Balack's Cove
Hunters are NOT prevented from travelling freely to and from Balack's Cove by the Tide level, but hunting while the Riptide Mouse is present may result in Hunters being involuntarily moved to the Jungle of Dread.
| Balack's Cove | |
|---|---|
| Region: Tribal Isles | |
| Minimum Rank: | Knight |
| Travel Requirement: | Balack's Lantern |
| Required Power Type: | Forgotten |
| Required Cheese: | Vanilla Stilton Cheese Vengeful Vanilla Stilton Cheese |
| Number of Mice: | 10 |
| Shops: | None |
| Lose Gold: | Yes |
| Lose Points: | Yes |
| Lose Cheese: | No |
| Release Date: | 17 May 2010 |
| This foreboding sea cave has fierce, unpredictable tides that can easily wash unsuspecting Hunters out to sea. Those who seek the spirits of this darkened grotto should arm a Shadow, Arcane or Forgotten trap, and use Vanilla Stilton as bait. | |
Overview
Balack's Cove is a location in the Tribal Isles region requiring a minimum rank of Knight and Balack's Lantern to enter.
Balack's Lantern must be crafted with an Antique Lantern purchased in Cape Clawed and 3 Dragon Embers found as loot in Dracano.
Mice in this location may steal points or gold (but not multiple pieces of cheese) if not captured.
Balack's Cove operates on an 18 hour and 40 minute Tide Cycle. During Low Tide, Hunters can hunt without fear of encountering the Riptide Mouse. During Medium Tide, the Riptide Mouse begins to appear. During High Tide, Hunters will only encounter the Riptide Mouse as no other mice are present. Capturing a Riptide Mouse will cause the Hunter to be washed out of Balack's Cove and be deposited in the Jungle of Dread. Hunters can equip any of the Anchor Charms to prevent being washed out when capturing a Riptide Mouse.
Balack's Cove mice are weak to Forgotten, Arcane, and Shadow weapons. However, Forgotten weapons are required to capture Balack the Banished and are much more effective at capturing the three Lich mice.
Hunters must hunt with either Vanilla Stilton Cheese or Vengeful Vanilla Stilton Cheese to attract the mice found in Balack's Cove. Vengeful Vanilla Stilton Cheese is required to attract Balack the Banished and will increase the attraction rate of the three Lich mice.
Tide Cycle
A complete Tide Cycle lasts 18 hours and 40 minutes.
- The rising Low Tide lasts 8 hours.
- The rising Medium Tide lasts 1 hour.
- The rising High Tide lasts 20 minutes.
- The ebbing High Tide lasts 20 minutes.
- The ebbing Medium Tide lasts 1 hour.
- The ebbing Low Tide lasts 8 hours.
- The cycle then begins again with a rising Low Tide.
Heads-Up Display
The HUD in Balack's Cove tracks the current Tide level and whether it is rising or ebbing. It also tracks a Hunter's inventory of the Pinch of Annoyance, Raisins of Wrath, and Bottled-Up Rage. These three items are necessary for crafting Vengeful Vanilla Stilton Cheese.
Balack's Lantern
Balack's Lantern grants hunters access to Balack's Cove. It can be crafted using the following formula:
| Formula: Balack's Lantern | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Qty | Cost (Each) | Source |
| Antique Lantern | 1 | 94,000 | |
| Dragon Ember | 3 | N/A |
|
| Total | 94,000 | ||
Balack's Cove Mice
The mice found in Balack's Cove are part of the Balack's Banished group and are weak to Forgotten, Arcane, and Shadow weapons. The use of other Power Types should be avoided in this location.
A Forgotten weapon is required to capture Balack the Banished and is more effective than Arcane and Shadow weapons at capturing the other mice found in Balack's Cove.
Hunters will need to hunt with Vanilla Stilton Cheese in order to attract the three Lich mice which drop the ingredients necessary for crafting Vengeful Vanilla Stilton Cheese.
Vengeful Vanilla Stilton Cheese is required to attract Balack the Banished and improves the attraction rate of the 3 Lich mice.
Riptide Mouse
Capturing a Riptide Mouse will cause Hunters to be washed out of Balack's Cove and into the Jungle of Dread.
- During Low Tide the Riptide Mouse cannot be encountered.
- During Medium Tide the Riptide Mouse can be encountered.
- During High Tide the Riptide Mouse is the only mouse that can be encountered.
Cheese Preference and Loot
Vanilla Stilton Cheese will attract all mice in Balack's Cove, except Balack the Banished
Vengeful Vanilla Stilton Cheese is required to attract Balack the Banished and improves the attraction rate of the 3 Lich mice.
| Mouse |
Points |
Gold |
Low |
Medium |
High |
Vanilla Stilton Cheese |
Vengeful Vanilla Stilton Cheese |
Loot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tide Stage | ||||||||
| Balack the Banished | 80,000 | 41,000 | X | X | X | Ancient Relic Divine Orb | ||
| Brimstone | 11,200 | 2,300 | X | X | X | X | ||
| Davy Jones | 9,000 | 2,000 | X | X | X | X | ||
| Derr Lich | 32,112 | 13,508 | X | X | X | X | Bottled-Up Rage Flawless Orb | |
| Elub Lich | 52,992 | 8,272 | X | X | X | X | Flawless Orb Pinch of Annoyance | |
| Enslaved Spirit | 20,000 | 900 | X | X | X | X | ||
| Nerg Lich | 40,144 | 10,340 | X | X | X | X | Flawless Orb Raisins of Wrath | |
| Riptide | 32,000 | 3,800 | X | X | X | X | ||
| Tidal Fisher | 9,800 | 3,800 | X | X | X | |||
| Twisted Fiend | 10,500 | 1,100 | X | X | X | X | ||
Mice with Special Requirements
- M400 – This mouse will sometimes be available in Balack's Cove when Hunters are actively working an M400 Hunting Research Assignment. It is attracted only to Fusion Fondue which will not attract any other mice. It drops a wide variety of loot.
Obtaining Required Cheese
Vanilla Stilton Cheese
Crafting - 15 Piece Recipe
Crafting - 15 Piece Recipe (Magic Essence)
Vengeful Vanilla Stilton Cheese
Crafting - 1 Piece Recipe
Crafting - 3 Piece Recipe
Hunting Strategy
Forgotten weapons are required to capture Balack the Banished and are more effective than Arcane and Shadow weapons at capturing the other mice found in Balack's Cove.
Hunters will need to hunt with Vanilla Stilton Cheese in order to attract the three Lich mice which drop the ingredients necessary for crafting Vengeful Vanilla Stilton Cheese.
Vengeful Vanilla Stilton Cheese is required to attract Balack the Banished and improves the attraction rate of the 3 Lich mice.
The ingredients necessary to craft the two Stilton cheeses are found at the Cape Clawed General Store, as loot from mice in the Jungle of Dread, and as loot from the 3 Lich mice found in Balack's Cove.
Capturing a Riptide Mouse will cause Hunters to be washed out of Balack's Cove and into the Jungle of Dread.
- During Low Tide the Riptide Mouse cannot be encountered.
- During Medium Tide the Riptide Mouse can be encountered.
- During High Tide the Riptide Mouse is the only mouse that can be encountered.
Arming any of the various Anchor Charms will prevent a Hunter from being washed out when capturing a Riptide Mouse.
Location-Specific Effects
Charms
- The various Anchor Charms prevent Hunters from being washed out of Balack's Cove when capturing a Riptide Mouse.
Traps
- The Nutcracker Nuisance Trap is a limited edition trap that increases the chance that Derr Lich, Elub Lich and Nerg Lich mice will drop twice the loot when caught. Loot required for assignments will not be affected.
Adventure Book
Hunters can complete Defeat Balack the Banished by using Vengeful Vanilla Stilton in Balack's Cove to catch Balack the Banished.
Library Assignments
- M400 Bait Research Assignment - This assignment may require Hunters to track down specific items from Balack's Cove mice in order to complete it.
- M400 Hunting Research Assignment - This assignment may require collecting 1 Piece of M400 Intel from mice in Balack's Cove and/or capture the M400.
- Zurreal Trap Research Assignment - This assignment requires Hunters to collect 1 Lich Jewel from Balack the Banished, Derr Lich, Elub Lich, or Nerg Lich mice in Balack's Cove.
Tournaments
Balack's Cove mice are worth points during some Tournaments.
Treasure Maps
Mice in the Balack's Cove are often found on Tribal and Shelder Treasure Maps and Relic Hunter Treasure Maps.
Hunting tips by Larry
I'm jolly glad to be out of Dracano, fearless MouseHunter, but this place isn't much better... I can hear whispering all around, and I don't think it's the sound of the waves.
This is the cursed resting place of Balack the Banished, and his legion of lich slaves. Shadow and Arcane traps work here, but Forgotten traps garner the best results, especially in conflict with Balack. The evil lord's followers respond only to the smell of rare vanilla bean, so keep plenty of Vanilla Stilton on hand. If you're after Balack and his Elder Liches, however, you'll need something with a little more bite-- Vengeful Vanilla Stilton, a nasty cheese made from the rage of Balack's eternal slaves.
If a legion of undead mice isn't enough to spook you, there's also the tides. The mysterious Riptide Mouse pulls the tides in and out several times a day, so unlucky Hunters caught in the waves will get washed out onto the shores of the Jungle of Dread!
The tides have three states; Low, medium and high. Low tide lasts the longest and there are no Riptide mice present. Riptide mice are abundant during medium tide, and extremely abundant during high tide. Should you catch a Riptide mouse, you will be washed out into the Jungle of Dread!
This will be a difficult fight, even for an experienced MouseHunter, but I believe in you! Get in there and lift that curse!
Shops
There are no shops available in Balack's Cove. Shops for the Tribal Isles region can be found in Cape Clawed.
History and Trivia
- 17 May 2010: Balack's Cove opened.
- 21 September 2010: The Tidal Fisher Mouse was added.
- 21 September 2010: The tidal cycle was stabilized and the role of the Riptide Mouse became instrumental in washing hunters out into the Jungle of Dread; prior to this date, the Balack's Cove closure was timed but not dependent on the capture of a specific mouse.
- 6 January 2012: The current banner image was painted live during an 'Art Edition' of Feedback Friday. Ideas and suggestions for the environment were provided by the audience at the time of painting. The image was updated to the location on 16 February 2012.
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