Actually, this next area diverges from the previous sections of the island. No more hunting for stones or seeds; no more making pepper plants. This area uses a whole new kind of cheese and therefore there is a whole new kind of strategy here. While the earlier Tribal Isles were closer to Furoma, this is more reminiscent of Bristle Woods and how it cycles. So fans of Bristle Woods, rejoice! We’re back to familiar ground.
I want to make this warning in advance: While Balack’s Cove is the final area in Mousehunt, there is absolutely no reason to come here, story-wise. Balack does not drop any loot that may have future use right now, and while he may do so in the future, he is currently just a mouse to catch for collection’s sake. With that in mind, don’t stress over this area- it’s not required in any way.
Quick Recap
- You’ve crafted the ice maiden and used it to catch some mice in Dracano
- While in Dracano, you collected at least 3 dragon embers as loot from the mice there
- Hopefully (though not required), you caught a dragon mouse and took its chest
Preparing for Adventure
I mentioned in the prior section that those dragon embers are going to serve a purpose, so head back to Cape Clawed and pick up an antique lantern for 90,000. Combine it with your three dragon embers to make… Balack’s Lantern! Congrats, now you are ready to enter Balack’s Cove.
However, if you choose to enter right now, you’ll quickly realize that you’re not going to get anywhere with it. The problem is that you don’t have the right cheese. As a matter of fact, you’ll be using an entirely brand-new kind of cheese here.
Did you ever try using gouda in the Jungle of Dread, just for kicks? If you did, you might have discovered that there is another breed of mouse dwelling in the Jungle. Rather, there’s a whole swarm of them. I am of course referring to the “Swarm of Pigmy Mice” mouse (is that technically correct, the mice mouse? I dunno- makes me tongue tied.)
These mice carry a specific piece of loot: the Vanilla Bean. Now, I don’t know about you, but I love vanilla, and if I were able, I’d probably just keep the beans for myself and add them to my drink later (typically after a long hunt, that would be a rather stiff drink, too.) However, we don’t have that option. Instead, we have to use the vanilla bean to craft some new cheese. That cheese is known as Stilton cheese. To make this Vanilla Stilton, we need the following ingredients:
15 C&W + 15 Salt + 15 Coconut Milk + 15 Vanilla Beans = 15 Vanilla Stilton
*or*
15 C&W + 15 Salt + 15 Coconut Milk + 15 Magic Essence + 5 Vanilla Beans = 15 Vanilla Stilton
As you can see, SB+ adds a bonus to your ability to craft; quite a significant one, too. However, you also have to use quite a bit of SB+ in the process. That makes it incredibly expensive for non-donors to go this route. As always, I’m a firm believer in never needing to use SB+, so don’t feel pressured to do so. However, if you’ve got some lying around, there has rarely been a better time to use it. You’ll be catching a LOT of pigmy swarms to get beans, so any reduction in that number is a welcome reduction!
See, as was true in earlier parts of the isle, you’re going to need more than just one batch of Stilton. As a matter of fact, you’ll need a LOT of Stilton. Figure on making 20 batches of the stuff (300 pieces), which means you need to get 300 (or 100) vanilla beans. Like I said, SB+ cuts down on the time by a significant amount!
Once you’ve made your Stilton (you can make as many batches as you want to start, really), relocate yourself to Balack’s Cove!
Balack’s Cove
We know what cheese we’re using, but we haven’t really discussed trap setups. Fortunately you don’t need any new traps here; however, which trap you use depends entirely upon you. As the description implies, you can use Shadow, Arcane or Forgotten Traps. That means the Clockapult, the ACRoNYM or the ABT. All three of them have their own uses in this area, too.
The Clockapult will have the lowest catch rate of the three in the cove. However, the description of the area also states that the cove will periodically wash hunters out. This means that randomly, you will get kicked from the cove and sent back to the jungle of dread (much like the forbidden grove to the acolyte realm). However, it doesn’t cycle like the FG/AR did. Rather, once you’ve been kicked out, you’re let back in after about one horn-blowing cycle, or about 10-15 minutes. When that happens, you’ll be using your stilton on the swarm of pigmy mice.
Where does the clock fit into all this, you may ask. Well, if you’re not planning to watch your camp very closely (those of us with demanding jobs or classes please raise your hand) are more likely to be caught unawares and swept from the cove. When this happens, if you’re NOT using a shadow trap, those pigmy mice will run all over your trap and you won’t catch any of them. However, if you have your clockapult equipped, you’ll be able to keep catching pigmy mice even after you leave, which will allow you to collect more vanilla beans, which will mitigate the lost stilton cheese used in the Jungle.
If you’re not worried about these things, skip the clock, and pick between the Acro and the ABT. The ACRoNYM works especially well on most of the mice in the cove. However, there are three mice (which I’ll discuss in a minute) that are especially weak to the Ancient Box Trap. If your goal is exclusively to catch these three mice, the Nerg Lich, Elub Lich and Derr Lich, equip your ABT. However, if your goal is to maximize points and gold, use the ACRoNYM.
My personal advice is to use the ABT. Originally, I would have said go with the Acro; you get more points overall if you use the Acro, and while you may not get the lich mice quite as fast, what’s the hurry? However, having actually spent a real amount of time here, I can tell you that collecting vanilla beans from the pygmy mice is awful and takes forever. Since you’re ultimately trying to get Balack (if only to fill in the silhouettes), the less time spent getting the beans, the better. The ABT will maximize the speed at which you can reach Balack.
Of course, once you’ve caught Balack, if you decide to stay, go back to the Acro!
As for which base you use: If you have the magma base, use it. If you were unable to get a magma base, the molten shrapnel base provides nearly identical stats to the magma base and therefore will provide nearly identical results. However, to get that, you need 200 scrap metal! That takes a REALLY long time, be it from hunting in the catacombs or from hunting in the Lagoon. It’s an extremely good base, but it is kind of a hassle to collect the parts for.
If you’re not interested in doing so, use the aqua base with the ACRoNYM. The power/luck combo does more for the trap than just the power of something like the tribal base.
As always, we need to pay attention to what we’re doing here: we want to catch the Derr Lich, the Elub Lich and the Nerg Lich mice. These poor mice were enslaved by Balack years ago and it’s pretty frightening to see what an eternity of enslavement does to a mouse!
These three mice hold the key to the next part of the puzzle. Each one drops a specific piece of loot- the Derr lich drops Bottled-Up Rage, the Nerg Lich drops Raisins of Wrath, and the Elub Lich drops a Pinch of Annoyance. Put together, these ingredients make a whole new kind of cheese called Vengeful Stilton.
1 Pinch of Annoyance + 1 Raisins of Wrath + 1 Bottled-Up Rage + 1 Vanilla Bean + 1 C&W + 1 Ionized Salt + 1 Coconut Milk = 1 Vengeful Stilton
*or*
1 Pinch of Annoyance + 1 Raisins of Wrath + 1 Bottled-Up Rage + 1 Vanilla Bean + 1 C&W + 1 Ionized Salt + 1 Coconut Milk + 3 Magic Essence = 3 Vengeful Stilton
This Vengeful Vanilla Stilton attracts most of the same mice that regular Vanilla Stilton did, except that it attracts the three lich mice with greater frequency and, if you’re lucky, it will attract Balack the Banished himself. At this point, equip your Ancient Box Trap- your Acro is useless against Balack. Also remove the Aqua base and equip the Tribal base.
While not quite as powerful as the dragon, Balack is difficult to catch in the same way that the Acolyte was a hassle- it’s a very tough mouse AND it’s not common. 300 Vanilla Stilton is probably a bare minimum amount to collect enough wrath, rage and annoyance bits to combine into the requisite Vengeful Stilton to finally nab Balack.
But once you’ve gotten him, you are done with the Tribal Isles! For good! Unless you’re looking to climb the scoreboard, of course- the cove does wonders for you point total!
source: http://guidetomousehunt.wordpress.com/walkthrough/tribal_islands/balacks_cove/
