Starchitin's Guide to Hunting the Rest
It is with no small amount of pride that I say that the area around River's Rest has some of the most difficult hunting, for each area's respective level, in Elanthia. Of course, there are hunting grounds outside of the Rest that rival, or even exceed, the difficulty of hunting in the Rest at that same level, no other town offers hunting grounds that consistently challenges most character types across as broad a range of levels as the Rest.
Unlike larger towns, it's really not possible to develop one hunting tactic and find a hunting ground where that tactic will work from 0-70ish (phantasmal bestial swordsman are the highest level critters in the River's Rest area at level 62). The more adaptable you and your character are to situations that may or may not be ideal for your profession, weapon choice, and/or spells the more successful you will be. In some cases you may even have to exercise the better part of valor and avoid certain critters in some hunting areas, depending on your character's training.
No matter what type of character you have, if you bring one up in the Rest you'll find the next ten or so levels after leaving the Rest to be a cakewalk and you'll be much more likely to be able to adapt to top level hunting areas once you get to them.
Overview
If you are starting a character with the intention of making them a Rester, it is highly advised that you choose the Landing as your starter town and head to River's Rest once you've finished the sprite quest or otherwise made it out of level 0. While there are giant rats, pale crabs, and roltons which are level 1, getting to level 1 hunting them will be an exercise in frustration for most.
As stated before, some character types will have it easier hunting from levels 0-70ish then others. If you want to experiment with an extreme mutant character type (a THW sorcerer or a wand using warrior, for example), you would be better off basing them in another town unless you're already familiar with River's Rest. Without getting into mutant builds, if your character relies solely on the following, they will either have either a more difficult time hunting in the Rest or be limited in their choices:
Ranged
There are four critters that are completely immune to puncture damage of any kind (night golem, bone golem, water wyrd, and flesh golem, in order of level) as well as 5 non-corporeal undead (mist wraith, firephantom, bog wraith, ethereal mage apprentice, and phantasmal bestial swordsman, also in order of level) which are immune to crits. Even if you don't like messing with blessed arrows or bolts, you'll have little problems hunting most areas so long as you can limit your exposure to the attacks of the listed critters when hunting other critters that share their area (being good at hiding is an excellent option). You will, however, have to leave the Rest to hunt elsewhere sooner then someone that doesn't rely so heavily on crit damage since trying to kill a swordsman with a bow is about as frustrating as trying to hold a conversation with a four-year-old that just dropped a tab of acid.
CS Spells
From level 20 on up, almost every hunting area has at least one critter that's a spell-caster which has to be dealt with regularly and has a TD that is high for their level. From level 40 on up, almost every critter in the Rest has a TD that is higher then other like level critters, a few have stupidly high TD's for their level (bog wraith, tomb troll necromancer, and putrified Citadel herald). Hunting solely with CS spells is certainly possible, but it will be difficult hunting like level unless you maximize your training to get your CS as high as possible.
Levels 1-10
Most of the critters in this range are pretty much what you'd expect in other towns, though there are some that deserve specific mention. Including one critter that's above this range that can be fairly easily hunted by characters that are close to the upper limit of this range.
Mist wraiths, Night golems, Brown spinners, and Blood eagles
These critters range in part of a larger area that is refered to as the Outer Citadel. They can be found just west of the strip where greater ghouls and zombie roltons roam with the Garrison, Infirmary, Zoo, Armory, and Alchemist hunting areas all bordering their range. Like many hunting areas in the Rest, none of these critters are particularly dangerous on their own, but the combination of them, their tendency to swarm, and their tendency to quickly move from room to room can quickly overwhelm or frustrate (depending on the circumstances). The path that leads around to the zoo never has wraiths or night golems and almost never swarms, so if you have a task from the Adventurer's Guild for blood eagles or brown spinners that's a good spot to stick to.
There are also two things anyone hunting in this spot should look out for. The brown spinners have a short RT (they can perform a new action about every 4 seconds) and can web, it's easy to avoid, but when it does hit it lasts a long time and has a tendency to knock you over. Also, the blood eagles have a maneuver that will drop you into the ravine under the drawbridge that leads into the citadel. This maneuver usually isn't deadly, but it can be very difficult for a like level character to climb back out (especially if they're injured and/or encumbered) so it's advisable to set a gold ring before hunting in this area.
Citadel Zoo
The Zoo isn't getting it's own section because one needs any special advice to hunt there at like level (stance dancing is plenty... seriously, hunting doesn't get any easier then the Zoo), but because it's one of the most fun hunting areas to hunt in Elanthia. The antics of the monkeys are fun to watch and the way they respond to seeing another monkey or crocodile die would make you feel bad for killing them if the loot there wasn't so good for their level. Everyone should go on a casual hunt in the Zoo at least once, even if your lowest level character is 50 levels above monkeys you'll still enjoy yourself... just find a low level character willing to let you tag along while they hunt.
The Armory
Greater orcs are at the upper end of this range and large ogres are level 15, but both are huntable by most characters that are like level with orcs. Honestly, most characters will probably have a harder time killing orcs due to their plate armor then ogres. The key to hunting the armory below level 12 or so is that while large ogres spawn with either a THW or an axe and shield, they'll eventually drop them (no need to disarm them, they'll drop them on their own) and their bare-handed attack usually doesn't deal much damage. Just LOOK at any ogre you run across, if they have a weapon in their hand just avoid them, if their hands are empty you're safe and kill them with whatever method you prefer. Hunting here below level 8 isn't recommended, but from then on you shouldn't have many problems as long as you exercise caution.
Levels 11-15
Critter options for this range are pretty limited. The Armory is still a good option and characters can still get decent experience from crocs or bone golems until level 12ish. Those that want more of a challenge then the Armory offers can start hunting trolls in the Hidden Vale around level 13-14 or even krolvin mercenaries if your feeling particularly adventurous. Whatever you do you'll be either up-hunting a few levels or under-hunting a few levels when your these levels because there simply are no critters that have a base level between 9 and 15.
Levels 16-20
This is the begining of a bottle-neck that will leave most folk hunting in the same areas for the most part.
Most of these levels you'll want to hunt trolls in the Hidden Vale unless you have an Adventurer's Guild task for somewhere else. Hill trolls are easy for any attack type and have MUCH better loot then the krolvin mercenaries and krolvin warriors in the Sea Caves, further-more if you have access to any type of fire based spell you'll feel like a god hunting there. Just keep your eye out if their is someone hunting in the Troll Lair as troll chieftains will occasionally wander out if there are and those will quickly remove any godly feelings you might have. Whatever happens, enjoy hunting in the Hidden Vale while you can because once you graduate from it you're in for around ten levels that will test your loyalty to the Rest.
Sea Caves and the Krolvin Ship
No matter what you do, if you want to stay in the Rest, you'll find yourself hunting here almost exclusively for at least a few levels in your 20's unless you stick to the Hidden Vale until you don't learn at all from hill trolls any more and skip straight to the Jungle. The loot here is NOT good and you have to deal with krolvin warfarers, which can be a huge pain in the arse until you're like-level, on top of it. If you rely on wands bought in town, you'll be lucky to break even most hunts (honestly, take the most over-hunted area in the landing and cut the amount of loot you get there in half and you'll have an idea of what the loot here is like).
Krolvin mercenaries can use the Footstomp maneuver and krolvin warriors can War Cry, so be careful if you have a low DS in the offensive stance while hunting in the caves since there's usually a krolvin warferer or two lurking around but easily avoidable.
Once you move onto the ship, it's just krovin warriors and krolvin warfarers. The warfarers CS will be most difficult for squares or anyone else that doesn't have a decent TD. Luckily, they're easy to stun with either maneuvers, UCS, or standard attacks so warriors and monks shouldn't have trouble so long as they can keep them from casting.
Rogues and rangers should be getting good enough at stalking and hiding by this point that they can stick to the shadows most of the time, though they might still fall out of hiding a good bit when firing ranged weapons from the shadows... so timing will be key for them.
Depending on their CS and how much mana they have, sorcerer's will probably just use focused Energy Maelstrom (710) on warferers most of the time, though it's mana issues more then CS that will be the determining factor. One thing to note about sorcerers hunting here is that their TD should be high enough to ward most of the warfarer's CS attacks and their DS in guarded should be high enough (self-spelled) to prevent them from hitting them with melee attacks, but their tendency to cast Elemental Wave (410) multiple times in a row can make actually killing them quite difficult as focused maelstroms will dissipate due to the RT imposed by the spell and you'll be stuck in 20 second RTs repeatedly. The secret is to simply not stand up after the first one, if you're already laying down the e-wave will just wash right over you with no effect, as long as you stay in guarded stance they shouldn't be able to hit you with any of their AS attacks, and being prone has no effect on CS (at least one sorcerer used to just lay down as soon as he saw a warfarer and start casting away). This same tactic might work for other pures that have good CS spells, but make sure you can defeat their AS attacks while prone before attempting it (including their Fire Spirit (111)).
Karazja Jungle
There will be times when this area will make you scream with frustration. Easily one of, if not THE, hardest and most frustrating below-cap hunting area in Elanthia when trying to take it on like level. If you've avoided the Spider Temple like the plague with characters based in the Landing, DO NOT hunt here... it makes the frustration of the Spider Temple look non-existant. If you want to avoid the Jungle, you can stick to krolvin warfarers until you have the 12-15 ranks in swimming OR 15 ranks in climbing and Water Walking (112) needed to get across Maelstrom Bay and start taking on hisskra. You'll prolly take a bit of teasing from long-time Resters for refusing to hunt the Jungle, but you're also likely to avoid having to replace a monitor or keyboard.
Now that the warning's out of the way, if you suck it up and stick to the Karazja Jungle from levels 25-30, you will be well prepared to take on anything River's Rest or the rest of Elanthia has to throw your way by the time you move on. It will teach you how to adapt and develop new techniques and how to push your character to make the most of every maneuver, spell, and weapon available to them. If you start earlier, you deserve an award.... lucky for you, trolls drop good loot and panther skins fetch more then any other skin in the Rest.
The first thing you need to do before ever heading out to the Jungle is to make sure you have a way out that doesn't include walking out. The reason for this is that there are a LOT of rooms in the Jungle and they change their configuration approximately every 20 minutes without warning, making this hunting area impossible to map and potentially making the exit all but impossible to find (esp if you're bleeding or heavily poisoned). Gold rings are the most widely used and readily available method for getting out of the Jungle (don't forget to set them first!), though Sign of Darkness and Symbol of Return are also used by those that have them (all teleportation spells will work to get into and out of the Jungle, though most won't have access to them until well after they're done hunting here). In extreme emergencies (like when you forgot to set your gold ring, are out of acantha leaf, and are about to bleed to death or die from poisoning and cannot find the exit) a few sorcerers have even been known to cast an open implosion and walk into the void rather then dying in the Jungle.
The second thing is that the longer your hunt, the worse the Jungle swarms. Early on in your experiences with the Jungle, this will cause you to cut hunts short if you can't find a bottle-neck area that limits the amount of critters coming in and out. If the more entrances and exits the room you're in has, the faster you'll find yourself being over-whelmed. Once you get to level 29 or so that won't be so much of a problem as your skills grow and you learn how to manage and control the swarms, before that learning when to step to another room will save your hide.
Dark panthers
The lowest level and easiest to kill critter in the Jungle. If it weren't for the tree vipers being so difficult to avoid, they'd be easy hunting. Their skins sell for between 1000 and 1500. Stance dancing works fine for them if you're lucky enough to catch one alone and can kill it quickly even though they have a pounce maneuver that can knock you to the ground. If you have the patience of Gandhi and MLK combined and don't mind moving to another room whenever one of the other three indigenous critters of the Jungle enter, a good skinner can make a lot of silver hunting them starting at level 22. Those that rely on hiding will find it difficult to stay in the shadows around them until they're around three or four levels above dark panthers and even then will be sniffed out of hiding occasionally (this was true of both a rogue that was 3x in S&H and a ranger that was 2x in S&H with Sneaking (617) on them). Panthers like to move around almost as much as the vipers, but are much more manageable.
Tree vipers
Easily the most maddening critters in the Jungle. When they first enter a room (whether spawning or changing rooms), they're up in the tree and unable to be attacked with melee attacks (ranged attacks and any spell that isn't ground based will still work on them when they're up in the trees). They also have a maneuver where they spit poison at your face that they can perform without coming down from the trees. Having no limbs, spells or maneuvers that target limbs will have no effect on them, nor will most maneuvers that make the target prone such as Shield Bash, Tackle, or Sweep.
Tree vipers can poison you in one of two ways, usually starting at around 20hp per round and dissipating at 1-2 per round, either through their bite while they're alive or by pricking your finger on their fangs when skinning them. Unless you're well trained for skinning, the risk of being poisoned is too great for the reward, but a skilled skinner can avoid being poisoned more often then not and the resulting skin is well worth the risk (esp if you killed them without hitting their head). If you end up with two or more viper poisons running at once, even a giantman would be well advised to return to town and seek treatment.
The last thing of note about vipers is that they like to move around a LOT and they like to stick to rooms with adventurers in them once they find them. Even at a couple levels above them they're too risky to ignore when trying to focus on better targets as they'll put you in a risky position with force on force stacking up if you don't stun them or move out of the room. All of this combined will make you wish that stepping on a crack broke the GM that created them's back.
Jungle trolls
Essentially upgraded mountain trolls, whatever tricks you used on those will work on these. If it weren't for the other three critters in the jungle, they'd be easy to hunt. If you have access to Fire Spirit (111) or Major Fire (908) you have an easy way to pwn jungle trolls (jungle troll chieftains as well, for that matter) while keeping the panthers and vipers at bay.
Jungle troll chieftains
The highest level and hardest to kill of the denizens of the Jungle, even these would be easy to manage and kill if it weren't for the swarming conditions of the hunting area and the constant pestering of vipers and panthers. Until you're like level with them, either stun them or switch rooms when you see them preparing a spell, if they manage to cast Tangle Weed (610) they'll bring your hunt to a swift end. Chieftains can also cast Call Swarm (615), though it's usually more of a nuisance then anything else.
Note About Disarming
The Ruined Tower, Garrison, Shattered Moors, and Miasmal Forest all have at least one critter that can either DISARM or has some sort of maneuver or other ability that can make you drop a weapon or, in one case, other held items. The specifics of how this can occur will be covered in each section, but techniques for retrieving them deserves it's own section since there are so many places where it can occur (in the case of the Shattered Moors, "weapons" should be understood to include shields, ranged weapons, and anything else a character might be holding).
The easiest way to avoid losing a weapon in these areas is to simply use weapons that won't be missed in the event that they're lost, such as something off the shelf or an e-bladed weapon. However, there are plenty of folk that prefer to actually use their nice items so retrieving them once lost becomes necessary.
Since a couple critters that make you disarm inflict limb damage in the process (moor hounds and moor witches), having herbs to heal rank 3 limb wounds down to rank 1 scars will be necessary if you're solo hunting this area. As dangerous as it might be to heal such large wounds in the field, if you leave the area before retrieving your weapon the risk of losing it permanently goes up drastically. Since spell casting, ranged weapons, and most maneuvers cannot be performed with a broken or missing hand/arm, you'll want a way to heal it in the field.
Most folk that hunt in these areas carry at least one back-up weapon, though it's not unheard of to carry two in the case of hisskra (if it doesn't add too much to your encumbrance). Anyone that trains in MIU can use a Pale thanot wand to make a critter drop their weapon (a quick test in advance to ensure you can ward whatever might pick up your weapon is a good idea). In addition to Limb Disruption (708), other spells and abilities that can be used to retrieve weapons without having to kill the critter include DISARM, the itchy curse, AMBUSHING the right arm of the critter, and weapon bonding (assuming the warrior has 5 ranks and is fully bonded).
If you kill a critter holding your weapon, picking it up from it's corpse before searching it is a good way to ensure something else doesn't in and pick it up before you can. Also, if you kill a critter you believed had your weapon and it isn't holding it when you killed it, SEARCH the room before moving on to see if something else took it. Some critters will occasionally HURL their weapon and they have a nasty habit of going into the shadows when they do (it's also easy to mistake a HURLed weapon for a regular attack). If you leave the room with your weapon in the shadows (even for a second or two), there's a good chance that the janitor will snatch up your weapon.
The Ruined Tower
After spending multiple levels in the Jungle, this area will feel like a vacation. Nothing in the Ruined Tower is a push-over and hisskra bring cooperation to levels most players can't match, but hunting there is down-right relaxing by comparison and you'll know your character well enough to be able to quickly adapt to the challenges they offer.
Before anything else is said, it's important to mention that you need to have trained to get across Maelstrom Bay to keep hunting in the Rest at this point as every critter, with one exception, between levels 30 and 54 is located across the bay and there are few places where teleporting in is even an option. The requirements are 10-15 ranks in swimming or Water Walking (112) AND 15 ranks in Climbing.
Back on topic, three kinds of hisskra occupy the area immediately outside the tower, in the base of the tower, and the dungeon beneath it while water wyrds roam inside the tower and are easily avoidable if you chose to. There is one room of specific interest, at the base of the tower is a door that leads to a workshop where adventurers can rest or tend to their wounds without fear of being attacked.
Water wyrds are immune to crit damage and stuns but highly susceptible to cold based attacks, making them fairly easy for spell casters, a pain for melee weapons, and way more of a hassle then they're worth for ranged weapons. They can cast both Elemental Wave (410) and Major Elemental Wave (435), so it's advisable to cast a spell like Corrupt Essence (703) or change rooms when you see them preparing a spell if you're below their level. Lastly, water wyrds leave no body to search when they die though they usually leave behind a gem, making them a good critter to hunt if you have a gem task from the Adventurer's Guild.
The first thing that needs to be said about hisskra is that all three versions of them (warrior, shaman, and chieftain) have plates on their body that will occasionally deflect the blows of melee weapons, potentially making them bounce right out of your hand onto the ground. IF YOU USE A MELEE WEAPON WHILE HUNTING HISSKRA YOU RUN THE VERY REAL RISK OF LOSING YOUR WEAPON PERMANENTLY AND GM'S WILL NOT REPLACE IT FOR YOU. Yes, that last sentences is in all caps and bolded because you need to keep that risk in mind. Warriors with five ranks in the cman Weapon Bonding that are fully bonded to their weapons will only have a negligible risk of losing their weapons as it will be returned to them even if a hisskra picks it up, but if they are killed before the weapon returns they may still lose it. Bards using Sonic Weapon Song (1012) will be the only melee weapon users that won't be putting their weapon at risk. Training in the cman Disarm will NOT help with this.
When hunting hisskra, your first priority should be hisskra shaman and never kill one shaman with another in the room. When another hisskra of any kind dies, a hisskra shaman can cast a minor sanctuary in a room and raise the dead hisskra before pulling it to it's feet. Making it important to search hisskra as soon as possible, especially if a shaman wanders into the room. It should also be noted that when a shaman raises one of it's dead brethren, it will only restore it's HP, any wounds will remain. This is important because if the raised hisskra was missing a limb an infinite loop will occur where the raised hisskra falls to the ground the second it's pulled to it's feet and the shaman will not perform any action other then attempting to pull the prone hisskra to it's feet until it bleeds out to be raised again in an endless cycle with the minor sanctuary preventing the player from taking action to break the loop. The only way currently known to break the endless loop is to leave the room until the pair are despawned from the game or by casting a spell that can kill from an adjacent room (like open implosion).
Besides the shaman raising other hisskra, all three types will drag a stunned hisskra to an adjacent room or pull a prone hisskra into an upright position. This makes crowd control in the tower either easy or difficult depending on the circumstances and what you're trying to accomplish.
The only other thing worth mentioning about hisskra is that they have a blowgun attack that shoots a poisoned dart at you. It's easy for most characters to avoid, but if hit the poison can put you into RT after a short build up and can even make you prone in extreme cases.
Citadel Garrison
Only masochists like hunting in the Garrison. While it's frustration and danger levels aren't as high as the Jungle on a regular basis, it is a dangerous place to hunt and it can be quite frustrating at times. The Garrison it's self doesn't have any special properties to hinder hunters, it's the only critter located there that will have you on the edge of your seat, the mighty spectral warrior. Spectral warriors are the first undead you'll encounter after the rotting krolvin pirate, breaking the undead gap in the Rest. This is also the first thing that makes them a pain for ranged users (messing with blessed arrows can be a huge headache), though this is good for those trying to work their way through Voln.
The main thing that keeps most from hunting here is that spectral warriors can DISARM and will attempt to do so on a fairly regular basis. It's highly advisable that you only use weapons or runestaves here that you won't miss if you lose them.
The second thing about warriors that makes them difficult for ranged users also gives most bolting spell-casters trouble, their choice of armor. Spectral warriors will wear either brig, chain, or plate armor. The heavy armor can make killing them difficult with weapons or bolts, though CS spells and UCS should have a comparatively easy time with them.
The last, and most frustrating, ability of spectral warriors is their ability to "phase out" and avoid any attack or spell targeted at them. The ability is triggered in response to the spell being cast or the attack being made, either wasting mana or leaving the attacker stuck in RT. Sorcerers can use Phase (704) to keep them rooted in the physical plane and prevent them from phasing out.
Shattered Moors
The Shattered Moors are a fairly simple place to hunt so long as you watch out for a couple things from each of the three critters located there. If you choose to avoid moor eagles and/or want a version of moor hounds that don't use their acid spitting ability, sticking to the abandoned smuggler's lair in the moors is a good idea.
Moor eagles aren't affected by ground based spells such as Tremors (909) or spells and abilities that make critters prone such as Elemental Wave (410) and can occasionally fly out of the range of melee weapons, however they're easy to crit and easy to stun with most spells and abilities that are designed for that purpose. They have one maneuver worth noting, they'll swoop down and pick you off the ground to drop you from high in the air back into the same room, resulting impact crits.
Moor hounds are similar to dark panthers but have two maneuvers that need to be watched for. The first is that they can spit acid at you, resulting in acid crits, though hounds inside the smugglers lair will not use this maneuver. The second in a lunge maneuver that targets one of your arms with the possibility of removing it and making you drop whatever you're holding in that hand at time and giving you a very long stun. They don't use either maneuver often, but the risk is there so if you have a weapon or shield that you cannot afford to lose, consider using something you won't miss when hunting hounds.
Moor witches are level 34 sorcerers that also swing daggers. They have all the defensive spells from the minor elemental and spirit circles you'd expect a player sorcerer to have at that level and all the same vulnerabilities, but the only spells they cast from the sorcerer circle are Quake (709) and below. It's important to note that Limb Disruption (708) is included in the spells they can cast, it is not one they cast often, but it can make you drop whatever you're holding if they successfully remove a hand or arm with it. Witches are the first critters that are a good target for Dark Catalyst (719) where sorcerers who have come up in the Rest will have enough mana to make good use of the spell on a regular basis. They're easily critable if you can defeat their DS, are push-overs for most maneuvers, and are easy to hide from, which is a good thing for most squares since the only spell they cast that won't bring your hunt to an abrupt halt if it connects is Corrupt Essence (703).
Krolvin Carrack
The Carrack is a beached slave ship that's home to krolvin corsair and krolvin slavers. The floors of the Carrack are slanted, making movement from room to room difficult with slight encumberance and impossible with higher levels of encumbrance (players will fall to the floor and be put in RT if attempting to move from a room while encumbered). Like most areas on this side of the bay, gold rings will work to get you off the Carrack and teleportation out is possible via society abilities or spells, however teleportation onto the Carrack is not possible. Having a disk to hold any boxes is a good idea as is carrying a white crystal you can activate to get a bit of extra strength to help you get off the Carrack without having to leave any loot behind if you forget to set your ring.
The two krolvin on the Carrack aren't especially difficult to kill, though they will occasionally swarm. Slavers can cast Major Elemental Wave (435), so it's a good idea to use whatever spells or abilities you have at your disposal to prevent them from casting. They also have a capture maneuver that will stun you and move you over into a slave pen along with the slaver that used the maneuver. The only thing of note about corsairs is that they will loot silvers from your corpse if you die on the Carrack.
Miasmal Forest
The Miasmal Forest in an interesting area aside from the critters in it. It's important to learn the layout and nature of the Forest even if you don't intend on hunt there since you will have to travel through it to get to either Oteska's Haven or the Marsh Keep.
The southern third of the Forest is inhabited by the skeletal soldier, bog troll, and lesser moor wight, and bog wraith. It's split into two sections that are connected by a log bridge. Falling off the log bridge puts you on a path that by-passes the mist mazes separating the northern and southern thirds of the forest. Successfully crossing the log and traveling all the way to the east will lead to the entrance of Marsh Keep.
SEARCHing in four rooms at the northern end of the southern third will reveal paths or trails that lead into either the Specral Mist or Ghostly Trees, which are two mazes that make up the middle third of the Forest. Both mazes operate in the same manner and the same critters that roam in the southern third occupy the mazes. The mazes each consist of many rooms (common estimates are between 20 and 30) rooms with most rooms having identical room descriptions and the paths between the rooms are not reversible (in other words, if you travel SE out of a room, traveling NW out of the next room will most likely not take you back to the same room). There are set paths through the maze, though discovering them is difficult at best and most resort to random wandering from one end to the other. For convenience, any room in the Forest (both inside and outside the mazes) that has a "jagged stone" in it will allow gold rings to work in both directions.
When traveling north through the mazes, PEERing can be used to see if one of the exits into the northern third is adjacent to you while it's generally faster to just randomly alternate between SE and SW when traveling south through the maze.
The northern third of the Miasmal Forest is occupied by the greater bog troll, greater moor wight, and bog wraith with Oteska's Haven located to the northeast.
With the exception of the two trolls in the Forest, every critter there is undead. Bog wraiths are non-corporael and have a high TD for their level, making killing them by any means difficult (though they can be made easier by dispelling them a time or two) they can also cast Death Cloud which should either be dispelled or avoided if you cannot kill the wraith before it's done forming. Lesser moor wights and greater moor wights can summon lesser fetid corpses and greater fetid corpses respectively and both are capable of dispelling adventurers. Skeletal soldiers can disarm, but are otherwise the easiest of everything in the forest. Greater bog trolls need to be watched out for mostly because the can cast Tangle Weed (610), so you'll either need some way to deal with that or move from the room when they cast it.
Everything in the Forest is weak against fire, making both Fire Spirit (111) and Major Fire (908) excellent choices for those that have access to them and making those whole area an excellent and very profitable place for wizards, empaths, clerics, and bolting sorcerers to hunt.
Oteska's Haven
Of note in Oteska's Haven is Niima's Shrine. This is not only a safe area to rest in (trolls will occasionally wander in, but won't attack due to the room being perma-sanctified), but it is the only room on this side of the mist mazes that allows teleportation both in and out. It is also one of two rooms on this side of Maelstrom Bay that the Voln Symbol of Seeking can be used to get to.
Oteska's Haven is occupied by the greater bog troll, greater moor wight, swamp hag, and luminous spectre. There is no difference between the wights and trolls in Oteska's Haven and those in Miasmal Forest. Luminous spectres are only rarely encountered and can be safely ignored until all other threats in the room have been eliminated when they are seen.
Hags can be very deadly if you are not prepared to deal with them and swarms containing even one of them should be avoided if possible as the strengths and weaknesses of the three main inhabitants of Oteska's Haven tend to compliment each other quite well. This is especially true if you are using fire based spells that include splash damage to kill the trolls and wights since hags are not only immune to fire damage of any sort but gain mana from fire criticals striking them. Despite their immunity to fire, owing to their mana regaining from fire, Dark Catalyst (719) is a good tool for sorcerers to use on them as hags are highly magical and the other damage cycles will usually be able to kill them even if the fire cycle cannot.
One of the two biggest dangers hags possess is their ability to cast a fire attuned version of Major Elemental Wave (435). Either stunning them quickly or using magical means of preventing them from casting (such as Corrupt Essence (703)) when their spell prep messaging is seen is well advised.
The other main danger posed by hags is the spell Sandstorm (914). The same means to prevent them from casting Major e-wave can be used to prevent this spell, but if they do manage to cast it on you, running quickly to Niima's Shrine before the first damage cycle and waiting out the duration of the spell is the best and safest way to deal with it (the properties of the sanctuary will prevent the spell from doing any damage to you).
Last, but definitely not least, swamp hags have the ability to summon "small black kettles". Left alone, these kettles will boil hotter and hotter until they explode, injuring and knocking over everyone, including critters (hags will not be injured due to their immunity to fire, but will be knocked over), in the room. Kettles can be KICKed before they explode to avoid the explosion, though the kicker will receive a minor leg injury and it may injure others in the room. Care should be taken when KICKing kettles if you didn't see them summoned, since those that are already close to exploding may still explode when kicked (LOOKing at a kettle will show how close it it to exploding, the harder it's boiling the closer to the explosion). The kettles are easy enough to avoid, but if you do wish to dispose of them via KICKing, make sure to carry a supply of herbs for healing limb wounds to keep them from stacking.
Marsh Keep
Other then the trolls in the dungeon, the denizens of Marsh Keep are undead. If you wish to stick to only hunting living critters and stay in River's Rest, this can be accomplished by sticking to swamp hags until your late 40's before uphunting tomb trolls in the basement of the Keep until you can safely kill the necromancers as well. Uphunting anything in the Keep will not be easy, but with a little knowledge and after the trials of the other areas around the Rest most should be able to develop tactics that will work for them to make if possible if they desire it.
Another important note about the Keep is that, with the exception of tomb trolls, every critter in the Keep has a higher TD then would normally be seen in a critter of similar level. Those that rely heavily on CS spells to hunt may find themselves utilizing spells such as Curse (715) on a regular basis unless they've trained to maximize their CS.
Also, the Keep possesses the second room on this side of the bay that is accessible via Symbol of Seeking. Other then this one room inside the Keep, there is no teleportation into the Keep.
Gaunt spectral servant
The lowest level of undead in the Keep doesn't make servants easy to deal with. Rezzing with Cloak of Shadows (712) on them, care should be taken not to attack them when they're stunned. They can also cast the "itchy" curse, which will make you abruptly and repeatedly drop whatever you're holding in your hands, so be careful if hunting them with items you don't want to lose. Being highly magical, servants make a good target for Dark Catalyst (719).
Rotting chimera
There are two different types of chimera, ones with scorpion back-sides that can poison and those with arachnid back-sides that can web (both are maneuvers rather then spells), the difference can be seen by LOOKing at them. Besides the danger of being webbed, chimera's have a fairly fast attack cycle, though if you can stun them quickly you can usually take your time finishing them off. Lastly, chimeras can also poison if you prick yourself while skinning them, training in skinning skills can help prevent this.
Necrotic snake
Necrotic snakes are similar to tree vipers with their tendency to rapidly change rooms and get in the way. Unlike tree vipers, they have no trees to use to stay out the reach of melee weapons and they're the highest level critter on the outside of the Keep (second highest inside the Keep unless you go down into the dungeon). They have the same spit maneuver's you're used to seeing from tree vipers and can also poison you when you skin them. In short, if you disliked tree vipers you're REALLY going to hate necrotic snakes.
Flesh golem
Flesh golems are located inside the Keep, both on the main floors and down in the dungeon. Being golems, they are immune from any type of damage from puncture crits (which makes them an impossible target for archers) and while they will take crit damage from other forms of attack, they will not die as a result of any form of crit. The first two maneuvers they can perform are Twin Hammerfists and a foot stomp that acts almost identically to Twin Hammerfists.
The third maneuver flesh golems have is that they can form a noxious cloud which will result in one of several types of special diseases specific to flesh golems. Depending on the type of disease you're inflicted with and the success of the maneuver, each cycle of the disease will result in roundtime, HP lose, minor wounds, and/or a stun after a short build-up time. Unlike a normal disease, attempting to remove this disease with Undisease (113) requires a hidden warding check to be passed by the caster and each successful cast will only remove a single cycle. Due to the fact that this disease is capable of inflicting a large number of cycles, it is usually better to find a safe area to wait out the disease. It is possible to dodge the gas or deflect it with a shield and while the spell Purify Air (207) will not prevent the disease, it will help reduce the effects.
One last note of interest to wizards is that flesh golems are reportedly the easiest critters in the Keep to use Mana Leech (516) on, allowing them to keep a good supply of mana for killing the other critters there.
Tomb troll
Tomb trolls are a bigger, badder version of other trolls commonly seen around the Rest with a few key differences. While tomb trolls regenerate health and wounds similar to other trolls, they do so at a faster rate them other trolls and stunning a tomb troll does not prevent it from regenerating. Only fire, either as a result of magic or a flaring weapons, will prevent them from regenerating. If you intend to hunt in the dungeon where tomb trolls (and tomb troll necromancers) lurk, it is highly advised that you bring a fire flaring weapon or runestaff with you.
Tomb trolls also have the Shield Bash maneuver, while this is fairly easy for squares to avoid, pures and others poorly trained to avoid maneuvers should exercise caution around a tomb troll that has not been disabled. Not only can the shield bash result in a quick death, but the shields they use are spiked which adds another element of danger to the maneuver.
Tomb troll necromancer
Necromancers are the highest level and most dangerous critters in the Keep, they possess identical regenerative capabilities to tomb trolls and have the same weakness to fire. Rather then having any maneuvers, the have many of the same spells available to sorcerers. They seem to prefer casting Blood Burst (701) and Limb Disruption (708), though they also have access to Pain (711) and Curse (715).
In addition to the other spells, they can also cast Animate Dead (730) on other critters that have been killed. This may be seen as beneficial for some with culling tasks as you get credit for killing the creature the first time as well as for killing it once it's been animated. For everyone else, this ability makes necromancers a prime target in the dungeon, wishing to kill the necromancer first to it doesn't have a chance to bring it's dead allies back into the fray.
Citadel
The Citadel is the highest level hunting available in the Rest, once you can no longer learn here it's off to another town unless you can find another way to earn EXP.
Getting into the Citadel is possible without magical means either by using the puzzle bridge that spans the ravine or by climbing down into the ravine and searching out the handholds to climb back up the other side. Gold rings may be set on the ledge you climb onto before going through the door into the Citadel or Symbol of Seeking will take you to the war room inside the building (which is also a safe resting spot). It is important to note that other then society abilities, the only teleportation possible into or out of the Citadel is from that ledge, though The Citadel is close to town and there are several doors that can be used as exits to bypass the ravine (though these doors cannot be used to gain entry).
When moving around in the Citadel, it's advised that you use PEER and to see which foes you'll encounter and be prepared to deal with them as effectively as possible.
Ethereal mage apprentice
While it would be a mistake to call any of the undead in the Citadel easy, apprentices are the least threatening (and lowest level) of the five types of undead. Found on the main and second floors of the Citadel, most of their attacks are bolt spells which are fairly easy to avoid and will mostly be an annoyance if you're already going after the other critters that call the Citadel home.
As easy at it may be to avoid their attacks, they are noncorporeal which will make them time consuming to kill with most non-magical attacks and makes them immune to stuns.
Members of Voln may wish to use Kai's Smite to make kill them more quickly. Being highly magical creatures, they are also very susceptible to spells such as Dark Catalyst (719). If your goal is merely to keep them occupied while you deal with more menacing foes, spells or maneuvers which inflict RT are the most reliable method.
Decaying Citadel guardsman
The tendency of guardsmen to use either the trip or charge maneuvers makes them worth watching out for, especially in swarms when such a maneuver can turn the tide of a battle that is going in your favor. Found on all floors of the Citadel, they are fairly easy to crit or stun, meaning just about any spell or maneuver you prefer to use will keep them occupied while you either kill them of focus on something else.
Rotting Citadel arbalester
Arbalesters can be found on the second floor and the battlements of the Citadel. They wield heavy crossbows and are able to fire then with surprising speed, usually only requiring approximately 3 seconds between shots. In addition to their speed, their sweep maneuver makes them a foe to be dealt with immediately.
Arbalesters are easy to stun or crit and it is highly advised that you do so as soon as spotting one. Removing an arm will neutralize their crossbow while removing their leg or otherwise making them prone will prevent them from sweeping. While their TD is slightly high for their level, it is not as obscenely high as the more magical denizens of the Citadel.
Putrefied Citadel herald
Heralds are magical undead that can be found on every floor of the Citadel, though they'll only appear occasionally on the main floor if someone is already hunting on one of the other floors. While they posses most spells from the both the Major and Minor Spiritual Circles as well as at least one spell from the Empath Circle (Wither (1115)), the one that will give you the most trouble is their Web (118). Able to cast all three versions of this spell (area, bolt, and CS), they tend to favor the area and bolt versions, so be cautious if attempting to leave the room in the middle of a fight with one. Besides Web, they also tend to favor Fire Spirit (111), Interference (212), and Spirit Strike (117) and have also been known to cast Silence (210) and Unbalance (110) with some regularity.
Being magical undead, they have a high TD, so most that rely on CS spells to hunt will want to make use of spells or abilities that either boost their own CS (Heavy quartz orb, Symbol of Supremacy, etc) or reduces the herald's TD (Curse (715)) even at like level. The bonus to their magical status is that spells such as Dark Catalyst (719) and most maneuvers will work quite well against them.
Phantasmal bestial swordsman
Swordsmen are not only the highest level critters in the Rest, they are also, the most dangerous and hardest to kill. They are noncorporeal, have a very strong defenses, high HP, swing two-handed weapons, and can tackle. Without spells there will be no killing them quickly, though a good fire flaring weapon will help you kill them more quickly then otherwise. CS spells that do large amounts of HP damage such as Pain (711) or Wither (1115) are the most effective at killing swordsmen quickly if you can reliably ward them, though maneuver based spells such as focused Implosion (720) can be used as a fallback if one is proving difficult. Due to their insubstantial nature, most maneuvers or disabling spells will be ineffective against them unless they inflict roundtime.