Staff of the Wheel  

 

With a little help from a cleric and a druid or shammy this quest can be done as early as lvl 16. All you need is invis at 16, enduring breath (druid) and invis undead (cleric). Or if you have the money you can buy potions that do all 3 effects. Key is to make sure the Hand room in Lower Guk is clear before that part of the quest..if not just shout out you need it cleared to do the quest and you'll only have to wait 5 minutes at most. The trick is patience and planning.

However I did mine at lvl 20 as the ports really help speed up the movement across all the zones.

I have just completed the Staff of the Wheel portion of the quest. Invis carries me through all portions of the quest except Lower Guk. In Eruds crossing, I brought a Druid along and used their tracking to determine the safty of the waters. I needed enduring breath for Lake Rathe, and used it for Everfrost, but don't think I needed it. None of the other swims needed it. (My swim is over 100.)

So, the hard part was Lower Guk. I used the tried and true kamakazi method: Go to lower guk via the ancient crocs entrance. It takes you to the waterfall. Wait till someone is camping the BedRoom. Go for a swim, and enter the bedroom and wiat till the BR crowd has cleared the VAmpire bats. Get an Invis to Undead, and begin the gauntlet. From the watery entrance, keep along the left wall, pass some skellies in an alcove, enter a room with a bridge, and jump. From here you can get to the "safe hallway". Follow the strange hallway to the hand room. Assume the hand and ghouls are there. It does help to find out if someone is camping the hand. If someone is, that just makes it easier. Now, facing the entrance, the rod is on the left half of the room, on the floor. You can see it if you swim up the opposite wall and turn around. Pick a line, it's critical that you know where it is to get out fast enough. When ready, (about peed my robe at this point), swim and go for it. Grab it, get it in inventory and hit the water. This is CRITICAL, get in the water! if you dont make it, getting the corpse back will be MUCH harder. When you die, repeat previous process, except this time, loot your corpse and gate out. The area under the water (no, not underwater, under the water) is safe so far as I could tell. Too far from the hand, and nothing was down there both times I visited.

Now just to enspire some debate, I dont even carry it most of the time! In the process of getting this item, I get most of the parts of the Weeping Wand, a wizard focus item. Int isn't as good, but it's focus...

Well I finally got Staff, started the quest when I was around 28 or so, and now I am 34, and its done. I just got rods when I wanted to work on quest, that is why it took so long. I can honestly say this is a very challenging quest. My swimming skill, for the last rod (Everfrost) was around 165, and I barely made it to the underwater cave. I did not have endure breath for this one, but I did have sow. I would get endure breath for them all. Get some nice mage to summon you some water stones.

The only one that I got attacked on was the last one, in Everfrost. I did die once doing this quest, getting the one in Unrest, but not because of anything guarding the rod. I accidently went down the wrong tunnel, and was attacked then. After recovering my corpse, I went back in and got rod. Had someone show me the rod second time.

I wont go into details of how to obtain the rods, because I used two sources that were invaluable. Allakhazam and Graffe gave me step by step advice and location of rods.

Now I will say this, and no one has said this before. I had a druid tell me when I got the rod in Lake Rathe. If you are in wolf form the aqua goblins wont attack you. I did and they did not, they coned indifferent to me - and so red they blinded me (at lvl 34). :o) So I would recommend doing that. I would also recommend getting water stones, for all of them. I would have to search around a little for some of them, it was nice not to have to worry about running out of breath.

Some of them are easy; ok the one in Lower Gux, you ask. Hehe Well, I went with a lvl 48 wiz who is a friend of mine, he was doing it for the ice comet runes. We got a guide to take us to the hand room. I almost wet my robe I was so scared; the thought of having to go through that to get my corpse really scared me. We swam up, and guess what no hand. Yea My friend grabed the rod, we ran out of room. Now it was my turn. Egggggh Ok, I swam up and jumped in room. By the way, get invisibility to undead for this one, you have to have it. No hand, he had not respawned. I grabed rod, and jumped out of room. Not looking back.

My friend said that there is a chance that you might fail in your attempt to combine the rods to get staff. I can honestly say, if that had happened, I probably would have cried. Hehe The thought of going back to Lower Gux - no thanks.

Well I have talked too long; good luck, I definatly think the staff is worth it. Now I can sell my ceremonial dagger, I carry the SoM in my other hand, and have Sarnak Sacrificial Dagger in my range slot.

Good luck all my fellow Wizzies.

Philibus Sophisticus
34 Wiz of Bertox