The Firemaker's Curse

An adventurer is most at home when confronted with an unexplored dungeon. So, this week, we present one that is dark, mysterious, loaded with rewards and offering a surprise at every turn. Would an adventurer expect any less? But, in this sulphurous, highly flammable cave network, something more hazardous stirs. A mysterious entity lies in wait; urging you forward; hungry for revenge and fire. A foe such as this can’t be faced in a straight-up fight, so it’s only with ingenuity, guile and a heart of flame that you’ll come away unburned.

You’re not alone, though. Seven firemakers have heard that hidden knowledge – arcane secrets of firemaking – lie in the cave system, and they wish you to lead the way through the dimly lit depths. As their leader, your choices will determine whether they live or die. So, will you leave the caverns with a full complement of firemakers, or will you let death thin their ranks?

Bring light to the dungeon complex and you will reveal some of firemaking’s oldest and most illuminating secrets. Successful adventurers will gain XP; will be able to participate in two new circus events; and will have access to a new firemaking training method. There are also four new blazing pets to call your own.

Summary:

Where to start The Firemaker’s Curse:

Talk to Phoenix, south of Eagles’ Peak and west of the Tree Gnome Stronghold.

Requirements to start The Firemaker’s Curse:

This is a members' quest
Level 74 Firemaking
Level 76 Constitution
Level 64 Agility
The new training method, and pets, are available at 91 Firemaking.

Mod Ana

In other news:

The Firemaker’s Curse is a choice-based quest, and your choices determine who lives or dies. While there is a path through the quest where (almost) nobody dies, any incorrect choices will not adversely affect your game experience or reward. With this in mind, we would recommend that you do not use a walkthrough.

This week's quest features Sera - the character voted for by you in our recent guaranteed content poll!

If you haven't already, be sure to take a look at our latest Lores & Histories story: Twice Burnt, to read up on the back-story of today's quest.

Leaving a Flash Powder Factory game more than two minutes early will now incur a penalty of up to 50%. Running out of catalyst powder will no longer end a game; just prevent the player from making flash powder. Finally, being trapped in a corridor for too long will no longer end the game; just teleport the player to a random corner of the arena.

Patch notes for this update: (Click to View)

Graphical:


A broken fence is now reachable near the Barrows area.
A clearer font is now being used in the minimenu and the mouseover popups.
The necromancer robe bottom no longer stretches on female characters.
Ozan no longer flicks an arrow through the guard observing him in Varrock.
A floating tree in the Wilderness has been removed.
The Cheongsam skirt no longer stretches when performing certain emotes.
The money pouch icon no longer flickers in fixed screen mode in safe mode.
Some pots at the camp in the Lumbridge Swamp no longer clip with the ground.
A tile where players could hide in Clan Wars has been fixed.
The Loyalty shop icon has been added to the World map's legend.
Portions of the bridges in the Lava Flow Mine can no longer be temporarily deleted by planting flowers.
Players' feet no longer clip through the floor in the upper level of the Ancient Cavern.
Certain capes no longer clip through the photo booth.
A broken fire in the outlaw camp near Edgeville is now animated correctly.



Quests & Tasks:


Duradel will no longer attempt to talk to the player after While Guthix Sleeps via an enchanted gem.
A small typo in the Branches of Darkmeyer quest journal has been fixed.
Checking charges on Drakan's medallion now uses the correct grammar when the medallion has one charge left.
It is now possible to use the pickaxe in the player's toolbelt during Enakhra's Lament.
The tinderbox in a toolbelt can now be used to light K'Chunk's fire on the island south of Mos Le'Harmless.



Skills & Minigames:


Obtaining a sceptre of the gods now works correctly with a full inventory.
Attempting to recharge a shield from Stealing Creation now works correctly.
The skill advance guide for level 50 Herblore now states that the player has the required Herblore level for Flash Powder Factory, instead of Agility.



Other:


The "Chaotic Cookery" music track is now unlocked for all players on login.
The "You have already used your low alchemy charges" message will no longer appear when quickly switching between the Explorer's ring and another ring.
Pineapples no longer have "slice" as the top option.
Bananas now have a "slice" option.
The Dervish costume's headgear now correctly protects players from desert dehydration.
The icon in the skill guide for the Warriors' Guild has been updated to no longer use the defunct Warriors' Guild tokens.
Reclaiming the Jack of Trades aura no longer gives a message about failing to obtain enough XP for the reward.
The Flash Powder Factory and Polypore Dungeon entries of the skill advance guide have been switched around.
Examining an object in a bank no longer brings up a popup over the inventory.
The magic shortbow's special attack will no longer work if the player only has one arrow.
Vampyres in the God Wars dungeon are no longer referred to as Vampires.
The Clan skilling ring now works correctly for Summoning if the player's Summoning level has been drained.
Damage taken from killing a carnivorous chinchompa now counts as normal combat damage.
The message given when adding a single coin to a player's money pouch now uses the correct grammar.
A typo has been fixed when using the sawmill without the correct amount of money.
The money pouch now shows the correct increase in wealth when receiving multiple coins through pickpocketing.
The "Deposit all from money pouch" button has been moved to the right-hand side of the "Deposit all from Beast of burden" button in the bank interface.

Still kind of bummed that they lowered the Firemaking requirement, but from what I hear, the quest is very good. I also hear it's timed, and if you don't finish the puzzles in a certain time frame you take damage. Very interesting concept in my opinion, I hope they explore that idea a bit more in upcoming quests.

The Flash Powder Factory nerf is a bit disappointing, but I can't say I honestly planned to use the course for serious gaining anyway, so besides the quest, which has proven great, there's not much else to say.

I only give it a 4 and that's due to Jagex nerfing the fming req. I loved the quest though did find the boss fight infuriatingly frustrating due to being under preparred for it due to Jagex saying we wouldn't be fighting the boss head-on at some point. Tip take knives/darts and rune boosting gear. Does not matter what type of knife/dart it just matters for the speed. And food/healing of some kind is highly advised to speed things up.

The boss fight gets pretty easy once you know what to do. Knives/darts are good, if you have claws bring them for the spec, and use soul split if you can. Your gear should be weight reducing, but I also threw in an illuminated prayer book and a proselyte helm for the prayer bonus. Most combat auras aren't going to help. Maybe use reverence if you have it, but it's really not necessary.

I had to kill the boss twice. The first time I finished her with a claw spec and then instead of ending the fight she turned purple and hit me for 750-ish and then the wall of fire got me. I couldn't move during that time. Make sure as you finish her with your ranged attacks.

The "training method" turned out to be a 10 minute minigame you can do once a week. The trick is to set up the fires so that four patterns at once, but I figured it out too late. I'll try it again next week to see if I get better xp for doing it right, but I doubt it will be worth doing regularly.

a bit of a pain in the arse really and kinda repetitive but wasn't too bad, tip for boss - 1 fire = 101 damage 2 fires = 202 damage 3 fires = 303 damage and so forth I found it better to light about 8-10 fires and then luring chars into the water which weakens her also just took weight reducing clothes and iron knives

Haven't had a chance to work on the quest yet, but the flash powder factory nerf does suck. I was ending games early because it was more efficient to do so after you got 500 points. Then again, if they kept the 20-point reward bonus for staying longer, which it sounds like they did, then it won't be too bad. Just 2 minutes in difference. Also means I won't be wearing rogue armor anymore since it will just increase the time I have to wait. Not a huge deal, though. I'm not using FPF as a means to train agility; just trying to get the gear so I can make 4-dose potions for BXP weekend.

Looking forward to the quest when I get some spare time. Gonna give this update a 4/5 because of the FPF nerf.

It occurred to me a little late and so I have to wait to try it for myself, but I think the best way to make use of the Book of Char is to fill BoB's with logs, then dismiss them so you get several stacks of logs without much trouble.

Something I saw in the update faq:

“Why can we only visit Char's training cave once a week?”

Mod Ana: The XP given for each pattern created was balanced to be a suitable reward for visiting for 10 minutes each week. Unfortunately, on release the XP being given was 10x too small. This has now been resolved, so hopefully the activity should be much more rewarding and visiting once a week should be enough.

“Will you be increasing the time on most of the challenges?”

Mod Ana: The fire puzzles were updated yesterday to give players a small increase in time, particularly to help those with lag. We will be keeping an eye on feedback about this to make sure the time given is right.

Thanks for posting that Dave, good to see Jagex responding to feedback.

i should really get around to the quest, there should be some guides out now