This quest is completely doable. Heal is the most important spell and therefore it should be a challenge. It isn't meant for a naked cleric to go run up and snag THE most important cleric spell.

This quest can be prepped against IF you sit back and think about it. Take a look at your character's eq and items you are bringing with and think to yourself how are you going to deal with the dracs etc... There are other spells besides dispel evil that work. Perhaps you should wait a lvl or two to try again rather than suiciding in there.

I suggest you spend some time formulate a method for attacking the problem. The new Xak heal quest isn't that hard for the soloers out there whom have there clerics setup to balance both their ability to tank and deal damage. A proper setup using unlimited eq will result in this zone being a cake walk if you know what you are doing. Do not think this is a zone you can just over power.

Being an old-timer I really enjoyed the Xak heal quest in it's new form. It is much better than the old school amassing of a group to run the zone over and over to try for the item. I just wish there were more of these type zones to get other cleric spells for solo-ers.

the heal spell is a bit of a status thing... since that is when someone truely leans how to handle a cleric in battle when the chips are down. I would like to personnally ask the imms to leave it as is so the heal spell will mean something to people.

Ancient Cartographer of the Black Dragons

the current heal quest is great, perfectly balanced and well done

that said, if there were actually 4 stabbers stacked then i'm pretty sure that's a bug which should be fixed

It's not easy being greeeeeeeeeeeen...

Agreed, I think there should be a quest or two like this for ranked clerics to have a chance at mist or something, anything instead of running those 3 or 4 zones with such abysmal load rates.

I didn't get heal till 26!! Theres no real need to, just solo up to that point

Oh, im really appriciated about so much experienced players post their replys. Thank you!

Well, im not pretend to whine, im talking about balance. Good aligned clerics doing this zone on 21 level easily, evils needs trying hard on 24.

I made an evil cleric begining of this wipe, and started trying heal at about 21. It was very, very, hard, in fact, I couldn't compleate the quest. I went out and leveled up to 24, went back and tried it some more, and died a few times. Once I learned the layout, and what was important, and what was not, what could just be avoided, and what needed done it was alot simpler. I'll give you a hint that harm and cause serious were not my most used spells when running heal. I also wasn't loaded up on equipment, I was using spiritual hammer and armour, because I had ripped and been unable to cr.

Take a look at the other spells available to you, and other tactics that you can combine with those spells. I'll give a small hint, after lvl 20, you don't lose xp from fleeing. This also was not a 5 minute ordeal, I spent approx 30-45 minutes on each run till I had the layout down pat, and then it was about 20-25 minutes a run. The most frustrating part for me was being a new quest, I wasn't sure if I was doing it all correctly and heal just wasn't loading, or if I was missing something. On that note, the final message on the no load, is bugged.

I like the heal quest the way it is now better then before. It's about player skill, not just getting your rank friends to steamroll the zone 30-40 times so you can do it as quick as possible. What I found odd was in the past I only had to run xak 1-3 times for it to load heal, and I'd prelearn at 20-21. New heal quest, I had to run about 25 times to load.

Long winded I know, but good job on xak, it's a far far better zone.

AdamG

Kamij $.02

The more I look at that snippet that that it becomes apparent that you were dead before you even walked into that room.

Based on the log you had entered previously and had been disarmed. You second thing you notice is that every drac hit you every time. Yes you were bashed... but being bashed doesn't mean an automatic hit. No matter what spell you had you were bashed and could not have used it anyway. So why bothernig to complain about it.

Just looking on this small snippet I get the feeling that you very rarely solo zones. You spend probably 90% of your time healing in a group. You probably have been playing the game for a couple of months. Your equipment was a crystal ceremonial mace (good choice), some +WIS eq, and maybe some weak armor. You need heal since the groups want a heal cleric and not a cure cleric in their group. Xak is where Arctic seperates the clerics whom know the game and those that don't.

This is what I would suggest you do...

Take a look at your spell list... what spells can help in combat and why would they help. You should have an understanding how the spell works within the combat system. Take a look at AD&D books for an understanding as this mud is modeled after it. In a general sense it is close with some balancing tricks in place.
What is my worn eq... what are the stats on each and every piece and how does it help me when I am the tank.
Are there any prep items items out there that I can bring in with me that can assist with this.

If you spend the time developing a rationale behind what eq you use/don't use when in combat you will then become a much better player. Groups are much more confident when the cleric can tank for a couple of rounds himself without needing an immediate rescue.

The one thing with Arctic is the knowledge of game doesn't disappear with pwipes which is why it is so closely guarded.

Ancient Cartographer of the Black Dragons

I tested the quest with a level 18 evil cleric. Call me creative, but I did it with almost no trouble. (Of course, I had the hindsight of knowing exactly what I needed to do and the weaknesses of all the mobs.) As some people have stated it is intentionally difficult, yet also intentionally easy enough that everyone can do it.

If you think the quest is too hard for evil clerics, feel free to change your align. Many evil clerics have done just fine, though, as is.

Don't tell me how to do it; it sickens me.

[color=blue]I did the heal quest as solo xp on my cleric from 21 to 24 (LG cleric). You could always tyr popping some book spells which would help you in there, as well as some items.[/color]

your "info" aside ...
did you do the quest with an evil cleric with all unlim items, and nothing but guildspells?
or did u have nice gear, charmies, heal pots, book spells, and other prep?

obviously, the heal quest is much more difficult for a first wipe evil cleric, than for a 9th wipe evil cleric, unless the fisrt wipe evil cleric has friends or is fodder ..

The quest isn't really more difficult for evil, just more time-consuming.

It's not easy being greeeeeeeeeeeen...

Evil cleric doesn't deserve to get heal from Mishakal! Haha joking.

It'll be interesting to have a similar heal quest for evil aligns where good mobs guard the portal to the evil priest of takhisis with heal book.

Yes the quest is very well done indeed.

------
Gulca stops following you.

in english, more time-consuming = more difficult

the fact that a goodie cleric has to cast half as many spells, spend half as much time recuping/memming, and bring 0 prep to complete heal quest
=
the heal quest is easier for good, and more difficult for evils

i am not complaining/saying the quest should be changed
it makes sense to be the way it is, given that mishakal is a goodie
but
some people are just retarded/in denial if they think its not more difficult

when [i]I[/i] say it's not more difficult I mean evil is just as able to complete it as good, and it is no more risky or dangerous for an evil character. The only exception is an evil cleric is slightly more dependent on eq, but since I did the quest at level 23 with gear from brogs/haunting... anyway I'm not adding anything constructive here so I'll shut up now.

It's not easy being greeeeeeeeeeeen...

[color=darkred] try again?
[/color]

Thanks for posting a load of game info, though.

Ok, So I think most people are missing the entire point of doods post.

He isnt complaining its to hard, he's stating its not balance for the same alignments.

Ie: a lvl 21 goodie can do it no prep
a lvl 21 Nuit can do it with just a couple prep items like a few charmies, maybe a few barkskin/shield bags
Never tried with a lvl evil 21, but being as I know I couldnt use dispell at all, I probable would need a massive hord of charmies for that final fight with the basher, caster, exc. I mean 1 harm dosnt go so far in that room, you could load a charmie for each run in, run in with charmie, let it get bashed, c harm, flee, mem, use another charmie, exc until you get the bashers dead, but personally, that would drive me mad, Im no where near that patient (dont forget, cause serios is your friend, you can mem crits {or even get cause crit} since you cant dispel)

It's ok.. i feel your pain... i did it with my evil cleric and had only 2 harms, and wasnt even level 24... member that charmies are your best friends.... BEST friends..

Did it with neutral 21 cleric without learning harm, or using dispels/causes but for the last mob, having no book spells or preps whatsoever, and little clue about rooms layout or mobs, with only purpose of proving a point to a similar whiner on our irc. Woohoo! I'm the most conceited of the people posted so far, except maybe Terk.

i think something needs to be done for evil healers. i do like the new quest a lot better than the old way of getting heal, but a seperate zone should be built for evil healers.

this wipe, heal didnt load for me until the 9th time through. that would have been more annoying, but i started at level 22 and ended up nearly level 26. if i had been evil, the quest would have been more difficult plus i would have gotten almost 0 xp for all my efforts. i actually made good align cleric specifically for getting heal, as i'm sure many others did. something doesnt seem right about that.

eh?

DID IT at lvl 23(im neutral) and finished less then 15minutes.

But last round take me 9 attempts= 3 dead+ 2 no load + 4 recall...

I must agree using a evil cleric make it quite hard to get the heal spell...BUT last wipe evil cleric can do it (there is a damn stabber) why this round you guys cant?

It's true about there is a risk you might die...my suggestion is...dont bring any eq in... just some charmie and ur spell./..(that's the trick )...less stress and worry about dying

It's undeniable that xak is a lot easier for goodie would-be-healers than evils, (even beyond the advantage of access to that wonderful race that is hylar), but I think people are exagerating the difficulty somewhat. Last wipe my GL healer pretty mindlessly blew through Xak using the most obvious brute force methods... my first success was at the end of level 21, and I continued using the same method till heal finally loaded at level 25. This wipe I did the same with an NL cleric, basically used the same brute force spells, and had no difficulty in doing the quest beyond a bit of extra memming (and that I only got to about 24 before the spell loaded). Granted, I picked a race that would give me a tankish-cleric, but the disadvantage for neutrals isnt as significant as many seem to think. As for evils, yes, these brute force methods are taken away from you, but if you read carefully into yawp's post, I think you'll find that guild spells and a little finesse provide you all the tools you need. (I made an evil healer before just to see how hard the quest was, and managed to finish the quest without being too clever at all... lets just say if you're willing to do a bit of book hunting--easily done 15+ evil clerics--you might find a weaker but still useful substitute to the almighty dispel evil).

Anyways, good luck to you evil clerics out there, and keep in mind, now that the majority of less persistent/experienced clerics out there are funneled towards the good side of the spectrum, there's less competition for EQ geared towards the evil side. Just a thought.

Kevin

Most recently, I completed the quest with a level 23 evil healer, using 2 harms, 4 crits, and some cause serious.

Consider this: You can mem 2 harms per tick in the mem room. Using proper technique - tick timer, clever mem list cutting, and intelligent walk/scan/flee - the quest becomes rather routine. It's easy like sunday mornings...

Also note that I'm considered a fairly inexperienced healer that likes to try new things... I am widely known as the Most Slapped Person in IRC. If I can do it, what's your excuse?

Even though this thread is a tad old I'll add my thoughts.

I did the quest last wipe on a GL cleric at lvl 21-22. I managed to load heal after getting about 3 lvl's from the place even though I died 3 times as well. Since I was learning the zone at the same time I was trying to load heal.... I think I did fairly well.

This wipe I loaded it with a NL cleric and I started at lvl 23 (would have started at 21 but I lvled too fast). Again I died once (because I tried to rush) and I got 2 lvl's from the place before I finally got heal. Plus I even forgot to learn harm.... so I did it all with 4 or 5 dispel's.

I can't say I have ever done it on a evil cleric, but I really can't imagine it would be much harder than on my NL cleric. The trick is to simply take your time and flee from fights to mem. It's not like the place is going to repop or that anyone's going to come along and finish em off while you mem.

Pop cause crit with your evil healer beforehand and you will win!

near to pop(the % is low, blame the GOD) and well :P i noticed it did the job too...

and true... less evil cleric= higher chance to get those Darn +2 int/wis

Totally agree. There should be more 'solo quest' like that.

Hehe, I was trying to be more subtle with that particular hint, but yeah, those are exactly the spells that give evil clerics a huge edge.