Hieromancers' Armor

Difficulty:  30+ to survive, also requires around 300+ buffed war skill to create the armor (higher for Exarch pieces)
Level Restriction:  None
Timer:  One Month
Can be Solo'd?  Yes, with good run speed and a good connection
Rewards:  Thaumaturgic Plate Coat, Girth, and Leggings, or Exarch Plate Coat, Girth, and Leggings, Lightweight Tome, Globe of Auberean, Hieromancer's Orb, Sasalia's Dress, Boots of the Vault

The Empyrean Hieromancers were elite war mages who served as the Emperor's personal guard at times.  Now you can join their ranks.

Step 0:  Optional Lore!  This quest involves a bit of luck.  There are three randomly spawning NPCs, two of which are optional.  These two are the Wandering Archmage who usually lives in the Desert and Spertat the Ursuin Hunter, who usually appears in the mountainous lands of the north and south of Osteth.  If you'd like to learn more of the back story regarding the armor and the order you are about to join, track them down and buy an unreadable text from Spertat and a Puzzle Box from the Mage.   Combine them to get an untranslated text that the translator in Cragstone can translate.

Step 1:  Peculiar Old Dagger.  The third of the randomly spawning NPCs is Zairente Ra-Yao.  She appears in the southern mountains, especially around Kara, sells the Peculiar Old Dagger, which you will need to make your armor.  Unfortunately, it is encrusted with centuries of crud and is unusable in its current state.

Step 2:  Grievvers.  To clean up that dagger, you will need to find a vial of Grievver acid.  Only 3 species of Grievvers drop the acid - Virulent, Harrower, and Bane.  You can tell you are fighting the right kind of Grievver if they breathe acid instead of lightning.  The drop rate is higher for higher level Grievvers (ie, Banes), but you can mow down a whole lot more Virulents in less time and make up for the difference.  I suggest hunting Virulents in the Grievver Caves and the surrounding environs.  You can also find a healthy spawn of Harrowers in Phyntos Menace.  Once you have your acid, use it on the Peculiar Dagger and you will remove the crud and create a crystal key.

Step 3:  The Humming Crystal.  Yet another random spawn!  Head north to the plains between Bandit and Neydissa Castles and start running!  You will eventually come across a Humming Crystal Portal.  Hop in and you will be teleported to the peak of a very tall mountain in the Direlands. In front of you is a giant blue crystal - use your key on the crystal and you will receive a portal gem.  Don't pop it just yet!  Before you do, save yourself some time and take one of the two exit portals near the crystal.  These drop you within sight of the Hieromancers' Halls.

Step 3a:  Optional Items.  If you would like to get the Globe of Auberean, head inside the Hieromancers' Hall, following the instructions below.  Grab the Blue Orb.

Step 4:  The Lyceum.  Stock up on Components and when you're ready, pop your recall gem.  You will teleport to the top of a peak off the southern Osteth shore.  You will find yourself in the middle of the Lyceum, an Empyrean magic school.  There are a couple items here you might want to pick up before getting your armor.  If you kill one of the Gatekeeper Golems, you can loot a key off his body and use that to open a chest in the eastern building.  Inside is Sasalia's Dress, a stylish Cooking dress.  Exit the gates and run up the slope to a pair of small buildings.  In the basement of the larger building is the Lightweight Tome, a useful book to write your random musings.  The other building is nothing but eye candy now, but it's worth looking at!  If you did get a Blue Orb from the Hieromancers' Halls, give it to Eaushi the Trainer (the NPC golem in front of you) for the Globe of Auberean.  Once you are done playing in the Lyceum, head up the northern staircase and into a small room to your left.  On the table is a small piece of paper - pick it up and give it to Eaushi.  He will then teleport you into the Trials.

The Trials are five identical dungeons designed so that you will have to finish the trials alone.  If you are low level and brought a friend along, don't fear!  You can end up in the same trial if you repeatedly give Eaushi the note.  Eventually you will end up in the same dungeon as your friend.  Inside are three doors:  the left one is the easiest test, the middle is the mid-level test, and the right is the hard test.  You must do all three tests if you want the whole suit of armor.  Buff up - all life protects, Bludgeon banes, and use a Cold-Rending wand if you have it.  Open the door and jump down into the trial.  You will come across Nephol Golems inside - these guys are only vulnerable to War Magic!  You can use life magic to vuln them, but they are drain-resistant and weapons will not hurt them.  Fortunately, they are pretty weak to Frost!  One of the Golems - the one down a ramp and next to a statue - will drop a Pale Crystal.  Pick it up, take the exit portal, and give the Crystal to Eaushi.  He will give you an unkindled piece of Hieromancer Armor.  Repeat the process until you have done all 3 trials and have the three unkindled armor pieces.

Before you leave, you might want to pick up a couple more items.  If you have lockpick, go through the second trial again and look for the locked chest on the lefthand side of the dungeon.  Inside are two boots!  Combine them to make the Boots of the Vault, which match the Hieromancer armor but offer little protection.  You can also fight the Nephol Golems looking for a Sunstone Geode.  If you find one, give it to Eaushi for the Hieromancer's Orb.  The orb is quite stylish and casts some nice spells for the beginning mage.  Once you are done with the Lyceum, portal recall.

Step 5:  Hieromancers' Halls.   Depending on which portal you took at the Humming Crystal, you will either be due east or west of the Hieromancers' Halls.  Run over to the building and buff up outside the portal.  You will want to protect and bane against everything and get your acid, fire, and shock rending wands ready.  Inside you will be fighting Banderlings, Shadows, Lightning Elementals, old school Diamond Golems, and a couple other random monsters.  The real trouble in this dungeon will be the levers.  It is very hard to do solo unless you have a good connection and are fast.  When you are ready, head inside and kill the Zirconium Golem at the drop.  Head down the slope, killing as you go.  There is a trap in the fiery pillar at the bottom of the slope, which you can jump over.  Head back up the other side of the slope and you will come to the Guardian Spirit.  Kill him and you'll get a magic defense buff!  At the Y intersection, pick a direction and fight into a large rectangular room.  The second lever is here - take note.  After you kill that room's Banderlings, switch to Fire Rending for Shadows.  Head up the ramp at the end of the room and hug the wall - there will be a turn-off into a large room with Umbris in it.  Kill them carefully, as you can get Harmed to death if you aren't careful.  Kill the shadows and move into the big room.  There are 3 ramps up in here - take the one closest to the entrance you used - NOT the middle one.  Kill the stray shadows and you will come to the top of the ramp at the first lever door.  If you are going as a group, leave the group here and tell them they will head through this door when it opens, through a rectangular room, down a spiral staircase, to another lever door.  Tell them to block that door for you!

Leave your group and head down the ramp closest to where you came up.  This ramp leads to a big room with Lightning Elementals inside.  Kill the Astyrrian first and them move through the big metal door on the far side of the room.  Close the door if you can - you don't need any shadows following you.  Past the door is a T intersection - kill the Banderlings and whatever else followed you, and then pick a direction.  Don't go too far - there are 9 Old School Diamond Golems ahead - these guys still cast VI war and life vulns, so they aren't your run-of-the-mill golems.  Carefully kill them and move into their room.  There is a pit in the middle and on one side of the pit, there is a small ledge where 3 Golems sat.  You will see two levers here - these levers open the door where the rest of your team is waiting.  Pull them both just to be sure.  There is a spiral staircase going down into the pit - you will want to jump onto this and take it down to the Banderling Floor.  It's very easy to get disoriented in here, but you will want to run to whichever big rectangular room you *DIDN"T* go through earlier.  If you are concerned, pull them both.  Now you need to make a mad dash back up to where you left your team.  Hopefully, they will have moved through the two doors and bugged the second one for you.  If you are fast enough, you should be able to reach the first door before it closes.  If you are unlucky, just head back to the Diamond Golem room and pull them again.  Once you catch up to your group at the second door, you're safe.

Just past the second lever door is a big Meeting Hall-style room with a dais where the pedestal is in the town Meeting Halls.  There are 3 colored blocks here - your Kindling Stones.  Now comes the war magic check.  Pick your preferred color block and add it to a piece of Hieromancer Armor.  The difficulty check is around 300, so buff up!  If you succeed, you will activate your armor.  If you have war magic specialized, you can improve your armor further!  Try to add a second stone for Exarch Armor.  This is a much more difficult check - 350!  If you succeed, you will have a much more potent piece of armor.  If you fail on any check, the stone will be destroyed, but you can try again to your heart's content.  The stones spawn pretty quickly and since there aren't any monsters, you have all the time you want.

Step 5a:  The Blue Orb.  If you are feeling adventurous, head to the rear of the Hall and pick one of the exits to the left or right (but don't go into the middle - there's an invisible portal!).  Fight your way past the Banderlings and head down until you reach a long corridor with monsters behind doors.  Pick the third door on the left from the North end - it has two Diamond Golems behind it.  Kill them and head inside, moving to the north and west.  There is a false wall on the north wall!  Pass through it and down into a fiery room with a Vapor Golem guardian.  Kill him and pick up the Blue Orb on the ground here.  You can turn this orb in on your next trip to the Lyceum for the Globe of Auberean.

Hieromancer Armor offers no base armor level, but it casts spells which mimic a decent piece of armor, which you can then buff on top of.  The real value of the armor is that it casts the equivalent of minor (or for Exarch, moderate) war, item, and creature magic on you!  Even if you aren't going to use the armor for combat, you can at least use it to buff.  Be wary though!  One Lugian Raider or Hollow Minion can end you very quickly if you are wearing Hieromancer's Armor.  If you want a more useful form of mage armor, you'll want to visit the Halls of Knorr.