The Rat Rocks!
A month or two ago I started the Fremennik Isles quest and I didn't have any real problems until I got to the Troll King. I used my best melee gear when fighting the King, but then I made the mistake of turning on the protection from melee prayer and the King pummeled me with boulders. Before I knew it I was dead and born again in Fally, trying to figure out what items I had lost.
Bad prayer aside, it was clear that I didn't have the chops to handle the Troll King. Every time one of my melee skills went up a level I'd trek back up to the King and he would own me. Each time I'd do things a little differently - sometimes rune armor, sometimes yak hide (which the quest claims is good protection against trolls) and so on. Sometimes I would get close to winning but I just couldn't get the kill. One time, just before the ring of life pulled me to safety, I noticed that the cave where the Troll King lives is multi-combat, even though he is the only one there. Next trip I decided to see if summoning would help. I brought a spider familiar but the poor thing was useless. It just cowered behind me as the King smashed me to a pulp.
So the Troll King must have beaten me at least five times. Ouch.
Last night my attack skill went up a level (62 woot!) so I went North again. This time I used my only blue charm to make an albino rat pouch. I decided to give the yak armor another try but I had lost my round shield somewhere and used a granite shield instead. The rest of my gear was pretty typical: rune helm and boots, dragon long, potions, good food.
Disaster! To get to the troll cave you have to run across linked islands full of trolls who throw rock with a punch. My mix of armor was not up to the task and, by the time I got to the caves, I only had 15 hit points left - worst ever. Well, I figured I might as well finish what I had started.
Once in the caves there is a place to rest before you have run across a battlefield, cross a bridge, and face the Troll King. I ate some of my limited supply of food, drank potions, said some defensive spells, turned off auto retaliate (to avoid distractions while crossing the battlefield) . . . and summoned my albino rat. He (or she . . . I couldn't tell which) was a monster; as big as a cow and as ugly as bile.
I then ran through the battlefield and started crossing the bridge. There was a blue circle of fire as my rat crossed to the other side in his own fashion. Before I could turn auto-retaliate back on, my rat jumped into action. Unlike the spider, he was eager for a fight - I have never seen a summoned creature attack so swiftly. But the rat wasn't doing much damage and my armor choice was a big mistake. I almost couldn't eat food fast enough to stay alive; I barely had time to swing my sword. Then the Troll King hit me with another one of his signature blows that sent me flying fifteen or twenty feet backwards and off my feet. I stood up again and quickly rushed back into the fray. The Troll King, however, had finally noticed the giant mutant rat trying to chew on his arm and had started attacking the rat!
I took the opportunity to eat more food, hurrying because I knew the rat wouldn't last long against the King. But I didn't really need to hurry. The rat wasn't hurting the King much, but the Troll King wasn't hurting the rat much either. I started attacking the Troll, worrying that he might turn his attention back to me. But he kept on attacking the albino rat, and the albino rat kept on shrugging it off - what a tank! Now that I could swing at the troll at my leisure, it didn't take long to defeat him.
That rat turned certain defeat into an easy victory.
You might want to complain about summoning, but I don't want to hear it. Last night was fun!
Bad prayer aside, it was clear that I didn't have the chops to handle the Troll King. Every time one of my melee skills went up a level I'd trek back up to the King and he would own me. Each time I'd do things a little differently - sometimes rune armor, sometimes yak hide (which the quest claims is good protection against trolls) and so on. Sometimes I would get close to winning but I just couldn't get the kill. One time, just before the ring of life pulled me to safety, I noticed that the cave where the Troll King lives is multi-combat, even though he is the only one there. Next trip I decided to see if summoning would help. I brought a spider familiar but the poor thing was useless. It just cowered behind me as the King smashed me to a pulp.
So the Troll King must have beaten me at least five times. Ouch.
Last night my attack skill went up a level (62 woot!) so I went North again. This time I used my only blue charm to make an albino rat pouch. I decided to give the yak armor another try but I had lost my round shield somewhere and used a granite shield instead. The rest of my gear was pretty typical: rune helm and boots, dragon long, potions, good food.
Disaster! To get to the troll cave you have to run across linked islands full of trolls who throw rock with a punch. My mix of armor was not up to the task and, by the time I got to the caves, I only had 15 hit points left - worst ever. Well, I figured I might as well finish what I had started.
Once in the caves there is a place to rest before you have run across a battlefield, cross a bridge, and face the Troll King. I ate some of my limited supply of food, drank potions, said some defensive spells, turned off auto retaliate (to avoid distractions while crossing the battlefield) . . . and summoned my albino rat. He (or she . . . I couldn't tell which) was a monster; as big as a cow and as ugly as bile.
I then ran through the battlefield and started crossing the bridge. There was a blue circle of fire as my rat crossed to the other side in his own fashion. Before I could turn auto-retaliate back on, my rat jumped into action. Unlike the spider, he was eager for a fight - I have never seen a summoned creature attack so swiftly. But the rat wasn't doing much damage and my armor choice was a big mistake. I almost couldn't eat food fast enough to stay alive; I barely had time to swing my sword. Then the Troll King hit me with another one of his signature blows that sent me flying fifteen or twenty feet backwards and off my feet. I stood up again and quickly rushed back into the fray. The Troll King, however, had finally noticed the giant mutant rat trying to chew on his arm and had started attacking the rat!
I took the opportunity to eat more food, hurrying because I knew the rat wouldn't last long against the King. But I didn't really need to hurry. The rat wasn't hurting the King much, but the Troll King wasn't hurting the rat much either. I started attacking the Troll, worrying that he might turn his attention back to me. But he kept on attacking the albino rat, and the albino rat kept on shrugging it off - what a tank! Now that I could swing at the troll at my leisure, it didn't take long to defeat him.
That rat turned certain defeat into an easy victory.
You might want to complain about summoning, but I don't want to hear it. Last night was fun!
posted by Knifestorm at 5:08 PM
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