Kaesora

Kaesora is an excellent dungeon for paladins level 30-40. This dungeon has many undead, allowing a paladin to make the most of his/her spells. The one way nature of some of the passages means that you WILL die, but the experience you get for fighting in this zone makes up for it. If your group is low 30’s, you need a well balanced, full group. Higher 30’s and low 40’s characters can get away with a lesser group. If possible, bring a group gater.

For all of its danger, Kaesora is an incredibly fun zone, with very high experience and loot rewards.

Faction
There are some mobs in Kaesora that give negative Venril Sathir faction hits. This is the faction of the evil outpost in the Overthere. This is a concern if you are going to bring along any evil characters to Kaesora. Any type of spider will give negative VS faction. There are a few ghost type mobs that will also give negative VS faction hits, but these are very much the exception. Generally, evil races can fight in the undead areas without taking VS faction hits. The library can be reached without taking VS faction hits by using one of the 2 pits that take you to the back of the Library. This route avoids the VS factioned spiders. Unless you have a group gater, you will need to fight spiders on the way out however.

Mobs
There are 4 basic types of mobs in Kaesora: skeletons, ghosts, spiders, and raveners (sperm). Skeletons and raveners will not run, but the ghosts and the spiders will. The wandering mobs are strathbone healers, skeletal warder, and occasionally you will find a ravener wandering. All of these except for the ravener are healers.

Spiders
Bristleweb Spider – warrior spider about level 29-36
Briarweb Spider – warrior spider about level 32-36
Strathbone Spider – necro spider about level 30-35
Strathbone healer – cleric spider always level 29-30

Skeletons
Skeletal Guardian – warrior skeleton about level 34-35
Skeletal Minion – warrior skeleton about level 29-33
Skeletal Warder – cleric skeleton about level 29-31
Minion of Xalgoz – warrior skeleton about level 31-35

Ghosts
Guardian of Xalgoz – warrior ghost about level 33-38
Spectral Guardian – warrior ghost about level 30-35

Raveners
Famished Ravener – warrior sperm about level 34-35
Enraged Ravener – warrior sperm about level 30-32
Ravener – warrior sperm about level 30-31


Navigating
Kaesora is a dungeon full of pits and one way passages. To hunt here successfully, you need to know how to get around. Once you drop down into the dungeon you can not leave the way you came in. Raveners can usually see through both invis and invis to undead. Some of the spiders can see through invis. Move slowly and carefully, but keep moving until you reach your destination.

www.eqatlas.com has a very good map of Kaesora. I recommend looking at that map while reading this.

Upon entering Kaesora, you will find yourself in a small room that contains a single mob (a ghost) and 3 exits. This is a good spot for recovering after a CR and for buffing and preparing to go further in. From the entrance to the zone, there is a passageway to the right which brings you to a ledge that you cannot get up. This is how you get out once you have traveled further in. Straight out from the zone, there is a pit which takes you to the Runelord deep inside the dungeon. To the left of the zone is a small drop that takes you to the first level of the dungeon. This is the usual way to get into the dungeon.

Upon dropping down, you have 4 options, depending on where you want to go.

To the left is a passageway that leads to a room with some spiders and raveners. There is also a pit which will drop you down by the Reaver of Xalgoz spawn in the undead area. This is one way to get down to the back of the library without taking VS faction hits.

Directly in front of you will be a pit that will take you down behind the library. Go down this and you are now in the undead area. This is another way to get to the back of the library, also with no VS faction hits.

To the right is the Frenzied room with 3 static spawns, usually spiders but sometimes raveners. This room is the spawn point for the Frenzied Strathbone. There is a closet that contains 2 spawns, who will often join in if you engage the 3 spiders in the Frenzied room. The left wall of the closet is a secret door that will take you down to the library. Once past this secret door, you are in the undead area.

There is a passageway leaving the Frenzied room. This passageway goes right by the pit that is straight in from the zone This is your corpse dumping area for CR (covered later). The passageway turns to the left into a small room with a single healing spider. If you are going to camp the Frenzied room, keep this spider killed. When mobs flee from the Frenzied room, they path right to this healer, then go deeper into the dungeon. If it gets a heal off on your fleeing mob, find a convenient place to die. Beyond this small room is the Broken Floor room. To go farther, you must drop down to the level below.

There are 2 exits from the bottom of the Broken Floor room. The one to the right and slightly back goes down to the Church and the Runelord areas. The one directly ahead takes you up some stairs, around, and back out. There are about 5 static mobs to fight on the way out, 3 in the room with the spiral stairs. You will pass a ledge on your right, this drops you off by the Frenzied room again. Do not go down this ledge unless you really want to start over again. Continue going up and the only way to go further is to drop down a ledge to the right which takes you to the entrance room.

If you take the passageway down to the Church and the Runelord areas from the Broken Floor room, you will come to a crossroads. Going right will take you to the Runelord. Going straight will take you into the 5 towers area, and eventually down to the church. Once you go straight at this intersection, you are in undead territory.

Main Areas in Kaesora

Areas in Kaesora are broken up into spiders and undead. An area will contain all spiders or all undead, but not both. The ravener type mobs can be everywhere, but most mobs are either spiders or undead. NOTE: when a description for an area says it is all undead, keep in mind that the raveners can spawn anywhere, and are the exception to this rule.

The library: The library is chock full of skeletons and ghosts. There are about 5 or 6 warders that wander around down here, and they will buff and heal any mobs they come across. The library itself contains the Failed Crypt Raider, the Tortured Librarian, and the Spectral Librarian. A coin for the bard epic can also be found inside the library. All the mobs in this area are undead. To the right of the Library is what is commonly called the Burnt House. This is a small area with a hut and a few spawns, one of which is the Hungered Ravener. There are many nice drops in this area.

The Runelord area: A collection of passageways full of spiders and the Strathbone Runelord. All the mobs in this area are spiders. There are a couple of wandering spiders down here. The room that contains the Runelord is packed with spiders. Approach with care.

The 5 Towers: Directly above the church, this area is a maze of skeletons and ghosts. All the mobs in this area are undead. This is a large area which offers many spawns that are fairly spread out. Wandering healers throughout.

The Church: Skeletons and ghosts piled on top of each other. This is home of Xalgoz, the boss of the zone. This area is insane experience if you can survive. Approach this area in general, and Xalgoz in particular, with caution. An enchanter is recommended for this area. All the mobs in this area are undead. I have never seen a ravener type mob spawn in the church area. Xalgoz drops the fang needed for the HS key quest.


Corpse retrieval

CR can be an art in Kaesora, but one simple step can make it much easier. Directly out from the zone in is a pit. There is an opening on the other side of the pit down by the Frenzied room. If you need to run, haul butt to this pit and die right next to it. Someone from above can pull your corpse up to the entry room, making CR much, much easier. If you have a rogue or monk, they can haul corpses to this spot from deeper in, allowing them to be /corpsed up to the entry room. The chances of you successfully escaping to the zone out are very slim unless you know the way very well and are close to the top. Moral of the Story: die in a convenient place, because you WILL die.

General Strategy

As a paladin, you make an excellent scout and puller in this dungeon, especially in the undead areas. Use Invis to undead while scouting. I would cast this on myself every time I went to pull. You can then check around the mobs and see if any wandering healers are close by. This is also an excellent way to bypass undead mobs you don’t want to fight. None of the undead in this dungeon see through invis to undead.

The wandering healers in this dungeon pose a major threat. Use your stun spell and bash to interrupt, just like any caster. Expulse Undead will come in handy as well.

Most rooms contain 3 static mobs, except for the large open areas. If your group can handle 2 at a time, you are set. Target one of the mobs and root it. His 2 friends will come running, and he will be out of the fight until root wears off. Re-root as necessary to keep the number of mobs down to 2 at most. If you have an enchanter, you obviously don’t need to do this.

Always schedule enough time to fight your way out. If you are down in the Library and the casters are making noises about leaving in a bit, leave NOW. It will take at least 15-20 minutes to fight your way out. It really sucks to have your casters gate and leave you down here alone because it would take too long to fight your way out.

Once you are about level 35, you can use invis to undead to get yourself as close to the zone as possible, then run for it. With LoH and full health, I would survive this banzai run about 75% of the time. Warriors do not have LoH, and have a much harder time making it out. You absolutely have to know the way out by heart, or you will never make it. If the chances of surviving the run out are not good, it is better to die at the pit by the Frenzy room. You corpse will be in an accessible area instead of deep in the dungeon, making CR much, much easier.

Graal MacBladefury
52 Paladin of Brell
MFH
The Rathe