Crystal Cove

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Reason: Reward penalties and bonuses

Treasure of Crystal Cove: Collectables • Treasure Map • Smuggler's Rest Wilderness • Crystal Cove Challenge • Items List; Hats • Misc • Eternal Flasks • Weapons • Offhand • Augments • Armor • Accessories

"Crystal Cove" is the actual challenge itself. For an overview of the event as a whole, how to qualify to enter the event and the loot available, etc., see Treasure of Crystal Cove.

Crystal Cove
Level Range:
Duration:	Fixed time limit 20 minutes
Base XP Range:
Takes place in:	Crystal Cove
Challenge entrance(s) in:	Smuggler's Rest
Patron:	None
Free to Play:	Yes
Group Difficulty:	Easy
Solo Difficulty:	Easy
5 Star Difficulty:	Average
Crystal Cove map (legend)

Loading screen

Overview

This is a crystal collection challenge. For a share of the profit, you lead, help and protect members of the Kobold Union while they mine dragonshard crystals from Two-Toed Tobias' lost hoard.

Spoiler Warning: Spoiler material below this point!

Star Objectives

Collect 100 crystals
(Optional) Collect 300 crystals above your Quota
(Optional) Keep all Kobolds alive
(Optional) Send Kobold through teleporters 120 times
(Optional) Slay 120 monsters

Note: You must complete the first star objective to receive experience & rewards from this Challenge.

Known Traps

Exploding purple crystals

Tips and Misc

Crystal Cove is a Dungeon that can be accessed from Euphonia Teles' ship in Smuggler's Rest. The major goal in this dungeon is to guide and protect the Kobolds, which in return follow specified path ways to collect crystals of three kinds.

Green crystals are the basic unit of currency in this challenge.
Purple crystals are worth 10 green crystals. They are unstable: if left uncollected, in time they tend to give off smoke and then explode.
The blue progenitor crystal (epic challenge level only) is worth 100 green crystals. It is too big to fit through a Kobold teleporter or dimension door. It will always be located in one of two known (and far) positions, and it will be visible on the map from the start.

In a fixed amount of time (20 minutes) a total of 100 crystals have to be collected. While collecting those crystals, equipment and more Kobold Workers can be bought, using up some of the collected crystals. If the time runs out before those 100 crystals are collected, the quota is failed and the instance will terminate without reward (or loss of a compass); if more than 100 crystals are collected, 70% of the total crystals are given to the players. Several mobs will spawn that hurt your Kobolds, so you have to defeat them. Killing monsters will net you additional gems needed for the upgrade process. Orange- and red-named monsters will spawn as randomly as regular mobs and may grant you items (incense torches, healing torches, barrels...) as you kill them.

Quest completion also gives XP, based on the level of the chosen instance.

Crystal bonus goes up and down by 7% for every level difference from your highest level party member. (The Crystal Bonus from the XP report is always wrong).

If you run with people 5 or more levels higher than you, you won't get any shards (unlike the XP report says), the kobold union will tell you after you finish the run.

If you run with people 4 levels higher than you, you will only receive 50% of the crystal.

There are no crystal penalties within 3 or less levels.

Do not Finish out or click the exit at the beginning of the quest area to exit when you have completed. Wait for the quest to bestow your Green Dragonshards and kick you out, or you won't get any Green Dragonshards.

The path the Kobolds are following is marked via a chain of incense torches. Torches can be picked up by clicking on them, and placed by using them from your inventory or hotbar. A red or purple line shows between each correctly-linked torch. Purple lines are from Kobold Healing torches, red lines are normal torches. The torches need to be placed close enough to link them together and wide enough to not slow the Kobolds down, as Kobolds usually stop at each torch to look around to see if there is something to pickup in the area. Workers will pick up the crystals and put them in the barrel(s) on their back and then walk back to the entrance. Kobold teleporters can be purchased and placed near the crystals, so that Kobolds can quickly teleport back to home base to turn in crystals (Dimension Door works as well). Kobolds still need a torch path to walk from home base back to the crystals.

Be careful with buying more torches, extra carrying barrels, and workers to assist you as you may not be able to collect enough crystals to finish the mission. Also beware to never let the Foreman die or you won't be able to buy new resources.

Tip: At the cave entrance, close to the orange swirl, there are 2 free incense torches.

Dead Kobolds can be replaced if you bring the Kobold Soulstones to the Foreman. Again, be careful: buying a new kobold worker costs one crystal – resurrecting a worker costs 2 crystals for the first one; cumulative +1 for each additional. [Efficiency idea: use a Worker Requisition to increase the maximum worker count, then buy more workers].

There are only two shrines in the Crystal Cove. The first shrine is fixed, always spawning near the quest entrance, while the second shrine can spawn at any of 5 places (the NE, SE, SW or NW corner or in the southern part of the map).

The 100-crystal quota is kind of a hard limit, both upward and downward. A pair of examples follow.

Suppose your crystal count is at 91 crystals and a Kobold Worker brings in the progenitor crystal. The crystal count will rise to 100 and no more, wasting the equivalent of 91 green crystals from the progenitor crystal. After that, the count will resume regularly. It is warmly suggested to bring in the progenitor crystal only after reaching your quota.
Suppose your crystal count is at 101 crystals (meaning you've just reached your quota). If you try to buy a healing torch, you won't be able to, since you only have 1 crystal available (nobody messes with the Union's quota!). In order to buy that healing torch, you will have to wait for the next 2 crystals to come in.

Before entering the Quest you will be handed out the Kobold Mining Union Rulebook.

Requisition Forms increase the maximum amount of an item you can buy from Foreman Wee Yip Yip; moreover, the Kobold Teleporter Requisition Form also gives you a Teleporter for free.

Requisition Form

**Kobold Union goods and services**
Item	Crystal Cost	Starting Max	Max after Requisition Form
Incense Torch	1	10	20
Healing Torch	3	no max	no max (form not available)
Kobold Worker	1	5	10
Worker Barreladds additional carrying capacity (up to 5)	1	10	60
Kobold Teleporter	5	2	3 (including 1 granted by the form)

Non-named mobs are both static and mobile.

Skeletons and zombies are static, guarding intersections and clearings; they will chase you if they spot you, though.
Hobgoblins are mobile, spawning throughout the cove, but mostly on top of Kobolds and your party members.
Orange- and red-named monsters are mobile, too.
Jack Jibbers tends to spawn shortly after you reach your quota, usually coming from West of the "main square".
Azarelle's party spawns immediately after progenitor crystal pick-up, right on top of it.

Chances are good that the Kobold Worker picking up the progenitor crystal will choose the worst possible routes back to the Foreman. Better to get to know those routes and clear them of mobs before the pick-up, or it will panic and stop right in their middle. The Kobold Worker will be slowed down by the progenitor crystal's weight, and it will be hunted down by more than the regular share of mobs (starting with Azarelle's party), so it's a good idea to assign a heavy escort to it and possibly buff it (Haste, Stoneskin, Resist Energy etcetera).

If Foreman Wee Yip Yip yells "Incoming!" it means that monsters are attacking the central chamber. If you happen to be far away at this time, this usually leads to at least a few kobold deaths unless you have a Pirate's Port. Drinking a Pirate's Port will instantly teleport your character back to the Port Cask near the Kobold Foreman at the challenge entrance. You can purchase Pirate's Port from the DDO Store using the Port Cask interface.

Update 17 reward ratio:

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteelStar (Contribs • Message • Email • SteelStar)

String exceeds 1,000 character limit for automatic parsing of {{BB code}}, passing quote through:
The original Reward formula for the Cove went like this:
- Kobold Union kept the first 100 Crystals you get as payment for their efforts
- You got Dragonshards at a 1:1 ratio with whatever Crystals you got past the first 100.

This meant if you collected exactly 100 Crystals during a Cove run, you would walk away with zero Dragonshards (since the Kobold Union kept everything up to your Quota).

The new Reward Formula works like Challenges, and goes like this:
- You get Dragonshards equal to 70% of your Score (the Kobold Union takes 30% for their efforts). You get one Point for each Crystal (purples are worth 10, Randomly spawned giant blue crystals (Epic levels only?) are worth more (Please verify value) but can't go through the teleporter.)

This means if you collect exactly 100 Crystals during your Cove Run, you will walk away with 70 Dragonshards instead.

This math assumes the character levels of your entire party are the same as the CR you are running the Cove at; running the Cove above or below your level can influence your Score, the same way it does in Challenges. That, combined with removing the Crystal cap, means the Cove should be giving more Dragonshards per run than in previous years.

Challenge Duration

Fixed, 20 minutes. One single extension to 21 minutes possible using One Minute Of Time.

Loot

Chests: None

Ingredient reward: Green dragonshards 70% of your total collected shards.
- If run under or over level this is decreased/increased by ±7% per level up to 5 levels, i.e. if run at +5 levels, your reward is 105% of the total collected shards.
- However you get reduced rewards if you are more than 3 levels below highest level player in group.

Monsters

Named Monsters:

Azarelle - red-named half-orc
Dragonmarked Ex-Pirate - orange-named spectre
Drunken Sorcerer Pirate Aroomba - orange-named bugbear
Gregoir The Mighty - red-named minotaur
Jack Jibbers - red-named wraith
Johansen Brigg - orange-named spectre
Mutinous First Mate Shakra - orange-named bugbear