open PVP areas on the main quest line?

I recently went through the necropolis on the love path of the main line quest. I talked to Thanatos and the spirit guide directed me to the Mideast ruins. When I entered the ruins I was warned that it is an Open PVP area.

This was surprising to me because I thought the purpose of open pvp flags and open pvp areas was to enable people who wanted to PVP to do so with others who also wanted to PvP.

Yet, here is Midras on the main quest line, unavoidable as far as I know.

Is this a one-off or are Open PVP areas a significant factor in the main line quest?

I had to leave Midras quickly because the mobs were too tough (I’m around level 50), but when I go back I’m wondering what should know I expect as it relates to the PvP aspect? I have no experience with it.

 

No spoilers, but did it give you a thrill? Just open the players nearby window, when your enter Midras for the main quest. Just to make you a bit relax, its a very small part open PVP that you need to pass. Just run for it.

 

Thrill? No. I’d made me worry about getting picked off by a much higher level player and getting my equipment ransomed, which I don’t fully understand the mechanics of.

Thanks for the info! Glad to know it’s only a small part and that running is a viable strategy

 

Unfortunately, its not a one-off ....further along you'll need to visit several PvP zones to take the most direct route to the main questline objectives.

There have been dozens of posts about this, and the general answer is "but you don't HAVE to go through PvP!". Which is absolutely true, there are alternative routes, despite the only obvious exit from Necropolis dumping you into a PvP zone, you could take another less obvious exit, or recall, and then travel through several underground scenes (assuming you know about these and/or know the way), spend 5x as much time, fight much harder things, and arrive at the place you need.

I have never really understood the need to shoehorn disinterested parties into PvP, as if somehow having low level people just trying to complete their quests being served up as gank bait somehow makes pvp more meaningful, but, well, it is what it is.

The underground passage you need in this case is called Midmaer passage, its accessible from Kiln Cistern or Spectral Mines, both of which will require fighting/many load screens to get where you are going. Kiln Cistern is the easier route. Midmaer passage itself just has earth elementals and slimes, and isn't too bad.

Honestly though, its usually faster to just blitz through the PvP zone and hope there aren't bored griefers laying in wait. There usually aren't, the pvp zones are pretty empty most of the time.

 

This is really great info, thanks!!

 

Hahaha! PvP zones don't show nearby players. They only show the kill ratings of the players present that you have already encountered.

You could also take a few friends with you, Ffred, or hire someone. But as kaeshive stated, it isn't usually necessary.

 

Well don't trust that you won't get attacked I most certainly did on a very quiet night and I usually spend my earnings as quickly as I get them so I could not pay the ransom but luckily at that time I had tons of sheet music with me so all they got was a song . The Devs were suppose to be making the fact easier to know that you do not have to go through pvp and that there is an alternate area more transparent, but evidently if they did not get the tip noticeable enough since it is not jumping out for all to get what that alternative option is.

 

“Hire someone” - interesting. I though NPCs could only be hired in offline mode? Or does this refer to hiring other players?

 

Thanks for offering another perspective.

It would be great if the alternate routes were easier to become aware of. I got no clues at all about them. I did find the spectral mines and Kiln Cistern but without knowing they let to Midras, I might never have explored them enough to find the underground route. A comment by quest givers could take care of that, I’d think.

 

I meant other players. Yes, I think a multiplayer game is there for interaction between players. Call me old-fashioned.

 

The thing is, there are too many such areas for any one griefer to camp them all, when a trickle of players only come by just once each. There are better places for them to do their thing.

The place you need to go is marked as a point of interest on your map and the compass. This makes it much easier to find the door you are looking for. Trust me on this, it is a major improvement over having absolutely no idea where to go.

Also, don't bother with Rhun ruins, it's really hard to get in there the front way, yet relatively easy to get in the back way

Spoiler

via the nearby mines.

What would be cool is if there were libraries where you could find books of lore with info like this. Basically you could do research.

 

I did not know that! Thanks for the info. Who says you can trust that hired player?

 

There should be compass hints for all the underground alternate routes now.

If you have the quest, look at the compass for blue sparkles in scenes that have underground access.

If they do not work, bug report to let them know to be added or fixed.

 

There's always a way to do anything without having anything to do with PvP. I haven't stepped into a PvP zone in a year (and the others were on purpose) and Im adv lvl 103.

 

Well just to call someone to address this . @Berek. Alternate route information to avoid pvp areas during quests is not getting to players or being missed by players, if you could address this please

 

You almost hit it on the head... You know, how they throw fresh meat into the lion's cage from time to time? Well, that's the game mechanic in SoTA, except fresh meat is a newbie player and a cage - PvP zones. Luckily, the lions are often too bored, or too lazy to care about griefing unsuspecting newbs. Maybe they should just run through naked, or in store bought equipment...

 

I remembered something that might be helpful in addressing the alternate information issue.

The spirit-talker in the necropolis said something about there being an underground route to the Midras ruins if I didn’t want to deal with fighting though the upper ruins. I think this was probably the designers attempt to convey the alternate route info. What threw me off was that the necropolis is underground so I thought I was taking the underground route the spirit talker mentioned.

Did I think it was odd that he’d be telling me about a route I’m already taking? Yes. But with all the bugs, it’s hardly the strangest thing I’ve seen.

So then I exit the necropolis and find myself above ground in the Midras ruins. Did I think it odd that the spirit talker told me the underground route would avoid the upper ruins and yet I ended up above ground? Yes. But with all the bugs, it’s hardly the strangest thing I’ve seen.

Now having the info that there is an alternate route through the Kiln Cistern and spectral mines, it’s quite clear that the spirit talker was referring to a different route than I was on.

What I’d suggest is the spirit talker give a clue as to where the under ground route is. It would avoid confusing it like I did with the underground route through the necropolis and avoid it from being a needle in hay stack search. For example, the spirit talker could say the there is an underground route that can be accessed from Soltown or Kiln. Or, to make it more challenging the clue could be that the underground route can be accessed from. a town in the perennial coast.

 

Another brilliant solution to getting round the PvP solution for completing quests, along with other hints and tips on using alternative routes, not so sure about 'quiet times' because as @majoria70 eludes too, no time is really 'safe' it's purely luck, a bit like doing the lottery and winning said jackpot.

On the flip side, spare a thought for the people who just want to PvP, the poor poppets have to grind PvE to have a chance of competing with far higher level players with more spare time on their hands to grind that all important exp and edge, maybe if PvP was more balanced 'ganking' etc. may recede somewhat? I also think it's rather disingenuous to call all PvE players noobs or all PvP players griefers, people are just way to sensitive it's 'spoiling their experience' it's a bit like blundering into a zone and being attacked by a wolf or elf near the entrance, sometimes it's going to kill you sometimes you'll escape with your clothes in tatters. Life isn't a bundle of cotton wool your cocooned in, we all have to be careful every time we leave the house in RL due to X Y or Z hazard, there really aren't that many griefers out there and the good ones are more interested in taking out targets who PvP themselves IMHO especially if their low on health or focus. Constantly beating on one section of the community because you can't complete something simply doesn't add anything to the debate or the overall solution.

Not everyone wants to PvP, for many people it's down to the 'fear' of their own abilities being shown up, EVL offer a brilliant solution to this with their PvP tournaments and it's a great way to learn and believe it or not may even help you learn how to play the PvE side of the game better too. Give @Jade a shout she's a book she can mail you with details and different levels of competition so you aren't matched against a 'lion' 'griefer' etc.

 

I got that line "PvP players as a whole are really nice people" line served so often my eyes start to bleed.
I played EVE online until the learning times annoyed me big time and there it was ok (hint, in an game where you need cooporation to succed griefers are sorted out harsh and quick) in games like sota where you can do solo and private ?

Griefers heaven, because as usual there are no consequences for pointless offing players who do not have a chance in hell to win (or run)

Aside the fact that pvp demands min maxxing chars and therefore is bad for the R in the RPG (and the " but i play an psychotic super assassine" line makes my eyes bleed too by now)

The way Sota handles the main quest is pure and simple dumb.

(I got attacked too doing the quest but turned out i was to high level for the hoped for easy gank)

 

I understand your frustration but my point was not all PvP's are griefers, it's a bit like saying the PvP community think all role players are weirdo's running round in tights (there are multiple brands of tights available) shouting 'thee hath a devil worshiper' it's not a fair description.

Level capped areas, open pvp throughout all areas, maybe a mirror image world for PvE only (think that killed a game off didn't it?) are all solutions the dev's have considered, I like the stance they've taken, life's a risk whatever your guilty pleasure be.

@Pounce I love the fact you slapped the griefer though, thanks for the smile on this Friday am in the UK