Chaos Theory: Get your bling on with our guide to The Secret World's Gilded Rage event
One saying I grew up hearing was, "Be careful what you wish for because you might just get it!" Well in this case, I couldn't be happier that I did! After pleading the case for event encores in The Secret World, we actually have just that. Starting last Friday and lasting for two full weeks is a continuation of the Guardians of Gaia anniversary event. However, Gilded Rage is not an exact duplicate of the one enjoyed when TSW celebrated the one-year mark of its release; rather, it's an additional performance after the main event with definite similarities to the original (fighting a golem!) as well as some distinct differences (fighting A golem!). And this is the place to get the scoop on all of it!
Whether you missed the event the first go-around and you want to get in on the experience (and the AP!) this time or you are driven to complete the pet collection (gotta catch 'em all!), this is the guide for you. With tips, tricks, and valuable intel, you can make the most of this golden opportunity.
To start things off, I just want to give Funcom a nice solid clap on the back. It appears devs did learn a thing or two from the last event and have avoided some of the pitfalls that besmirched Gilded Rage's predecessor. For one, there was no Fusang part -- with its restrictive queues -- to prevent players from completing a piece of the event, such as obtaining desired lore. For that matter, there isn't any lore, period. The entire thing takes place out in the world where anyone and everyone can go.
Although Gilded Rage has been going on only a couple of days (as of this writing), things seem to be going pretty smoothly; there haven't been any glaring issues to detract from the event. Of course, as with any massive world boss, there is also the battle of the lag monster, but there are steps that can be taken to minimize the chances of a still-frame fight. If you are experiencing really harsh lag and you've already lowered your settings, there's another trick to making the experience run a bit more smoothly. Type in /setoption SpellEffect_DisplayLevel 4 (to turn effects off); /setoption SpellEffect_DisplayLevel 0 (to revert to the original settings). [Edit: Devs have now released a file that players can add to their game folders to reduce lag more.]
I know I am not the only one who appreciates these little improvements. By way of example, here is just one comment I heard regarding the event, this one from Clerisy: "This event feels like they thought the anniversary event went over great and tried to improve it."
OK, now let's get down to business. If you are familiar with the last guardian event, then you know the drill: The Gatekeeper wanders through the world and finds a nice place to spawn a big Guardian of Gaia, all in the name of protecting the earth. Of course, it just won't do to have these behemoths lumbering around, so it's the job of the bee-blessed to dispatch them. However, the spawned golem is a world boss and therefore they require many bee-blessed on hand to take them down. If you missed the last event, you may be wondering what all the fuss is about. It's about the AP and loot, baby! OK,OK, and the SP, too. And did I mention the loot?
Basically, the whole event revolves around downing a world boss, the Guardian of Gaia. And because it's a world boss, you get lots of XP when you defeat it, which translates to AP and SP. Gobs of AP and SP. Unfortunately, by the time you read this, the double AP portion of the event will be over ('tis a shame if you didn't take advantage of it), but each world boss kill throughout the remainder of the event will net you a hefty chunk -- enough to finish off decks or play respec if you so desire.
Beating the boss also gets you some nifty loot. And unlike some games where loot -- if it drops -- is limited in nature and only a lucky few get something, in TSW all participants of the guardian battle get a Genizah of the Solar Metal loot bag. That's because the bag is a quest reward. The quest is received as soon as the golem dies (as long as you got at least one hit on it) and then auto updates two seconds later. There is no cooldown timer on this mission.
Every bag is guaranteed to have loot, though which loot is up to the RNG. Possible rewards include one or two signet bags, Black Bullion (one, two, or four), golden skull headphones, golden fiery eyes, a golden bowtie choker, one of the six piece of the golden golem pet (more on that later), or even a Shem of the Lunar Metal. That's right -- if you missed out on the shiny silver Fusang pet last time, you've got another chance. And even better, you don't have to fight a Fusang queue to get it. However, you do have to appease the RNG gods somehow.
As before, the loot bags themselves can be traded before they are opened, but the items inside (with the exception of the signet bags) cannot. As for the loot, so far it appears that once you have one of the character bound pieces, the bags won't reward you with another. At least, of all the ones I have opened, I have never gotten a duplicate golem piece or clothing item. The shiny gold suit you see running around is available in the store only and for a hefty price now that the special is over. The golden top hat, however, is a reward for assembling the pet.
Unlike the previous event, this event requires you to face only a single golem, the golden Samsu Nasiru (AKA Blingzilla to Kirsten Geary). But if you want the loot, you will have to face it many, many times. To participate, you can just go about your regular TSW routines and hope you bump into a golden behemoth in your particular dimension and instance. However, the chances of doing so are slim, and the chances of defeating one on your own are zero to none. To really get the most out of Gilded Rage, you need to join the crowd.
To keep up on the various sightings of boss spawnings across the dimensions, you need to join a new chat channel made especially for the event; type /chat join gildedevent (and don't forget to hit enter!). The very first time you join you might also have to open up your chat tab options and select subscribe channels > public groups > #GildedEvent. Now the channel should appear any time you join it.
Once you're in the channel, keep in mind that it is reserved for calling out boss locations and offering meet-ups for folks, so random chatter is discouraged. Sadly, in the few short days of this event so far, I have met a whole lot more jerks in channel than the entirety of the last event. Maybe it will mellow out after the double AP weekend, but so far it's been pretty disappointing to find such snippish people being so rude to folks.
If you're a bit of a chatty-Cathy and you want to have more event conversations, there are other official channels for ramblings. Talking about loot goes in the #GildedTrade channel, technical help from other players can be found in #GildedHelp, and random chatter goes in, you guessed it, #GildedRandom. To join, just do the same </chat join> (without the <>) that you did for the event channel, substituting whichever channel's name you desire.
Once you know where a boss is, how do you get to it? Using the speed travel known as meet up. You can meet up with other folks simply by adding them to your friends list then selecting meet up under their name; this will transport you to that person's exact dimension and instance. You should be able to now use the coordinates (or follow the crowd) to the boss. If you end up at the Agartha entrance of the zone far away from the boss location or you travel to the loc and there is no boss in sight, chances are the particular instance was full and you were put in another. Just watch for another call-out and move on to the next boss. You can also compare your current instance and server by pressing shift+F9 and your location will appear in chat. (That's also very handy when you find a guardian and you want to enlist the help of others to smack it down.)
My extra tip for you: When you see a large part of the crowd at a distance, take that as a cue that you probably should too. Golden Boy has the same upheaval skill that the Fusang golem did, and it flings you up and incapacitates you while it
Earlier I mentioned that to get the next (final?) pet in the Gaia event collection, you have to do a lot more than just luck out and get the little shem in a loot bag. In fact, you have to collect all the parts -- a right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg, torso, and head. Once all the pieces are gathered, open the crafting interface (default "y") and place all the pieces in the correct order to assemble your new Shem of the Solar Metal. Basically, just make it look like a doll: Put the head in the crafting grid, then underneath that put the torso with the right arm to the left and the left arm to the right. Finish up with the left leg under the left arm and the right under the right. Click assemble and you should have a shiny new pet.
As you all probably know, I went straight for the pet. But in the process, I also got some nifty clothing items and a ton of new abilities. What I don't seem to have is the self control to stop as long as the event is going, so if you see Emylia online, feel free to say hi and I'll help you through the event. Remember, it disappears in less than two-week's time now, ao go get in while the getting's good. Happy hunting everyone!
Conspiracies, paranoia, secrets, and chaos -- the breakfast of champions! Feast on a bowlful with MJ and Justin every Monday as they infiltrate The Secret World to bring you the latest word on the streets of Gaia in Chaos Theory. Heard some juicy whispers or have a few leads you want followed? Send them to mj@massively.com or justin@massively.com and they'll jump on the case!
