Aid Grimel Quest - rough notes

[Ashur]

The baking quest ("I am a Master Chef") requires either Rallos Zek or Solosek Ro flag. Aid Grimel told me I needed more experience in the planes until I had this.

My baking skill is sub-200 and Aid Grimel tells me if he wanted bad food he'd go back to Rivervale and eat some of that slop Ella passes off as fine cuisine; and to come back when I have mastered the frying pan.

I am not sure if this is to immediately follow the tailoring quest or whether it is even later (after fletching or something), because I have not yet gotten my skill in tailoring to the point where I can get this quest.

The fact that the tailoring quest requires Elemental Plane of Fire drops was learned by a guildmate who has the appropriate tailoring skill and the same flags as I, but has not done the previous parts of the quest.

I'm also glad to report that the Faceted Blue Diamond and the Enchanted Bar of Pure Velium are now No Drop. They were not prior to the patch that allowed the successful combination of the Velium Blue Diamond Ring.

[Ashur]

Minor update: I redid the quest to the point where you create the Velium Blue Diamond Ring so I can keep it. So yes, it can be done.

I got the pottery quest at exactly 220 unmodified Pottery (not given at 218 + Geerlok).

I have also failed to make the urn in the wheel three times at that 220 + geerlok. Looks like I need to raise my skill some more, because I'd hate to get lucky here and then fail in the kiln and face the prospect of needing 3 more divine crystalline glazes.

I like a challenge.

[Shaman Arriana]

I guess my problem with this quest is that the rewards well...kinda suck.

The smithing reward should be the 3rd or 4th signet, and they should improve dramatically from there. It isn't just a matter of GMing multiple tradeskills (lord knows that's bad enough), and getting the AA to do it, but also the enourmous amount of work involved in getting the necesary flags. The velium blue diamond ring is a decent enough item, but if you are flagged for it, you have access to a Ring of Destruction from AoW - a substantially better item -, or even better rings than that (Seru ring, Emp ring, etc). For all the time that needs to be invested to even qualify for the quest, the rewards seem to be notably lacking.

Assuming that this quest does involve all 7 of the base tradeskills, and looking at the current progression, the 7th will require Plane of Time access at minimum (and probably some kind of sub-flag withing PoTime...maybe even going so far as reversing the imprisonment of Zeboruxok)..what kind of signet would be a fair reward?

Jeweled Velium Signet Traced With Acrylia Runes: AC30, All stats+20, All resists+20, Hp/Mana+175, Effect: Flowing Thought X, Effect: Vengeance X, Right click: ...I don't know, Revivisence? Sunstrike? Avatar? Complete Heal?

That's the kind of reward that would justify this kind of expendature, and the current progression of signets just doesn't look like it is making it there.

[Khoren Stonefall]

Progression.

The first 7 of 10 Coldain rings are garbage, as are the first 6 of 8 shawls. I'm actually very encouraged by the progression so far.

I wouldn't overestimate the difficulty of getting the fourth stage finished. Most servers, I'm sure, have at least one guild that's flagged along this far, and if the reward was already worth something, a lot more people would have the skills to do it. One of my guildmates in the past two weeks has gotten his smithing from nothing to 220+ (he was over it last night when I logged with 120 combines to go), and in not more than about 50k, and in the week before that he knocked off Jewelling and Brewing.

Every single day, multiple grandmasters become more common, and every single day the flags required are flagged onto more people. As PoP matures, these first four steps are going to look like less and less of a big deal. Remember, normal people aren't earning their flags specifically to do this quest--this quest just becomes available as a free perk of their progression.

I was actually surprised they added saves at only the fourth step. The past progression-type quests (shawl, rings, Seru earring) have all had only their last two stages leap significantly ahead of their first stages.

Also, the first four stages are only tier three content. If you can kill Bertoxx for the first stage, I GUARENTEE you can do everything you need to do to get to stage four. Stage five is a very significant leap ahead, content-wise, through a more demanding encounter (Rallos) and into a new tier entirely.

We won't know until we see the last rewards, but I, for one, am optimistic.

[Shaman Arriana]

But the first 7 coldain rings can be gotten in a single day, and require you to (at worst) be at around 50 in smithing/tailoring. Trivial.

By happy coincidence, I am 250 smithing and brewing. So, given the proper flags (soon...soon...) I'll be able to get the second signet. And there it will stop. Getting flagged sufficiently for the third looks fairly challenging for most guilds (most guilds will never kill the behemoth...he's WAY strong for a tier1 boss). The prospect of pushing a third (and fourth, and fifth...) tradeskill over 200 makes me want to crawl under a table and weep...particularly since one of those is tailoring.

Call it selfish, but I want a better earring for GMing 2 skills :roll:

[EnfinitiStarr8]

Sorry.....

Hail fellow tradeskillers,
This does look like a grand quest but I agree I dont like all the flags that are required with it. I am only in my lower 50's and no where near UBER in anyway, I have most all my trade skills up, not mastered but getting closer everyday and wish I could do this quest. I have always wanted to go 250 in all trade skills and hope one day I still will, but even if I did I dont think I would ever see the flags to do this quest.
To get to a question I have, I tried reading the quest but it's too crazey for me to understand fully how it is set up now. I would love to have the Velium Blue Diamond Ring with EB but am conffused on what flags I need. Can someone show me how to read this right. I've been doing finals in college and 2+2=9 to me right now ops: .
Thank you all have a good season. Karana bless you.

[Khoren Stonefall]

Bertoxx and Behemoth

By happy coincidence, I am 250 smithing and brewing. So, given the proper flags (soon...soon...) I'll be able to get the second signet. And there it will stop. Getting flagged sufficiently for the third looks fairly challenging for most guilds.

Behemoth is a troublesome fight, no question, but I think most guilds who can defeat Bertoxx to begin step one of this quest can steamroll the Behemoth. Behemoth seems to be doable with a lesser, or at least less-well-balanced force than Bertoxx. Maybe we lucked into a superior strategy for Behemoth, or have an inferior one for Bertoxx, or both... But the way I see it, Behemoth is a fight where you need a good strategy, competent behaviour, and maybe a bit of luck. Bertoxx, on the other hand, is a much more honest fight (sorta like Marr)--he'll beat you on fair terms, through his melee damage. The Behemoth will just beat you with tricks and adds and positioning issues if something goes wrong. All things considered, a less experienced or less well-equipped guild should be able to hammer out the Behemoth fight before they manage the Bertoxx one.

That is, if the competition isn't so fierce for Behemoth that you get no time to learn by doing, or no chances at all. :/

Anyway, I think if you can get Bertoxx, you can get to stage four. He seems to be the hardest of the fights up to that point.

[Shaman Arriana]

We'll probably be killing TT before Bertox, and that might be sufficient flagging. I'll check when the time comes. We've done behemoth, and tallon zek, but not made any tries at Bertox yet.

Thankfully, the 3rd trade you need is jewelcraft, so it is just a matter of 3AA and about 8-10kpp to get to that point. Once it gets into skills that need farming, I just might be too burnt out for it

[Gorgin]

It's Bertox for step 1, Marr for step2, Saryrn for step 3 for sure. I can do the brewing portion but not step 1 or 3(250 in all 3 tradeskills) because I don't have Bertox or Saryrn yet, so unless you can kill Bertox you won't be even getting earring 1.

[Kellan]

Reasons

The reason for the flags is simple: The later stage rewards are going to be on par with the loot from higher tier planes, and it would be "unbalancing" to have a L20 character with something like that AC30 +everything earring hoped for earlier.

The fourth stage reward is already approaching the stats on the earring that Tunare drops, save the FT3. Presuming a reasonable progression for the final stages, the end result for this quest will be one of the best earrings in the game ... and there is no way Verant will allow you to avoid the leveling/raiding time(sink) normally required to obtain exceptional items.

I believe Verant included this quest to not only reward dedicated tradeskillers, but to entice more players into our time/cash sinkhole in order to get the reward item.

[Yalum]

Well, there's already a limit of level 50 and 18 AA to GM all the tradeskills. And it's hard to say someone who stops at 50 for that many AA doesn't deserve at least one good item.

Not that it matters much to me personally, my biggest kill to date would be Velk or Gozzrem, and I'll probably still have a Bert flag before I'm a GM smith.

[Demorgoth]

Any news yet on the 5th level flag requirements? I'm guessing Sol Ro, but possible Rallos Zek. Anyone with either of those flags tried the trigger words to confirm?

[Naedayr]

Baking requires rallos zek be dead. I have everything but sol ro and fire flags so far, and he responds to me. In addition 200 skill is not enough.

[Demorgoth]

OK, so looking like:

L5 = Tailoring 220 + Sol Ro
L6 = Baking 220 + Rallos

Makes sense.

[Kronepsis]

Well...

Not if getting to Sol Ro requires you to off RZ...or did I understand the order of progression in the planes wrong?