Reward: Increased Reputation with Stormguard Guard factions plus ten gold.
Quest: Kill the Orc Chieftain
Reward: Increased Reputation with Stormguard Guard factions and an item from the Quartermaster
“Fluff, the quests show you XP rewards as well as rep rewards right?” Alburet asked as they left the main fort.
“Yes. The only reason it wouldn’t would be if you disabled all XP notifications,” Fluffball replied as they stopped at the gate.
“Oh good. Did you get the quests as well, Stacia?”
“Aye, master,” Stacia replied, checking her daggers, “I be all ready.”
Alburet grinned as he summoned Bob and Tiny to his side, “Welcome back boys. More Orcs today. If we feel really ballsy we might try for the village to kill the chief.”
“Well, if you’re the one leading us it might be in doubt,” Bob snickered.
Rolling his eyes Alburet ignored the imp, “Tiny, you’re about to have a twin.” With that said he used his new ability as he targeted Tiny. He watched as a second Tiny, shaded a little darker, pop into existence next to the original. “Awesome. So how do I address you, new Tiny?”
The original Tiny turned to Alburet, “It is still me. Just give your orders and I will direct me and my shadow.”
“Interesting, indeed. Have your shadow guard Stacia first and foremost. His second concern is to pick up any adds that you do not have control of in melee, including picking up ranged adds so they don’t target the rest of us.”
“Yes, master,” Tiny rumbled, both he and the shadow nodding in unison.
“So it’s like having another hand?” Fluff asked, curious as to how it worked.
“Very similar to that,” Tiny agreed.
“So I have me own personal Destroyer?” Stacia asked, looking at the darker Tiny.
The darker Tiny rumbled, “Yes.”
Alburet chuckled, “Glad I picked two Tinys and not two Bobs then.”
Bob blew a raspberry, “You just don’t want her dad angry with you.”
Shrugging Alburet replied, “Partially. Tiny, you take point. Let’s move out and get this show on the road, it’s only seven hours or so until sundown.”
As they moved out and began their systematic slaughter of the Orcs Fluffball spoke up. “The Orc Village is an instanced area, we’ll want a full party for that.”
“Good to know. We’ll worry about it after we grind for a bit,” Alburet said as they engaged the first group of Orcs.
The next three hours went by with quickly as they resumed their routine for killing the orc patrols. Alburet considered how hard it would be to solo out here with the small groups, glad he was a pet class so could handle multiple mobs. Others would need groups to even give it a good attempt. He chuckled softly at one point as he considered how rarely he had even soloed since he picked his class. His minions were what really helped out with killing stuff. Bob did okay damage but having Tiny was a god send. Not having to take damage most of the time was great as he was never a big fan of pain.
They took a break, nibbling some jerky. Alburet sent Gerald a message asking if he and Marysue were up to raiding the Orc Village. After their snack, they continued with their slaughter of the Orcs. After a few groups he noticed the message icon flashing, so he called a pause to check it.
Message from Gerald:
We’re up for it, do we need extra or do you have two others with you?
Alburet sent back a message, telling Gerald that they only needed him and Marysue. A moment later Gerald’s reply came back saying they would be there in an hour. Alburet informed the other two, “Gerald and Marysue will be along to help tackle the village in about an hour. Let’s head back to the fort so we can meet them there.”
The group began to retrace their steps to the fort, killing all the respawns on the way. Stacia leveled on the last group before the fort. She beamed at them, thanking them as they congratulated her. They waited around after selling off the loot they’d collected to the quartermaster. Almost an hour from the message Gerald and Marysue appeared near the gates. Alburet called out to them.
Alburet introduced Stacia to the other two, who looked at her oddly, Gerald spoke up asking the question that they both had. “Why doesn’t she have a class? How is that even possible?”
Alburet gave them a brief summary of the issues Stacia had in that regard. “So, while she doesn’t have a class she’s still useful and I can summon two Bobs instead of two Tinys which will help balance out any loss of damage.”
Lips pursed, Gerald was about to say something when Marysue spoke up, “Well, it is nice to meet you Stacia. Are you sure you want to go with us?”
“Aye. I wish to be by master’s side as much as I can,” Stacia nodded. “I will do me very best.”
Lips puckered like he just bit a lemon Gerald replied, “Great, but if the damage looks too low we’re going to call it a bust.”
Nodding Alburet agreed, “That will be fine. Shall we get going then?”
The party moved out after the new members picked up the quests from the Sergeant inside. Easily slaughtering the patrols that got in their way, the party made it to the Orc Village which was surrounded by a wooden palisade. Gerald led them around the wall to the portal, “This is it.” He entered, followed quickly by Marysue and Fluffball. Alburet paused, noting Stacia eyeing the swirling mists dubiously.
“It will be fine, kitten.” He took her hand, “Let’s go together, okay?”
Stacia nodded, confident now that she was holding his hand. Together they stepped through to find themselves next to Gerald and the others. Gerald looked over with a raised brow, shaking his head in derision. “Now that we’re all here, let me give you a brief rundown of how this went in the beta. Each hut holds a group of Orcs. The composition is random, it can include warriors with shields, berserkers with big weapons, archers who will try to get out via a window to shoot at us and finally shamans who use healing and damage spells. Each hut will contain four to eight orcs. Also, there are patrols that rove through the village which means that we could have adds to contend with. And if that wasn’t enough, the patrols shout for help and the closest hut will be alerted and join in.”
“Wow. So it’s going to be very add heavy,” Alburet mused. “What was the strategy in beta?”
“Walk through the village and kill the patrols first, which means we’ll also get at least one hut added in, but once all the patrols are dead it becomes fairly easy to go door to door. There is the chance of a few rare spawn mobs in the huts as well. The only consistent boss is the chief in the main hut. We can walk through that once the rest of the village is dead. Any questions?” Gerald asked.
“Why is the sky blue?” Bob asked with a smirk.
“Your imp is a pain, and you want two of him?”
“That is the plan. Bob, don’t antagonize the tank, okay?” Alburet said, using his ability to Copy Bob.
A second, darker Bob appeared shaking its head, “Fine, master.”
“Okay. Gerald, you’re the lead. Tiny, Gerald is the main tank. No taunting unless it’s to save one of us or Gerald says to, okay?”
“Yes, master,” Tiny rumbled.
“I wish I didn’t take a loss to my stats when you summoned my copy,” Bob groused. “I mean, I’m almost back to my starting stats now.”
“Yeah, but if that didn’t happen it would be a little overpowered,” Alburet shrugged, “it is the way it is, so suck it up.”
The group followed Gerald, who started off on a circuit of the wall first as he said two patrols always had the walls as a route. “Patrols are easy, just two orcs and a warg. When we find them, Tiny you tank them and I’ll grab the adds. That will be the most efficient way to handle the patrol groups,” Gerald said as they followed the palisade.
“Yes,” Tiny rumbled, a little unhappy that Gerald was giving him orders. Tiny consoled himself with the fact that the orders made sense and Alburet would have agreed with the orders anyway.