What happened to my message in a bottle?

[Rhiannon]

I was fishing and it said something like "uh oh! that doesn't look like a fish". It said it was a message in a bottle and a monster. I ran from the monster as I couldn't kill it, but I can't find the message in a bottle in my pack or anywhere else. Where did it go?

 

[Raider Red]

you have to kill the sea serpent and loot it from it's body,same with the maps and nets.

 

[Basara]

What race is your fisher? What skills?

a. A half-trained blue beetle can kill normal sea serpents (deep sea serpents are a whole other matter).
b. A human with 0 magery can successfully read a blade spirits scroll 27% of the time, as can any other race with 20 magery.
c. If you can cast Mark directly (not using scroll), you have enough magery to use 8th circle summon scrolls like the elementals and Energy Vortex. No Eval Int is needed, and the summons usually make quick work of serpents.
d. another oddball option for a non-tamer is to have a tamer get you 4-5 ostards, and once they are bonded, have them attack the serpents. Characters have 4 stable slots now, more if a tamer, so you could theoretically have 5 ostards (one of which you'd always have out as a mount), or a giant beetle and 4 ostards (and either go with 4 ostards and an ethy, or 2 ostards and the beetle).
e. The Vollem - especially if you can get one of the ones that was offered originally in a crystal with the SA launch - is a reskinned, not-mountable, nightmare, so trained up they can be good for serpent killing. Even the golem versions are good, if you can keep them alive long enough to train up.

 

[Rhiannon]

Thank you both for the suggestions. Rusty skills and remembrance of how to do things is the culprit. I can cast level 6 spells but they fail a lot. I totally forgot about casting from scrolls. Sheesh. I feel like such a newbie sometimes. Also, after the second serpent came up and I got within a coupe of points of dying on my ship, it hit me as i was sailing away as fast as I could that MAYBE the bottle was on that darn serpent.

I'm hitting the high seas today and going back for it!

Thanks again for your reminders.
Safe travels!

 

[Basara]

If you have trouble casting 6th circle spells, then your best spell choices are:

1. Casting an elemental or two from scroll (as the scrolls are only used when casting is successful), and keeping them until they time out. Don't try casting them in response to something being fished up, but have them already there waiting and guarding. EVs don't last long enough for this.
2. Mind Blast is an offensive spell that doesn't use Eval Int, and is 5th level. Blade spirits is 5th level, but it takes forever to cast, and you'd need to have protection up to cast it without being interrupted. You can precast it, like the elementals, as it's a cheaper alternative than scrolls.

 

[startle]

Hey Rhiannon, what skills are on your fisherperson?

 

[Doubleplay]

If you stand in the middle of the boat, near the masts, the serpents cannot harm you. All their spells will fail against the side of the boat and they cannot reach you physically.

 

[startle]

If you stand in the middle of the boat, near the masts, the serpents cannot harm you. All their spells will fail against the side of the boat and they cannot reach you physically.

Doesn't that depend on what size boat you are fishing from?

 

[Rhiannon]

Hey Rhiannon, what skills are on your fisherperson?

Startle: Rienna's skills are:

Magery 73
Medication 86
Fishing 92
Hiding 32
Eval Int 28
-------
Catography 86
Lock Picking 92
Peacemaking 88
Musicianship 77
Discord 50

I think when I first created her, I was going for a bard type char who could treasure hunt. I've since decided to stone the skills below the line and work on the ones above the line.

Doubleplay: Thank you for the suggestion. I did not know that. Last night, I grabbed some EV scrolls and basically cast them when a sea serpent showed up and then ran to the other side of the ship. The EVs did their job and I didn't die. Since THEN, one of my very helpful new friends told me to cast protection and my spells won't be interupted. So I'll try that today.

Note: I have the great big Britannian ship (she's a bute!)

 

[startle]

Hey Rhiannon.... I look'd at your post above (the one with your skills listed) and have a question:

Do you intend to actively train any of these skills (other than fishing of course) ?

I have some suggestions on a template you might want to try.....

 

[Rhiannon]

Hey Rhiannon.... I look'd at your post above (the one with your skills listed) and have a question:

Do you intend to actively train any of these skills (other than fishing of course) ?

I have some suggestions on a template you might want to try.....

Actually, I do plan to just WORK the skills needed to make my fisherwoman safe on the open seas. And I have a template trainer who is helping me with it. I do appreciate your offer though!

Safe travels!

 

[Silverbird]

Since no one already mentioned it ... If you have access to the SA lands, two bouras make a fine addition to a fisher. They have a good amount of hit points and can protect you very well against sea serpents.

 

[Rhiannon]

Ok. So I figured out how to kill the serpents. I've got myself a message in a bottle. I understand that I double-click it to get the SOS.

Couple of newbie questions:
How do I find the location of the chest?
Will any monsters come up while fishing up the chest and if so, what are they?

 

[Doubleplay]

The coordinates are on the message. You can match the coordinates on the message with those on the map and sail to the location. Once there, fish normally. You will pull up pre-chest loot until the treasure chest comes up. During this time there is a chance to pull up a serpent, but the odds are not greater for one to appear than they are when fishing normally. Check out the fishing guides at the top of this forum for detailed discussion.

 

[DreadLord Lestat]

I have not gotten any pre-chest loot since I have been back. I know pre-high seas days you had to sail within like 40 tiles of the SOS and start fishing. If you got a fish or shoe you moved one forward until you started pulling out stuff from a shipwreck and then you just fished in that spot until you pulled the chest. I came back in December and and have been fishing with high seas expansion pack and have done about 12-15 SOS's and have yet to pull any shipwreck loot or even get anything fishing related in the chests. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Rhiannon]

I have not gotten any pre-chest loot since I have been back. I know pre-high seas days you had to sail within like 40 tiles of the SOS and start fishing. If you got a fish or shoe you moved one forward until you started pulling out stuff from a shipwreck and then you just fished in that spot until you pulled the chest. I came back in December and and have been fishing with high seas expansion pack and have done about 12-15 SOS's and have yet to pull any shipwreck loot or even get anything fishing related in the chests. What am I doing wrong?

Actually, I was able to get to the exact coordinates (took quite a bit of manuvering) and started fishing. Immediately, I got pre-chest loot (shells mostly). And of course a sea serpent popped up. And of course I had left town without enough EV scrolls. So I moved a few tiles away and recalled for home. I'll try again today and see what comes up.

 

[DreadLord Lestat]

I have done 5 more MIB's and had the same luck, no items from a shipwreck though I did get 3 items in one of the chests that I pulled up. I can safely say that out of 17 chests (could be up to 20 but I know it is at least 17), I have only had one chest with items (Runed Driftwood Bow, Enchanted Kelp Woven Leggings, An Antique Wedding Dress) and then everything else in the chests has been standard loot and gold. I have yet to fish up anything from a shipwreck. I don't know if it matters but my fishing is at 102.1

 

[Redxpanda]

You can poison and magic arrow a sea serpent to death. Make sure you have protection on so your spells don't get interrupted and you will be fine. Just remember to watch your health and heal.

I have done 5 more MIB's and had the same luck, no items from a shipwreck though I did get 3 items in one of the chests that I pulled up. I can safely say that out of 17 chests (could be up to 20 but I know it is at least 17), I have only had one chest with items (Runed Driftwood Bow, Enchanted Kelp Woven Leggings, An Antique Wedding Dress) and then everything else in the chests has been standard loot and gold. I have yet to fish up anything from a shipwreck. I don't know if it matters but my fishing is at 102.1

I pull up plenty of pre-chest loot. When i returned i had a load of SoSs i opened and never fished up (was probably looking for an ancient). Sometimes, the chest comes up first and sometimes i get 1 or 2 items but the more i do, the more loot i get. There are times when i pull up 5-10 items before the chest so i guess it's all luck. I even managed to get my hands on the rare Yellow Polka Dot Bikini Top which i promptly sold (Went for $35 mil if anyone is wondering). My fishing skill is at 100 (Haven't been able to get a scroll from questing yet).

 

[Rhiannon]

I also learned that if you leave the area of an SOS you are fishing up and come back later, the SOS is gone and you lose the opportunity. I won't leave home without my EV scrolls again. And thanks for the tip on poison and magic arrow. They take very little mana and are a good idea.