Shadow Lugians

Difficulty:  Minimum to survive, 100+ Melee to solo (Mages *cannot* solo!)
Level Restriction:  80+ 
Timer:  30 Days
Can be Solo'd?  Melee or Missile only
Rewards:  Doppelganger Shield, Doppelganger Robe, Experience

Shadow Lugians have attacked Linvak Tukal!  A great many allied Lugians have been taken prisoner and Lord Kresovus was nearly killed!  Find out where the Lugian Prisoners are and locate Balor, Kresovus's pet Mattekar.

*This quest works best with a team of 3 people.  If you have a larger group, you will have to camp the bosses.*

Step 1:  Preparation.  The Shadow Lugians are hiding out in a fortress in the northern Direlands.  You can get there one of two ways - run or portal!  Many of the Shadow Lugians inside the dungeon drop portal gems to their stronghold, so if you have been before, you likely have a spare gem left over.  If not, you will need to run.  The quickest way to the dungeon (located at 12.2N, 81.1W) is to recall to Aerlinthe and back into the Northwest Direlands portal near the drop.  You will need to run the rest of the way.  If you are leading a group, I'd suggest running there and killing the Shadow Lugians for their gems.  Shadow Lugians are weak to both Lightning and Fire and almost exclusively use Hollow weapons (especially the bosses), so bring your highest AL armor.  Before you use the gem, buff up!  Buff your lightning weapon and protect and bane against physical damage (there are a couple Lugians that aren't hollow inside).

Step 2:  Shadow Lugian Stronghold, exterior.  The Stronghold is a new-style dungeon and has two sections - one that tunnels into the ground and one inside a portal.  Regardless of how you arrive, you will find yourself near the outside entrance to the Stronghold.  This first section is fairly linear, although there are sections with small rooms and dead ends.  Fight your way through - I suggest using the 'run-around' technique to get the Hollow Rock throwing Lugians to switch to melee.  The portal into the inner section of the dungeon is guarded by a Shadow Commander - I typically just run past the Commander and his friends and into the portal.

Step 3:  Stronghold, Interior.  From the portal drop, head forward and you will find the Lugian captives!  You can talk to them if you like, but they aren't a necessary part of the quest.  Follow the hall down a ramp and you find a larger room protected by several Lugians.  At the far end is a locked gate.  Ignore it for now and head down the S path out of the large room.  The path spreads out into a series of small corridors - you want to head down and to the southwest here.  You will find Shotok, the first of the Bosses in the lowest section of these corridors.  He has a considerable amount of health, so it will take a while to kill him.  Be sure you run around him to switch him over to melee mode - his axe is not hollow, but his rocks are!  When he falls, check his corpse.  He drops one copy of a note called "Coda" and 5 Doppelganger Shields - have everyone grab a shield and make sure that one person gets the note.  Shotok spawns near a barrel with a key on it - be sure you pick one up.  You will only need the one key.  Now head back up to the large room with the locked door and use Shotok's key to open it.  The rest of the dungeon is pretty much linear, so you won't get lost.  The next boss you will reach is Urleg, who is at the far end of a bridge over a lava pool.  Watch the boulders on the way in and get him into melee mode ASAP.  He drops 5 Doppelganger Robes and another copy of "Coda" - again, make sure everyone gets the robe and one person gets the note.  Shortly after Urleg's bridge, you will find a large room guarded by the final Lugian boss, Amaroth.  He drops 5 pieces of Balor's Fur and a final copy of "Coda".  If you have a group larger than 3 people, you will need to camp Urleg and Amaroth until everyone gets a copy of Coda - I don't know what the respawn time is like, unfortunately, which is why I recommend a group no larger than 3.  When everyone has all the rewards and a note, press on.  The final room has a half dozen Lugians (kill them first!) and a massive, disgusting blob in the middle.  The Shadow Portal is has ridiculously high magic defense, so if you are a mage, stand back and let the melees and archers go to work.  When the Portal is destroyed, it summons a gateway - make sure everyone goes through!

Step 4:  The Shadow knows?  The summoned gateway leads to a small antechamber and a Shadowy Lugian NPC named 'The Shadow'.  I have no idea what the purpose of 'The Shadow' is - if you greet him, he slimes your head and teleports you to Subway.  Perhaps he flags you for some other, undiscovered quest?  Or perhaps his purpose will be explained in the days to come... who knows?

Step 5:  Rewards.  From Subway, head to Linvak Tukal via Yaraq.  Head up to the highest point of the central tower and talk to Lord Kresovus.  Give him your piece of Balor's Fur and your copy of Coda and he will give you an experience reward.  The exact percentage is somewhat unclear, but characters above level 100 will get a combined 10M experience.  Below that, the rewards are approximately a combined 10% of your level.  The shield and the robe are decent pieces (although the robe is more stylish than functional).