Steps of Madness
Steps of Madness or SoM is a static dungeon in northern Omni Forest, at coordinates 800, 2840. Added to the game in 2001 as a Halloween treat, players originally needed a special teddy bear called Childhood Memory (the object of a separate quest) to enter. When SoM was made a permanent fixture, the teddy bear requirement was removed.
With the addition of Patch 17.9, the dungeon has been newly updated to scale the monsters down in health to even out the challenge for all players and loot was added or updated.
Players in teams are advised to be of level 30 or higher, and a level of 50 or higher is recommended for solo play.
Steps of Madness is but one of the Halloween special events and added content, so numerous they have their own, extensively detailed article.
Getting There and Getting Back
There is a teleport to the dungeon, but no return teleport. Added in the Patch 17.9 update, there is a new face in Newland City; a strange Nanomage who floats near the main western gates named Zyvania Bagh. If you talk to her, she will be willing and eager to tell you about the revelations of the Neleb and the Steps of Madness. If you can talk politely with her for long enough (relatively politely, that is. The dialogue is intended to be satirical, and is overtly dismissive of Neleb and thus her beliefs. Just avoid the rudest comments), she will offer to teleport you to the entrance of the dungeon so you can start your own 'journey of enlightenment'.
Omni characters can easily reach the dungeon, or return, by leaving Omni Entertainment via one of the East exits and traveling slightly north east.
Characters wanting to return back to the last Insurance Terminal the character saved at: just suicide, either the old fashioned way or by typing /terminate and choosing to accept, which takes one minute. To get back without losing XP to the pool, Clanners can risk it all and take the grid in Omni Entertainment themselves. If they are cautious enough, Clanners can possibly make it through the city alive. Or they must use other modes of travel, such as travel northwest to the northern border of Omni Forest, northwest across Pleasant Meadows, and take the ferry exit north of the OT Outpost across The Stret River to Harry's and its Grid exit. Vehicles will speed this up considerably.
Walk Through
Traveling north from the Omni Entertainment east gate, players will come upon a path composed of parallel rows of standing stones. The path leads to a large rock with what appears to be a living eyeball in it. The eyeball eerily rolls around and watches the players approach. Access to the dungeon is afforded by right-clicking the eyeball.
Players are then teleported into a winding system of caverns occupied by nightmarish creatures with equally horrific names, many of which are the Manifestations so similar in appearance to the Meta-Physicist summoned pets. Most of these mobs drop items unique to SoM.
Childhood Horrors
Spider monsters in level 30 range, large spider in the 45+ level range which drops Fear Forged Blade and Arachnid Ether.
Cavern of Sanity
Figments of Imagination
Cavern of Hatred
Pulsing Hatred which drops Nervejolter and Tidal Ether
Drops:
- Nervejolter - 100% drop chance.
Caverns of Disassociation
Roving eyes, Detached Psyche, Fragment of Sanity which drops Ether and Loving Hands. Jealousy drops Essence of Jealousy. Notum Habit drops Neutrino Flash, Ether and sometimes Dark Dreams.
Drops:
- Neutrino Flash - 100% drop chance.
Caverns of Madness
Stalactites grow from the floor of this cave; stalagmites hang from above. Bones are scattered between.
Neleb the Deranged
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Maps
Loot
Weapons
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Armor
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Miscellaneous
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Tradeskills
The updates to the Steps of Madness brought with it a couple of new tradeskills that improve some of the old items.
- Aggression Enhancer (Jealousy Augmented)
- Complete Nightmare Ether
- Neleb's Nightmare Battlerod
- Neleb's Nano-master Robe
- Fractured Nightmare