Monastic Arts in the Sleeping Dust

Despite the increased fighting in upper Heroic level quests where Ryncletica the Poisonmaster is a bit challenged, a few quests allow her to express her ninja arts in ways few other classes can manage. One of them is “Let Sleeping Dust Lie.”

A quest that’s surely the bane of zergers and slaughter-lovers, your mission is to find a couple of journals that explain an attempt by some enemies to release a Lord of Dust. To do this, the enemy has brainwashed a Crimson Foot spider hive that happens to live there. The challenge is to avoid killing any spiders for a chest, and to avoid killing more than 4 spiders once you’ve read the first journal.

As you know from your own gameplay, that’s difficult, especially in a full party. So, of all the Shroud flagging quests, this one tends to have a solo-friendly element, especially for a Ninja Spy.

Spiders sense stealth, so one technique of the Ninja Spy is worthless there. But there are several other tools in Ryn’s arsenal.

First, she pulls out her Snowstar. While her DEX is less than Szyncletica the star-throwing Shuricannon, Ryn is also Drow. Like Szyn, she gained Shuriken Expertise and Ninja Spy’s Advanced Ninja Training to a greater chance to throw additional stars per attack. Combined with Xen’drik Weapon Training enhancements from the Drow tree, Ryn’s stars and shortswords do excellent damage. She’s able to shoot down the orc puppeteers from a distance to avoid the melee’s and mage’s challenge in this quest: Avoiding off-hand or area-of-effect damage that could kill a spider.

The second central tool requires preparation: Quivering Palm, the assassinating ki strike that removed most of the ogre mages before they could disappear and recharge or dispatch isolated puppeteers. It’s a lot of ki to use that strike, but passive ki regeneration helps.

So, often one clears out the tunnels as you search for the first journal. My guild tends to leave the journal alone once found until all the tunnels are emptied. Once you touch the first journal, your 4-kill limit on spiders activates.

After killing off the first ogre mage that possesses a key that opens interior doors leading to the upper levels, Ryncletica chose a different path.

Despite any adjustments made by the devs in past updates to make the rocky debris impossible to climb, jumping still works if you have the right inclination. The diagram shows how I did it. Standing on a single torch near the center north passage allows a small foothold to a small ledge, where one Abundant Step lands you atop a rocky outcrop to the east. From there, with Feather Fall and another Abundant Step, you land atop another outcropping on a central pillar to the south. The last jump takes you east again where you try to grab an edge of the upper level.

Note I said “grab,” not land. You won’t find a place atop the rocky outcrop to stand if you miss. You have to catch the ledge or land atop. You need the maximum Jump possible, an comparatively easy matter for a Monk with a pair of Jidz-Tet’ka, and a Potion of Jumping +10. The Jidz-Tet’ka in Wind Stance gives a +10 Insight bonus to Jump, stacking with any Enhancement bonuses and skill points. The second requirement is an long-jump ability. The Cannith Boots of Propulsion won’t work as you’ll need to jump three times. That still leaves a growing number of non-Monks that can pull this off:

1. Wind Dance, an Air Savant Sorcerer’s enhancement
2. Vault, a Thief-Acrobat enhancement
3. Leap of Faith, a Favored Soul ability
4. Flyby Attack, a Draconic Incarnation epic ability

You’ll still need a good Jump, and can’t be wearing armor or items that weigh you down.

Once you’re up here, if you’re lucky, you can find the second journal next to you, which is where I found it in this case. It spawns here or by the shrine across the way on other ledge.

You won’t be able to explore or move through very much up there without the first key. The DDO Wiki article noted that reading the second journal before the first is possible.