VI. Balack’s Cove

FINALLY, we reach the end of the Tribal Isles. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had just about enough of this infernal island. How many mice can one little area hold, anyway? Good grief.

Actually, this next area diverges from the previous sections of the island. No more hunting for stones or seeds; no more making pepper plants. This area uses a whole new kind of cheese and therefore there is a whole new kind of strategy here. While the earlier Tribal Isles were closer to Furoma, this is more reminiscent of Bristle Woods and how it cycles. So fans of Bristle Woods, rejoice! We’re back to familiar ground.

I want to make this warning in advance: While Balack’s Cove is the final area in Mousehunt, there is absolutely no reason to come here, story-wise. Balack does not drop any loot that may have future use right now, and while he may do so in the future, he is currently just a mouse to catch for collection’s sake. With that in mind, don’t stress over this area- it’s not required in any way.

Quick Recap

- You’ve crafted the ice maiden and used it to catch some mice in Dracano
- While in Dracano, you collected at least 3 dragon embers as loot from the mice there
- Hopefully (though not required), you caught a dragon mouse and took its chest

Preparing for Adventure

I mentioned in the prior section that those dragon embers are going to serve a purpose, so head back to Cape Clawed and pick up an antique lantern for 90,000. Combine it with your three dragon embers to make… Balack’s Lantern! Congrats, now you are ready to enter Balack’s Cove.

However, if you choose to enter right now, you’ll quickly realize that you’re not going to get anywhere with it. The problem is that you don’t have the right cheese. As a matter of  fact, you’ll be using an entirely brand-new kind of cheese here.

Did you ever try using gouda in the Jungle of Dread, just for kicks? If you did, you might have discovered that there is another breed of mouse dwelling in the Jungle. Rather, there’s a whole swarm of them. I am of course referring to the “Swarm of Pygmy Mice” mouse (is that technically correct, the mice mouse? I dunno- makes me tongue tied.)

These mice carry a specific piece of loot: the Vanilla Bean. Now, I don’t know about you, but I love vanilla, and if I were able, I’d probably just keep the beans for myself and add them to my drink later (typically after a long hunt, that would be a rather stiff drink, too.) However, we don’t have that option. Instead, we have to use the vanilla bean to craft some new cheese. That cheese is known as Stilton cheese. To make this Vanilla Stilton, we need the following ingredients:

15 C&W + 15 Salt + 15 Coconut Milk + 15 Vanilla Beans = 15 Vanilla Stilton
*or*
15 C&W + 15 Salt + 15 Coconut Milk + 15 Magic Essence + 5 Vanilla Beans = 15 Vanilla Stilton

As you can see, SB+ adds a bonus to your ability to craft; quite a significant one, too. However, you also have to use quite a bit of SB+ in the process. That makes it incredibly expensive for non-donors to go this route. As always, I’m a firm believer in never needing to use SB+, so don’t feel pressured to do so. However, if you’ve got some lying around, there has rarely been a better time to use it. You’ll be catching a LOT of pygmy swarms to get beans, so any reduction in that number is a welcome reduction!

See, as was true in earlier parts of the isle, you’re going to need more than just one batch of Stilton. As a matter of fact, you’ll need a LOT of Stilton. Figure on making 20 batches of the stuff (300 pieces), which means you need to get 300 (or 100) vanilla beans. Like I said, SB+ cuts down on the time by a significant amount!

Once you’ve made your Stilton (you can make as many batches as you want to start, really), relocate yourself to Balack’s Cove!

Balack’s Cove

We know what cheese we’re using, but we haven’t really discussed trap setups. Fortunately you don’t need any new traps here; however, which trap you use depends entirely upon you. As the description implies, you can use Shadow, Arcane or Forgotten Traps. That means the Clockapult, the ACRoNYM or the ABT. All three of them have their own uses in this area, too.

The Clockapult will have the lowest catch rate of the three in the cove. However, the description of the area also states that the cove will periodically wash hunters out. Now, as was true in the Forbidden Grove, there is a timer that shows how long it will be until “High Tide,” at which point you will catch a riptide mouse, which will wash you out of the cove and back into the Jungle of Dread. If you are not paying close attention and/or are busy during the period when the tide changes and you’re forced out, the LAST thing you want is to waste Vanilla Stilton on the pygmy mice, right? So in cases where you can see that the high tide is near, equipping the clock will provide that if you move into the jungle, then at least you’ll be catching the pigmies (using the other traps, you’ll just miss, which would be VERY painful!)

If you’re not worried about these things, skip the clock, and pick between the Acro and the ABT. The ACRoNYM works especially well on most of the mice in the cove. However, there are three mice (which I’ll discuss in a minute) that are especially weak to the Ancient Box Trap. Which one you use depends entirely upon your situation.

You see, the ABT works particularly well against the Derr Lich, Nerg Lich and Elub Lich. These mice are the key to catching Balack, the final mouse of the area. Consequently, using the ABT will bring those mice at the greatest speed. However, the flip side to this is that all of the other mice will be much harder to catch, and you’ll be reminded of using the ABT in the Acolyte Realm- many more red boxes than you’d like.

If you have to collect vanilla beans by chasing pygmies, I recommend using the ABT in the cove. Collecting vanilla beans that way is absolutely painful, and the sooner you can get out of the cove, the better!
If however you are able to get vanilla beans another way (using king credits, from special event mice, or from dragon’s chests), use the ACRoNYM. You’ll get a much better return on your investment and the cove will be a more pleasant experience. The difference between the Acro and the ABT is small enough that it’s worth taking a small dip in catch rate against the Lich mice.

Of course, once you’ve caught Balack, if you decide to stay, go back to the Acro regardless!

As for which base you use: If you have the magma base, use it. If you were unable to get a magma base, the molten shrapnel base provides nearly identical stats to the magma base and therefore will provide nearly identical results. However, to get that, you need 200 scrap metal! That takes a REALLY long time, be it from hunting in the catacombs or from hunting in the Lagoon. It’s an extremely good base, but it is kind of a hassle to collect the parts for.

If you’re not interested in doing so, use the aqua base with the ACRoNYM. The power/luck combo does more for the trap than just the power of something like the tribal base.

As always, we need to pay attention to what we’re doing here: we want to catch the Derr Lich, the Elub Lich and the Nerg Lich mice. These poor mice were enslaved by Balack years ago and it’s pretty frightening to see what an eternity of enslavement does to a mouse!

These three mice hold the key to the next part of the puzzle. Each one drops a specific piece of loot- the Derr lich drops Bottled-Up Rage, the Nerg Lich drops Raisins of Wrath, and the Elub Lich drops a Pinch of Annoyance. Put together, these ingredients make a whole new kind of cheese called Vengeful Stilton.

1 Pinch of Annoyance + 1 Raisins of Wrath + 1 Bottled-Up Rage + 1 Vanilla Bean + 1 C&W + 1 Ionized Salt + 1 Coconut Milk = 1 Vengeful Stilton
*or*
1 Pinch of Annoyance + 1 Raisins of Wrath + 1 Bottled-Up Rage + 1 Vanilla Bean + 1 C&W + 1 Ionized Salt + 1 Coconut Milk  + 3 Magic Essence = 3 Vengeful Stilton

This Vengeful Vanilla Stilton attracts most of the same mice that regular Vanilla Stilton did, except that it attracts the three lich mice with greater frequency and, if you’re lucky, it will attract Balack the Banished himself. At this point, equip your Ancient Box Trap- your Acro is useless against Balack. Also remove the Aqua base and equip the Tribal base.

While not quite as powerful as the dragon, Balack is difficult to catch in the same way that the Acolyte was a hassle- it’s a very tough mouse AND it’s not common. 300 Vanilla Stilton is probably a bare minimum amount to collect enough wrath, rage and annoyance bits to combine into the requisite Vengeful Stilton to finally nab Balack.

But once you’ve gotten him, you are done with the Tribal Isles! For good! Unless you’re looking to climb the scoreboard, of course- the cove does wonders for you point total!