KnumbKnuts’ Guide to the PITA Albion Frontier for levels 40 and above Soloing/Duoing or Navigating.

Quick Jump: How to get to Ren Excal Hurb Merlin Berk Surs Bold Eras Beno

Quick Jump: Whack a mole (good XP Spots)

The Albion Frontier is a PITA. No, not PETA. As a matter of fact, I hope to help you treat furry creatures and many other beasties quite cruelly . So, I figured, it’s time to write this guide to help the Official Realm of n00bs navigate their frontier half as well as the gank groups that will soon be WTFPWNing them.

Actually, I wouldn’t bother were it not for speedy guards. With speedy guards and frontier outpost bonuses, the frontier is a great place to get experience. Before speedy guards, your whack-a-mole session @ the Ellyl camp would be, invariably, interrupted by some ghey kiting bard.

So, I am going to break this into a few sections, in order of importance. I am assuming your toon is above level forty. If it’s not, get back behind the gates or muck around Forest Sauvage. Oh yea, the sections: How to get to a keep, Where to XP, and neat stuff.

How to get to a Keep.

Well, first, you have to know where the keeps are, eh?

A picture is worth 1,247 words:

http://www.io.com/~caladin/kirstena/

Caer Renaris. Faces South, Gatekeeper on the right (East), 15k, 13k Forest Sauvage, Poison Merchant

Jebu, you’d think I could take this one as read, but one of my own 50 guildies asked me where it was. /Whap!
When not under attack, it’s a breeze to get to. Click on the hastener out back of Castle Sauvage, point your compass (shift-C) a few degrees West of North (approx 355 degrees), hit the run button, and go get a beer. You’ll see yourself run up and through a bunch of skeletons (skelly camp). Tilt a bit more NorthWest (go about 340 degrees) and there you will see it.
When under attack, break hard left outside the CS gates until you get to about the 10k west parallel. Then turn north. When you get to 10k, 10k, break east and run in the back of the keep. Circle around and come down the East side of the keep with your “Enter Exit” macro ready and hopping like a rabbit with its tail on fire.
Ren’s guards control the most important (door 3) guards on the Power Relic keep. If you hear that Ren is under attack and you port to Emain anyway, God kills a kitten. Please, think of the kittens.

Castle Excalibur

This is the strength relic keep. I’m going to take this as read. If you don’t know about this and you are level 40, just /stick to the level 20 in front of you as he runs out to save your strength relic. You will die, but you may allow him to get in.

Caer Hurbury. Faces East, Gatekeeper to the right (North), 48k, 35k Snowdonia, Poison Merchant

Hurb is also pretty easy to get to, though most people do it the hard way.
Port to Snowdonia. That’s right. Port. Find the nearest house with a Snowdonia Portal merchant and bind there, or bind close to it. Then, port or /release house to it, grab a necklace, and go. Unless you just missed the wizards @ CS, it is faster to do this, even if you have port to Housing first, than it is to ride there.
Hit the Hastener and run to the Northeast. But, do not run down the path. There is a big, pointy hill in front of you. Angle down its left slope. That’s right, its left slope. If you go down the path 2 things await you. Rock Giants and a longer run. And enemy gank teams. 3 things await you. (I wasn’t expecting a Spanish Inquisistion)
As you angle down the side of the mountain, avoiding falling damage because you are not going straight down, you will be heading toward the thin part of a peanut shaped lake. Worry Wort the trophy frog is in this lake, btw. Cross the lake at the thin part then run up the short to the Northeast.
As you run Northeast, Hurb looms in front of you. Run around the left (North Side) and, if it’s under attack, hopping around like a Kansas City Faggot yelling “enter exit”.
Hurbury’s guards protect door three at the strength relic.

Castle Myrrdon aka “Merlin”

There are 2 ways to get there easily.

i. Hit the Snow Fort Hastener and run to the Northeast. That’s right, Northeast. There is a big, pointy hill in front of you. Angle down its left slope.

1. Once down without falling damage, break NW around the lake.

2. Avoid the Arawnite Warriors and Shamenesses. You can get around em to the left.

3. Run North from the west edge of the lake, up to the tower you see in front of you.

4. From there, run NW down the nice, wide path to Merlin. It’s a big fat castle in BF Egypt with a nice catapult friendly flat plain in front of it and “Welcome All Hibbies and Middies” on a sign over the door.

ii. Hit the Snow Fort hastener and run West along the zone wall.

1. Be careful of falling damage.

2. Then, when you get to the west zone wall, run north along it.

3. Eventually you will pop out to the west of Merlin. Can’t miss it.

4. A level 5 minstrel with PowerBait on his ass could make this run.

5. Note: there is a DF portal @ Merlin, don’t forget to use it when you are stuck out in snow and want the fast way back (and albs have enough keeps)

Caer Berkstead. Faces North, Gatekeeper on the right (West), 19k, 37K Pennine Mountains, Bolt Merchant

Berk, IMHO, is the best keep to claim for outpost bonuses. More on that in a bit.
There are 2 good ways to get there. They both start by running up the FS road to the Green Knight. From the Green Knight, run north.
You will see a stone hut in front of you, stay to its left. Also, watch for trees on the left. Stay to the right of them.

i. The easiest way from this point is to follow the stone markers that go around the right side of the big hill in front of you.

1. This hill is Cyraeth Mountain. Quite dangerous. Do not get too high on it. I mean, stay off its slopes. They are shadows with a wicked insta life tap.

2. This keep going around Cyreath Mountain until you are facing west. Then, run due west into Berk.

ii. Once you get used to that path, you can cut around the left side of Cyraeth Mountain. Watch for Angry Bwcas and Bounders as you go over the saddle. As you go through this pass, the Blue Man and the Well Scouted Areas (part of the Cleric quest I think) are in the little valley behind Berk.

Caer Sursbrooke. Faces South, Gatekeeper on the right (East), 17k, 15k Pennine Mountains, Arrow Merchant.

Follow the directions for Berk.
Click on the hastener and run due north up the stones. Be careful not to get them confused with the stones heading west.
There is very little agro this way. Maybe a shadow walker or fiery fiend. But all the turd looking Boggarts are safe.

Caer Benowyc. Faces West, Gatekeeper on the left (North), 55k, 17k, Crafting Merchs.

Beno is the Merchant Keep where you can buy wood and siege equip. in the frontier, along with crafting materials through level 8. It is the farthest and hardest to get to keep. It is also the most worth getting to.
Follow the directions for Sursbrook.
From Sursbrook, run NE up the stones.

i. The only agro to watch for are cockatrices, which are not all that strong, but are annoying.

ii. Also, don’t veer too far left or you will run into the trophy wolf Gristle and his sidekick Barquest. They are pretty tough.

You will pass a Stone hut that is the entrance for the Halls of the Corrupt, aka HOC or “The Lego Dungeon.” If you get agro you don’t wanna deal with, zone in there.
Bend NNE up the stone path as it turns into a dirt path.
You will approach the “Hadrian Y,” a fork in the road with a Roman Building to the left and a fallen tower in its crux. About this time, watch for green to blue agro, and make sure no one in your party has agro with the Pictish Druids. If so, avoid them, too.
Break right @ the Y and run down the road to Beno.
If Beno is hot, run down the left side of the road, but don’t go into the alcove with the pixey fairies. Sprint when you start getting up the hill and circle around the keep to the left. As you come down the other side, hoping and a hollerin “enter,” get ready to die. This one is a hard one to get into. But it’s easier down the left side than the right. On the right, they are waiting for you and it is easier for them to cut you off. You can rest a little bit behind the keep if you come around left and the keep has decent guards.
Alternate route:

i. Follow directions to Eras (below)

ii. Run north from Eras until you hit the zone wall. Hug this to the West then north, keeping clear of the giants and the trees on your left side. You will spit out just below the Hadrian Y. Circle around to the right, staying low enough to avoid the fairy/pixies on the side of the hill.

Caer Boldham, Faces South, Gatekeeper on the right (East), 55k, 59k, Poison Merch

Run to Excalibur.
From its north porch, run North, heading a bit East of the Green Knight.
You will see a hill in front of you with Cliff Crawlers on it. They are Neutral. Run up that hill, somewhat on the right side.
Follow the right around to the right as it bends to the East. There are some trees below you to the right.
You will pass an isolationist camp with a little tent. Unless you nailed one of their sisters or killed a few of them, you won’t draw agro.
Head down the ridge until you are heading east and see path stones.
Do not get north of the stones, there are some tough little doggies there.
Keep running East until you see bold. Again, you should circle to the far side and come down its east wall if it is hot.

Caer Erasleigh, Faces North, Gatekeeper on the right (East), 55k, 17k, Poison Merch

Follow the directions to Bold.
From Bold, run due North until you hit a zone wall.
Hug that wall running to the NW until it opens up and allows you to go North.
Go North, being careful of the Incredibly Dumbass Mob Thanks A Lot Mythic Giants on the right hand side. When you have cleared them, cut Northeast, avoing the angry bwcas by the fire SW of Eras.
Clearing these two mobs, run NE into Eras.

How to suicide out.

I’m not telling you, you putzes. Defend your realm. And if you do want to go back to Emain, run your butt right back out the hard way, so as not to give the enemy gilded notification that you are not longer defending your frontier.

Whack-a-Mole in the Alb Frontier!

The Alb Frontier Rocks for Mole Whackin. XP bonuses, variety Random Object Generator Drops. I highly recommend it. I’m going to stick to mobs that get outpost bonuses, which is most of them. So, here are my favorite spots. All inclusive? Nah. This is generally focused on the high 40s soloer, or the 50 with a twink to PL.

The most underrated spot: Cyraeth Mountain

I have killed about 10,000 of these fokkers, but I still can’t spell Cyraeth. They are these wicked shadow bitches that just… won’t… stop… howling But, they have fat xp, decent drops, drop alchemy components, decent coin, and a bugged Cloak that may someday be an XP quest/task item that actually works. They are weak to magic, but have an insta dd that interrupts casters. So…

Cyraeth mountain is SE of Berk. See my directions above, they take you around it to the right or left. There are three separate camps of them, in terms of bonus, and probably a hundred on the mountain at a given time.

Until you get the hang of them, run up and down the ridges that go up and down the mountain. It is safe to stand where you just killed one.

Cyraeths, yellow through red to a 50, are best done in a duo. BAF is a PITA with them because they hit hard and fast. The best duo is a caster/cleric. They are weak to spirit (30%), wind (20%), and fire/cold/earth/light/mind (all 10%). Poison, disease, and bleed roll off ‘em like water off a duck’s butt, so save your coppers if you’re swingin’ the infy blade. Their attack type is slash, but at a –20%. Their insta dd will roxxor your boxers, though.

The cleric is key to stun em as they get into range. I’ve seen many the spirit-weak-camp whorin necros go up Cyraeth Mountain, but few come back down. The interrupts of the insta dd and the inherent bugginess of Mythic’s Buggiest Class (and that’s saying something) tend to send most necros back to their bind point with nary a keke-la.

Best tactic (caster/twink/ungrouped cleric): duo with a bot cleric nearby. Duo member #1 is a caster, preferably an ice wiz or wind theurg. Duo member #2 is a twink whose owner is watching “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” smoking pork chops, or pretending to his wife that he’s balancing the household books. His only role has to be pressing the “accept” button on a rez, unless you want to go for best tactic #2. Anyway, the caster bolts/nukes, cleric stuns, cyraeth dies.

Best tactic #2 (caster/twink/ungrouped cleric): Duo member #2, the twink, is high enuf to take a few hits from the cyreath. Twink pulls, draws aggro, keeps aggro, caster bolts/nukes or… preferably, PBAEs. This is the best strategy with an ice wizzy (the pbae part). Bot cleric heals between, rezzes when you screw the pooch.

Passable tactic (no cleric, caster/melee combo): The tougher of the two in the party pulls, keeps fighting and holding aggro. The caster nukes/bolts/pbaes. Sit, med, wash rinse repeat. With this method, get as close as possible to pull because the puller will be taking insta dd hits on the inbound cyraeth. The insta dd hits lessen in melee.

The “If I Had a Slasher, I’d Slasher in the Morning…” Spot: Fellwoods/Grimwoods

A slasher-solo spot, of course better with a buff bot. If you want to PL with a 50 slasher/meleer, this is as good a spot as you will find this side of the wights in Barrows.

Southwest of Bold, newly in outpost bonus range of Bold, are a buncha trees. There are Grimwoods, Gnarled Fellwoods, both yellow-red to 50s, and Knotted Fellwoods (blue/yellow). They are weak to slash, stand still, and are a pretty easy camp.

There is all of one trick to this camp: At night it’s grimwoods, by day gnarled fellwoods, with about an hour of in-game time to kill between the shifts. It’s a good time to go pull a few cliff crawlers and/or Knotted Fellwoods, both of which should have camp bonuses to make up for their lower level.

Treefall, the level 43 wiz/sorc/minstrel quest target, is in this clump of trees. There’s also a level 40 cleric/pally quest that has you killing 5 kinds of trees. Note the time of day when you look for the gnarled fellwood. If it’s night, you have to go NW of Eras.

The Yea Yea Yea We Know about This One Spot: Ellyls

SW of Berk (I’m tellin ya, claim Berk) are 2 villages of Ellyls and a Castle of them.

The 2 villages are in Outpost Range, I’m not sure about the castles.

The first village, just villagers and the occasional guard, is easy. They come one @ a time unless you are in a group of 3+.

The second village is harder, with BAF. But hey, that means group bonus. The guild’s top reaver swears by Elly’s group bonus. They drop ROG stuff, not as much as they used to (thx mythic!), and alchemy components. Their loot is kinda chintsy, but Berk is nearby for selling off.

The Castle is all you can eat, yellow-to-grape for 50s. It’s a good spot for a couple of high 40s, a group of low 40s, or a strong 50 doing some powerleveling.

These spots were the top stop on the Gank Train before guard speed got jacked up to somewhere around a teenager in a porsche. Even now, stay alert for ‘vaders in the frontier, and get ready for a few free trips home.

Ellys armor type and resists area mix, so there is not “optimal” attack type, per se. Scouts should learn the weaknesses of each before buying all their arrows for the run (arrows are sold @ Surs).

I’ve Never Tried it, but it Looks Good on Paper: thrust-weak worms and basilisks.

Orange and Red, NW of Berk, are worms and western basilisks. They are both listed as weak to thrust. Lemme know. The only other thrust weak 50-52 mobs are the padfoots NE of Berk, but they are a little tough for my taste, and the worms around the Sockburn Worm, but that spot is too dangerous.

Snowdonia: Variety is the Spice of ~~Death~~ Life

Snowdonia is not bad in the low 40s. There are a few hollow men NW of Hurb, some spiders and furry things to the NE. Cyclops, pigs, other stuff.

The problem is, Hurb’s outpost bonus doesn’t reach many of the mobs.

Cyraeths to the South of Hurb and Ravenclan Giants to the East both lack the quantity to make the trip worth it. Plus, they are different mob types, so bouncing back and forth between them isn’t worth it.

Basically, XP in snow if you are really bored of everywhere else and/or your guild is holding Hurb.

The Arawnite camps are good in the early 30s… memory serves.

Hadrian’s Wall: Whack a Mole While Watching for Inc!

There are some caster-soft faries, but not enough to set up camp for. I suppose there would be some stuff to hit on with 40s, but it’s not worth the commute. The only reason to XP in Hadrians is to kill time while you are watching for invaders.

Those Turdy Little Speed Bumps are Good Eating.

In the 40s and wanna smack things around in the frontier? Try Freybugs and Boggarts. Their camp is hostile, but will never turn aggressive, so crunch all you want, Mythic will make more. Both are weak to slash.

Where are they? Err mostly South and Northeast of Surs. Seems like you can’t swing a dead lurikeen in the frontier without whapping one of these things.

Just be careful to pull them out of the camp somewhat so you don’t have a half dozen angry turds aggro on you.

Bwcas and More Trees around Eras

Eras is a pretty good spot for the late 40s. You have Angry Bwcas in a tight little camp to the SW, Boggarts nearby for when they get worn out, and Gnarled/Knotted Fellwoods to the NW. Generally, it’s a good slash place. Just watch out for the giants to the SW and NW of Eras.

Ravenclan Giants

The Ravenclan Giants West of Berk are a pretty good camp if you hold Berk and want a little variety. They are weak to crush, on the off chance that your respecced your armsman to 2h crush to take advantage of a Sidi 2h Crusher. Ha.

Speaking of Crush: Cliff Crawlers

I mentioned ‘em before, but these crunchy little buggers are a nice neutral mob for the soloer in the high 40s. Weak to crush, neutral to slash, just don’t stand in the middle of em when you fight. They will call.

Important Safety Tips

- Don’t get too high on Cyraeth Mountain unless you are there for a fight.

- Don’t get too far East running between Berk and Surs.

- Don’t get too far north running between Berk and Hurb

- Generally, stay out of the middle of the box that is bound by Berk, Surs, Eras, and Bold. The gains aren’t worth the risks.

- Don’t cut the corner too sharply if you are running from Berk to Hurb. Heck, just stop by surs and hit the hastener. My point is, don’t get caught up in Teg aggro that you’ll get if you go through the south part of the pass.

- You can’t out sprint drakes, rock bounders, or your wife if you spend too much time playing

- Don’t beat up on Isolationists or Pictish Warriors. You’ll piss off the next RVR group you run in the frontier with if you do.

- Gatekeepers are on the right, cept @ Beno, where it’s on the left of the door. And Relic Keeps, of course, where there are one on each side.

- After 1.65, Eras will be the keep that keeps the old style.

It would be fun to…

- Go to midgard, Roll up a dorf, dress him like one of the ones in Hadrians Wall, then /stick to the ones that are out there and wait for enemies to roll through.

- Go to Mid or Hib, whack isolationists long enough to get good camp with cyraeths, then stand on cyreath mountain and take pot shots @ passing albs. They’d run up to get you and would get WTFpwned.

- Get a VP group to defend the frontier.