First, I should explain the rank structure for anyone who is unfamiliar:

Verio, Ghira and I got together a long time ago to set up a rank tree structure. Most of this was accomplished using cross-server mule swaps.

It takes three accounts to create a rank 4 mule. By pooling our resources, a lot of grunt work, some fancy manuvering and scouting trade boards, we were able to artifically boost the rank of many of our characters to 8.

We did this because it allows us to use ranked items. If an item has a rank requirement, it's lore requirement will be heavily decreased. Therefore, a level 5 character with a rank of 8 would be able to use ranked level VI items. My battlemage, Hobble, won't get lore until level 70. Having a rank of 8 allows him to use all level V and VI jewelry. Without rank, I would likely be restricted to level III jewelry. It's a very significant benefit.

Anyone who wants into the rank tree can do so by creating one rank 4 mule that we will use to strengthen the chain. We're not asking this to be mean or spiteful. We're asking it because right now, a single deleted mule can destroy the chain. Can you imagine if this happened while we were on quest? Suddenly all of our items would be unusable. We need help to make the tree a little more robust.

A rank 4 mule takes less than two hours to create. It's a very cheap way to become rank 8. It takes a minimum of 16 rank 4 mules + 15 joining level 2 characters to make a rank 8 character. If anyone cares, that's 255 slots, 120 of which are level 2 characters. Anything less than a rank 4 mule requires too much work on our part for it to be worthwhile.

I don't want to say this entitles you to 1 character in the chain, or 3, or 10. Let's just say that at that point we'll do our best to accommodate you. Just be reasonable with the characters you want in the chain. We're not going to let you and 15 friends in. We will do our best to get the characters you need in.

Placing your characters in the chain is difficult. You need to make a certain level, and we need to find a suitable place for you. The players immediately above and below your position will need to be available. Every time we break the chain, we loose a little more control and it becomes harder to manage. Please be patient and flexible while we are working on getting you in.

If your character is less than level 30, the highest we can make him is probably rank 6, but I'll post details on that later in this document.

If you need details that I have not included here, please catch Hobble or Verio at the clan rock. I'd prefer if you didn't private message me out of the blue unless meeting at the rock is difficult. If I’m not at the rock, please understand that I'm probably surrounded by all sorts of baddies. A greeting like "got a sec?" is greatly appreciated.

I'm happy to answer questions and help when I can, but I intend to stop short of handholding or doing the work for someone. The whole purpose of this is to spread the workload out.

How To Create The Mule:

First off, you need three accounts. If you don't have access to three accounts, ask two friends to help you.

Next, hop onto the cod trade board for thistledown. See if you can find anyone looking for a rank 4 trade partner. If you can, great; contact them via e-mail and start making your rank 4 mule on the server they need the rank on. If you can't find a trade request, create a rank 4 mule on a different server, go to the appropriate trade board, and post a message looking for a mule swap.

For simplicity, I will refer to the three character accounts as A, B and C. I'll refer to your individual characters as A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1, etc...

Your goal is to make character A1 rank 4 so he can swear to your trade partner. To make him rank 4, you need 2 rank three characters sworn to him (B1 and C1). To make those characters rank 3, you will need 4 rank 2 characters sworn to each of them (A2, A3, A4, A5). To make those characters rank 2, you need 2 characters sworn to each of them( B2, B3, B4, B5, C2, C3, C4 and C5).

I know that's tricky, but it is difficult to explain. Here it is explained another way:

A1 swears to your trade partner

A2 swears to B1

A3 swears to B1

A4 swears to C1

A5 swears to C1

B1 swears to A1

B2 swears to A2

B3 swears to A3

B4 swears to A4

B5 swears to A5

C1 swears to A1

C2 swears to A2

C3 swears to A3

C4 swears to A4

C5 swears to A5

Every character that you need to swear two mules to needs to become level 2 (A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1, C1). You can't have more vassals than you have levels.

This is my preferred method of leveling a character up to level 2. There are several others, perhaps better, perhaps worse. This works well for me:

Create a character in Nanto North. Start him with 100 endurance, quickness and focus. Specialize appraise item, appraise magic item, appraise armor, appraise weapon, run, assess creature. Train melee D and healing (I think I got that right).

Run north to Hebain-To. Along the way, try not to get killed, but try to earn a little xp too. You can assess some creatures, successfully evade with your melee D, and you can heal yourself when you get it. On a real good run, you will make up to 500xp.

Once you get to Hebain-To, appraise everything one by one. Even the stock items in the weapons shop. Usually that's enough to make you level 2. If not, hop in the Qbar portal north of Heb and appraise everything there. If you still aren't level 2, wait 15 minutes and try again. Kill rabbits if you are close.

When you are finally level 2, type @lifestone to get back to Nanto North. Repeat until A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1 and C1 are all level 2. Then swear up your mules and get the trade done.

Note: All levels are approximate

Legend:

Character Name[level](rank) -> Patron; Comments

Rank 7 chain 1:

Hoyce(37)(5)-> Mrs bank

Kutor(1)(5)-> Mrs Bank

Mrs Bank(25)(6)->Savina

Smojo(5)(6)->Savina

Savina(34)(7)->Blackmancer

Blackmancer(34)(7)->Alisha

Alisha(37)(7)->Tanova

Tanova(40)(7)->Portal Slave

Portal Slave(31)(7)->Tork

Tork(40)(7)->Darktide

Rank 7 chain 2:

Corpse of Waddy()(4)->Barlain De Sokull

Unknown()(4)->Barlain De Sokull

Condric's Other Mule()(4)->Macey

MuleTrade(2)(4)->Macey

Barlain De Sokull()(5)->Ruindar al-Grey

Macey()(5)->Ruindar al-Grey

Ruindar al-Grey(27)(6)->Tae-Bo

Evil Sock(2)(6)->Tae-Bo

Tae-Bo(37)(7)->Darktide

Rank 8 chain:

Darktide(56)(8)->Bigboy

Bigboy(52)(8)->Condric III

Condric III(46)(8)->Al-Waddy

Al-Waddy(43)(8)->Evil Spock

Evil Spock(47)(8)->Ohz

Ohz(30)(8)->Crumbs

Crumbs(42)(8)->Wartorn

Wartorn(50)(8)->Ghira

Ghira(45)(8)->Hobble

Hobble(54)(8)->Mr Blake

Mr Blake(37)(8)->Seth Fletch

Seth Fletch(30)(8)->Fletchess

Fletchess(37)(8)->Linna

Linna(43)(8)->Burn

Burn(52)(8)->Tuk

Tuk(60)(8)->Conan of Rithwic

Conan of Rithwic(66)(8)->Verio

Verio(69)(8)->Videian

Videian(81)(8)->

I'm sorry, if this is hard to follow, but trust me, it was far harder to design and organize.

If you want rank, but don't want to join our tree, take the information I've given you here and start a separate tree. Then you can do whatever you like with it.

If everyone shows enough initiative and interest, we could start doing rank 5 or 6 mule trades on other servers. I’m not up to any more major undertakings myself, but I’m happy to guide people.