Toward the end of my time blogging about Asheron’s Call I came up with the idea of top 10 lists within the game. The idea was to do a top 10 list each month, showcasing best xp, best quest, under-rated dungeons, site-seeing locations, etc. Unfortunately, I only got this one out the door before I really gave up on the blog as a whole (this may have been a last ditch effort to keep up interesting posts as the game was starting to become boring to me). Still, I think that this was a high quality list and I still enjoy reading it. I thought it would be fun to include updates on how things have changed in the last 9 years, if they have at all. Keep in mind that my updates may not be the greatest as I don’t even have a character above level 100 which much of the content these days is 150+.
Originally posted on 08/27/01
by species, not type
| 10) | Tumeroks In July and August the designers tried to give a little more use to Tumeroks by putting in some high level Tumeroks with good loot and some mid-ranges as part of a new quest. Well the banner/assault quest isn’t that great and while the new high level tummies did raise their worth a little they are still pretty worthless. Expect this to change as they seem to be the developer’s focus right now. Update: The developers did continue to give Tumeroks some love in the Dark Majesty expansion, likely because they wanted them to have a bigger role since they were a playable race in AC2. Still, the species as a whole seems to have remained pretty underused overall. They probably are useful enough these days to have been taken off this list completely, but they aren’t that much improved. |
| 9) | Zefirs Zefirs rank low on the useless chart mainly because they are difficult. This is sometimes more annoying though, they are rarely worth the risk of even fighting. No quest associated with them, only 5 types, and outside of Vesyan, not in too many places either. Update: Again, the developers have offered up some new high level Zefirs, I think in particular during the Throne of Destiny expansion. But again, there are few trophies or quests that seem to go through Zefirs, nor is there any real Zefir dungeon outside of the occasional sighting. |
| 8) | Monougas The main use of these guys is a dungeon north of the dires called The Pit, which is pretty decent for mid-level hunting, other than that not really used in game. Developers tried to give em love but just gave em magic which confused everyone. Update: These got a good amount of love in ToD as well, I think more than the Zefirs did and I believe that the developers have found a couple of quests to use them in since the founding of the list. I would proably put thise maybe down a rank or two. |
| 7) | Gromnies I remember when Ash Gromnies were one of the more feared critters in the game with their electric bites, no more though. They do have a quest associated with them to obtain a Katar that was popular when the Shadows first started their invasion, again, no more. Update: Again they did receive love, particularly in Dark Majesty where you find new high level gromnies and you are also able to turn in their teeth for xp. Out of this list, the Gromnie may very well have been the second most improved critter behind perhaps Tumerok. |
| 6) | Rats I’ve fought rats up to Silver Rats and find they are rather misplaced. They could be more useful but Silver Rats are often found in the center of Obsidian Plains but only take a few hits to kill, just doesn’t seem right, they do drop SIKs though. No real other reason to hunt them, though the sausages out of rat tails was a nice touch. Update: If anything, the usefulness of rats has actually gotten worse. I am sure the issue with these things being in the center of OP has since been resolved. However, I doubt they drop SIKs anymore, and even if they did SIKs don’t have anywhere near the value of what they were at this time, if any. In addition, it seems to me that Silver Rats may have been lowered in level as I have seen them in lower level dungeons at level 9 of late. I think all rats are in the 7-10 range now and are fodder for newbs, where as before there were a few mid-level. |
| 5) | Aurochs Few and far between and only in northern Osteth I think. I think the only new one added since the game started was Babe the Blue Auroch, but that’s more of an easter egg so doesn’t count. No one ever hunts these really, very very outdated critters. Update: Like the Rat, these seem to have gotten more useless as many spawn updates have limited the number quite dramatically. I think it is funny that they have created an exploration marker near a herd of these, almost as if the devs themselves consider Aurochs an endangered species. It’s kind of sad though because for a time, it seemed like devs were trying. They included Fire Auroch steaks for cooks, and they also had an Auroch boss mob in the boss mob update. Now, most are in low level areas and are essentially a high level cow. |
| 4) | Elementals I have a feeling the reason you don’t see more elementals is because they are just particle effects and would probably increase lag if there were many of them around. They are cool lookin all the same but can only be found around atlan stones and crater lake. They don’t have any bodies which makes searchin their loot difficult. I would be very happy to see Acid and Frost elementals added in the future. Update: Pure elementals are still difficult to find, the devs obviously favor Golems to elementals as you can find all sorts of Golems in the newer lands, but few elementals. Regardless, I do believe they have made attempts at adding more elementals, I have seen more than a few higher level electric elementals floating around and I would lower these down the list just a tad for that alone. |
| 3) | Marionettes Only 2 kinds! And this is one of the newer critters added to the game. They are extremely cool looking, but the more powerful Darks are nothing more than Virindi Servants or Puppets that don’t attract other Virindi and Tuskers when you attack them. Only spawn alone and I don’t believe are in any dungeons either. Update: Still only a few types of Marionette, and the highest level one is only 155. There have been a couple quest/trophy items added, but again not much at all done with these. A shame considering they are one of the more cool looking creatures in the game. |
| 2) | Mites This is what everyone usually thinks of when they think of the most useless critters. But to their credit they do have some uses for players under level 10 and have a couple nice dungeons too. I also like the Warrior princess mite that gives discuses. They are extremely outdated and after level 10 don’t have any use at all. Just minor annoyances. Update: Mites have received updates over the years with new mites all the way up to 160!! I have a feeling that particular mite may be more easter egg than anything else but still nice to see that they got love. I also find it funny that not only did Turbine not include mites in AC2, they made a point to say they were extinct. I’d swap this one with Marrionette, but still quite useless. |
| 1) | Knathteads And the most useless creature in all of Dereth is the Knathteads. They only have 4 varieties and can only be found in a few dungeons. For a creature made from a mage’s fizzles in a world where every character is basically a mage that fizzles ALOT, you’d think there’d be more of them. I never even heard of them until I was about level 45 with my first character, and by that time I could pretty much wipe the floor with any of em. I do hope that DM brings these guys in as the Olthoi’s eggkeepers or something because I’d like to see more of the jello cubes. Update: I was initially going to say the only thing they seem to have changed about these was the fact that they spawn above land now making them more numerous. However, many of their spawns are weird to say the least, level 9 amongst level 85? But upon looking up the species for these updates I did notice there was a level 275 version that very likely has a wanted quest run through it. So uselessness not really here anymore. I Guess I’d drop it to #10 or honorable mention now. Very surprising the devs gave this one love. |
Honorable Mention:
| Reed/Shallowsharks Reedsharks especially are worthless, they are difficult for newbs and easy for older players. They do sometimes have some decent loot at lower levels and because of Vesayan they have some nice loot for mid-levels too. Not the greatest of critters, but they don’t make the list because of their semi-decent loot and plethera of them in the right areas. Update: I would now include these in the least probably at around 6 or 5. They seem to have found little updates since this writing, and the speed at which lower levels go up now means that though they were great xp at the time, they aren’t that good anymore. |
| Shreths These guys would have been given a little bit of lovin the past year to make em somewhat usable. First they were given a larger shreth in the Malus, then they were given some decent shreth armor, and the latest addition is seeds to get plants on. They still need work, but have some decent things started on them Update: Again these would easily make it on the list now. Another shame in my book as though it was a grunt, it was an interesting creature. There have been little to no updates since this time. The only one really was the addition of little green seeds which you can turn in for a random dye. Nice, not great. There isn’t a Shreth over 150, though Malus I know did fill a level gap for a time. |