[ Disclaimer, Create new user --- Wiki markup help, Install P99 ]
Cazic Thule (Zone)
The Lost Temple of Cazic-Thule (later revamped to the Accursed Temple) lies deep in the swamps in the south of Antonica, hidden on an island beneath vines and protected by its caretakers and worshippers, the lizard men. Within the temple exists a thriving community of lizard men and priests of Cazic-Thule. These lizards are opposed to the ones from The Feerrott, whom they consider primitive savages. Killing any residents of CT will raise faction with The Feerrott lizards and vice-versa.
|
Map
 Main Level
|
 Lower Levels
|
 Courtyard
|
 Maze
Radiant spawns in the Maze also and drops Gloves for Enchanter quest |
Dangers
Cazic-Thule is a dungeon like all others, with bodies littering the front entrance and people shouting "train!" Unlike many other dungeons, however, the trains are the least of your concerns, depending on where you are hunting. The dungeon is set up in many small out-of-the-way places with narrow escape routes, so most people, even if they wanted to run, couldn't. What this means is that, although there are trains, they are usually from the areas closest to the entrance, and don't come from the far corners of the dungeon. For people hunting in the courtyard, this is a problem, since the train will either jump the tracks and attack them, or will attack them on its way back through to home. It is also the reason that my level above states 20th as the lowest level, even though the front hallway has lizards that are around 10th level in it. These trains kill everything in their path.
That being said, trains are not as much of a danger as are the creatures that inhabit the dungeon. You must fight everywhere in a group. Period. The lizards will all help each other, and many of them are healer-types with cleric spells, and they all hang out next to each other. This means that it's nearly impossible to pull just one lizard; it is possible, but you can't rely on being able to do that all the time. This problem is exacerbated in areas like the courtyard and throne room, because there is so much local traffic of lizards that one pull can result in many many lizards fighting you. For this reason, I personally never hunt in the courtyard, and if I did my rule would be to zone early and fast if there is any doubt in my mind we've bitten off more than we can chew, simply because we always seem to pick up some stragglers.
The rare spawns (the ones everyone camps) basically have an exaggerated version of this problem going on with them. They tend to spawn in areas that are swarming with other lizards ("conveniently" the healing types) and they tend to spawn simultaneously with those lizards. Be sure to keep the local area clear when hunting the rare spawns, as every lizard nearby will join in if you fight one, and lizards hit hard (at least they hit my druid hard).
An annoyance of the zone is that it is heavily camped, probably the most heavily camped dungeon for mid-level characters if they're not in Lower Guk. Since a large amount of the wealth in terms of items in this zone comes off of relatively few creatures, all of whom seem to have very long spawn times, this zone tends to bring out the worst in people playing.
WATCHOUT - the lizard crusaders are shadowknights and cast deadeye on their lizard kin. They have intermittent see invis. You should consider each lizard independently, don't trust invisibility!
Benefits
This dungeon, as dangerous as it is, is probably one of the best places in the game to gain both experience and wealth, providing you have a good group in which to do it. It's commonly described as a good place to gain a lot of experience, and a good place to lose a lot of experience, so hunt here wisely. The items that you gain here are all worth a fair amount of cash, and there is a huge market for Lizardscale equipment.
One of the other benefits applies to the evil races only. Many of the lizards drop fine steel weapons which most characters can't carry back to their respective cities or merchants to sell. Evil characters can buy these weapons and resell them and make a fair profit in the meantime, shuttling weapons from Cazic-Thule to the merchants outside of Oggok.
Traveling To and From
Cazic-Thule can be found in the swamps of the Feerrott, home of the ogres. Travelling from the west (Rathe Mountains) leads you to the west side of the swamp. From there head to the southeast keeping your eyes peeled for the local Bouncers and you will hit a river. Swim the river and head south on the island, you can't miss the temple as it makes up the whole of the south end of the island. Do not travel along the edge, as you will pass very near the spectre cave, which can be deadly...
From the east (Innothule Swamp) you should turn left upon entering the zone and follow the border around to the river, swim it, and you will run along the wall of the temple to the entrance. This path is safer, but the Bouncers can occasionally be seen wandering even this far out. Be careful...
