10-18-2004, 01:54 AM
(This post was last modified: 03-11-2005, 03:36 AM by MongoJerry.)
ADVENTURES OF NERIAD: Schooling Scholomance, part VII, Old Business
Before continuing with the story, let's take care of a few bits of old business. First, Mugs from the official Blizzard forums reminded me that one of the mob types in the "Safe Room" also casts silence, which could be a troubling issue, if a party's healer gets silenced. Good point. Luckily, though, the silence spell is a short-ranged area-of-effect spell, so if the party's priest stands back from the fray, which most priests do anyway, they shouldn't be affected most of the time. If the priest does have the misfortune of being silenced, he or she should then step back, wait for the silence to wear off and continue. The nice thing about having one's priest not be silenced is that he or she can then cast Dispel Magic on his or her party members and get rid of their silence. Keep in mind that warriors cannot Taunt while silenced, so if it's early in the fight, the priest might want to dispel the silence off the warrior tank even before dispelling the silence on the party's spellcasters.
Mugs also reminded me to mention that the key to the Viewing Room disappears after one use. I can't believe I forgot to mention this. I guess I was writing too late at night or something. Anyway, the key is a one-time use item, so there's no need to roll over who gets to pick up the key. Also, this one-time use feature means that one does indeed need to work one's way through the Great Ossuary and fight Rattlegore on each Scholomance visit.
![[Image: laboratory4.jpg]](http://www.lurkerlounge.com/mongo/laboratory4.jpg)
A group of us went on another Scholomance run last night, which gave me a chance to take some better screenshots and also remind myself of some of the smaller details of the instance. One of those "details" is that the primary reason we always shackled the Spectral Teachers in the Laboratory and saved them for last in any pull was that Spectral Teachers have the ability to banish players. One can imagine the nastiness of having one's tank banished in the middle of a large fight. Unfortunately, despite Banish being classified as a "magic" debuff, it can't be dispelled.
![[Image: laboratory5.jpg]](http://www.lurkerlounge.com/mongo/laboratory5.jpg)
I got this better screenshot of Ras Frostwhisper last night. When one follows one of the Scholomance quest lines, one finds out that Frostwhisper plays a far more significant role than that of a simple miniboss.
![[Image: laboratory6.jpg]](http://www.lurkerlounge.com/mongo/laboratory6.jpg)
We got these gloves off Frostwhisper last night. Not bad.
![[Image: laboratory7.jpg]](http://www.lurkerlounge.com/mongo/laboratory7.jpg)
The main reason why Kronos and I have this idea that the Laboratory might be the alchemist's version of the Blackrock Depths anvil and forge is this clickable "Alchemy Lab." It's the only furniture piece in the room that can be moused over or clicked on. It does make one wonder.
The secret to the iron gate guarding the chest has been revealed, thanks to Durn on the official Blizzard forums! Despite my willingness to bet my group 50s going in that Durn was pulling our legs, I can now verify that there is a torch switch near Jandice Barlov that opens the gate. I'll talk about what we got and how to get through the "Room That's Not Quite As Hellish As It Used To Be," when we get to that point in the narrative. However, I can say that I'm starting to warm up to the idea of hitting Jandice Barlov on farming runs now. I'm not 100% convinced, mind you, but I'm warming up to the idea.
With all of that out of the way, let's continue where the group left off. The group had just defeated Ras Frostwhisper and was heading toward the Headmaster's Quarters, or the section of the instance I affectionately call "The Six Treasure Rooms." Note: The narrative will continue to follow the original group's adventures. However, I might occasionally use a screenshot from last night's group to illustrate a point. If you see a screenshot with Minimus (mage) or Berilac (paladin) in it, I just ask that you suspend your sense of disbelief for a bit and imagine Neth or Lilisi, respectively, instead. My thanks to Minimus and Berilac for their help last night.
Before continuing with the story, let's take care of a few bits of old business. First, Mugs from the official Blizzard forums reminded me that one of the mob types in the "Safe Room" also casts silence, which could be a troubling issue, if a party's healer gets silenced. Good point. Luckily, though, the silence spell is a short-ranged area-of-effect spell, so if the party's priest stands back from the fray, which most priests do anyway, they shouldn't be affected most of the time. If the priest does have the misfortune of being silenced, he or she should then step back, wait for the silence to wear off and continue. The nice thing about having one's priest not be silenced is that he or she can then cast Dispel Magic on his or her party members and get rid of their silence. Keep in mind that warriors cannot Taunt while silenced, so if it's early in the fight, the priest might want to dispel the silence off the warrior tank even before dispelling the silence on the party's spellcasters.
Mugs also reminded me to mention that the key to the Viewing Room disappears after one use. I can't believe I forgot to mention this. I guess I was writing too late at night or something. Anyway, the key is a one-time use item, so there's no need to roll over who gets to pick up the key. Also, this one-time use feature means that one does indeed need to work one's way through the Great Ossuary and fight Rattlegore on each Scholomance visit.
A group of us went on another Scholomance run last night, which gave me a chance to take some better screenshots and also remind myself of some of the smaller details of the instance. One of those "details" is that the primary reason we always shackled the Spectral Teachers in the Laboratory and saved them for last in any pull was that Spectral Teachers have the ability to banish players. One can imagine the nastiness of having one's tank banished in the middle of a large fight. Unfortunately, despite Banish being classified as a "magic" debuff, it can't be dispelled.
I got this better screenshot of Ras Frostwhisper last night. When one follows one of the Scholomance quest lines, one finds out that Frostwhisper plays a far more significant role than that of a simple miniboss.
We got these gloves off Frostwhisper last night. Not bad.
The main reason why Kronos and I have this idea that the Laboratory might be the alchemist's version of the Blackrock Depths anvil and forge is this clickable "Alchemy Lab." It's the only furniture piece in the room that can be moused over or clicked on. It does make one wonder.
The secret to the iron gate guarding the chest has been revealed, thanks to Durn on the official Blizzard forums! Despite my willingness to bet my group 50s going in that Durn was pulling our legs, I can now verify that there is a torch switch near Jandice Barlov that opens the gate. I'll talk about what we got and how to get through the "Room That's Not Quite As Hellish As It Used To Be," when we get to that point in the narrative. However, I can say that I'm starting to warm up to the idea of hitting Jandice Barlov on farming runs now. I'm not 100% convinced, mind you, but I'm warming up to the idea.
With all of that out of the way, let's continue where the group left off. The group had just defeated Ras Frostwhisper and was heading toward the Headmaster's Quarters, or the section of the instance I affectionately call "The Six Treasure Rooms." Note: The narrative will continue to follow the original group's adventures. However, I might occasionally use a screenshot from last night's group to illustrate a point. If you see a screenshot with Minimus (mage) or Berilac (paladin) in it, I just ask that you suspend your sense of disbelief for a bit and imagine Neth or Lilisi, respectively, instead. My thanks to Minimus and Berilac for their help last night.