Sunset Six: Monumental Victory

[Part of my Sunset Six story.]

At the end of a tale the final tests in each discipline become available: the building of monuments for each of the seven schools. Not only do these constructs need an obscene amount of resources, but they also require their character slots to be filled, specific to their rank in the discipline. A monument needs exactly 1 Oracle, 2 Sages, 4 Masters, 8 Scribes, 16 Journeymen, 32 Prentices and 64 Students. All up that's 127 people!

It doesn't look like much when it starts.

The monuments also hold a second purpose: they contain a player made suggestion for a future test in the next telling! Obviously there are many ideas that get put forward and after the "oracle" type players have a chat with Pharaoh Pluribus they get an idea of which ones are actually feasible to implement and from there can only pick one to go forward.

Imagine my surprise when two of my ideas made it through then: The Test of the Sculptors (Art and Music) and the Hand of Ra (Architecture)! Gotta admit, I am overjoyed that my input will potentially shape the future of the game. Those are the best types of events a player can have in an MMO right?

The Monument of Art and Music!

As my self imposed "final" quest for the telling I decided to try visit all the sites, failing only to reach the Monument of Thought in time which was the hardest to build due to lack of students in that discipline. I suppose like me, everyone was content solving puzzles instead of building them!

From top left to bottom right: Leadership, Architecture, Worship, Harmony, Thought, Body

Did I mention there are strange gods? Well there are. Just uber rare to run into them.

And so, the sun finally sets and Tale 6 comes to a close - it's time to say goodbye to my Level 54 Scribe of Two. While this is the end of my story, it is just the beginning of another chapter for Egypt and who knows, maybe next time it's you who will have A Tale in the Desert.

Thanks for reading! =)

Sunset Six: The Discipline of Thought

[Part of my Sunset Six story.]

Unlike Architecture, the Discipline of Thought lets you pass the principles of all its tests by simply solving a variety of player made puzzles. To actually pass the tests requires you to build them yourself though AND to have people solve them and rate it as good, which as I mentioned before is a tough balance between not being too easy or too difficult.

Two of the simplest ones for me are the Test of the Pathmaker, which is basically a connect the dots puzzle with a few added rules of blue dots must have a straight line and red dots must be corners with straight lines directly after on each end, and the Test of the Constellation which involves covering up green stars on a "night sky" table.

Easy versions of Pathmaker and Constellation.

Test of the Hexaglyphs can be a fair bit harder. In it, you must arrange a blackboard of hexagons so that the symbols on all sides match the symbols on the glyphs next to them. While the white bordered glyphs are fixed in position, all the others can be dragged around and rotated as you like.

A very challenging Hexaglyph board.

The Test of Venery is the most fun for me, as it is basically like a player-made "treasure hunt". It could be simple and quick or extremely tricky (one I've seen is all maths with the very first clue asking for prime number coordinates >.<) or far reaching - going all across Egypt! I think I'd really enjoy making one of these. :)

Venery sample from Top's Treasure!

Sunset Six: Obscene Amounts

[Part of my Sunset Six story.]

Thought I'd give a run down on the remaining Architect Tests which require an obscene amount of high grade materials and/or assistance which means the chances of me getting them done are pretty slim. The highest level test is called the Test of Seven Phoenix which is not only pricey to build, you must get OTHERS to build it for you! Worst of all, you won't know -where- or -which- of the seven phoenixes (all with different build requirements) you need to construct until the hour to build them. Fast traveling during this hour negates all your efforts.

In the Test of the Megalopolis you are required to build a huge structure which is actually composed of 49 construction sites which you are supposed to allocate other people to. Once begun you have one week to complete -all- of it. It's only thanks to Balthazarr that I managed to pass this!

Management skills to the max.

The Throne of Pharaoh is a new test that came out a few weeks after I joined the game. It's actually composed of two parts: first build a plinth (which in this case is a bloody huge fortress) followed by building the chair to go on top of it. Up to seven people then need to decorate the chair and each of them get a different build requirement when signing up. They then have three hours to finish and apply their part or they fail.

Pharaoh must have a big butt.

Sunset Six: Dirty Architecture

[Part of my Sunset Six story.]

Alright, after all that prep, let's get back into those tests shall we? The discipline of Architecture is a good one to hit. Now is a good time to mention that all tests have "principles" which is like a mini version of the test. Passing the principle gives you a level and usually passing the test does the same. If you pass the test outright, you also autp pass its principles. Lastly, while no test actually involves building a warehouse I highly recommend it as you'll need a place to store your stuff. I currently have three!

First up today is the Test of the Obelisk, in which you must build a standing stone for some reason. Passing the principle only requires a size 7 obelisk which is what I built. Passing the actual test? You need to have the biggest obelisk around. At this stage of the game that's a pretty tough ask when you have monoliths like the one at Seven Lakes shooting lightning all over the place.

Massive erection.

Unlike that one though, the Test of Towers is actually easier during this late stage because it is all about -when- you use it. There are specific hours where you can build specific towers and if you happen to have the most at the end of the hour (in the best strategic spots to control Egypt) then you pass (win), and all towers are removed. If you have zero competition then a win is pretty much guaranteed!

It's all about how you use it.

Another test that's easy to pass at the end of a telling is the Test of Life, where you extend the reach of the aqueduct system by constructing a water tower to help irrigate the land. The only thing to keep in mind is that the water flows only via gravity so all the towers upstream from yours must be taller and in descending order so that your tower actually gets to function.

Lengthen those pipes.

Sunset Six: Right in the Nuts

[Part of my Sunset Six story.]

Building and crafting is a vital part to this game and I decide to setup a little work station next to the already cluttered bank of the Nile. Since this is near the end of a telling, there is a metric ton of garbage and rotting, abandoned equipment all over the place. In hopes my stuff doesn't fall into as much disarray I enable access to anyone and everyone. Haven't seen many people around anyway. Soon enough I pass the "Welcome to Egypt" task and get hit by lightning!

Right in the nuts.

Fortunately it's not fatal at all - almost every time you level you get zapped so... woohoo? I am now a level 1 citizen. The way to progress in the game is to pass various tests of the seven disciplines available: Architecture, Art and Music, Body, Leadership, Harmony, Thought, and Worship. At this point I have no choice but to attempt the "Principles" of each so that I can unlock further tests. I'm probably not going to cover -all- of them in this play through!

All the dots represent tests currently unavailable to me.

Since the tests are also level dependent I am forced to start with the Principle of Architecture which is simply to build a compound of my own. This is not too bad, but the requirement to expand it to an appropriate size is annoying! Eventually I get it done though, and after another zap I am now level two!

And I have a house. :P