Curse

Darth Marth · Jan 04, 2008, 04:25 AM // 04:25

Does Pain Inverter trigger off Duncan's Defenses? It ripped through Charr Effigies in seconds, and they have a similar one.

kanuks · Jan 05, 2008, 06:02 AM // 06:02

Woot!! Finally finished duncan with H/H!! Took many trys but i got the right builds and ended up finishing him at 10% morale boost (Except for me cause i sacrificed myself to leave a corpse near duncan for [/skill]signet of sorrow[/skill]).

Hexanon · Jan 08, 2008, 07:26 AM // 07:26

Once again - proving that PUG "Formula" builds are out-dated.

I managed to beat this (All 5 bosses) (not easily I might add) with a modified SAB build (yes - that build is truly amazing) - Thanks SAB for posting your findings here !.

I made some bad skill choices - and at the end all I had to bring down Duncan was a Necro with SV and syphon.

Once I had cleared the dungeon, and swapped spirits waaaay into the corner, It took 1 hr for him to go down.

Flagged the SV Necro in range, Flagged the rt Necro behind him, and flagged the henches off to side - that way Healer hench could rez/heal both while being out of range, and the Prot hench (Thank goodness I brought one of these henches) occasionally threw a protection - although not often enough.

for the record, this was a -60%DP success. So even with bad choices, bad luck and other things thrown in, it IS possible to succeed without formula PUG builds. Thanks to all posting in this thread (and again to SAB) for giving me the encouragement to try - and then to succeed.

I could post a screenshot - but a screenshot of a hulking warrior on his knees praying to Glint to get the Necro to goddamn hurry up and kill him already is not necessary !

mulzi · Jan 14, 2008, 02:26 PM // 14:26

holy wrath/retribution method does not work as of this morning, both in normal mode and hard mode. Duncan's wanding doesn't trigger it anymore.

Seems Anet is hell bent to only make the sacrificing/SoS gimmick the only method to defeat him now.

Xylia · Jan 14, 2008, 06:38 PM // 18:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by mulzi

Seems Anet is hell bent to only make the sacrificing/SoS gimmick the only method to defeat him now.

He's definitely beatable without a gimmick build. Swap is useful, and maybe bring a powerstone to remove DP before you fight him.

Destro Maniak · Jan 27, 2008, 09:26 PM // 21:26

I never played elite missions but I would say bring the consumable that makes -60 to +10

and use some armor of salvations, increse attack speed and stuff. Because the money used on them are gonna make you succeed. Its better to use gold then try again

Blu · Jan 28, 2008, 09:30 PM // 21:30

Just a quick question(s), but do you have to redo all of the other dungeons to get to Duncan's again after beating him? Also, does everyone in the party need to have beaten the other 3 dungeons before getting to Duncan?

tekDragon · Jan 28, 2008, 09:45 PM // 21:45

Yes and Yes... and people who dont know this are an endless source of frustration for Duncan PuGs

TheProfiler · Jan 29, 2008, 08:07 AM // 08:07

A question: do you get EOTN mastery points only for final Duncan dungeon, or u get them for every other of the 4 areas?
Cuz as a Dervish (my primary char) i have little or no way of doing Duncan in HM, no PUG will take me. But i already have him in NM (from the time when you could get taxi, so i didnt kill other bosses).
Did him many times NM and HM with ma monk tho.

So i'm thinking on skipping Duncan HM for MAster of the north title, if possible...just dont know if i have to kill other 4 bossess to get points or only Duncan counts towards title...

gerg-nad · Jan 31, 2008, 07:24 PM // 19:24

I have a monk suggestion that I think many folks that play a OF tank team build, used in many places such as Slaver's, should take to heart. First off, even though they have nerfed the skill time, from 8 seconds to now 4-5 seconds depending on your level of Sunspear, Seed of Life should be taken. Also monks should be using an enchantment extension weapon, Enchantments last 20% longer.

Two monks that are often used are an HB and a Bonder. The typical Bonder is the following (although some put dismiss condition instead of VB):
Protection: 12 + 1 + 3 Divine Favor: 12 + 1
[skill]Zealous Benediction[/skill][skill]protective spirit[/skill][skill]blessed signet[/skill][skill]vital blessing[/skill][skill]life bond[/skill][skill]balthazar's spirit[/skill][skill]rebirth[/skill]

And I propose a one skill change for the HB monk that will make a large difference from the typical build. Often either Holy Haste or some other skill is brought, but I suggest having the HB monk bring Life Bond as well.

Healing: 12 + 1 + 3 Divine Favor: 12 + 1
[skill]Healer's Boon[/skill][skill]Dwayna's Kiss[/skill][skill]ethereal light[/skill][skill]heal party[/skill][skill]glyph of lesser energy[/skill][skill]life bond[/skill][skill]rebirth[/skill]

This Life Bond on the HB monk serves two purposes, primarily benefiting the monks, but it willl take cooperation of the monks. So the the bonder monks typically puts all three bonds on the tank, vital blessing, life bond, and balthazar's spirit. In addition, the bonder should put balthazar's spirit on themselves, which I am not sure inexperience bonder know to do. As, putting balthazar spirit on themselves will give them energy everytime the tank is hit, since a little damage is passed on to the bonder through Life Bond which will trigger Balthazar's Spirit.

Well similar to this energy gain method, the HB monk will put Life Bond on the tank and the Bonder Monk then should put Balthazar's Spirit on the HB monk. So you may ask why not just use Essence Bond for the HB monk, and here is why, since both monks have Life Bond, Seed of Life will trigger through the bonds. In that way the monks can cast Seed of Life on each other which will trigger Seed of Life to work, healing the whole party. That way the monks do not have to be close to the tank to heal and it will heal the whole party in addition to the tank, this is especially true for the bonder monk, who can help with the healing by putting Seed of Life on the HB monk.

(The higher protection Life Bond takes precidence, so the tank will get the full benefit of the bonders high protection, but LB are not stackable.)
Bonder Monk Bond Target:
Tank: Vital Blessing, Life Bond, Balthazar's Spirit
Bonder Monk: Balthazar's Spirit
HB Monk: Balthazar's Spirit

HB Monk Bond Target:
Tank: Life Bond

The optimum way to do this is to have an understanding which monk goes first with Seed of Life, and then to alternate trying to avoid having it up simultaneously so to maximize the time it is up all the time. Swapping it on each other, the monks can tell when its up and when its down because it was put on them. When, Seed of Life, was at 8 seconds, with an enchantment extensions weapon (1.2*8=10),(and Divine Blessing on one monk), you could keep this up allmost all the time with two monks. Now with the nerf to 4-5 seconds, 1.2*5=6, you can cover about 1/2 the recharge time of the seed of life skill, but that is still very good. The only thing to watch out for is when the bonds are stripped it will not obviously work as intended, and for toucher (life draining skill), as this is not triggered as damage, so seed of life will not heal regardless of the whether applied through bonds or directly. So for Restless Dead direct healing skills are necessary, such as Dwayna's Kiss, and the key here is to rubber band cast this so that you avoid breaking aggro (or having the restless shadowstep to you).

So with this one skill change of the typical HB build and applying the tactics described, it can have a huge impact on the success, aggro risk, energy management, and work of the monks. Having Life Bond on the HB monk provided 3 major opportunites.
1. With Balthazar's Spirit on the Monk it will provide energy
2. Will allow swaping of Seed of Life on each monk, maximizing time applied
3. Minimizes need to be near tank so avoids breaking aggro

I know many folks know this already, so it may be nothing new, but I know many folks in my guild that have played monks have not bonded much nor played much in OF Tank teams.

Avatar Exico · Feb 03, 2008, 05:25 AM // 05:25

Ursan Blessing. only need 2 people and rest of Heros and you can clear all the Dungoens of Slayers Exile then when it comes to Duncan take a full grp. Iv Farmed the Dungeons with 1 Ursan and rest with Heros. Cleared Justical and Stormweaver With Heros in 46mins-hour tops. Team should take is this.

1-3 Ursans
MM(Blocking the Tankers and Dmg)
3 Healers(2 HB Healers and 1 RC Prot)
FS/Splinter Barrager
Dmg Dealer/BR(SF/Sandstorm/SH Ele or SS Necro works)

Jagged · Feb 05, 2008, 03:25 AM // 03:25

Can someone help with Forgewright using only H/H. I tried running Lvl 7 Ursan (I'm a Nec) with a Frozen Soil/Barrage Ranger, LoD Healer and SS Curse, Menhlo, Herta, Blood and Zho.

I'm thinking about maybe trying Sab's Heroes which is what I normally run. I didn't bring them b/c i though the MM would be useless and thought I needed to have a Ranger with Frozen Soil.

I got completely destroyed and would like some detailed help on what H/H to bring. Thanks!

bifter · Feb 05, 2008, 09:14 AM // 09:14

Spread out and take plenty of healing. Easier with a human (water) ele, but perfectly doable on other classes too. At the corridor before Forgewight, try to run through to activate the next res shrine, and eat a party wipe on the way so you res there - much easier and faster than trying to fight your way down. Obviously you'll have to take care that you don't pull all groups to the shrine and get spawn-camped, but if you're careful that is totally avoidable.

Adriaanz#Shiro · Feb 07, 2008, 07:16 PM // 19:16

Any tips on an Assassin build running here? Thanks in Advance

~shiro

xcody · Feb 16, 2008, 10:23 PM // 22:23

same here. I need ranger build with h/h. if there is one..
Thanks.. ^_^

Buzzer · Feb 19, 2008, 10:35 AM // 10:35

Had a hard time finding a duncan group as a mesmer so I had to H/H it.

1. Dom Mes
2. LoD
3. Life Sheath
4. Motigon
5. Herta
6. Devona
7. Eve
8. Lo Sha

We wiped once when a group of dwarves patrolled into us as we were fighting touchers. I didn't bring frozen soil: Herta's sandstorm + Lo Sha's Arcane Conundrum trashes them.

I knew about Swap so I used that but didn't really know what to do with Duncan himself; especially since I forgot to bring prot spirit. Eventually I ran up to fight him toe-to-toe expecting to get a beating. Spirit Rift nearly insta-killed 4 or 5 of us a few times until I realised I had to flag them out of the AoE. So that's what I did every 5 seconds for the rest of the fight. I died a few times because of my stupid use of Cry of Pain, but the rest of the party were ok. Key skills were Backbreaker, Power Return and Arcane Conundrum.

frickaline · Mar 05, 2008, 02:29 PM // 14:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adriaanz#Shiro

Any tips on an Assassin build running here? Thanks in Advance

~shiro

Yes. I've seen this done in slavers NM and HM and its amazing. It makes you wonder why anyone Obi Tanks this.

http://www.sodds.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=562

kyrickell · Apr 04, 2008, 11:33 PM // 23:33

I didn't take the time to read all of the posts in this topic.. but what I did read didn't have any builds for doing Duncan with heroes and henchman in Hard Mode.

Well, I just did it.. with relative ease, and figured I would share.

I'm also not up to snuff on how to really format the builds, so forgive me.
Myself, was a Warrior/Assassin with the following skills/attributes :
OQcSEZKT2k9F4RIW7gmani1Z
You Move Like a Dwarf, Hundred Blades, Silverwing Slash, Barbarous Slice, Whirlwind Attack, Steelfang Slash, Brawling Headbutt, Swap.
Swordsmanship 12+3 (Major+Headpiece), Strength 12+1. Norn 10, Dwarven 9, Sunspear 10.

Hero 1 : Ritualist/Ranger : OAKkgdhqITSz484648mYMmz15iB
Life, Offering of Spirit, Spirit Rift, Ancestor's Rage, Splinter Weapon, Healing Spring, Frozen Soil, Flesh of my Flesh.
Restoration 10+1, Channelling 12+3, Spawning Power 4, Wilderness Survival 7

Hero 2 : Necro/Whatever : OABDQSxGTeBdBfB1MKgqBNfVVA
Well of the Profane, Well of Suffering, Putrid Explosion, Icy Veins, Putrid Bile, Rotting Flesh, Withering Weapon, Signet of Lost Souls.
Death Magic 12+3, Soul Reaping 12+1

Hero 3 : Monk/Elementalist : OwYT0wHD1RmoFnJ31ACnGZUPAA
Rebirth, Spirit Bond, Reversal of Fortune, Shield of Absorption, Aegis, Divert Hexes, Glyph of Lesser Energy, Protective Spirit.
Protection Prayers 12+3, Divine Favor 10, Healing Prayers 8.

Note that I am lazy when it comes to runes for my heroes, and there is room for slight improvement in a couple places. Also, Monk hero had 8 healing because he previously had Gift of Health instead of Rebirth, I just forgot to respec him.

The rest of the group was Mhenlo, Lina, Herta, and Eve.

Proper aggro management is key, naturally. Combination of Splinter Weapon + Hundred Blades/Whirlwind Attack is very effective. Just make sure you don't use either when Insidious Parasite is on you. Icy Veins and Putrid Bile are usually applied on several enemies by the time one dies, causing a chain reaction of deaths.

Swap is for relocating spirits, of course.
I approached Duncan from the west, instead of using the normal hiding at the bottom of the stairs technique.

Only the rit and necro hero, along with myself, actually damaged Duncan. They were spaced out enough that spirit rift would only hit one of them. On Duncan, cycled Brawling Headbutt+Steelfang Slash to keep him knocked down a majority of the time. Occasionally had to run back to get in range of healers (As they were positioned to reach the Rit and Necro, but nowhere near Duncan really.)
Didn't use any consumables, had one wipe (which was my own fault).

Here are some screenshots of what I did with the spirits and my hero/henchman positions while fighting Duncan, as well as my crappy rewards and the time it took. Hope this provides an alternative for people not wanting to go the Obsidian Flesh or Ursan Blessing method.

http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/714/gw015wk5.jpg
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/2005/gw016oo7.jpg
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/5879/gw017ug3.jpg
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/6839/gw018azw1.jpg
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/1125/gw019axj0.jpg
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/7995/gw020akr4.jpg

Richardt · Apr 14, 2008, 05:13 AM // 05:13

So this isn't fully new, but we did Duncan in HM with a fair amount of ease with the following team setup:

Our necro though is the key-Echo+Wail of Doom. We were able to boost his attributes up to the point where Wail of Doom would last 4 sec. (for a total of 8 sec. of Duncan having zero attributes). The remaining two sec. were covered by good healing and Paragon-ness.

We didn't have a good way to incoporate Swap, so we just let our nuker have fun with the spirits while the rest of us hit Duncan.

Our Rit was a Channeling spiker with Splinter Weapon. Ele was a standard SH nuker and Livia was a N/Rt healer.

The only problem we encountered was bad tanking on Jora's end-one AoE and she was running around all over the place. When we do this again we're taking a real warrior with us.

Maaxz · May 07, 2008, 10:22 PM // 22:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by kyrickell

I didn't take the time to read all of the posts in this topic.. but what I did read didn't have any builds for doing Duncan with heroes and henchman in Hard Mode.

Well, I just did it.. with relative ease, and figured I would share.

http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/714/gw015wk5.jpg
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/2005/gw016oo7.jpg
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/5879/gw017ug3.jpg
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/6839/gw018azw1.jpg
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/1125/gw019axj0.jpg
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/7995/gw020akr4.jpg

Thank you very much for these screenshots. They helped me a great deal.

I've been trying to complete this final dungeon for over a month on and off. I've done everything from using swap and the bottom of stairs technique. I always failed miserably.

I went there with henchies ( Mhenlo, Lina, Herta and Cynn) and my heroes, Zhed(ele), Dunkoro( smiter-healer) and Master. I positioned them exactly like you indicated in the screenshots and Duncan was dead within 15 mins.

I left the henchies where yours are, placed Zhed where your ranger is, Dunkoro next to Zhed but not too close and then Master where your necro is. And hell, everything went smoothly. The henchies were just at the back, healing and resing. Lina occasionaly cast prot spirit. Zhed and Master both died only once and were immediately resed by the monks at the back. Dunkoro was also acting as healing support and attacked too.

Heroes main skills:

Dunkoro:

Bane sig
LOD
Healing ribbon
Sig of rejuvenation
Mark of pain
Smite
Reversal of damage

Zhed
Meteor shower
Reckless haste
Searing flames
Churning earth
Liquid flame

Master:
Ulcerus lungs
Sig of sorrows
sig of lost souls
Spoil victor
Lifebane strike
Order or pain

I was the warrior and since I needed a body I decided to sacrifice myself. I went in with pain inverter, which chipped a bit of his life away and then Duncan killed me after a minute. From that point, because the other monks were too far to res me anyway, I decided to control my heroes' attacks.

Dunkoro acted as a healing, attack and protect support. I also timed Zhed's nuking and that helped a lot too. Whenever Duncan was knocked down by the shower, I'd make Master cast Ulcerus Lungs on him. Then Lifebane strike. Spoil victor is definitely a must at this stage. When Master was low on enrgy I'd make him spam sig of sorrow.
Churning earth caused Duncan to run away a few times before returning to his spot and I found it a bit frustrating since the heroes would stop attacking and somehow join the henchies at the back. Fearing that Duncan would slowly gain his health back again, I had to click on meteor shower or bane and they'd go back to their position and attack Duncan again.

I sigh with relief once we were done. I had given myself 30 mins to beat him since I brought 30 mins consumables with me, apart from powerstone of courage.
Before attacking Duncan, consumables that I applied on the party: Powerstone of Courage, Grail of Might, armor of salvation and Essence of celerity and with all of those, we terminated him in 15 mins.

So yeah we did it. I can rest now.

And I'm not going back there again!

Thanks a lot Kyrikell