Ocean of Tears
Faydwer (back)
The Ocean of Tears is a vast expanse of water that lies between the continents of Antonica and Faydwer. A boat makes frequent trips between the Butcherblock Mountains and Freeport, taking travelers of all types over the ocean.
The vast expanses of ocean are punctuated with many small, isolated islands (hence the name, Ocean of Tears, as if the islands were tear drops). Each of these islands is a world unto itself, and the intrepid explorer can travel between them by using canoes that are pulled up on the shores of
some of the more populated islands.
Map
Ocean of Tears- 1. Several dozen small rocky outcroppings inhabited by Aqua Goblins, Alluring Sirens, and Nerbilik. Brawn also spawns here. There is no boat on these islands.
- 2. Docking point for boats coming from Freeport. Inn sells food and other goods. Stone in southwestern corner of island. Two boats. Also docks coming from BB after Sisters (4.11.20).
- 3. Aviak Island. Three aviak towers and many roaming aviaks, as well as Gull Skytalon who drops Ingot of the Fervent and Soarin Brightfeather who drops Ebon War Spear.
- 4. Two rocky spires inhabited by Aqua Goblins and Alluring Sirens. There is no boat here.
- NOTE: On P99, the east-bound boat will pass just south of the pair of spires at location 4, not through the middle as shown on the map.
- 5. Island inhabited by Aqua Goblins. Temple on hill in middle of island. The Allizewsaur (spawns at -3060, -660 with an aqua goblin placeholder) roams this island, spending most of its time on the hill near the temple. Two boats.
- 6. Island inhabited by Seafury Cyclops (who are placeholders for Tainted/Corrupt Cyclops), a Buccaneer (who is place holder for Wiltin Windwalker), Gornit, Goob Mudtoe, Quag Maelstrom and a camp of less-than friendly pirates (Toko Binlittle and pet, Dixl Drool, Capt. Surestout). Two boats. Ruined stone ring in southeastern corner.
- 7. Haunted island inhabited by Spectres and Gargoyles who worship at the dark tower. The Sentry spawns here rarely. Gargoyles share spawns with lower-level skeletons, but kill skeletons when their paths intersect. The island will often be full of gargoyles when no one has been killing them, but skeletons spawn respawn quite frequently.
- 8. Island with Boog Mudtoe and Pirate. Also has Temple on north side of hill and old ruined tower on top of hill inhabited by Elesseryl Terussar who sells Mage spells, mostly summoning spells. Pirate is placeholder for Ancient Cyclops.
- 9. Island of Isle Goblins and A Goblin Headmaster and the Oracle of K`Arnon and his Guardian. North point by guardian.
- 10. Island of the Sisters of Erollisi. Dock for boats coming from Antonica. One boat. Stone in northeastern corner. Dwarven smiths on western shore. Inn that sells goods and Kiola Nuts.
Alternate Map
Dangers
The Ocean of Tears is quite a high level area, with some monsters of level 30 or 40 and higher roaming the islands. Of all the creatures around, the only ones listed that aren't aggressive are the Aviaks, Allizewsaur , and the alluring sirens, who will generally leave you alone if you leave them alone. All of the other monsters will attack on sight.
Also, fighting in the Ocean of Tears is very different than fighting anywhere else. There are no guards to train monsters to if you get over your head. There is no handy zone edge to cross in order to escape. The only escape for most is to Gate if they can, and I've heard that running far enough into the water will deter monsters from chasing you, but this is at best an unreliable method of escape. Therefore, choosing battles carefully becomes very important.
The area is also dangerous because of the vast expanses of water and the difficulty in traveling across it, whether by swimming or by canoe. Taking canoes is a relatively safe, if slow, method of traveling around, but one must be careful to not right-click anywhere on the screen, because doing so will "uncaptain" you from the boat and you'll run straight off the end into the water. It is possible to get back into the boat, but requires quite a bit of timing and coordination, and sometimes you just can't do it. Swimming from the middle of nowhere to an island is also not fun, and dangerous as sharks will attack you.
The canoes here are also not very reliable. Pay special attention to islands that do not have boats on them. The boats reset about every hour of real time or so, and if you're not in your boat or used it recently, it will vanish back to its starting point. This means two things. One is that if you are hunting on an island with no canoes, and you don't use the canoe every now and again, it will vanish and you will be stuck swimming off of the island. It also means that sometimes canoes aren't where you expect them to be, as someone took them a while ago or the canoe you thought spawned in that spot was actually just left there. Be aware of these problems and plan accordingly.
The only other problem with this area, which isn't a danger just an annoyance, is that there are few shops around. Although you can make good money and loot in this area at lower levels, hunting critters like aqua goblins who always drop a bow and arrows, as well as occasionally a rusty weapon, you will rapidly become encumbered and wind up throwing out stuff. Lighten your load coming in or you will be losing a lot of money...
Benefits
This area has become one of my favorite areas of the game. It is usually completely unpopulated with players and has the feel that the game was supposed to have, that of being out in the middle of uncharted territory, adventuring. This is probably the least frequently traveled areas of the game (other than the boats), and there are probably a hundred players who have ever seen the Allizewsaur, I'd guess. There is little competition for hunting here, very little camping and lots of good loot. EverQuest the way I remember from the beta...
Several areas are especially good for hunting. Hunting aqua goblins and alluring sirens on their two groups of islands can be lucrative for a solo player of level 12-14 or so, or groups a little bit lower. Just be careful that there are no boats on them. They are also good for archers, because the aqua goblins carry arrows with them, ensuring a constant supply for hunting with. The Aviak island is good for 13th level and higher solo players because the starlings all /con blue to a 13th level character. There are also a good range of even through tombstone other Aviaks, which begin to appear more as the starling population strangely dwindles. The plus of the Aviaks is that they never catch on that you are killing their young, and I've butchered probably 50 starlings without them becoming aggressive. Other areas of the islands are good hunting for people of the appropriate levels, probably nearer to 30th to hunt gargoyles, Seafury Cyclops, and Spectres.
What else can I say? I can go on and on about how awesome this area is to adventure in, but I would be restating what I've said above. All of the problems in Everquest seem to vanish when I'm hunting here, and I'm not looking forward to when I reach a higher level and have to move on to different areas.
Traveling To and From
Travelers entering the Ocean of Tears by boat from East Freeport will briefly moor at Zachariah Reigh Isle, so named for the NPC that stands vigilant on this island's dock, before continuing eastward. A merchant can be found in the inn. Prior to landfall in Faydwer, travelers will make a final stop at the eponymous Sister Isle. Named after the divine sisterhood of Erollisi Marr worshipers that call this island home, Sister Isle's inn is renowned for selling the Kiola Nut, a key ingredient in the armors of Master Wu.
NOTE: Veteran EverQuest players are not only likely to recall two boats, but Sister Isle being the first stop out of East Freeport. Though the second boat was not added until the Kunark era, the latter recollection is entirely correct: even though Antonica lies west of Faydwer, boats departing Butcherblock Mountains mysteriously traveled east to reach Freeport--the wrong direction. Project 1999 has corrected the direction of the boat so that it travels eastward to reach Faydwer from Antonica, and vice versa; this explains why Zach Reigh isle is the first stop out of Freeport, rather than Sister Isle as most remember. Travel, dock to dock, Butcherblock to Freeport, takes 15 minutes, 35 seconds (6/21/20.)
Connected Zones:
