The Hole

The Hole -- officially known as The Ruins of Old Paineel -- was created at the end of the Erudin/Heretics war, when the Heretics used their magical powers to punch a hole in the earth deep into the depths of Odus. Within this deep shaft they built their city of Paineel. However, they penetrated too deeply and, unknown to them at first, they had touched upon the Plane of Underfoot itself, which had been cast onto the earth in eons past. In the years after the city was built, they became aware of the enemy below them and attempted to block them in, but with the arrival of the great Master Yael, the elementals and minions of Brell Serilis swept through the city on one gruesome night, destroying everything in their path. The Heretics were forced to retreat to their highest outpost, the site of the current city of Paineel.

See also Wedar's Guide to The Hole

Level of Monsters: 39-56 Types of Monsters: Elementals, Erudite Ghosts, Golems, Humans, Iksar, Imps, Mimics, Ratmen, Skeletons Notable NPCs: Bejeweled Elemental, Commander Yarik, Caradon, Dartain the Lost, Ghost of Kindle, Ghost of Glohnor, Gibartik, High Scale Kirn, Initiate Sirlis, Irslak the Wretched, Jaeil the Wretched, Keeper of the Tombs, Kejar the Mighty, Master Yael, Niltoth the Unholy, Nortlav the Scalekeeper, Polzin Mrid, a ratman guard, Rocksoul, Schnozz the Flighty, Stonegrinder Minion, Stonesoul the Unmoving, Ulrik the Devout Unique Items: Bow of the Underfoot, Brell's Girdle, Cracked Paineel Shield, Dirt of Underfoot, Dusty Tome, Earthen Blade, Earthshaker, Elemental Binder, Engraved Ring, Fiery Jewel of the Underfoot, Living Heart of a Brell Minion, Idol of the Underking, Imbued Granite Spauldors, Imbued Shield of Paineel, Loam Encrusted Armor, Mudman Enforcer, Paineel Splinted Cloak, Paineel Steel Armor, Ruined Heretic Longsword, Serpent's Tooth, Smoldering Brand, Tome of Miragul, Withered Leather Armor, Stonemelder's Band Related Quests: Shiny Robe of the Underfoot Quest, Enchanter Epic Quest, Paladin Epic Quest, Magician Epic Quest, Ranger Epic Quest, Shadow Knight Epic Quest, Shaman Epic Quest Adjacent Zones: Paineel, Neriak Third Gate (teleporter), Erudin (teleporter) Name in /who: hole Zone Spawn Timer: 21:30 Succor/Evacuate: 640, -1050 (Zone line to Paineel) ZEM Value: 100 128 (171%)

Map Location Key

1. West Tower 2. East Tower with Ghost of Kindle 3. Room with High Scale Kirn who drops Engraved Ring 4. West Graveyard with Keeper of the Tombs, entrance to crypt 5. East Graveyard 6. Courtyard 7. Master Yael who drops Brell's Girdle, Earthshaker, Idol of the Underking, Loam Encrusted Robe, and Serpent's Tooth. Nortlav the Scalekeeper is also here who drops Red Dragon Scales 8. Pool with Jaeil the Wretched 9. Room with Kejar the Mighty and Schnozz the Flighty 10. Observation Room (not sure why its on the map, nothing of significance) 11. Secret Vault with Mimics 12. Mushroom Cellar with Polzin Mrid 13. Jail Cell with Slizik the Mighty 14. Jail Cell with Caradon 15. Entry Observation Tower with locked door on east end. The Hole Key does NOT open it. 16. Zone Out Room Note that all the lettered areas connect to the area with the same letter on a breakout map.

Camps

• Entrance "Ent" (620, -1040)
• Castle Entrance "CE" (200, -400)
• Rat Jail "Rats" (350, -200)
• Observatory "OBS" (0, -240)
• Slabs (115, -40)
• Docks (400, 80)
• Golem Tower "GT" (0, 200)
• Broken Gate "BG" (0, 540)
• Undead Tower "UT" (680, 460)
• Yael Pit (760, 240)

Dangers

Levitate does not work in the Hole, so attempting to use it, either by dropping in from Paineel above or to move down the outer shaft around the castle, will be painful. Also, once you step off the very first ledge in the dungeon, you have to either be able to teleport out or find the key to escape, because there is no way to make it back up to the ledge without the key. (NOTE: This isn't strictly true, if you walk backwards into the ledge while someone casts Gravity Flux on you, you'll end up on the top of the ledge)

The rest of the dungeon is broken into several discrete areas. Most of the city area, including the front castle, is filled with elementals of various types, many of which are casters. There are also ratman warriors and rock golems that are mixed in with the elementals. These are all high level (around level 50) and some will summon. Combine this with wandering monsters and this area is very difficult to adventure in. Having at least one full group of level 50+ is necessary to do well here.

Further in stands the tower filled with undead. Unlike the rest of the dungeon, there are no elementals in this tower. The tower is tightly packed with rooms and monsters, and is vertical, so it is a dangerous place to hunt. Many of the undead are necromancers and shadow knights. This is generally considered the most dangerous area to hunt, because of the high number of aggressive monsters you will get with each pull.

At the deepest part of the Hole lies the area of Master Yael, the leader of the elementals. He stands before a locked door which, so far, has no key. This presumably leads to the Plane of Underfoot. Master Yael has the ability to death touch people fighting him.

Benefits

Many of the monsters in the Hole fit the category of "summoned" creatures, which means that classes that get the line of spells that affect summoned creatures (e.g. Dismiss Summoned) will be significantly more effective fighting in this zone. Most of the rest count as undead creatures, which is good for the clerics and paladins in the group.

Most of the loot in the dungeon is on a random cycle, which means that fighting any monsters of the appropriate type will give you any of the items on the random rotation. Some of the items drop off of specific creatures, and are very good, but these are the exception to the rule. Most of the named creatures will drop withered leather armor at times.

This zone is a haven for the high-level weapon quests for all the classes. No less than six different classes (that I can think of) have to make their own trips to the depths of the Hole to obtain vital components for their quests. Getting to know the area at some point is, therefore, a good idea.

Traveling To and From

File:EQ000087.jpg

Small races can duck and swim through this opening, thus by-passing the locked door

There are two ways to enter the Hole, both from within the Erudite city of Paineel. The first is through the large hole with the waterfall in Paineel. This, however, is not a safe way to enter the city. Levitate gets stripped when you enter the zone, and you will fall for lethal damage at the feet of Master Yael at the bottom of the zone.

The other way is through a small, locked boulder located in the area just past the newbie area in Paineel. You will need to be able to pick locks in order to open this, but evil races can purchase the key in Paineel from Rallia_Hapera (941,770) for quite a large sum (around 100-120 pp). Also, smaller races or creatures (like wolf form or some illusions) can fit through the rocks with a little work, although they must be careful not to drown while doing so.

Zone Out Locations Map

Any race can push their way through this corner of the door/wall by rapidly moving around with mouse look and potentially ducking as well. Ducking while mid-jump seems to work quite frequently as well.

1. Location 7ish on map - Master Yael sees through invis, if he is up Sneak/Hide only or zone out another way. He casts Ice Comet.
   
2. Location 16 on map - Portal room accessed through hidden wall that can get you to the portals below.

Video to get to the portal room Template:Youtube
When you enter into the Portal Room:
Left portal - Paineel
Middle portal - Neriak Third Gate (top of the Cleric Guild)
Right portal - Erudin

Additional Maps

• EQ Map Preservation: The Hole (Old Paineel)