f13.net forums - The Shadow Shard

So I've been spending the past few days in this multi-zone expansion, having only just hit 40. It's easy enough to find. Just get to Portal Court in Peregrine Island, and follow the sandbags.

First, if all you have for travel is Super Speed, you'll probably never come here. You need some vertical capability to get around, whether it's fly or teleport, or even the better navigability of combat jumping/super jump.

If you've never seen a screenshot of the place, it's basically a bunch of rocky islands suspended in space. Travel among them is accomplished by means of "gravity geysers" - strange glowing blue jets that absolutely catapult you hundreds of yards in one go, usually toward another island. In theory, if you turn off all travel powers and hit a geyser with as little momentum as possible, you'll get shot around perfectly and never fall - though all falling means is you get back to the start point of the zone.

It's like playing Mario 64 with infinite lives, especially since falling damage does not apply.

In practice you sometimes need a midair nudge to get where you need to go and for these purposes combat/super jumping is ideal.

Crey, Nemesis, and the Circle of Thorns are all interested in eking the mojo out of the place - Fake Nemesis come two to a group here fairly early on so it might be a good alternative to Peregrine Island if you're after the Fake Nemesis badge.

Also present are various military fortifications, and the two groups unique to the zone - the Shadow Shard Reflections and the Soldiers of Rularuu. The former aren't exactly unique - they're randomly chosen upper-echelon mobs from the 5th Column, Crey, Rikti, Nemesis, and the Circle of Thorns. But they have a weird smoky look to them, and they turn on you in unison when provoked, some strange imperative overcoming their existential angst.

The Soldiers are a little more unique and interesting. Eyeballs (Watchers, Observers, Overseers) hit you with a slowing eye-beam, lieutenants and up with a holding gaze, and bosses summon a crowd of trailing smaller eyes. They also chomp you with their eyelids. They have spotting power similar to a Rikti drone, and some obscenely high hit percent. Because, y'know, giant eyes.

The Brutes (normal, Noble, and Honored) are fairly straightforward, ground-bound and the only ones who'll close to melee. They do the standard knock-you-off-your-feet pound. They also have a kaliedoscopic eyebeam that looks more impressive than its damage, and when close to death will rage, powering up everything in the vicinity. Rages from different Brutes stack.

The Natterlings (normal and Bull) are scavengers who toss crystal shards. When injured two minions will fusion-ha into a larger Bull, who can wrap you up in a crystal ring. (Not sure if the Bulls fusion.)

The Wisps (normal, Oppressor, Overlord) are psychic blasters. With a vengeance. No status effects that I've seen, just psychic damage, though the Overlord bosses can put you inside a detention field. Devastating to groups. Not really so bad when you're solo and everything tires itself out trying to hit you.

The military is a source of neverending missions. Literally. There are only a few variations on the theme, but they never run out. Ever.

The general who stands near the portal from Peregrine will introduce you to the main military outposts - his staff on Firebase Zulu, a scientific advisor at Point Bravo, someone by the five-dimensional vine (a zoneline in funny colors) at Firebase November, and the staff of Mole Point Charlie in the Cascade Archipelago. His store is a clone of Ghost Falcon's. When his introductions wind down he sends you out to hunt 50 Soldiers of Rularuu at various military points (subzone-specific hunts like the "stop Trolls at the Red River" one) or clear caves of the Soldiers of Rularuu inside them.

The scientific advisor is interested in strange subterranean monuments guarded by the SoR. After you run a few investigations for him (click the glowy, no need to wipe the mobs) he passes you on to one of the scientific advisors in Mole Point Charlie.

The lieutenant at Firebase November sends you on timed missions to shut down Crey labs or rescue soldiers from Nemesis or the SoR - you can also take down Crey or Nemesis in Firebase Zulu. After a few of those he passes you onto his counterpoint at Mole Point Charlie.

Mole Point Charlie is in the Cascade Archipelago, which is much more three-dimensional than Firebase Zulu. To get around in the Cascades you'll need to find geysers that shoot you up multiple levels of the central waterfalls before branching out. In the Mole Point is a gate back to Mole Point Alpha, underneath Firebase Zulu, and once you get there you can make the transit any time. (There _was_ a Mole Point Bravo. Nobody knows what became of it.)

There's a scientific advisor there who's a serious superhero fangirl, and who's interested in the strange Kora Fruit that grows in caves guarded, you guessed it, by the SoR. You can pick Kora Fruit for here and get something for yourself - the 50% inspiration the same color as the Kora Fruit. Kora Fruit that I've found has come in purple (defense), red (damage), yellow (accuracy), green (health), and blue (endurance) varieties. No resurrection or stat-protection but that may just be very rare. Like the monuments you don't need to fight the SoR to claim the fruit.

The lieutenant there is interested in stopping the Nemesis and CoT who have gotten into the Cascades. You can raid a Nemesis base and wipe out supply caches (and see "Gadzooks!" in the text scroll) or just take everyone down, and barge in on CoT ceremonies to wipe out altars (with a nifty green carbon-dioxide fog effect that heals the CoT) and rescue the refugees they've captured.

Yeah, the refugees. Apparently there are people here from Paragon City, though they bear roughly the same relationship to the place that the people of Arroyo did to Vault 13. It, and you, are creatures of myth and legend to them.

I wish Task Forces weren't the only way to learn the lore. Perhaps as I work my way up in the eyes of the people there'll be more contacts deeper in the Shard with more interesting things to say. But the place feels very alien, and it's not just the Jupiter-flavored sky. The Reflections are creepy in their own right. The Soldiers of Rularuu talk about the place needing more pain, and about finding people for experiments. The Refugees are another interesting wrinkle.

I want to find out about the place, though. There's some actual mystery, which is in pretty short supply in the rest of Paragon City.

--GF