| |
  |
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
The very first hint of Shadowlands impending status
came with a quest of sorts, on Rubi-Ka itself, that would work as a portal to
other dimensions. Although very much related to the Shadowlands, this quest and
item is gotten on Rubi-Ka, and is available to all levels, sides and professions. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
| |
Also note that the information below is only one way of getting this ring. The
other option that lies before you is to complete the Nascence and Elysium tasks
for Ergo. For characters over level 150 however, this is the path many opt to
go since the ring will get you almost directly into the fray of the Mid-level
areas as opposed to going the long way around starting at the beginning in Nascence.
The ring in question will follow you through Shadowlands and be a part of your
endeavors there for some time to come. The following outline will only deal with
how to get and assemble the ring while on Rubi-Ka - something that can be done
whether you have Shadowlands installed or not - as well as any information pertaining
to the future use of this mysterious ring.
During the first patches that enabled Shadowlands, this ring played a part in
the transgression into the shadowlands, as you either had to pay a token and some
credits to enter, or could forego the token if you had the ring. This has now
changed with the token requirement removed, and the ring is not needed to enter
the Shadowlands.
Alright, down to business. There's a new ...thing in town, called Ergo
- Guardian of Shadows on Rubi-Ka. Not really in town either really, but
placed in three areas on Rubi-Ka. In the deserts of Wailing Wastes in the Yuttos
Encampment located at 550 x 550 you can find one of them, most suited for members
of the clans. Omni-Tek personell will have to visit Great Omni-Forest at 1200
x 2800 in the Sunken Swamps, and neutrals can visit good ol' Ergo in Stret West
at 1500 x 2700, East Last Ditch (close to Reets Retreat).
Have a look here
for some more info on Ergo and what his mysterious Guardian of Shadows faction
stand for. Ergo is a representation of himself on Rubi-Ka, as the name implies,
and boy does the fellow have a weird appearance. Like a big hovering chunk of
highly sophisticated metal.
 |
|
"Yarr.. I used to be a member of Talking Heads but they
kicked me out!"
|
Visiting Ergo's manifestation on Rubi-Ka is however not the first task on the
menu. First we need four odd pieces of broken down gear, to offer him in return
for the ring. These four pieces doesn't drop off a single 18 hour unique spawn
one by one, as one would expect by now, but the harsh truth isn't that far away
either. These items drop from any "normal" mob in any of the unique
dungeons scattered about, except the Temple of Three Winds, or Inner Sanctum.
That means, any non-boss mob in The Abandoned Subway, Steppes of Madness, Foremans,
Cyborg Barracks, Smugglers Den, or Camelot, have a potential to drop one of the
four pieces.
As you would expect, why hunt the higher mobs when you can wipe the floor with
the grey mobs of the lower-leveled dungeons? The problem of course is that everyone
else tends to think in around the same lines, so these dungeons can be mighty
camped and anything moving or spawning will be annihilated within a fraction of
a second - be prepared for a cozy couple of hours worth of camping.
Mindpain aside, the four pieces you are looking for are as follows:
 |
| |
 |
|
Small Power Supply
|
|
 |
|
Copper Wire
|
|
| |
 |
|
Circuit board
|
|
 |
|
Burnt out Memory Chip
|
|
|
 |
They are NODROP, so no sharing the items you already have with someone in need.
Once all 4 pieces are collected, there's really not much more to it. Simply go
have a chat with Ergo's manifestation - at about 550 x 550 in Wailing Wastes.
Strike up the conversation window and look for the 'Trade' button on the interface.
Once pressed, a 4-slot trade should appear. Drop your items and hit OK, and Ergo
will bestow you with the ring matching your profession group:
Support Unit - MetaPhysicist, Adventurer, or Doctor
Infantry Unit - Martial Artist, Enforcer, Keeper, or Shade
Extermination Unit - Nano Technician or Bureaucrat
Control Unit - Trader or Engineer
Artillery Unit - Soldier, Agent, or Fixer
The rings also come in different strengths, from +1 to +7. Depending on your level,
Ergo will give you either a +1 or +2 ring from your first encounter, The +1 Ring
grants you passage to Elysium, while the +2 ring grants you passage to Scheol.
Do not worry however, these rings will upgrade in Shadowlands,
so if you do happen to get the +1 one, abide your time.
The various strength rings have different names too, where the +1 ones are Insipid and the +2 ones are Caliginous, and so on. In Shadowlands, you will be able to update the rings further in strength.
So what do these rings do? Quite simply, boost your skills, almost all of them.
Any ring will give you a bonus to 1-4 base abilities according to your unit group
(example, Soldiers get bonuses to Strength, Stamina, Agility and Sense - while
Engineers get a bonus to Intelligence). Further, combat skills or tradeskills
get boosted equally, still according to Unit affiliation where Soldiers would
get a bonus to Assault Rifle, Burst, Full Auto etc., while an Engineer would get
a similar bonus to tradeskills and nanoskills. In addition, all the rings seems
to give xp rewards, up to 7%, and some even have NCU modifiers, heal/nano delta,
nanoresist, various evades etc. And last, there's a little AC involved also, "tailored"
to your unit.
Depending on your level, the ring will automatically transform, depending on where
Ergo sees fit you can do the most good. If you are high level, you will not need
to go through Nascence or Elysium for instance. There are a few versions of this
ring you can get, depending on your level, and these are:
Level 50: Insipid Ring, grants direct passage to Elysium
Level 80: Caliginous Ring, grants direct passage to Scheol
Level 130: Achromic Ring, grants direct passage to Adonis
Level 160: Rimy Ring, grants direct passage to Penumbra
Also, to aid you in your quest for the playfields, Ergo will give you the equipment
needed to survive in these brutal lands, such as the scubagear for Adonis and
the goggles for Penumbra.
All in all, the rings are customized to your profession, or rather unit. Some
of this is bound to fail horribly no doubt, and we can only speculate about the
motivation of placing some of the professions together. As a quick example, MetaPhysicists
are grouped with Adventurers in these ring's unit system, and thus get bonuses
to Agility and Sense, Vehicle Water, Concealment, Tutoring ... "typical stuff"
your local MetaPhysicist can't have enough of.
Last updated 05.December 2003
Contributors:
Zellez, Atlantean
Nepentheia, Testlive
|
|
 |
See what others have
said about this article, or post your
own comments regarding this in our
forums.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
