Report 11: We Are Grizzleheimstien Bears
Ah bear country. And yes while technically Celestia IS the next world in the storyline (and honestly my memories of that place are less than stellar of it), it was not the next to be released after Dragonspyre. Like I said, I intended to go through the worlds in order of release. And while I have done dungeons that were released after the fact like the Himmolayas and Barkingham Palace (still need to finish that. Curse you Chief Whip), I see them as part of that world. Grizzlehiem is a bit of a different sort of world than the main storyline ones. It is essentially a side quest world.
The stories are brief and relatively easy to complete (if you came in as a level 50ish like yours truly) and there are not many side quests. You get access to the first section roughly around level 10 and each section becomes unlocked every ten levels or so or so I assume because most of the sections are open to me since I have completed Dragonspyre.
You first need to talk to Baldur Goldpaws around level 5 who will set up the trade agreements between Wizard City and Grizzlehiem and basically let you waltz around Northguard as a small preview of the area. Once level 20 the first quest will be open to you. Apparently Grizzleiem and Wizard City have been cut off for years and now they have just reestablished the connection and Merle wants you to go and check things out. Of course the guard at the gate won’t let just anyone see their king unless you are accepted into their clan and prove you can uphold their values: strength, honor, courage etc.
Naturally our first trek is into a camp where they are holding out against Boars and Grendels. Funny enough you could, if you so desire, get monstrology points from Grendels but by Bartleby are they so bloody expensive. Again, even fishing and gardening are not this costly and since they offer this type of crafting, one would think they could lessen the price especially in lower level areas to get more people on board. Gold is not the easiest to amass unless you pay in crowns. Or was that the intention? Hmmm….
After the camp proving section of Svarstaad Pass, Baldur says he might call on you again if needed. This is suggesting you came in at level 20 as opposed to the level 50ish you’d currently be at if you left Grizzleheim alone and went on through to Dragonspyre. This world is meant, I believe, to give players a break from the first arc questline and try their paw at something else for a little bit. Most of the sequential areas (Murkholm Keep, Ravenscarr, Vigrid Roughland etc) will take about 1 to 2 hours to complete at level 50.
Funny enough I remember Nidavellier being a LOT harder when I first did it. You got caught by enemies a whole lot easier and Jotun and company were a terror to beat. See the game gave you the option to either fight the two side brothers first in their respective dungeons or challenge all three at the same time plus one Grendel wizard thing. And boy was that a damn nightmare. Also they cheated, a LOT. I guess they nerfed the bosses to adjust the difficulty curve for upcoming worlds (not that it doesn’t stop the side dungeons like the Barkingham Palace and others). Which reminds me I really need to finish Kensington Park one of these days…anyone up for a four people raid party weekend? No? Okay.
Now the story is pretty straightforward. A war is occurring between bears vs bears (or the Red Claw) and bears vs wolves. You uncover this to be the work of an evil group of Ravens who want to spread the curse of eternal winter. Why? Well don’t know yet. Still working through the second half of Grizzleheim; the area available to you after you reach level 50. Also I am curious to know if I will be seeing Nick Jonas in Wintertusk.
I haven’t been around W101 so I don’t know if his side quest is still available or has been removed like Selena Gomez has. Which is funny because she IS in Pirate 101. Well maybe because the two games supposedly are parallel to each other, maybe she moved away from Wizard City to Cool Ranch? This is interesting because the Eric Oysterbloom (after the drummer Eric Bloom from Blue Oyster Cult) is still available.
Background design. I love it. It’s so calming and actually feels like you’re in a rough country with its hills, caves, and narrow pathways. This is a very different feel as opposed to the previous five worlds that had very laid out and albeit grid-like pattern as opposed to Grizzleheim that has a very exploratory feel to it. This could be possibly due to the increased popularity of the game and therefore a larger budget.
I do not remember if Celestia has such a level design but we shall get there in time. I intend to complete Grizzleheim as much as the game allows before moving on. Not to mention the theme differences between the areas for each race. The bears have reinforced huts, wolves have caves, and ravens have perch-like houses built into the wintery cliff side. Plus a little note you will notice that each areas have a little symbol for each tribe which is a nice touch. Anyway time to move on to the second half and brace for winter. Take to the sky, my friends!
