Other Articles in this Series:
Legends of Elumia : Not a Review, but the Start of a Series
Legends of Elumia : Inventory, Banks, Quests, Pets, DUST and a little on Tactics
Legends of Elumia : Soloing For Chests as a BattleMage in Tandaia Forest
'Tandaia Forest' is where everyone begins in 'Legends of Elumia' and a place you can either solo or group for a faster sweep. Here are a few tips that may be of use to you.
Chests
These are a mixed blessing, and especially so for the Gold iterations.
Within 'Tandaia Forest' chests can be readily found, and you can gain up to THREE per dungeon, or instance as I prefer to name them.
...'Oh shit, that's a Gold Chest, can I trade it for a Bronze one?'...
Whenever I spot a 'Gold Chest' I wince as I know the temptation to blow 500 DUST on a key will be too much for me to resist. Once I destroyed one of these as I became more disillusioned that these tempting glowing chests may not ever yield a piece of jewellery with some statistics of value.
If they do yield a ring or a necklace, I have been told they can be Rare, Mystic, or even Epic in quality. I have my doubts, and seeing is believing.
To this date, I have yet to crack a Gold Chest and have it contain anything but buff items, or special potions; yet like an idiot, I continue to try.
...'Oooohhh..., a Bronze Chest'...
'Bronze Chests' are more manageable being a relative bargain at 100 DUST. Unlike the Gold variant, I have gained several rings, all 'Gray' in colour but sporting a level of AC (Armour Class). Let's face facts, any type of character can make use of AC, especially as we have FOUR fingers to fill.
The cost of the buff food within a Bronze Chest generally exceeds the value if bought from a vendor, unlike the Gold type.
...'Urk, more potions.., where's the fucking rings? my fingers are getting cold'...
'Platinum Chests' are only found in Hard dungeons (the ones that use Mystery keys) and are even more expensive at 2500 DUST. They also mostly contain those super potions and little else. As I rarely participate in 'Hard Dungeons' for now, they bear little relevance to me.
...don't come any closer, or I will kick your arse, I mean it, I will'...
Given the amount of loot one can find in hard dungeons, I suppose the cost for Platinum keys can be deemed as acceptable, but my one successful raid that yielded THREE of these chests was a tough pill to swallow with 7500 DUST leaving my wallet.
I course, I got no loot of relevance.
Bear Traps
These horrors lurk amongst the lush greenery of 'Tandaia Forest', and if you happen to spring one, they will snare your character and add a bleed dot of six ticks at 35 damage per. They also make a snapping sound which always makes me jump out of my skin, followed by a spat of profanity.
You can spot them if you are careful, but unless you are a ranged DPS character (BattleMage or Archer), then forget about springing them, unless you want to volunteer your leg as bait.
They tend to be set next to 'Tanda's Oil' spawn points, and for Champions the correct approach from the opposite side of the trap is my method of looting the oil and not getting huge tear marks in my lower calf.
Take note in Boss Arenas as well as Mini-Boss Arenas, as it’s common to view several sets of these ancient torture devices set and waiting for the budding Champion who runs in without looking.
...'across the bridge lurks a 'Great Mehdu' along with several Bear Traps, not for him, for you'...
… and don’t be fooled by the word ‘Bear Trap’. If you think you can lure a Medhu into one then think again, as the bears they are intended to trap are quite immune from damage and will happily walk over them without springing them.
These are by definition, ‘Human Traps’, and triggering one and then another several seconds later is quite commonplace. Use your eyes and don’t run so fast if you want to avoid them.
Stone Giants
I hated these big monsters when I started playing ‘Legends of Elumia’ but have grown very fond of them recently. Why, because they tend to drop loot, usually crap loot but occasionally ‘Green’ items that would be common in any other MMO, but ‘Rare’ in this game.
When approaching a mound of stone, take note as hovering over could reveal it as it as a dozing giant. They have smallish aggro ranges but chase you for some time once you rouse them, and for the first-time adventurer, they will get your pulse racing.
Stone Giants can be soloed at least by a Champion with crap gear if you are either lucky, have some of these ‘useless potions’ looted from Gold Chests (see above), or have a couple of healing potions to hand.
With a BattleMage, I have had little success unless grouped, but I hear it can be done.
I find the Armour buff (50% extra defense) or Speed buff (50% faster) work well with these stony monsters, and much to my surprise, my Gore damage over time which is a bleed spell makes them lose blood.
So now you see, those Stoney monsters do contain the red stuff that we all do.
Pirate Camps
These are interesting finds though not so challenging, at least now. Pirates come in several varieties with the Bloodletter types being the toughest.
Just like a Champion, they inflict DOTs on the player and hit at an astonishing rate.
...'Pirates make the forest more interesting, but are not always present in every instance'...
The regular types are about as easy as Mahajrai’s, but give the other types a little respect and make sure you are ready for them before engaging as they tend to come in groups of two or three.
Bronze chests can often be found in these camps as well as a Krystal shard, which will yield up to 30 or 40 DUST.
...'if you see this message, then don't fart about... RUN!'...
The Pirates have a selection of BOTs or Drones such as Medic or Toxic types. These annoyances should be taken out before the pirates as they can make your day miserable with group heal buffs to your enemies or a shitty poison DOT on you while fighting the pirates.
They also tend to explode when nearly dead, so be prepared to leg it fast if you get an explosion warning. The BOTs drop bombs occasionally, which have barely any value, but keep them as they are especially useful for future dungeon runs.
Bombs can be equipped and used as pulling mechanisms for tougher monsters. Delivering a decent damage payload followed by a damage-over-time spell will help you take down the Aphex and Great types of monsters in 'Tandaia Forest'.
Pirates have a habit of talking to you after they die and have sunk into the ground. It’s likely a bug or oversight, but it always makes me chuckle when I see the words, ‘you picked on the wrong guys today’ coming from a corpse somewhere in the earth.
After Thoughts
‘Legends of Elumia’ is extremely mean when it comes to loot. If you find a ‘Loaf of Bread’ you want to cheer. I figure this is intentional and only makes you want to come back and try again.
...'A rare special creature. Mehdu types are generally the toughest ones and this one's name tells me to be cautious'...
Looting a ‘Green’ item from the forest is an uncommon occurrence and these mostly come from either Stone Giants, Aphex creatures, Special creatures (yellow writing), or Great creatures.
I think the team have done an admirable ‘carrot and stick’ job when it comes to loot. You want to go out and there and give it one more go, even though it’s simply a grind.
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