The Battle for Rivervale  

Quest Started By:Description:
Where:
Who:
Rating:
*****
Information:
Level:100
Maximum Level:125
Monster Mission:No
Repeatable:Yes
Can Be Shrouded?:No
Quest Type:Task
Quest Goal:
  • Advancement
  • Experience
  • Loot
  • Money
Time Limit:06:00:00
Success Lockout Timer: 06:00:00
Related Zones:
Related Creatures:
Related Quests:
Era:Rain of Fear
Recommended:
Group Size:Group
Min. # of Players:3
Max. # of Players:6
Appropriate Classes:
  • All
Appropriate Races:
  • All
Entered: Thu Nov 29 06:14:26 2012
Modified: Tue Dec 5 05:21:04 2023
Rain of Fear Information & Guides: An Overview | Group Progression & Task List | Raid Progression | Visible Armor



This is a group mission that begins with Thistlebrush (map) in the Valley of King Xorbb at location -1385, -970, 107 (a little ways north of the zone-in).

Pre-Requisites:
- Level 85
- Completed "The Halfling Trail"
- Completed "We Have to Go Deeper"
- Completed "Escape from the Prison of Xorbb"

You say, 'Hail, Thistlebrush'

Thistlebrush says 'Your efforts have helped us much, especially Brantun and Barleyburr: when [they] were lost in the valley, when they were in [danger] of being discovered after escaping the goblin chef, and when they fell into [trouble] in the valley dungeon. Thank you!'

Thistlebrush says 'Brantun and Barleyburr draw near to Xorbb's inner sanctum. [War] will grant us victory.'

You say, 'What war'

Thistlebrush says 'The time has come, _____. War is upon us. Tonight a full regiment from Rivervale will march through the tunnel and assemble on this field, ready to challenge Xorbb's forces. Even Verken will aid us with his crafted golems. With our might we will capture Xorbb's full attention and allow Brantun and Barleyburr to fulfill their [mission].'

You say, 'What mission?'

Thistlebrush says 'Even now I can feel the winds of magic shifting in this valley. Xorbb knows something is amiss, and readies his troops to meet our own. Barleyburr and Brantun must be close to the crystal shard. The time of our victory is at hand -- though it will be dearly purchased with the lives of many in Rivervale. I know I have asked much of you, but are you willing to aid us in [battle]?'

You say, 'I'll aid you in battle'

Thistlebrush says 'The troops gather tonight. [Go] and prepare yourself.'

You have been assigned the task 'The Battle for Rivervale'.

Thistlebrush has assembled an army to confront King Xorbb's forces and draw his attention away from Brantun and Barleyburr. Speak to Thistlebrush and find out how you can assist the army of Rivervale.

You say, 'Let's go'

LOADING, PLEASE WAIT...
You have entered Valley of King Xorbb.



Speak with Thistlebrush 0/1 (Valley of King Xorbb)

Note: The event is triggered with the word "ready". Once you say this, you will have 60 seconds before all NPCs in the zone go live/aggro.

You say, 'Hail, Thistlebrush'

Thistlebrush says 'Xorbb has mustered all his forces in the valley. They loom before us, waiting to crush us with catapults, ballistae, and sheer numbers. _____, with your skills I rely upon you as our vanguard. You must break their catapults and ballistae, topple their tents, and decimate their troops in the four corners of the valley. Only then will we be able to fully capture Xorbb's attention and provide Brantun and Barleyburr the crack through which they can slip. Be swift, though, for Xorbb's forces grow in strength the longer you dally. Are you [ready]? If so, I will address the troops. If you need to [leave], return soon!'

You say, 'Ready!'

Thistlebrush furrows his brown and nods. He strides in front of the line of fighters from Rivervale, readying them for the imminent battle.

Thistlebrush says 'Citizens of Rivervale, you have shown great courage in standing here today. You see the forces arrayed against us, ravenous for our blood, like wolves starved on a winter tundra. Know that the only thing that stands between them and our beloved Rivervale is you.'

Thistlebrush says 'We have lived a good life in Rivervale. We have supped well in our homes on ale and pies. We have lain along the banks of streams and watched in peace Ro sink and rise. Some of us have seen children grow and themselves bear children. We have loved and lost, and loved again. We have watched Rivervale, like a farmer's field, yield abundantly, suffer through the harshest winters, and then wax fertile once more.'

Thistlebrush says 'Are we not on the brink of Winter once more? Must not the leaves fall before the buds of Spring may bloom? The cold wind of battle blows through our branches, and I will not lie to you: Some of us will be taken by the wind, scattered about upon the valley floor. But know that though the leaves may die, the tree yet lives.'

Thistlebrush says 'We bear the brunt of the frost and cold, the steel and magic of our enemies. We bear it so that what we love survives. We have lived a good life, and now we grant that life to others through the sacrifice of our own. Here today we lay down our lives and our memories that Rivervale will not fade from the mind of Norrath; that countless new generations laugh, love, and live in the home of their forefathers; and that the tree of our home blooms resplendent ever and again.'

Thistlebrush says 'We fight for RIVERVALE!'

The army shouts, 'FOR RIVERVALE!'

At this point, the Halfling army attacks the enemies, and all mobs in the zone become live and aggro'able.



Kill enemy soldiers 0/40 (Valley of King Xorbb)

Kill enemy commanders 0/6 (Valley of King Xorbb)

Destroy enemy tents 0/12 (Valley of King Xorbb)

Destroy enemy catapults and ballistae 0/4 (Valley of King Xorbb)

Mobs here are non-combat until you trigger the event, so you can position your group wherever you want.

Mobs tend to be in groups of 6-7, each of them having a commander type ("a lord" or "a commander", generally). The commanders have more hps and are stronger than their soldiers.

Soldiers will tend to assist their commanders. The higher any player is on a commander's hate list, the more likely the soldiers are to focus their attention on that player.

Tents, catapults, and ballistae tend to be found in clusters. They are located throughout the zone, but are found most commonly in the back of the minotaur fort and along the river.

Some things to keep in mind:
- All NPCs in this mission respawn.
--- Ally NPCs respawn after 60 seconds.
--- Enemy NPCs respawn after five minutes.
- To begin with, the base population of the zone is fairly weak. You will be able to take on several mobs at once.
- The more mobs you kill in the mission, the stronger the NPCs become, overall.
- Some NPCs have AEs. These AEs do not scale in power.
- The catapults, tents, and ballistae each have a very large assist radius and will call for help from mobs within a typical spell-casting range around them. For this reason and given the power-up nature of mobs in the zone, it may be recommended you kill as many tents, catapults, and ballistae as you can before focusing on the mobs.


Note: The task locks once all four of these steps are fully updated.

Thistlebrush shouts 'Xorbb's troops stagger under our onslaught! But now he has unleashed the power of the crystal shard and sends massive golems to crush our fighters!'



Kill 2 powershard golems 0/2 (Valley of King Xorbb)

Task Window Says: King Xorbb has drawn upon the crystal shard to create giant golems that will smash the halfling army. Kill the golems.

Three powershard golems (gigantic in size, hard to miss) spawn in and around the minotaur fort and slowly make their way towards the zone entrance. They'll death touch any Halflings they come across and then linger about in the zone-in valley.

These golems hit for a max ~15,500; AE rampage; and AE "Fists of Destruction" every 30 seconds:

Fists of Destruction: PB AE 175', Magic (-960)
1: Decrease Hitpoints by 65000

These can be single-pulled. Note that like all mobs in the zone, these respawn after they are killed.



Speak with Thistlebrush 0/1 (Valley of King Xorbb)

You say, 'Hail, Thistlebrush'

Thistlebrush wipes blood and sweat from his brow. 'The battle is ours, _____, but the war is unfinished. You may remain if you like, but soon you should slip past Xorbb's army and delve under the valley. Brantun and Barleyburr will need assistance in this final hour, no doubt. I have procured for you a small sum as thanks for your efforts, but know that your help has been invaluable to us. When you are ready, [leave] the battlefield to rest for your descent.

Claim your reward 0/1 (Valley of King Xorbb)

You have succeeded in drawing King Xorbb's attention to the surface of the valley. Now you will be able to sneak below and aid Barleyburr and Brantun in their quest to destroy the crystal shard and neutralize the power of King Xorbb.


Rewards:
225 platinum
Experience (2-3% exp in Level 100 + 3 AAs)

Possible Chest Loot (1 Item + 1 Dreadmote per task):

Hardening Band of Shroomdeath
Helping Hand
Ixyl's Diabolical Pact
Lysergic Powder
Strength of Legions
Tainted Loam

Lesser Dreadmote
Median Dreadmote
Greater Dreadmote
Glowing Dreadmote
Rewards:
Send a Correction
Post Comment
Low effort
# Jul 11 2020 at 2:40 PM Rating: Good
Scholar
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96 posts
Our team (shd, dru, shm, mnk, brd, ber, all 100) ran to the SW cave entrance (cave to the jail area from previous solo tasks) where there were a bunch of tents, 1 ballista, and a ton of mobs. Put a campfire down, had druid evac to zone to start mission and campfire back. From the tunnel ent, you can easily kill the tents from a distance without aggroing the mobs. Stand to the left of the cave entrance and you can range kill the catapults. The catapults and tents do not "power up" like the mobs, but the catapults/ballistas have a ton of hp. There is a second ballista across the river you can get to by running on along the wall and then distance kill (easily done with a group geared 100 druid).

There is a golem spawn on top of the cave, so we just killed that golem twice to finish the mission.
Achievement: Supreme God Killer
# Sep 02 2017 at 3:01 PM Rating: Good
***
1,273 posts
Every time an NPC dies it will respawn after about a minute including the enemies (despite the current quest description above). Each time they respawn they raise in rank. Raised rank increases their HP, Avoidance and DPS (I suspect it actually raises their level, but hard to tell as they're blue cons).

There are achievements for killing these poweredup/promoted up mobs. Most of these achievements happen naturally in the completion of the mission, the exception being the "a powershard golem" which you will cause you to pull your hair out and go insane. It's like playing baseball - long periods of boredom and the occasional intense activity, particularly as the golem powers up (fewer golems in baseball). It takes hours. The achievement is listed under Rain of Fear -> Conquest -> Supreme Golem Killer. Essentially you need to get to that stage in the task and then kill a golem over and over until it has powered up to the title of Supreme God Killer.

We setup in the tunnel near the portal. Mobs will occasionally path or warp into the entrance of the tunnel so be careful. The golems seem not to be assisted by other mobs in the zone, although possibly by minotaurs. Archery pull worked pretty well. One golem spawns in the fort, and two somewhere by the river. They will path to the battle lines near the zone in but not to it.

There seems to be some mechanism whereby ranks are skipped but I'm unclear how/if that works. We kept all 3 golems dead and we think the system is something like killing 2 golems of the same title skips a title. "Arosepetalforyoutoo" on the achievement page counted 32 titles. We just had 21:
  1. (no title)
  2. Lowly
  3. Common
  4. Skilled
  5. Kingly
  6. Enslaving
  7. Wordly
  8. Village Razer
  9. Kingdom Toppler
  10. Continent Subjugator
  11. World Conquerer
  12. Universal Scourge
  13. Universe Subjugator
  14. Universe Destroyer
  15. Dimensional Conquerer
  16. Dimensional King
  17. Dimensional Lord
  18. God of Worlds
  19. Universal God
  20. Interdimensional God
  21. Supreme God Killer
Boxing
# Dec 11 2014 at 12:53 PM Rating: Decent
Scholar
*
137 posts
Is this boxable?

-Thanks.
Chest Reward
# Jan 30 2013 at 4:01 PM Rating: Good
Had this drop earlier today in this mission.

Ixyl's Diabolical Pact
acheivement rewards/player flag
# Jan 23 2013 at 11:40 PM Rating: Default
32 posts
Ok, so did 3 of the 5 acheivements for this event tonight.. not sure what the rewards were. However, I think each one has a new suffix you can use. Can anyone confirm?

Chest Reward was...
# Jan 20 2013 at 6:39 PM Rating: Good
Sage
Avatar
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277 posts
Tainted Loam
Greater Dreadmote
____________________________
quarken xired | tecknoe destructo
Update
# Jan 13 2013 at 2:13 PM Rating: Decent
8 posts
Actually it only takes only two golems to complete, although there was a third wandering around.

Also the damned mobs are still active and aggroing while you are looting the chest.
Catapults
# Jan 06 2013 at 6:57 AM Rating: Decent
Definitely weird agro rules here and pathing.

tip: mage pet can attack/destroy catapults with getting agro, so no need to clear around them
swarm pets will get agro however.
Advice
# Jan 01 2013 at 3:53 AM Rating: Good
Sage
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770 posts
Bit of advice: The event does not go active until you say 'ready' to Thistle. Prior to that, although everything in the zone sees invis and scowls, none of it will attack until the script is triggered via 'ready'. Take some time, explore the place, learn where the catapults, ballistae and tents live. Then, choose a spot to set up preliminary camp where you can get to these structures without traveling the entire zone after it goes live. I set a campfire prior to trigger, talked to Thistle to fire it up, and ported back to the fire. Knocked out my kill counts fairly effortlessly. Evac'd back to zone-in to kill the final golems. The powershard golems will eventually path from the mino fort to the portal once they run out of good guys to kill. Once the path is clear, all three will come to the portal area. Protip: pull the golems single as quickly as possible. You don't want all three of them in your face at the same time, each blowing off their own 65k PBAE.

3box'd it with 3 mercs. Tedious, tedious. Probably be a pretty fun mission with a group able to steamroll the trash in swift fashion and simply run riot on the place. Mob pathing is phenomenally stupid in this event. At one point I wound up with a train of dozens and dozens of mobs, no clue why. The supertrain corpse-camped my campfire, I had to train them away again elsewhere. Probably not a good idea to set up at the zone-in, because if you wipe there, you won't get back in without finding that train still there waiting for you.

All told, it was pretty fun to see the halflings cry out FOR RIVERVALE! and then run off to get their butts kicked :)

Chest loot: Glowing Dreadmote and 1hs weapon Strength of Legions.

Edited, Jan 1st 2013 4:03am by Tobynn
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