No Prep Needed!

[Betheny]

>You gesture at an Illoke shaman.
A sickly, violet haze encompasses an Illoke shaman.
CS: +326 - TD: +264 + CvA: +20 + d100: +61 == +143
Warding failed!
The violet haze furiously swirls around the shaman, striking at an Illoke shaman with small flashes of plasma.
The Illoke shaman is hit for 68 points of damage!
... 25 points of damage!
Superheated arc of plasma traces blackened path across the Illoke shaman's belly!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>prep 302
cast at shaman
The shaman regains his sight and focus.
An Illoke shaman calls forth the wrath of his god as he points at you!
A massive stone hand appears in the air before you!
The huge grey fist wraps around you before you can move to avoid it! The massive hand clasps you tightly in a crushing grip, and your brain seems to scream as you feel your bones snapping!

... 35 points of damage!
Massive blow removes your left foot!
You fall screaming to the ground grasping your mangled left leg!
You are stunned for 8 rounds!
... 20 points of damage!
Good blow to your left arm!
... 20 points of damage!
Good blow to your head leaves you confused!
... 5 points of damage!
Strike glances off your chest.
... 5 points of damage!
Stubs one of the fingers on your right hand.
An Illoke shaman looks weakened!
>You are still stunned.
You are still stunned.

Bastard didn't even prep the goddamn spell, he was blinded for a good 3 minutes prior.

[Scott]

Did it prep the spell before you stunned it? Even still that's a long time to have the spell prepped.... but if that's the case it is explainable, sort of.

[Betheny]

Here's the full of it, up til when he smacked me.

[Stronghold, South Hall]
The cavernous hallway continues to the east and west, its tall stone walls interrupted on its southern expanse by the lintels of an immense ora door. Across from the door is an alcove, the entrance surrounded with a dense halo of carved sigils. Ora braziers are set into the rock to either side of the alcove. You also see an Illoke shaman.
Obvious exits: east, west
You chant a reverent litany, clasping your hands while focusing upon the Blinding spell...
Your spell is ready.
>You gesture at an Illoke shaman.
CS: +326 - TD: +264 + CvA: +20 + d100: +84 == +166
Warding failed!
Its eyes cloud over, becoming a milky blue.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>stance offensive
You are now in an offensive stance.
>prep 110
cast at shaman
You utter a light chant and raise your hands, beckoning the lesser spirits to aid you with the Unbalance spell...
Your spell is ready.
>You gesture at an Illoke shaman.
CS: +309 - TD: +259 + CvA: +20 + d100: +9 == +79
Warded off!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
The ground shakes as an Illoke shaman staggers about!
>prep 110
cast at shaman
Wait 1 sec.
>prep 110
cast at shaman
You don't have a spell prepared!
>You utter a light chant and raise your hands, beckoning the lesser spirits to aid you with the Unbalance spell...
Your spell is ready.
>
You gesture at an Illoke shaman.
CS: +309 - TD: +259 + CvA: +20 + d100: +42 == +112
Warding failed!
... 5 points of damage!
Strike to head dizzies the Illoke shaman.
The shaman is knocked to the ground!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>prep 302
cast at mystic
You chant a reverent litany, clasping your hands while focusing upon the Bane spell...
Your spell is ready.
>Cast at what?
>prep 302
cast at mystic
You already have a spell readied! You must RELEASE it if you wish to prepare another!
>Cast at what?
>l
[Stronghold, South Hall]
The cavernous hallway continues to the east and west, its tall stone walls interrupted on its southern expanse by the lintels of an immense ora door. Across from the door is an alcove, the entrance surrounded with a dense halo of carved sigils. Ora braziers are set into the rock to either side of the alcove. You also see an Illoke shaman that appears stunned.
Obvious exits: east, west
>prep 302
cast at shaman
The shaman fumbles about aimlessly!
>You already have a spell readied! You must RELEASE it if you wish to prepare another!
>
You gesture at an Illoke shaman.
A sickly, violet haze encompasses an Illoke shaman.
CS: +326 - TD: +264 + CvA: +20 + d100: +31 == +113
Warding failed!
The violet haze quickly swirls around the shaman, and the velocity causes large pieces of an Illoke shaman's skin to peel off.
The Illoke shaman is hit for 40 points of damage!
... 15 points of damage!
Pinpoint strike sears the Illoke shaman's chest.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>prep 302
cast at shaman
>You chant a reverent litany, clasping your hands while focusing upon the Bane spell...
Your spell is ready.
You gesture at an Illoke shaman.
A sickly, violet haze encompasses an Illoke shaman.
CS: +326 - TD: +264 + CvA: +20 + d100: +68 == +150
Warding failed!
The violet haze furiously swirls around the shaman, striking at an Illoke shaman with small flashes of plasma.
The Illoke shaman is hit for 69 points of damage!
... 25 points of damage!
Searing blast of energy to hip spins the Illoke shaman around!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
A stone mastiff barrels in!
>prep 302
cast at shaman
You feel less drained.
>You chant a reverent litany, clasping your hands while focusing upon the Bane spell...
Your spell is ready.
You gesture at an Illoke shaman.
A sickly, violet haze encompasses an Illoke shaman.
CS: +326 - TD: +264 + CvA: +20 + d100: +37 == +119
Warding failed!
The violet haze quickly swirls around the shaman, and the velocity causes large pieces of an Illoke shaman's skin to peel off.
The Illoke shaman is hit for 46 points of damage!
... 15 points of damage!
Insignificant burns to the Illoke shaman's neck.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>
A stone mastiff tries to bite you!
AS: +383 vs DS: +432 with AvD: +24 + d100 roll: +88 = +63
A clean miss.
>prep 302
cast at shaman
You chant a reverent litany, clasping your hands while focusing upon the Bane spell...
Your spell is ready.
>You gesture at an Illoke shaman.
A sickly, violet haze encompasses an Illoke shaman.
CS: +326 - TD: +264 + CvA: +20 + d100: +61 == +143
Warding failed!
The violet haze furiously swirls around the shaman, striking at an Illoke shaman with small flashes of plasma.
The Illoke shaman is hit for 68 points of damage!
... 25 points of damage!
Superheated arc of plasma traces blackened path across the Illoke shaman's belly!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.
>prep 302
cast at shaman
The shaman regains his sight and focus.
An Illoke shaman calls forth the wrath of his god as he points at you!
A massive stone hand appears in the air before you!
The huge grey fist wraps around you before you can move to avoid it! The massive hand clasps you tightly in a crushing grip, and your brain seems to scream as you feel your bones snapping!

[Edaarin]

No prep, I'm completely unencumbered, I had just rubbed a white crystal just in case. Also I'm wearing breastplate, 140 ranks of armor and max DE/RE.

An Illoke mystic summons the wrath of his god as he gestures at you!
A massive stone hand appears in the air before you!
The gigantic hand wraps around you, gripping you tightly as it clenches. You let out an agonized scream as you feel your bones shattering under the crushing force!

... 25 points of damage!
Strong blow breaks your neck!
Your SIGN OF WARDING is no longer effective.
Your SIGN OF DEFENDING is no longer effective.
Your SIGN OF STRIKING is no longer effective.
The buzz of thoughts in your mind subsides.
Your SIGN OF SHIELDS is no longer effective.
Your SIGN OF STAUNCHING is no longer effective.
Your SIGN OF SMITING is no longer effective.
Your SIGN OF DEFLECTION is no longer effective.
You feel your extra strength departing.
Your SIGN OF SWORDS is no longer effective.

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 14 mins...
An Illoke mystic looks weakened!

[Betheny]

Yeah. That happened to me a lot, which is why I started stunning them before casting at them. I really hate when they deathcrit you by falling on you too.

[AnticorRifling]

I should have been there to protect you.

[Betheny]

The day I need you to protect me, my dear Anticor, is the day that I give up being a cleric and become a cute, snuggly empath.

I didn't die, anyway.

[Prestius]

Heh .. welcome to the Stronghold. Nasty, deadly place. I died there on a regular basis, and decayed several times down in the depths behind the door.

That Stone Grasp they do isn't a spell per se, so yeah .. there's no Prep on it. You can stop them from doing it by getting them on the ground, stunning them, or, as I did, Forgetting them.

Both the grasp ... and when they topple over on you .. are very heavily age and encumbrance based. Be light. And be prepared to die a LOT if you hunt there.

Definately one of my favorite all time hunting grounds in GS. Rich (at least they were for a time), dangerous critters that required some tactical hunting.

-P

[Betheny]

I've been hunting here for 8 trains and I never noticed them not needing to prep. I guess that shows how much I pay attention. They don't often get the one up on me though, as I 311 them the second I see them.

I should unload some of my AF stuff before it actually does get me killed.

As for it being rich -- I'd say it sort of is. I can go several hunts without finding much, and then find 5 boxes in one hunt.

All in all, a very well done area, with very nice, and interesting, creatures. But I'm still not brave enough to hunt behind the door. When the mandis crystal was in effect, people wouldn't really do rescues here, because you had to walk through and get dispelled.

[Neildo]

I'm assuming you had a macro or cast those spells quickly one after another. You cast 7 spells with 3 seconds of roundtime each which turns out to 21 seconds. It takes a prepped spell 30 seconds to fade away.

Since you walked into the room and it didn't spawn on you, prepping a spell within 9 seconds of your being there isn't too unreasonable. So it could have not ended up casting at you without prepping its spell.

And Prestius, are you sure the stone hand doesn't require them prepping it? I could have sworn they would do a kneeling and rumble to their god or something before casting it. I haven't hunted it in almost a year so I don't recall. I'd have to check my logs.

- N

[Betheny]

Mmm. Macros are my friend. :)

[Edaarin]

Couple things I've noticed...

1. Never venture beyond the door, it's a virtual guarantee of a decay unless you know someone's watching for you, heh
2. Sometimes the invoke the wrath of their god before the stone hand, sometimes not.
3. They CAN and DO invoke the wrath of god while on the floor. I made the mistake early on a few trainings ago to sweep them and then wait in the open for them to stand back up before sweeping them again. They'll fist, stand up, and then go to town on you.
4. Treasure really does vary, I think the system there is rich but the relative wealth of the area goes down fast (and regens fast). Someone told me they found a 278 lb box there yesterday, I've been hunting about 3 or 4 hours today and all I've found were a few boxes and maybe 15k in gems. I've seen a bunch of people cash hunt the area, so that dries it up fast.

[Rowi]

Gettin past the door is easy its getting out thats the pain in the ass! Unless you can Fog. I hate the Stronghold its a nasty place if you dont like dying dont go there. Walked into rooms and seen skull and crossbones before i got to the room, gotta love that!

[Rowi]

Seems theres better treasure behind the door, but that might be just me. Good Node behind the door to for the stronghold insane hunting junky!

[Parkbandit]

There are easier places to hunt... so I RARELY ever go there. I pride myself on my hunting tactics and there are just too many things there that are based on luck.. or unluck.

[Betheny]

If I stay in the Stronghold too long I end up picking up too much treasure to make going behind the door and staying there for a while worth the time.

[Rowi]

guess a coin carryin hand would come in handy then wouldnt it.