Curse

crabapples · Sep 15, 2011, 07:28 AM // 07:28

Hi everyone,

I've been trying to do Urgoz with 7 heroes and so far with a decent build and following the instructions on the wiki I managed to reach Urgoz. I have an issue with EoE placement, however.

I've read up whatever information I can find on forums regarding defeating Urgoz, and from what I understand there are a few places you can place your EoE to be within range of Urgoz but not within range of explosive spawns. However, I can't seem to get any of those to work, and I haven't managed to find any screenshots to help me out.

The most common location I've seen people talk about is 'right inside the middle gate'. Some people say to walk against the left slope after entering the middle gate until you come to a bend, and your character can not move anymore. I've tried this, and it does indeed appear to be close enough to affect Urgoz (My compass has spirit range indicated - I use the darkglass v2.1 UI texmod), but Urgoz also pummels my ST rit with attacks. Also, I'm not sure if this spot is actually free of explosive spawns because, to be honest, I was too busy trying to micro my other heroes to take a good look at my ST rit while fighting Urgoz.

So I guess my first question would be: When EoE is placed correctly, will it be within range of Urgoz's attack? If so, wouldn't EoE be prematurely destroyed by Urgoz's hit?

Some people don't mention the part about walking down the left slope, and just say 'inside the gate'. However, if you place it just inside the gate, you're safe from Urgoz's attack, but according to my compass spirit range indicator, EoE isn't close enough to Urgoz to affect him.

The wiki article on Urgoz's warren suggested 'just inside the south gate, behind the rock on the right slope' as another location, but this too doesn't seem to be close enough to Urgoz, and Urgoz can attack you, AND there is a -4 Energy drain effect in the bottom half of the room that I can't seem to figure out the origin of, and surprisingly most sources fail to mention.

So I'm starting to wonder if the spirit range indicator on my compass is actually inaccurate (ie. spirit range is larger than what it makes it out to be).

EoE placement aside, I'm also wondering if its possible to rush all 7 heroes (or maybe 6, if I manage to figure out where to place the EoE/ST rit) to the foot of Urgoz, and use AoE attacks (eg. Searing Flames?) to destroy all the explosive spawns before they detonate (if I'm not wrong they're only level 10, and it takes about 8 seconds for them to detonate on their own, which in theory is plenty of time). The AoE would simultaneously damage Urgoz, yet keep the party safe from spawns. The only other damage source left is Urgoz, and the damage he deals is pretty manageable, especially if you're not running around. Can anyone see any foreseeable problems with this strategy?

Any suggestions and advice is very much appreciated, please feel free to reply here or send me a PM. Thanks a lot in advance!

Wenspire · Sep 15, 2011, 07:34 AM // 07:34

The ledge you mentioned is where I place mine. Even though it is within range of urgoz and the spawns, as long a you succeed in setting it in place without a spawn occuring you are usually ok. What I do is set it and keep everyone away from it. Urgoz usually ignores the spirit if no one is standing next to it. If a spawn shows up WHILE you are setting it, immediately cancel the skill, walk away to allow detonation, then attempt to re-set it.

crabapples · Sep 15, 2011, 11:02 PM // 23:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wenspire

The ledge you mentioned is where I place mine. Even though it is within range of urgoz and the spawns, as long a you succeed in setting it in place without a spawn occuring you are usually ok. What I do is set it and keep everyone away from it. Urgoz usually ignores the spirit if no one is standing next to it. If a spawn shows up WHILE you are setting it, immediately cancel the skill, walk away to allow detonation, then attempt to re-set it.

Thanks a lot for that, I didn't know about that =)

If so, does that mean you have to walk your hero back to the spot to recast the spirit after it expires, or can you usually finish off Urgoz in one cast? Sounds like it would be very difficult to micro that hero while you're in the middle of dodging Urgoz and microing your other heroes..? I'm not sure how much he can regenerate if you back out to cast your EoE again, I think some sources say his regeneration is quite significant.

Wenspire · Sep 16, 2011, 12:02 AM // 00:02

You can usually finish off Urgoz with one spirit, as long as it is of high enough level. When I use my Ranger, I have a BeastMastery of around 14 with a headgear switch. When I have a hero lay it, the BM is usually at 10-11 on their builds.

If you have to recast the spirit, you would have to flag your hero to the spot and have them cast it. Urgoz does't regen very quick so it's not a big deal usually. Also, in case you did not already know, the two serpents next to Urgoz do not heal him so you can ignore them until after Urgoz is dead.

crabapples · Sep 16, 2011, 10:57 AM // 10:57

Thanks a lot for that Wenspire, that was very helpful =) I'll be sure to try and incorporate a high level EoE in my build the next time I try.

If you don't mind me asking another question though, after placing EoE, do you use hit and run spikes to bring Urgoz down to 90% and below, or do you just stay there and hit him while keeping your heroes alive for as long as possible (eg. destroying the explosive growths around the heroes with AoEs before they blow up)? Also, I guess this would definitely have been mentioned elsewhere if it worked, but I don't suppose inflicting deep wound on Urgoz would kick-start EoE?

Thanks a lot once again! =)

Wenspire · Sep 16, 2011, 11:33 PM // 23:33

I used the method listed in this post I made awhile back on another thread. Although, this was done in a HM situation, I've also used it in NM as well.

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...&postcount=115

Regarding if DeepWnd meets the criteria for EoE, I'm not sure. I was wondering this same thing awhile back but never did any tests or research on it. I figure it wouldn't since it just reduces the enemy's MAX life, and doesn't necessarily cause damage, but not positive.

Also, in reference to this part you mentioned in your original post (which I missed):

"The wiki article on Urgoz's warren suggested 'just inside the south gate, behind the rock on the right slope' as another location, but this too doesn't seem to be close enough to Urgoz, and Urgoz can attack you, AND there is a -4 Energy drain effect in the bottom half of the room that I can't seem to figure out the origin of, and surprisingly most sources fail to mention."

The -4EN degen is caused by the bark in the room where you are suppose to leave someone behind. Just kill him off and you will not have the EN degen in the Urgoz room.

crabapples · Sep 17, 2011, 02:02 PM // 14:02

Thanks a lot once again =)

That does sound like an easy and relatively safe way to beat him. So that means the pet doesn't trigger explosive spawns I assume. I read about a similar strategy using a summon from a summoning stone instead. Great to know that it works =) Your other heroes at the base of the ramp would then be out of range of explosive spawns but able to heal/res you if necessary too.

I'm not a ranger main (I'm a warrior) but I'll bring along a summoning stone or put a pet on a hero. Great to know that even a pet can cause enough damage to lower his life, albeit slowly.

Thanks for letting me know about that extra twisting bark causing the energy degen. I'll be sure to clear it the next time as well =)

Wenspire · Sep 17, 2011, 07:08 PM // 19:08

Pet does trigger the spawns, as far as thought, but they are pretty hardy and don't die very quickly.

Angerus · Sep 19, 2011, 12:15 PM // 12:15

Just wanted to add that I placed EoE near the south gate, as you mentioned but I tested the range but placing EoE then ran to Urgoz to see if it was in range. If it wasnt (which it wasnt the first time i placed it) I moved close and replaced. Repeated this till it was close enough but didnt cause spawn. IIRC my hero was just out of range of spawn, and with the pillar being in the way Urgoz cant attack my hero.

When i had my UA out of the way in a safe place and 1 hero flagged to cast EoE. The rest and I just ran around Urgoz while dodging Urgoz. Heroes didnt last long using this tactic, which is where BuH came in. Generally I would run in cast BuH, force heroes to attack Urgoz, move when theres a spawn and repeat. When heroes die, i ran back out and wait till BuH recharged.

Relyk · Sep 19, 2011, 09:21 PM // 21:21

The hero with EoE (ST rit) can get hit if you or your heroes move to close to him and spawn growths, even when he's normally safe. Other than that, it's trial and error to get it right. You can always check by running up to Urgoz to check the range, UA monk can res if you get yourself killed. If you bring attack/healing skills on ST rit without disabling, it can cause him to move around as well.

My placement goes where spirit is normally suggested, along a nook on the left side of the slope you come down from the middle gate just within range. Then you keep your party on the left side of the pillar where Urgoz can't hit you and rush from the left side. You avoid the energy degen on the right side this way.

crabapples · Sep 19, 2011, 10:36 PM // 22:36

Thanks Wenspire and everyone for the replies =) With your advice I managed to beat him, I really appreciate it.

I didn't get to use a pet, but I did try using a dream rider summon like one person mentioned in the wiki that supposedly was able to beat him relatively effortlessly. Didn't really work for me. The summon indeed didn't trigger growths, but I couldn't get it to lock onto Urgoz (it kept hitting random growths), and because it kept following me, it sometimes got hit by the explosions I triggered as well. Wasn't of much use really. I wonder whether pets will have the same problem, since you can't lock a pet's target as well.

I ended up using a variant of the untested 7 Hero Urgoz build on GWPvX, and used the technique described there (hit and runs with DoTs). One salvo of a few hard hitting nukes (especially armor-ignoring, I used chaos storm, RoJs, spirit rift, and I also used conjure nightmare for some degen) should be able to drop his life below 90%. After the salvo, I ran as many out as I could (some inevitably got stuck in growths), and kept running around trying to create more growths.

Wenspire was right, Urgoz does generally leave the EoE spirit alone. I did get my ST rit killed by forgetting to disable his res though, he moved out to try and res someone and got blown up (thanks Relyk for your advice, I didn't get to read it before attempting him again, be sure to do it next time).

Also, one character really doesn't create enough growths to kill him in the span of one EoE in my opinion. I barely killed him in the span of 2 EoEs, and most of the spawns were created when my heroes rushed in, and their nukes really helped a lot. Also, recasting EoE was a pain because the ledge is on higher ground so I couldn't really get a good view of where to place the hero. I ended up placing my second EoE somewhere north of the ledge ('below' the ledge, on lower ground), and was lucky the spawns didn't blow it up. It was also somewhat blocked from Urgoz's attacks by the huge north pillar I think.

@Angerus: did you mean the north gate instead of south gate? I remember a giant pillar on the north gate but not the south gate (I didn't get a good look). There was some sort of a boulder protruding out of the right wall just inside the gate on the south, did you mean that? I couldn't seem to make that spot work. Even tucked in to the right wall as much as possible, Urgoz was still able to hit me. Must be some angle thing. I didn't test the EoE range though, I only depended on my spirit range indicator on my compass (which I suspect isn't always accurate). Yes I did use BUH, it was immensely useful, especially for a beginner like me.

@Relyk: Yes that's pretty much what I did, and seems to be the safest option, since the north is partly sheltered from his attacks and is also pretty spacious for kiting. Thanks =) Also, what Wenspire said was true, destroying the twisted bark in section 7 will remove the effect in Urgoz's room. Very helpful.

Overall, I found it really challenging doing it for the first time, trying to dodge his attacks while organizing spikes on my remaining heroes and recasting EoE was more micro than anticipated =/, but I'm glad I managed to complete it. Thanks a lot once again!

Wenspire · Sep 19, 2011, 10:45 PM // 22:45

Great to hear things worked out!

You can lock pets onto targets using the pet window. When I was attacking Urgoz solo, I indeed had to place EoE more than once. When you have multiple sources of damage, you can usually get away with using only one EoE.

Using Ural's Hammer (as mentioned above) is a good method when working with heroes since they like to die all clumped up.

Angerus · Sep 20, 2011, 10:43 AM // 10:43

SORRY yes I meant the North Gate, not the South Gate.