I would have to say that out of my list of most annoying monsters in Dungeons and Dragons Online, slimes have to be at the top of the list. The reason I say that is because of their ability to degrade and ultimately destroy your gear.

Even though many players have their own opinions on what weapon material degrades the fastest or what type of side weapon to carry to deal with slimes, everyone can agree on what the single best weapon in the game is to deal with these oozing menaces: Muckbane.

Overpowered Muckbane is not at only a +1 enchantment level. However, it does an additional +1 damage to slimes and, most importantly, it takes no permanent damage from them (or Rust Monsters). So you can use this weapon as long as you like and pass it to as many of your alternate characters as you wish – maces are a simple weapon so even a wizard can use them (assuming they don’t fry the slimes with magical fire first).

Muckbane occurs as a random drop from the monster Muck. Muck is a mini-boss slime that you can sometimes find lurking in the Kobold Brothers’ dungeon. Access to the Kobold Brothers is gained through Durk the Deranged in the Leaky Dinghy who gives you the quest Durk’s Got a Secret.

You will not see Muck every time you run through the Kobold Brothers. Whether he spawns is up to chance so you may see him on your first run, or you may have to come back a few more times to see him. He is not extremely rare, but to add to the difficulties of finding Muckbane, it does not always drop for every party member when you do defeat him. It is also worth mentioning that Muck appears to spawn more often at the hard and elite difficulty settings.

Because DDO has relatively lenient ownership rules for items, however, if you are helping someone find their first Muckbane and it drops for you but not them you can simply turn it over to them from the chest. Muckbane is also non-bindable so you can use it and then send it to a friend or one of your alternate characters.

Walkthrough

If you run this dungeon with a higher level character, or if you have one helping you, you can get to Muck’s spawn point in about 2 minutes with little effort. This precludes any sort of optional quest or barrel-smashing, let alone role-playing, but chances are if you are running this same dungeon several times in a row, RP is not foremost on your mind. And remember that if you are grouped with someone more than four levels higher than you, you will receive zero xp.

1) Make a bee-line for the third intersection on the map. There will be a group of kobolds before the the first bend. When you get to the bend follow it right then left at the intersection then right around the next bend and finally left. During this part you will encounter several slimes.

You will now be at a T intersection in roughly the middle of the map – there is a party of kobolds here for you to dispatch. Make sure to turn left at this intersection to head to the second Kobold Chieftan. Do not stray down the right passage as I have been told this affects the chance for Muck to spawn (though I’m not sure why).

2) About halfway down the passage you will have defeated a band of kobolds and see a door on your left. Go through that to defeat the first kobold chieftan (along with several cronies). Open the valve opposite the chest in this room; this will complete the Open Rear Sewer Entrance side quest and allow you access to Muck.

3)Run back to the T intersection and proceed down the other path. There will be single kobold throwers and shaman in the alcoves. They will not chase you, so you can avoid them by not being in their line of fire.

About halfway down this path there will be an open door to the Rear Sewers(opened by that valve you just turned). Just beyond the door and to the left is an alcove where Muck spawns. Kill it and cross your fingers!

If it is not there, then exit out of the dungeon, leave and re-invite your group and proceed from step one again. If you are not in a group you can abandon the quest and run back to the Leaky Dinghy to pick it back up – or wait five minutes for it to reset.

That is it – if you are lucky you will get a Muckbane on your first run, if not then you should score one after a few runs. I wouldn’t call it a rare weapon, per se. You will have to work for your loot, but I can’t see you spending more than an hour at this – and that is if you are profoundly unlucky. Have fun bludgeoning those slimes and oozes into oblivion!

Character animations are as much a staple of MMORPGs as quests and virtual danger. They help give your character a little more … character.

Dungeons and Dragons Online is no different and his its own share of predefined and animated emotes. You can access the complete list in-game by typing /emotelist. I’ve included the list below with my own descriptions.

As with other RPG-style games you can also devise your own custom text emotes on the spot by typing /em then finishing the sentence “Your character does …” In other words, typing /em takes a reflective toke from his pipe. would read “Fortuente takes a reflective toke from his pipe.”

You can also combine the animated emotes from the emote list with your own custom text emotes simply by typing the animated emote instead of /em. For example, typing /shrug says, What me worry? would cause my avatar to shrug his shoulders while the chat box displays “Fortuente says, “What me worry?”

If you add the power of DDO’s alias command into your emote construction you can string together long lines of dialogue (i.e. songs for bards or incantations for mages) complete with character animations. The game-enriching RP fun you can have with this system can keep you entertained for hours. Be on the lookout for some custom role-play scripts you can copy and paste in future posts.

• /angry You shake your fist in anger.

• /beckon You beckon to those around you.

• /beg You beg for alms.

• /bow You bow courteously.

• /cheer You jump for joy.

• /cheer2 You clap your hands in triumph.

• /clap You clap appreciatively.

• /cower You cower.

• /cry You sob into the plams of your hands.

• /dance You dance a merry jig.

• /dance2 You do the Twist.

• /eat You eat.

• /flex You flex your muscles impressively.

• /gather You motion for everyone to gather round you.

• /groan You groan in pain.

• /grovel You drop to your knees and beg forgiveness.

• /hug You hug the air in front of you. Takes practice to hug someone else.

• /kiss You blow a kiss.

• /kneel You kneel on one knee.

• /LFH A ham icon lights over your head and you search for ham.

• /laugh You laugh heartily.

• /no You cross your hands in finality: no.

• /nod You nod in approval.

• /point You point afar.

• /poke You poke the air in front of you.

• /runaway You motion for those around you to run away.

• /salute You salute.

• /shakehead You shake your head in disapproval.

• /sheathe You sheathe your weapons.

• /show You hold out your hand in front of you, showing what is in it.

• /shrug You shrug your shoulders.

• /sigh You sigh.

• /sit You sit down.

• /sleep You lie down and sleep.

• /stop A STOP icon lights atop your head, informing your party to halt.

• /taunt You perform a physical “bring it on” taunt.

• /wait You wait, tapping your foot.

• /wave You wave.

• /yes You nod your head.