Game Update (GU) 109 hits servers on Saturday, March 16, 2019. Among the offerings of this GU is a small quest series that unlocks access to the serverwide research area, the Anchorage, and the public researchers. You will need to be a level 110 crafter who has completed the CD crafting line, The Scrivener's Tale, in order to obtain this quest.

There will be things that we will learn only once our server's researchers have progressed and ranked up. Therefore, this will be a work in-progress. Expect changes.

Mischief Managed: Duty and the Beast

Required Materials:

• 20 dewpalm lumber
• 60 reef cluster
• 63 silvered fleck
• 62 strangler root
• 15 nimbic hide
• 1 flitterfin tang
• 750 celestial coal
• 50 swamp ash lumber
• 50 thick bear pelt
• 20 iridium cluster
• 10 panther meat

Recommended Materials:

• Portable workstation or the AA ability to summon a workstation.
• Additional CD mats and celestial coal if you go dig-crazy and need more picks and/or decide to craft some explosives (Explosives are 10 reef clusters, 10 silvered fleck, 1 basilisk meat, 10 nimbic hides, 5 celestial coal per 2 charges of explosive. How many charges you want is based on how much you'd rather explode stuff than dig. :P)

Short Version:

Meet Whilhelm in Cobalt Scar at the Salt Breeze base camp. Then proceed to the mine entrance at /way 3833, -1020, 1884 and zone in. Scribe the recipe that he gave you and craft 4 sturdy picks. Equip a pick and dig to the large cave on the SE side of the map. Find the beasty, scribe the net recipe that dropped into inventory when you found him, craft it on a workbench, throw it at the beasty, bring it to the cage just outside the zone, speak to Whilhelm, scribe the trap recipe he gives you, craft then place 10 traps. Wait 42 minutes of in-game time, then check the traps until you get an update. Click on the caged beasty to feed him and return to Whilhelm for your reward.

Detailed Explanation

Are you a level 110 crafter who has completed The Scrivener's Tale? If so, Whilhelm Nam'Terin will be in Cobalt Scar near the Salt Breeze base camp at the start of the zone (/way 3702, -1017, 1674). Speak with him and he will give you a chunk of the story/lore along with a quest to clear out a nearby abandoned mine. He will provide you with recipes for sturdy mining picks and shovels.

Squishies will likely want to fly the short ways to the mine entrance at /way 3833, -1020, 1884 so that they can avoid the shadowy stag mobs that will turn into aggro heroics due to the old beastlord prelude quests that are still causing trouble around Norrath. Naughty murder-deer!

Upon entering, you will find an old anvil that can be used for crafting the picks and shovels, as well as lots of rubble. The quest will ask for you to craft 4 tools, and it is up to you to decide if you want to make 4 picks, 2 picks, 2 shovels, etc. Personally, I did all picks, though I tested the shovel as well. (Picks clear rocks, shovels clear dirt - and since you can step over most of the dirt, it made the decision easier.)

Once you have the tools made and have one equipped, start clearing. You don't have to clear everything, or even close to everything, you just need to make your way to an update down the southeast tunnel and a 4-legged surprise. (The map pointer in the image below is roughly where you enter the zone.)

While you dig, your tools will slowly degrade in durability. Once a tool hits 0 durability, you will need to swap in a fresh tool in place of the broken one. (Hence the need for multiple picks, etc.)

If you end up digging a less direct path to the southeast tunnel, you may find the recipe for explosives. These allow you to clear a chunk of rock with a big kaboom, but watch out that you don't stand in the blast radius if you do that! (Also, be aware that crafting explosives has deadly crafting events, so if you miss a counter, you die. What did you expect from something that was deadly enough that I accidentally killed Gninja with it the first time I tried it?!)

Once you have cleared to that southeastern tunnel, and found the "beast" mentioned in the quest name, you'll need to make a net to capture it. (The recipe will be provided and will need to be scribed.) Once captured, zone back out to Cobalt Scar, and you will find a large cage for him to your left. Click on it to place him in the cage.

Note that you cannot "warp" via house ratings while in this version of the instance, so if you don't have a way of summoning a workbench, and the needed materials (see the above master list of resources needed), you will have to run out, craft, then run back to the end of the instance to capture the creature, then run back out the entrance to cage him and update the quest.

Speak to Wilhelm (who has relocated to just outside the instance) and he'll say that the poor little guy looks a bit scared and hungry. He'll give you a recipe for a live capture trap. You will need to make and place 10 live capture traps to see if you can catch some food for the little fella. There are cyan dots on the map and minimap to show you where to place them. (Recyle time is relatively short on the trap clearing so another can be placed, which is handy if many people are on this step at the same time.) After you place the traps you will receive a timer showing you when you can return to check the traps. It will take 70 minutes real-time while logged into the game for there to be activity enough in the traps for you to check them, and the update for finding something is random -- it may take you only a single trap check to find food for him, it may take you ten checks.

The trap placement step can be grouped, so if you are having problems placing a trap, or too many other folks are using the traps at the same time, group up, and make the placing step go more smoothly.

Since folks are sure to miss that, I repeat - the step between placing the traps and checking them will take 70 minutes (one full "game day") of time logged into the game. Find other things to do in the meantime, and the timer in your quest journal will keep track of time for you.

Once you get the update for checking the traps, return to Whilhelm and he will give you 24p and the cute little fella you trapped as a "Mischievous Beasty" fabled familiar.

Mischief Managed: Forming the ____ Guild

Note that if you fail to be properly convincing and the NPC won't speak with you anymore, you have to wait less than a minute for them to calm down so you can try again.

Whilhelm wants you to convince four special crafters to come join the Anchorage. For each, he will tell you where they are located, and some personal information that should help you convince them to join. If you decide to skip the spoiler dialog below, just be careful with your reading, and know that if you take the wrong conversation path and your target gets upset, it is less than a minute before they will speak with you again.

The four people and their quest names are as listed below. In each case, completing the quest will reward you with a house item and a secondary reward:

• Bondrin Steelfist - Mischief Managed: Forming the Hammer Guild. Reward: Faefly Stool, limited potion of progress
• Hibbie Felfoot - Mischief Managed: Forming the Feyiron Skillets Guild. Reward: Overcooked Jumjum Pie, limited potion of progress
• Jurie Gearshaper - Mischief Managed: Forming Ak'Anon's Finest Guild. Reward: Tock's Tinkered Tinkerstation, Essence of Chaos
• Eifae Goldthorn - Mischief Managed: Forming the All's Eye Guild. Reward: Elven Lamp (Lightsource), limited potion of progress

Faefly Stool	Overcooked Jumjum Pie
Tock's Tinkered Tinkerstation	Elven Lamp (Lightsource)

You must complete all four of these recruiting quests for Whilhelm before you can progress to Mischief Managed: The Anchorage.

Mischief Managed: Forming the Hammer Guild

Bondrin can be found in Butcherblock Mountains at /way -359, 166, -273. If you do not follow the proper conversational sequence (below), you may upset him enough that he won't converse with you anymore. He'll calm down in less than a minute and you can try again.

You say, "Hail, Bondrin Steelfist"

Bondrin Steelfist says to you, "Oi there. Quickly now, I don't have all day."

You say to Bondrin Steelfist, "Hello, are you Bondrin?" Bondrin Steelfist says to you, "What can I do ye for?"

You say to Bondrin Steelfist, "Sorry, I think I have the wrong person... I am looking for a blacksmith."

Bondrin Steelfist says to you, "What do ye think I am? See that grinder over there? Why else would I have one'a them? What do you need a blacksmith for?"

You say to Bondrin Steelfist, "I'm sorry, allow me to introduce myself. My name is ______, and I am looking for a renowned blacksmith in this area. I didn't see you working on anything so I made an assumption. My apologies."

Bondrin Steelfist says to you, "Well aren't ye proper. What can I do for you? I may not be the best but I know the basics. Did you need a sword sharpened or a staff repaired?"

You say to Bondrin Steelfist, "A staff? Isn't that a woodworker's job?"

Bondrin Steelfist says to you, "Aye, but I have taken time to learn all the little ins and outs of the different styles so that I have a better big picture idear about how things work. Eventually I want to make all new recipes for my customers. If I ever get any, that is."

You say to Bondrin Steelfist, "Maybe I can help with that. In fact, I'm looking for someone to come do just that in a business venture I am a part of. Are you interested? If not, I won't bore you with the details."

Bondrin Steelfist says to you, "You mean I would get to make all new recipes for customers?"

You say to Bondrin Steelfist, "Yup! And you won't even have to worry about attracting customers either."

Bondrin Steelfist/a says to you, "Count me in!"

You say to Bondrin Steelfist, "Great, head to Cobalt Scar and I will meet you at the Anchorage."

Mischief Managed: Forming the Feyiron Skillets Guild

Hibbie can be found in Rivervale at /way -98, -25, -96. If you do not follow the proper dialog path, you run the risk of angering Hibbie to the point of refusing to interact with you. If this happens, you will need to wait less than a minute before she calms down. (She REALLY hates sirens, so avoid mention of Cobalt Scar, k?)

You say, "Hail, Hibbie Felfoot"

Hibbie Felfoot:Hibbie Felfoot says to you, "If it's pies you are looking for, I got some bad news for you!"

You say to Hibbie Felfoot, "Mmmmm pie. That sounds amazing!" Hibbie Felfoot says to you, "Pie, pie, pie... That is all anyone here seems to care about. Why can't customers ask for a savory soufflé or something... Anything other than pie."

You say to Hibbie Felfoot, "Would you want to research all sorts of different types of foods, it would be a real opportunity to make something truly unique and even get help selling them."

Hibbie Felfoot says to you, "I wouldn't have to deal with customers? But, what about my glowing personality?"

You say to Hibbie Felfoot, "You are more than welcome interacting with customers if you want, but its not forced."

Hibbie Felfoot says to you, "Interesting..."

You say to Hibbie Felfoot, "Would you like to know more?"

Hibbie Felfoot says to you, "I guess so. No strings, right?"

You say to Hibbie Felfoot, "No strings. I come from a place called the Anchorage. Its located in a place near the ocean with a great view! We are pooling resources to come up with new unique recipes in all areas of trade."

Hibbie Felfoot says to you, "That... Actually sounds great."

You say to Hibbie Felfoot, "Can we count you in?"

Hibbie Felfoot says to you, "Yes, I will give it a shot!"

You say to Hibbie Felfoot, "Okay, great! I will have someone send you a location to meet up with the rest of the recruited folks. See you there!"

Hibbie Felfoot says to you, "Great, I'm excited! You mentioned the ocean... There aren't sirens near there are there?"

You say to Hibbie Felfoot, "Oh my goodness! Look at the time. I have to get going. See you soon!"

Mischief Managed: Forming the All's Eye Guild

Eifae can be found in Kelethin at /way 339, 109, 97. If you do not follow the proper dialog path, you run the risk of angering Eifae to the point of refusing to interact with you. If this happens, you will need to wait less than a minute before she calms down

You say, "Hail, Eifae Goldthorn"

Eifae Goldthorn says to you, "Excuse me, what is it? I am a bit busy here."

You say to Eifae Goldthorn, "Hello! My name is _____. I represent a group of individuals located in Cobalt Scar who are looking for researchers in fields such as yours to join and build a new expedition into making trades and researching new items. Does this interest you?"

Eifae Goldthorn says to you, "No, go away."

Mum note: Close out the dialog at that point, then re-hail her with the following conversation - this works around her current bug until the fix on the 19th.

You say, "Hail, Eifae Goldthorn"

Eifae Goldthorn says to you, "Excuse me, what is it? I am a bit busy here."

You say to Eifae Goldthorn, "Wow! That cloak you are working on looks fantastic. Kudos on the craftsmanship."

Eifae Goldthorn says to you, "Gee, thanks. But, its supposed to be a scarf. "

You say to Eifae Goldthorn, "Oh, my mistake! I was referring to the patterns not so much the shape. I apologize!"

Eifae Goldthorn says to you, "That's alright. This is just a hobby. It doesn't need to be perfect as its for me.

You say to Eifae Goldthorn, "I see. I might know of a place you can practice your trade and share it with others, if you are interested."

Eifae Goldthorn says to you, "Interesting... Tell me more."

You say to Eifae Goldthorn, "We are looking for tradesmen and tradeswomen to do research for our group and create new items never seen before. You would work mostly in the background and we will handle customers."

Eifae Goldthorn/a says to you, "Hmm, so I wouldn't have to work with customers at all?"

You say to Eifae Goldthorn, "Aside from some occasional input on direction of research, nope!"

Eifae Goldthorn says to you, "You know, why not. I'm not really getting anywhere here and I am tired of random nobodies coming in and asking me to make them things that take forever to make and giving me a few coppers for my time. Where should I go?"

You say to Eifae Goldthorn, "We are based in Cobalt Scar. Seek out Whilhelm Nam'terin and he can get you started. Can't wait to see your work!"

Mischief Managed: Forming Ak'Anon's Finest Guild

Jurie can be found at /way -912, 175, 763 in the Steamfont Mountains. Again, if you get her angry, wait a minute, and try again with the proper conversation path.

You say, "Hail, Jurie Gearshaper"

Jurie Gearshaper/a says to you, "Hello there, you."

You say to Jurie Gearshaper, "Gears, cogs, trinkets, and servos!"

Jurie Gearshaper says to you, "Now, you've got my attention! What can I do for you?"

You say to Jurie Gearshaper, "I am looking for someone with just your excitement for all things tinkering."

Jurie Gearshaper says to you, "You really know how to speak to a lady don't ya?"

You say to Jurie Gearshaper, "No, I just know talent when I see it."

Jurie Gearshaper says to you, "Oh stop. No, better yet, go on... Ha!"

You say to Jurie Gearshaper, "In all seriousness, I am needing some help in the tinkering department. We are looking for new and unique recipes and I think you would be perfect for the job. If you are interested, that is."

Jurie Gearshaper says to you, "You had me at servos!"

You say to Jurie Gearshaper, "Great, when you are able, head to Cobalt Scar and seek out a man by the name of Whilhelm Nam'terin. He can point you in the right direction and I can meet you there later."

Mischief Managed: The Anchorage

Once you have handed in all four completed quests to Whilhelm, you are tasked with entering the Anchorage. Unlike your initial instance where you were clearing the mine, this will be "The Anchorage [Public Tradeskill]". Upon entering this public version of the zone (which will be accessed from the mine gate you used to enter into the solo instance for clearing), you will receive an achievement, and an account-wide flag for accessing this zone in the future. Head down the southeastern tunnel to where you will find four quest feathers, one for each of the research NPCs. You will also receive 5 heirloom Anchorage Chit, which drop into your currency tab. (This is currency, so it doubles to 10 for members.)

Requisition Time

At this point you will be able to obtain requisitions from all four research NPCs. They will be named things like "The Anchorage: Hammer Requisition 8031." Note that "Hammer" is the designation for Bondrin, not that the requisition will need you to make a hammer. Requisition numbers cycle, and you will be able to pick up and complete requisitions for all 4 NPC's every hour. (The requisitions are on a 1-hour timer that changes at the start of every hour.)

Sample Requisition

Overlapping Resources:

If you pick up all 4 requisitions at once, you will find overlap in the resources that they want you to harvest. You may get a batch where all four need silvered fleck, though in slightly different numbers, for example. Just be aware that if you're doing all 4 at once, you won't harvest enough to make all 4 items, since harvesting updates all four of them at once. If you don't have more resources in your bags, or haven't harvested more while out, you will likely need to hit your home or guildhall in order to have enough materials to make all 4 items.

Did I just confuse you because my brain is leaking out my ears right now from all the testing? Here's an example that may make more sense.

Among the four items that you need to harvest to complete a specific Hammer requisition may be a need for harvesting 15 silvered fleck. The Ak'Anon's Finest requisition that you are doing at the same time may need you to harvest 10 silvered fleck, while All's Eye is asking for 15 silvered fleck. When you harvest a total of 15 silvered flecks, you will find that all 3 quests are updated. You will have harvested 15 flecks, but to create all three items, you will need 15+10+15, or 40 flecks. This isn't a bug, this is the intended mechanic. It will speed up your time out harvesting for each requisition, and allow you to use more of your already-gathered resources.

Each requisition hand-in will give you 4 Anchorage Chit and an Anchorage Reward Crate.

Fuel and crafting

While the quest steps leading up to the opening of the Anchorage will need celestial coal, the requisitions that you do for the researchers will require a special "scarred coal" that is harvested within the Anchorage [Public Tradeskill] zone. This coal is tradeable, and fits in your harvest depot, so be careful if you do a "deposit all" into your guild harvest depot, as you'll be dumping your special fuel in there as well.

But Mum, My Server Isn't As Active As Others!

Fear not that other servers will be way ahead of you on researched recipes. The dev team has considered this! Each recipe research has a designated amount of default time for research, which can be sped up, but only to a point, with all these requisitions. Per Gninja" "There is a balance built in to account for some servers being more populated than others. But only on the high end. Basically once a certain number of missions have been turned in (for a specific recipe) each mission counts for a little bit less." Therefore, while X server may creep a bit ahead of you, they won't be miles ahead of you by the time your get your researchers finished with their first recipe.

Additional Achievements

You may have noticed that I included an image just above the "Requisition Time" heading that not only showed the achievement for "Founder of Anchorage", but also "Researcher's Helper I", for helping the researchers progress 25 times. The Researchers Helper achieve currently awards 5 Anchorage Chit (and doubles that if you are a member). There are additional achievements as well -Researcher's Helper II is for helping the public researchers 100 times and awards 15 chits (also doubled for members.) "Researcher's Helper III" is for completing 250 requisitions, "Researcher's Helper IV" is for completing 1000 requisitions and "Researcher's Helper V" is awarded after completing 5000 requisitions.

So, what can I do with all these chits?

There will be many items that you can buy outright, plus the recipes, once they are researched. Items that can be purchased outright will be added to the assistants in chunks, as each researcher gains a new rank.

Ranks?

The four researchers start at Rank I. They each have 20-21 items total to unlock. When they have unlocked 1/3 of their specific research list (research on 7 recipes completed), they will become a Rank II researcher and their assistant will begin to sell a few more items. This process is repeated at 2/3 of the items unlocked (14 recipes researched) and Rank III. Rank IV will be reached when their research is complete. At each new rank, there will be new items for sale on the vendor.

What Happens When There Are No More Recipes?

Don't fret, you won't have "missed out" on your chance to earn chits. You will earn chits slightly more slowly than if you had contributed to the recipe research, but you will still be able to earn.

These researchers are a permanent fixture to the game. Once the research is complete, the plan is that there will be a single requisition offered by Whilhelm every 45 minutes. (I can't find my notes on the amount of chits it will reward, but it won't be quite as profitable as contributing the 4 current requisitions every hour.)