Covetous

Covetous is the Anti-Virtue dungeon opposing Sacrifice — a five-level cave-and-stone-castle complex carved long ago into the Mountains of Avarice north of Cove. The dungeon was completely revamped in late 2013 with the introduction of The Void Pool mechanic and Cora the Sorceress as the dungeon's overarching villain. Modern Covetous is the home of one of UO's signature wave-defense PvE encounters and the source of the Void Pool reward system, including the prized Miner's Maps.

General facts

Geography and entrance

The entrance sits in the Mountains of Avarice, northeast of Cove, south of Minoc, west of Vesper, and just southwest of the Minoc Moongate. Two outdoor passages wind around the mountain between dungeon levels:

• The first passage (between Levels 1 and 2) houses the Ghost of Frederic Smithson — a quest NPC near the Level 1 exit.
• The second passage (between Levels 2 and 3) holds the Sacrificial Brazier — sacrifice a Treasure Map or World Map here for a new map marked with Corgul the Soulbinder's Island of the Soulbinder (a High Seas content gate). Skeletons spawn in this passage.

Players can Mark and Recall in between each level for quicker access — a major quality-of-life feature post-revamp. Note that Levels 3 and 4 monster difficulty scales with two factors: depth (deeper = harder) AND the number of Void Pool waves defeated since the dungeon last reset.

Cora the Sorceress

Cora's entry into Britannia: when she attempted to wrest knowledge from the Code of Infinite Wisdom, she broke loose a section of the great book's altar. Floating through the void, the section of magic stone slammed into the shard inside Covetous. Trailing behind it is a portal through the void that leads to the Codex itself.

Cora has assembled an army of minions to take control of the Void Pool, so she may attempt to steal the knowledge again. Players defend the Pool from her wave assaults; reward points convert to Void Pool rewards via Vela in Cove.

Level 1 — the strange ecosystem

A long winding cave with a few larger rooms. Pits of fire harm unsuspecting adventurers near the entrance. Three named areas:

Most creatures here are non-hostile unless attacked — only the Strange Gazer is aggressive. The level is a beginner's training ground:

• Dazzled Harpies are attracted to gems; they pick up gems off the floor and become hypnotized for a short while. Excellent feather harvesting for archers and bowyers.
• Vampire Mongbats prey on the hypnotized harpies. They show low health which they replenish by attacking the harpies. If a player attacks a half-health Mongbat, the bat will leech the player's HP to heal itself.
• Headless Miners mine regular gems that drop on the floor (pick them up before a Mongbat does). They drop a red shovel or pick with very few uses, no special property.
• Strange Gazers occasionally turn blue briefly. The reason for the color change is undocumented in any patch notes.

The level is "an unethical necromancer's mining operation" — Headless Miners and Strange Gazers were left by a necromancer who hasn't been seen since Cora and Vela arrived.

Level 2 — The Void Pool

No regular spawn occurs on this level. Instead, players defend the Void Pool from waves of Cora's minions. Each wave is faster and tougher than the previous, drawn from these groups in order:

1. Abyss (demons, hellhounds)
2. Repond (orc, troll, ogre, ratman)
3. Undead (skeletons, liches, wraiths)
4. Reptile (lizards, drakes, dragons)
5. Elemental (fire, water, earth, air)

Cora's minions do not drop loot — instead, players score points for kills or assists. The total and current score is visible from the Void Pool option in the character context menu.

Void Pool rewards (via Vela the Sorceress in Cove)

The Miner's Maps are the principal economic prize — guaranteed colored-ore vein locations for high-tier mining.

Level 3 — the great hall

Reached via the eastern passage and a carved stone entrance. The level has multiple rooms:

• Great Hall — three groups of Cora's minions spawn at the center and flanking rooms. Statues warn first-time visitors: "Beware Ye Who Enter These Halls!" and "Go no farther, lest ye face thy death!"
• Storage Room — single group spawn.
• Dining Hall and Chapel — two tall candles spawn in the dining hall after each maintenance, plus 2-3 minion groups in the hallway. Staircase at the west side leads to Level 4.
• Throne Room — the throne used to reveal "3-4-1-5" (an old quest, no longer active). Single group spawn. Northeast staircase leads to Level 5.

Level 4 — the prison

A short corridor with cells on both sides leads to the torture room at the end. Old prison architecture; spawns scale with Void Pool wave count.

Level 5 — the subterranean lake

The final level. Near a subterranean lake, a lonely Cora leads hordes of minions to all other dungeon parts. The deepest the dungeon goes — endgame Cora encounter occurs here.

Strategy notes

• Recall is allowed between levels. Mark runes between Level 1, the entry passage, the Level 3 great hall, and the Level 5 lake. Standard farming is to teleport directly to Level 5 once a rune is set.
• Mongbat-leech trick. A new player wandering Level 1 should not attack the Vampire Mongbats — they will drain HP via leech. Pure Dazzled Harpy + Headless Miner farming is safe and produces feathers + small gems.
• Headless Miner gem drops can sustain a Tinker's gem supply for hours. Free passive economic activity.
• Void Pool defense is party content. Solo wave-running is theoretically possible at Legendary builds but extremely punishing. Plan a 4-6 player team for Void Pool runs.
• Vela's reward shop pays in Void Pool points only. No gold conversion. Running Void Pool waves is the only way to earn rewards; don't try to shortcut to a Verite Map.
• Cora is a high-end encounter. Levels 4-5 monsters scale aggressively with wave-defense progress; an unprepared dexer can die fast on Level 4.
• Sacrificial Brazier travels to Corgul. The High Seas Corgul the Soulbinder is an unrelated boss but the Treasure-Map sacrifice mechanic at Covetous's outdoor brazier is the entry point. Sacrifice an old map to gain a new map marked with Corgul's island.
• Pre-revamp Covetous is gone. Old Covetous had Earth, Fire, Water, and Doppleganger elementals; modern Covetous replaces all of them with the Cora-themed minion list. Old loot tables (Covetous Wyrm, Covetous Revenant) still spawn in legacy creature documents but are not part of the modern dungeon.

See also

Sacrifice, Anti-Virtue Dungeons, Cora the Sorceress, Vela the Sorceress, Cove, Mountains of Avarice, The Void Pool, Covetous Void Pool reward, Miner's Golden Map, Miner's Agapite Map, Miner's Verite Map, Miner's Valorite Map, Sacrificial Brazier, Corgul the Soulbinder, Frederic Smithson, Code of Infinite Wisdom, Dazzled Harpy, Vampire Mongbat, Headless Miner, Strange Gazer, Minoc, Vesper, Mining, Felucca, Trammel.