Latest revision as of 01:14, 23 August 2024

Questing in Lusternia goes well beyond the simple fetch or kill tasks that are common in many games, though naturally, we have these as well. There are dozens of more intricate quests to be completed here, for those who enjoy doing so. Some can be accomplished on your own in an hour or two, while others may take your entire organization days to complete.

General Hints

While many of these larger quests contain unique mechanics, there are a couple of features common enough to merit pointing out as general hints. Speaking of hints, HINTS ON is a good default for questers of all levels of experience. Sometimes, you'll know what you wish to do, but get it wrong on syntax. This is where hints come in handy.

Hidden Things

Just because something does not appear in a location when you glance, does not mean it isn't there. VERBOSE is a great tool for questing, allowing you to see a room's full description each time you move. Many items are hidden this way, in the room's description. You can PROBE these items, and often manipulate them with one or more of the following commands: USE, TURN, PRESS, PUSH, PULL, OPEN, TOUCH. Going one step further, if you probe one of these hidden items and note a particular feature in its description, you can always try taking a closer look there, too!

Puzzles

Logic puzzles appear fairly commonly in quests with varying degrees of simplicity. Variations of Sudoku, Mastermind, Einstein's Puzzle, the Tower of Hanoi, and various square puzzles can all be found. Recognizing these familiar puzzles for what they are when you encounter them can be a big help to solving them.

Influence

The influencing skill plays a prominent role in many quests, though it's generally left up to the quester to follow the hints. If a denizen suggests that someone be chided for their wrong-doing, try using weakening type influence. If you're told to embolden or bolster their courage, try empowering them. Note that paranoia type of influence can be a quester's bane. Denizens who have been made paranoid will not respond to interaction in their normal way. If you don't have the ability to ANALYZE a denizen, be wary of curious behavior and try back later.

Talking to Denizens

In Lusternia, we do not just walk up to denizens and say quest quest quest quest until they tell us that their son has been trapped down a well. Greeting denizens is a great way to get started, as is asking, "Can I help you?" Listen to the replies you get. Though you're dealing with computer-controlled characters, part of immersion is treating them like people! Many quests require a certain phrase which can only be sussed out by conversing with the denizen.

When all else fails...

Sometimes, even when you know you're terribly close, you get flat out stuck. It's okay to ask for advice on our forums. Chances are, someone else has been through the same thing. While we don't give solutions, players are great about giving others a nudge in the right direction.

Honour Quests

Honour quests are one type of the longer, more involved quests that Lusternia has to offer. When you check someone's HONOURS, you'll often see a line at the end directing you to HONOURS FULL (person) and it's here where you may view all of the honours quests they have completed. As noted above, these range broadly in both difficulty and time to complete.

Honour quests may be done for a variety of reasons. Some yield rewards to help an organization or to hinder an opposing one. Some may be considered rites of passage for a certain characters. Many yield historical context in the game world, bits of information or secrets about the world of Lusternia that are available nowhere else. Most grant gold and karma rewards with some giving other personal blessings.

For a completionist, acquiring new honours will be a constant venture throughout one's play, and as you'll see, there are enough to keep one busy for a very long time.

Regarding level suggestions, bear in mind that some races and classes are more adept at hunting than others, and so outside of Newton Caverns these are all sweeping generalizations. If you know that you're out of your depth in a given area, grab a friend to help or return when you're a bit stronger.

Each organization has a prophecy quest associated with it, and a series of honours associated with the completion, leading up to an epic quest. Prophecy quests generally yield standard rhetoric associated with a given org. During times when that org or the Basin at large is in peril, they can be performed to glean valuable information about world-scale events. In addition to the organization quests, there are a couple of neutral-territory prophecy quests, which are not associated with epic quests.

View the (nearly) complete list of Honour Quests here!

Epic Quests

An epic quest cycle is comprised of a series of honour quests associated with one overriding theme. At present, there are seven epic quests available, one for each of the six player organizations, and one in aetherspace. Completion of these epic cycles yields huge rewards - nexus power, family and personal honour, commendations on the politics news board, and access to locations that provide easy travel.

In addition to those quests mentioned above, there are two unofficial epic quest cycles in the Undervault. While not yielding the rewards common to other epics, completion of these cycles does grant a rare and coveted honour lines among questers.

Organization Epic Quests

Organization level epic quests become available after an individual has completed an org-specific honour quest five times. Usually, this will be the organization's prophecy quest, but similar quests such as resurrecting an organization's nexus shield object, also count towards the five.

Each time a character completes the org-specific quest, he or she will receive a new consecutive honour associated with his or her organization. Upon completing the epic quest series, these five cumulative lines are removed and replaced by one line, designating completion of the epic quest.

Rewards

In addition to earning the rare honour line, if you are a member of a House which is aligned to the organization for which you are completing the epic cycle, you will also generate a very large amount of family honour for your House. Further, completing the series of epic quests yields a total of 45,000 nexus power, meted out in parts as the quests are completed (5, 15, 25).

Arguably the greatest reward is an artifact which provides transport to a location in limbo from which there are several exits to various locations within that organization's territories. It can only be used by its rightful owner, though others may follow. Out of character, players refer to this artifact as “orgbix,” as it has similar functionality to the transplanar cubix artifact.

These rewards are intricately tied to the organizations. Should someone leave that org after having completed its epic quest, they will be stripped of the honour as well as the artifact. Nexus power and family honour remain intact, however.

Aetherspace Epic Quests

The aetherspace epic quests become available after an individual has completed at least one quest on each of the eight inhabited bubbles in aetherspace - Bottledowns, Crumkindivia, the Facility, Frosticia, Xion, Cankermore, Mucklemarsh, and Dramube.

The aetherspace epic cycle pertains to the struggle between the gnomes at the Facility and those who are members of the Gnomish Gnafia. Several of the quests on the aetherbubbles have two sides - and while it does not matter which you complete at the onset, during the cycle of epic quests (where you essentially repeated them all again), you will be more specifically directed where to help.

Rewards

Completing the epic cycle will grant you access to a means of travel between the aetherbubbles by teaching you how to operate the gnomish machines built there. These are stationary devices which, when activated, will transport you to a room in limbo that allows you to then exit to any of four aetherbubbles. There are two types of machines - and access to one type is granted depending on which side of the epic quest you have completed. Note that you must first be able to reach one of the aetherbubbles where these machines exist to access the network.

In addition, those who have completed the epic cycle on either side will gain a twenty percent bonus on all trade goods sold to gnomish aetherships. For example, if you were to sell one spice to a ship buying it for 500 gold, they would instead give you 600 gold. This is specific to aethership trading.

View the Epic Quest specific honours here!

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 Questing in Lusternia goes well beyond the simple fetch or kill tasks that are common in many games, though naturally, we have these as well. There are dozens of more intricate quests to be completed here, for those who enjoy doing so. Some can be accomplished on your own in an hour or two, while others may take your entire organization days to complete.
+=General Hints=
+While many of these larger quests contain unique mechanics, there are a couple of features common enough to merit pointing out as general hints. Speaking of hints, <tt>HINTS ON</tt> is a good default for questers of all levels of experience. Sometimes, you'll know what you wish to do, but get it wrong on syntax. This is where hints come in handy.
-While many of these larger quests contain unique mechanics, there are a couple of features common enough to merit pointing out as general hints. Speaking of hints, HINTS ON is a good default for questers of all levels of experience. Sometimes, you'll know what you wish to do, but get it wrong on syntax. This is where hints come in handy.
+===Hidden Things===
+Just because something does not appear in a location when you glance, does not mean it isn't there. <tt>VERBOSE</tt> is a great tool for questing, allowing you to see a room's full description each time you move. Many items are hidden this way, in the room's description. You can <tt>PROBE</tt> these items, and often manipulate them with one or more of the following commands: <tt>USE, TURN, PRESS, PUSH, PULL, OPEN, TOUCH</tt>. Going one step further, if you probe one of these hidden items and note a particular feature in its description, you can always try taking a closer look there, too!
-'''Hidden Things'''
-Just because something does not appear in a location when you glance, does not mean it isn't there. Using VERBOSE, that you see a room's entire description will allow you to note objects which don't simply appear as ''A desk is standing here, waiting to be more closely examined.'' doesn't mean it's not there! These items can be probed, and often manipulated with one or more of the following commands: USE, TURN, PRESS, PUSH, PULL, OPEN, TOUCH.
-'''Puzzles'''
+===Puzzles===
 Logic puzzles appear fairly commonly in quests with varying degrees of simplicity. Variations of Sudoku, Mastermind, Einstein's Puzzle, the Tower of Hanoi, and various square puzzles can all be found. Recognizing these familiar puzzles for what they are when you encounter them can be a big help to solving them.
-'''Influence'''
+===[[Influence]]===
+The influencing skill plays a prominent role in many quests, though it's generally left up to the quester to follow the hints. If a denizen suggests that someone be chided for their wrong-doing, try using weakening type influence. If you're told to embolden or bolster their courage, try empowering them. Note that paranoia type of influence can be a quester's bane. Denizens who have been made paranoid will not respond to interaction in their normal way. If you don't have the ability to <tt>[[Influence#Analyze|ANALYZE]]</tt> a denizen, be wary of curious behavior and try back later.
-The influencing skill plays a prominent role in many quests, though it's generally left up to the quester to follow the hints. If a denizen suggests that someone be chided for their wrong-doing, try using weakening type influence. If you're told to embolden or bolster their courage, try empowering them.
+===Talking to Denizens===
+In Lusternia, we do not just walk up to denizens and say quest quest quest quest until they tell us that their son has been trapped down a well. Greeting denizens is a great way to get started, as is asking, "Can I help you?" Listen to the replies you get. Though you're dealing with computer-controlled characters, part of immersion is treating them like people! Many quests require a certain phrase which can only be sussed out by conversing with the denizen.
+===When all else fails...===
+Sometimes, even when you know you're terribly close, you get flat out stuck. It's okay to ask for advice [http://forums.lusternia.com/index.php?showtopic=13127 on our forums]. Chances are, someone else has been through the same thing. While we don't give solutions, players are great about giving others a nudge in the right direction.
-==Newton (Finks and Gnomes)==
-* Difficulty: Easy - Not the easiest by far, but a relatively simple quest nonetheless.
-Requires much running back and forth between the various stages of Newton, so easiest to complete before you run out of PORTALS. Of course, this usually only applies to alts since it takes a long while to figure out how to even start the quests. If you plan on doing both, the second quest is usually easier after having completed one since the two quests have a few overlap sections, although I have heard that if you do opposing quests then the second one cancels the first out.
-==Verasavir (Taurians and Ghost Wolves)==
+=[[Honour Quests]]=
-* Difficulty: Easiest - A three step quest for starters.
+[[Honour Quests|Honour quests]] are one type of the longer, more involved quests that Lusternia has to offer. When you check someone's <tt>HONOURS</tt>, you'll often see a line at the end directing you to <tt>HONOURS FULL (person)</tt> and it's here where you may view all of the honours quests they have completed. As noted above, these range broadly in both difficulty and time to complete.
-Possibly one of the best quests for introducing oneself to quests in Lusternia as it's most definitely the easiest. The hardest part would probably be starting out. Be warned, these quests will make you an enemy of either Kyrian (taurians) or Ghostwolves. Having the ghostwolves enemy is rather meaningless, but being enemied to Kyrian prevents you from doing the Snow Valley taurian quest. This quest also requires you to do a fair bit of slaughtering, but with a health vial, shouldn't be too much of a problem.
+Honour quests may be done for a variety of reasons. Some yield rewards to help an organization or to hinder an opposing one. Some may be considered rites of passage for a certain characters. Many yield historical context in the game world, bits of information or secrets about the world of Lusternia that are available nowhere else. Most grant gold and karma rewards with some giving other personal blessings.
-==Toronada==
+For a completionist, acquiring new honours will be a constant venture throughout one's play, and as you'll see, there are enough to keep one busy for a very long time.
-* Difficulty: Easy - Even though you have to do a smidgen of fighting, still straightforward with an easy starting point.
-Another quest that can be categorized into the "newbie" section. Tornada requires a bit of killing as well as some patience. Some of the creatures there are rather difficult to handle for younger people, so be prepared for broken limbs and deafness. This quest may even expose you to a novice's first glance at an aggressive creature, so stay on your toes if you're younger. Very cute concept though!
+Regarding level suggestions, bear in mind that some races and classes are more adept at hunting than others, and so outside of Newton Caverns these are all sweeping generalizations. If you know that you're out of your depth in a given area, grab a friend to help or return when you're a bit stronger.
-==Delport==
+Each [[Playerorgs| organization]] has a prophecy quest associated with it, and a series of honours associated with the completion, leading up to an [[Epic_Quests|epic quest]]. Prophecy quests generally yield standard rhetoric associated with a given org. During times when that org or the Basin at large is in peril, they can be performed to glean valuable information about world-scale events. In addition to the organization quests, there are a couple of neutral-territory prophecy quests, which are not associated with epic quests.
-* Difficulty: Easy - Love in real life may be hard, but it sure isn't in Lusternia!
-Moving on to the village quests, Delport also has a cute concept. Not too hard with a relatively simple start, and almost no killing involved (just a little bit though). This quest can easily be done by all levels. A little frustration may be found at certain points, but very straightforward. A nice reward at the end, although not as nice a reward as in other villages.
-==Dairuchi==
+[[Honour Quests|View the (nearly) complete list of Honour Quests here!]]
-* Difficulty: Easy - Mapping and planning can be rather fun. Just need some determination to come back and do it six times more.
-Kudos to the Admin for a bit of coding work in doing this quest! Dairuchi involves no mass slaughter at all - just a bit of mapping work. You can't cheat on this quest by using Caffrey's map either since the tunnels constantly change. This quest is a little annoying in that you have to do it seven times before getting the honors line, but I think it becomes available after being completed much faster than other quests. The payout isn't too good compared to other quests, even after getting the honors line (your reward gets increased a little after getting the line).
-==Stewartsville==
-* Difficulty: Easy - If events go wrong, you may find yourself with an aggressive creature on your hide, but it's easy to run from. Money and karma are absolute great for a bit of lucky guesswork.
-People are constantly doing this quest as soon as it's available since the payout is nice for a minimal amount of work, so it may be difficult to even start this quest as it's almost never unclaimed. Still, it's also a nice bit of codework, although how the Countess Cecelia keeps surviving countless murder attempts is beyond me. This quest begins the chain of AwesomeTM payouts with a 5k reward at the end!
-==Estelbar==
-* Difficulty: Easy - No killing at all except for an optional teensy bit and a simple puzzle for a great payout.
-Like the Countess's many assassination attempts, these cubs just can't seem to get a break from their illness! Anyways, this quest gets a Cute+ for the idea as well as an AwesomeTM reward. People tend to claim this quest a fair amount as well, but not nearly as much as Stewartsville in my experience. This may be giving out a bit much, but the influence skillset may be useful here if you don't want to trek into Glomdoring for a portion of the quest.
-==Paavik==
+=[[Epic Quests]]=
-* Difficulty: Easy - Easy like most other village quests with a close concept as well as reward$$.
+An [[Epic_Quests|epic quest]] cycle is comprised of a series of honour quests associated with one overriding theme. At present, there are seven epic quests available, one for each of the six player organizations, and one in aetherspace. Completion of these epic cycles yields huge rewards - nexus power, family and personal honour, commendations on the politics news board, and access to locations that provide easy travel.
-This quest can be a little creepy. The haunting message really scared me when I first saw it! Anyways, the book in Paavik tells you just about everything you need to know and practically walks you through the quest. Also, Paavik involves no running around the village for components, but it does require you to complete it at a certain timeframe, which can be annoying if you accidentally miss it. Same format as most other village quests. Oh, and if you find the cane, be sure to THWAP someone while holding it!
-==Shanthmark==
+In addition to those quests mentioned above, there are two unofficial epic quest cycles in the Undervault. While not yielding the rewards common to other epics, completion of these cycles does grant a rare and coveted honour lines among questers.
-* Difficulty: Easy-ish - Still easy, but frustrating when first starting. Still good money and exceptional karma.
-When first starting this quest, it can be rather annoying as it involves much running around. Influence is also useful here, although it's not as helpful as in Estelbar and some people are resistant to it. I personally hate having to run up and down the Lodge to Adaeze, so sprinting can be your friend. Possibly one of the most difficult village quests (and that's not saying much) just for its initial learning phase.
-==Acknor==
+===Organization Epic Quests===
-* Difficulty: Easy - Watch out about angering the chieftain person, he can get aggressive.
+Organization level epic quests become available after an individual has completed an org-specific honour quest five times. Usually, this will be the organization's prophecy quest, but similar quests such as resurrecting an organization's nexus shield object, also count towards the five.
-The only advice I can give is that you need more than one addition to the club. You also should pick up everything you can. Good reward for a quick quest.
-==Angkrag==
+Each time a character completes the org-specific quest, he or she will receive a new consecutive honour associated with his or her organization. Upon completing the epic quest series, these five cumulative lines are removed and replaced by one line, designating completion of the epic quest.
-* Difficulty: Very Easy - CONFIG MAPVIEW ON would help.
-Fairly straightforward quest. Move the skeleton sentries around to try to block the drunk orc from escaping. After doing it 10 times you get an honor title. You won't need hints here. Messing up on your first try is normal, sometimes you get just plain unlucky, otherwise it's probably one of the fastest and easiest quests to do.
-==Dwarf Villages (Rockholm and Southgard)==
+:'''Rewards'''
-* Difficulty: Hard - Simple to start, just difficult in the rest of it, especially the raiding part.
+:In addition to earning the rare honour line, if you are a member of a House which is aligned to the organization for which you are completing the epic cycle, you will also generate a very large amount of family honour for your House. Further, completing the series of epic quests yields a total of 45,000 nexus power, meted out in parts as the quests are completed (5, 15, 25).
-I haven't done this one yet either, but I have seen a lot of it. Requires a bit of sleuthing and romping about the Basin as well as some hunting creatures dangerous to novices. Definitely not for novices. The reward, however, is huge for the city or commune that controls whichever village you do the quest for since it draws all non-undead mining dwarves into your own village. Also useful to weaken an enemy, e.g. if Celest controlled Rockholm and Magnagora controlled Southgard, then both cities would do their quests to hurt the enemy and empower themselves. Warning: requires you to actually infiltrate the opposing village and kill the leader, earning you both city and village enemy status. Most definitely NOT for novices.
-==Etil'ck Observatory==
+:Arguably the greatest reward is an artifact which provides transport to a location in limbo from which there are several exits to various locations within that organization's territories. It can only be used by its rightful owner, though others may follow. Out of character, players refer to this artifact as “[[orgbix]],” as it has similar functionality to the [[Transplanar Cubix|transplanar cubix]] artifact.
-* Difficulty: Easy
-Easy enough, though make sure Magnagorans don't catch you doing the first part of it (highly unlikely that they will, though). Also watch out for gravediggers. Small gold reward (~1500), compared to the village quests, but good experience and karma. The end part also can only be done during a certain (broad) time period.
+:These rewards are intricately tied to the organizations. Should someone leave that org after having completed its epic quest, they will be stripped of the honour as well as the artifact. Nexus power and family honour remain intact, however.
-==Hifarae Foothills==
-* Difficulty: Easyish - Bring plenty of health if you are lower leveled, and have patience.
-Pretty easy, just have to do some mild bashing, as well as gathering small parts at the beginning. Make sure to talk to Huyina before you try to move on with it though. Also contains a small Blackout puzzle. Small gold reward (~2500), decent experience and karma for lower circles.
-==Carai Caroo==
+===Aetherspace Epic Quests===
-* Difficulty: Medium - Not for those who can't solve a Sudoku.
+The aetherspace epic quests become available after an individual has completed at least one quest on each of the eight inhabited bubbles in aetherspace - Bottledowns, Crumkindivia, the Facility, Frosticia, Xion, Cankermore, Mucklemarsh, and Dramube.
-Sudoku anyone? That's the main portion of this quest, so puzzle fiends rejoice! No monetary reward here, but you do get to release some organizational-aligned creatures into the Inner Sea. Just finding Carai Caroo may be one of the hardest parts of this quest.
-==Arysian Isles (gorgogs and merians)==
+The aetherspace epic cycle pertains to the struggle between the gnomes at the Facility and those who are members of the Gnomish Gnafia. Several of the quests on the aetherbubbles have two sides - and while it does not matter which you complete at the onset, during the cycle of epic quests (where you essentially repeated them all again), you will be more specifically directed where to help.
-* Difficulty: Medium - Not hard to figure out, but the crowdedness, political dangers, and high-midbie bashing poses a challenge.
-The two quests are exact copies of each other and both require some bashing. You need patience as well since it takes this one guy like five minutes to move like seven rooms. >_< Also, this place is one of the heaviest bashed out places ever. Expect major delays in your quest as people will inadvertently (and sometimes advertently) sabotage it. Be warned, if Celest finds you killing merians or discovers that you released the gorgogs, they will enemy you.
-==Tosha==
+:'''Rewards'''
-* Difficulty: Medium - The critters are tough even though the quest is easy.
+:Completing the epic cycle will grant you access to a means of travel between the aetherbubbles by teaching you how to operate the gnomish machines built there. These are stationary devices which, when activated, will transport you to a room in limbo that allows you to then exit to any of four aetherbubbles. There are two types of machines - and access to one type is granted depending on which side of the epic quest you have completed. Note that you must first be able to reach one of the aetherbubbles where these machines exist to access the network.
-The monks tell you everything you need to know, and the first part is very easy if you know where to look. Part 2, however, requires a bit of tanking. The spirits give out sometimes nasty afflictions and can team up on you. The Spirit Plane also doesn't count for conglutination I think. Even so, the reward is great - a temporary boost to health/mana/ego.
-==Hallifax/Gaudiguch==
+:In addition, those who have completed the epic cycle on either side will gain a twenty percent bonus on all trade goods sold to gnomish aetherships. For example, if you were to sell one spice to a ship buying it for 500 gold, they would instead give you 600 gold. This is specific to aethership trading.
-* Difficulty: Hard - Only for the insane amount of patience involved with repetition and the annoying battles between Mesa and Nomads.
-These two quests are just doused in history and flavor but at a high cost of repetition. The quest itself is straightforward with some midbie-level bashing included, but it takes an annoying amount of time to pull off. I've heard some people taking whole real life days of nonstop questing to finish it off. The end's nifty little node is pretty sweet as well save for the exploding part when its power gets too low.
-==Snow Valley (taurians and igasho)==
-* Difficulty: Hard - Only for the skills needed of Scaling and possibly flying. Some sleuth work may be needed for the puzzling parts as well.
-To pull off either of these two quests, you need the skill of Scaling in environment, which is very, very high up. A little tip: if you have the skill and the ability to fly, you can LAND MOUNTAINS like you can LAND TREES and you'll be deposited on the highest level. You'll have to do some level 60/70ish bashing here against either aggressive creatures or flying creatures. This quest has a little favorite part that I can't mention because it'd give too much away, but if you attempt it, you'll definitely know what part that is. A note: if you did the Ghostwolves quest in Verasavir, you'll need to be unenemied to Kyrian (taurians) to try the taurian side of Snow Valley.
-==Crumkindivia==
+[[Epic Quests|View the Epic Quest specific honours here!]]
-* Difficulty: Medium - As long as you have access to an aethership to get there and are of sufficient level to fight the peeps (60+ is probably fine)
-Not technically an honors quest as it doesn't give you an honors line, but it's of similar difficulty and reward as the other honors quests. Requires that you make it out to the Crumkindivia bubble and that you be able to kill the peeps or gingerbread men - I've only ever done the gingerbread side of the quest, which I understand is easier (peeps are weaker than gingerbread men). The bosses are rather hard, but attacking them is optional. After you complete the quest, vacating the area is probably a good idea. Nice gold/exp reward.
-==Xion==
+[[Category: Guides]]
-* Difficulty: Hard - Brain-wracking with a so-so reward.
-Possibly the worst of the puzzle quests! With a whole aethership's crew working on the quest, we still didn't finish. There were at least three puzzles that we got through including another sudoku. You have to do a lot of high-level bashing as well with some aggressive creatures included. Also, when you finish a portion of the quest, you release a slew of aggressive creatures which have the charybdon (random) poison. As Razenth says, very annoying for a mediocre reward. You also run the risk of setting the whole bubble afire as well.

Difference between revisions of "Questing"