Solusek's
Eye|Jekhar's Guide
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Overview
Solusek's Eye, also referrred to
as Solusek A or SolA, is one of the most underutilized dungeons
in the game. It's one of the bigger dungeons, with a ton of great
xp and items to be found. One of the biggest problems with the
dungeon, however, is that usually the level range that it is
targeted at does not come here. Most of the time because high
levels (45-50) are usually camping many of the named monsters
which drop the best items in the dungeon. Many of the items in
this dungeon are some of the best non-planar non-dragon items in
the game.
Unfortunately, I did not start
doing this dungeon for experience until about level 38, so I
don't know as much as I should about killing the fire goblins,
etc, for experience. I'll try to relate what I do know however.
The zone can be accessed through either Solusek B (Nagafen's
Lair) or Lavastorm. There is one entrance from lavastorm and four
entrances from Sol B. Any of these zones except the lavastorm
entrance is a good place to fight in case your party needs to
make a quick exit.
There are two things in this
dungeon that most people are turned off by: Lava and Large Races.
There are quite a few places in the zone that have lava, which
can be dangerous, taking off lots of life very quickly, and
making corpse recovery very difficult. I personally have never
fallen in the lava once. Perhaps this is mostly my good fortune,
but almost everyone I know that's hunted in Solusek A has never
complained about falling into the lava. There are many places to
fight in Solusek A that are nowhere near lava. Still, it is a
danger you should be aware of.
The other problem is that many of
the corridors are too small for the large races to pass through.
My only advice here is to use the Shrink spell, or don't come
here with a large race character. You will find it very hard to
fight if you can't reduce your size.
The monsters here range from the
Young Goblins at level 20, up to the Clockwork Guardians and
named gnomes who can reach level 34. The rare lava elemental is
around 38. You can get good experience hunting here up to level
45.
Solusek's Eye can basically be
divided into three major sections. The first section, the entry
area, is mostly goblins, with some other monsters thrown in, and
a few gnomes. This is what I call the entry zone, even though it
is a huge area. To the south is the Goblin Castle, which has lots
of goblins, including some of the higher level ones (Inferno and
Solusek goblins). To the east is the Gnome Castle, which houses
the Solusek Mining Company, its clockwork guardians, and a rare
lava elemental friend of theirs. Both of the castles have a
merchant in them, making it quite easy to get rid of loot.
The spawn time on the entire
dungeon is around 20 minutes, but alot of spawns will skip a
round for some unknown reason (much like permafrost). I've seen
two hours go by where a certain spot hasn't spawned once. Some
people claim that certain spawns have to be killed in order to
trigger the next one to spawn, but I've seen no evidence of this.
Monsters
There are basically two main
inhabitants of Solusek's Eye: Goblins and Gnomes. They are not
hostile to each other, but the goblins are hostile to most all
players, and the gnomes are hostile to evil races. Both
inhabitants have faction hits and bonuses for killing them. The
goblins are opposed to the Fire Giants, and I believe Lord
Nagafen (there's a room with a mural showing the goblin's plans
for attacking the dragon :). Killing them will hurt goblin
faction, and raise fire giant faction. The gnomes are from
Ak'anon, but even if you are KOS in Ak'anon, you might not be KOS
here. Killing gnomes will hurt your Ak'anon factions however, and
killing Kobolds in Solusek B will raise your faction with the
Solusek Mining Company.
Goblins
There are six "clans" of
goblins in Solusek, as well as three different classes. The clan
can help you determine the level or difficulty of the goblins,
and the classes determine their capabilities.
- Regular goblins
are typically warrior class, although the young goblins
are rogues, so be careful when running from them, they
can backstab.
- Wizards are
standard wizard type monsters, and although they have low
hit points, they can reduce your hitpoints quickly. Too
many wizards can make it hard to feign death as well.
Wizards can see invis.
- Shaman are
shaman monsters, and can toss some weaker heals and buff
other goblins as well. They can also cast spirit of the
wolf, making the monsters run away faster. Shamans can
see invis.
The six clans are as follows. Note
that the level ranges I have given might be incorrect, they are
only a estimate. If anyone has the correct levels for these
clans, please let me know.
- Young goblins
are the weakest clan, are around level 19-21. They can
mostly be found right around the lavastorm entrance.
- Cinder goblins
range from 21-23, and are found in the entry area.
- Flame goblins
go from 23-25, and mostly inhabit the north area near the
goblin captain, with some in the castle.
- Fire goblins
are 25-27, and are the toughest goblins found in the
entry area. Most can also be found in the goblin castle.
They also drop the Fire Goblin Totem, which is needed for
the crafted helmet quest.
- Inferno goblins,
27-30. They are found in the goblin castle, around the
torturer, and rarely outside. The Inferno Goblin Wizards
also drop the Heart of Fire, which is needed for a wizard
quest as well as ranger ivy sleeves.
- Solusek goblins
are the toughest, around 29-31. They are a little weaker
than Shin Knights from Guk, and are guards in the goblin
castle. They also have champions. They can be found near
the king and high shaman. Champions drop Fiery Vambraces,
which are needed for bard Lambent Sleeves quest.
Firewalker boots, for bard Lambent boots quest drop on
Solusek Mages.
Gnomes
There are two basic types of
monsters in the gnome areas. The gnomes themselves, including
Miners, Curators, and Conjurers. And the clockwork guardians
(prefix: CWG), which have 3 types and 3 levels of difficulty.
- Miners are
typical warrior mobs, ranging from level 29-33 or so.
They seem to have low str and ac, making them pretty easy
kills for their level.
- Curators are
cleric monsters, ranging from 30-33 or so (I have yet to
see one cast Superior Heal). They aren't too difficult,
but annoying because they are clerics. Even if you are
amiable, they will heal any gnomes you are fighting,
although they won't actually join the fight.
- Conjurers
are magician monsters. This means they almost always have
a pet and a damage shield. If you plan to melee them,
make sure you bring something to dispel their damage
shield. They also nuke a little hard. And they have an
annoying habit of damage shielding any gnomes that are
near them or pass by them.
The clockwork guardians are called
"CWG Model xx" where xx is two letters. The first
letter determines the difficulty and the second letter determines
the special abilities. All clockwork guardians can see invis. For
difficulty:
- C is the
easiest, usually level 28-30.
- M is the
medium, 30-32.
- X is the
hardest, 32-34.
The CWGs can also have a special
ability. You can determine this ability by the second letter:
- A is a
regular warrior, no special abilities.
- B has a
force module, which knocks you way back when you get hit.
Mostly dangerous around lava, but annoying nonetheless.
Always drops either a broken or functional force module,
which you can sell to the vendor from 1-3pp.
- C has a
frost module, which procs a weak cold based dd spell when
it hits you. Not that much damage compared to a regular
hit though. Always drops either a broken or functional
force module, which sells to the vendor for 1-3pp.
Other notable monsters, besides
the named ones, in this dungeon include blazing elementals and a
CWG Spider. Named monsters include a kobold, an efreeti, a lava
elemental, some named gnomes and goblins, an imp, and a drake.
Because of the sheer number of monsters that can see invis, it is
suggested that you be careful when travelling through this
dungeon.
Map and Breakdown of Solusek's
Eye
The best maps of Solusek A are
Quester of Norrath's. Not only are the extremely accurate, but
they look nice too. Everlore has a nice map as well. You might want to check it
out. Unfortunately, he used numbers to mark connection points
between the maps, so I've used red colored letters to show detail
areas for below. The blue numbers are connection points. Sorry
for the confusion.
Detail Maps:
- Window Room - This
is the first room that you will come to when entering
Solusek through the main entrance. If you aren't a large
race, you can bypass most of the initial lava walkway
here by ducking and going through the window. Large races
get screwed here and have to go all the way around.
Mostly young goblins up to this point.
- Gnome Area -
This is the start of the gnome area, and you'll see a few
clockworks starting at this point. Following this path
will take you to the back door of the gnome castle.
- Gnome Castle Backdoor
- Briefly swimming in the lava here will take
you to an island with two drawbridges. The right one will
take you to the gnome castle through a few gnomes (most
of which are nice single pulls). Be careful in this area,
as many gnomes seem to get caught up near the tip of the
lava penninsula, and sometimes there will be 3 or 4
gnomes in one spot.
- Gnome Area - This
area, guarded by two gnome CWGs, is the other division
between the gnome and goblin areas. Just past the two
guard gnomes is where the CWG Model EXG wanders to.
- Gnome Castle Inner
Courtyard - This room has a secret wall on the
north side which has a switch which will open the back
door of the gnome castle. It's a great room to pull to,
as its outside the aggro range of all nearby gnomes. Only
one wanderer comes through it. While there are gnomes
above the courtyard on the upper floor, they will not
heal or assist gnomes that you are fighting in the
courtyard.
- Gabbie's Room - Gabbie
Mardoddle (The architect? of the Solusek Mining Company)
spawns here, along with two other CWGs. She's one of the
most camped monsters in Sol A. She only spawns about 20%
of the time. Her common drop is the pet weapon, the Mithril Quill, which is mostly useful for
selling to the vendor across the hall for 2pp. Her rare
drop, however, is the excellent Molten Cloak, one of the best backwear for
casters and priest classes. She's around a level 33-34
wizard.
- Marfen's Room - The
gnome vendor spawns here, his name is Marfen something or
the other. Another CWG spawns in the room as well. He
sells the Tinkerer's Pack (100% weight
reduction, all size, 8 slots, 2.0 weight), and is useful
to sell all the stuff you've taken off his dead gnome
friends. I killed him once for fun, and like most
vendors, his body disappeared. Ugh. It's interesting to
note that Marfen is on a difference faction that Solusek
Mining Company (probably Ak'anon merchants).
- Castle Upper Level - The
door here leads to the upper level of the castle, which
unfortunately, is not mapped. It's a small area, with a
few regular gnome and CWG spawns. In the room across from
the door, there are three spawns. The one in the corner
is a placeholder for Captain Bipnupple, a 20% rare spawn.
He's the leader of the Solusek Mining Company, and drops
a Brick of Blue Ore (which theoretically is used for
the as-of-yet-unsolved Blued Two Handed Hammer quest),
and the Gnomish Environment Suit (which is mostly used for dragon
runs). Mostly he's camped by people camping Gabbie who
are too bored of sitting in that room all day. Capt
Bipnupple is around level 34. From the upper level, you
can quickly drop down into the inner courtyard (E)
or to the outer courtyard (I).
- Gnome Castle Outer
Courtyard - This is the main entrance to the
gnome castle. The CWG Model EXG and his placeholder spawn
here and wander back and forth between here and (D).
The EXG is 100% immune to magic, but otherwise like any
other standard level 30ish monster. He drops the great Charred Guardian Shield, common, and the mostly-for-show Charred Guardian Breastplate (rare).
- Lava Elemental Room -
I call this entire area the "Museum",
mostly cause there are usually lots of curators around
(Ha Ha). It's the main mining area for the gnomes. Secret
walls on all four sides of the central area open up into
a room with a pillar of lava in the middle. There are
five spawns in here, 4 CWGs, and a wanderer. The wanderer
is either a CWG or 20% of the time, the Lava Elemental,
the highest level monster in Solusek A. The lava
elemental usually drops a potion which casts a damage
shield on you. His rare drop is the Runed Lava
Pendant (AC 5, STR 6, low weight), a great neck
piece. The elemental usually has a nasty damage shield on
him, and is around level 38. Beware that even if your
gnome faction is good, the gnomes will assist the
elemental unless the gnomes are much lower level than
you. This is much like the huge elemental in lower guk.
They will assist even if the elemental attacks you. I've
been informed that if you swim down the lava tube in this
room, you can get to another room. There's also a lava
tunnel there, but as far as I know, no one has ventured
any further down it.
- Fire Goblin Captain
Room - The Fire Goblin captain spawns here. Not
quite sure on his level or rarity, but I'd guess mid
twenties. His common drop is Charred Boots, and his rare is Charred Gloves. Most people would only bother
with this stuff if you want a complete set of charred
goods :).
- Pit Trap/Reckless
Efreeti - A pit trap here drops down into a room
with three blazing elementals. They aren't very high
level, but have a nasty damage shield on them. One of the
elementals is a placeholder for the reckless efreeti, one
of the coolest looking monsters in the game. He drops the
Platinum Armbands (common), and Obsidian Flamberge (nodrop rare). The efreeti is mid
twenties. The exit and another entrance to this room is
through a secret wall at the top of the stairs. If you
don't feel like fighting the blazing elementals, run them
back to the gnome guards and they'll kill em for you. If
you just enter the secret wall, two of the blazing
elementals will immediately attack you, but the last
Efreeti or placeholder will not attack you.
- Kindle - Kindle,
the oh-so-annoyingly rare imp spawns here and wanders
around in a circle. He's mid twenties, and drops the Obsidian Ring (common), and the precious Impskin Gloves (rare). His placeholder is the
wandering goblin in this area.
- Singe Spawn - The
rare spawn Singe, a named fire drake, spawns here and
wanders around in a circle. His placeholder is a
wandering goblin. His common drop is Obsidian Bead Hoops, and his rare is the Drakescale Belt. Heis level 28.
- Foreman Room - The
Goblin Foreman spawns here, mostly just before getting
slaughtered by a druid. He drops the Foreman Tunic (common), and the Obsidian Scimitar (rare). Pretty good area to hunt
in due to the close proximity of escape zones..
- Predator Room - The
only kobold in the zone, I guess he hopped over from
Solusek B to kill a few goblins? He's mid twenties, and
drops Kobold Hide Boots (common, does he really wear his
own skin as boots?) and the Obsidian Shard (decent piercing weapon, rare).
Note that the spot marked on the map is slightly off. The
Predator spawns behind the door at the top of the stairs.
- Inferno Goblin
Torturer - Starting with this point, I know very
little about the area except what I've gleaned from
others. I spent very little time in the goblin castle.
The torturer spawns here, past all the cells. His common
drop is the Turqoise Eyepatch, and his rare is the weight
reducing memento box (weight reducer,
small size only).
- Goblin Merchant - This
room spawns the goblin merchant, who will buy and sell
stuff. I think he even has food. You are probably KOS to
him, but using sneak you can still buy and sell stuff
from him.
- Goblin Castle
Entrance- This area is the entrance to the
goblin castle. Hardly anyone goes to the goblin castle.
It's an interesting place to visit, with lots of uncamped
named spawns.
- Fire Goblin King- The
Fire Goblin King, about level 30 or a little higher,
spawns here. He drops the Ring of the Goblin Lords (common), and the Sceptre of Flame (rare). Not to be confused with
the Staff of Fire. Just before the king room, you will
find the throne room. This room spawns Solusek goblins,
mostly Champions and Mages, and occassionally priests.
- Goblin Bar - The
Fire Goblin Bartender spawns here, and alot of monks like
to solo behind the bar. He drops the Drake Hide Sleeves (rare), and the Drake Hide Leggings (common). He's mid twenties.
- Drunkard Room -
The Fire Goblin Drunkard spawns here. It's funny thinking
of a drunk goblin. Regardless, he drops the Staff of Fire (rare) and the Frothy
Goblin Tonic (common). The Frothy Tonic is one
of the few instant healing potions in the game. I think
it heals about 80 hps? Maybe more. I think he also drops
the Fire Goblin Totem (which can actually be found off
any fire goblin).
- Goblin High Shaman
Room- The Fire Goblin High Shaman doesn't
actually spawn here. He spawns in the room to the right
of here. In this room now spawns a quest NPC, a DE Necro
named Lynada the Exiled. She drops the Sparkle Purse, which is a container used for a
rogue quest. As for the High Shaman, he usually drops the
common Glowing Stone Band, but rarely drops the Platinum Totem (I'm not sure if this is the right
item?). If you couldn't guess, he's a shaman. High
twenties I believe.
- Bats/Bugs Zone - This
seldom used/seldom known about zone to Solusek B leads
directly to the Bats/Bugs area of Solusek B. It's a nice
place for high levels to hunt on that side, because you
have this easy escape available.
Suggested Hunting
- 20-25 - Hunt the entry area
for sure. Since you don't have evac yet, I'd suggest
hunting at the Sol B zone just northwest of the lavastorm
zone. This zone is easy to reach by just going through
the window room, heading south, and then hanging a right
and following the corridor. You can pull Youngs, Cinders
and Fires from here easily, from the castle and entry
area.
- 25-30 - I'd still suggest
hunting a zone, although I'd recommend the zones over by
Singe and the Foreman. You can now kill some of the named
monsters, namely Singe, the Foreman, Kindle, the Reckless
Efreeti, the Predator. Just make sure you have a decent
group if you are going after them. You're probably a
little too young to solo here yet.
- 30-35 - Now that you have
evac, you can safely move in and fight much better. The
goblin castle is a great place to hunt, and you can do
the entry area much quicker, with a smaller group. It's
possible to fight the gnomes now, but I'd suggest waiting
a few more levels. If you wish to solo, the bartender
area, or the entry area would be good. Just make sure you
have an escape plan.
- 35-40 - You can pretty much
do the entire zone in a group now, although you'll only
get experience from the goblin castle or the gnome
castle. I'd suggest doing the goblin castle in a small
group, while a full group can rake in the xp at the gnome
castle. Solo, you should be able to do well in the goblin
castle, and if you choose to head to the gnome castle,
make sure you only take the lower level spawns.
- 40-45 - The gnome castle is
the only place you can get good experience, but there are
plenty of spawns to keep you occupied. Assuming they
aren't camped, Gabbie, Bipnupple, the EXG and the Lava
Elemental will all give you good items. Solo is also
great here now, especially in the gnome castle. Pull to
either courtyard, or the corridor behind the castle.
- 45-50 - Chances are, if
you're still here, you don't care much that 60% of the
monsters you kill are green, you just want to get some
items. Stop camping em and camp something worthwhile in
Kedge or something :)
Special thanks to Saania MorningDew for extra information
on the zone, as well as many others that mailed me minor changes.
