Skull Gate Pass [first impressions]

Age of Conan Testlive
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So I just went in and out the new map and here are my impressions and some pictures for those who cant get in (or are lazy :slight_smile: ).

groupFinder
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You can sign up through the new Group finder. Apart from two Onslaught modes and weekly raids, you will find all classic dungeons here. To join you have to meet the level (purist) requirements or simply form a private group if you wanna go above the level.

No unchained modes, just the normal ones and also no Khitai/Spine/Ardashir ones.

Be sure to have exactly the needed roles if you are signing as the new finder will fill only like: 1 tank, 1 heal, 4 DPS. So if you have 2 or more healers in group, ask the others to sign as DPS :wink:

altar
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At first look the map looks huge! But according to a dev its actualy smaller than the first one. But it has some nice Skyrimish vibes… so dont forget to slot your Fus Ro Dah! :smiley:

After speaking to the NPC Hylda at the gate, you will follow her to the altar where she will start a ritual and you will have to protect her - if Hylda dies, its over!

Before you talk to her again you can freely explore the whole map:

map

As you may already guessed the “???” gem slots are gone and we have two brand new slots:

newSlots

Hyperborean - can be bought via NPC shop in OT as a “gamble bag” in rare/epic/legendary quality:

shop

White Hand - can only be obtained during the fight in the form of loot (like in Kutchemes) drops.

gems
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While the Hyperborean gems will focus on additional stats, the White Hand ones looks interesting as those add new spells/abilities on damage like this one will strike your enemy with a lightning strike!

And ofc there will be new tokens to collect and spend :slight_smile:

token

So thats it from me (played as a ToS - Yasmela). Will come back after more waves defeated!

PS: do you remember Favoured of Louhi from T3 raid? Well… his mistress, the high priestess Louhi herself will be there to kick your ■■■ and to drain all mana from you! :smiley:

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OK, after we defeated (in 4) the 5th wave I am back to give you more infos!

Firstly: this map is different from the Kuthchemes one and your group have to adapt or wipe :slight_smile: All the mobs and bosses will go after the NPC you have to protect and if she dies, its over. So DPS them down before they reach the center or rather “catch” them away from the shrine, CC them and nuke them down.

Bosses (the final ones, after you reach the fatality meter) ignores all aggro abilities once they reach the NPC so the key is to keep those at distance and kill them away from the shrine. They also ignore all CCs so you have to kite if in trouble till your tank is ready again.

  • Taskmaster Mijoral (1-4) - melee
  • Thror Ironhand (5-9) - melee (need to check)
  • Vammatar The Cruel (10-14) - caster (need to check)
  • Louhi (15-19) - caster

Secondly: There are no wild camps (or at least none spawned during fight) and its logical - you cant run away from the NPC to farm tokens, you have to protect her! But there are and will be mini bosses you know from Kuth (witch, summoner, concubine…) with hyperborian bodies. If you decide to go after them in the middle of the fight be sure 2-3 players guard the center or you can easily wipe while killing those far away (minions spawned by the summoner will allways go after you so you dont have to worry about the NPC life).

  • Gurnakhi Warlord
  • Gurnakhi Slaver
  • Gurnakhi Death Knight
  • High Priest Vallittu

Archers/casters: those need to be addressed ASAP or they will kill your NPC! Just run against them and AoE nuke them down or CC them away.

Debuffs: be ready with sloted AA wrack/ruin/torment removers as the bosses like to debuff a lot. Same for rogues to remove the heal over time buff.

Looting: after a wave is finished just talk to the Hylda NPC who serves as a “living treasury” and will reward you. Rewards are more or same as in Kuth and you can get relics, money or AA XPs.

My final opinion? With premade/private group of friends it will be fun and much needed change to the Kuth map. But with random players not aware of the differences it will be bit messy :astonished: But thats with all PuGs :wink:

Also more than ever I would recommend using VoIP for this type of map to easily split your group into smaller divisions to cover all possibilities :face_with_monocle:

And here is the vanity helmet you can buy:

helmet

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