the rest of the mission is to keep them mezzed. So every 6 to 8 seconds you should recast mez on any of your orcs. As soon as you get the completion message, high tail it out of there!

Duel Mezzer

The duel mezzer is a bit more challenging than the other two cleric roles, but not by much. Once you have loaded your abilities and looted your shard then you should enter a duel with the keyer. Don’t worry, he’s not going to kill you.

Shortly, you should see the keyer emerge from Vodrak’s cave with Vodrak himself not far behind. He’s going to stop at emote point one and Vodrak will follow him there and attack him. “But isn’t Vodrak the guy we are supposed to rescue?” you ask. Yes, and you aren’t going to kill him…read on and you will understand. After Vodrak starts attacking at emote point one, then you should mez the keyer (this is why you entered a duel with him). Sometimes the mez doesn’t take right away. That’s ok, just keep casting until you are successful. The mez removes Vodrak’s agro and allows him to do his thing. Very soon, the mez will wear off and the keyer will wait to hear an emote from Vodrak. It will be something like this:

Vodrak pauses to catch his breath and nurse his wounds some.

As soon as he emotes, the keyer will attack Vodrak and run to emote point two. Once Vodrak catches up to him, you will mez the keyer again and wait for another emote. After this emote the keyer will again attack and take him to point three next to the zone out. You will now mez the keyer a third and final time.

At this point you are finished. If needed, you are now free to help mez the pops or to heal.

Some people think that Vodrak needs to emote twice at emote point one, so just be aware if the keyer doesn’t attack right away after the first emote.

Again, after you get the task successful message, run for the border! BONG!

Warrior Roles
Suicide Kiter

You better mourn yourself ahead of time, because as your name implies, you won’t finish this mission intact. Don’t fret though, little orc, you will suffer no experience loss from a death in here.

Load your abilities and hang out in the zone-in alcove until you receive regen and hot. As soon as hot takes, run like a madman kicking and screaming right into the middle of all of the orcs. Your objective here is to get each and every orc to agro on you and get them to follow you down into Vodrak’s cave.

Occasionally, you will get stunned while gathering them up and take a bit of damage. This is why you have regen and hot…they will heal you back up in short order. Also, you may sometimes miss an orc while running around, but who wants to slow down just to pick him up only to get beat down by the angry horde behind you? Well, remember how I told you to make a Throw Stone hotkey? Good, I hope you heeded my advice, because now you can throw your stone at the guy you missed and get him to join in the chase. The range is pretty limited, but it gets the job done.

After you have gathered all of the orcs from the zone-out alcove, run down into Vodrak’s cave agroing all orcs on the way down. As soon as you pass into the cave you will get your first task message for finding Vodrak. Run straight toward Vodrak and hail him to get the second task update. It is important that you hail him as it is a required step in the task progression.

Once you have hailed Vodrak, don’t stop running. For a short period it is your duty to run around in Vodrak’s cave with the orcs in tow. If you follow my next instruction, then you will be able to run around in the cave for as long as you want without getting hit…at all! The secret is to square your corners. DO NOT run circles in the cave. If you do, the orcs will get you every time. For some reason though, if you make a square in the cave they won’t hit you.

OK, now that you are a kiting ace, the main kiter is going to give you the word to die. So run into the corner behind Vodrak and let them pound you. I know, I know…you don’t want to die. It’s for your own good, believe it or not. If you didn’t die, you would have to kite these guys for the rest of the mission, and once it’s completed, you can’t loot your shard. That’s right. No experience without a shard. So suck it up and die for that fat reward!

Shortly you will respawn at the zone-in. Once you are back, immediately loot your shard because if you wait, you will forget. One of the clerics will heal you and you can pop a squat in the zone in alcove. Since you are sitting there, when the orcs spawn you should agro them. If there is a warrior, he can’t be mezzed so fight him. If they are both casters, don’t fight other than to draw agro. The pop mezzer will mez them so you can forget them.

Now you wait until the mission is complete and get your butt outta there!

Main Kiter

This has got to be the second most boring job. After the suicide kiter has run off, you will get the two task messages and will be able to loot the chest (you have to attack the chest to open it). Lucky you, you get first loot rights to the chest since you need to go down and take over the kite. Unfortunately, people don’t always let you loot it first. Oh well, you will get it anyway.

After you loot your shard, head down into the cave. It’s quite a sight to see all of the orcs following the suicide kiter, and it’s a bit intimidating to think they will soon be chasing you. Anyway, give the suicide kiter that you are ready for him to die. Immediately after he’s dead, throw your stone at one of the orcs and they will all come running. Using the method described for the suicide kiter, you run your squares down in the cave and keep all of the orcs occupied.

This is the boring part…you get to run squares (remember to square your corners) in the cave until the mission is complete. As soon as you get the completion message though, head for the exit. If anyone else in the party sticks around, then too bad…if they have read this guide, then they know what’s coming.

Some people set up a social key to tell everyone that they are training the exit. Some examples I have seen are:
chhoOOooOO chhooOOooOOO!
Train to the exit, move it or lose it!
I won’t waste my time with one since everyone should be expecting it, but I won’t criticize you if you make one. Especially if it’s funny!

Keyer

This is kind of a fun job. After you zone in, load your abilities and enter a duel with the duel mezzer. Then wait for the suicide kiter to head down into the cave. Once the main kiter has looted his shard, grab your shard and they key from the chest. When you get the key, you will receive a task update message.

Head down into Vodrak’s cave and wait for the main kiter to pick up the train. Once he has, as soon as he passes Vodrak, hand the key to Vodrak and attack him. Immediately, stop attacking Vodrak and head out of the cave to emote point one. When Vodrak reaches you (he’s slow), the duel mezzer will mez you and Vodrak will stop attacking.

As soon as Vodrak emotes as described earlier, attack him to regain agro, stop attacking and head to emote point two. The duel mezzer will mez you again. When you hear Vodrak emote here, attack him again, stop attacking and head to point three next to the exit.

Here you will be mezzed a final time and Vodrak will move to the exit momentarily. Now you can assist in any fights that are taking place if necessary. As soon as Vodrak zones out, you will get the task successful message and you can head out.

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Pretty simple stuff, huh? At first it may seem tricky, but once you have done it a few times you will get the hang of it and it will be like clockwork.

If anyone has any questions, comments or corrections for me, feel free to send me a tell in-game (Bristlebane server) or email me at Mendriel2004@hotmail.com. Happy hunting! Oh, and please don't make fun of me for any typos! ;)