How To: The KHEX Taskforce

OK, I explained this to Rob, but I'll repeat most of it here for posterity...

The KHEX (short for Katie Hannon Express) Task Force is a popular "farming" task force for all levels, as one of the reward options for finishing the Task Force is a Rare recipe out of the Tier 3 drop table (Task Force only recipes). The contact for the task force is no other than Katie Hannon, a member of the Cabal who's been having severe problems with RedHats for about the last 400 years or so. She needs the heroes to help her out. She hangs out under a huge gnarled tree pretty much due north of the Croatoa train station, about .6 miles or so.

To access the task force (i.e. initiate it) there are two requirements. First: the person "launching" the task force must have unlocked the Katie Hannon contact through a series of 4 short story arcs in Croatoa (Flambeau Noir did this). Second: A minimum 6 person team, levels 30 through 50 are needed. Anyone below 30 on the team will not allow the task force to start. People above Level 34 are auto-exemplared down to Level 34 for the duration of the task force. Most folks try to load up on an 8-man team, since it makes a couple of the missions easier.

The task force is a series of 4 missions, each with a different goal. I'll discuss them in sequence, but it's important to note that since this is an "express" task force, speed is of the essence. An average run is less than 30 minutes start to finish, usually around 22-24 minutes if done correctly.

Mission one is simple. The team is asked to defeat Mary Macomber (an AV witch). The entire team, save one person, stays put. That one person who volunteers or is designated travels to the mission location and "fails" it, thus opening the next in the series. The mission site is a glowing circle of mushrooms east and slightly south of the task force starting point under the gnarled tree. The mushroom circle is near the river, but on the top of the embankment. To "fail" the mission, one person enters the mission and then immediately leaves (by clicking on the mushroom patch in the mission where you spawn).

On to mission two. The team travels pretty much due east across the river. There is a cave just to the left of a plaque near the river's edge. All team members enter the mission. Inside, is a series of caves. The goal for this mission is to free a captive witch being detained by RedHats. The key to this mission is to find her and free her in the minimum amount of time. Sometimes that means someone lays down group invisibility and everyone rushes in. Most times people with stealth and/or SuperSpeed just sneak/streak in and search for her. The other option is pretty much only for Tanks like me... We just run in and keep running. Redhats will attack you, but if you keep running they disengage. If you are a AT without stealth or a means of avoiding combat, you STAY PUT in the entrance to the mission. It is not frowned upon, it's encouraged. When someone finds the spawn keeping the witch hostage, they call out and start "arresting" them. Once the spawn is down and the witch is free, the mission is immediately complete (you don't have to lead her out). Everyone exits pronto and moves on to the next mission.

Mission three is very straightforward. Clear Katie's home of unwanted guests. The mission is in the southeast base of that gnarled tree your task force started under. It's just a short hop back across the river from mission two when you exit. This mission is filled with RedCaps and the team just chews through them as fast as possible. Tanks lead, Scrappers lock up the bosses, etc. Once all the RedCaps inside are defeated, the mission is complete and everyone bails out. Everyone contributes on this mission to take down the RedCaps in the shortest amount of time. It's not a very big map.

Mission four is the last and most tricky of them all. After exiting mission three, the team travels NorthEast to a mushroom circle on the other side of a ridge near the zone border. Once inside, ONLY flying characters proceed across the map. All others stay at the entrance. This is important (I'll explain). The goal of the mission is to free Katie's soul that is trapped by RedHats between three mystic pillars. The "trick" to this mission is getting her back to the exit without fighting a bazillion RedHats along the way. The way to do this is flying characters move across the map above the spawns below and then drop in on the pillars. Once the three pillars are destroyed, Katie's soul attaches to one player (she looks like a regular witch). ALL people at the pillars IMMEDIATELY jet straight up, as a RedHat spawn will swoop in immediately once she's free. If you go straight up, she'll be out of range and won't aggro on the RedHats (once she does, she doesn't let go of them until all RedHats in range are defeated, which sucks since while she's out, additional spawns keep rolling in on her position). Once in the air and out of range, the heroes gain maximum altitude and head to the entrance. Players at the entrance gear up, as RedHats will be rushing the position as Katie arrives and will likely need to hold them back for a minute or so. Once Katie is near the exit, the mission and task force completes and everyone participating is given the option to pick a reward. The first choice on the list (that nearly EVERYONE picks) is the rare recipe. Grab it and exit the mission.

That's it. Four missions, all in the same zone, with a fight in only one mission really. Quick and easy if everyone knows what to do. In the mission Rob and I ran, one guy screwed the last mission up bad because Katie's soul followed him and he started attacking RedHats. Once the rest of the team figured out what was going on, it was a grinding non-stop melee to get her to the exit. A 8 minute mission took close to 30 minutes. People were less than pleased.

Anyway, that's the scoop. Feel free to indulge. I use in on Flambeau to work the market and burn off debt accumulated while soloing outside. It's a fun change of pace, but not for everyone.

Cheers!