1+1+3
E. Throw your supply pack of beef jerky at them, THEN run.
D. Trick Question. Vampire bats don’t walk at dawn.
42
Yes
Mountain Lion, Kobold, Dire Bear, Basilisk, Minotaur
You forgot about the harsh fall in Kobold’s hide value since the desproportionate growth in offer because a certain adventurer can’t control himself. Now newborn adventurers are lacking on introdutory quest for early xp/gold, raising the entrance barrier and causing a lack of workforce. That’s why they’re using a written exam, to lower the requirement and fill in ranks to increase the guild’s power. Truth is most of them are unexperienced and badly equipped, some haven’t ever complete a quest. They’re as much cannon fodder as they would be in the army, but worse because as an adventurer they’re expected to pay for their equipments, beds, food and training.
2+1+2 two members of the party are ideally able to supplement the healing role in addition to their primary discipline as a defender or attacker.
run. if confrontation is inevitable, use archers to wound the landsharks at the front of the charge while trying to draw attention of the other landsharks to the now wounded meat at their arms length. ideally the charging band of land sharks will turn on itself giving your party time to run.
“Man” is the answer to the sphinx’s riddle
5 red, 20 yellow, 17 blue. 42 spears in total
talking to mundane weapons does not increase their effectiveness. some magical weapons, however, do benefit from daily conversation and balanced emotional health.
kobolds have reached a near plague level of population infestation. the price of kobold hides have suffered accordingly from market saturation.
mountain lions are a much higher quality hide, but as a natural predator of kobolds, mountain lions have seen a large boon in population growth. mountain lion hides have suffered a similar, but less drastic drop in price.\
of the dire bear and minotaur, the minotaur is endangered due to the racial conflict between minotaurs and trolls. the rarity alone of a minotaur hide usually places its value above a dire bear hide. dire bear fur is also rather cumbersome to work due to its stiff, bristly hairs; skilled wood elven tanners are often the only market to be found, and often reclusive.
basilisks are not especially rare or difficult to kill, but they inhabit dryer climes of arkera. merchants must pay a full group of adventures for each hide hunted from the savage lands.
Hrrrmn. Do we have any information on where basilisks sit in the totem pole in Arkera? MMO basilisks are typically fairly trashy, D&D/Pathfinder basilisks have all the pants-browning qualities inherent in the phrase ‘save or be out of the combat gaze attack’, and mythological basilisks can have a set of magical abilities that mean they can represent all the danger of a dragon compressed into a package about the size of a small dog.
the juvenile basilisks which live in the lowlands are a staple source of meat for the surrounding savage tribes. the basilisk diet stays much the same in a general sense; they eat mostly bugs, flightless birds, rodents, or other smaller lizards.
as the basilisks grow in age, they are instinctively drawn to the elevated plateaus of the highlands. the “smaller than itself” diet holds consistent, but with subtle changes in foliage, the animals and insects the hillside/midland basilisks eat become drastically more hostile. up until this age, a basilisk never had to actually fight a meal. these young basilisks develop their hunting skills and their characteristic foul temper associated with their feeding patterns. it is also an important note the few basilisks that are allowed to reach adolescence/young adulthood are as tall as an average adult troll, when measured standing, at the shoulder. a big part of when a basilisk decides to move up the cliffside is simply can the creature reach the next ledge?
once a basilisk reaches reproductive age, its temperament calms significantly; because it is no longer growing so rapidly as it had previously, an adult basilisk will only hunt two or three times a month.
only the females will descend to the incubating sands of the lowlands after a pair have successfully mated. the female will spend between two and three weeks searching for the perfect spot to lay her nest. these nesting female basilisks are sacred to the savage races and are fiercely guarded. after returning from nesting, a female will often discover her cave has been taken by a younger basilisk. too exhausted to care, the displaced female will simply find a new den at a higher location.
many savages believe tectonicus himself beckons the basilisks to his molten lair at the peak of the volcanic crater. that those which survive the trek all the way up the mountainside are blessed to be at his side and will fight with tectonicus on the day of his return to arkera.
none have seen these supposed fire lizards with their acid spit strong enough to melt an entire troll to goo in under a minute. or their claws and teeth made of the sharpest obsidian. or their skin so hot, it melts steel and burns wood in a flash. or their gaze so fearsome it turns the skin of the faithless victim to stone.
obviously the hide of such a legendary creature would fetch such a fortune, no one man could pay it himself. the basilisk hides which are most often traded are those of adult males usually between 20 and 70 years old. the males are hunted because of the taboo surrounding slaying the females. an entire party of adventurers is needed for the hunt because there are no roads leading into the mountains wide enough to accommodate a carriage big enough to carry an adult basilisk. the hides are only traded at the premium price if the entire hide is unblemished, so the party must figure out how to gently lower this massive creature into the hillsides where their horses have, ideally, been waiting patiently.
it is the delivery and handling process which makes basilisk hides the most valuable hides of those listed on the exam.
Kobold : They’re small and dirty. Worth very little.
Minotaur : Rarer and larger… but it is basically just a cow in a human shape.
Mountain Lion : Yup.
Dire Bear : The spikes are handy, presumably.
Basilisk : Anything that can turn you to stone just by looking at you is NOT going to be easy to kill. NOT to be confused with a Cockatrice, which has rot-breath / gaze / somesuch.
Oh… and the first question is oversimplifying.
I’d say optimally….
1 Healer
1 Tank
1 AoE
1 Interrupter
1 Spiker
Either of the latter two can be subbed out for an MM or Debuffer.
And talking to weapons only increases effectiveness if they’re living weapons.
1. Trick question – all 5 should go for maximum damage
2. D. Never fight something unless you’re either forced to or can get something good off its corpse.
3. C
4. Far too many – most adventurers avoid underwater combat like the plague, and it’s not like weapons break or anything.
5. False – it’s duct taping rocks with glyphs on them as many times as you have hands touching the weapon that does that.
6. Mountain Lion, Minotaur, Dire Bear, Basilisk, Kobold. Cats are everywhere, minotaurs are common in the Shiverpeaks, bears are everywhere but veterans are uncommon, basilisks are somewhat hard to find, kobolds are not native to Tyria.
I’m reminded of a mission I did in Guild Wars 1, when “LFG” sometimes means you go with the people that are available.
Party size of six, in the coasts of Kryta. Five stomping mad warriors, and my miniature monk. Just following in the wake of their glorious rampage as they steamrolled anything that dared to look at them funny. Normally I would try for a balanced party with a variety of professions, but that night… That night was hilariously fun. I barely had to do any healing, they were living proof of the old adage about best defense, good offense.
It would be a strange day in Guild Wars when I could get a party of real people together.
Mostly it was just my Necromancer Hero squad, a few henchies and my Moebius Deathblossom Sin… casually extincting everything across multiple continents in Hard Mode.
Well, those red spears might be worth something – according to the colour code, they’d probably be somewhere between exotic and ascended tier. The blues and yellows are salvage bait, though. If you’re lucky, you might get some ecto from the yellows.
1) 1+1+3 = 5
2) E – trick one of them into thinking it was attacked by another one, then take advantage of the resulting confusion as the fight escalates and they all waylay one another.
3) All of the above, depending on context. And why isn’t “crazy Gnomish morphing mecha” an option?
4) 42, and also “not enough”.
5) True (in the case of certain magic weapons, or in the event your “weapons” are the other members of your team and/or a sack of confused, angry Dwarves)
6) Basilisk, Minotaur, Dire Bear, Mountain Lion, Kobold (Also: What is a “Minoyaur”?)
Extra Credit: Only in Britain.
1) 3+3+4 :: few adventurers ought have only one skill in battle. The vast majority ought be able to press the offensive or stand their ground and absorb damage and having more than one backup healer is prudent. Always have as many safeguards as possible: a single death or incapacitation in a 5 person party is a substantial loss
2) e: assess the situation
3) 42
4) man
5) yes, though it might be purely placebo
6) mountain lion < dire bear < basilisk
Minotaur and kobolds are more valuable as allies than game
EC) probably not but there's better ways to deal with the situation. Riding the spider for one
1. 0, 0, 5. But at least one tank and one with secondary training inhealing. And no more than one “glass cannon” (all-out mage) OR berserker – never both.
2. If someone in your party knows a mass berserk spell, use it. Otherwise, run.
3. Man
4. 42
5. Only of they’re enchanted or blessed.
6. Sh*t if i know. I tend to avoid critter farming for resources.
1.) 1+2+2 = 5
2.) E: Depending on the context. If the “Band” is a Bard’s band then get some beer and rock out with them. If they are regular Landsharks it is best to drop everything and run, or better even try to cause confusion in their ranks.
3.) The classical riddle states that “Man” is the right answer. With magic all of these creatures can be the answer to this.
4.) 42.
5.) Again the law of magic makes this more of a fuzzy question then a binary one. If they are magic: yes. If they are regular weapons: only if it makes you feel better and thus perform better yourself.
6.) 5. Minotaur 4. Basilisk 3. Dire Bear 2. Mountain Lion 1. Kobold (Due to the explosion of these)
Good times of being a low level in Tibia back in… 2004? 2005? Whatever, people would lure a giant spider to newbie zones. A regular player back then would have to devote three to eight months grinding before standing a chance of outrunning it/being capable of tank it for a full minute, thanks for regeneration and spell delays being slow enough that you could chronometer them with a sundial, and the pitiful effect of potions. So whenever you spotted “Giant Spider” at the corner of the screen, your destiny was sealed.
Now? Damage buffs, potion buffs, zone restrictions (lure a monster 50 squares away from their zone and they poof out of existence) and premium benefits, everybody can outrun a giant spider in two weeks. Sure, they still chew through your HP the same, but now everybody deals roughly 3-4x more damage (plus, everybody’s Wolverine), making defense buffs redundant.
1) 1+1+3. This is like MMO 101, guys.
2) B. The only response to enemies is to hit them until there aren’t any more enemies.
3) Man. Riddle of the sphinx.
4) 5 red+(5*4=20) yellow+(20-3=17) blue=42.
5) Kobold<Mountain Lion<Dire Bear<Basilisk<Minotaur
To everyone who has said that the answer to number 4 is 42: that assumes that all the spears in Xerxes’s armory are red, blue, or yellow, which is not stated in the problem. If that assumption is false, we could still say that 42 is a lower bound, except even that answer assumes that the spears are all monochromatic, which, again, is not stated. If that assumption is false, the best we can do is say that 20 is a lower bound.
Dude, you’re way overthinking it… Keep in mind, this test has to be simple enough that someone on frigg’s level of intelligence would reasonably be able to pass if they took the time to think about it.
1) All of them.
2) Find an adult; Someone will need to clean up the mess
3) Salmon, always Salmon. Trout are too shiftless and lazy.
4) Not Enough.
5) Why don’t you ask my weapons?
6) Trick question; shredded scraps have no value as hide no matter what they come from
heh.i know what my Half-orc barbarian would say in front of the test: “Wait…there is writing? No one told i had to write .Just Smash stuff!” than he would shred the test(and table under it) to pieces.
Seriously though having a written test seems Kind of wrong for an adventuring guild.
Oh, I don’t think there are any right or wrong answers. This is to test your personality, skills and tendencies. I am sure given the reaction your barbarian gave, he would be happily brought into the ranks and given special assignments for his particular skill set.
1) 0+1+1 then there’s room for 3 controllers/enchanters!
2) E Charm or stun them.
3) You have such limited imagination
4) Unless they’re magical it doesn’t matter
5) Not usually worth it.
6) Seriously? You expect me to still care about a few gp?
1. 1 defender + 1 healer + 3 attackers = 5 (Assuming we’re following the traditional MMO role trinity.)
2. E. Assess how many there are in the area first. Run if greatly outnumbered. Fight then run if facing a small, easily defeatable group.
3. C. Man
4. 42 spears in total; 5 red spears, 20 yellow spears, 17 blue spears
5. True. An important part of fighting is having trust in your weapon. Talking to your weapon helps make you comfortable with it. And if said weapon is magical, being on friendly terms with it may make it more likely to put out magic that benefits you.
6. Minotaur – 3; Kobold – 1; Basilisk – 5; Dire Bear – 4; Mountain Lion – 2
1) 1+1+3. Best to take enemies down quickly, but not leave the wrong guys open to attack (DPS can’t tank!).
2) C. Since land sharks don’t listen to reason, you’re going to be in a fight and will need reinforcements (Based on the size of the band). When you’ve displayed your dominance, the remainder could possibly will listen to you… Possibly.
3) C. Everyone else has remembered the Sphinx’s riddle as well.
4) 5R+(4*5)Y+(Y-3)B=5R+20Y+17B=42 spears.
5) No… Just No.
6) 1. Kobold, 2. Mountain Lion, 3. Dire Bear, 4. Basilisk, 5. Minotaur.
zero. an adventure should loot what they can and destroy the remainder of any armory they happen to pass through while adventuring(you don’t adventure in friendly places and you certainly don’t sit on your ass counting and waiting to get caught)
1: 1+2+2.
Your party can more quickly & easily be kept at full strength during the course of the quest. Also, if a Healer becomes a casualty, you have another Healer to take care of it.
2: E.
Throw some chum at them for a distraction. They take their attention away from your party & you can choose to attack, escape or some other more appropriate & critical action.
3: C.
A hoary, time-worn riddle from the classics.
4: 42.
5: True – Subject to the condition that the weapon(s) in question require a command word or phrase to activate any enhanced properties, or are intelligent & subject to flattery.
6: The value of each type of hide depends mostly upon its rarity, in accordance to the geographical environment & climate in which you try to sell them – ie: A Dire Bear is more common in Coniferous Forests & would therefore net fewer coins. Conversely, Dire Bear is far more rare in Tropical Rainforest & would be worth more money.
With this in mind, I rate these values in accordance with a Temperate Forest Climate: Minotaur, Dire Bear, Mountain Lion, Kobold.
Bonus Question: I don’t need to outrun the Giant Spider at all, as long as I can still outrun the rest of the party members; the Dwarf with the short legs, especially…
its not a question of raw value but of value over weight plus (or times depending on situation and numbers being plugged in) potential utility on your quest
No 1.5 healer & 2.5 DPS (aka the switch-hitter option)? Having a good switch-hitter healer makes 5 mans so much easier (and 10 man raids too). If you’re really lucky you’ll manage to get one of the rarest of all beasts, the tank/healer/DPS switch-hitter who’s competent at all 3 roles!
Reading from the beginning, man this is one awesome webcomic!
The Hound would have failed question 5.
Ah, bugger question five.
Disregard weapons, acquire chicken.
Correction: aquire rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle.
nah that’s easy. the answer is true. isnt it mr knifey?
I would say it’s *conditionally* true; if the weapon(s) in question happened to possess intelligence & were subject to flattery.
The answer is “false.” Talking to my weapons makes ME more effective.
1+1+3
E. Throw your supply pack of beef jerky at them, THEN run.
D. Trick Question. Vampire bats don’t walk at dawn.
42
Yes
Mountain Lion, Kobold, Dire Bear, Basilisk, Minotaur
You forgot about the harsh fall in Kobold’s hide value since the desproportionate growth in offer because a certain adventurer can’t control himself. Now newborn adventurers are lacking on introdutory quest for early xp/gold, raising the entrance barrier and causing a lack of workforce. That’s why they’re using a written exam, to lower the requirement and fill in ranks to increase the guild’s power. Truth is most of them are unexperienced and badly equipped, some haven’t ever complete a quest. They’re as much cannon fodder as they would be in the army, but worse because as an adventurer they’re expected to pay for their equipments, beds, food and training.
2+1+2 two members of the party are ideally able to supplement the healing role in addition to their primary discipline as a defender or attacker.
run. if confrontation is inevitable, use archers to wound the landsharks at the front of the charge while trying to draw attention of the other landsharks to the now wounded meat at their arms length. ideally the charging band of land sharks will turn on itself giving your party time to run.
“Man” is the answer to the sphinx’s riddle
5 red, 20 yellow, 17 blue. 42 spears in total
talking to mundane weapons does not increase their effectiveness. some magical weapons, however, do benefit from daily conversation and balanced emotional health.
kobolds have reached a near plague level of population infestation. the price of kobold hides have suffered accordingly from market saturation.
mountain lions are a much higher quality hide, but as a natural predator of kobolds, mountain lions have seen a large boon in population growth. mountain lion hides have suffered a similar, but less drastic drop in price.\
of the dire bear and minotaur, the minotaur is endangered due to the racial conflict between minotaurs and trolls. the rarity alone of a minotaur hide usually places its value above a dire bear hide. dire bear fur is also rather cumbersome to work due to its stiff, bristly hairs; skilled wood elven tanners are often the only market to be found, and often reclusive.
basilisks are not especially rare or difficult to kill, but they inhabit dryer climes of arkera. merchants must pay a full group of adventures for each hide hunted from the savage lands.
Hrrrmn. Do we have any information on where basilisks sit in the totem pole in Arkera? MMO basilisks are typically fairly trashy, D&D/Pathfinder basilisks have all the pants-browning qualities inherent in the phrase ‘save or be out of the combat gaze attack’, and mythological basilisks can have a set of magical abilities that mean they can represent all the danger of a dragon compressed into a package about the size of a small dog.
the juvenile basilisks which live in the lowlands are a staple source of meat for the surrounding savage tribes. the basilisk diet stays much the same in a general sense; they eat mostly bugs, flightless birds, rodents, or other smaller lizards.
as the basilisks grow in age, they are instinctively drawn to the elevated plateaus of the highlands. the “smaller than itself” diet holds consistent, but with subtle changes in foliage, the animals and insects the hillside/midland basilisks eat become drastically more hostile. up until this age, a basilisk never had to actually fight a meal. these young basilisks develop their hunting skills and their characteristic foul temper associated with their feeding patterns. it is also an important note the few basilisks that are allowed to reach adolescence/young adulthood are as tall as an average adult troll, when measured standing, at the shoulder. a big part of when a basilisk decides to move up the cliffside is simply can the creature reach the next ledge?
once a basilisk reaches reproductive age, its temperament calms significantly; because it is no longer growing so rapidly as it had previously, an adult basilisk will only hunt two or three times a month.
only the females will descend to the incubating sands of the lowlands after a pair have successfully mated. the female will spend between two and three weeks searching for the perfect spot to lay her nest. these nesting female basilisks are sacred to the savage races and are fiercely guarded. after returning from nesting, a female will often discover her cave has been taken by a younger basilisk. too exhausted to care, the displaced female will simply find a new den at a higher location.
many savages believe tectonicus himself beckons the basilisks to his molten lair at the peak of the volcanic crater. that those which survive the trek all the way up the mountainside are blessed to be at his side and will fight with tectonicus on the day of his return to arkera.
none have seen these supposed fire lizards with their acid spit strong enough to melt an entire troll to goo in under a minute. or their claws and teeth made of the sharpest obsidian. or their skin so hot, it melts steel and burns wood in a flash. or their gaze so fearsome it turns the skin of the faithless victim to stone.
obviously the hide of such a legendary creature would fetch such a fortune, no one man could pay it himself. the basilisk hides which are most often traded are those of adult males usually between 20 and 70 years old. the males are hunted because of the taboo surrounding slaying the females. an entire party of adventurers is needed for the hunt because there are no roads leading into the mountains wide enough to accommodate a carriage big enough to carry an adult basilisk. the hides are only traded at the premium price if the entire hide is unblemished, so the party must figure out how to gently lower this massive creature into the hillsides where their horses have, ideally, been waiting patiently.
it is the delivery and handling process which makes basilisk hides the most valuable hides of those listed on the exam.
I’d rank the hides as follows from least to most:
Kobold : They’re small and dirty. Worth very little.
Minotaur : Rarer and larger… but it is basically just a cow in a human shape.
Mountain Lion : Yup.
Dire Bear : The spikes are handy, presumably.
Basilisk : Anything that can turn you to stone just by looking at you is NOT going to be easy to kill. NOT to be confused with a Cockatrice, which has rot-breath / gaze / somesuch.
Oh… and the first question is oversimplifying.
I’d say optimally….
1 Healer
1 Tank
1 AoE
1 Interrupter
1 Spiker
Either of the latter two can be subbed out for an MM or Debuffer.
And talking to weapons only increases effectiveness if they’re living weapons.
The Document appears to say “minoyaur” or “minoxaur”.
Such a rare beast’s spoils would no doubt be worth oodles of coins.
I would say 1+2+2. How would you heal or resurrect a single Healer that became a casualty unless you had a second Healer in the party?
Emergency resurrection consumables.
In regards to the extra credit question, if I’m carrying at least fifty pounds of treasure I can outrun pretty much anything.
Especially the rest of my party and plot-relevant NPCs.
Man crawls on all fours as a youth.
Man walks on 2 legs as they grow.
Man uses a cane in the twilight of his life.
Glad that *someone* knows the answer to this popular, thousands-of-years-old riddle.
Yep
It´s time for an update.
“…and has four wheels and no goddamn teeth shortly before nightfall”
makes sense
Speaking as a Guild Wars 2 player:
1. Trick question – all 5 should go for maximum damage
2. D. Never fight something unless you’re either forced to or can get something good off its corpse.
3. C
4. Far too many – most adventurers avoid underwater combat like the plague, and it’s not like weapons break or anything.
5. False – it’s duct taping rocks with glyphs on them as many times as you have hands touching the weapon that does that.
6. Mountain Lion, Minotaur, Dire Bear, Basilisk, Kobold. Cats are everywhere, minotaurs are common in the Shiverpeaks, bears are everywhere but veterans are uncommon, basilisks are somewhat hard to find, kobolds are not native to Tyria.
Basilisk hide value should be directly proportionate to the number of skelk you had to deal with to get to the basilisk.
I’m reminded of a mission I did in Guild Wars 1, when “LFG” sometimes means you go with the people that are available.
Party size of six, in the coasts of Kryta. Five stomping mad warriors, and my miniature monk. Just following in the wake of their glorious rampage as they steamrolled anything that dared to look at them funny. Normally I would try for a balanced party with a variety of professions, but that night… That night was hilariously fun. I barely had to do any healing, they were living proof of the old adage about best defense, good offense.
It would be a strange day in Guild Wars when I could get a party of real people together.
Mostly it was just my Necromancer Hero squad, a few henchies and my Moebius Deathblossom Sin… casually extincting everything across multiple continents in Hard Mode.
Well, those red spears might be worth something – according to the colour code, they’d probably be somewhere between exotic and ascended tier. The blues and yellows are salvage bait, though. If you’re lucky, you might get some ecto from the yellows.
1) 1+1+3 = 5
2) E – trick one of them into thinking it was attacked by another one, then take advantage of the resulting confusion as the fight escalates and they all waylay one another.
3) All of the above, depending on context. And why isn’t “crazy Gnomish morphing mecha” an option?
4) 42, and also “not enough”.
5) True (in the case of certain magic weapons, or in the event your “weapons” are the other members of your team and/or a sack of confused, angry Dwarves)
6) Basilisk, Minotaur, Dire Bear, Mountain Lion, Kobold (Also: What is a “Minoyaur”?)
Extra Credit: Only in Britain.
1) 3+3+4 :: few adventurers ought have only one skill in battle. The vast majority ought be able to press the offensive or stand their ground and absorb damage and having more than one backup healer is prudent. Always have as many safeguards as possible: a single death or incapacitation in a 5 person party is a substantial loss
2) e: assess the situation
3) 42
4) man
5) yes, though it might be purely placebo
6) mountain lion < dire bear < basilisk
Minotaur and kobolds are more valuable as allies than game
EC) probably not but there's better ways to deal with the situation. Riding the spider for one
1. 0, 0, 5. But at least one tank and one with secondary training inhealing. And no more than one “glass cannon” (all-out mage) OR berserker – never both.
2. If someone in your party knows a mass berserk spell, use it. Otherwise, run.
3. Man
4. 42
5. Only of they’re enchanted or blessed.
6. Sh*t if i know. I tend to avoid critter farming for resources.
1.) 1+2+2 = 5
2.) E: Depending on the context. If the “Band” is a Bard’s band then get some beer and rock out with them. If they are regular Landsharks it is best to drop everything and run, or better even try to cause confusion in their ranks.
3.) The classical riddle states that “Man” is the right answer. With magic all of these creatures can be the answer to this.
4.) 42.
5.) Again the law of magic makes this more of a fuzzy question then a binary one. If they are magic: yes. If they are regular weapons: only if it makes you feel better and thus perform better yourself.
6.) 5. Minotaur 4. Basilisk 3. Dire Bear 2. Mountain Lion 1. Kobold (Due to the explosion of these)
2) E: Other
Fire up the BBQ, shark burgers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
2) E: Other. Point at a Land Shark off to one side and yell as loud as you can, “he’s got meat!”
Sun Tzu would be proud.
Ah, outrunning a Giant Spider.
Good times of being a low level in Tibia back in… 2004? 2005? Whatever, people would lure a giant spider to newbie zones. A regular player back then would have to devote three to eight months grinding before standing a chance of outrunning it/being capable of tank it for a full minute, thanks for regeneration and spell delays being slow enough that you could chronometer them with a sundial, and the pitiful effect of potions. So whenever you spotted “Giant Spider” at the corner of the screen, your destiny was sealed.
Now? Damage buffs, potion buffs, zone restrictions (lure a monster 50 squares away from their zone and they poof out of existence) and premium benefits, everybody can outrun a giant spider in two weeks. Sure, they still chew through your HP the same, but now everybody deals roughly 3-4x more damage (plus, everybody’s Wolverine), making defense buffs redundant.
The answer to #3 is “(c) man,” UNLESS it’s the Subnormality version of the Sphinx asking. Here’s why.
Or the Paranatural version.
Anyone else think the Sphynx looks like Katy Perry?
1) 1+1+3. This is like MMO 101, guys.
2) B. The only response to enemies is to hit them until there aren’t any more enemies.
3) Man. Riddle of the sphinx.
4) 5 red+(5*4=20) yellow+(20-3=17) blue=42.
5) Kobold<Mountain Lion<Dire Bear<Basilisk<Minotaur
THat was the perfect time for one of these.
To everyone who has said that the answer to number 4 is 42: that assumes that all the spears in Xerxes’s armory are red, blue, or yellow, which is not stated in the problem. If that assumption is false, we could still say that 42 is a lower bound, except even that answer assumes that the spears are all monochromatic, which, again, is not stated. If that assumption is false, the best we can do is say that 20 is a lower bound.
Dude, you’re way overthinking it… Keep in mind, this test has to be simple enough that someone on frigg’s level of intelligence would reasonably be able to pass if they took the time to think about it.
Caster
Question 2: e) pee yourself and make peace with your god(s).
1) All of them.
2) Find an adult; Someone will need to clean up the mess
3) Salmon, always Salmon. Trout are too shiftless and lazy.
4) Not Enough.
5) Why don’t you ask my weapons?
6) Trick question; shredded scraps have no value as hide no matter what they come from
heh.i know what my Half-orc barbarian would say in front of the test: “Wait…there is writing? No one told i had to write .Just Smash stuff!” than he would shred the test(and table under it) to pieces.
Seriously though having a written test seems Kind of wrong for an adventuring guild.
Oh, I don’t think there are any right or wrong answers. This is to test your personality, skills and tendencies. I am sure given the reaction your barbarian gave, he would be happily brought into the ranks and given special assignments for his particular skill set.
Passed.
1) 0+1+1 then there’s room for 3 controllers/enchanters!
2) E Charm or stun them.
3) You have such limited imagination
4) Unless they’re magical it doesn’t matter
5) Not usually worth it.
6) Seriously? You expect me to still care about a few gp?
Minotaur < Kobold < Mountain Lion < Dire Bear < Basilisk
You might think minotaur pelts would be worth more, but it turns out there are extreme ethical issues with poaching humanoids.
Plus the fact that they’re basically just cows.
1. 1 defender + 1 healer + 3 attackers = 5 (Assuming we’re following the traditional MMO role trinity.)
2. E. Assess how many there are in the area first. Run if greatly outnumbered. Fight then run if facing a small, easily defeatable group.
3. C. Man
4. 42 spears in total; 5 red spears, 20 yellow spears, 17 blue spears
5. True. An important part of fighting is having trust in your weapon. Talking to your weapon helps make you comfortable with it. And if said weapon is magical, being on friendly terms with it may make it more likely to put out magic that benefits you.
6. Minotaur – 3; Kobold – 1; Basilisk – 5; Dire Bear – 4; Mountain Lion – 2
1) 1+1+3. Best to take enemies down quickly, but not leave the wrong guys open to attack (DPS can’t tank!).
2) C. Since land sharks don’t listen to reason, you’re going to be in a fight and will need reinforcements (Based on the size of the band). When you’ve displayed your dominance, the remainder could possibly will listen to you… Possibly.
3) C. Everyone else has remembered the Sphinx’s riddle as well.
4) 5R+(4*5)Y+(Y-3)B=5R+20Y+17B=42 spears.
5) No… Just No.
6) 1. Kobold, 2. Mountain Lion, 3. Dire Bear, 4. Basilisk, 5. Minotaur.
Fools! The answer to 4 is the answer to life, the universe and everything.
zero. an adventure should loot what they can and destroy the remainder of any armory they happen to pass through while adventuring(you don’t adventure in friendly places and you certainly don’t sit on your ass counting and waiting to get caught)
1: 1+2+2.
Your party can more quickly & easily be kept at full strength during the course of the quest. Also, if a Healer becomes a casualty, you have another Healer to take care of it.
2: E.
Throw some chum at them for a distraction. They take their attention away from your party & you can choose to attack, escape or some other more appropriate & critical action.
3: C.
A hoary, time-worn riddle from the classics.
4: 42.
5: True – Subject to the condition that the weapon(s) in question require a command word or phrase to activate any enhanced properties, or are intelligent & subject to flattery.
6: The value of each type of hide depends mostly upon its rarity, in accordance to the geographical environment & climate in which you try to sell them – ie: A Dire Bear is more common in Coniferous Forests & would therefore net fewer coins. Conversely, Dire Bear is far more rare in Tropical Rainforest & would be worth more money.
With this in mind, I rate these values in accordance with a Temperate Forest Climate: Minotaur, Dire Bear, Mountain Lion, Kobold.
Bonus Question: I don’t need to outrun the Giant Spider at all, as long as I can still outrun the rest of the party members; the Dwarf with the short legs, especially…
Xerxes armoury has all the spears. D’uh.
none. no spears. I looted every one of them
5 is a trick question, the answer is “maybe” “both” “it depends” “insufficient data” or “sometimes”
1,2,2
its not a question of raw value but of value over weight plus (or times depending on situation and numbers being plugged in) potential utility on your quest
1,2,2 because backup healer, best defense is a good offense and either the healer or one of the attacker/defenders can probably pull double duty
Not sure why so many people rate Minotaur hides so highly. They’re basically just cows.
Because they’re a bit tougher to chop into steaks than regular cows.
Should be less tough. Human leather is hella weak… and minotaurs are half bovine half human…
No 1.5 healer & 2.5 DPS (aka the switch-hitter option)? Having a good switch-hitter healer makes 5 mans so much easier (and 10 man raids too). If you’re really lucky you’ll manage to get one of the rarest of all beasts, the tank/healer/DPS switch-hitter who’s competent at all 3 roles!
Reading from the beginning, man this is one awesome webcomic!
I want to take this whole test…