Stones on the head

The other day I was going through an old Linux Journal magazine and I came across an Iliad spoof of Samuel L. Jackson's wacky flick Snakes on a Plane. In the spoof it's all the installations of Linux on the back of seats on a Singapore flight that a Microsoft exec is taking and complaining about "Motherf^#&%g penguins on a plane." I couldn't help but be reminded of this while playing TMW last night and this morning.

Tulimshar Desert Mine, 2nd Level

I spent a lot of time in Hurnscald collecting furs knowing full well that it might take a full compliment of 60 furs to satisfy Agostine's requirements for boots and gloves. While I didn't have the monetary requirements for both, I could do the gloves. I'd previously handed over 14 furs the last time I tried, hoping luck would be on my side, which it wasn't. Well damn if it didn't take another 33 furs (47 total!) to get the gloves. Agostine is suppose to be a 1 in 30 chance, looks like the game has either changed or my luck this time around is pretty bad.

I decided that while I was in Tulimshar I should finish the mine quest. Little did I know that the mines had changed. No more red slimes and spiders, now there are ice goblins and angry scorpions along with three buttons which need a key. So everyone knows, the key is not dropped (before you needed keys to open a chest on the second level - which is still true). The key for the first level is obtained by talking to the miners and moving some ore. This was a simple task, but getting the key combination wasn't so easy. Not only do you have to turn the key to the correct side, but you have to do it in a certain order. Clicking followed by a thud is good, clicking alone is not.

The second level sports Archant (Arachnid Ants) which do drop keys on very rare occasions. Also present are Yellow Slimes, which is great because they drop Ore. This means no heading back to Hurnscald for Ore. You need to collect 3 keys to open the chest. I was really looking forward to the Short Sword until I discovered it was a dumpy short bow... doh! Archers will love the quest, but I already had obtained my forest bow in Hurnscald, a much better bow that was obtained easier and was much more rewarding both in terms of experience and financial reward. The Forest Bow quest in Hurnscald is more rewarding for a few reasons:

• The Forest Bow is better (+70 damage vs +50 of the short bow)
• You get more experience for killing log heads (something like 190xp/each)
• Log heads also drop roots which fetch 200gp each in the market - a much better way to make money than bat wings and teeth.

The only thing that really makes this mine quest worth doing is the fact that you can collect ore killing Yellow Slimes while you're trying to collect 3 keys. In fact I collected about 15 ore while trying to get the 3 keys necessary to open the chest.

... Then I died...

No, it was not from the monster that was suppose to be lurking in the mine. I went from full health to dead in one shot... what from...

Falling stone on the head! Seriously. So killing all those monsters wasn't enough... I had to die from a stone falling on my head.

All I can say is that I hope this area gets reshaped a bit. Hurnscald should be a more difficult area and I remember the mines there are, but the quest for the bow in this mine shouldn't be more difficult or less rewarding than the forest bow quest in Hurnscald. And the shirt that comes next isn't much of a reward since it too can be bought (and I already have it).

I did level twice during this quest, but it felt really slow. Archants are only about 88 experience compared to the average log head of 190 experience. Log heads don't tend to hit for high damage as much either, though they do take longer to kill. In the long run you level faster, get greater rewards, and have equal quest opportunities (2 quests) pummeling the log heads for logs and roots (wooden bow and shield). If you're over level 20 you should probably head to Hurnscald before doing the mines. Finish the pinky quest first and then chop some wood in the log head quests.