Saturday 29 December 2001

Pic of the day: The group advances, among us two golems. Mine is the amber simulacrum, nicknamed "Amber" of course.

Amber simulacrum

Sometimes pure luck can effect what careful planning does not. Today I created yet another new character in Dark Age of Camelot, a mage, or rather a magess. I chose a Breton rather than an Avalonian, since I hoped to start in familiar territory. My hope was soon dashed, as my character came to life in the most remote corner of Albion I have yet visited. After a level or two, I set out afoot, trying to find somewhere else, or die trying. (Not too drastic, as characters who die are just brought back to life at the place they started, or at a binding stone of their choice. Until level 6, there is no loss of anything except time.)

By pure luck, I chanced upon the starting site of the Avalonians, most of who are mages. (They are extremely intelligent but weak. Kinda the Albion equivalent of elves, I guess, just with normal ears.) Here I met a guy who needed a groupie for some simple quest. I followed him around, and soon we were kinda friends. He met up with two other guys, all of whom wore fancy threads despite their low levels. I had dyed my cloak before leaving the Retreat, too, but in a different color. Anyway, we hung out together all night. I mean that literally - we did not part company until around half past 6 in the morning. Half past 5 in England, where they claimed to live.

Boys will be boys, and they did take needless risks despite my repeated warnings. But they were not complete idiots. Their risks were almost reasonable, and they could all spell readably. What good luck! They probably still think I'm a girl because I played so cautiously, but who cares?

***

Now, as luck would have it, the most high-level guy was a Cabbalist, same as I tried to become. He taught me the basics of how to control a golem, or "simulacrum" as they are called in the game. These are pets which you can summon once you have specialized at level 5 into the Cabbalist class.

These golems can be imbued with extra energy through cheap spells, and given general orders from a small menu. You can (and should) have them attack your enemy first. While the golem battles the monster, you can blast said monster from a distance with various destructive spells. If left to its own devices, the golem will just trail along after you and attack anything that attacks you.

The type of golem depends on your level, but the number of obscure spells to use on it depends on your training. Sadly my Cabbalist friend did not know all of them, not by a long shot. But enough that the first, amber simulacrum saved my character's life repeatedly.

The golems are not part of the group, and I seem to remember that you should not let them have the killing blow. This was not much of a problem for us. The whole team - varying between 3 and 4 players, as some came and others went - were mages of various types. We rained death and destruction down on the poor monsters like hail. I specialized in casting spells that weakened or slowed the enemy. Another cast poisonous fog that did continuous damage, and one cast direct damage. This worked out pretty well, except when the monsters grouped too.

***

The best thing wasn't the golems, though. It was teaming up with people who had such great fun and enjoyed each other's company. Perhaps I shall see them again, sometime, somewhere.