Bandits on Lomshir Plain By Shayalyn

I’ve done a lot of soloing in Vanguard. I like to solo, and Vanguard makes it possible. But the real fun in this game comes from joining a group and heading out to complete some quests together. My Varathari Psionicist was collecting quests at the Dark Horse Track on Lomshir Plain (which is on the continent of Qalia) when somebody put out a shout in the chat channel asking if anyone was interested in running Track quests. Aha! Just what I’d been working on. I sent the group leader a /tell, and soon there were four of us charging off across the plain to take on a camp of bandit raiders.

I’d tried pulling these raiders myself before finding a group. As a Psionicist, I’m very capable of crowd control. But I hadn’t been prepared to see four of them rushing me. At the time, I turned tail and sprinted off to safety. Now, heading back toward the camp, I was glad that I was in good company. This time I had a Rogue, a Warrior, and a Blood Mage at my side. I felt sure we’d be able to handle this particular adventure.

Faction plays a role in Vanguard, so our group decided it was best to take out the bandit boss first before all his cronies were cheesed off at us. We strolled right into the camp, and right into the house where the boss stood smugly in the corner, waiting for us. I used some crowd control techniques to keep his partner at bay while the group took him out.

Lest you think eliminating the boss was a cakewalk, let me tell you that there are always elements in Vanguard to keep you on your toes. My crowd control technique, for instance, wouldn’t keep the bandit boss’s friend occupied for long. Before the boss was dead, his companion had snapped back to attention, realized what was going on, and decided to take it out on me, the person who’d held him off in the first place. A group needs to know how to work together, and how to protect its members, in order to succeed. Had it not been for some fast work on the part of the Blood Mage, I would’ve had to clean up a tombstone instead of surviving to loot the needed quest item off the boss.

The next element of our quest had us taking out bandits, which we handled well. Of course, by this time our faction was shot and they would attack us on site. But the group was good. I did my best to hold off the steady onslaught of bandits while the Warrior and the Rogue pummeled them into the sand. Our Blood Mage ended up taking a couple of dirt naps, but he remained in good spirits as we raided the camp and collected the quest items we needed. Eventually, we reported back to the Dark Horse Track to earn our quest reward.

The next step in the quest involved some of the many interactive objects you’ll find scattered around Vanguard. Once given a quest involving an object, you’ll be able to right-click to interact with the objects and either gather them or cause a reaction. In this case, we needed to spook the bandit’s horses. A bunch of bandit raiders on the burning plains of Lomshir are nothing without their horses, so we went back to the camp, warded off any bandits who wanted to slit our throats, and frightened the horses so that they went tearing off across the plain. Those bandits wouldn’t be using their horses to jump any unsuspecting travelers any time soon.

This was the first time I’d been a part of a group larger than a duo, and I have to say that enjoying Vanguard with a group of adventurers, while trying to play my class to its fullest, was an experience that left me saying, “Again! Again!” I find myself wanting to go on more quests and play until my eyes cross and I’m falling asleep at the keyboard. Addictive? You bet. And it’s only going to get more addictive when I’ve got my whole guild online and I’m playing with guild groups.

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