Sunken City (Grubb’s quest for proof of existence) is the first truly challenging dungeon in Wizard 101, and the hardest in Wizard City by far. Even if you soloed your way through Krokotopia, it’s unlikely you could solo Sunken City.

First, keep in mind that the sidewalks are not safe and that the mobs (bad guys) have a wide range of aggressiveness… in other words, they can drag you from a greater distance than you’re used to. In fact, you’re likely to get into combat as soon as you try to get to Marla. You’ll always roll one more than your party number when fighting mobs, and they have higher health than normal for Wizard City (around 500 on average for normal mobs). The GOOD news is that once they’re inactive, they don’t respawn until the dungeon is reset, so you can clear areas of baddies.

The first part of the quest will take you to a tower with 3 mobs from the school of death. Be sure to read the tome inside the tower.

Next, you will face Paulson and 2 other mobs. He has 800 hit points and is highly resistant to death. Defeating him will give you a scroll.

Then you will go to Norton Tower. This is like the golem tower… 5 levels. The first level has 3 elites (500 hp, myth). The second has a death elite and a myth. The third floor has 2 death elites, and the fourth floor has 1 death elite and 1 fire elite with 675 hit points. On the fifth floor is Norton, who is balance, with two myth elites.

That gives you the key to Grubb’s castle. Grubb has 1000 hit points and is very resistant to death. He has two fire elites with 675 health each.

Here are some tips:

Plan your time. It will take you more than 30 minutes, no doubt.

Spread out and move carefully. Have a player who can only navigate through stray mobs be the one to navigate, while the others stay in a “safe” spot. Not everyone has to talk to Marla… if any party member does, all players see the conversation and get credit for it. The mobs move in a path up and down the street in a circuit. Get on the side of the street where the mobs are moving to where you want to be (like a tower) and while staying on the sidewalk, walk right behind the mobs with the most space behind you. Keep up with the mob, but stay behind it. When you get to a place where you can safely exit the sidewalk (like the courtyard around a tower), have your friends teleport to you.

Remember, it’s a dungeon. Players can go out to refill potion bottles and teleport back…just leave one player in the dungeon at a time to teleport.

In the tower battle, save a potion for the top floor. He tries to finish every fight with as close to health as possible. Before finishing off the last mob of each level, he lets everyone cast a healing spell and then kills it.

Sunken City was a refreshing challenge from the rest of the game that up to that point had been a pushover. Hopefully, with a little patience, you can earn your Sunken City Survivor badge and remove that pesky quest from your log.