Master Levels in Trials of Atlantis, DAoC

[Morreion]

Master Levels in DAoC

Master Levels were a series of 10 raids, usually having around 10 or so steps each, that were originally designed for a raid of multiple groups of people. Each successful Master Level completion would give you a spiffy ability that you could pick from 1 of 2 tracks. Often there were steps that could be completed with a group or even individually, but there were always steps that took multiple groups. The final step would be a big boss fight. Here's some info for nostalgia.

All of this started in the Trials of Atlantis expansion to DAoC in late 2003. These raids were elaborate and would be led by experienced people- on Hibernia Nimue, some of the leaders included Nurgh, Grigorian, and Regolyth. These raids would be scheduled, and were big events. There was a lot of raid etiquette to follow. After the end of the raids, loot would be rolled on and distributed, which could take a while. It took me months to complete all 10 ML raids and towards the end I was wondering if it was worth it- it took a lot of effort and scheduling. Looking back on it, I felt I really accomplished something by doing all 10 of them- I've never been a hardcore raider. Later on, they watered the ML raids down, making it easier for far less people to do them.

I thought it would be interesting to go through the 10 ML raids and post a few pictures from each one. I'll throw in some memories from when I did them- feel free to correct anything I get wrong, this was pretty much a decade ago!

Master Level 1

ML 1 should have been easier, seeing it was the first trial...or maybe it was just that when I did this, it was brand new, or maybe I and the raids I did it with didn't know what we were doing

I seem to remember a good amount of traveling involved here, going to various small islands and such.

There was the boss to kill inside the marble columns, you had to hit him in sequence I think. I remember standing on distinct platforms, perhaps we avoided attacks or AoE this way?

Gathering at the bridge to the isle of the fire men was something I often remember doing- I think groups were straggling in after completing minor steps in the ML. Those floating Djinni could zap you, I remember that.

The fire men on the island produced a lot of wipes, it was sort of complicated how to go about killing them. I think!

[Regolyth]

Heh, oh the joys of killing those fire bosses. They had a specific order to them, and on top of that only specific damage types would work properly (and you had to deal with agro). ML1 was easy though Gack. Well, as far as the encounters go. The hard part was getting everyone together as you had to travel through the water in a freaking massive area. Herding the cats was always the hardest part when not in a dungeon (and sometimes even then!).

I don't know if anyone knows or not, but about a year before I quit playing DAoC (2006 I think), they added in the ability to just buy your MLs with bounty points. This effectively ended any Atlantis raiding. People only went there for item leveling (which was seriously nerfed) or drops.

In an RvR centric game, removing the PvE element for MLs does kind of make sense though. They were bringing it more in line with games like Warhammer, which was PvP focused. In WAR, you could level completely, getting gear and all, without ever doing a PvE quest (which is the way a PvP game should be). Although, obviously, I liked a balance of both. I wouldn't have led so many ML raids had I not liked PvE just a little.

[Morreion]

Yeah, they really changed the requirements of MLs after a while. It was all interesting when it was new, anyway

[Morreion]

Master Level 2

ML2 was a fairly easy Master Level, I co-led one once so you know it couldn't be too hard! It took place in an sunken underwater temple where various tasks were accomplished.

Getting buffed up to head to the top of the temple above the waves on a crag.



My Bard hangs out on the dome.





My Enchanter getting carried off by a Harpy- this happened occasionally as you ran up to the top of the temple. You's get dropped into the ocean and have to run all the way up again, ugh!



The final boss fight- watch out for the cobras guarding the door.

One of the coolest things about MLs were dividing up the loot after you were done. Loot rules would be set before the raid started by the raid leader. All non-trash loot would be collected by a master loot officer for later distribution. People would roll for chances to win various items, and then some trading would often happen afterwards. There may be limits on the amount of items you could roll on after winning something significant. This was all done voluntarily by players and problems with this process were rare because everyone got along and didn't want to ruin their good name by being a ninja looter (which happened all the time later on in WoW, with less voluntary player activity there).

[Regolyth]

I remember going on a raid with Retribution (I think) and the guy who ran it basically had a bot (pretending to be a "friend") who "LDed" at the end of the raid with some good loot. I'm pretty sure he got removed by Ret later. I don't remember seeing him around much after that.

I had a particular brutal ML2 experience. It was the first ML raid I led. Things were continually going wrong. The raid started about seven o'clock that night, but didn't finish until seven or eight in the morning. We lost and gained people throughout the night. I think about fifteen people were constant through it all. I gained a terrible migraine sometime early in the morning and by the time the raid was at Runi, I couldn't see straight (seriously, it was one of the worst I have ever had). That was a rough one.

[Morreion]

That sounded horrible, man!

I like when there is a server-wide community like on Hib Nimue, reputation did matter a lot. The couple of people I encountered who acted badly didn't have much fun when they were shunned by whole alliances. They typically went away (or perhaps rerolled and left their attitude behind). Now those were the good old days.

[Laethaka]

I quit right after TOA was released to get in on early Eve. Looks like I should've stayed! I remember feeling a sense of doom hanging over all MMOs those days as WoW got closer...

[Morreion]

You were right about the impending doom, Laethaka!

Every once in a while I wish I would have stayed in DAoC instead of game-hopping year after year post-WoW.

[Regolyth]

DAoC was at it's peak (both in-game and subscriber wise) around the time of ToA. Although ToA added far too much PvE to a predominantly PvP game, it was still fun; despite all of the, literal and figurative, headaches.

I, too, left DAoC to play WoW. I played WoW for about a year before going back to DAoC (only to later return to WoW two more times). I don't regret my WoW experiences. I think WoW was (note: was) a great game. It offered a lot. Unfortunately, games do die out (DAoC), and it becomes time to move on to something else. Sadly, those games worth playing are getting fewer and farther between.

[Morreion]

Master Level 3

ML 3 was interesting- underwater adventuring, starting out by killing a sea monster, then with much of the action taking place in an underwater temple complex where Medusa awaited. Her face was mostly obscured, but every so often she'd expose her horrible face and it would have a terrible AoE effect upon everyone. There was definitely strategy involved in taking her down, and it took a while. Aggro had to be carefully managed.