haha wtf dumb

You swing a monir-hafted golvern morning star at an Illoke shaman!
AS: +443 vs DS: +247 with AvD: +30 + d100 roll: +83 = +309
... and hit for 80 points of damage!
Left kneecap smashed into pulp.
The Illoke shaman rumbles in agony as he teeters for a moment, then falls directly at you!
In a vain attempt, you leap to dodge the massive falling creature! The shaman strikes you squarely, crushing you beneath him and the ground!

... 60 points of damage!
Body pulped to a gooey mass.
You ooze to the ground.
The dully illuminated mantle protecting you begins to falter, then completely fades away.
The layer of protection fades away.
The buzz of thoughts in your mind subsides.
The dim aura fades from around you.
The powerful look leaves you.
You feel the extra courage wane.
The deep blue glow leaves you.
ambush sham left leg
ambush sham left leg
The glowing specks of energy surrounding you suddenly shoot off in all directions, then quickly fade away.
You feel less confident.
The silvery luminescence fades from around you.
The misty halo fades from you.
The bright luminescence fades from around you.
The brilliant luminescence fades from around you.
You feel your extra strength departing.
You become solid again.
You return to normal color.
A faint silvery glow fades from around you.
The light blue glow leaves you.

It seems you have died, my friend. Although you cannot do anything, you are keenly aware of what is going on around you...

You mentally give a sigh of relief as you remember that the Goddess Lorminstra owes you a favor.

...departing in 13 mins...
Roundtime: 30 sec.
The Illoke shaman is stunned!

[Volstock]

it's a common occurance in Stronghold

[Wezas]

Lets see all the Shaman falling on people.


You channel at an Illoke shaman.
You concentrate intently on an Illoke shaman, and a pulse of pearlescent energy ripples toward him!
CS: +282 - TD: +275 + CvA: +20 + d100: +100 == +127
Warding failed!
The Illoke shaman shudders with sporadic convulsions as pearlescent ripples envelop his body.
The Illoke shaman is smashed for 39 points of damage!
... 30 points of damage!
Good blow to left arm!
The Illoke shaman rumbles in agony as he teeters for a moment, then falls directly at you!
You leap to dodge the massive falling creature, but he strikes you hard, pinning you painfully to the ground!

... 20 points of damage!
Crack to the head swells eye shut.
You are stunned for 5 rounds!
Roundtime: 16 sec.


You channel at an Illoke shaman.
You concentrate intently on an Illoke shaman, and a pulse of pearlescent energy ripples toward him!
CS: +292 - TD: +275 + CvA: +20 + d100: +93 == +130
Warding failed!
The Illoke shaman shudders with sporadic convulsions as pearlescent ripples envelop his body.
The Illoke shaman is smashed for 55 points of damage!
The Illoke shaman rumbles in agony as he teeters for a moment, then falls directly at you!
You leap to dodge the massive falling creature, but he strikes you hard, pinning you painfully to the ground!

... 15 points of damage!
Smack to the eye bursts blood vessels.
You are stunned for 3 rounds!
Roundtime: 13 sec.


Pierat channels at an Illoke mystic.
A sickly, violet haze encompasses an Illoke mystic.
CS: +334 - TD: +258 + CvA: +25 + d100: +99 == +200
Warding failed!
The violet haze chaotically swirls around the mystic, the tremendous force causing the victim to crumple inward upon itself!
The Illoke mystic is hit for 101 points of damage!
... 25 points of damage!
Minor burns to the Illoke mystic's weapon arm.
The Illoke mystic rumbles in agony as he teeters for a moment, then falls directly at Emberbrite!
In a futile attempt, Emberbrite leaps to dodge the massive falling creature! The mystic strikes her squarely, crushing Emberbrite beneath him and the ground!

... 35 points of damage!
Vertebrae in neck disintegrate from impact!
Neck sinks into shoulders.

* Emberbrite drops dead at your feet!


You channel at an Illoke mystic.
You concentrate intently on an Illoke mystic, and a pulse of pearlescent energy ripples toward him!
CS: +292 - TD: +249 + CvA: +25 + d100: +79 == +147
Warding failed!
The Illoke mystic shudders with sporadic convulsions as pearlescent ripples envelop his body.
The Illoke mystic is crushed for 61 points of damage!
The Illoke mystic rumbles in agony as he teeters for a moment, then falls directly at Emberbrite!
In a futile attempt, Emberbrite leaps to dodge the massive falling creature! The mystic strikes her squarely, crushing Emberbrite beneath him and the ground!

... 40 points of damage!
Brain driven into neck by mammoth downswing!

* Emberbrite drops dead at your feet!

Pierat says, "Nice job death dealer."
>Pierat nods to you.


In other news, I miss my old AS:

You swing a shimmering white falchion at an Illoke shaman!
AS: +395 vs DS: +299 with AvD: +27 + d100 roll: +99 = +222
... and hit for 46 points of damage!
Slash to the Illoke shaman's chest!
Breathe deep, it'll feel better in a minute.

** Your white falchion releases a blast of vibrating energy! **
... 30 points of damage!
Good blow to head!
The Illoke shaman grumbles in pain one last time before lying still.

[Praefection]

The best part is when your hunting partner dies when they get squished to death.

[Parkbandit]

It's the most retarded hunting area in the game bar none.

[Mistomeer]

Originally posted by Parkbandit
It's the most retarded hunting area in the game bar none.

Fire mages are the most retarded. Stronghold is second.

[NihilistInc]

It's nice if you enjoy a good fisting everynow and then.

I don't however. I hunt Skull Temple, kthnx.

[Betheny]

Are you hunting the Stronghold???O

OMG we should be hunting partners. By the way, the Stronghold can - and will - randomly kill you, say. 1 out of 5 hunts? Just count on it. It sucks. It's easier with two people though -- especially since I Unbalance the creatures, so they don't fall down on you when they die. Tackle might work.

[Drew]

Knock them over first Stanley. Also, the stronghold is made to just be hard, period, I hope it stays that way.

[Betheny]

I'm not sure if it's made to be hard, but it's definitely made so that death is a common occurrence. NO ONE is safe there. Ever. I kind of like it, compared to the monotony of Wyneb.

[Sean]

Originally posted by Drew
Knock them over first Stanley. Also, the stronghold is made to just be hard, period, I hope it stays that way.

Stronghold isn't hard. It's annoying.

[Methais]

<<Also, the stronghold is made to just be hard, period, I hope it stays that way.>>

Random deaths due to stupid shit like what happens in there just a band-aid that Simu thinks makes the area "fun and challenging", shows a lack of creativity, but in reality just shows their lack of creativity.

"Let's make this new area challenging!"

"I don't know how. How about we just make people die randomly?"

"Ok sounds great!"

[Caramia]

The Stronghold isn't so much hard as that it's challenging to certain classes. Pures can avoid being randomly killed by hunting in groups, being ultra-unencumbered, and never letting the Shamans and Mystics and Mastiffs swarm you.

It's one place where you can move off a room and wait, and a good deal of time, one creature will follow you, reducing the ability to be ganged.

[Drinin]

Originally posted by Drew
Knock them over first Stanley. Also, the stronghold is made to just be hard, period, I hope it stays that way.

Agreed. No other hunting area has come close so far (at 70 trains) to Stronghold in terms of fun.

[Drew2]

Wyneb wins.

Easy = Fun.

[Drinin]

Originally posted by Tayre
Wyneb wins.

Easy = Fun.

Wyneb was fucking boring. I'm glad that I no longer hunt there.

[Lumi]

The Stronghold would be outstanding if they would just remove the insta-deaths from Illoke Stone Fist.

Let it remove a limb/bind/10 round stun/etc...fine. There are ways to survive that, be it a hunting partner, or keeping encumbrance down, or getting Mobility, or Lucksong, or any number of things...but when you go from 0 encumbrance, glowing like the sun, perfect health, stance o with weapon/shield out in armor you're trained for....to DEAD, before the room desc finishes loading...that's not fun. And all the people who say "oh that's challenging, and challenging is fun!"...yeah, those people can go fuck themselves with a huge stone maul.

That said, my bard has been doing a pretty good job there lately. I started hunting there with Fu at level 57 or so, and I had a blast...until I had a run of about six consecutive hunts when SF killed me while I was fried, for walking into a room as a shaman had his round come up. I said "fuck that", and went elsewhere.

I came back at 60, and it has yet to happen. I've been SF'ed a couple times, but I survived them all (some through sheer luck, admittedly). I'd say that the most important thing is, like others have said, knock the bastards off their feet. I think everyone has a means of doing it...110, 1005, weed, tackle, sweep, ewave, quake, whatever.

Also, peer into the next room. If you see a shaman or a mystic, prep 417/119, walk in and cast it immediately. If they had SF prepped, it's gone, if not, they lose a defensive spell.

Seriously, the Stronghold pisses me off for the insta-kill, but otherwise I do enjoy it. Though lately I'm kind of a pseudo-mutant, or so I'm told, so YMMV.