Bristbane Forest

[Rias]

Rumors are spreading about a major case of resen-infestation discovered in the area known as Bristbane Forest. The following post was made in the towns of Shadgard and Mistral Lake (along with other posts made by intrepid PC explorers):

WARNING: A Tse Gaiyan scout returned quite traumatized after going to investigate reports of potential infestation in Bristbane Forest, located in the western Flametip Plains. The reports that have followed from independent forays and investigations speak of many dangerous infested creatures both humanoid and insect-like, with particular mentions of spiders. Please be advised that the area is considered extremely dangerous and that only seasoned combatants should even consider going there, preferably in groups as the creatures are known to swarm. Tse Gaiyan supports any such efforts by prepared and competent fighters to try and keep the resen in check here in the Central Lost Lands. Leaving them unopposed will almost certainly lead to the infestation and affected creatures spreading further over the area.

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Bristbane Forest and associated sub-zones have been released! This is yet another area import from CLOK, so veterans of that project will be able to get some more nostalgia by visiting these places, though the mobs are mostly new (and some have descriptions that got a little excessive, but I couldn't help myself trying to help players visualize these things). These are combat zones and fill the 520, 540, and 560 combat skill range. The mobs are a mix of human and non-human, so the human(ish ...) mobs have been set up with higher riln amounts and dropbox chances than usual to try and balance the presence of non-loot-dropping mobs in the mix. It just would have been too bland if it was only humanoid creatures, and the others were way too much fun to work on. I'm also testing out a new (or rather, until-now-rarely-utilized) extra loot system that allows specific mobs to produce a few additional loot items that are simply looted alongside the riln and boxes rather than being inside boxes. Some of these items are quite mundane, but still worth a fair amount at the market, so do consider hauling them back and selling them rather than leaving them behind if you want to maximize your earnings.

Due to the nature of the creatures and the intended feel of the area, it seemed appropriate to have higher spawn rates. Some of them should be relatively easy kills to try and balance that (others are not).

Things were done a little differently in these areas (mob variety, loot, spawn rate) so feedback and tweak suggestions are particularly welcome in this case. Happy hunting!

[Serity]

The place is horrifying and dreadful. Good work.



Seriously, I have no real criticisms at this time, aside from the comments made in the Quality of Life thread. I found it rather enjoyable to fight through from a gameplay perspective, though we did have a large group.

My only real comment would be that you can't use directly outside of the area as a safety net to retreat to, as usual, but instead you have to make it -far- away from the zone, which includes travel time. This is rather unique to this area. Explorers take note.

[redfox]

I hated it and the creatures were disgusting.

Keep going
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Jokes aside, the area is great and it provides a good deal of difficulty and requires different skills to make it far. I'm sure if we didn't have 6-7 people in the group, that would have been pretty difficult.

The loot system was interesting to see, and it would be very welcome in a lot of areas, whether the item is mundane or not. It certainly adds a lot to hunting, instead of relying on skinning and lockboxes only. Thank you for the new area!

[Serity]

Oh, right; I did want to ask: is there any way mechanically of dealing with the new form of crowd control in the area? We couldn't figure anything out, but perhaps the obvious existing-command used by an ally when equipped with appropriate equipment might be of use? (When I used that command outside of the area, it said "You can't X (personname). Did you mean to (something else)?")

[HeckTurtle]

Dude you have no idea how simultaneously overjoyed and horrified I was to see Bristbane again but way scarier. I had a lot of fun running around the zone with everyone. Definitely feels as dangerous as advertised. Thanks for the release!

[Rias]

Per the changelog: It is now possible to use the cut command on a webbed non-hostile target to try and cut any binding webbing from them. This action takes 3 seconds and works with either a held weapon capable of slash damage or a small cutting tool (knife, dagger, scissors) located anywhere in one's inventory. The sharpness of the item affects its web-cutting ability, and scissors receive an additional bonus.

[artus]

I shouldn't have deleted all the webbed strings from my pack!:(

Seriously though, thank you. I haven't been there yet but it's always good to see old places comin back. Though man, you sure have a lot of unique ways to make old stuff more dangerous and disgusting. Those dusklamp tunnel folks turned my stomach. Now this?:)

[Verel]

Man, I remember Bristbane from Clok. This is supposed to be scarier? Should be fun for one of my warriors.

[Gorth]

Obnoxious area to play solo. But that's alright.

Pretty well balanced from the non-optimal Dreadnought side of things. Somewhat annoying to work at killing something that can stun for twenty seconds plus (pseudo infinitely I think) and not get loot, which is half of the outer mobs, but alright. The loot in general isn't really staggering, but I also haven't spent a measurably long time, there, on account of previously mentioned annoyances. Feeling good about it, though.