Switching Gears  

Quest Started By:Description:
Where:
Who:
Rating:
*****
Information:
Level:80
Maximum Level:125
Monster Mission:No
Repeatable:Yes
Can Be Shrouded?:No
Quest Type:Task
Quest Goal:
  • Experience
  • Faction
  • Loot
Factions Raised:
Factions Lowered:
    Quest Items:
    Era:Secrets of Faydwer
    Recommended:
    Group Size:Solo
    Min. # of Players:1
    Max. # of Players:1
    Appropriate Classes:
    • All
    Appropriate Races:
    • All
    Entered: Sun Dec 23 06:39:26 2007
    Modified: Tue Dec 5 05:21:04 2023
    Clockwork Warmarshal may be found at 165, -1400, 400 (near the tents where you first zone into Fortress Mechanotus).

    You say 'Hail, Clockwork Warmarshal'

    Clockwork Warmarshal says 'Hello there solider. It's good to see so many Norrathians rally to help stop this menace! Since our crash and my [promotion] to the leader of the Albatross' ground forces I've been overwhelmed with necessary military action and underprovided with forces to complete those actions. I know it's unusual, especially since you are not officially enlisted for this action, but perhaps you could [accept orders] from an old clockwork and help out all of Norrath in the process? Or if you and your allies are truly brave, someone needs to make forays into those dratted [gryospires] if we're to have much of a chance getting reinforcements up here.'

    You say, 'Promotion?'

    Clockwork Warmarshal says 'Ah, yes, my promotion. Well, you see, Commander Hugert Tallbottom didn't survive the initial assault. In fact, he was killed when the Albatross crashed. I know it's not my place to speak poorly of gnomish engineering, especially considering that I AM gnomish engineering, but this ship was too hastily put together. Many good gnomes lost their lives before we ever had a chance to engage the enemy. We hold the lines here the best we can, but we no longer have the troops to mount an effective assault.'

    You say, 'Accept orders?'

    Clockwork Warmarshal says 'Ah, fantastic! I have a few things that need to be taken care of before we will be able to advance from this position and begin our assault on the fortress itself.'

    A Task Select screen pops up with the quests:
    Breaking Things Down
    Endless Enemies
    Hunt a Spy
    Switching Gears


    You have been assigned the task 'Switching Gears'.




    The Clockwork Warmarshal has a plan. One of the engineers has come up with the proper tools to open one of the minor panels on a model of steamwork. Inside that panel are some of the gears that control the motor skills of the steamwork. The Warmarshal has asked you to gather some gears that are just a bit off-size for this particular model, and using the tool kit, replace some gears inside some steamworks. He thinks this change will slow the speed of the steamwork, either reducing its ability to attack, or its ability to move. However, you will have to distract the steamwork while the switch is made. This will probably require hitting it with a weapon of some sort for a while. He doesn't want you to destroy them until you know how this switch affects them.

    You receive a Mechano-Tool Kit.



  • Loot 5 Micro-Cogs 0/1 (Fortress Mechanotus)

  • Loot 5 Class "A" Cogs 0/1 (Fortress Mechanotus)

  • Swap out the cogs of ten steamworks 0/1 (Fortress Mechanotus)

    To use the device, you must be at point blank range of a mob, and then mob must be in melee combat, with you or another player, and have its health at 36% or lower.

    If you manage to switch out the cogs it will either slow the upper limbs of the mob, slowing it or slowing the lower limbs, effectively snaring the mob. Other snaring effects will still stack, and the snare is as effective as a single cast snare.

    Every time you click the device, it will use either a Micro-Cog or Class "A" Cog as ammunition. This will vary depending on the type of the mob that you are attempting.

    The task is currently bugged in that if you have more than one Class "A" Cog in your inventory, it will consume two Cogs instead of just one. You can avoid this bug by having only one Class "A" Cog on you when you do the click or make sure they are not stacked together.

    The clicks do not work for all robotic-type mobs. It has been reported this works on the bots who look like gnomes. But instead of using a cog, you will get the combat message: "Target is not appropriate for this ability" or something to that effect, basically that the device is not usable on that mob.

    Successfully using the device will display the message saying either the upper or lower limbs are affected, in yellow or whatever your system message color is.

    You do NOT have to turn in any cogs to the Warmarshal, so once you have used the device on 10 mobs correctly, you may go and hail the Warmarshal for your reward.


  • Return to the Warmarshal 0/1 (Fortress Mechanotus)

    You say, 'Hail, Clockwork Warmarshal'

    Your task 'Switching Gears' has been updated.

    You have given the Warmashal some insight into the workings of his enemies, and for that he appeared grateful.

    Rewards:
    Zeka Counterclockwise Capping Rotator
    Faction with Ak'Anon Strike Force V
    Experience (33% of an AA at Level 80)

    You may continue to use the device and cogs after you complete the task.
  • Submitted by: Tanacious, Watchers, Cazic-Thule
    Rewards:
    Send a Correction
    Post Comment
    As an Enchanter
    # Aug 21 2022 at 10:26 AM Rating: Decent
    14 posts
    As an Enchanter, this is what I learned. Once you get the 5 cogs (both kinds), got the second level where there are a lot of little robots. Mez the robot, kill the others. Use a low-level direct damage spell, hit him 2x to get him under 40 then mez him again. Get as close as you can to him and right click the tool kit - Okay to kill after update. If you need to, you can pick up more cogs as you do this so that you don't run out. I ended up with way too many cogs doing that.
    Update
    # Mar 09 2022 at 4:41 PM Rating: Good
    13 posts
    Lvl 87 3 boxer. Just loot 5 of each. I did that on all toons and just right-clicked on a mechanic mob when they are 36% or lower...36% only being the highest I kept one before doing so. One of my toons ran out of the one type, but was still able to get all 10 done without that type. Another toon had more of the other type. I made sure to separate the items into 1 each; can't confirm if I have to but just did it to get the quest done.

    Hard to do it boxing because you have to be so close to mob and have it targeted. But at 87 it wasn't a problem since they didn't hurt me much while I switched screens.
    Cogs have to come from Fortress Mech
    # Dec 13 2021 at 11:04 AM Rating: Good
    Avatar
    *
    173 posts
    Looted a Micro-Cog that dropped from a named (Ton o' Tin) in Dragonscale Hills and it did not update the quest tracker for looting 1 of the 5 required. Not sure why they'd make quest items drop in another zone when looting them won't give you credit for the quests they relate to.
    Only worked on gnome-bots
    # Dec 18 2016 at 10:58 AM Rating: Default
    *
    131 posts
    I tried to use it on the helicopter bots but it wouldn't allow it. It only worked on the bots that looked like gnomes. I had 6 microcogs and it used all of them and then used 4 Class A cogs. I suspect that if I had 10 microcogs it would have used just them and then I would only need to loot 5 Class A cogs to complete the task.
    ____________________________
    Glarion
    95 Shadowknight
    Tunare

    Mentalius Mindripper
    Level 70 Enchanter (retired)
    Lanys T'Vyl
    My Stuff
    Only worked on gnome-bots
    # Dec 18 2016 at 8:06 PM Rating: Excellent
    Grigner wrote:
    I tried to use it on the helicopter bots but it wouldn't allow it. It only worked on the bots that looked like gnomes. I had 6 microcogs and it used all of them and then used 4 Class A cogs. I suspect that if I had 10 microcogs it would have used just them and then I would only need to loot 5 Class A cogs to complete the task.


    Thanks, updated.
    ____________________________
    Allakhazam Developer and Admin

    For real time update information on Allakhazam, follow me on Twitter!
    https://twitter.com/gidono

    Or join us via our Discord channel at https://discord.gg/zu9tTS7
    Do Not Stack Them...
    # Feb 26 2011 at 10:08 PM Rating: Good
    As long as the Class A Cogs are not stacked together, you will only use one at a time.
    Do Not Stack Them...
    # Sep 17 2018 at 8:38 PM Rating: Decent
    7 posts
    Yes, I can confirm this is true. I already had a lot of Micro-Cogs and didn't want to lose them all since they are used for other quests. I had over 20 and unstacked them all. After each steamwork that looked like a gnome got to under 20%, I got on top of them and activated the tool kit. I worked every time only using one cog. I was able to finish in about 30-45 mins.
    Unstack them
    # Jun 11 2010 at 6:54 AM Rating: Default
    Still ganked. Still using 2 "A" cogs per cast.



    Edited, Jun 11th 2010 8:55am by Boomsticker
    Unstack them
    # Nov 22 2010 at 7:29 PM Rating: Decent
    *
    240 posts
    Make sure when you start clicking to seperate the A cogs. Also, you must be nearly on top of the steamwork to be able to click it. Not all will work, you can only click them at fleeing health ( less than 17% or so). Sometimes the box will still consume 2 A cogs, and also had it do it once a failed attempt....

    **Also - mezz, snare, stun, etc work well for this, since it does run and you have to time it just right to be on top of it to click!



    Edited, Nov 22nd 2010 8:38pm by dojia
    Micro-cogs
    # May 30 2010 at 4:30 AM Rating: Decent
    how and what do these work on?

    Edited, May 30th 2010 8:03am by WeWantRueb
    Alla's walk through is erroneous - again
    # May 27 2010 at 11:19 PM Rating: Decent
    *
    66 posts
    SOB!...

    It is still using two A cogs at a time if you have more than one in inventory. What a surprise. Why would I expect Sony to have fixed this?

    Seriously, this NEEDS to be put as an important note in the above walk-through. I'm going to send this in as a correction as well, so hopefully it will get added.

    There are only two ways to go about this. Well, three, but I assume nobody wants to farm twice the number of these already hard to find cogs.

    1. Collect a single A cog and then go find a robot to use it on.

    2. Collect a bunch of A cogs, put them in the bank, and keep running/gating back here to use it on a robot, one at a time.

    Either way is really damn annoying. I didn't notice it was using two until I read all the posts. The first time it did it, I thought I just miscounted how many I had. The second time, I was sure something funny was going on. The third time I watched carefully as two A cogs vanished, and I realized something was really wrong. So instead of 6 updates, I only have 3, and now I have to go farm even more A cogs than the quest or Alla's incorrect walk through states.

    Never did it use any of the mini cogs (because I had lots of A cogs), which was leaving me wondering what the hell the walk through was referring to when it states that it uses different cogs depending on the mob. THIS IS UNTRUE! It ALWAYS requires an A cog and a mini cog, but it will use 2 A cogs and 0 mini cogs if you have 2 or more A cogs in your inventory. No mob will use any quantity of just mini-cogs. FIX THIS IN YOUR WALK THROUGH PLEASE!
    Alla's walk through is erroneous - again
    # May 27 2010 at 11:37 PM Rating: Decent
    *
    66 posts
    Found a decent compromise. If you head to the junkyard in the NW corner of the zone (head up all the elevators, and run through the rooms to the NW area, taking another elevator all the way down), you'll find a lot of mobs that have a much better drop rate on the "A" cogs, AND they also work for the updates on the quest even though they aren't called steamworks. So you can just loot an "A" cog off one, and then use it on the next mob you fight (assuming you have plenty of mini-cogs already, which you probably do).

    Hope this helps.
    wow
    # Apr 03 2010 at 9:13 PM Rating: Decent
    18 posts
    yup, this is a sucky one. should have read the comments prior to working on it.
    unbelievable time sink
    # Mar 27 2010 at 11:50 PM Rating: Good
    Scholar
    *
    102 posts

    of all the quests, this was the biggest time sink for me, killed for days and days to get all the A cogs. very annoying.
    What worked for me
    # Feb 10 2010 at 10:20 PM Rating: Good
    For those that are frustrated by this one, I feel your pain however I found a reasonable way to deal with the screwed up gear-switching tool. Yes, it uses all of the ones you have on you when you click it, and I tried to click it at 20% and it worked every time. I took up a camp underneath the platform just past the large open area SW of the elevators. I pulled the pairs nearby at the half-submerged gears to there and killed for a few hours.

    I got all the Micro-Cogs and "A" gears I needed, and I got all my updates from the gnomish looking clockworks, (scouts, troopers, etc. not menders) and just looted the gears as I killed, maybe one drop every 4-5 kills and then used the drops as I got them. I hope that helps any that are doing this quest and are getting frustrated.

    Kevlin Trusteam
    85 Mage-Prexus
    This Quest
    # Nov 24 2009 at 9:44 PM Rating: Decent
    *
    56 posts
    Sucks the sweat off a dead bloated dogs.... feet. and by dead i mean dead in a junkyard... in august....in mexico.

    Dear EQ:
    Please give an additional iq point or 2 in the future when consturcting such a moronic device.

    Love Always,
    Red
    Still takes 2 cogs
    # Aug 07 2009 at 12:31 PM Rating: Default
    22 posts
    As of today it is still bugged and takes 2 A cogs
    Still takes 2 cogs
    # Aug 20 2009 at 10:57 AM Rating: Good
    43 posts
    Confirmed. I suggest doing this task last as it is VERY frustrating and time consuming.
    Still takes 2 cogs
    # Oct 31 2009 at 12:21 PM Rating: Good
    **
    293 posts
    Still taking two at this late date.
    ____________________________
    Tarvas
    Ranger, 100
    Celestial Navigators
    Dependencies, Variables, ...
    # Nov 15 2008 at 11:49 PM Rating: Decent
    *
    104 posts
    Due to the bugginess and inappropriate journal function on this particular quest it creates a lot of dependencies, or variables, for the outcome of each Mechano-Tool Kit click to give an update. In other words, its easy to ***** up and make this task take longer than expected. Here is what I learned from experience and others...

    Collecting Cogs:

    The Class "A" Cog is rarer than the Micro-Cog.

    Depending on the mob type, using the Mechano-Tool Kit will use either 2 Class "A" Cogs, or, 1 Class "A" Cog and 1 Micro-Cog.

    The way to avoid using 2 Class "A" Cogs is to never have more than 1 Class "A" Cog in your inventory when you click the Mechano-Tool Kit.

    You generally will always have more Micro-Cogs in your inventory than Class "A" Cogs, and this is ok. Collecting Micro-Cogs is ok.

    You must have at least 1 Micro-Cog in your inventory when you click or it will consume Class "A" Cogs and NOT update.

    However, instead of collecting the Class "A" Cogs, whenever you have 1 Class "A" Cog and at least 1 Micro-Cog, use the toolkit, even before you close out the Loot 5 and 5(confirmed today, swapping cogs will update with less than 5 and 5 closed out as long as the appropriate robot type is the target).

    If you have already looted several Class "A" Cogs, you can bind affinity at the Automated clockwork camp in DSH, put 1 Class "A" Cog in your inventory and the extras in the bank. Then after you use the toolkit, gate or teleport to bindpoint or jump down to DSH and grab 1 Class "A" Cog and repeat.

    Clicking the Mechano-Tool Kit:

    You must be in close proximity to your target; essentially point blank range.

    The target should be a robot type. (NOT helicopters or boars)

    Target and Click only when robot is < 40% health.

    It must land before said mob is < 1 % health.

    You can not swap cogs on a mob that has already had cogs swapped out.

    Doing any of these things wrong can, and will, cause the toolkit to consume Class "A" Cogs, and sometimes including Micro-Cogs, without giving update credit.

    Hypothetical Addendum:

    I was so intrigued by the failure of this task to function normally. I researched the Mechano-Tool Kit.

    Item: Mechano-Tool Kit
    Effect: Swap Cog
    Effect Description: 1. Summon Item: Micro-Cog (doesn't work)

    Hypothesis:

    Missing Effect Description: 2. Consume Item: Class "A" Cog

    Task Journal entries should be:

    Loot 10 Class "A" Cogs
    Swap out 10 Micro-Cog

    Real Swap Cog Effect Description:
    1. Consume Item: Class "A" Cog
    2. Consume Item: Class "A" Cog

    or (depends on target and how many Class "A" Cog in inventory)

    1. Consume Item: Class "A" Cog
    2. Consume Item: Micro-Cog

    Edited, Nov 25th 2008 8:23am by Harmoniq
    Not what I would call "fixed"
    # Sep 29 2008 at 10:41 AM Rating: Decent
    Scholar
    *
    57 posts
    Not sure what Laeoin meant by "they fixed this now" but it will still consume two class A cogs if you have that many in your inventory.

    Leewei's theory about mobs under 10% is not correct. They still consume class A cogs rather than microcogs.

    DSteath's theory about putting one cog on your cursor is also incorrect. If you have any in your inventory, it will still consume 2.

    You can limit the rate to one if you only have one on your person (using gate/campfire or whatever) and keeping the rest in your bank as ToucanVZ suggested. I would recommend simply using them as you loot them if you read this before you've looted the 5 required.

    Finally, if you happen to click on the toolkit when the mob is out of range or late (mob dies before the spell is complete) it will still consume your type A cog.

    Overall, I would like to know what SOE was thinking with this quest. You need to loot 5 cogs which will never be used and the same number of "A" cogs which actually requires 20, if you do the quest the way they designed it. Do they assume people don't get screwed enough in RL?

    Edited, Oct 27th 2008 4:44pm by jimeedeen
    Description is still off
    # May 24 2008 at 10:10 AM Rating: Decent
    In general, this task sorta works as the description indicates but there MUST be missing information. If you do it as so far indicated, and are a caster, use your secondary bind point so that you can gate back and forth to a bank. It will eat your A-cogs en masse if you have them on you. If you're doing this as a melee and dont have a Friendship group to set up a campfire.. bring your vasaline. You're gonna have to gate (hope you did the Gate Talisman quest) to go to PoK, get a pair of cogs (1 of each), run thru GL and GH , pay to reset the platform (probably)... invis (get lots of potions), cannon back up to your kill spot.. and kill and click another mob. OMG.. if this SNAFU HELPED the player, you'd bet that SoE would bring down the servers to fix it. Since it doesnt, either the description is missing something (i tried to click with my shaman before getting 5 A-cogs and nothing happened, so it seems built in to use as much time as possible collecting the cogs) or it's a typical SoE "working as intended". If it is "working as intended" i would hope it's a matter of a missing <something> that could be so obvious that we're missing it.
    Description is still off
    # Aug 22 2009 at 2:27 PM Rating: Good
    Scholar
    *
    102 posts

    um, or if your a melee, jump of fort mech to zone to dsh, use that banker.
    Description is still off
    # Sep 13 2008 at 3:40 AM Rating: Good
    *
    142 posts
    they fixed this now
    only 1 cog at a time gets used
    Description is still off
    # Sep 13 2008 at 6:24 AM Rating: Good
    *
    142 posts
    and looks like u need 10 A cogs
    so every time u click it uses a A cog up
    Oculus Series
    # May 13 2008 at 3:16 PM Rating: Decent
    Scholar
    ***
    2,600 posts
    This is one of quite a few related tasks that ultimately allow you to attain the Model XLII Spatial Temporal Oculus.

    The tasks required are:

    I Can Fly
    Construction Junction, What's Your Function?
    Darwin's Award
    Farm Clean Up (any one of the three offered, you do not need all three)
    Forgetful Nanzie
    Mechamatic Spelunking
    The Steamwork You're Looking For
    Modulation!
    Getting that Stabilizer
    Creepfeet Theivery
    Endless Enemies
    Disable the Recycler
    Hunt A Spy
    ***** Loose
    Switching Gears
    Disrupt the Workshop
    Supplies for Spies
    A Slave to Grind
    Destroying the Competition
    Power Station Blueprints
    Alloy Sampling
    Stopping Production
    Breaking Things Down


    ____________________________

    Maybe it's mob HPs, not name that matters.
    # Apr 29 2008 at 7:37 AM Rating: Decent
    Got down to my last gear swap with one Class "A" Cog left. I'd been getting annoyed with the number of Class "A" gears this was taking and figured that the last swap would either use my last gear or else give me some sort of message about needing new gears. This isn't what happened, though.

    What happened is a message telling me that the steamwork was not sufficiently damaged, and that rather than bashing it with a toolbox, I should use a weapon. It also ate my last gnomeflinging Class "A" Cog.

    Based on this, I'm thinking that the quest consumes cogs not based on your target type, but based on remaining HPs. Instead of clicking at 45% HPs, perhaps clicking under 20% (perhaps 10%?) will save those precious Class "A" Cogs.
    quest info
    # Feb 25 2008 at 2:58 PM Rating: Decent
    The description of the quest is way off


    Every time you click the tool-box, it eats ALL your a-cogs...and you'll get an update.


    You can't click the tool-box without an a-cog.


    So you really need 10 a-cogs.

    Start clicking before you get the 5, or it'll eat the 5 you have collected and you'll have to collect 9 more.

    The microcogs seem 2ndary, looting the 5 for the first step of the task is all that they're required for...they're not required to click the toolbox like the A-cogs are.


    Everyone I know looted 5 and 5 and then started clicking their toolbox and then wondered what happened to their A-cogs. Considering how ridiculously rare the A-cogs are ....the task description really needs work...just saying loot 5, loot 5, click 10 times is pretty poor description on sony's part.



    edit--

    idea from buddy, if you have the 5 collected, or if a mob drops 2 at a time as they do...bank the spares before you click. Its a pain to go to bank and back via campfire, but quicker then waiting for spare A-cogs

    Edited, Feb 25th 2008 5:01pm by ToucanVZ
    ____________________________
    Toucan Tanksem
    of Vallon Zek, Sebilis, Venril Sathir, Antonius Bayle, and now Toukan of Povar
    quest info
    # Feb 26 2008 at 6:06 PM Rating: Default
    After doing this quest on 6 toons, here's some note...

    If you have 2 cogs in your inventory, due to a mob dropping 2 cogs...
    Simply put 1 of them on your curser and click... It will then use the cog on your curser, and not the one in your inventory...

    Also before you ever click any mob have BOTH the cog A and micro Cog... It will use both micro cog and cog A sometimes... But if you don't have a micro cog, then it will use the cog A and give NO UPDATE...

    ____________________________
    http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p87/Dstealth_92/Hueydeweylouie.jpg
    about micro-cog
    # Feb 12 2008 at 1:17 AM Rating: Decent
    Anyone could confirm what mobs the Micro-Cog's work?

    I've tried a lot mobs, but none can consume a Micro-cog.
    double take
    # Jan 17 2008 at 9:06 PM Rating: Decent
    The "Steamwork" strikers, troopers, menders, mechanics, soldiers seem to give you the update but they do consume more than one class A or Micro cog.

    I've had one of each or 2 of one kind taken, not fixed as of the lastest patch.

    Good luck
    double take
    # May 24 2008 at 9:57 AM Rating: Decent
    As of 5/24/08, Steamwork Mendors "does not meet the spell requirements"..
    working mobs
    # Dec 27 2007 at 10:58 AM Rating: Decent
    *
    206 posts
    The quest seems to be bugged. I only found ot Gnome robot models work; they consume 2 Class A cog's. I did NOT found out on what mobs the Micro Cog's work.


    Anyway, I'll start a table:

    Working mob types | consume ...
    -------------------------|-------------------
    Gnome robots . . . . | 2x "Class "A" cog"

    -H'Sishi

    Edited, Dec 27th 2007 8:26pm by HSishi
    ____________________________
    HSishi Shortfinger
    Proud Rogue
    Member of <Age of Unity>
    Antonius Bayle
    working mobs
    # Jan 11 2008 at 10:01 AM Rating: Decent
    This quest seems to be bugged.

    After looting the initial 5 cogs, I swapped them in a grand total of 3 mobs. Then I looted the Class "A" cogs one at a time and swapped having no more than one in my inventory at once - I was able to swap them on every mob I tried.

    Save yourself some trouble, loot the first 5, use them, then loot and swap one each time to avoid double swaps
    Clicky
    # Dec 26 2007 at 6:50 PM Rating: Decent
    Is it possible to get the clicky if you accidentaly destroyed it, or do you have to redo the quest?
    Post Comment

    Free account required to post

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