The Focusing Stone Quest is technically a two part quest: Soul Fearing Vestry, and Mines of Despair. You will find, however, that there are several stages to these parts which will be explained below. The first part of the quest involves obtaining the keys that permit the completion of part two. Part two is generally done in group parties in order to aid lower level characters in obtaining the stone. Part two of the quest has a level 14+ restriction to enter.
Possession of the keys requires three stages. You will find this half of the quest to involve a lot of threes. The first stage requires that you gain entry to each of the three towers.
The Three Towers are located near the Southern end of the Direlands on the land bridge. As the earlier reference implies, there are three towers. These towers are actually a mechanism, or means, by which a portal to the Soul Fearing Vestibule is opened. (Truth being told, there are actually four towers. However, the fourth is located a bit West, away from the group of three and adjacent to a Life Stone.)
Tower one is the mid-terrain tower of the three, located to the East of the group. Kill the undead that guards the tower door and the door will open. Now run to the top of this tower and pull the lever. This lever opens the door to tower two, the high-terrain tower.
Upon entering the second tower you will trigger a spawn of half a dozen undead. Killing all of these will then trigger the opening of the door to the third tower.
Entering the third tower triggers a spawn if three to five undead and one Acolyte. When the Acolyte is killed he summons a portal into the Soul Fearing Vestry. This portal appears near the entrance to the third tower.
In this dungen you must find and kill three Acolytes (heh, another three). Each Acolyte in turn summons a portal to the next phase of the dungeon where you will find the next Acolyte. The last Acolyte is the High Acolyte. He holds the Skull of the High Acolyte and a Yucky Key. The Yucky Key is used to open four chests that are found when you enter the portal the High Acolyte had cast. The skull you will use for the last stage.
The quickest way to get to Le-Ai Rea is to go to Mayoi and take the Settlement portal to Xinh [78.4S, 60.2E]. Le-Ai Rea will ignore you and yell at you to keep the door closed, that is until you hand over the skull. You will then receive two keys; the Golden Key (K1), and Le-Ai Rea's Key (K2). You will need both of these for Part Two of the quest.
Throughout this description you should be refering to the dungeon maps found at ACmaps. There are two maps you shold be using: Mines of Despair, and Beyond the Mines of Despair.
The Mines of Despair is located just down the hill from Le-Ai Rea's place, so you can take the same route to get to there later with the Focusing Stone Quest group (i.e. go to Mayoi and take the Settlement portal to Xinh [78.4S, 60.2E]). The entry in the dungeon is quite safe and only low level stuff are near.
It is necessary to split the groups into two groups. First group should consist of one good fighter, or no more than 2-3 members, to do a separate portion of this dungeon, the Lever Group. This Lever group must be able to pick a simple lock (diff 100 or so) and be able to recall to the dungeon entrance or summon it. The pace of the Lever Group should be quick to properly catch the doors as they open. The maps indicate that an exit portal is available but it has been missing from the dungeon for quite some time.
It is also good to have one or two mages on hand to vuln. the beasts that will be found in the second half of the dungeon. Here is the approach to take:
Use the Golden Key (K1) on the first door, found strait ahead from the entrance of the dungeon. This will be the quest staging room. The bulk of the group should wait in this room that the key opened. It is also a very good spot to buff up.
Before this group moves on the Lever Group will work the first part of the dungeon. This group will be pulling the levers that will allow entry into the lair where the stone will be found.
Leaving the main group behind the Lever Group should go on in, taking the branch to the right and jump down. (Refer to the map at ACmaps on the Mines of Despair for navigating the dungeon.) Take {path 1} through two room to reach lever 1 (L1). Then take {path 2} to arrive back at the staging room. The door to the staging room can be reopened from within by any group member or the Golden Key may be used if necessary. Then take the branch to the left and jump down. Refering to the map, circle around and pull lever 2 (L2).
Before lever 3 (L3) is pulled, the main group should have advanced to door 3 (D3). The Lever Group should now go back and take the corridor that was passed, taking {path 4} to work their way to lever 3. The door to {path 4} is where the Lockpick skill will be required.
The next two levers should be done in quick succession, and the lever party must be able to return to the entrance and catch up with the main party before the two doors close that are triggered by these levers. When the main group is ready lever 3 (L3) is then pulled. The main group should now advance to door 4 (D4) as the lever group goes to lever 4 (L4). When lever 4 is pulled the main group should wait just within door 4 until the Lever Group rejoins the main group.
The unimbued 'focusing stone' is obtained in the big room located down {path 3}. Concentrate attacks on the Guardian that will spawn in the center of that room. When the Guardian is killed, all of the other beasts in the room will die with him. The door at the far end of the room is unlocked with Le-Ai Rea's Key (K2). As this key only has one use, it is best not to unlock this door until everyone in the group has obtained a 'stone' from the Guardian.
This part of the quest is referred to by AC maps as Beyond the Mines of Despair. Now that everyone in the party has a 'stone', unlock the door and enter the next room. This is the second buff spot. Have everyone buff up and enter the portal as they are done. No one should advance any farther than the room where the next portal ends until everyone in the group is buffed and ready. Throughout this stage of the quest is where the mages will come in handy as these beasts are far easier to kill when vuln'd. (It is easier to keep the lower level characters alive if the beasts die faster.)
When the group is ready, all should advance until they reach the bridge that is above the Lava Bed and stop there. Have everyone gather and then jump down against the wall to the right of the bridge. 'STAYING' against the wall so as to avoid damage from the Lava Bed, have the group circle clockwise along the wall to the entrance to the tunnel down.
Take care advancing into each of the two rooms that have metal grating as there are a few higher level beasts to manage. The lower level characters could get in trouble fast. Once the second room with the floor grate is cleared then all can complete the quest by applying the unimbued 'focusing stone' on the Vortex. Now quickly pose with your imbued 'Focusing Stone' for pictures and get out of there before the next spawn. :-)
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Focusing Stone Quest
