Lost Pages of Taborea: Introduction to Ystra Labyrinth

For anyone who doesn't know yet, I've been livestreaming Runes of Magic as part of the MassivelyTV lineup. You can watch me die a lot and repeatedly forget where I'm going on Friday nights at 8:00 p.m. EDT. I just got done streaming some Battlefield playtime in RoM, but this coming Friday, the plan is to explore Ystra Labyrinth in Ystra Highlands.

Ystra Highlands is that frigid, snowy zone that covers levels 30 to 40 and come after you make your way through Aslan. The labyrinth is a section of ancient ruins recently discovered deep below Sea of Snow and is being explored by Ailic's Fellowship, a faction of researchers. It's an interesting area that resembles Mystic Altar graphically, but it's not an instance in the truest sense of the term. It's a world instance where you can freely bump shoulders with other parties, complete daily quests, and still run into some bosses. In this article, I dig deep below the snow to see what there is to do in Ystra Labyrinth.

Ystra Labyrinth is as as strange and mysterious to play through as the lore is to read about. There are multiple ways to enter the labyrinth, totems that will teleport you to odd locations, and a number of odd drops, just to name a few intriguing things.

You can access the labyrinth via the NPC next to the teleportation service in Harf or from inside Foxtrack cave in the Sea of Snow.

There are three sections to the labyrinth that all vary in difficulty. Reviver's Corridor is the first section that contains mobs from level 31 to 40. The first thing you'll notice inside is that the area operates more like a zone than an instance. It looks just like the inside of an instance dungeon, but you can freely run into other players. There are a number of NPCs strewn throughout the ruins that have quests and daily quests. There's also an event inside that operates similar to a world event and leads to a boss-type elite.

Guard's Corridor is the next section containing mobs level 40 to 45, followed by Royal's Refuge, where you'll run into mobs level 46 and up. Each consecutive area contains more NPCs, quests, and daily quests. The whole labyrinth is essentially a highly instanced zone with tougher mobs normally seen in dungeons. But if you die inside the labyrinth, you'll respawn in the entrance hall. If you log out and back in, you'll appear at the place you logged out.

The wide variety of mobs is just one of the interesting aspects of the labyrinth. You'll find packs of what are commonly trash mobs in dungeons with elites mixed in fairly regularly. I think the mob variety and layouts are really well done and keep things different and fun as you progress through the areas. You'll also be able to freely teleport to a few locations in each of the three major areas. Each section has an entrance hall and base camps at key locations.

There will be certain requirements -- like player level -- in order to access certain areas, but if you are in your early 30s and exploring for the first time, you can easily follow the progression of quests through each area. Unless you've over-leveled for each area, I'd stick to treating exploration of the area like exploring a dungeon with a party. The mobs are harder and packed closer together. It's not hard to accidentally pull a group of three or more that can take you down easily.

There are a few boss mobs in the labyrinth, but aside from Corpse Supplier, you aren't going to accidentally run into them. They're all instanced off in rooms of their own. Corpse Supplier is a pretty tough elite that is part of a repeatable event in Reviver's Corridor. The in-game ticker periodically announces the progression of the event. It's split into phases, with the first being to collect 70 powders from specific mobs in an area of the ruins. After that, specters appear, each with a zombie sidekick. Kill the specters so the zombies die; then you need to click on them to release their spirits. This is a newer event that was added at some point after the first time I was in the labyrinth, and I actually failed to free the 30 spirits the event said I needed. Evidently it doesn't matter because the Corpse Supplier still spawned for me.

Aesthetically, I love this world instance. It felt like a combination of a zone and an instance in one. I like the variety in mobs, daily quests and the layout of each area. The graphics seem a touch better than in a lot of the other zones and instances. You don't feel restricted by any content-gates. The whole thing just feels well designed. When you first go in, you may feel a bit confused as to what to do exactly, but that quickly gives way to enjoying the discovery of all the odd things there are to find and do as you quest.

I'm not trying to create a strategy guide here. I actually dislike strategy guides as a source of entertaining reading and opted for a general approach to what Ystra Labyrinth is. There are many details worth covering in future articles, but let this be an introduction to the zone. The labyrinth has enough content to keep you coming back from level 30 clear up to the level cap. The event, bosses and drops also keep players coming back throughout their game careers, and high-level players keep returning for special drops to use toward elite weapons, to farm the bosses, or as an alternate means of earning some gold. I don't think it's used nearly as much as it used to be since Runewaker added newer world events, but the labyrinth is still a fun place to go to.

It's easy to avoid or miss this zone entirely because it's instanced off the beaten path and there aren't many clear markers pointing players to it. If you want to get a hands-on look at it, don't forget that I'll be exploring the labyrinth this Friday on MassivelyTV.

Each Monday, Jeremy Stratton delivers Lost Pages of Taborea, a column filled with guides, news, and opinions for Runes of Magic. Whether it's a community roundup for new players or an in-depth look at the Rogue/Priest combo, you'll find it all here. Send your questions to jeremy@massively.com.