Return to Ekrund – A Stronghold Saga – Part 1 (Live Event Guide)

~stumbles in…looks around~

This place looks vaguely familiar…

~pulls up a chair~

Yeah…I think I used to write Warhammer guides here about Live Events and stuff…

~fires up WAR~

Well…would you look at that?  WAR has an all-new Live Event.  And it appears to have multiple parts too…

We haven’t had a multi-parter since…

~digs through files~

…huh.

Well, the closest thing I can find is back in March through June of 2009 when Mythic rolled out the Call to Arms Live Event series.  The first part was Bitter Rivals and helped introduce the Slayer and Choppa to the game.  The second part was Beyond the Sands which was the teaser leading up to the release of Land of the Dead.  The third part was Rise of the Tomb Kings which granted the winning Realm a head-start in Land of the Dead.

That’s some pretty big shoes to fill.  While I don’t think we’re getting new Classes, the text for the Event does hint at “Legendary Weapons”.  Maybe we’ll get more hints as the Event(s) progress.  

Now if I can only remember what all these buttons do…

(Disclaimer:  As this is a completely new Event, the guide will be a work-in-progress as I work through the stages.  Feel free to add tips/info via comments!)

A Dwarf explorer recently stumbled upon an abandoned stronghold of one of those who never existed.  There, he found an ancient tome, bound between plates of red gold, which told of legendary weapons of great power, and where clues to their locations could be found.

Return to Ekrund – A Stronghold Saga – Part 1 (Live Event – January 2013)

Earn event influence by uncovering clues in Ekrund and Mount Bloodhorn, helping Dwarf Historians in the Gates of Ekrund scenario, and by stopping your enemies, who no doubt are trying to piece this together as well.

Basic Reward:  Edge Stone – Pocket Item that grants a 25% bonus to Toughness and Hitpoints, and a 50% bonus to Renown and XP Gains with a 60-day decay timer.

Advanced Reward:  Stack of Elixirs of Endless Stone – Increases Resists by 75%, makes you immune to critical hits, and lowers movement speed by 75% for 5 minutes.  Stack of 5.

Elite Reward:  Rune Rock – A chunk of rock carried out from the recently found stronghold.

The Live Event Herald for Order is named Kadius Kridt and is located at (26776, 30868) by the Flight Master in Altdorf.  The Live Event Herald for Destruction is named Kralf Hexenkrieger and is located at (29455, 32368) by the Flight Master in the Inevitable City.  For this Event, they can also be found in the Tier 1 Dwarf vs. Greenskin warcamps.

General Information

The Return to Ekrund – A Stronghold Saga – Part 1 Live Event started on January 21st and will last for an as yet currently unknown time period.  I will update this post with the duration if I find out.  Unlike a lot of Live Events, all of what happens in this Event happens in Tier 1.

Update:  A little snotling told me that Part 1 will continue to be active during Part 2 for those that still need/want to complete it.  I would recommend completing it on your main as a priority and leaving Alts for later.

High-level players need not worry!  They’ve introduced a reverse-Bolster for this event that turns everyone back to Rank 8-11 based on your RR.  So no chicken for you!  All your stats are reduced accordingly and Abilities are unusable if you earn them past your reverse-Bolster Rank as well.  Not bad!

As usual, for the quests use the red circles on your map as guides and if that fails, ask in region or check this guide for location coordinates.

Order Live Event Tasks

• Complete the Rediscovering the Past quest
• Participate in the Gates of Ekrund scenario
• Win the Gates of Ekrund scenario with 500 points
• Safely escort Dwarf Historians
• Defend your Dwarf Historians
• Secure, and never lose control of, the Ekrund Gatehouse
• Kill 25 enemies while benefiting from Blessings of Stone
• Decimate the forces of the Greenskin
• Defend your realms’ holdings
• Attack your enemy’s holdings
• Complete all Return to Ekrund tasks

While “Pieces of the Puzzle” shows up in the task list, it doesn’t look to be an actual task.  Instead, it’s more of an information holder for you.

Complete the Rediscovering the Past quest:  Seek out Tanar Karrag in Grudgekeg’s Guard Warcamp in Ekrund – he will tell you what you need to know.  (See the quest section below for more information.)

Participate in the Gates of Ekrund scenario:  Pretty straightforward.  Queue up, ???, Profit.

Win the Gates of Ekrund scenario with 500 points:  Ensure your realm earns the maximum possible points while winning the Gates of Ekrund scenario.

Safely escort Dwarf Historians:  Successfully complete the Murals of Ekrund quest inside the Gates of Ekrund scenario.  Historians stand ready to inspect and interpret the murals inside the Ekrund Gatehouse.  Escort them, and keep them safe while they work.  (See the quest section below for more information.)

Defend your Dwarf Historians:  Prevent your enemy from gaining any edge in this!  Destroy those attempting to kill your Historian inside the Gates of Ekrund scenario!  (See the quest section below for more information.)

Secure, and never lose control of, the Ekrund Gatehouse:  Display your dominance inside the Gates of Ekrund scenario!  Take control of the gatehouse, and never relinquish it!

Kill 25 enemies while benefiting from Blessings of Stone:  Put your blessings to good use – Head out to the battlefield and make an example of your enemies!

Equip the Basic Reward, Edge Stone, and kill people.  This appears to be bugged however and also grants you credit even if you don’t have the item at all.  I’m not entirely sure if it’s triggering off killing people who have  the item equipped or if you’re helped in the kill by someone who has the item equipped.  Either way, you can start earning credit for this one right away!

Decimate the forces of the Greenskin:  Push them back, and drive them into the ground!

• Kill ten Choppas
• Kill ten Black Orcs
• Kill ten Squig Herders
• Kill ten Shaman

Defend your realms’ holdings:  Kill enemy players while inside battlefield objectives of Ekrund and Mount Bloodhorn controlled by your realm.  This is a bit touchy in terms of granting credit.  The only truly guaranteed way to make sure you get credit is to be fairly close to the BO flag while you still have NPCs guarding it.  If the flag is neutral or the enemies are slightly too far from it, you won’t get credit.

• Defend Stonemine Tower (0/10)
• Defend Cannon Battery (0/10)
• Defend Ironmane Outpost (0/10)
• Defend The Lookout (0/10)

Attack your enemy’s holdings:  Kill enemy players while inside the battlefield objectives of Ekrund and Mount Bloodhorn controlled by the enemy.  This is also a bit touchy in terms of granting credit.  The only truly guaranteed way to make sure you get credit is to be fairly close to the BO flag while your enemy still has NPCs guarding it.  If the flag is neutral or you are slightly too far from it, you won’t get credit.

• Attack Stonemine Tower (0/15)
• Attack Cannon Battery (0/15)
• Attack Ironmane Outpost (0/15)
• Attack The Lookout (0/15)

Complete all Return to Ekrund tasks:  Pretty straightforward.  Finish off all of the above and rejoice!

I’ve been told that the Ruddy Talisman is the ultimate reward when completing the Event.  It looks to be needed for the next part of the Event series as well.  The Ruddy Talisman is what the Elite Reward turns into.  If you complete all ten tasks, it turns into a Greater Ruddy Talisman.  One of these is needed for Part 2 of the Live Event.

 

 

Pieces of the Puzzle

Once done with the tasks, all that’s left to talk about from the list is this.  The Pieces of the Puzzle are unlocked by completing the “Rediscovering the Past” quest.  Each completion unlocks a new piece of the puzzle.  These are very cryptic comments, but based on the overall story being told here you can get an idea of what it is they refer to.  Remember, the tome the Dwarfs found spoke of “legendary weapons of great power and where clues to their location could be found.”  Let’s take a look at all the pieces to this cryptic puzzle!

…the first light of time harnessed into a blade…

…the first light’s blade is kept hidden from the sun…

The first line definitely reads like a melee weapon description while the second line is a very, very vague location reference.

…a relic from Lustria whose projectiles have yet to be duplicated…

…lost ages ago in a rockslide to the distant south…

Again, the first line reads like a weapon description, this time for a ranged weapon of some kind.  The second line is a bit more of a specific location description, but only in reference to it being south and possibly buried.  Obviously we need some type of zone location for this to make much more sense.

…a vestige from an age when the woods of the world were linked…

…held firmly in the clutches of four fingers of stone…

Well, if the first line is a weapon hint like the others, I’m lost as to what it would be.  The second line is definitely a location reference again though, albeit a vague one once again.

…great ruin from the purse of a trickster god…

…bound by runes in a house of gold…

Once again, not sure what type of weapon the first line would be referencing but the second line is definitely a location again.

…must pass through thunder and cross death itself…

…the passage is unlocked by a ruddy glow empowering the 12 faces to shift…

Most definitely not a weapon/location combo.  This seems to be a clue to the location of the next phase of the Live Event as evidenced by the “ruddy” reference in the second line.  That most definitely seems aimed at the final reward of Part 1, the Ruddy Talisman.  That just leaves the first line to be translated.

If we look through the Dwarf zones, the only “thunder”/”death” combo is Thunder Mountain and Death Peak.  The clue seems to point to this as being the best possible guess since you have to “pass through thunder” to get to Death Peak.  As for crossing “death itself”, well, that could be a reference to hiking through Death Peak to some location.  We’ll just have to wait and see as that’s all the clues they give us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Order Quests

Return to Ekrund

Kadius Kridt holds the Return to Ekrund quest.   He is found, per usual, near the Flight Master at (26776, 30868) in Altdorf.

This is what is commonly referred to as a “breadcrumb quest” as it is there to lead people back to Ekrund since that is not a place people usually go.  Especially not once you’re out of Tier 1.  You definitely want to do it though as it offers up some interesting rewards.

Simply pick it up and you’ll be magically teleported Back to the Futu…errr…Back to Ekrund.  You appear right in front of Kadius, which is nice since you turn the quest in to him.

(If for some reason you weren’t doing 88 miles per hour when you clicked to accept the quest and ended up somewhere else, he can be found in Grudgekeg’s Guard Warcamp in Ekrund at approximately (54725,17040).)

Something has the Dwarfs pretty excited.  High King Thorgrim Gurdgebearer has requested the assistance of all willing members of the armies of Order.

I have secured safe passage to Grudgekeg’s Guard Warcamp in Ekrund.  You are welcome to journey with me.

• Accept this quest to be taken directly to the Warcamp in Ekrund.

Welcome to Ekrund!

Check with Tanar Karrag to get started.  Don’t forget to consult your Tome of Knowledge, as well, to see what other tasks require your assistance.

Rewards:  XP, Money, Ledger of Learnedness, Journeyman’s Elixir

While we’re all familiar with XP and Money as rewards at this point, the other two items are new and quite interesting.

Equipped like any other pocket item.  Only truly useful for people still trying to hit Rank 40 though it seems.  I guess it would help if you were trying to level your Guild, but that’s about it.

This one is a bit more peculiar.  I actually haven’t used it yet because I’m not entirely sure how it works.  hehe…  I’ll let you know when I bite the bullet and drink it.

Update:  Apparently this only does something if you’re below Rank 15, Renown Rank 10.  It boosts you to that level if you are.  Everyone else…move along, nothing to see here.

That’s it as far as his quest goes though.  Your next quest comes from the Dwarf standing right next to him.

Rediscovering the Past

Tanar Karrag holds the Rediscovering the Past quest.   He is found at approximately (54790,17040)  in Grudgekeg’s Guard Warcamp in Ekrund.

This quest sends you off to find ten clues to help you unravel the mystery behind this Live Event. You can find the clues in the Kron Komar Gap PQ, the Stonemine Tower and Ironmane Outpost Battlefield Objective areas, and occasionally off enemy players in Ekrund and Mount Bloodhorn as loot when you kill them.

For the PQ and the Battlefield Objectives, look for Ancient Dwarf Plaques on, or in, the buildings.  Clicking them starts a 5-second timer that rewards you with a clue and the disappearance of the Plaque.  Never fear!  It reappears in 45 seconds.

As for looting them off corpses, well…I killed a few Destro and never saw one drop, but they could have been looted by someone else in the fight.  Hard to say.

Update:  I have it on good authority that these drop off players you kill that also have the quest active.  This has to be in Ekrund or Mount Bloodhorn though.  It also works in the Gates of Ekrund scenario.

I never would have believed it if my own eyes hadn’t seen this.  By my father’s beard… this could be it!  The stronghold we found was ancient as Grungni himself… the information there all points to Ekrund.  Get out there, and find those weapons!

• Find 10 clues, then return to Tanar Karrag in the Grudgekeg’s Guard Warcamp

What’s this?  No weapons… just some dusty old records eh?  Let me study these, they might have information we need.

Rewards:  Money, Fused War Crests (20-25), Fused War Crests (25-30), Minor Flash of Brilliance

Again, some new rewards!  The Fused War Crests are based on the new unified RvR Currency.  They come in different sizes based on how many they break apart into, which I’ve noted.  However, the Minor Flash of Brilliance is tagged as a Quest Item so is specific to this quest chain.

While the first two item rewards are fairly straightforward, the last one isn’t.  It appears to be consumed upon receiving without really showing you what it does.  It’s possible it is what populates the “Pieces of the Puzzle” section of the Live Event, but tests are inconclusive so far.  That may just be from turning in the clues.  There’s really no solid messaging here to go off of, but I’ll keep researching it.  Turns out these grant crazy large amounts of XP.  I wasn’t able to know this since I was already Rank 40.  So if you’re looking to level up fast, churn these quests as much as possible apparently.

However you want to gather your clues, be prepared to spend some time doing this.  Not only do you need 10 to complete the quest, you have to complete the quest 10 times.  Oof.  And don’t bother picking up more than 10 at a time.  Tried it, doesn’t work.  The upside is lots of XP if you’re leveling and a good chunk of War Crests to buy stuff with.

Murals of Ekrund

This quest is only available inside the Gates of Ekrund scenario.  When you load in to the scenario, the quest-giver, Nerin IronHeart, will be standing right in front of you.

Once you’ve talked to him, a Historian will appear next to you and follow you around.  Run him in to the gatehouse and to the mural on the wall on the Order side and he’ll start doing his thing.  You must protect him while he works, which takes a bit of time.  Once he’s done, you have to run him back to the Order spawn to get credit for the quest.

We found some ancient runes… truly ancient.  The clan that wrote them isn’t supposed to even exist!  The runes are in the middle of a warzone, we need you to escort and protect our historian while he records them… do this, and you’ll be remembered in our halls, beardling!

• Lead the historian to one of two murals inside the Ekrund gatehouse.  Protect him while he works, then lead him safely back to Nerin IronHeart.

Rewards:  Money, Fused War Crests (10-15), Fused War Crests (15-20), Major Flash of Brilliance

Update:  The Major Flash of Brilliance apparently gives out something along the lines of 100,000 XP when received.  This is a great way to speed-level your character.  It also helps level your Guild, even if you’re already at 40, since all XP earned goes towards the Guild requirements.

This quest is harder than it sounds as these guys blow over in a stiff wind it seems.  As with most things combat-related, it’s best to find a group of others working on this and join with them to do it.  Regardless, it’s going to take a while since you have to safely escort 10 of these guys for your Task List.  😦

Update:  Mythic buffed the Historians so they live longer and they also do their job faster as well.  Hopefully this makes this quest more realistic to complete.

Gates of Ekrund Scenario

For people that rolled a Dwarf or Greenskin at Launch, Gates of Ekrund was the first taste of WAR scenarios they ever had.  And boy what a taste it was!  This truly epic Dwarf-centric scenario features a fun tug-of-war-like mechanic that pits both sides against each other in a 12 v 12 situation.

Normally, you’d want to run in, to the left, and up to capture the nearest objective, then get into a big furball in the middle over that objective.  However, with the quest-line that you have to do here, it’s best to just grab your Dwarf, run through the first door onto the main floor, then guard your NPC as best as possible until he’s done.  Then rinse and repeat.  Actual fighting seems to come second to completing the Live Event currently.

Rare World Drops

While there are a lot of new items in this Live Event, I still don’t know if there are any World Drops or not.  I haven’t seen or heard of any so far, but the Event is still just getting rolling.  If/when I run into any, I’ll post them here.  If you know of any, leave info in the comments!

Hidden Stuff?

In the past, Mythic have hidden things like Achievements, Quests, and Titles inside Live Events.  Keep your eyes open for things that seem out of the ordinary and let me know what you find!

Have fun!

~Gaar

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