[Continued from Zakum 1st Time: Part 2]

[Thanks to those that have stayed with me this far and read Parts 1 and 2. By the end of this 3rd and final installment I’ll have told the full story of my purchased Zakum Helmet Adventure. Most importantly, by the end of this story I’ll have acquired my Zakum Helmet…]

DAY 3
The previous night I died at Zakum. (I made it 90% of the way, in the end dying for lack of potions. Later learned that even if I had brought enough pots to survive it would have been all for naught. Towards the very end of that mission things went horribly wrong. The Expedition Team lost its Chief Bandits (who deal the majority of damage to Zakum through Meso Explosion) and the overall mission failed anyway]. Tonight was my 2nd trip back to Zakum and this time around I was unusually calm. The only difference for me from the previous night was that I had bought 100% more potions.

This time around, things went smoothly. Gone was the annoying hacker from the previous night who wasn’t allowed into Zakum by the legits. Also noticeable was the fact that there were so many more players this time around. We had a full Expedition Team of 30 members going in. My team was assembled this time consisting of 2 Dragon Knights, 2 Priests, a Chief Bandit, and myself.

Once inside Zakum’s Altar, your primary mission as a Buyer is to stay alive. Follow directions, closely monitor your own life bar(s) and if all goes well you should be rewarded with a Zakum helmet at the end. Before the boss fight, an overall leader called out the Zakum Helmet looting order and fortunately my name was first. Buyers apparently had priority of those who were there to “earn” their helmets, which made a lot of sense to me. Preparations were made and soon the fight was underway.

Zakum is defeated in this order: Zakum’s Arms, Zakum’s 1st Body, Zakum’s 2nd Body, and finally Zakum’s 3rd Body. Players usually start out on one side then finish the battle on the opposite side of the screen to destroy all of Zakum’s Arms. At the very beginning you’ll experience major lag which is normal since the screen changes from relative calmness to suddenly being filled with damage from players as well as a screen full of Zakum. Stay close to the wall and you should be fine. Depending on your class, one touch from Zakum’s main body can mean instant death. About halfway through destroying the Arms the leader will direct the group (which includes you!) to go to the other side where you all will remain until the battle is finished.

When all but one or two of Zakum’s Arms are destroyed there will usually voluntary “break” in the battle. Think of this as intermission or the calm before the storm. You can actually feel the tension in the air as it eases up. This is the time when the “pros” get up to get a drink of water, take bathroom breaks, etc. But you stay put if you’re the Buyer! When the Expedition Team is ready, the tension builds up again and the attack continues on the last one or two Arms of Zakum. Next comes the Body.

Zakum’s Bodies can all summon mobs. These mobs are deadly but if you’ve survived this far you can practically ignore the mobs. What you’re looking out for is a periodic “Flash of Light” that hits the whole screen. This is Zakum’s most powerful attack, also referred to as 1/1 because after this attack all players are left with 1 HP and 1 MP. Any follow-up attack from Zakum leaves you dead if you don’t do anything about it. Expect this to happen around 250+ times. What worked for me was as soon as I saw the blinding light and saw my HP start to decrease (on its way down to 1 HP) I would calmly but quickly hit the potion button to get my HP back up to a safe level. Even with a deadly attack, remain calm and the ability to remain alive finally becomes 2nd nature. I would also heal through potions with ANY damage I took on; not relying on Priests to heal me even though they were always there for me. I smiled a lot more this second time around.

Finally, the battle was over. This time it was Zakum’s turn to die.

My feet remained frozen in place. Again, the overall leader called out the Loot Order and again my name was called first, being the Buyer. Slowly, I began walking to the other side of the screen and there they were lying on the ground: Zakum Helmets! I don’t even remember seeing what other godly items dropped that night but it didn’t matter anyway. For a Buyer to pick up an item other than the Zakum Helmet is worse than the Kiss of Death in the eyes of pros so don’t even think about it. I hit my ‘z’ button and saw the Zakum Helmet rise softly off the ground. I checked my Inventory and there it was. In the background, the leader called for us to confirm we had picked up our helmets. Instead of verbally saying something, I wore my Zakum Helmet and smiled! Soon there was Congratulations all around as we called out the Stats of our Zakum Helmets. Mine was STR +16, LUK + 16, INT +15, DEX +16, W.DEF 152, M.DEF 150—above average but no matter. I was happy. For the first time in two nights at Zakum, the others called me Princess (short for PrincessVR) instead of Buyer. I was one of them now. By my friend the Level 142 Blood Priest, I was invited to one day come back after I’d leveled much more. Inside, I smiled. In fact, I smile a lot more now…

THE END

EPILOGUE
Looking back, I can tell you that although “Buying” vs. “Earning” a Zakum Helmet will always be controversial, in reality an Expedition that includes a Buyer will be centered around the Buyer. Defeating Zakum is a given but teams are created especially to keep the buyer alive (usually 2 Dragon Knights for their Hyperbody, 2 Priests for their Heal, you, and one other attacker) and a good Seller will be able to walk the Buyer through easily through the process from beginning to the end when the Buyer picks his or her Zakum Helmet up from the ground. I also learned later that there is in fact a legit Zakum Helmet list that my name has been added to which differentiates from hackers who may have obtained their Zakum Helmet but are not recognized and therefore not respected by legits.

What do I see for the future of Zakum Helmets? As we become more educated about the ease of obtaining the Zakum Helmet I see more and more Buyers (you need primarily just two basic things, funds to purchase the Zakum Helm and enough HP/MP to survive the battle). Also, as we all level up in general the queue to Earn a Zakum Helmet also gets longer as more are able to obtain it that way as well. For both paths, there is a fair amount of politics involved (you have to trust them and the potential seller has to trust you). In the end, just remember to have fun.

By the time you read this, PrincessVR will have gone into semi-retirement. But if you do happen to see her on in GMS Bera server feel free to say hi and ask any questions about her experience at Zakum. And know that somewhere out there she’s still smiling.

PrincessVR of Bera Server
Zakum Helmet acquired April 10, 2007