Get ready for a special, time-limited event debuting with Update 63! The entire community will be challenged to work together to unlock these quests. More details will come as we get closer to the U63 launch at the end of the month!
Illithid Invasion was a unique event launched with Update 63. It ran from Wednesday, Nov 1 to Thursday, Nov 9 2023 (although on some servers the active part finished a day earlier on Wednesday the 8th.) It is also the name of the free adventure pack with 4 quests released in the same update.
The event[edit]
The visual effect in public areas during the event.
In some cases, the Illithids' living ships, Nautiloids, were also visible.
A Psionic Thrall Champion.
Illithids are invading Eberron! Talk to Omryn Cedarbrook in Sharn - Clifftop Tower District to learn more. (He can be found near the hireling vendor, just north of the general vendor.)
During the event, the sky in most public areas turned red, and a new type of Monster Champion replaced the usual champions: Psionic Thrall.
- Psionic Thrall champions possessed increased saves and damage, but were also subject to a stacking buff, Greater Psionic Pressure, which gradually increased their damage and PRR/MRR. This effect stacked between nearby Thralls, meaning that the more Thralls were active at one time, the more dangerous they were to fight. After the event, Psionic Thralls remained as the only champion type in the four Illithid Invasion quests, but were removed from other content.
In addition, Illithid Invaders could spawn in certain quests on Reaper difficulty, sometimes backed up by Illithid Vanguards, which certain Invaders could summon periodically. When first encountered, this triggered a global alert on the relevant server. Each Illithid could be slain a number of times before being "forced back into its lair" - resulting in no more Illithids spawning in that quest location. (This number was 50 on Orien, 10 on Wayfinder, and 30 on all other servers.)
The first wave contained eight locations where Illithids spawned; once all eight were exhausted on a particular server, the quest Pilgrims' Peril opened. After this, at set intervals after the release of Update 63, new sets of eight Illithid locations were added to unlock the next quest. These intervals were 2 days by default, but were unable to trigger until all servers had finished the previous wave; this caused waves 3 and 4 to be slightly delayed. The full event was switched off about 12 hours after Astral Ambush was fully unlocked.
Known Invader spawn locations:
The following criteria are known to have applied to spawn locations:
- The quest must have been in the Eberron setting (no Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft or Greyhawk content; Isle of Dread and Feywild weren't specifically eliminated, but no Illithids appeared there.)
- It must have been possible to open the quest on Reaper.
- Quests could not be used as a spawn location more than once; if a quest had an Invader for Pilgrims' Peril, for example, it could not have one for a subsequent quest.
The adventure pack[edit]
Each wave of the event, when completed, unlocked one of the four quests.
The free adventure pack includes four dungeons:
The quests are base level 34, Legendary only. They grant favor of The Twelve. Also, all four dungeons are rated Extreme Challenge, partially because of increased monster stats, but also because of unique twists or mechanics:
- The monsters in Pilgrims' Peril include several special monsters which can buff, shield, rapidly heal or even resurrect nearby allies. This means that the specialists have to be carefully slain in order before the main damage-dealers can be taken out.
- The monsters in Stolen Power are all resistant to spell damage, but the true tricky part comes in the end fight, which is on a platform suspended in insta-death acid, with waves of Force-damage-dealing orbs crossing the platform constantly and forcing players to dodge them - all while fighting a Warforged Titan.
- Horde of the Illithid Controller contains several dangerous patrolling red-named Giants who it is advisable to try and sneak around; furthermore, all enemies are immune to mind-affecting spells and take reduced damage from all sources. The final boss is relatively easy but does have a shielding effect requiring you to repeatedly drop his red-named Mind Flayer allies.
- Several powerful spellcaster mobs in Astral Ambush, including the quest boss, have a special effect which makes them effectively immune to damage unless they have recently been engaged in melee. The final boss room is also full of traps in the form of electric floor tiles.
See also[edit]
- Main investigation thread: DDO Forums
- Thread with tables of Illithid exhaustion status by server: DDO Forums
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