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A Solo Magicians Guide to Dulak's Harbour
Thanks to Morillion for this excellent guide!
Lots of people are talking about how good Dulak's Harbor is for mages. Here is a little guide on how to get there, and some of the fun activities this vacation resort provides. If you don't know how to get to Dulak, at the bottom is a short guide and map for the run.
Mob List
Benefits
1. XP. For levels 49+, it is an awesome XP spot. Still at 52, I am getting 1 percent AA XP, or 3/4-1pct normal XP per kill. Mobs take a little while to kill, but the average I have seen is 8% per 17 minute spawn cycle, or 32% XP per hour. I grind very hard in this zone, with no downtime.
2. Cash. The pirates carry from a couple gold to 6pp each, and commonly drop Boarding axes (4pp ea at 120 CHA), Harpoons (4pp, 3gp), and Bucklers of Innoruuk (3pp, 6gp), along with the level 40 pages and words that sell for around 1pp each (which I destroy or rot often). Destroy the Shivs, they are worthless. They also drop some quest items frequently. You can make friends quickly by shouting their name and location to the zone. High-end gems are also semi-rare on their loot table. Commonly I would get a gem every spawn cycle. Star Rubies, Emeralds, Sapphires, Diamonds, and Blue Diamonds are the main ones. The total average cash I have received is 900pp per hour.
3. Items. Most of the boats have a captain that spawns on the boat. Sometimes at random, sometimes in a certain spot. The only one I have encountered is the captain of the Stormwave, Captain Osaftars. He drops a pair of WIS caster pants that sell for around 4k, a nice INT caster 1hb that goes for around 2k, and the much sought after Shimmering Emerald Crystal charm, that gives INT/WIS/SVM as well as Spell Haste II when your specialization skills are high. Also, people often shout to zone all the time with nice Lore items rotting that will sell really well, or even be useful.
4. Safe single pulls. As a 80% solo mage, I love to hear that phrase. With very few exceptions, most of the mobs I have hunted in this zone can be pulled single, or fought single in their place. Aggro range is low in most cases.
Some important things to note:
- No normal mob in the city or on the boats can see invis. There are exceptions if the casters from the Luggald caverns have been trained to zone, but I have never had a single mob in Dulak aggro me while invisible.
- Levitation does not work in this zone.
- The cute tiny little wharf rats are not KoS and do not assist, despite what some of the dumb druids in zone say.
Basics
Before going, take only essentials. Lots of Malachite, lots of Cat's Eye Agate, an instant reclaim item, drum/bridle for horse, SoW potion, and See invis necklace are all I bring. Fill the rest with glowing backpacks for weapon drops.
This is the fighting strategy I use. It keeps me at 100% mana for every fight. First, if you don't have a horse/drogmor, get KEI. Downtime sucks. If you do have KEI and a mount, you will kill quicker because you can add an extra nuke in the fight, so it is not a bad thing. 99% of the mobs you will fight are warriors, so enjoy the break from worrying about resists.
Summon an Earth pet. 49 works, 51 is (much) better. Burnout and DS it. Pull with ceramic band or the lvl 1 nuke to the entrance of the ship (not on the dock). Sic the pet, and med. A buffed pet is an even match for most mobs I will be talking about, so you don't need to do anything else. If you want, add a char to end the fight, but without KEI and a Horse, you will start running a mana deficit. Reclaim pet and start again. There are occasional times when the mob spawns higher and can outmatch the pet. Simply heal once, or nuke the mob to even it back up. Sometimes the mobs resist root and begin to run at 20%. Nuke them fast. Because of this strategy, I go through malachite fast. Resist the urge to cannipet, and simply go for short term mana gains over time.
If you get an add, chain pet and have them switch targets to maintain aggro. Chain petting is crucial in this zone.
Area 1 - Zone In
This is a great area for lower levels or to get a feel for how tough the mobs are. You can pull the Broken Skull _XXXX_ mobs singly to near the zone line, and fight in complete safety. They drop some weapons, but not many gems. They are mostly stationary, but be wary of some roamers. Trains are infrequent, but do happen, and this is where they go. Be ready to zone if called or seen. The mobs are high 30s-low 40s, and hit for a max around 96.
Area 2 - The Stormwave
My favorite boat. This boat has several stationary mobs parked all around the boat. Aggro range is very small, and everything can be single pulled. The mobs are level 40+, and are all dark blue to lvl 52. Their max hit is for around 110, but not often. The captain has a placeholder directly across from the entrance ramp. He is a level 50 iskar monk/warrior, and just a little bit harder than his normal crew. Chain a couple earth pets in him and so long ikky freak. Time it correctly, and the first mob killed will repop when the last one dies. This boat is a HOTLY contested camp because of the charm. I have been lucky to find it open on occasion, or to get on a list to have it. Kill stealers will sit on the boat invis and wait for the captain, so I have had to keep my see invis necklace on while on this boat, and shoo them away.
Area 3 - Lady Dirulia
Second favorite boat. This boat has similar mobs as Stormwave, but more of them. More XP, but no chance at the charm. The boat crew level is the same, but I believe their aggro range is lower than Stormwave. All single pulls. This boat is usually camped, but not as frequent. The captain on this boat drops the Sea Worn Ring, which has some pretty nice caster stats. There is also another named that pops at the end of the dock named Vurag. The lt. blue boatscrubber is a placeholder for him. He is slightly harder than the pirates, but managable. He drops a +20hp Bucaneer's Belt, and a Worn Golden Tooth, which is a 21% haste neck item with stats that sells for 2-4k in bazaar.
Area 4 - The Ship Builders
Another good area. This spot is almost never camped, so I often hunt here while waiting for a boat. The mobs are Broken Skull Shipbulders and Architects who are stationary around a giant ship still under construction. They are very similar to the Stormwave and Dirulia mobs in terms of power. No weapon drops from them, though. There are also a couple Broken Skull Guardians that roam around this area, but are similar level and move very slow. The small danger here is if you get too close to the Oceancrasher boat or Windscorn boat, their pirates will attack. They have a larger aggro radius, and are a bit more powerful. There are also two gnome architects that are near the Windscorn. They cannot be pulled single, and they will often bring a windscorn crew member with them. I simply avoid them. They have a 15-17 min spawn time, and the first one killed is usually up after the last one dies.
Area 5 - Dandolak's Run
Boat #3, Dandolak, is harder than the first two. The mobs are higher level, and have a bit larger aggro radius. At 52, I could not take the whole boat. I could take the bow, and I had significantly more downtime without being able to regenerate the mana as fast as I spent it. They hit around 116, but more often. They also resisted root much more often, and would need a malosi to boot. Same loot, same weapons. I never saw the captain of this ship, but from research, he is lower than the Stormwave captain and drops the same legs and weapon, but no charm. I stayed away from this boat since my first camp there. Slower XP, harder mobs, more pets cast, and same loot. Captain Rockbelly spawns on this boat, and drops a decent twink axe and a regen tunic.
Area 6 - Oceancrasher
Boat #4, the Oceancrasher, is a tough boat. There were numerous horror stories going around guild and here about how hard it was, so I checked it out. The mobs are tougher than Dandolak, with a larger aggro radius. I had trouble pulling singles. The initiates were OK, but the assassins were murder on the pet(s). XP was same, loot was the same, but I spent quite a bit of time medding while trying to solo this boat. I eventually got a group with a 54 warrior (and his 65 pet cleric), and a 46 druid. We owned the boat, but the XP slowed down to a crawl. I will come back here after a few levels to try again, but at 52 it sucketh much.
EDIT - I finally figured out the trick for Oceancrasher. The mobs on the dock and by the bank are much lower level than the boat mobs, with the same titles. A good camp for Oceancrasher would be to set up in the middle of the yard, and pull the dock/bank mobs one at a time. Then once the dock is clear, invis, run back to yard and start again. The mobs on the boat are MUCH harder, and not worth the mana drain for xp.
Area 7 - Windscorn
Editing in my experience this past week. Windscorn is not really a soloable boat. To spice it up, they added in some clerics (Templars), and some shadowknights (Revenants) who HT for 500. We took a group of 5 to the boat - 2 55 warriors, 59 cleric, 60 bard, and 53 mage. We were doing very well for a while. We nearly cleared the boat, then the bard said that the captain popped on track, along with 6 other mobs. We kept pulling as usual, then all hell broke loose. 2 in camp, then all the sudden a boat mob walked down the ramp (very calmly) and began to assist. Then another, then another. Suddenly 3 folks in the group were dead, and the other two (myself included) were sporting a fairly high-level train to the zone.
I looked it up on Allahkazam, and it seems that the Winscorn captain is more like an event. He only spawns for 30 minutes. You have to kill the mobs that spawn with him for him to be targetable, and once he is, even more spawn. We are going to go back with a larger force and an enchanter to try again. I will post the results.
Getting To Dulak
The number one question I get when bragging on this zone - how do I get there? I am putting this here as one definitive answer that I will be linking to forever.
I hate porting. I feel lazy and cheap when porting since PoP came out, so I rarely do it when solo. This is a route from the Plane of Knowledge portal to Paineel (the back stone on the evil side) that I can almost do blindfolded now. I do not invis for the first leg of the trip because nothing aggros, and I am amiable in Paineel. For safety, you might consider invis for the whole trip if you are not sure about faction. Drink some Blood of the Wolf before going to speed up the trip. If you do get a port, the closest is Stonebrunt mountains, so you can skip to #3. Total trip time from PoK to casting pet - 8 minutes.
Map:
Image removed - Hopefully will be reinstated soon, sorry for inconvenience.
1. Toxullia Forest to the Warrens. Take the Paineel stone, and it will drop you just west of the entrance to Paineel. Just head east to the entrance to Paineel. Once you zone in to the city, run to the big hole, and take a left through the cave. You will emerge at the newbie area, keep running straight until you get to the next cavern, and take a left at the fountain. This will zone you to the Warrens.
2. Warrens is the confusing maze of this trip. Take a left when you enter, and follow the map above for the rest of the route. Nothing will aggro you here, except the King and Shaman in the throne room (and only if you are really close.) Feel free to kill everything you see to get Paineel faction up, or just run through. Once you get to the cave bat lord's room, take the left tunnel, and go straight until you zone to Stonebrunt.
3. Stonebrunt mountains has several animals that will aggro you and give chase. For courtesy, I levitate and invis starting here to avoid trains. Take a left after coming out of the tunnel, and head due east. The zone to Gunthak is a huge boat (Abysmal Lady) in the gulf. Click the door to zone.
4. Gulf of Gunthak. This is a wierd zone, but interesting. From the boat, go southwest across the water (still invis and levitating, right?) When you see the beach, enter in the right-most corner to avoid undead pests and trains. On the right will be a cave, enter it and follow the map (don't take the left fork at any junction, basically) This cave has a couple troll guards, lots of lotus flowers, a couple mushrooms, and a few escaped drogmors. Drop invis here, and you are in for a nasty train. Drogmors run faster than SoW, and regen like crazy. Once you emerge from the cave, you will see a town with little huts, Run straight across from the tunnel, and then south to zone to Dulak's Harbor.
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