Hammer Time
Insider tips to master the Warhammer: Age of Reckoning MMO
This Week: Public Quests
Public quests are one of those brilliant ideas that make you wonder how it’s possible that they weren’t part of the first decade of massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). But have no fear, PQs are now part of the everyday landscape of WAR, and we’re all reaping the enjoyment.
If you haven’t played Warhammer Online yet, PQs are ever-present quests in particular locations of the world that open up to you as soon as you enter the area. Think of them as “community quests,” where you participate with everyone else around you without having to track down the storyline from a quest giver. You gain special influence just from taking part in PQs, and that influence gets traded in for some of the better gear in the game.
Each race chapter you play through contains public quests local to that area, usually just a creepy forest or burning windmill away. Everyone has preferences for their characters–you might want to focus on scenarios for renown rep or build up experience for your guild–but you usually want to target the PQs in your area first. Grind them till you have enough influence to max out your rewards, then head out for more quests or a little RvR action. Not only does this help supplement your questing experience gain, but it gives you access to a critical piece of armor or weaponry much earlier than you would receive it with a normal experience progression.
Don’t forget that you can grind public quests even without others in the area. Of course, you gain the most exp (and fun!) from grouping with others to complete the PQs; however, in those off-peak times when you just have to pile on some influence, head out to your local PQ anyway. Public quests are generally divided into three stages: 1) Soloable content, such as slaying 50 critters; 2) Party content, where you usually have to fight off champion-level bad guys; 3) Raid content, or a big boss who’ll stomp all over single characters and smaller groups. If you’re the only one in the PQ, you can clean up on the first phase and complete all the requirements for big influence. You can even attempt the second phase, so long as you dodge the tougher opponents and complete some of the other objectives (possibly destroying objects or rescuing NPCs). Forget the third phase–you have no prayer. Exit the PQ during the third stage and go do something else for 10 minutes. All PQs reset after a certain amount of time, and you can repeat your influence-farming ways until you master that chapter.
