Well, it might not have been my first time through. Not even my second time through. However, for the first time in the live realm, I've finished Mirror Lake and completed Zafaria! It wasn't without trial, however, and you don't just get to skip to Morganthe's private domain here, I had to painstakingly make my way there... location by location. Fortunately, things speed up as you progress through Zafaria.
Last time I left off, I believe that I'd just entered the Drum Jungle. Upon arriving, you've got to defeat 9 of the gorillas. I wasn't worried, because I remembered that, though there was quite a bit of fighting in this area, it wasn't as much as it could be, and I'd soon be on to the Elephant Graveyard! They liked to use Forest Lord... a lot. As much as three time in a row at times. And the worst part is when you're debating whether to not to cast a Virulent Plague or something else, and seeing that none of them have enough pips for Forest Lord, you use something else. Then they lift up their arm/foot to cast, and you realize that they actually had enough pips...
Between bosses and dialogue, I managed the mob fights, and sure enough, progressed to the Elephant Graveyard. This is probably the shortest location in all of Zafaria. In fact, I'd wager that there's fewer quests here than in the Baobab Crown! There's a fight with a few spiders, followed by some flower gathering, then some mobs and more flowers, before cleansing two pools, which release a plethora of health and mana wisps, then you summon the Elephant Drummers. They play their song, and you get an awesome view of the graveyard, and the barrier is broken and you can now enter the center of the graveyard, where you defeat four bosses, and then do Queen Elissa's Tomb.
The bosses were easy enough, and then the tomb was a bit trickier. See, I'd never done the first puzzle when it was working, so it was new. In fact, I've done several different versions of the puzzle, but this made it plenty easy - there's large music spots that show exactly where to stand. Then I moved on, defeated a couple of mobs, collected wisps, etc. After catching a glimpse of Morganthe and her party, we were left to defeat four of her Shadow-Weaver minions.
Now Mirror Lake would be a bit trickier still. I hadn't yet done the instance where I couldn't leave and gather health wisps, then return for another fight. Naturally, I went to Mercenaries For Hire, and experienced group of players dedicated to helping the community!
John Shadow offered to help, and we picked up a participant at the door... or should I say cliff edge. Compguru1 brought his Balance, which was definitely for the best, but it left us with a lack of healing spells. Fortunately, John had Availing Hands, I wore a Life Mastery amulet on my Death and brought Satyr, and the girl we picked up had Satyr also... ok, so maybe we weren't as short as I imagined, but without Rebirth, the battles took a bit of work. As this girl soon found out, M4H likes to overkill... just a bit ("Muahaha..." as added by Compguru1). Hehe...
With a smile, we all finished the instance, and completed Zafaria! But in Mirror Lake, I couldn't help but reflect (1) on the fact that I'd seemingly been there before. Before long, I could see clearly (2) that I'd seen this place before. Fortunately, I had M4H to help me, make me laugh, and take my breath away (3) in the instance. If it weren't for them, it might have been our permanent watery grave (4). I'm on a roll tonight!
Stay tuned - coming your way:
Playing It Safe: Storm's Strengthening Skill and Death's Downfall A look at how our newest spells point the schools in their future directions, specifically Storm and Death.
The Future of Wizard101 - Part 3: That One Day of the Week A look at how a special information gathering system has and will affect the future of Wizard101, including predictions of what is to come!
The Future of Wizard101 - Part 4: Magic vs. Money The future of Wizard101 from a financial standpoint, and what we know about KingsIsle's second project!
The Story of Health Bounty That new talent on pets... it's not new! How this elusive talent came to be... and why it surfaced on our most recent pets!
With the completion of Zafaria, you can also keep your eyes out for new backgrounds! There might also be some new Zeke Quests and Grub Guardian levels coming your way!
Thanks for reading, and see you in the Spiral!
Straaaaange. I, too, was working on finishing Zafaria and finished just a few days ago! Gratz!
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