Curse

ionapples · May 14, 2010, 06:20 AM // 06:20

Hey guys. I've been using this build to farm Hulking Stone Elementals outside of Sardelac Sanitarium in Hard Mode with great ease. The only issue that I come upon are the pop-ups, especially the Crown of Thorns.My concern is, how can I kill these pop-ups? Because they are standing in my way of many more hulking stone elementals behind Sardelac Sanitarium. Here is my build:

[build Prof=W/D name=Hulking Stone Elemental Farm HM]
[Strength=12+1 Scythe Mastery=12 Wind Prayers=3]
[Sprint]
[Defy Pain]
[Victorious Sweep]
[Counterattack]
[Power Attack]
[Chilling Victory]
[Flail]
[Aura of Holy Might{Kurzick}]
[/build]

Can I kill the Crown of Thorns by touching up this build a bit? Maybe by adding in Dolyak Signet somewhere?

Thanks in advance.

Swahnee · May 14, 2010, 07:36 AM // 07:36

I doubt it. Expecially if there are more than one of them, they have powerful heals and knockdowns. Even with a 55/SV it's a bit long to kill them.

However, you want to have a way to keep you healed during a long battle, and i don't know if victorious sweep is enough, expecially since it triggers only when their health is lower than yours, and they keep healing themselves. You can try to use lion's comfort.

Then you want to spam your attacks as often as possible, so there could be some energy issue. Why don't you use Warrior's Endurance? It seems perfect for this build as energy management.

So, try with this changes, the idea is that you need to survive indefinitely and to do a lot of damage, spamming attack skills like a mad. What kind of scythe are you using? I would suggest a vampiric one (and maybe a zealous one if you get into energy troubles), with AR+5 if you need it, or 20% ench.

ionapples · May 14, 2010, 07:59 AM // 07:59

I'm using a Zealous Saurian Scythe of Enchanting with "I have the power" I'll give your suggestion a try. Seems like it might work. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Here and update about what I did. New edited build:

[Dolyak Signet][Warrior's Endurance][Victorious Sweep][Counterattack][Power Attack][Chilling Victory][Flail][Lion's Comfort]

It was a 1v1 against a Crown of Thorns, which took about 1minute and 30 seconds. I didn't really use Lion's Comfort at all, so I can find a substitute for that. I put [Dolyak Signet] in because without [Defy Pain], it would be tough farming Hulking Stone Elementals(HSE). I can probably switch out [Lion's Comfort] with [Sprint].

Even with 4 attack skills and flail it still took a very long time. I should probably find better skills with <4/5 recharge time. That would probably speed up the battle.

As of right now. It would not be worth it to kill a Crown of Thorns just for those extra HSE. I'll try to look for faster recharge attack skills that will fulfill the need for farming HSE and possible killing those Crown of Thorns.

**Marty Silverblade** · May 14, 2010, 09:04 AM // 09:04

You could consider running Aura of Holy Might. I don't know how much difference it will make (or even if it'll be worthwhile), but I'd say it's definitely worth a go.

ionapples · May 14, 2010, 11:03 AM // 11:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by ionapples

I'm using a Zealous Saurian Scythe of Enchanting with "I have the power" I'll give your suggestion a try. Seems like it might work. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Here and update about what I did. New edited build:

[Dolyak Signet][Warrior's Endurance][Victorious Sweep][Counterattack][Power Attack][Chilling Victory][Flail][Lion's Comfort]

It was a 1v1 against a Crown of Thorns, which took about 1minute and 30 seconds. I didn't really use Lion's Comfort at all, so I can find a substitute for that. I put [Dolyak Signet] in because without [Defy Pain], it would be tough farming Hulking Stone Elementals(HSE). I can probably switch out [Lion's Comfort] with [Sprint].

Even with 4 attack skills and flail it still took a very long time. I should probably find better skills with <4/5 recharge time. That would probably speed up the battle.

As of right now. It would not be worth it to kill a Crown of Thorns just for those extra HSE. I'll try to look for faster recharge attack skills that will fulfill the need for farming HSE and possible killing those Crown of Thorns.

I did some more farming with this variant of the build and it seems like you need [Lion's Comfort] in there, which means there is no room for extra skills.

However, I tried replacing [Lion's Comfort] with a knock-down skill like [Brawling Headbutt{PvE}] or [You Move Like A Dwarf!{PvE}] and it seems to have reduced the time taken to kill a Crown of Thorns.

I've only tried [Brawling Headbutt] and with the 7 strikes of adrenaline requirement, it seemed a bit slow. Considering that [YMLaD] may cost 10 energy, with [Warrior's Endurance]+[Counterattack]+Zealous scythe, you might be able to cast [YMLaD] twice in the same amount of time it takes to cast [Brawling Headbutt] once.

Now, it may come in conflict with healing, but if you run to the Crown of Thorns quickly as possible, cast [Dolyak Signet] before it uses [Signet of Judgement] and then use [YMLaD] and your attacks skills with [Victorious Sweep], you can maintain a efficient healing against it. However, this is just my theory as of now, because I have not tested the build with [YMLaD].

P.S. Deep Wound may be a great option in killing Crown of Thorns, but this build is meant to farm Hulking Stone Elementals and those guys have no flesh. So, it would be an unwise choice to use a skill like that.

Swahnee · May 14, 2010, 11:09 AM // 11:09

Yes aura of holy might is very powerful, maybe you can get rid of counterattack, because now you are using WE as energy management. Why don't you try eremite's attack? It's fast activating, fast recharging and it has a nice bonus damage depending on adjacent foes (like your elementals are supposed to be).

Furthermore, AoHM converts your damage into holy damage, which bypass the bonus armor vs physical damage that elementals (they are warrior) have. Try a vampiric scythe if you can, hitting 4 enemies every swing grants you +20 health point per swing, which is a little less than 20 hp per second (scythe + flail is a little less than one swing per second).

Maybe also using insignias with + armor vs physical damage, or with physical damage reduction (absorption) can work well.

However, if you are just farming for loot, i suggest you to avoid the place where the crown of thorns can spawn. Do the normal run with only elementals.

Eragon Zarroc · May 14, 2010, 11:24 AM // 11:24

ur not able to outrun em? like run past them until they stop chasing? i see you have sprint. or are there too many pop-ups throughout the entire area that you would end up popping more before you lost aggro of the last ones.

Fusylum · May 14, 2010, 05:01 PM // 17:01

VwK Or Even and variation to the warrior Raptor farming build would probably be faster, lol this sounds quite slow

BUT, if it works and you like it... Have fun thats what its ultimately about

ionapples · May 15, 2010, 03:20 AM // 03:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eragon Zarroc

ur not able to outrun em? like run past them until they stop chasing? i see you have sprint. or are there too many pop-ups throughout the entire area that you would end up popping more before you lost aggro of the last ones.

Well, this is in hard mode and they also use [Signet of Judgement] every 20 seconds to knock you down. Even with [Sprint], you'll get them just outside your aggro bubble.

I think it's best to just ignore those guys as it is not worth the trouble. Just rezone after you've farmed the HSE outside Sardelac Sanitarium.