Velketor's Labyrinth
Quick Facts
HOT ZONE
Type:
Indoor
Expansion:
Velious
Instanced:
No
Keyed:
No
Level Range:
45 - 65
Send a correction
| This is the home of the outcast Storm Giant Wizard, Velketor, and his minions. The icy, slippery catwalks which greet you upon entering are littered with crystal gargoyles and arachnids, some of which are invisible.
Past the catwalks is a small kobold village with a tunnel leading to the castle. Velketor's castle is guarded by numerous crystal gargoyles, golems, and tentactle terrors. Velketor's throne room can be found in the basement, along with a prison with numerous Coldain captives. Beneath the castle is a twisting maze of kobolds, arachnids, spectres, tentacles, and traps. |
| ----------------------- |
            |
- Comments (63)
- Connected Zones (1)
- NPCs (91)
- Items (179)
- Quests Starting (4)
- Quests In (17)
- Screenshots
#Anonymous,
Posted: May 01 2001 at 10:32 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) the trap is timed and will also retrigger if someone goes ld and comes back...
Anonymous
yah have a rogue sense the trap and have him disarm it.. still figuring out it if its a permanent disarm or a timed one...
Anonymous
Has anybody figured out a pattern to predict how the dispelling orb reacts in the pit? It is a royal pain in the *** when it goes off and I would like to figure out how to avoid it.
Anonymous
Just wanted to add that if you have a L59+ puller they can single pull kobolds here. Exception being with champions, prophets and the named. These are all 50+. The rest of the kobolds are high 40's.
I've fought in the upper kobold village that you enter through the false wall, and did not ever once get aggro'd upon entering. I've been told this in the past and it's just untrue. Perhaps if your group consisted of high 40's instead of mid to upper 50's, there might be some higher aggro range associated with your lower level. A single group of mid 50's can pull here, with a L59+ puller single pulling stuff.
This zone is always fun to me, I've been here at least 20 times and lead 6 raids. The reason being it's so unpredictable, and things can go from boring to fighting for your life.
The named kobolds tend to spawn at certain points. They don't seem to have any clear PH, but I have noticed that for each spawn point there is a named, either a champion, prophet or cleric will spawn. Mostly champion and prophets, the cleric seems to spawn only where Khelkar Icepaw spawns in the pit. I haven't paid close enough attention to spawn types for named so I'm not entirely sure that this is consistent. However most of the time this has been the case. Again you can see this dungeon is unpredictable and just when you think you see a pattern something new pops up to dispell your theory. The only real way to get spawn points down for named is to fight here over and over. You will soon find out that certain spots always spawn named. The same goes for the named spiders, golems, and other named (like the human monks). For instance, I have seen Bled and A Failed Experiment both spawn in the same spot outside Velketor's keep ('the courtyard').
I also noticed that named kobolds tend to spawn in the same areas. Like in the pit and upper kobold room. The pit tends to spawn Khelkar (in the same room with the 5 kobolds) or Ular Icepaw. Khelkar is a tough warrior mob that double attacks for 300 and becomes ENRAGED (ripostes all your attacks, so either get to the side or behind him to avoid ripostes or turn off melee). ENRAGED "discipline" lasts for 12 seconds. He drops a nice Lute of the Howler which seems to be a little more effective than princess gypsy lute to me (I got 1 more point of rgen out of cantana of replenishment with this lute) and of course it has the werewolf illusion. It's also 1 handed and fits in primary slot, so it makes it easier to switch out weapons for instrument (you only need to change out 1 weapon). Khelkar also has a common drop of Flawless Diamond, a BP quest gem for melee classes.
The velium spiders down here all seem to drop quest gems more frequently than kobolds. Their loot tables seem to be smaller than kobolds which I think lends to the more frequent drop of gems. I've also seen 2 BP quest gems drop off spiders, both off Velium Stalkers I believe. A Black Marble and Flawless Diamond dropped off spiders. The spider area are tough pulls however. A L60 puller could not single pull from down in the heavily infested area where there are groups of 6. All of which spawn hunters or stalkers. The previous spider rooms tend to spawn broodlings and stalkers/hunters, which makes it easier to pull from as the broodlings will not aggro with a L59+ puller. The stalkers and hunters were highly MR, and a L55 enchanter could not mez any in my last raid here and quickly died. The named spiders spawn in the infested area where you have the pull of 5 to 6 at a time (all nearly impossible to mez). If you can crack this room and keep pulls going so that spawn is staggered to single pulls, it's doable. However you can probably expect a wipeout and too much downtime in res'ing to be successful in doing this. I had 3 groups of mid 50's. If you plan on doing this room bring at least L55 people and a cleric with epic, or several very high 50's enchanter.
VL is always exciting because you are constantly battling time and the random difficulty of spawns. Various types of high level mobs spawn here that are nothing more than harrassers. They only spawn to slow you down and make things difficult. Icepaw champions, prophets, crystal destroyers, icy watchers, all of which are hard hitters and highly MR. Not to mention a lot of HP. None of which drop any good loot. This is one of the problems with getting raids and groups to VL. There is very little loot here and what does drop that is of value, is off random/rare spawns (and almost always NO DROP), and rarely drops. I would say getting good loot here is analogous to getting good loot drops off the named in Trakanon's Teeth. It's going to take many visits here.
The various named golems spawn in the courtyard outside Velketor's keep and in the deepest room inside (past Velketor's room). There may be more spawn points for named golems but these are the only ones I have found so far. If you expect to come here and kill named, you must bring at least 4 groups of L55+. The common golems can be L50 or L55+. The easier ones are "crystalline sentinel" and the tougher ones are "crystal sentinel". The same applies to gargoyles in the tunnel from upper kobold village to keep entrance/courtyard, and the ones inside the keep and up the spiral staircase. The high 50's version here are crystal destroyer (golem) and icy watcher (gargoyle). Named golem Bled is a tough fight, and once killed Bledrek immediately spawns. Bled drops no loot. Bledrek drops some AC36(?) greaves, SK/WAR only as his rare drop. As I mentioned before you can see how the risk vs. reward is very unbalanced here. It's the primary reason I see this zone almost always empty, except for a few exp groups or gem farmers.
The courtyard and inside the keep you need an extremely powerful raid group. I would say many of which would need epics and/or uber gear to be efficient at clearing the area and fighting off named.
FD SPLITTING DOES NOT WORK here. I have tried it many times and all mobs will always walk back at the same time. Also due to the compactness of the zone, there isn't much room anywhere to really FD split. Actually I've only seen one spot outside the keep that you could have enough distance to separate spawns through FD pulls, but have not had the opportunity to test it. It may be possible here to repeatedly aggro and FD using the pathing here to have the spawns separate and fall out of aggro range of each other that you are left with one mob you can pull without others joining him.
One last note, about pathing here. I saw someone mention that you get 5 or 6 kobolds in a pull down in the pit area. This is only if you are not using correct pulling. It works the same in The Hole, Unrest, Mistmoore and other dungeon zones. If you pull a mob from a far distance, and run back to camp, it's going to take REVERSE pathing. In VL this means it goes down into previous rooms and aggros other kobolds, and depending on the level of the puller in comparison to the kobolds (again, use a L59+ puller here to be safe), the kobolds aggro'd in that room will drop down into other rooms and aggro more. You can see the same thing in Unrest and other dungeons..and you end up with a massive train. If you're in the pit of VL you should have learned these basics already, this is a high level area (50+) and you have no business down here if you don't have the basics of gameplay down by now. The correct way to pull here (if you don't have a high 50's puller) is to allow the mob to stay in close range so that it is content in following you, instead of detouring to get friends. They will always stay with you if they are hopeful of reaching you soon to beat on you. The best way to do this is use snare and allow them to follow closely but to also allow you to stay out of melee range. Through experience and watching how they react given distance from you, you'll learn how far you need to be so that they don't run off. Similar pathing behavior is with pets (summoned or charmed), especially in VL. If you don't watch your pet closely they will take reverse pathing in here and drop down into previous rooms and aggro kobolds. In my first few raids here we had this happen and aggrod several rooms. Luckily I had an overkill raid group and we were able to wipeout a dozen or more kobolds easy. :P
Well sorry for the LONG READ here, but I thought a lot of people would benefit from all this given what little info. is provided about this zone still.
Erato Chameleon
L55 Bard of Bristlebane
Legion of Temptation
Bristlebane server
I've fought in the upper kobold village that you enter through the false wall, and did not ever once get aggro'd upon entering. I've been told this in the past and it's just untrue. Perhaps if your group consisted of high 40's instead of mid to upper 50's, there might be some higher aggro range associated with your lower level. A single group of mid 50's can pull here, with a L59+ puller single pulling stuff.
This zone is always fun to me, I've been here at least 20 times and lead 6 raids. The reason being it's so unpredictable, and things can go from boring to fighting for your life.
The named kobolds tend to spawn at certain points. They don't seem to have any clear PH, but I have noticed that for each spawn point there is a named, either a champion, prophet or cleric will spawn. Mostly champion and prophets, the cleric seems to spawn only where Khelkar Icepaw spawns in the pit. I haven't paid close enough attention to spawn types for named so I'm not entirely sure that this is consistent. However most of the time this has been the case. Again you can see this dungeon is unpredictable and just when you think you see a pattern something new pops up to dispell your theory. The only real way to get spawn points down for named is to fight here over and over. You will soon find out that certain spots always spawn named. The same goes for the named spiders, golems, and other named (like the human monks). For instance, I have seen Bled and A Failed Experiment both spawn in the same spot outside Velketor's keep ('the courtyard').
I also noticed that named kobolds tend to spawn in the same areas. Like in the pit and upper kobold room. The pit tends to spawn Khelkar (in the same room with the 5 kobolds) or Ular Icepaw. Khelkar is a tough warrior mob that double attacks for 300 and becomes ENRAGED (ripostes all your attacks, so either get to the side or behind him to avoid ripostes or turn off melee). ENRAGED "discipline" lasts for 12 seconds. He drops a nice Lute of the Howler which seems to be a little more effective than princess gypsy lute to me (I got 1 more point of rgen out of cantana of replenishment with this lute) and of course it has the werewolf illusion. It's also 1 handed and fits in primary slot, so it makes it easier to switch out weapons for instrument (you only need to change out 1 weapon). Khelkar also has a common drop of Flawless Diamond, a BP quest gem for melee classes.
The velium spiders down here all seem to drop quest gems more frequently than kobolds. Their loot tables seem to be smaller than kobolds which I think lends to the more frequent drop of gems. I've also seen 2 BP quest gems drop off spiders, both off Velium Stalkers I believe. A Black Marble and Flawless Diamond dropped off spiders. The spider area are tough pulls however. A L60 puller could not single pull from down in the heavily infested area where there are groups of 6. All of which spawn hunters or stalkers. The previous spider rooms tend to spawn broodlings and stalkers/hunters, which makes it easier to pull from as the broodlings will not aggro with a L59+ puller. The stalkers and hunters were highly MR, and a L55 enchanter could not mez any in my last raid here and quickly died. The named spiders spawn in the infested area where you have the pull of 5 to 6 at a time (all nearly impossible to mez). If you can crack this room and keep pulls going so that spawn is staggered to single pulls, it's doable. However you can probably expect a wipeout and too much downtime in res'ing to be successful in doing this. I had 3 groups of mid 50's. If you plan on doing this room bring at least L55 people and a cleric with epic, or several very high 50's enchanter.
VL is always exciting because you are constantly battling time and the random difficulty of spawns. Various types of high level mobs spawn here that are nothing more than harrassers. They only spawn to slow you down and make things difficult. Icepaw champions, prophets, crystal destroyers, icy watchers, all of which are hard hitters and highly MR. Not to mention a lot of HP. None of which drop any good loot. This is one of the problems with getting raids and groups to VL. There is very little loot here and what does drop that is of value, is off random/rare spawns (and almost always NO DROP), and rarely drops. I would say getting good loot here is analogous to getting good loot drops off the named in Trakanon's Teeth. It's going to take many visits here.
The various named golems spawn in the courtyard outside Velketor's keep and in the deepest room inside (past Velketor's room). There may be more spawn points for named golems but these are the only ones I have found so far. If you expect to come here and kill named, you must bring at least 4 groups of L55+. The common golems can be L50 or L55+. The easier ones are "crystalline sentinel" and the tougher ones are "crystal sentinel". The same applies to gargoyles in the tunnel from upper kobold village to keep entrance/courtyard, and the ones inside the keep and up the spiral staircase. The high 50's version here are crystal destroyer (golem) and icy watcher (gargoyle). Named golem Bled is a tough fight, and once killed Bledrek immediately spawns. Bled drops no loot. Bledrek drops some AC36(?) greaves, SK/WAR only as his rare drop. As I mentioned before you can see how the risk vs. reward is very unbalanced here. It's the primary reason I see this zone almost always empty, except for a few exp groups or gem farmers.
The courtyard and inside the keep you need an extremely powerful raid group. I would say many of which would need epics and/or uber gear to be efficient at clearing the area and fighting off named.
FD SPLITTING DOES NOT WORK here. I have tried it many times and all mobs will always walk back at the same time. Also due to the compactness of the zone, there isn't much room anywhere to really FD split. Actually I've only seen one spot outside the keep that you could have enough distance to separate spawns through FD pulls, but have not had the opportunity to test it. It may be possible here to repeatedly aggro and FD using the pathing here to have the spawns separate and fall out of aggro range of each other that you are left with one mob you can pull without others joining him.
One last note, about pathing here. I saw someone mention that you get 5 or 6 kobolds in a pull down in the pit area. This is only if you are not using correct pulling. It works the same in The Hole, Unrest, Mistmoore and other dungeon zones. If you pull a mob from a far distance, and run back to camp, it's going to take REVERSE pathing. In VL this means it goes down into previous rooms and aggros other kobolds, and depending on the level of the puller in comparison to the kobolds (again, use a L59+ puller here to be safe), the kobolds aggro'd in that room will drop down into other rooms and aggro more. You can see the same thing in Unrest and other dungeons..and you end up with a massive train. If you're in the pit of VL you should have learned these basics already, this is a high level area (50+) and you have no business down here if you don't have the basics of gameplay down by now. The correct way to pull here (if you don't have a high 50's puller) is to allow the mob to stay in close range so that it is content in following you, instead of detouring to get friends. They will always stay with you if they are hopeful of reaching you soon to beat on you. The best way to do this is use snare and allow them to follow closely but to also allow you to stay out of melee range. Through experience and watching how they react given distance from you, you'll learn how far you need to be so that they don't run off. Similar pathing behavior is with pets (summoned or charmed), especially in VL. If you don't watch your pet closely they will take reverse pathing in here and drop down into previous rooms and aggro kobolds. In my first few raids here we had this happen and aggrod several rooms. Luckily I had an overkill raid group and we were able to wipeout a dozen or more kobolds easy. :P
Well sorry for the LONG READ here, but I thought a lot of people would benefit from all this given what little info. is provided about this zone still.
Erato Chameleon
L55 Bard of Bristlebane
Legion of Temptation
Bristlebane server
Anonymous
This is a fantastic post. I learned a lot. Thanks.
26 posts
Thx for the info Mr. Anon
#Anonymous,
Posted: Mar 17 2001 at 11:17 AM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) I'm just curious, I am a 37 druid could I, with a group, handle the entrance to this dungeon?
Anonymous
yes, several things at the zone were "green" to my lvl 53 ... but why wait for someone to respond here... use invis go in and con things there.. if you con everything "what do you want your tombstone to say" then you may wanna pass ;)
#REDACTED,
Posted: Mar 07 2001 at 1:51 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) http://balder.prohosting.com/~maxo/Maps/velkatormap1.jpg
Anonymous
OUCH!!! v-bad!
Anonymous
Another way to go that most dont do is the lower bowl. When you dive in, you are immediately faced with a two mob fight. I don't know if anything was changed by verant, but the dogs seem messable more often now. Once you cleared your first fight, have a single puller/main tank start yanking mobs in quick fashion. One of the biggest keys is speed of combat, as the respawn time can catch up with you. I have found that several named kobalds can spawn in just about any spot down here. One we found was level 58 with a nasty harm touch. After killing two to three rooms worth of mobs, best bet is to move your raid along the path to avoid respawns. There is one room along the right path and down a ramp that is an iffy pull at best. You get the three in that room, plus another 5 or 6 from surrounding rooms.
For the three group raid, best way to work this, is each group gets two mobs. Tough fight but doable.
Eventually you come to the spectres and spiders. The specs usually pull in pairs, and two harm touches dropped me(i was at 3400 hp or so)instantly. That is as far as i got the last time, as we were waiting for link deads when some specs respawned on us, thus aggroing two others.
I will say that so far the loot tables are horrible here, and tend to repeat themselves(if one belt drops, another two will drop in succession). The one upside to kobalds is a chance for spells.
cronar
eci
I would think it safe to say that the lower route should be left to multi group raiding parties, or very very high level single groups with the right tools.
For the three group raid, best way to work this, is each group gets two mobs. Tough fight but doable.
Eventually you come to the spectres and spiders. The specs usually pull in pairs, and two harm touches dropped me(i was at 3400 hp or so)instantly. That is as far as i got the last time, as we were waiting for link deads when some specs respawned on us, thus aggroing two others.
I will say that so far the loot tables are horrible here, and tend to repeat themselves(if one belt drops, another two will drop in succession). The one upside to kobalds is a chance for spells.
cronar
eci
I would think it safe to say that the lower route should be left to multi group raiding parties, or very very high level single groups with the right tools.
19 posts
Confirm, Collaboration made me dubious, I found nothing that con'd anything else.
Dangerous place even with faction adjusted. After jumping down into the Kobold pits I found a way out by wandering around til AIR turned into WATER, then swam up. You end up infront of the Door that DISPELLS you.
Dangerous place even with faction adjusted. After jumping down into the Kobold pits I found a way out by wandering around til AIR turned into WATER, then swam up. You end up infront of the Door that DISPELLS you.
Anonymous
Go to the bottom of the first ramp staying out of agro range. Target first mob you see and cast Collaberation. You will then be dubious to most if not all mobs in the Lab. :)
works with bards too, using charismatic carillion
Anonymous
Enchanters can also use werewolf form to get dubious with the kobolds.
With Collaboration, I was dubious to pretty much everything in the zone. Made it easy to scout around.
Elanyye on SolRo
With Collaboration, I was dubious to pretty much everything in the zone. Made it easy to scout around.
Elanyye on SolRo
#REDACTED,
Posted: Dec 19 2000 at 4:43 AM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) http://web.utk.edu/~crisher/velketor.html
26 posts
Broken links are my favorite links
Anonymous
Mmmmm it's from a University site.
Perhaps the owner flunked out from playing EQ too much and their account was erased.
Fuzziface Unshorn
54 pally
Perhaps the owner flunked out from playing EQ too much and their account was erased.
Fuzziface Unshorn
54 pally
Anonymous
IT DOESNT WOrK: :(
http://eq.stratics.com/crmaps/velketor.shtml
Anonymous
THanks for the ingo, the map is a bit hard to understand but at least is a map :)
Anonymous
Pulled spiders to the zone one night while checking the zone out. Real good experience and only saw the silk drop. I would love to have that Ball of Velium for pulling.
Invisible spiders on the top and bottom, some rogue spiders(ouch run backwards).
Can't wait to see the rest of the zone. We had a group there of 6 all between 45 and 48.
Kolisari
46 monk
Rathe
Invisible spiders on the top and bottom, some rogue spiders(ouch run backwards).
Can't wait to see the rest of the zone. We had a group there of 6 all between 45 and 48.
Kolisari
46 monk
Rathe
12 posts
The Ball of Velium doesnt have a high range... 2 steps away and your target is out of range... casting time is horrible (30secs?) and you keep interrupting for no reason.
But the effects look great :)
I think its only a fun item
BTW you have to be 40+ for the ball to work
But the effects look great :)
I think its only a fun item
BTW you have to be 40+ for the ball to work
2 posts
at lvl 36 i pulled up to the 4 gargoyles/statues in the hellway behind the kobold cave.the footing is horrid and even using FD i was sent sliding just from the hits they laid down on me...
The kobolds in the cave are easy to pull in pairs.When you wish to tackle mobs here make sure you have a cleric and rogue camped on the ledge outside the invisible doorway just as a precaution).I found that the agro radius was quite large and i didnt even need to use shurikens to get a pair of em...just inch up until they yell then hightail it to the group/s.The spawn time is about 16 minutes so be ready for it!.
I should have said this first.Once you get to the doorway ledge DONT TOUCH THE DOORWAY!it places you just within agro range.The trick here is to buff up and then rush in about 20 feet.This gives you room to fight without worry about being knocked off the ledge).then work counterclockwise for the easiest way to clear to the hallway.This way all pulls but one will be a max of 3 mobs...the last pull you WILL get more due to their close proximity to each other.I find this maze to be exciting and fun and look forward to penetrating deeper each week).
The kobolds in the cave are easy to pull in pairs.When you wish to tackle mobs here make sure you have a cleric and rogue camped on the ledge outside the invisible doorway just as a precaution).I found that the agro radius was quite large and i didnt even need to use shurikens to get a pair of em...just inch up until they yell then hightail it to the group/s.The spawn time is about 16 minutes so be ready for it!.
I should have said this first.Once you get to the doorway ledge DONT TOUCH THE DOORWAY!it places you just within agro range.The trick here is to buff up and then rush in about 20 feet.This gives you room to fight without worry about being knocked off the ledge).then work counterclockwise for the easiest way to clear to the hallway.This way all pulls but one will be a max of 3 mobs...the last pull you WILL get more due to their close proximity to each other.I find this maze to be exciting and fun and look forward to penetrating deeper each week).
Anonymous
There was a rumor going around on Prexus that you could not evac from this zone. This is untrue as I actually went in and tested it out. Just making sure that everyone knows that at least druid evacs work fine in there.
ok, found a couple random drops for the zone
all types of velium blocks
crystaline silk - stackable, haven't figured out recipie yet. 2 do not combine into 1 silk swatch
Ball of Vellium - +1 to all saves magic/nodrop. unlimited charges of shards of velium. range slot, all/all. 8 sec casting time
this is crap i jsut got at the ent to the zone... =(
all types of velium blocks
crystaline silk - stackable, haven't figured out recipie yet. 2 do not combine into 1 silk swatch
Ball of Vellium - +1 to all saves magic/nodrop. unlimited charges of shards of velium. range slot, all/all. 8 sec casting time
this is crap i jsut got at the ent to the zone... =(
2 posts
Am given to understand that the crystalline silk thread that drops here is used for the Prayer Shawl Quest (the "Silken" step of it) out of Thurgadin.
Save the silks and give them to a caster friend so they can take advantage of this shawl quest.
Amarice Goldenheart
50 Druid, Tunare
Save the silks and give them to a caster friend so they can take advantage of this shawl quest.
Amarice Goldenheart
50 Druid, Tunare
Anonymous
Hunted in here with a group from me at 48 to highest at 56. The spawn time here is fairly slow so you will be able to move the group forward up the ramps. Just have your puller clear the first few off the ramp or near it. As you move up you will find spots that are slippery, usually around a hole or near a drop off, eventuall getting to a platform, and then to a safe spot behind a wall illusion near the keep. Make sure all members have see invis on, no one should have Spirit of Wolf up and everyone should walk, except the puller when he is doing his job.
If you are headed into the fort everyone should stay in single file going across the ramps to the keep once there make sure the group stays back from thge keep cause right at the entrance is a couple nasty spawns.
Aegwyn Dawnrunner
48 Paladin of Tunare
Order of the Golden Staff
Cazic Thule
If you are headed into the fort everyone should stay in single file going across the ramps to the keep once there make sure the group stays back from thge keep cause right at the entrance is a couple nasty spawns.
Aegwyn Dawnrunner
48 Paladin of Tunare
Order of the Golden Staff
Cazic Thule
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