Beating Around the Bad Guys
Beating Around the Bad Guys is one of several quests available to teach about the talent trees. Each of these quests are the fourth quest in the Foal Story Arc and they are mutually exclusive from one another. The quest is obtained from Frizzy Stradlin, Starburst Nova, or Windhover depending on the player's pony race. This specific quest is designed to teach the basics of the Combat talent tree.
Quest initiation
If the player has selected Combat to be their special talent, this quest will be unlocked for them. In order to learn the art of self-defense, the player's teacher decides to send them to see two old friends: Icy Sheets and Reefus Clackett. They are apparently training in Cantermore, in the Guard Training Area where the player could use training dummies to show them their worth.
Journal: I'm ready to learn Combat, and Icy Sheets and Reefus Clackett are the right ponies to show me the ropes. They'll be in the Guard Training Area in Cantermore.
- Speak to Icy Sheets and Reefus Clackett
The Cantermore Guards
Icy Sheets and Reefus Clackett welcome the player, expecting their arrival. They remind the player that they can change talents if they decide that they're better off with something else. If the player chooses to stay, they'll ask them to use the move Ground Pound on Reefus Clackett.
Journal: My first part of Combat Training is hitting Reefus Clackett with a Ground Pound attack, so they know what I'm doing.
- Hit Reefus with a Ground Pound attack
Seismic Buck
Once the player has done so, Icy Sheets will congratulate them, as their technique was rather good, and the rest of the training should go smoothly. She then informs the player of two attacks: Seismic Buck and Stored Strike. Seismic Buck is a stronger Ground Pound. Reefus Clackett will ask the player to hit him with it, and they will be given the spell for free. To equip it, use the book on the bottom right of the screen, and drag the spell onto the hotbar.
Journal: Reefus Clackett has taught me all about the first Combat ability: Seismic Buck, a move that's more powerful than the Ground Pound. To see how it works, I'll hit Reefus...again...with it.
- Hit Reefus with a Seismic Buck attack
Fighting Mobs
After hitting him once again and almost knocking him out, Reefus Clackett decides to make the player fight a few hornets, qualifying them as good sparring partners. Accept his idea to continue the quest, as he will release 3 hornets in the Guard Training Area.
Warning: The player is required to use Seismic Buck, using Bubble Barrage and Ground Pound will result in a failure.
Journal: Reefus has taught me about Seismic Buck and now he wants me to use it to get rid of pesky bees and wasps.
- Whack the Bees. Use Seismic Buck.
If the player uses other abilities instead of Seismic Buck:
- Return to Reefus Clackett
After returning to Reefus Clackett:
- Whack the Bees
After defeating the Hornets:
- Talk to Reefus
Stoned Strike
After dealing with the hornets, Icy Sheets decides to teach the player about the second move they talked about: Stored Strike. This move will allow the player to deal huge damage depending on how much the monster they're facing is lowering their health points. In order to test it, she'll release a cockatrice, where the player would have to let it attack in order to use Stored Strike to defeat them.
Warning: The player is required to use Stored Strike to defeat them.
Journal:
After defeating the cockatrice:
- Tell Icy you won.
Increasingly Dangerous Enemies
After seeing how well they fared, Icy Sheets decides to practice their ability on a cockatrice again. Like the previous practice, they can only use Stored Strike to defeat it.
Journal: I'm starting to wrap my head around the Stored Strike, learning how it works. Icy wants me to practice some more, this time with a cockatrice, just to make sure I have it down. Check
- Hit Cockatrice with Stored Strike
After defeating the cockatrice:
- Go back to Reefus
The Final Test
After taking a beating and beating twice as hard, the teachers decide that the player is ready and briefs them on their final test. They now have to face three waves of enemies (currently only two waves are available at the moment). Give them a beating.
Journal:
- Take out three hornets
After defeating the Hornets:
- See Reefus once more.
After seeing Reefus:
- Take out one Diamond Dog
After defeating the Diamond Dog:
- Return to Reefus.
Once all the enemies have been beaten, talk to Reefus Clackett again to end the quest.
Quest completion
WARNING: This is the very last chance to complete any foal-only quests. After this conversation with Reefus Clackett, the player becomes an adult and those quests are no longer available.
Speak to Reefus Clackett one last time. Both Reefus Clackett and Icy Sheets will congratulate the player of their accomplishments. When the conversation ends, a reward of 300 Bits and 600 XP in the Combat talent tree will be given.
At this point, the player will become an adult and is automatically warped to Cantermore to start on The First Day of Our Pony Lives quest, which is the final quest in the Foal Story Arc.
Journal: I have successfully completed my Combat training and am ready to go out into the world.
Trivia
- The quest journal appears to be bugged at the moment with various missing entries.
- Even though the final test is described to contain three waves, only two waves are available at the moment.