The Borderlands

''You have travelled to the wild Borderlands. Farms and settlements are rare and travellers are few in this rugged valley. Hostile monsters from the hills lie in wait, ready to attack anyone foolish enough to leave a fortified area.''

The Borderlands is a heroic level 1 (for character levels 1-3) or epic level 21 (for character levels 20-25) wilderness adventure area introduced with Update 44/Keep on the Borderlands adventure pack.

thumb|385px|right|Map of The Borderlands|link=Map of the Borderlands

Accessing the Area
You can access the Borderlands in the following ways:
 * Create a new character, complete the grotto, and speak to "Kregan the Gatekeeper" in Korthos Village.
 * Speak to "Kregan the Gatekeeper" in the Gatekeeper's Grove, accessed from The Harbor.

Mysterious Fountains
There are two mysterious fountains in the Borderlands. Using them provides a random buff or debuff, or a special sixty-minute elemental buff, but only benefits the first person drinking from the fountain. Possible buffs are:


 * Air Affinity - You deal additional air damage and receive 20% less electrical damage.
 * Earth Affinity - You deal additional earth damage and receive 20% less acid damage.
 * Fire Affinity - You deal additional fire damage and receive 20% less fire damage.
 * Water Affinity - You deal additional water damage and receive 20% less cold damage.
 * Slow
 * Haste
 * Bull's Strength - Provides a +4 Enhancement Bonus to Strength
 * Cat's Grace - Provides a +4 Enhancement Bonus to Dexterity

Fountain Locations:


 * One fountain is just east of the monster's camp, due north of the waterfall (southwest end of map).
 * Another fountain is east (and slightly north) of the burned out farmstead, on the hillside across the river.

Quests
The Keep on the Borderlands story arc is bestowed by Norworth Koln. After completing all of the quests, he will give an end reward for the entire chain.


 * Total of 54 favor possible.

Rare Encounters: The Borderlands
XP per encounter:

Bonus XP for solving all encounters:
 * Defeat Vassmath Needletooth the Tribal Chieftan
 * Defeat Keenbeak the Sky Hunter.
 * Defeat Old Man Crago.
 * Defeat Torg Skullcrusher the Ogre.
 * Defeat Lemmie the Slicer, Goblin Outcast.
 * Defeat Lurp the Mudman.
 * Defeat Pinchy the Giant Crayfish.
 * Defeat Commander Armuz the Hobgoblin. (See also Enoch and Lily, friendly NPCs in this encounter.)
 * Defeat Irganon the Forgotten One.
 * Defeat Hyllas the Wandering Satyr.
 * Defeat Treewalker the Spider Queen.
 * Defeat Makt the Hunter, Gnoll Scout.
 * Defeat Longtalon the Plains Stalker.
 * Defeat Podarge the Wind Rider.
 * Defeat Grublub the Rank.

Farming Rares for Quaal Feather Tokens
To get a Mount from the Borderlands is easy, even for a low-level character, but takes a little work. You need 15 Quaal Feather Tokens, and they drop only from chests found with Rares in the Borderlands. The map (below) shows an optimal route to hit every location a rare might spawn; no guarantees how many will in a given instance, so it's best to hit all of them.[[   :Borderlands-route.jpg|thumb|385px|right|Borderlands Farming Route (from forums)|link=Borderlands Farming Route]]


 * (From experience, an average run nets about 3-4 tokens each, or about 4-5 runs (maybe 1.5-2 hours, more or less, depending?), but each run can vary greatly. Don't be frustrated if you get fewer, and don't crow too much if you get lucky.)

From the gates of the Keep (central west), start south, following the red route - there's a large rock that you'll run to the left of (to the Mudman), and then go uphill, and continue from there.

When you get to the Harpy (Podarge) in the northeast, the fastest option is to use Dimension Door to get back to the Keep gate and start the green route from there; you can't recall if you want to hang on to the crests (see next). Without DD, you have to run - start southwest across the river and the valley, then up the far side and follow the ridgeline west. From there, it's about the same to Grublub (to use the 3 crests) or the Hermit/Beekeper, and then finish the green route and recall, reset, and repeat as necessary to get your 15 Tokens.

If you want one guaranteed chest, be sure to search for the 3 crests as you go: Spider crest (in the Spider valley), Snake crest (in the Lizardman camp), and Bat crest (around the Broken Tower on the hill. There is no Rare at the broken tower, but these three crests guarantee Grublub and its chest.


 * Tips:
 * While nearing the locations, you can use "Select next item" (default Esc or Backspace) to check for a chest before you get there. If none, you don't have to run all the way, saving time.
 * The encounters in these wilds scale with party size; solo will encounter pairs of monsters, while a full party may encounter 4-6 at a time. If you can solo alone, don't believe you can go off and solo in a full party; four wolves or blights easily can get lucky and trip and kill a lone Level 2 character before you get a chance to fight back.
 * Watch out for Dungeon Alert! It's easy to aggro monsters that you don't see to the side of your route, but that see you run by and then give chase. Stopping to open a chest and have a dozen or more mobs catch up with you is only funny once. Spamming Tab, to "select next target", can alert you to nearby enemies as you run.
 * There is no need to stray from the path to go hunting Slayers. By the time you find your 15 tokens, you'll kill well over 200 monsters, and possibly hit the 400 mark.
 * For these reasons, it's safer/faster to stay with the group. If you want a higher slayer count, maybe come back (on your new horse!) and solo while you finish the Explorer locations.
 * Near the route, there's a shrine (that you may have to clear first) southwest of the Lizardman camp and a little further left/west of the red route than shown, but if you can wait until the shrine in the southeast, that's about halfway through the route and does not require any detour. There are several others, but not near the route shown.
 * If you're short on platinum, you can come close to filling a full pack tab (20 slots) in a single loop, and can then sell this for maybe 500-750 plat back at the Keep's open-air tavern (southwest corner), where you can also recharge any spell points, clickies or boosts before the next run.

Explorer
XP per discovery:

Bonus XP for finding all discoveries:

Lore

 * Find the Keep on the Borderlands
 * A mighty Keep stands here on the border between Good and Evil lands. From this isolated base, a brave few strive to stave off the darkness that would otherwise overwhelm the wilds.


 * Find the hermit's hut
 * A small hermit's hut stands here, surrounded by well-tended beehives. The place looks like it's still inhabited, even though the Caves of Chaos are just over the hill.


 * Find the ruined tower
 * This was once a great and impressive tower, but it was reduced to rubble in a battle long ago.


 * Find the fairy ring
 * There's a small ring of mushrooms here. Is the fairy ring a natural phenomenon - or something created by the Fey?


 * Find the neglected grave
 * You find a grave here in the brush. It's been neglected for many years.


 * Find the standing stones
 * Enchanted stones stand in a ring. The weathered pillars look like they've been here for a very long time.
 * Look at them from the correct angle and you'll see the logo for Standing Stone Games.


 * Find the burned farmstead
 *  A monster attack has reduced this farmstead to a smoking ruin.


 * Find the Lizardfolk camp
 * With the Keep under siege, the local Lizardfolk have grown bold. They've built a camp down by the water, right in the center of the valley.


 * Find the spider valley
 * Dense webs cover the trees in this dark and isolated gorge.


 * Find the evil statue
 *  This newly-built statue gestures menacingly at the Keep down below. The Cult of Evil Chaos has made its arrival known to everyone in the valley.


 * Find the fisherman's shack
 * A small fisherman's shack stands deserted on the riverbank.


 * Find the massive oak
 * A massive oak, taller than any of the other trees, dominates this corner of the valley.


 * Find the watermill
 * The water wheel continues to turn at this mill, even though the owners have long since fled to the safety of the Keep.


 * Find the hunters' lodge
 * This hunting lodge has been boarded up and abandoned in the face of ceaseless monster attacks.


 * Find the blocked pass
 * The road leading up into the mountains has been blocked by a recent landslide. The valley has been cut off from outside help.


 * Find the monsters' camp
 * Monsters have built a small camp atop this hill, giving them a commanding view of the valley below.


 * Find the fiendish altar
 * You get an uneasy feeling as you approach this ancient altar.
 * Three crests found throughout the Borderlands can be placed here, which will summon Grublub the Rank. The crests appear in random locations within each area listed.
 * Bat crest -- found at the ruined tower
 * Snake crest -- found in the Lizardfolk camp (one location is up the ladder)
 * Spider crest -- found in the spider canyon


 * Find the abandoned picnic
 * Someone's plans for a nice, quiet picnic on this island came to an unexpected end.


 * Find the ambushed wagon
 * A smashed wagon stands in the middle of the road, all that remains of an ambushed caravan.

Dungeon Entrances

 * Find the Caves of Chaos
 * Small, squalid cave entrances dot the ravine walls. These must be the Caves of Chaos, where the cultists and their monster allies have made their base.

Collectables
10 collectables:
 * 1 Rubble at the base of the waterfall, just south of the blocked pass
 * 1 Adventurer's Pack at the abandoned picnic
 * 1 Adventurer's Pack on a ledge above the waterfall, SE of the monsters' camp
 * 1 Fungus on the rocks beside the river at the bottom of the waterfall, SE of the monsters' camp
 * 1 Adventurer's Pack in the Lizardfolk camp
 * 1 Rubble in the river at the top of the waterfall east of the hunters' lodge
 * 1 Adventurer's Pack at Torg's campsite, east of the hunters' lodge (only if Torg is not there)
 * 2 Fungus at the base of the waterfall in northeast of map
 * 1 Fungus in the fairy ring