Level 81 hunting options

[Palcron]

So, I've spent the last 8 or 10 levels in minos running through bounties with ease, but the time is coming that I'm going to only (or nearly always) get Bowels bounties, and I'm looking for somewhere else to hunt. My experience with the Bowels is that I do not like it, but if there is some style or strategy with which I'm unfamiliar, I'd be glad to give it a go. Otherwise, I know that I can do the rift, although I've never been, and from what I hear, it's a pain in the ass solely for the sake of being a pain in the ass. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Necessary info:

Level 81 rogue
Ambushes from hiding with dual short swords
Wears full plate (140 armor ranks)
2x edge/ambush/stalk/perception/dodge/PF, just over 1.8x CM, and just over 1.5x TWC
For cman, he has max ranks in disarm, cdef, vanish, smastery, mobility, and a few ranks in a couple of other useful skills
Max stunman and gambits (stealth moves are glorious) from the guild, and nearly max sweep (though I never find sweep to be particularly useful)
CoL master


Pulling ideas off of Krakii is easy enough, but it doesn't give a great feel for what will be effective/efficient hunting for an ambushing rogue. If anyone has any useful suggestions, I would open to just about anything, including moving out of the Landing and to some less accessible town. I do also have a fixskills, and have been contemplating range (open or hidden ambush) for quite some time, so that, too, is an option. And thank you.

[Allereli]

The rift is not bad once you get used to the quirks.

Vvrael are squishy if I recall correctly from hunting with an ambushing rogue years ago.

[Palcron]

Yeah, it's definitely something I've thought about, and will certainly require figuring out and getting used to the quirks. It could, after quite a few trial-and-error deaths, prove to be a worthwhile option. Thank you.

[Valyss]

as a square, i did the ducts from ~81-86. gremlocks, and beings die pretty quickly

[stormcrow]

Gremlocks have very good perception and being only 2x hiding you are going to have a hard time ambushing them. They will spot you pretty quickly. I found these levels were the hardest for my rogue. getting to the ducts to hunt the critters is hard enough having to run the gauntlet of griffins ect. Taints and Gremlocks will be all over you in your early 80's. Not until I g0t into my early 90's and hit nelemar did I feel better. The critters in there have bad perception. OTF has a ton of things that will spot you then destroy you.

[Tgo01]

I've never done a rogue in the Rift but overall I find the place to be pretty easy. I think a lot of people exaggerate how bad it is. Just highlight the voids and make it play a sound when you enter a room with one so you know to move two rooms away. Same thing with being rifted, make it play a sound when you're rifted so you realize it right away and you can even use a lich alias and use it to bring you back to the sands after being rifted, or even have it bring you directly back to the plane you were just rifted from. Run away from rift crawlers. Those are really the only things to look out for other than the critter abilities themselves.

[Palcron]

Regarding the ducts, how effective are dirt kick and dust shroud at 2x hiding? Still not worth the trouble if you aren't 3x?

As far as the rift, my impression is less that it's extremely difficult to hunt, and more that it was designed solely to be obnoxious. Critter abilities aren't a major concern, so long as I can reliably remain hidden. Between redux, stunman, full plate and vanish, I find my way out of way more trouble than I likely should. That, or I just get extremely lucky more often than not.

From what I can tell, for the time being, the rift is likely going to be my best option. I did a decent bit of research a little while back, and early 80's hunting options were not particularly exciting. Lots of overly perceptive and/or extremely-difficult-to-crit mobs. But the rift does seem like it will be functional in the end (after suffering a few deaths while figuring out mechanics).

[Kastrel]

As a very temporary downhunting option, you could hunt Dhu Goleras in Maaghara Tower, which are 78. Won't last you long, but might be just enough to get you one or two levels to prepare for OTF.

[stormcrow]

My ambushing rogue died a lot at this level. I did over hunt in tower til it just wasn't worth it. Like I said: OTF is hard for an ambusher who is not fully trained and even hard for one that is. I tried the rift but again, a lot of undead critters who seemed good at smelling you out. Also with all the voids and rifting going on ... was just too hard for me to sustain good hunting. I wish I had some great advise for you other then it's going to be a challenging 10 levels. I'm not sure how good dirt kick was in ducts .. never had it ..probably should have gotten it. Once you get to about 90 then Nelemar's first floor is good as the critters don't have very good perception and some soft foes.


Regarding the ducts, how effective are dirt kick and dust shroud at 2x hiding? Still not worth the trouble if you aren't 3x?

As far as the rift, my impression is less that it's extremely difficult to hunt, and more that it was designed solely to be obnoxious. Critter abilities aren't a major concern, so long as I can reliably remain hidden. Between redux, stunman, full plate and vanish, I find my way out of way more trouble than I likely should. That, or I just get extremely lucky more often than not.

From what I can tell, for the time being, the rift is likely going to be my best option. I did a decent bit of research a little while back, and early 80's hunting options were not particularly exciting. Lots of overly perceptive and/or extremely-difficult-to-crit mobs. But the rift does seem like it will be functional in the end (after suffering a few deaths while figuring out mechanics).

[Victorj]

IMO, for an ambushing rogue, bowels are the probably the best. Everything there is pretty blind compared to rift plane 1 (naisircs/seraceris) and OTF (gremlocks). Just stick to elders and jarls. Sweep them and then take off their heads/eye/neck/whatever you aim for. They do shake off stuns, so you need to be a little more careful.

If you decide to do rift, I would jump straight into 2, as there's no high perception undead after they moved seras to 1. The caederas might get annoying though (they knock you over with some rt when they come in your room).

[Ker_Thwap]

I hunted the bowels with my 2 weapon gnome rogue. It's all about the dodge. Full plate may be a hindrance for that. I had maxed sweep, and found it minimally effective at like level, as often as not it would leave you hanging in delay.

Common wisdom says not to leg the jarls and elders, or they'll fall on you and you'll die, but screw that. You'll die more from hand of god and major ewaves when you fail a sweep. Get blurs, mobiles, and keep light, and just leg the suckers, hide and take out an eye, fail the insta death, go for other eye, or neck. If you get swarmed, leave the room, leave it half dead, then come back and finish it off later. I'd often have about 4 or 5 half dead jarls lying about. For elementals, leg, then go for back and chest ambushes for the maximum damage. Probably killed 200 for every time one fell on me and killed me from legging it, not a bad ratio.

Always beg for purify air and unpresence. You don't want jarls fogging to you with hand of god prepped.

[subzero]

For elementals, leg, then go for back and chest ambushes for the maximum damage. Probably killed 200 for every time one fell on me and killed me from legging it, not a bad ratio.


I'd suggest taking off their right arm after a leg, too. Even if your DS is high enough when attacking or you're otherwise not concerned with being hit, they have that stupid ground-slap maneuver that can still wreck you. No right arm, no ground slaps; totally harmless little piles of rubble at that point.