Chaos Theory: Follow the Filth as TSW's Whispering Tide Event moves on

Remember when we mentioned that The Secret World's latest event would be a long-term one? Well, we weren't fooling; it's been a month, and The Whispering Tide Event is just now hitting its fourth phase. So what does that mean for us? It means that the slow plod towards Tokyo is showing progress, just not nearly as quickly as excited TSW fans may like.

If you've already been in-game, you've noticed that the latest two phases have been very similar to the first two. In fact, they follow the same pattern: start with powering up a generator using crafting materials then move into an instance to clear out the filth. However, even though they are similar and some phases are moving slowly, there's a chance folks might miss out. And if there's one thing I don't want to see, it's others missing out! To prevent that and to keep my fellow TSW fans from floundering in the dark, here's phase two of The Whispering Tide Event guide, with tips and tricks for grabbing the lore, getting the goodies, and even preparing for forthcoming phases.

The good news is that the event is moving forward. The slightly disappointing news is that it's more of the same. And the bad news is, if you weren't in game a few days last week, you totally missed one of the phases.

Just as with the first phase, the third involved combining pure resources with a special event item to make fuel to power a generator; the difference this time was that the materials were pure fire and pure dust (a fact that helps us plan for the future, as we'll discuss at the end). Turning in fuel also granted players more Extant Third Age Silver, six for the initial quest turn in and one for each additional fuel added.

Alas, also like the first, it went by fairly quickly. If you missed out on this part of the event, don't worry -- there are (and presumably will be) additional ways to get more of this special currency just by participating in other phases of the event. But if you were hoping to use the cache of dust and fire, you might have missed that chance.

The current phase of the event is the one that lasts the longest: the filthy Agartha instance. During this phase, all players have the chance to run the instance, complete the mission, and obtain more of the Extant Third Age Fragment currency. This time, however, there are some notable differences.

One, the portal has moved; if you didn't participate in fueling the guardian last phase, you'll need to know where to go to get the mission and enter the instance. This can be done one of two ways: You can either access the new portal's branch by jumping off next to Seoul to that branch below like before, then immediately turning to your right and aiming for the branch you'll see down there, or you can follow the branches to the Scorched Desert Egypt portal and jump down. The first way can be tricky (get right up next to the edge at the base of the tree to jump), but it is quicker than the latter -- as long as you don't miss!

Two, the mission this time -- named Enter the Filth Phase 2 -- is not a side mission but an actual dungeon mission. As such, if you are eligible to do Nightmare Mode dungeons, you can do this instance in NM. The 30-minute lockout timer, however, remains the same as before, but the normal and NM modes have separate timers. [Update: Only the Nightmare Mode has a timer now, normal version can be run back-to-back.] Oh, and Flappy is back, flinging Filth all over. And the voices are much spookier!

Third, this time the mission grants you two Extant Third Age Fragments upon completion, which is a good thing, since prices for items have gone up (more on that later).

And finally, though the instance itself seems shorter than the last, the lore is more difficult to get, which bring us to...

There's definitely a downside to missing parts of this extended event, and that's the fact that you will lose out on some of the lore involved. For instance, lore #2 was in the second phase, which happened to be a sealed instance that could only be accessed via the special quest. Now that the event chain has moved on, that lore piece is forever locked away from those who missed it. If you were lucky enough to get those first ones, then you definitely want to make sure you get the rest, right? Well, that's going to take a little more doing this time around.

You see, unlike the first two which were pretty easy to get, the next two lore pieces require a little more effort. Lore #4 actually takes some creative movement in order to reach, while #3 requires some extra fighting you wouldn't necessarily do in the course of the instance mission.

For the fourth piece, you'll need to first pan your camera around while standing on the far right side of the first portal you come to and look down (after killing that miniboss first, of course!). You will see the lore shining prettily on a small branch below you. In order to get to it, try backing up ever so slowly off the ledge while facing the portal. Then, once you start dropping, maneuver to the branch and scoop that puppy up! If you miss, don't despair: As long as you die during the run you have the chance to run back through and try again. If you don't die, just jump off the side and re-spawn anyway or try again next run. Some folks have found that using the lore (pressing U while targeting it) while falling works as well. Check out this visual guide above.

The third lore isn't obvious either, and I actually missed it completely my first run. When you kill the final boss, don't be in a hurry to leave. Instead, go to the left of the platform and drop to the branch below. You have to fight through three groups of mobs, and the lore will be at the end. To return to the front to leave and complete the quest, take the portal at the end.

Ready for some more good news/bad news? The good news is that there are new items available for purchase, from a pair of bee gloves (to match those spiffy bee pants!) to a whole slew of QL 10 glyphs in a new guardian vendor. You can also get fiery eyes in either red, blue, or green. For those who missed the phases involving getting the Silver, you can also buy four Sliver for the cost of one Fragment obtained through the mission. The bad new is prices went up!

Yes folks -- if you were hoping to save up enough over the course of the event to buy the pet and bee outfit as I was, you'd better account for inflation. The pet that cost 2,500 Slivers and 75 Fragments before now costs 3,000 and 100, respectively. The pants have also gone up in price (300 Slivers, 20 Fragments). And on top of that, the gloves will set you back even more than the pants, emptying 350 Slivers and 30 Fragments. From that, I anticipate that each piece of the special outfit that is added over the event will cost more than the last.

This event looks a bit brutal for the most casual of players if they have any interest in getting the goodies. At the rate of two Fragments per dungeon run and only one run per 30 minutes from the time you finished the last, playing four plus hours (to count run time) a day will net you only 16 Fragments. At that rate, it will take a week (6.25 days to be exact) to get the pet -- and how many people can manage to can play four hours every day? But wait, if you don't have Slivers, then to get the requisite 3k by purchasing with Fragments, you'd have to add another 47 days to that! And that's not even taking into account whether you can actually get a group on the 30-minute mark (remember, /chat join whisperingtide to get into the event channel -- it might help with groups). Oh, but wait -- the prices will probably go up by then anyways, so let's add another couple of weeks to that just to be sure. [Update: Now that the normal version has no lockout timer, the time necessary is cut significantly!]

I don't know about you, but with my available time, even with as much as I love this game, I don't think I will manage to get the pet and outfit on my main, let alone on my streaming character, Emylia. I really, really, really hope that prices stay constant now and/or rewards are bumped. Otherwise, I'll lose out.

Since my hope does spring eternal, I will still make plans for the future phases and hope that I can still find a way to get what I want. If you are of the same frame of mind, here's what you can do to prepare.

Now that we have seen the pattern, we can pretty safely extrapolate that the next phase (or an incoming future one, at any rate) will involve combining pure resources with an event item to help power up a new generator in order to open yet another portal. And since metal, fire, and dust have all been used, I'd say that the next batch of crafting materials needed will include water. So hopefully you didn't discard any water while breaking down items for the previous two stages that used the other three.

Additionally, grinding through the instance part now will also net some drops, so if you are apt to pass on any equipment you don't need, I encourage you to greed it instead. It's just one more way to get more items to disassemble for components. And for those 30 minutes you have to wait between NM runs (or when you just can't stand to step into another normal one), find an easy-to-get to spot and grind yourself some more items to earn part (I say easy to get to because unlike other dungeons, this one won't pull you in with your group, and you need the mission to enter, which you can't get until the timer is up). Don't forget that lower-level areas also work since all the materials can be upgraded to pure by combining in the crafting interface.

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!