CASTLE MISTMOORE

Project1999 Links: What's in this zone?

Description

Castle Mistmoore is the stronghold of the ancient dark elf vampire, Mayong Mistmoore, and his throngs of followers. The castle itself has vast, mazelike corridors and secret areas, hidden away from prying eyes.

Dangers

Castle Mistmoore is filled from one end to the other with dark elves in thrall of their lord and undead raised and controlled by him. Since Mayong Mistmoore considers all to be his enemies, everyone who enters here will be attacked viciously and relentlessly by his followers. Dark elves and other creatures roam the castle during the day, and at night the undead rise to roam the castle, replacing many of the daytime creatures. Invisibility works on the daytime monsters, and invisibility vs. undead only on the undead creatures.

This area is lethal for someone trying to solo, it simply is not possible. The monsters here are so tough and spawn so quickly and close together, that trying to pull one monster that you could gain experience from will eventually result in your death. As such, everyone must hunt in groups for safety in numbers.

The worst danger in this zone is the trains. The biggest reason for this is that most of the trains come from areas farther in, like the castle itself, and on the way out every creature along the way will join in. All of these trains pass directly through the middle of the outer area between the tower and the lake on their way to the narrow corridor to the zone edge. The only ways to avoid these trains are to be either behind the lake or the tower, or to zone. Also, the zone shuts down after a large train since it is also lethal to pull from the line of returning monsters as they walk slowly back to the castle. The pathing is such that they run around a little, gathering friends before coming after you, invariably pulling in friends. I have never entered Castle Mistmoore with fewer than five bodies littering the entry hallway. These monsters will also hang around the entrance for some time before walking back, so it's safer at all times, if possible, to zone in invisible, because you never know who you'll meet on the other side.

Benefits

Although dangerous, this zone is arguably some of the best experience for any zone in the game, assuming you don't die frequently within. The spawn rates are fast and creatures of similar strength tend to spawn very near each other, so a group can pull a small area with good results without encountering more than they can handle. Loot is also good, as the dark elves often drop platinum, runes and words, and the gargoyles drop gargoyle eyes which are worth at least several platinum each.

The other benefit of this zone is that nobody who hunts in the front need die. This may be a bold statement, but if a group is smart, everyone has Spirit of the Wolf on when hunting here, and whenever there is even a question that you may have more than you can handle, whether from a bad pull or some train, every person should simply zone. The zone edge is very near and, if nobody tries to be a hero, nobody should die. Accidents will happen, and deep castle trains can have monsters capable of dealing out 500 or more hit points of damage with one spell, but overall it is a safe place to hunt.

Travelling To and From Castle Mistmoore

Castle Mistmoore is reached by travelling through Lesser Faydark to the western edge of its southern border. An ancient druid ring stands at the entrance leading into the zone. Most of Lesser Faydark can be travelled safely by those who are powerful enough to fight in Mistmoore, but care must be taken to avoid the Brownie camp to the north and the Shadowed Men camp to the east. Dark elves that are quite powerful have taken up residence in an abandoned camp along the southern edge now as well, so do not run along the southern edge as a way of finding the tunnel to the Castle.