Becoming Dread Lord/Lady is now easier than it has ever been before. In the past it was a long and arduous journey, but no more. No longer are there the same repercussions as there used to be either, you can buy and sell from NPCs with out problems.

You will want to lock your karma before you begin this path, as any karma gain will hinder your journey.

There are a few ways to start the path of Dread Lord/Lady. The easiest I find is by getting to 5th level fame first, after locking your karma, you can’t beat Deamons for fame gains. They’ll take you all they way to Lord/Lady and keep giving you a lot of fame there after. You could be at 0 fame and work your way to 5th level in as little as 3-4 hours. Once you hit Lord/Lady, continue killing Deamons for at least another 10-20 minutes to give yourself a nice buffer incase you happen to die. The hardest part is behind you.

Thanks to Necromancy you can now drop your karma with as little as 60 skill points. And if you do it on a boat you’ll find it even easier. DO NOT buy any skill from the NPCs to start, as casting even the beginning Necro spells will lower you karma. Cast Curse Weapon until you hit the high 30s. Then start on Wraith Form, and continue casting that until you reach the mid to high 50s. Horrific Beast will carry you from there to the 70s if you desire to go that high. All the while you’ll notice your karma going ever lower. If you still find you have too much karma and you don’t wish to give any more points to Necro, simply turn it down, buy another skill to drop Necro by 20 or so points, and work it up again. If you do decide to go higher than 70, Lich Form will take a large amount of karma from you each time you cast it. If you hadn’t made it by that point, you will off Lich Form.

And remember, never unlock your karma, even the slightest karma gain can slow you down on you path. If you die, you’ll loose %10 of your fame, so be careful of that. Before you know it, you’ll be a Dread Lord/Lady.

So you wish to become Dread eh? You choose a path that leads to the ultimate Evil in Britannia, the coveted (and now HARD to get) title of Dread. A warning: the path to this title is hard and treacherous, follow it only if you are truly dedicated. First things first - in becoming Dread, know this: you will NOT be able to buy OR sell from NPC's at this level of karma, they simply ignore you with a little mutter. Have other characters ready to do most of the purchasing and selling.

First and foremost; Lock your karma at the Chaos Shrine! If you want to reach that Dread Lord/Lady level you never want to gain any karma.

There are a few ways to start the road to Dread and a few options to choose. The first option is simply gain up to level 4 fame and then start lowering karma. Some people like to do this but for me it was not enough. I would suggest getting to level 5 fame, at which you gain the Lord/Lady title to your name, and even when you achieve level 5 fame build an IMMENSE buffer zone over top of it so when you die you will retain the Lord/Lady (explanation on why you DON'T want to lose this while Dread later). For example I gather fame at the Ogre Lord room in Wrong, Lich Lord room in Deceit, from Dragons and Daemons in Wind, and from more Daemons and Balrons in Hythloth. Balrons, and Lich Lords are a little bit risky compared to the others but they advance fame rapidly. I prefer Wind and Ogre Lords if you want to stay alive long enough to keep your fame. After you first reach Lord/Lady kill another 10-20 of the aforementioned monsters, then you are ready to begin the road to Dread.

At this point you will be Glorious Lord/Lady. I know I know just grit your teeth and bear the stench of goodness for a short while longer =). From here there are three ways to go. For the quickest route simply get an NPC and use provocation on him. You will not gain skill but you will lose A LOT of karma. This will take you down to about the middle of -4 karma (Evil). Alternatively you can start cutting up bodies of players or NPCs. This will lead you to Dread level in several hours. But I think those ways are too boring and don't let you savor your work as much as the following method. Before you read on, be aware that this route might make you a murderer if you kill NPC merchants! Simply start wandering the wilds killing every NPC you can find with the exception of thieves (since you gain karma from them). Contrary to many beliefs different NPCs make you lose different amounts of karma. NPCs such as peasants, farmers, bards, artists etc. will lose minimal karma around the -3 level. Female healers will take you a tad lower. Male healers, NPC guildmasters, and mages will make you lose quite a bit more. You will kill, kill, kill and keep killing them moving from Glorious Lord/Lady down to Evil Lord/Lady. (I like to keep screen shots of each karma level just to compare =). Now you should be losing only a little karma from male healers, guildmasters etc. so you will need new prey. Not many people seem to know this but nobles, and seekers of adventure make you lose a lot of karma at this level (Even now I still lose a good amount). They are the cream of the crop when it comes to karma loss. The downside of killing nobles lies in the fact that these creatures can call upon their mercenaries to aid them. You will have a tough time getting rid of those troops first. Locations of these NPCs can be found under the 'Escorting NPCs' section of this website. Now all that is left to do is kill more and more. Then before you know it you will open your paper doll and notice the awesome title of Dread Lord/Lady.

NOTES & RUMORS

• First of all, never unlock your karma so it can go up
• Murdering other players will NOT take you to Dread, even if the player is a Glorious Lord/Lady
• Healing players with positive karma will result in a very large gain of karma, if your karma is unlocked
• Curing will do the same thing
• If you die while attempting to get to Dread Lord/Lady and lose your level 5 fame expect a LARGE setback as you will need to regain that hard earned fame
• Killing NPC merchants (the ones that you can buy items from) will give you a murdercount for every NPC killed. Be warned that some NPCs that can be found in the wild, such as shepherds, are in fact merchants! You will not only be dread, but also very RED.
• Be VERY cautious when killing NPCs, after a while you will forget that it turns you grey and could be caught with your guard down
• Don't give up! It is long... and sometimes boring but I find it is WELL worth it =)
• Watch out for the ever treacherous 'I honor thee'. Although it is a very minuscule amount it adds up.

NPC Karma Loss

1. Peasants, bards, artists, farmers, fishers, miners, any mundane NPCs (least karma loss)
2. Mages, female healers
3. Male healers, NPC guildmasters
4. Nobles, Seekers of Adventure (most karma loss but beware of mercanaries)