Stone Vigil HM: Why is Isgebind back? Didn't we kill her?

[axemtitanium]

There's a section in Stone Vigil HM where you fire cannons at Isgebind who is shooting ice at you, just like the 2nd boss of Stone Vigil normal mode. But didn't we kill Isgebind already? Also why is she just there and not fought or mentioned elsewhere in the dungeon? Loremongers assemble!

[Anonymoose]

Isegebind's dead. That's Gowrow.

Gowrow emits a might roar. Use the Bertha cannons to slay the beast!

[Rex]

Yeah..that's exactly word for word what I said when I first went into Stone Vigil HM.


EDIT: Huh. I never noticed the "Gowrow"...I could have sworn I saw Isgebind over its head. Maybe I was imagining that because they look so alike. Though I did notice there were some slight color differences in their markings.

[axemtitanium]

Huh, well that solves it. Related question, what the heck is up with dragon naming conventions? Isgebind, Aiatar, Gowrow, there doesn't seem to be a strong naming convention like with the other beast tribes or races.

[Anonymoose]

Isgebind, Aiatar, Gowrow, there doesn't seem to be a strong naming convention

Now there's a mystery. Isgebind means "fetters of ice" and is seemingly related to a term from Beowulf (winter yþe beleac isgebinde / winter locked them in icy fetters). Aiatar is from Finnish folklore, Gorynich is from Slavic folklore, so is Chudo Yudo, Gowjow is from US folklore, Lampalagua is from Spanish folklore and shares a name with the Boa constrictor, Maracco is from Catalan folklore. Soooo.... I'm keen to think the naming convention for dragons is picking up some type of Encyclopedia of Obscure Monsters of the World, flipping to Dragons, Serpents, and Reptilians and looking for something that vaguely fits with the mob you're working on.

[Coatl]

Hm I had the idea that Stone Vigil HM was set in the past, as the castle in stone vigil HM looks much more intact than the original stone vigil.

[DoctaruRavenbe]

Hm I had the idea that Stone Vigil HM was set in the past, as the castle in stone vigil HM looks much more intact than the original stone vigil.

Except none of that makes sense if you read the quests.... Aside from Echo CSes and The Ultima HM fight (which is a Bard's retelling of our struggles with creative changes). When have we ever gone into the past?

[Lollie]

Coils 1-5 take place in the past now, which is the story based explanation of having the persistent echo there. Just as 1 example.

[Bauti]

Hm I had the idea that Stone Vigil HM was set in the past, as the castle in stone vigil HM looks much more intact than the original stone vigil.

The reason is obious. We killed almost all dragons in the normal mode, and that gave the Isgards an oportunity to recover the fortress. I'n HM they needed our help again to kill more dangerous dragons

[Anonymoose]

Hm I had the idea that Stone Vigil HM was set in the past, as the castle in stone vigil HM looks much more intact than the original stone vigil.

We killed almost all dragons in the normal mode, and that gave the Isgards an oportunity to recover the fortress.

The main reason we went to Stone Vigil earlier in the story was to take back Cid's airship. We killed a few dragons, but the only reason we even killed Isgebind was because Lahabrea woke it up and set it on us. Realizing that they'd have a better chance at reclaiming the Vigil acting earlier than later, Drillemont's forces set up a blockade to prevent the Dravanians from re-solidifying their foothold, secretly planning to attack as soon as everything was in order. Ishgardian heretics rallied to the cause, willing to die if it meant slowing down Ishgard's attempt to truly take the Vigil back. Funny enough, Stone Vigil (Lv. 50) is just as trashed as Stone Vigil (Lv. 41). A lot of people just assume that it's in better general shape than it used to be because the Heretics have lit torches in some of the hallways and we start at a fortified Ishgardian military base camp.

Coils 1-5 take place in the past now, which is the story based explanation of having the persistent echo there. Just as 1 example.

In 2.0, right at release, you would gain Echo in The Praetorium if your party died a lot. That was in real time, so I'm fairly sure everything (save for the battle section of Minstrel's Ballad) is in real time the first time you clear it for story progression and is otherwise a non-canon repetition for gear/EXP spam. I think the explanation is that Hydaelyn's Blessing, which is known to us simply as The Echo (based on its most obvious side-effect) is giving you more strength to overcome your challenge.

Coil originally didn't have Echo because that's how the patch cycle works.

Even Numbered Patch
Raises the LV/iLV bar and makes it attainable only by a thin, vertical climb rife with lockouts and an artificially inflated unforgivingness so that the "hardcore" players who pride themselves on getting it first have something to work for and will take them some time.

Odd Numbered Patch
Fleshes out the new tier and brings in gear between the old cap and the new cap, making you slightly more resilient and slightly more powerful, allowing the "midcores" to get in and clear it while it's still new, but without having to spend all the money and grindpower the "hardcore" did to ensure they got it first.

Even Numbered Patch
A new vertical climb comes in, and if you haven't cleared the content from the last Even Numbered Patch yet, it allows you to take advantage of Hydaelyn's Blessing, which, in addition to the new gear, generally negates the artificial inflation of the challenge and takes down the velvet rope of prestige (now that said prestige is gone), letting the "casual" audience progress to the next tier by virtue of understanding the mechanics alone.

Basically SE's just trying to keep all levels of player happy by staggering out the challenge and prestige in a gradation that moves with each patch.