Valley of Death

The Valley of Death is a bit neglected by levelers these days, but years ago it was the place to level and hunt for good loot.  The VoD traces its origins back to that master experimenter, the Virindi Aerbax.  The wildlife of the VoD has all been modified by Aerbax so that it has lots of heath, lots of armor, and strong defenses.  It also used to provide lots of experience (by comparison, anyway), but sadly there are many more productive places to hunt.  However, there are still a few reasons to brave the Valley, thanks to new quests that can only be completed here.

Where Is It?

The Valley of Death is located in the central Direlands, roughly around 37S, 63W.  There are basically two ways to get there - a portal ride or a run.  The best way is to find someone with a tie to "VoD Hotdrop" as it's known, or Direlands Midlands.  These portals randomly spawn in various parts of Dereth, or you can find a stable tie in the levels 1-25 dungeon of Xarabydun.  Rumor has it you can tie to the exit portal to the Hidden Cavern too, but I have yet to brave that place.  As the name suggests, that portal does not have a safe drop point, so buff before using it.  However, the portal does take you right into the middle of the action, allowing you to get right into the fight.  Your alternative is to start at the Obsidian Rim, which is easily accessible by using Aerlinthe or Caul recall and following the portal ring.  From that drop point, you will have to head west then north around the outer mountains of the VoD.  If you are just getting your feet wet in the Valley, that would be your safest bet.  An additional way into the VoD is by using the Dangerous Portal Device, which can drop you right at the fringes of Valley 1 (more on that later).

Know Thyself

The VoD wasn't originally designed to be a solo hunting grounds, but times have changed since then and more options are available now than when the Valley first appeared.  Nevertheless, mages will have the least trouble hurting the VoD's monsters (and in all likelihood, vice versa).  Melees and Archers are at a disadvantage because pretty much everything in the VoD has very high natural armor.  If you want to hunt effectively, you will need to be able to cast imperil and the appropriate vuln spell.  If you don't have the ability to cast vulns, you will be forced to rely on rending weapons, which will slow your damage output significantly.  That isn't to say that no-life characters can't hunt the VoD - it's just not going to be as effective.

Get Equipped

To be effective in the VoD, you will need:

• High AL Armor.  Pretty much everything in the VoD has a strong melee attack, so good armor is a must.  You will be fighting imperilled and vulned a great deal of the time, so that extra bit of armor will make all the difference. 

• Consumables.  Dispel gems and Health fuel will save your life.

The rest of the necessary gear is dependant on your character.  Mages will want to have a Shadowfire, Assault, Weeping, and Singularity Wand, in addition to as many CS/CB wands as you have.  Archers will primarily use a Composite weapon and the appropriate ammo.  Melees will want Armor Rending weapons and a magic absorbing Aegis, preferably one with armor level (like Isin Dule's Shield).  Melees and Archers who can't cast their own vulns will have to use resistance rending weapons instead of Armor Rending.

Know Thy Enemy

The VoD has a wide variety of monsters in it, but most of those you won't want to fight.  They take too much time to kill, aren't worth enough XP, and aren't part of any major quests.  I will detail all the monsters that live in the VoD, but the main ones you will be killing are:

• Virindi.  There are now four types - Paradoxes, Quidioxes, and the Shadow-touched variants of those two.  These are worth over a million XP a pop and drop the best loot.  Quids should die first, as they cast VII bolts.  Both types vuln, imperil, and drain when their health gets low.  Mages should use slash or fire from a Singularity Wand.  These are especially important because they are part of the Virindi Slaying kill tasks.

• Fallen Monsters.  There are a variety of these monsters, but each drops a Fallen Weapon, a Sezzherei portal gem (used in Vissidal Flagging), and counts toward a kill task from a NPC in Stonehold.  The weapons can also be turned in to that NPC for XP.

• Swarthy Mattekar.  These things rarely drop a hide that can be made into the stylish Swarthy Mattekar Robe.  Use fire.

• Platinum Golem Mountain King.  The Aun Hunters out of Ayan want you to kill these guys.  Typically they spawn with at least one Platinum Golem friend (I don't fight them if there are more than two to start).  Kill the friends, then switch to the King.  Whatever you do, don't debuff these guys (exception coming!).  They will counter your buff, which will make them basically unkillable.  That exception is Fester - they don't counter that spell and there is no way to beat their regen rate alone without Fester.  Be sure to dispel any vulns the regular golems cast on you (the King doesn't debuff, just war).  Killing these guys is a slow, slow process!

• Knath Andras.  There is a kill task for 25 of these guys out of Wei Jhou.  Knaths spawn in packs, one for each element plus a debuffer.  Fighting them in the open is suicide - you'll never see as much war magic coming at you as you will when you attack a Knath Pack.  Hide behind a tree or a rock and start debuffing the pack to try to pull a couple toward you.  When they get right on top of you, they will not cast anymore (except for drains), so you will be able to survive pretty easily.  The Andrases are the red ones.

The other monsters that you should mostly avoid are:

• Titanium Armoredillos.  These are the easiest things to kill in the VoD and provide the least XP.  Slash or Pierce works well.

• Adolescent Gromnies.  These spawn in packs of four, one for each element.  They bite fast but not too hard (provided you aren't debuffed too much).  Use slash on them.  They can drop teeth, hides, and wings, each of which can be turned in to a crafter.  The wings make a unique set of armor that will look nice on a mule.  Physical attacks work best.

• Dreadful Ursuin.  Spawns alone.  Like the other melee-only monsters, these are pretty easy to kill, but aren't worth the effort.  Use fire.

• Banderlings.  These typically spawn in packs, although they can appear alone too.  There are several species - Hierophants, Champions, and Paragons.  They hit pretty hard, cast plenty of magic, and are persistent.  Don't bother with them if you can help it.  Fire and Pierce work well.

• Drudges.  These can spawn in packs or by themselves.  There are two species in the VoD - Seraphs and Seraph Mystics.  Both are annoying, but the Mystics are particularly so.  Fire works well on the Seraphs and Acid works well on the Mystics.  Again, not worth killing unless you have to.

• Crystal Shards.  Like Mountain Kings, these spawn with friends, war-happy satellite crystals.  Like the Knaths, you can pull the Sentient Crystal Shard (the boss) away from his friends by casting on him.  Also like the Knaths, the boss only debuffs and drains, so once he gets to you, you shouldn't have trouble beating him.  The satellites die when the Sentient Shard dies.  Use bludge or slash.

• Bile Grievver.  These usually spawn with other Grievvers or by themselves.  They debuff and war, but their melee attack isn't much better than anything else in the Valley.  Use slash.

• Lugians.  There are two types - Raider Justicars and Raider Prefects.  Both use hollow weapons if they are armed.  Because of those hollow weapons, they should be avoided, although they aren't nearly as deadly as PotB Lugians.  Cold and Lightning work well.  These guys spawn in groups typically, but you will see lone Lugians from time to time.

• Tremendous Monouga.  These guys are big, bad, and persistent.  They regen too quickly to be taken down easily, so avoid them.  If you do feel obligated to kill one for some reason, use cold or slashing.  They drop pieces to build T-Mon backpacks during the festival season.  They spawn alone, except during the spring, when they have babies.

• Olthoi.  The two types in the VoD are Sentinels and Primordials, which spawn in packs of four.  Both hit hard, but are somewhat fragile for VoD critters.  If you do want to take one down, use bludgeoning or piercing.

• Shadows.  Void Knights and Wretcheds live in the VoD.  They debuff, vuln, and war, but go down quickly if you use a Shadowfire weapon. 

• Undead.  The Undead in the VoD almost always spawn in large groups, making them worth avoiding.  Species include Tormentors, Chimeras, Archfiends, Dark Guardians, and Lich Oppressors.  Archfiends and Tormentors are skeletons, so use bludge.  The rest are true undead, so use fire.  Undead Slayer gems will help.

• Tumeroks.  Tumeroks generally spawn in groups, but also come solo from time to time.  The two species are Transcendent Tumeroks and Revered Tumerok Shamans.  Mages can dispatch these very quickly with an Assault Orb, making them almost worth killing.  Melees and archers will have a harder time because they frequently have shields.

• Obliterator.  These tuskers have the most health and offer the most XP in the VoD, but they take a long time to kill.  Use Fire.

Combat

Before you actually start killing things, you will need to understand the how the valleys are set up.  There are basically three regions you can visit - the central valley around the Hotdrop, Valley 1, or Valley 2.  Have a look at THIS MAP.  The central valley is the largest one, centered around the signature "Jay".  I prefer to hunt this region because it is the largest region of the VoD - big enough so that if you run laps around the "Jay", you will reset the spawn on the far side by the time you get back.  I hunt from the region just west of the J to the valley east of the Y.  You can also head northwest of the J into another little signature that says "ZBOOG", but I would only go that way if the "JAY" region is busy with other players.  Valley 1 is quite a bit safer than the hotdrop region and will allow you to get accustomed to the VoD without running the risk of losing corpses.  The Dangerous Portal Device drops you right outside Valley 1, saving you the trip (if the portal device is feeling cooperative).  Valley 1 isn't nearly as big or densely populated, so you can cut your teeth in relative safety.  Valley 2 actually leads into the central valley if you are feeling bold (or can't find a ride to the hotdrop).  You will need to find a path up and over one of the ridges to get into the central valley though.

The most important thing about hunting in the VoD is finding a nice, safe spot.  Spawns in parts of the VoD can be very dense and you will just end up at the lifestone if you try to fight two spawn groups at the same time.  If you find a spawn you particularly want to kill, you should look around and find the region furthest away from other spawns before you start attacking.  Be sure to pull the monsters you want to fight to you, instead of running up to them (although that can have its uses from time to time).  You may also find that the only way to have a safe spot is to make one.  Killing a solo monster near a spawn you want to kill is sometimes necessary.

Killing VoD critters depends on whether or not the monster casts.  You can probably take on a whole pack of Dillos or Gromnies if necessary, but you wouldn't want to try that with a spawn of Undead.  Err on the side of caution - it's a pain to navigate the valleys to recover a corpse.  There's no shame in running away - it might thin out the pack of monsters attacking you enough to counterattack safely.

Quests

As I alluded to earlier, there are several recent additions to the VoD that make it worth exploring again.  The biggest one lately are the Virindi Slaying kill tasks.  As you can see from the quest guide, you will need to kill 300 Virindi total, but the reward is a wand that casts a spell that will recall you to Candeth Keep - a very useful item!  There are also the three kill tasks (Mountain Kings, Knath Andrases, and Fallen Monsters), plus Vissidal Flagging's Sezzie Gem.  That portal gem also can be used to take you to Sezzherei's Lair, which is worth a title and a Salvaging Helm.  The other distraction in the VoD are Shadowy Statues of the Hopeslayer.  These randomly spawn throughout the VoD and are very similar to the Snow Lilies on the Halaetans.  When you use the statues, four monsters appear - two Ravenist Humans and two Shadows.  Kill them and check their corpses.  They have a chance (about 1 in 4) of dropping a little Hopeslayer statue.  Collect three and visit Sarkin Killcrane in Wei Jhou for XP and cash.