Quest Guide: Lightwood - Part I

As I sat down to write this, I realized it's been a while since I've actually done quests in Lightwood. Luckily a friend of mine just started playing, so I was able to use some of his experiences to uncover the more difficult quests in this large zone. As I mentioned in my previous article, Quest Guide: Novograd City, many of the starter quests for this zone begin in the city. Be sure you've done a good circuit or two around the town before heading out into the wilds. The full list of quests for Lightwood and Novograd can be found here, but be warned, the listing includes a huge listing of ship-building and higher level quests, along with many world mystery quests that lead through NPCs in town.



Begin your questing in Lightwood near the Sawmill. Be sure you talk to the NPCs there to get the quests they offer. Special note for Wardens: Be sure you talk to Skylover Piminov, the druid, about the Kingdom of Nature (if anyone knows the level requirement for this, please let me know). Nothing difficult here, just an assortment of kill and collect quests. Be careful when you head south as the monsters rapidly go up in level and new characters to the zone can quickly find themselves dead.

When you're done with the Sawmill, go a bit further east to the cliffs, and travel north along the edge of the map (not through the tunnel to Darkwater). Up on a little rise you will find the zone's first treasure chest (if you find the renegade camp you've gone too far). Go ahead and grab the treasure and complete the quest, but later I'll point out where you can get another daily chest in this zone which has better loot.

Once you've finished off the quests around the Sawmill, your steps should turn north to the Northern Birchwoods, White Lake, and Lake Tract. Here we find a mix of quests, including a bunch centered around the Waterfolk village on White Lake's shores. Don't miss Soti the Stinky further up the western coast and Bogdan Lyutikov on the east coast. These two NPCs introduce a couple tricky quests:

Soti gives Monster Hunting, a quest that has you collecting fish heads to lure out the giant fish, Fangy. A couple tricks here. First, once you get your fish heads (pikes are fish, not weapons, in this case), use the bait box to place the fish heads inside. Next you'll need to place the bait to summon Fangy. Starting on the island in White Lake, swim along the bottom straight south until you find a ring of dead trees and bones. That's where you place the bait. Fangy can be killed solo, but fragile classes might need a hand. Note: Once you have turned in the quest, you can dispose of the bait box, which consumes a precious bag slot until you trash it.

Bogdan Lyutikov starts a series of quests, beginning with Mad Bees. Once you complete a couple tasks for Bogdan he rewards you with a stack of mana-restoring mead and a quest that advances the World Mystery The Kanian Rebellion: The Fires of Rebellion . To complete this quest you'll have to follow the eastern cliffs a bit south of Bogdan's cabin and look for a path up the hill to a huge signal fire. Complete the quest there, then head to town to continue the chain.

Other quests of note near White Lake include Timber! which starts in the Gibberling quarter in town. Use your "T" key to highlight trees in Lake Tract. While you're up that way you will want to join a raid to kill the Rabid Squirrel  and finish off Broome the leader of the evil Forestfolk. Broome can be tough to solo, he always has allies nearby, so bring a couple friends.

Eventually you'll return to the eastern cliffs to face off against Rebels and their leader Dedyata the Rotten. It's possible to solo these, but much easier to do with a friend. Be sure you get the letter dropped by Dedyata the Rotten when you kill him. It starts the quest The Rebels' Letter, a continuation of the Kanian Rebellion World Mystery. This critically important quest unlocks several quests in southern Lightwood, so don't miss it!

Once you've finished the northern quests you'll be directed to the southern part of the zone, the camp in Amberwood, Dead Thicket, Southern Birchwoods, and Big Stones. The widow in the Inn outside Novograd's gates usually directs you to the next area in a timely fashion. While you're in Dead Thicket, seek out the better chest location east and a bit south of the camp along a ridge. Be careful, the area is home to level 10 wolves and werewolves! This location drops a better daily chest, so it pays to make the trip here.

Next time I'll cover the remainder of Lightwood, offering hints on the difficult and obscure quests in the area.