A solo hunt - part 1 of 3

Before leaving save central I track on my 450 tracker – I have loads of time to get the 400 mana back and I like to know I am not going to run into anything just by setting out.
Clear 450, so I set off across the central plain heading straight for pp1. I know I can run for 200 mtrs before I need to check again, since if any enemy were at the full extent of my first track – by 200 they will still be 50 mtrs away if they were heading straight to me. Enough time for me to regenerate the mana, so I count out my paces & check again. I count 30 paces is equal to 100 mtrs, about 7/8 secs and 250 mtrs is roughly sc to stone.
Clear 450.
Just as I get close to pp1, I stop behind one of the trees just out of site of the bridge.. Since I am running towards the bridge, I end up facing straight into the tree, so I turn & sit with my back to it to recover all my mana.
Why I do this is because any enemy coming my way is most likely to come from pp1 now, and sitting I am less visible generally than standing, I recover quicker, plus I can’t be seen behind a tree but most of all, I can’t be tracked behind a tree even by the best tracker. While sitting I can still see behind towards pp, and check that way frequently. My next moment is crucial. I have to step away from the tree to track. I can’t track behind since I will only scan what is in front – the tree blocks the rest, and I am visible and trackable.
I step out, make my track.
I have an enemy N200 Mage green.
Nice one. This isn’t a trap unless I have been very unlucky in my tracking.
Quickly across the bridge, and the heart begins to pound a little as the excitement rises. I can’t track on the bridges.
I must only be about 100 away now, so I use the other tracker which uses less mana and only tracks 150 mtrs distance.
Mage NE 100.
Excellent – he moved slightly, so he is definitely on his own. Traps stay still mostly.
I count the paces to 50 and now I should be within visual – but I hear him first, that crash of lightning gives his position away, and looking round I see him bent towards his prey facing slightly away from me. That means it’s unlikely he will see me, but I have a standard kill pattern anyway.
Camo (camoflage – invisibility) and sneak up behind him, then I see his health is low – so his mana will be way down too.
I have had him targetted since I first saw him, and now I hit ‘Break Apart’ and he has no time to figure out why his health is draining away in serious chunks or what just happened, before I fire ‘Shield Pierce’ at him.
By now I am visible – and have been since I first fried at him. He has looked behind now and seen me, but his health is less than a third as he fires a normal hit before a spell. Now I fire ‘Ensare Arrow’ which is another powerful spell. He hits me with Arcane Missile and I finish him with another Shield Pierce.
When he falls to the ground I run to the East until I see him dissapear. He is most likley going to ressurect at their central save, so having fooled him in direction, I double back and run for a big tree. Behind the tree I face towards their central save so that I can’t be tracked from there, turn so my back is against the tree and sit.
This is a good spot. I am close to the water so no enemy can come up from that direction, and the only exposed ways are small angles to my left & right.
I’m ok for a while.
When I am full of health & mana and having watched in all directions, especially behind, I step out for a quick track, and guess what? He came back!
He hung around and looked carefully, but everything was still, so he assumed I had gone.
Camo – move up to a tree just behind him and sit & watch him. He will be better prepared this time – more expectant – so I have to catch him just right.
He sits, and I run out from behind the tree so that I am still behind him. I can get up really close because he hasn’t looked behind him again – people usually do before they sit and after they have sat. There is a window.
Pierce – I can feel his heart sink.
Ensnare as he is standing.
Pierce as he tagets me and fires off.
Break Apart and I turn & run like the wind in the direction I roughly want to go.
I still have him targetted and look back to see him running after me, but I can see the red nimbers popping out of his head as his health bar drops.
“Uurggh” and he drops.
Nearest tree and the usual hide position – just need enough mana for a camo.
Enough now, so I stand, camo, and jink my direction slighty away from where I wanted to go, find another tree, do the usual, and still in camo, sit down.
Recovered, I step out & track 450.
Ok – 2Mage 1 Arch 300 NE. He got help then. Time to move.
Camo.

Head off towards pp2 at a slow jog and looking for good place to hide up if I feel like it. There is a good chance the archer may not track to 450 – we’ll see.
I find good rock SE of Trelle and take the position. Need to watch the bridge too – may be some returning hunters, but I can use a low mana short track if I get worried.
Step out & track – clear.
Jog in the open West heading to the beach since there are often levellers there.
Just past pp2 I track again – ok 1 archer 1 warrior both white, NW250- a good opportunity this.
If they are levelling together there is a good chance the archer won’t be tracking very often. I can catch them at a good time.
24 RP so far, may get 8 for each of these.
I know where to run to, I’ve done it a few times, following the coast around till it turns into a beach, and you can run right up behind a big rock there, and often even if they are facing you, they won’t spot you.
No camo – just watch my line, and as I reach the rock they come into view.
The archer is facing me, but she (the barb) is turned away.
The moment arrives – she sits while he is still attacking a mob – so I run straight out and as quick as I can get to the sitting girl and fire off the usual pattern, but I don’t need all of it. She is low level & her health is way down.
He is a brave young gun and has been shooting at me to try to get me off her, but he was in the middle of an attack, and the mob has been biting down hard on his health.
I turn on him. Normal, Pierce, Normal and the mob finishes him off.
6 for her 4 for him. 34 RP altogether is ok.
I run back the way I came until I see them disappear, then run back to the rock I attacked from & sit down with my back facing their nearest save.
I watch as they stop while he tracks, and together they make some cursory recces. They get a little too close for comfort so I use Stalker (a stationary invisibility spell). I now have 90 secs.
They come to the stone and look at exactly the spot I am hiding.
If she uses one of her area spells (if she is high enough) it will show me up by damage numbers above me – then I am dead, but she doesn’t do it, and they move away. He tracks once more, and warily they go back to levelling.
Stalker ends, and I cast camo and run right past them just above the dunes, past the beach market and up along the wall to a tree.
This is a little bit of a difficult spot now. Sure I have the wall to cover me in part, but the save is one way and the archer is the other. The safer of the two is to face the save and conceal myself from the known enemy, so I do a quick low mana scan – clear 150, and sit behind the tree.
Not a lot happening in Alsius today, clear 450, and these two on the beach didn’t call for backup it seems or the big guns have gone hunting, so I am ok to go on.
Track again – 1mage 1 warrior both white 300S – worth a look. But when I get there, it’s a barb and a conj working together. Barbs have a lethal hit and they run fast with onslaught, and being backed up by a conj makes this unviable. I also notice that every now and then the barb stops, and I bet he’s looking around. Surprise may be very difficult. I would have to take the conj out first, and by then my health would have been smacked down to nothing. Leave this pair.

Up the hill by the wall towards their gate. Clear except for the two I left behind, so I sit close to a tree watching the gate with my back to their central save (Mostly likely place for the enemy to pop up without warning).
A mage comes through, I hear the clink of his shield, but in targetting him I see he is a pale green. No problem. Give him a little time to get away from the guards – I need about 40/50 mtrs – perhaps a tad more.
Just before he sets off he summons a Zarkit.
Two against one, but he has a lower mana now and I have surprise.
I let him run off down the path, passing me without noticing, and then leave my cover and chase him.
He would have to look directly behind him to spot me – so I’m maybe ok for a few seconds.
I am.
I target the zarkit and fire normal then pierce, normal, and the conj still hasn’t realised yet..
I have ‘Wild Spirit’ set to 5 so I can stop to fire and easily catch up a plodding mage.
Then he spots me and turns to target, but it’s all to late, he hits me a couple of times and his zarkit is gone.
Now it’s a face off where I have the advantage unless that is, he uses ambitious sacrifice, heal self, summon zarkit but it takes courage & a lot of experience to ignore the damage you are receiving – and he doesn’t - he immobilises me with beetle swarm & I can’t attack, but I have already hit him with break apart, and I can sense his panic.
In the face off, despite Pricking Ivy, and a bit of hefty Arcane, I just made it by the skin of my teeth.
Now I hope his last save was outside the wall, since I am out of mana, and nearly out of health.
I have to take a real gamble now, since even if a really low level enemy found me I am dead in the water, so I head on into the danger zone, close to their save – the last place they would expect me to go, and find a tree high up near the ‘Hole’ and sit with my back to their save.

Just out of the corner of my eye, I see what could be enemy, but it is standing quite still and enemy nearly always run, so it may well be a stalking spirit – difficult to tell at a distance, but at this stage I can’t risk hanging around & going back. I should have tracked but it moves out of site anyway.

The hole is a poor place for solo hunters I think – not many ways out of that volcano, and usually inhabited by more than one high level, so I will give it a miss.
A small group of Alsius enemy run along the path below me towards the gate.
Wow my heart has been pumping!
Even sitting at a keyboard & screen the adrenalin has been rushing.
Time to move.
I run along the higher green hills of the Hole towards the save – I need to judge this just right – so I am clicking the map on & off to guage between 50 & 100 distance away from it.
Just out of visible – camo on – and run right through their save – thank goodness for camo! Three enemy standing there as I run right through them – no archers though – bonus, I won’t be tracked.
I picked up 10 RP on the conj – so 44 now.
Down the hill, and just before the Higher bridge into Ignis I stop for a quick track.
1arch blue 150 NE.
Oh oh. Chances are he has me tracked too. Where’s he going to go? What does he expect me to do? I bet he thinks I will run straight on – so I won’t. Find a tree – stalker – 90 secs of hiding.

There he is – Ignis, Dragonwing long bow, no pet. Professional.

He runs past me, stops & tracks, he worked me out and without looking round he runs on.
Is he going to their save or still tracking me?
I have been sitting in stalker, so I am full with mana again, so I stand & still invisible I track. He’s gone. But I know he hasn’t. Can’t run 450 in such a short time – takes nearly 40 secs. A bit of cat and mouse. I have a love hate relationship with cat and mouse – great in Syrtis – aweful in enemy realms, and here I am in Alsius with a high lvl Ignis hunter on my tail.
He will think either of two things – I may have stopped & stalked, or I ran on in camo straight through him. Either way, he will come back for me, so I need to move quickly
I don’t know who will come out of hiding first.
For a couple of seconds I become visible as I cast camo, then run where I think he won’t expect – the lower bridge to Ignis. Long way round but safer now.
Just before my camo runs out, I find a tree where I can hide from his last known/guessed position & sit, still in camo, to recover. By the time it runs out, I am recovered, so I wait for cooldown & cast camo again & carry on towards the bridge.
Can’t cast tracker on the bridge, so I make sure everything is ok first, camo & run across. On the other side I track again still invisible. Clear 450.
Using this hide & recover method I run & track my way to the boulders on the Ignis side of the higher bridge, there I rest up for a moment, then head on up towards Meniah Fort. Keeping well away from the guards I scan again. There are sometimes levellers to the West of the fort, but not today, so I run up the grassey side of the dessert towards their save. Track 450 – warrior 150 NE blue. Ok if I get it right. Hope it’s a knight – they are long fights but I find them easier.
I run down the drop into the dessert basin. It’s an awkward spot along these drops – few places to run back up, so it’s easy to trap yourself.
I hear his sword sing as he begins his attack – yes it’s a knight, face on to me, and he has spotted me just before he went for the kill.
I have enough time to camo. And run through him and sit on the ground behind him to recover the mana I just spent.
Typically, he looks about in front and to his sides – but seldom looking behind. He runs about a bit. I stand up and back peddal to get my 30 metre bow shot to it’s max, then let Break apart on him as it draws me out of camo.
This surprise gives so little time to the enemy and is always a shock. They can’t see me behind, and unless they have had a lot of battle experience are slow to target, turn & attack. It usually gives me time to fire enough to do some damage before he trundles close enough for me to have to turn & run.
And he follows along after me, but I have Wild Spirit, Son or Wind if I need it, and good old Mobility,so he can’t catch me. I get far enough in front to give me time to cast camo again, then I plonk my butt on the dessert sand & sit & wait.
As my mana starts to fill up he jogs on past me, so I stand up and attack again when he has reached my 30 mtr bow shot. We play this game a few times until eventually his health is so low he begins to run away, and as he runs I hit him with break apart. Every time I fire he runs further ahead but I catch him.
Finally he stops, turns, bows and he dies.

Nice guy.

I back track after he disappears, then head North to their wall, cross
the main path to their save and sit with my back to a well known chunk
of red rock I use, watching their gate.
No-one comes through, so I
stand, track, and begin my run East of their save towards the mountains
North of Swamp Bridge. Across the bridge above the blind canyon – I
must inspect that closer one day – it could be a death tap for either
me or an enemy I lured in there
Track again…ahh 1mage green 250 East and off I jog towards my next quarry.
I got 16 RP from the knight so now I have got 60.
Count to 45 – should be seeing him soon – use the close low mana tracker – same guy,
same place – Hmmm – when they are still it can be a trap with an archer
luring me in with a plain low level mage in view, while holding himself
& a few buddies in stalker invisibility, so I go into camo early so
I can watch his movements.
I see him – another Warlock intent on his levelling, crashing meteors into his prey.
I think I either go in on a gamble that it’s not a trap, or I sit &
watch and maybe they come out of Stalker if I have mistracked the
situation.
I’ll gamble on me being right – I feel like getting back to Syrtis now.
His health is still quite high, and I am a bit down on mana, but the surprise again counts for the win, and I take 10 more RP.
A quick double back on my tracks & I hide behind another rock,
knowing that he may come after me. I don’t see him, but when I do my
next scan – there he is again, same place.
Same routine, get close to visual – camo – go in for the attack.
Different backtrack this time.
68 RP now.
After a rest up – I track – and low and behold he has come back.
This time I leave cover and run just into his visual and wait.
He ses me and hits me with ‘Normal’ so I bow to him.
Another Normal hits, then he stands straight and bows back.
I think twice is enough.
I turn and head East, then when I am out of visual – jink South, through the gap in the hills and into the swamp.
Just before swamp bridge I track again. Clear 450.
Over the bridge into safety and THUMP !
Sounds like I fell over.
A red strip of wording appears in my chat window top box saying I had
been hit., then another enormous thump and a grunt as a Cyclops Warrior
hits me with his club.
For a moment I think I ran past a mob that turned on me, but then I realise there were none that close.
I turn to see the hunter – ‘nice work’ pops into my mind – but I have to get out of this.
My first instinct is to target him, but I know that’s wrong, so I turn
& target the Cyclops as I hear the whirr of a short bow double
arrow hitting me. I get off all that I can as I take hit after hit from
the cyclops and the hunter while I am trying hard to backpedal, but he
had the element of surprise, and even though he was a lower level, and
I have killed his pet, I know in this final stand off that he has the
edge, and as the pale purple chevrons of ensnare hit my feet I know I’m
done.
Perhaps I should have hit Son of Wind and Mobility and just got away, but escape is on the next quick launch toolbar. Oh well.
I groan.
One more decision – wall or save?
**************************

Hunting forays into enemy territory varied enormously in terms of RP. Many
times I have been killed long before I got there, or waylaid before I
ever tracked a target, but purely on totals made in an evening the
amounts were between 35 (probably got bored) and 602 (the highest).
Over 200 was not uncommon. Most were around the 100+ mark. I have
friends whose claims of 2,000 a night I can well believe.

All that RP does is to show you (and the rest of the players in the league
tables) how good you and they are at the particular class they have
chosen.
It’s like money – money isn’t evil, but the lust of it is.
There is nothing wrong with high or low RP, it’s down to how you like to play your game.

I hope this story gives you some ideas.
Try out hiding with an archer who can cast 100 track ally with you. Try
taking off robes or shiney armour then melting against trees & see
if you or a friend can see you. Look for the Plane Trees – those with
grey & brown mottled bark where you can ‘hide in them’. You can’t
hide in rocks – though it looks like it – you are actually standing on
top of them.

Whenever you rest between bouts of grinding, know
where your run route is and sit down behind an object. If you have to
sit in the open, sit facing the most likely direction of attack. Most
hunting parties use a hunter to track. Raiding parties hit just the
forts and tend to be slightly different.

Learn to decide quickly if it is better to fight, stand statute or run.
And if you run, run towards allies or savage type mobs which will attack your enemies for you. Especially purple mobs.

Some hills & cliffs have a way up them which is unique – it’s worth
learning these, and it’s great to be able to look down at an enemy
still running on the spot stuck in a hole by a rock and wave at them.

If you are not a hunter & are alone in enemy territory by accident or
design, don’t run in straight lines. Every 100 mtrs or so, change
sharply.For example, if you got cut off at Samal, don’t run straight
back to PB, you are less likely to be followed if you make big jinking
dog legs. Even if you are slower than them, you can still be smarter.

Once in a cat and mouse in Syrtis, a quarry went into camo – so I
immediately did the same – that way I would know when he came out of it
– then I guessed where I would go in his situation – and I went to the
tree and sat down. When the time neared, I stood up, and he became
visible about 3 or 4 secs before me standing right beside me a metre
away.
Many times while being chased I create enough time to cast
camo, then I turn back & run towards my enemy – they always carry
on running in the same direction. Even the archers. The best moves are
sometimes the simplest.

Good Hunting.
Slyp