A Complete Guide to Farming Sandstone Caves- Underground Desert

[Whirlzap]

Hello, this is Whirlz.
I have recently been doing dozens of Underground Desert runs and have gathered some farming experience to share with players.

Table of Contents:

This complete farming guide includes:
-Introduction
-Mobs/Monsters
-Traps
-Power-Ups
-Boss Strategies
-Monster Strategies and Comboes
-Drops
-Twinking
-Class Gear
-Party Strategies and Formations
-Commonly Used Terms and Abbreviations


Introduction:
Sandstone Caves, or abbreviated as SSC, is a platinum campaign that you must purchase to be able to enter.
There are six dungeons, which unlock after the previous one is fully cleared.
Notice the dungeon has a white outline, meaning it is an elite dungeon and will be harder for lower level players.
Most people who farm Sandstone Caves are usually level 50+, however there are also level 21s that can farm there.
Sandstone Caves is a good way for a fast profit from pinks. Today we will be looking at the first dungeon- Underground Desert.
When you enter, you will have 77 Enemies Remaining.

Mobs/Monsters:
There will be two different types of mobs that you will see in Underground Desert.
The first is the Regular Golem.

The regular golem will appear in many tan colored shades.
They are easy to kill and will die in a few hits.

The next mob is sort of a mini-boss and will only appear a few times.

These are Elite Golems, and are have the same appearance as the Regular Golems, but with a larger size.
They have high HP and can stop you from running if you get too close to their heavy smashes.
Several hits should take care of these.

Boss:
The boss will appear at the end of the map when you have cleared mobs until there is 19 Enemies Remaining.
The boss is called Magnetic Golem, and has a lot of HP.
To take him down, you will need to buff up and hit some high damage.
But being an elite dungeon, it is not so simple!
The boss has a couple of pillars surrounding it, which wl blow up when the Magnetic Golem uses its special ability.
This ability will activate when a yellowish aura surrounds the boss and you get a violent pull towards him and then a knockback. Momentarily, all the surrounding pillars will have red orbs appear except one. This one will have a blue orb. You must hide behind the blue orb pillar to survive; otherwise the red ones will blow up and you will get an instant death regardless of Armor or HP. If you survive this blow-up, a second one will occur after a few seconds, and so on.
There is however a method in beating this boss without any worries. This method requires you to be able to kill the boss within two orb blow-ups.
Here we have a picture of two circled pillars to go to.

Start by buffing and going into the last room. Immediately run to the far left pillar(the top one in the picture)and huddle against the wall.
When the golem starts it special ability and pulls you out, run back to the pillar. A blue orb will appear there and you will be safe. The next orb appears at the bottom pillar near the entrance to the room. Run there next. You should be able to kill the Magnetic Golem before the second blow-up and collect your loot.

Threats/Traps:
Quicksand Traps:
These will suck you into them when you get close and deal a large amount of damage. They can also critical hit on you so it is possible for you to die from one of them.
They can also hit twice sometimes. These traps will eject a wavy mini-sandstorm before sucking you in. Be sure to buff mana shield, put on some dodge, or buff some defense before rushing into these. Or simply just wait for them to be over.

Sandstorms:
These are little swirling pools of sand and will deal damage to you. Sandstorms are normally found near orbs and power-ups; just kill these.

Power-Ups:
Underground Desert has a power-up/orb near the end before the Boss Room. It is going to be a pinkish-purple orb or a red orb. The pinkish-purple orb raises your defense, and the red orb raises damage. Be careful, a sandstorm will be lurking close by.

Drops:
Magnetic Golem
These drops include part of the Crystalline Set:

Conqueror's Crystalline Helm
Dreamer's Crystalline Circlet
Jewel Thief's Crystalline Hat
Dreamer's Crystalline Staff
Jewel Thief's Crystalline Bow
Conqueror's Crystalline Axe
Conqueror's Crystalline Sword

Also, Magnetic Golem seems to drop a piece of the Onyx Set:
Conqueror's Onyx Platemail

And of course, the two regular pinks:
War Hammer of Legend
Gem Staff of Lightning of Legend

Elite Golem Drops:
Elite Golem drops usually are white, trash, orange, green and purples. There are a few rare pinks he can drop, which includes:

Helms:
Conqueror's Ursan Helmet- Level 25
Dreamer's Elven Helmet- Level 25
Jewel Thief's Avian Helmet- Level 25

Weapons:
Conqueror's Battle Axe- Level 30(also a level 29 version)
Conqueror's Battle Sword- Level 30(also a level 29 version)
Jewel Thief's Heavy Crossbow- Level 30
Jewel Thief's Thin Dagger- Level 30
Lightning Wand of Mastery- Level 30
Lightning Bolt Staff of Mastery- Level 30

Armors:
Conqueror's Bone Plate- Level 29
Dreamer's Bone Cloth- Level 29
Jewel Thief's Bone Tunic- Level 29


Regular Golems drops worthless items so you are best off liquidating.

Monster Strategies and Comboes:
To be able to kill and thus run the dungeon efficiently, you must know how to use your skills wisely.
You should be level 50+ to regularily run Underground Desert, so many skills should be maxed.

As a Mage, you want to buff the two Blessings often.
After that, I found this combo to be helpful with mobs of 3-5: Lightning->Ice Storm->Firestorm. A simple Revive or Debuff will attract nearby monsters' attention and draw them to you. Don't waste debuffs other than on attracting or on bosses.

As a Bird, focus on DPS. You should buff Focus a lot, and most of your attacks can be used in any order to wipe the mobs.
Evade is typically not needed for this dungeon; your low armor is still enough to survive.
Screams, especially the Avian Scream is good with large mobs when focus buffed.
Screaming and then promptly using Blast Shot creates the "Cruel Blast" combo; another great two-shot KO for mobs.


As a Bear, your job is NOT to tank, but to just simply deal damage. I suggest you have some DEX invested.
You want to have Rage maxed. Buff it before combat, and the basic Beckon+Stomp is enough to wipe most Regular Mobs around.
If you do have a DEX weapon equipped, be sure to put it on AUTO and fire it at the golems, whether buffed with rage or not; it adds up damage in the long run.

Class Gear:
Generally all gear is acceptable during farming as long as it is level 50 or above. I suggest a simple level 60 Generic Orange/Green Nuri's Hallows Drop Set or a level 55 Orange/Green Balefort Sewers Drop Set for farming if you are poor.
If you have a Cyber Set, go ahead and use it.

Twinking!
Twinking is getting more and more popular at Sandstone Caves! When you twink, you usually choose level 21 to farm Sandstone Caves. The pink drops will become level 21 instead of level 25 and therefore be considered "odd level". These pinks will be worth a lot more than their level 25 versions.
To twink, you will need a good party, ALL AT THE SAME LEVEL AS YOU OR LOWER! This is important, a single non-level 21 could result in a drop being a different level. It is possible to solo Underground Desert, but to save time, find a level 21 group to farm with. Although it will take time, the drops are absolutely worth it.
You should use Winter Holiday Gear or Level 21 Sandstone Cave Gear.

Enjoy the twinking and have fun!

Farming Strategies/Party Formation:
This is the main focus of the guide.
After doing run after run after run after run of Underground Desert, there are four ways to farm the dungeon.
These are completely opinion based, and comes from research and experience.

The first way is by doing the whole dungeon password locked with only yourself. This is called Solo.
Basically, you clear the dungeon and beat the boss using the method and get the drop. Only do this if you feel lucky. Runs should take under 5 minutes at the most.
Suggested Classes are Mage and Bird.

The second way is what I recommend and is basically having two players split the whole dungeon in half. This is especially good for Underground Desert. This method is called Dual. The technique behind this is, you are able to clear just as fast as a whole group and are able to get drops only to two people, giving you a 1/2 chance instead of a 1/5 chance. This strategy starts off in which you clear the main path with your team mate until you reach this area.

Your partner takes the left route and clears a straight path. They will reach a hole on the left and clear that too.

After doing so, they will come out and meet you in front on the hole.

You, on the other hand, will take the right side and keep going until you see a hole on the right.

*Clear that and go back out and to the far left to meet up with your partner and continue your path.
At the end you will meet Magnetic Golem and then use the method to successfully kill the boss and advance forward.
Runs should take 2-3 minutes at most. Suggested classes are mage plus mage and mage plus bird.

The third way is basically using four people instead of two, and is called Splits. The map is divided the same way, only faster with two instead of one player in each half. The host will assign the members to each half. Example:
"Pink and Jespo left, Whirl and Red right, go."

Runs should take 2-3 minutes at most. Suggested classes are a mage on each half, with a bear or bird.

The fourth way of farming Underground Desert is by using a full party, what I call Obliterate or simply, Group. You must work as a team and smash through line after line of golem as fast as you like. This is for casual people, and not for when you want fast gold.
Runs should take 2-3 minutes. Suggested classes are Bird, Mage and Bear.

Special Terms:
-SSC: Sandstone Caves
-Cave Bear: Level 21 Dex Bear made for the purpose of Farming SSC.

Credits and Thanks:
-Thanks to the following for participating and ending up with over 500 Sandstone Cave Runs:
Matutd
Pinkftw
Wmbcowboyy
Centaurorius

-Thanks to Adobe Photoshop and Photobucket for great Editing Tools/Uploading Services!

-Thanks to Consignment Shoppé for listings of all the pinks!

-Thanks to Doodle Buddy for Drawing Tools!

If you notice any mistakes or have any questions, PM Xwhirlz!

Good luck farming!
-Whirlz