<<All of P4 and P2 are being looked at since I'm the Province Guru for both. We have lots of hunting areas that worked when they were built but as things have changed over the years now need a little help. GM Alvy >>

As a long time resident of Aesry, I'm stoked.

People come to Aesry for Goblins and then Oshu... some give crows a try (I love them), but only the locals stick around for anything else.

Blood Wolf & Bobcat:
Are really too low to be on the critter ladder on Aesry. I'd prefer to see something silver leucro level come chase them off... maybe even the snowbeasts could come down the cliff and leave the frostweavers alone.

Moss Meys:
They are a bit low hardcap-wise, but the boxes fill in nicely, before Snoblins. I'd like to see the bloodwolves and bobcats moved into this area. If bloodwolves, bobcats, and Meys got grouped together and maybe a slight bump, they would be the perfect "low level hunting" on Aesry.

Snow Goblin:
Are a perfect.


Nightreaver & Nightstalker &Nightweaver Unyn: (Reavers here)
Not a straight progression, which is neat. I think the spawn is a bit low in Stalkers, and Reavers. The loot is spot on.

Yvhh La'tami:
They got overhauled not to long ago, and I think they are pretty good. They train well, pay decent and spawn the right amount in the right areas.

Ghoul Crow:
Were much better before the spawn got hacked, but are still pretty good.

Oshu: Teach defenses insanely well. Almost too well. Opals are neat, and spawn is really good. Nice ladder that actually spans a bit lower and just below Nightstalker Unyn

Nightreaver Unyn:
See Above, but placed here in the critter ladder.

Ur Hhrki'izh:
Are good, but the cursing of items etc makes them a bit difficult to hunt for ranged users. Magic resistance is a bit of a pain, but I get the niche. They fill in a void for boxes on the island. Could maybe use a little refinement in special attacks, and pay because of the difficulty.

Frostweaver & Snowbeasts:
Frostweavers could use an overhaul, and snowies should probably go elsewhere. Increase the spawn and evaluate treasure. Frosties would be a great addition to the box ladder, but they don't spawn well enough or teach well either. Snowies get in the way.

Sharks:
Don't pay well, skins were crazy heavy, and I think they would be better if they dropped treasure (runes, etc) - maybe just the tiger sharks. Hard to hunt in the water and with their stealth, I think they just are a bit under-treasured

Elba Darvager:
I haven't played with them much. They are skinnable, and drop boxes which is nice. They were recently separated from Stalkers, and seem to spawn well. Backstable and boxes after Frosties maybe?

Nightstalker Unyn:
See Above, but placed here in the critter ladder.

Raven & Graverobbers:
I've tried them a few times. Raven not being skinnable is a bit of a bummer. Spawn seemed decent.

Wir Dinego:
Only at night I believe (although that could have changed). They are the top end of boxes on the island.

Snaer Hafwa:
Not their yet, but others could probably comment. I've heard the special attack is insane, they don't spawn well, and they don't pay well. So they have that going for them.

With a little work I think Aesry could be very solid from 75 Ranks to 500 ranks. I don't really think the islands needs any creatures lower than the 75 level. I'm sure that some of the higher circle folks might like to see some things that teach above 500. I think there might be mammoths hidden somewhere on the north side of the island. And it wouldn't be a stretch to add in a pirate critter ladder in the Cove near the entrance to Unyns.

All that being said, I love it here.

-Diggan

>>Totally disagree. They're a great way to ease into Snow Goblins.

Fair enough, IMHO they don't teach quite high enough or fast enough to smoothly transition into snoblins. I think more people go from sprites --> leucro --> snoblins... than come to Aesry for Bloodwolves.

I think snowbeast would be a better ease into the snoblins.

B. Wolves/M. Meys --> Snowies --> Snoblins.

Just my take.

I know people hunt the blood wolves periodically but does anyone hunt the bobcats?


GM Alvy

i have hunted bobcats with low weapons when i hunted wolves with my higher weapons, with all characters that hunt since the islands came out, in all instances.

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You've seen life through distorted eyes;You know you had to learn;The execution of your mind;You really had to turn;,the book is read,The end begins to show,The truth is out, the lies are old, But you don't want to know - Black Sabbath

>>I remember trying to hunt bobcats long ago, both Crossing and Aesry versions, and I found it difficult to hunt just the bobcats give the larger, meanier, scarier blood wolves lurking around. Don't get me wrong, bobcats taught great as a critter, but if I saw a blood wolf in my room, I knew I had to leave. In my opinion, the level difference is too large for a low rank hunter but too trivial for an higher rank hunter to backtrain because you probably have the stats to just take on the blood wolves by that point.

Agreed. Mixed level hunting grounds (mobs in same area, not separated by anything), just don't work well.

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TG, TG, GL, et al.

As another long time resident of Aesry, I would welcome an overhaul to some of the hunting areas. The bobcat/blood wolves mix has too much of a skill gap to make bobcats useful but I don't think anyone goes there specifically to hunt them anyway.

Moss meys are nice for Clerics but the low box drop rate and blessed weapon requirement makes them a tough prospect for others (with the exception of Paladins and anyone using a totem to self bless).

Snow gobs - agree with Diggan, I love this area and was sad when I outgrew it.

Unyns - Great critters, and the area is nice too, great for spelunkers.

La'tami - I hunted these fairly heavily as an alternative to snoblins as they teach defenses better. Lots of folks were put off by the climbs as you could end up stuck with low climbing skill and a leg wound. Since the overhaul they spawn a lot better too.

Oshu - A very nice critter for learning defenses, probably one of the best in the game providing you have the stamina to absorb the steam attack or use the right tools. Second most popular critter on the island I would say behind snow goblins.

Crows - The small ones are a nice alternative to some of the other critters on the island, don't hit too hard but can be annoying for melee only hunters.

Ur Hhrki'izh - Drop loads of boxes and not stunnable so great for backstabbing Thieves but troublesome to melee with due to their incessant spell casting and use of diseased sabres which utilise the lunge attack.

Frostweavers - Poor box drop rate and use Ice Patch. Immune to puncture damage. Not my favourite as a Thief but the area is nice, if a little large. Snowbeasts are an annoyance more than anything as the skill gap between the two is significant.

Sharks - When these were introduced there were a lot of deaths due to unsuspecting swimmers being ambushed by them. They ruined the swimming area on Aesry as they are far too tough for most people trying to swim there. They could be made to stay out in the deep areas which teach higher swimming instead of coming right to the beach.

Graverobbers/ravens - Similar skill levels so work well but as Diggan said, not skinnable and grave robbers are not prolific box droppers. The area is also far too big for Aesry.

Dinego/Greater ghoul ravens - I like this area, but it is still too big so trying to get 4 critters to spawn at once in the same room is sometimes a waiting game, but the ravens are a good alternative to some of the 1 hit crit critters at the same level, though unskinnable. Dinego only come out at night so if you want to avoid those you can.

Snaer Hafwa - I have hunted these but their special attack is insane. With 50 stamina they will drain ~50% vit with one and I get a substantial spirit health hit. I think these are strictly for the Clerics. A candidate for removal as I don't know anyone who hunts these.

I would love to see some higher level critters as I am currently milking the greater ravens before I am forced to move on to celpeze and I will be sad to have to leave the island. With the changes to moon mage travel this will have a very severe impact on the population as most folks don't like to be stuck hours away from more heavily populated areas.

As far as "quick" fixes, I'd like to see:

1) Bobcats moved to the Moss Meys Area below the Hill.

2) Moss Meys 2.0 and limited to above the Hill

3) Blood Wolves gain pack mentality in the northern most 4 rooms below the crevice to Frosties

4) Snow Beasts separated from Frost Weavers. Snowbeasts get everything below the U/D room and Frost Weavers get everything above.

5) Sharks get limited to the deeper rooms.

6) Hawfa 2.0

7) Ur' 2.0 (fix disease / special attack) or make it curable by the town empath

8) Make Ravens Skinnnable

I also agree that if the changes to gating affect travel between the islands (Ratha & Aesry) then there will need to be:

a) A revision to the boat between the two islands
b) A revision to the lybadel... it's horrible
c) A method to swim between the two (dare to dream).

The info so far has been very helpful!


GM Alvy

>>I like the smaller creature roaming in larger creatures feature - if you see two creatures together, that area is the level of the larger creature. The smaller creature is for backtraining, generally. At least that's what I've always assumed. That there are gaps without the smaller creature simply means that there are gaps.

You'd be surprised at how useful this situation can be, especially if you can only handle one or two of the larger critter at a time. When you are limited to a maximum of 4 mobs on you at a time, you can occupy 2 or 3 of those slots with the lower level critter and effectively force it so you only ever have a manageable 1 or 2 of the hard creature on you. At least, I've noticed and/or used this technique in other hunting grounds. Consider corpse grubs and kartais as a prime example.

If you want to somewhat balance the dynamic, though, for every hunting ground you have mixed level creatures in, there should be another hunting ground where you could find one or the other creature by itself (or even a different yet comparable creature.) For example, if snowbeasts were the only viable training option for that skill range in the area, it would be very unwise to pair them with frostweavers and make it nigh impossible to maintain a continuous hunting ladder.