Katta portals - How to use them and the quest to activate them.
(If my post is too long for you, the exploit is at the bottom, and labled as such)
(First post, so I appoligize if I did it wrong.)
http://forums.station.sony.com/eq/posts/list.m?topic_id=107100
The portals around Katta can allow you very quick access to anywhere in the zone; IF you have the two requirements for their use. First, at least the first of the three quest to activate them. The first quest activates all the southern portals, which allows access to portals near both Atiiki and Thalassius. The second requirement is an understanding of where you are going and the symbols needed to get there. For this I have provided a detailed map in the above link.
The Quest
The quests are received from Archarcanist Kirstmycl, who is located just east of the vendor area, near the Southeast sanctum portal. All of the quests are solo quest, meaning that each toon must get the quest individually. However, for most, it will require a group to complete the quest. There are three quest and they must be completed in order.
Portal Activation - Sanctuary
This is the first quest. See the map for the exact locations of all 9 portals you need to visit to complete this quest. Each portal you visit except for the portal to Atiiki and the portal nearest the quest giver has a chance of spawning a Chaotic Portal Energy. (The Atiiki portal also updates well away from the actual portal, unlike the others). The Chaotic Portal Energy cast a directional silence; this is very bad for your healer(s), so set up accordingly. It also procs a spin/ stun. It is unsnareable, and unrootable, but if necessary you can kite it by using the bad pathing, especially by running with levitate, and across the different heights near the portal. The best way I have found to complete this quest is to set the group near the portal, and then have one toon at a time run up to the top of the portal, either receiving a key or spawning the mob. If the Chaotic Portal Energy mob spawns the toon immediately runs back to the group and you kill the mob. The toon should receive the key upon the mob's death. If the toon dies, he will most likely have to redo that portal. The reason you want to do this one toon at a time is to prevent multiple Chaotic Portal Energys from spawning. One note here and it is the same for quest #3, it does not seem to matter if the toon is grouped or even gets xp for the kill, so long as the mob dies, he gets his key. The portal in group one that is nearest the Thalassius portal, will always spawn a Chaotic Portal Energy and it cons yellow to lv 75. After you complete all the required portals, each person, runs back to the quest giver, drops invisible, and hails him, with all keys in inventory. Notice you HAIL him; do not turn in the keys.
Portal Activation - Dangerous Grounds
These include the 9 outer portals that are North and East, the last two inner portals and the last sanctum portal, 12 total. Each portal will spawn 3 mobs, a combination of snakes and golems, except for the portals to Thalassius and the portal to Silyssar, which spawns no mobs. (One note here, if you accidentally zone to either Thalassius or Silyssar while getting the update, you could bug your quest, by getting the update, but not the key.) The 12 kills required by the quest must come from these spawned mobs. The mobs cast golem slow which is a snare and a slow; this creates agro issues and to a large extent, prevents kiting them. Neither the golems nor the snakes can be faded, etc. and Feign Death will not despawn them, they will just do laps over your FD spot. What seems to work best is to have one toon run up near the portal (mobs will spawn before you get to the top of the portal), spawn the mobs, and immediately run back to the group. The group then either kills or mezzes the mobs (or some combination) (not all mobs are mezzable); and each person quickly runs up and gets the key and update. It appears that when the mobs spawn a timer is started and no new mobs will be spawned for a period of time. (My guess here is 10 min). A final note, golems and firetongue shissar do summon.
Portal Activation - War torn portals
These are the 9 outer portals that are North and West. My numbering of the portals is from the 8 o'clock position then heading to the 11 o'clock position. Each of these portals will spawn from 3 to 6 mobs; most will be 3, except for the portal to Zhisza which will spawn no mobs. The mobs being a combination of golems and snakes. The snake kill part of the quest can be any snake and does not have to come from the snakes spawned when you near the portal. This quest is similar to quest 1 and 2 put together, in that mobs spawn when you near the portal, and a Chaotic Portal Energy can spawn when you go to the top of the portal and click the wand. (Notice the wand must be equipped in your primary, and you will need to right click it. The wand is also an instant cast, so can be clicked while running.) If you die to the Chaotic Portal Energy you will have to redo that portal, even if rezzed prior to the death of the mob, you will not get credit or your key. The wand has 20 charges, so be aware. These portals also have the same reset timer as those in quest 2. If you get the message, "The spell fizzles", it generally means you have that key already.
Some notes on specific portals of quest #3:
Portal 1: 2 Snakes, 1 Golem
Portal 2: 2 Snakes, 1 Golem
Portal 3: Spawns 3 golems and 3 snakes. You will either need a good group or a small raid. There are a couple of other ways to deal with this one that I have found. One way is to have someone that has the quest, but is outside the group, DA, spawn the mobs and run the golems away while the group deals with the 3 snakes. (Snakes will stay at the portal, or warp back to it in almost all cases) (The DA will prevent the snare from landing and give you enough time to get out of casting range.) When snakes are dead or mezzed, have one at a time use their wand on the portal and deal with any Chaotic Portal Energys that spawn. The second method relies on the despawn timer of the golems (the snakes will not despawn). Have a Feign Dead class (again with the quest, but outside of the group) run up, spawn the mobs and immediately feign. Let the 3 golems despawn (2 - 2.5 minutes), then pull the 3 snakes. Mezz or kill the snakes then again one at a time use wand on the portal and kill any Chaotic Portal Energy mobs that spawn. Recall you have a total of about 10 minutes from the spawning of the ambush mobs till the portal resets and they will spawn again.
Portal 4: 2 Golems, 1 Snake
Portal 5: 2 Golems, 1 Snake
Portal 6: 3 Snakes (1 of which is a red con to lv 75 elite). Like the golems, the elite snake will despawn in 2 - 2.5 min, and usually stays at the portal if the others are kited away.
Portal 7 is the Zhisza portal and will not spawn mobs, but could spawn a Chaotic Portal Energy when you click the wand.
Portal 8: 3 Snakes (1 is a red con, Elite Nightfang)
Portal 9: 2 Golems, 1 Snake (but these seem to spawn further out than the others did) (By that I mean, well before your toon gets to the teleport pad)
General Notes:
The mobs that are spawned while doing the portal quest are agro on you and your group (no matter where you are in the zone), and only agro on you and your group (guards and other players, will not be attacked). While the quest are active, any portals you get near, or step on, that are part of that quest, will spawn mobs, even if you have already completed that particular portal. On quest 2 and 3 be aware that some of the symbols are active on the portals and will port you away. (Activated ports are destination based, rather than the portal where you are currently.) The map at the bottom of the link above (second map) list the names of each portal, this should help you if you are missing particular portals, or forgot which ones you have done. The initial spawn of mobs is per person, so if 3 people rush the portal at the same time you will get 3 times the number of mobs. This also applies when the timer resets, if your whole group is near the portal you will be getting a lot of mobs.
Incoming - Exploit:
On portal quest 3 and even quest 2 after you have completed the 12 kills; the easy way to do this, is to have someone outside the group, but with the quest, spawn the mobs at the portal and run away, feign, or zone. Remember since they are outside the group, the mobs are not agro to the group. Heck you can go up and pet the snakes on the head and they will just sit there. Then each person does the portal. In quest 3 the Chaotic Portal Energy mob can still spawn of course, but does not appear to have social agro with anything else. More testing of this is needed, but I was not able to do it, since I completed the quest.
You could even solo the third quest. Lev, DA, run near the portal to spawn the mobs, run to the Zhisiza portal, zone out, zone back, run to the portal you previously spawned (mobs should be gone now, or at least not agro), click wand, get key or kite Chaotic Portal Energy if it spawned. You can kite it if you have lev, by using the terrain to your advantage (The changing height and the fact that you can go over the walls and drop offs, while the mob will have to use the ramps up and down).
(If my post is too long for you, the exploit is at the bottom, and labled as such)
(First post, so I appoligize if I did it wrong.)
http://forums.station.sony.com/eq/posts/list.m?topic_id=107100
The portals around Katta can allow you very quick access to anywhere in the zone; IF you have the two requirements for their use. First, at least the first of the three quest to activate them. The first quest activates all the southern portals, which allows access to portals near both Atiiki and Thalassius. The second requirement is an understanding of where you are going and the symbols needed to get there. For this I have provided a detailed map in the above link.
The Quest
The quests are received from Archarcanist Kirstmycl, who is located just east of the vendor area, near the Southeast sanctum portal. All of the quests are solo quest, meaning that each toon must get the quest individually. However, for most, it will require a group to complete the quest. There are three quest and they must be completed in order.
Portal Activation - Sanctuary
This is the first quest. See the map for the exact locations of all 9 portals you need to visit to complete this quest. Each portal you visit except for the portal to Atiiki and the portal nearest the quest giver has a chance of spawning a Chaotic Portal Energy. (The Atiiki portal also updates well away from the actual portal, unlike the others). The Chaotic Portal Energy cast a directional silence; this is very bad for your healer(s), so set up accordingly. It also procs a spin/ stun. It is unsnareable, and unrootable, but if necessary you can kite it by using the bad pathing, especially by running with levitate, and across the different heights near the portal. The best way I have found to complete this quest is to set the group near the portal, and then have one toon at a time run up to the top of the portal, either receiving a key or spawning the mob. If the Chaotic Portal Energy mob spawns the toon immediately runs back to the group and you kill the mob. The toon should receive the key upon the mob's death. If the toon dies, he will most likely have to redo that portal. The reason you want to do this one toon at a time is to prevent multiple Chaotic Portal Energys from spawning. One note here and it is the same for quest #3, it does not seem to matter if the toon is grouped or even gets xp for the kill, so long as the mob dies, he gets his key. The portal in group one that is nearest the Thalassius portal, will always spawn a Chaotic Portal Energy and it cons yellow to lv 75. After you complete all the required portals, each person, runs back to the quest giver, drops invisible, and hails him, with all keys in inventory. Notice you HAIL him; do not turn in the keys.
Portal Activation - Dangerous Grounds
These include the 9 outer portals that are North and East, the last two inner portals and the last sanctum portal, 12 total. Each portal will spawn 3 mobs, a combination of snakes and golems, except for the portals to Thalassius and the portal to Silyssar, which spawns no mobs. (One note here, if you accidentally zone to either Thalassius or Silyssar while getting the update, you could bug your quest, by getting the update, but not the key.) The 12 kills required by the quest must come from these spawned mobs. The mobs cast golem slow which is a snare and a slow; this creates agro issues and to a large extent, prevents kiting them. Neither the golems nor the snakes can be faded, etc. and Feign Death will not despawn them, they will just do laps over your FD spot. What seems to work best is to have one toon run up near the portal (mobs will spawn before you get to the top of the portal), spawn the mobs, and immediately run back to the group. The group then either kills or mezzes the mobs (or some combination) (not all mobs are mezzable); and each person quickly runs up and gets the key and update. It appears that when the mobs spawn a timer is started and no new mobs will be spawned for a period of time. (My guess here is 10 min). A final note, golems and firetongue shissar do summon.
Portal Activation - War torn portals
These are the 9 outer portals that are North and West. My numbering of the portals is from the 8 o'clock position then heading to the 11 o'clock position. Each of these portals will spawn from 3 to 6 mobs; most will be 3, except for the portal to Zhisza which will spawn no mobs. The mobs being a combination of golems and snakes. The snake kill part of the quest can be any snake and does not have to come from the snakes spawned when you near the portal. This quest is similar to quest 1 and 2 put together, in that mobs spawn when you near the portal, and a Chaotic Portal Energy can spawn when you go to the top of the portal and click the wand. (Notice the wand must be equipped in your primary, and you will need to right click it. The wand is also an instant cast, so can be clicked while running.) If you die to the Chaotic Portal Energy you will have to redo that portal, even if rezzed prior to the death of the mob, you will not get credit or your key. The wand has 20 charges, so be aware. These portals also have the same reset timer as those in quest 2. If you get the message, "The spell fizzles", it generally means you have that key already.
Some notes on specific portals of quest #3:
Portal 1: 2 Snakes, 1 Golem
Portal 2: 2 Snakes, 1 Golem
Portal 3: Spawns 3 golems and 3 snakes. You will either need a good group or a small raid. There are a couple of other ways to deal with this one that I have found. One way is to have someone that has the quest, but is outside the group, DA, spawn the mobs and run the golems away while the group deals with the 3 snakes. (Snakes will stay at the portal, or warp back to it in almost all cases) (The DA will prevent the snare from landing and give you enough time to get out of casting range.) When snakes are dead or mezzed, have one at a time use their wand on the portal and deal with any Chaotic Portal Energys that spawn. The second method relies on the despawn timer of the golems (the snakes will not despawn). Have a Feign Dead class (again with the quest, but outside of the group) run up, spawn the mobs and immediately feign. Let the 3 golems despawn (2 - 2.5 minutes), then pull the 3 snakes. Mezz or kill the snakes then again one at a time use wand on the portal and kill any Chaotic Portal Energy mobs that spawn. Recall you have a total of about 10 minutes from the spawning of the ambush mobs till the portal resets and they will spawn again.
Portal 4: 2 Golems, 1 Snake
Portal 5: 2 Golems, 1 Snake
Portal 6: 3 Snakes (1 of which is a red con to lv 75 elite). Like the golems, the elite snake will despawn in 2 - 2.5 min, and usually stays at the portal if the others are kited away.
Portal 7 is the Zhisza portal and will not spawn mobs, but could spawn a Chaotic Portal Energy when you click the wand.
Portal 8: 3 Snakes (1 is a red con, Elite Nightfang)
Portal 9: 2 Golems, 1 Snake (but these seem to spawn further out than the others did) (By that I mean, well before your toon gets to the teleport pad)
General Notes:
The mobs that are spawned while doing the portal quest are agro on you and your group (no matter where you are in the zone), and only agro on you and your group (guards and other players, will not be attacked). While the quest are active, any portals you get near, or step on, that are part of that quest, will spawn mobs, even if you have already completed that particular portal. On quest 2 and 3 be aware that some of the symbols are active on the portals and will port you away. (Activated ports are destination based, rather than the portal where you are currently.) The map at the bottom of the link above (second map) list the names of each portal, this should help you if you are missing particular portals, or forgot which ones you have done. The initial spawn of mobs is per person, so if 3 people rush the portal at the same time you will get 3 times the number of mobs. This also applies when the timer resets, if your whole group is near the portal you will be getting a lot of mobs.
Incoming - Exploit:
On portal quest 3 and even quest 2 after you have completed the 12 kills; the easy way to do this, is to have someone outside the group, but with the quest, spawn the mobs at the portal and run away, feign, or zone. Remember since they are outside the group, the mobs are not agro to the group. Heck you can go up and pet the snakes on the head and they will just sit there. Then each person does the portal. In quest 3 the Chaotic Portal Energy mob can still spawn of course, but does not appear to have social agro with anything else. More testing of this is needed, but I was not able to do it, since I completed the quest.
You could even solo the third quest. Lev, DA, run near the portal to spawn the mobs, run to the Zhisiza portal, zone out, zone back, run to the portal you previously spawned (mobs should be gone now, or at least not agro), click wand, get key or kite Chaotic Portal Energy if it spawned. You can kite it if you have lev, by using the terrain to your advantage (The changing height and the fact that you can go over the walls and drop offs, while the mob will have to use the ramps up and down).
