Currently, there's no point or interest in the Tomb of the Primeval Kings outside very very slow ecto farming (now more or less dead since the first area's ecto-dropping enemies were removed) or the zaishen bounty for the Darknesses. This suggestion is meant to increase interest.
These changes will be done in rewards, story, objectives, and enemies.
Quick-changes list[edit]
For those who are not interested in reading the long suggestion, here is a quick bullet point of what my suggestion is:
- Add a quest, given by Commander Kuro. The rewards will be on par to Mallyx the Unyielding (quest).
- Add an end-chest (and if/when art/web support allows it, a HoM statue)
- Addition of new NPCs, both allies and foes.
- Addition of "new" maps (e.g., Heroes' Ascent maps (re)done for this stuff).
- "New" (aka reskinned) items.
Changes to the Outpost[edit]
Tomb of the Primeval Kings will have the following changes:
- Henchmen are removed.
- "Chaos Rift" renamed to Chaos Portal (I think the quotation marks was a typo, personally, but don't want it clashing with Chaos Rift).
- Commander Kuro now gives a quest (see below).
- Remove Acolyte Quanjo from the outpost (see below).
- Addition of Sunspears NPCs to match the lore that was presented via Nightfall.
- Add a new collector NPC taking a new unique trophy item (see below).
- Not directly relevant, but return the Wintersday decorations to Wintersday.
Map changes[edit]
- New map: Ruins of the Tomb
This map would be the new first map, utilizing an altered form of Slavers' Exile level 1 map (alteration being removal of the Stone Summit statue - perhaps replace with an Elonian statue or something).
- Map change: The Underworld
It appears that the map The Underworld (explorable area) and Fetid R shares the same map, but are blocked off from each other and use unique mini-maps. I would remove that blockage and create a new merged mini-map, allowing for a larger map.
- New maps:
- Broken Tower
- Sacred Temples
- Unholy Temples
- Burial Mounds
- Forgotten Shrines
- The Antechamber
- Map order changes! See quest section for details.
Foe changes[edit]
All builds presented are for HM - NM would be 1 profession and with 6 or 7 skills (sans The Darkness and Grasp of Agony).
- Removed foes
- New foes
- Lesser Grasp (NM only except when summoned by Grasp of Agony)
Command of Torment 60
- Skill. Creature kneels until knocked down or interrupted. Every 3 seconds, a Grasps of Chaos is summoned to this location.
Embrace the Pain 10 15
- Stance. For 10 seconds, when you hit any foe with an attack, all conditions on you are transferred to all adjacent opponents.
- Unworthy Dead (all 6 original professions, all the same name) - skill bars:
- Old foes, new builds
- Grasp of Insanity
- Terrorweb Dryder
- Scythe of Chaos
- Chaos Wurm
- Fingers of Chaos. This skill is very complex and far too out of date, not even affecting half the professions. My changes:
Fingers of Chaos 5 10
- Skill. (monster only) For 4 seconds, your attacks cannot miss or be blocked and you have a 50% chance to interrupt spells.
This prevents most farmers while proving a difficult but not impossible situation for regular teams.
New Quest![edit]
The quest, named Nightfallen Tombs
will be given by Commander Kuro and will be necessary to go beyond the first new map. With the quest active in that map, you will chose one of three paths to go through - via talking to either Ghostly Hero, Acolyte Quanjo, or Dunkoro's son (who was never given an actual name in game). Each path will go through different maps and follow the story of each group (Primeval King ghosts, Zaishen Order, or Order of the Sunspears) as they travel to the Hall of Heroes to confront the Darkness. As such, except for the final map, each path would be unique and thus give a wider range of story for this one area. Obviously, you can only go through one route at a time.
The map pathing will be as such:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ruined Tombs (new map)
|
Sunspear's Path ↓ |
Ghosts' Path ↓ |
Zaishen's Path ↓
|
The Underworld/Fetid River* |
Scarred Earth |
Burial Mounds
|
↓ |
↓ |
↓
|
Broken Tower |
Unholy Temples |
Forgotten Shrines
|
↓ |
↓ |
↓
|
Sacred Temples |
The Courtyard |
The Antechamber
|
↓ |
↓ |
↓
|
The Hall of Heroes
|
And the groups will be as follows:
- Sunspear group
- Ghost group
- Zaishen group
Each path would have a unique story to it. I had developed one, and may put it up later, but at the moment I feel it'd be best to leave it for the reader's mind to create.
Maps and their goals and foes[edit]
- 1. Ruined Tombs: This map will be using a very slightly altered form of the first level of Slavers' Exile - the modification is simply the removal of the Stone Summit statue. The purpose of this map is to act as the setting stage for the rest of the quest. In this map, there will be three portals, each with an NPC next to them - you must talk to one of the three NPCs to go to the next map (that's the only goal). Which NPC you talk to determines which map you go to (and in turn the path you take to the HoH).
- 18 (24) Lesser Grasp (NM only)
- 20 (20) Unworthy Dead
- 20 (20) Unworthy Dead
- 20 (20) Unworthy Dead
- 20 (20) Unworthy Dead
- 24 (26) Scythe of Chaos
- 20 (20) Unworthy Dead
- 20 (20) Unworthy Dead
- (26) Grasp of Chaos (Hard mode only)
- Note: Unworthy Dead are hostile to all
- 2a. The Underworld: Team Annihilation. There will be a certain number of standing-out groups that have to be killed in order to progress (~2-3).
- 28 (30) Grasp of Insanity
- 24 (26) Scythe of Chaos
- 28 (30) Terrorweb Dryder
- (26) Grasp of Chaos
- 2b. Scarred Earth: Total Annihilation. Like the current tombs, a full annihilation of enemies on the map.
- 28 (30) Grasp of Insanity
- 30 (32) Chaos Wurm
- 24 (26) Scythe of Chaos
- 22 (26) Chaotic Energy
- 28 (30) Terrorweb Dryder
- (26) Banished Dream Rider
- 2c. Burial Mounds: Team Annihilation. There will be a certain number of standing-out groups that have to be killed in order to progress (~2-3).
- 28 (30) Grasp of Insanity
- 22 (26) Chaotic Energy
- 24 (26) Scythe of Chaos
- 28 (30) Terrorweb Dryder
- (26) Banished Dream Rider
- 3a. Broken Tower: Boss Annihilation. Destruction of the Grasp of Agony completes the level.
- 18 (24) Lesser Grasp (summoned by Grasp of Agony)
- 28 (30) Grasp of Insanity
- 30 (32) Chaos Wurm
- 22 (26) Chaotic Energy
- 24 (26) Scythe of Chaos
- 28 (30) Terrorweb Dryder
- 28 (30) Grasp of Agony (boss)
- 3b. Unholy Temples: Relic Annihilation. The enemies are attempting to gather ethereal essences to strengthen their numbers. While preventing this from happening, you must annihilate their team.
- 28 (30) Grasp of Insanity
- 30 (32) Chaos Wurm
- 20 (20) Fleeting Nightmare
- 24 (26) Mindflay Spectre
- 22 (26) Chaotic Energy
- 24 (26) Scythe of Chaos
- 28 (30) Terrorweb Dryder
- 3c. Forgotten Shrines: Race. A unique map goal; the map begins with no foes, but halfway traversing the area from where you started endless waves of enemies come to you until you reach the end.
- 28 (30) Grasp of Insanity
- 24 (26) Mindflay Spectre
- 4a. Sacred Temples: Relic Run. The enemies are attempting to gather ethereal essences to strengthen their numbers. Unlike map 3b, annihilation is not necessary (but a viable tactic); this map functions like PvP Relic Run maps.
- 28 (30) Grasp of Insanity
- 20 (20) Fleeting Nightmare
- 22 (26) Chaotic Energy
- 24 (26) Scythe of Chaos
- (26) Banished Dream Rider
- 4b. The Courtyard: Total Annihilation. Like the current tombs, a full annihilation of enemies on the map.
- 28 (30) Grasp of Insanity
- 30 (32) Chaos Wurm
- 22 (26) Chaotic Energy
- 24 (26) Scythe of Chaos
- 28 (30) Terrorweb Dryder
- (26) Banished Dream Rider
- 4c. The Antechamber: Find the Exit. The primary goal is simply get to the other end of the map, to where there is an exit. Killing any foe is unnecessary (but wise).
- 28 (30) Grasp of Insanity
- 30 (32) Chaos Wurm
- 24 (26) Mindflay Spectre
- 24 (26) Scythe of Chaos
- 28 (30) Terrorweb Dryder
- (26) Grasp of Chaos
- (26) Banished Dream Rider
- 5. The Hall of Heroes: Boss Annihilation. The three groups have rejoined and it's time to annihilate the Darknesses. Their defeat spawns a chest in the center; each The Darkness is located at the stuatues of Dwayna (previoulsy blocked off in PvE version), and the two statues on the eastern side of the map).
- 28 (30) Grasp of Insanity
- 30 (32) Chaos Wurm
- 24 (26) Mindflay Spectre
- 22 (26) Chaotic Energy
- 24 (26) Scythe of Chaos
- 28 (30) Terrorweb Dryder
- (26) Grasp of Chaos
- (26) Banished Dream Rider
- 28 (30) Grasp of Agony (located located in center)
- 30 (32) The Darkness
- 30 (32) The Darkness
- 30 (32) The Darkness
One may notice that the b route has the most "annihilation" cases - this is done for story purposes. Also, it should be noted that, with the exception of map 3c, the number of foes will be reduced but balanced groups.
In the future, I may include spawn locations via maps.
Rewards[edit]
- Quest rewards: 15,000 experience, 1,500 gold, 100 copper Zaishen Coins
- Foes have a small chance to drop Chaos Gemstones.
- Defeat of the Darknesses spawns an end chest.
End Chest[edit]
The end chest will give the following items (doubled in hard mode):
- 1 of the following:
- Darkness Summoning Stone (summons a The Darkness - build chosen at random)
- Glob of Ectoplasm
- 2 of the following:
- A green item (see below)
- A gold item (see below)
- Lockpick
- Ruby
- Diamond
- Sapphire
- Greens available
- Golds available
Chaos Gemstones[edit]
I decided on adding these as I wanted to give this area a unique trophy drop, and was inspired by the Domain of Anguish gemstones. Following suit of the other gemstones, I want this gemstone to use the original Ranger gemstone model and icon. In the outpost for Tombs, there would be a new collector taking these guys in. The collector would take a number of these (number based on frequency of drops) in exchange for max gold r9 inscribable Shadow weapons.