Major Smoldering Stone

Difficulty: 25+
Timer: 13 Days
Can be Solo'd?  Yes

The Major Smoldering Stone is one of my favorite quests.  It requires much more user skill than any other quest I can think of (except Blackmire 3).  There are several difficult jumps you have to make to reach the stone.  

Before you even start to prepare, you should learn how to execute the 3 major types of jumps.  Preferably, you know someone in game who can help you, since it's hard to describe through this page.  The easiest is the full power jump.  This is done by pressing and holding the space bar until the bar fills entirely.  You then press and hold forward and release the space key.  This propells you quite far and is also fairly high.  The second type of jump is a full power shift jump.  This is much tricker and requires more timing.  You again press and hold space and forward, but you also need to hold the shift key the entire time.  This jump is also high, but it is short.  The final jump is the tap jump.  As the name implies, this is done by tapping (not holding) space and forward together.  This jump is very low, but moderatly long.  It's used to jump into small windows inside the dungeon.

After you've practiced the jumps and think you are somewhat capable, break out your frost weapon and your fire protections and head to the vault.  If you have the space, you should also invest in bludgeon, blade, and pierce protects too, since there are a decent number of zefirs inside the dungeon.  If your jump skill isn't terribly high, you may need bludgeon protects, as there is a big drop at the end.  Also take the time to learn Flame bane if you haven't already.

Jahannan Vault is located on the outer rim of Crater, so you'll also need a ride there.  Be wary, as crater is often filled with infernos and magma golems.  Your best bet is stay high up on the side of the wall.  There is a pass to the outer rim at 65.2N 11.1E, which is guarded by several low and mid level fire elementals.  You'll know you've reached the pass when you see a torch above you.  Run through and break to the right when you exit.  Now you have to run to the other side of the rim.  The Vault itself is located at 66.9N 15E.  Alternately, you can head to 49.8S, 15E, which is near Khayyaban's Al-Mar Oasis settlement.  The foyer is not hot, but there will be zefirs below you who might drain or debuff you.  

When everyone arrives, buff up.  Flame bane your shield or your undies.  Make sure to have flame, blade, blug, and pierce protects.  When everyone's done, open the door and turn left.  You will then enter a room with a broken plank running across it.  You will want to jump down into one of the gaps, down to where the zefirs you drained were.  From this point, you will want to go down the ramps on either side and find the corridor that runs through the middle of the room.  Head up this corridor to a T intersection.  Turn left here.  You will encounter a flamma or two as you head up this path.  You will run into another intersection at the top of the ramp here, as well as a group of mountain rats.  Dispatch these guys and turn left, away from where they came from.  Follow this path, through a few flammas and zefirs until you reach a room with a window in it.

This is the first set of jumps.  The first jump is a full power jump out the window into a chain hanging from a plank.  After you make this, head right to the second chain on the plank and tap jump into the window in front of you.  If you fall, go down the staircase and out the door into the first room you entered.  You will need to begin this part again.  After all of your party makes it into the window, head up the ramp.  At the top of the ramp, you will enter the second jump room.  

Here you will need to make a shift jump onto the plank in front of you.  Be careful and line up your jump.  Then turn to your right and tap jump into the window.  If you fall here, you will land in the same place as the first jump, so you will need to make those jumps again as well.  Once everyone makes it, head up the ramp.  You will encounter another T intersection, where you will head left.  Up another ramp is the third jump room.  

This is by far the hardest set of jumps.  The first jump is another shift jump, but be aware that if you jump too far this time, you will jump past the plank and fall down . Turn to your left and make another shift jump to the next platform.  Finally, make a tap jump into the window.  If you miss any of these jumps, you can land in many different places.  You might land on a bridge you crossed between the 2nd and 3rd rooms or you might fall the whole way down to the bottom, which will mean running the whole series of jumps again.  

When you are ready, head up the ramp.  Do not head into the inferno's room immediately!  Wait until you life mage has imperiled/vulned the inferno.  Send your best warrior or mage to dispatch him.  Don't attack the other fire elementals, as they die when the inferno does.  If you think you can't kill the inferno, you can run past him if you are fast enough.  You will want to head left, then up the stairs in the next room.  Once you reach the top of the stairs, you have two more jump to make.  You can make either of the 3 types of jumps to the middle plank, then tap into the window here.  If you fall, you will land at the bottom of the stairwell.  Not a problem - run up and try again.  Once you make the jump, follow the path until you reach another jump.  

This is the last technically demanding jump.  It is also the hardest jump to explain.  It requires a standard jump - no shift - but it does not require full power.  Depending on your numeric jump skill, it can be anywhere from a half power jump to a 3/4 power jump.  You are aiming at the ledge in the middle of the room.  The best part about this jump is that if you miss this jump, you do not need to keep trying until you succeed.  If you fall, you can simply take the downward path in the lower righthand corner of the floor and follow that path until you end up where your fellows who made the jump landed.  When you reunite, full power jump into the cage directly across from you and head up the ramp to your left.  You have now reached the final challenge.  Rebuff here if you need to.

As you have no doubt noticed by now, you are standing atop a fairly high drop.  What you cannot see from up there is that there are several zefirs at the bottom waiting to attack you.  Your best bet for group survival is to have your strongest warrior jump down after he has received the strongest life protects you can give him. Again, zefirs only cast blug, slash, and pierce.  Heal your warrior if he needs it.  After he has cleared the zefirs, have your group jump down.  Make sure to blug prot your fellows with lower health.  Once you make it down, stay put.  You aren't done just yet.  In the final room, there is another inferno waiting for you, as well as a few smaller fire elementals.  Fortunately for you, the inferno is too tall to get through the passage into the area where you dropped, so you can easily drain, war, or missile him to death.  Again, his death kills the smaller elementals.  In some cases, you can lure him down into the pits in the last room where he cannot hurt you.  Once the last room is secure, head on in and grab your stones.  They are on a fast spawn (around 25 sec).  

Congrats!  You will need a stone tool to remove your fire stone once you have used it on your armor or weapon.  Removal can possibly destroy your stone, so be careful.  The timer on the stone is one day and you may have more than one stone at a time.