Best. Zone. Evah!!!

by: Kiara

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We've all got our favourite zones. Some people are into the Sinking Sands,
some Nektulos Forest. Nobody likes the Peat Bog, but hey, you can't win em all.
My favourite zone has three versions. I love that it gets all this attention.

There's the regular instance. There's a level fifty instance. And now, thanks
to Ryan "Glendral" Hill (yes, his name really is Kyle, but he looks SO much like
Blackguard, you'd swear SOE had a cloning machine) it now has a brand new level
seventy instance.

I've only got two words to describe this zone, and those two words sum up the
complete and total awesomeness that is the new Nektropos Castle.

TRAPPED SHINIES!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen (unless you're a High Elf male, cause then you fall
under the category of lady) there are trapped shinies.

It's the greatest thing about the zone. Including myself, there are three
serious shinie whores in my regular group. We will draw aggro down on the other
members of the group in order to get to a shinie. We will leave in the middle of
combat to get to that far away shinie before the others can. We're HORRIBLE.

The booby trapped shinies? Made just for the complete and utter destruction
of groups. And let me tell you, our group died a LOT. It's fantastic. You grab a
shinie, and half a dozen mobs spawn on top of you and smoosh you flat. It makes
me a happy happy Dark Elf.

These aren't the only booby traps. Oh no. There are traps that stab you with
rusty spikes through the chest and make you scream. There are traps with anvils
that smoosh you down to a mini version of yourself. You're the same size as a
shinie incidently. You haven't lived til you've ganked a shinie the same size
you are and pulled five new mobs onto the group wiping everyone. I think I've
been forbidden to harvest shinies...

It's a LOT of fun.

You start this time in the basement. It's a nice change. You work your way up
and there are billies and the fun mobs that make everything black so you're
fighting in the dark. There are crates that eat you alive (owie splinters!). I
seriously cannot get over how much fun this zone is. We were deliberately going
after every shinie possible to see what traps had been put in the zone.

It isn't all sunshine and roses, though. I do have tiny beefs (which I've
already whined about extensively to Ryan, only to be told to shut up or be
turned into a gnome!) with the new set up. The loot is a little disappointing
for the amount of work you have to put into it.

It IS challenging, but currently, you can invis past the vast majority of the
zone and skip to the end. While this is a major time saver, it trivializes the
zone and allows you to complete it without really earning it. I don't like that,
myself. Others seem to find it all kinds of hunky dory cause they get to brag
about finishing.

I'd like to see a few more quests, although, I only managed to find one...
I'm sure there are more that I missed out on in my mad rush for the death of
everyone with me while I giggled like a loon.

All in all, it's a very well done zone. Ryan (remember this is actually Kyle
Hill) did a fantastic job. The tiniest bit of tweaking and I'll be his slave for
life, cause this truly is the best zone ever. Anywhere that provides THAT many
opportunities to bring about the death of one's group, is clearly a giggle fest.
And after all, isn't that what it's all about?