Curse

Farlo · May 02, 2011, 01:20 AM // 01:20

I just did Camp Rankor -> Beacon's Perch with this build (minus a ranger and plus a Warrior guildie). We only wiped once in Dreadnought's Drift and once in Lornar's due to over pulls, so it went pretty smoothly. When we only aggro'd one group, we tore through pretty much everything with ease, and even a couple groups wasn't too bad sometimes.

Snake Dance: 329 foes in 1 hour

Dreadnought's Drift: 117 foes in 29 mins

Lornar's Pass: 285 foes in 1 hour, 10 mins (Including a 10m break and a small hunt for the Merchant I summoned.)

Altogether, we did ~275 foes per hour with almost no pain, no Consets, and no Powerstones, pretty quick if you ask me

Wenspire · May 02, 2011, 01:30 AM // 01:30

Nice! Dont forget you will need dunkoro on defend (and not avoid combat) if you want him to use mirror of disenchantment; that and ogden on avoid combat if you want him not to run up into wanding range.

Farlo · May 02, 2011, 02:30 AM // 02:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wenspire

Nice! Dont forget you will need dunkoro on defend (and not avoid combat) if you want him to use mirror of disenchantment; that and ogden on avoid combat if you want him not to run up into wanding range.

Oh! Guess I had those reversed at some point, lol. Thanks a lot. I've done quite a bit more too, and it still works (duh). Have you thought of any way Razah's new abilities could benefit this? 5 rangers? haha.
Also, a guildie was mentioning he used a Panic Mesmer to shutdown casters, which seems to be something this build isn't as good at. Have any ideas on how to incorporate that without losing too much? Knocking out a ranger in caster-heavy areas was the only thing I tried.

One last note: HardMode enemies LOVE to mob on Olias since he has the rez shout, I put some armor boosting insignias on him, and that seemed to help a lot if anyone was having issues.

Wenspire · May 02, 2011, 02:44 AM // 02:44

If you really want to make things easier you could probably swap out the pMonk for an MM necro with some protect skills. The reason why I didn't do that was because I have a deep dislike of MMs and won't run one unless it is absolutely necessary.

In regards to Panic, I haven't really found a need for shutdown skills since the mass barrage damage usually kills groups fast enough. You may be able to incorporate one in place of the pMonk with some protect skills, but I don't know how well that would work out.

Farlo · May 02, 2011, 03:13 AM // 03:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wenspire

If you really want to make things easier you could probably swap out the pMonk for an MM necro with some protect skills. The reason why I didn't do that was because I have a deep dislike of MMs and won't run one unless it is absolutely necessary.

In regards to Panic, I haven't really found a need for shutdown skills since the mass barrage damage usually kills groups fast enough. You may be able to incorporate one in place of the pMonk with some protect skills, but I don't know how well that would work out.

That's a pretty weird dislike, lol. Did you get beat up by some? And yeah, there isn't a terrible need for the shutdown, but when you have a boss Monk with 2 buddy Monks, it kinda sucks. I guess that's the prep for the area though.

Bringer Of Fury · May 02, 2011, 08:13 AM // 08:13

Did duncan in HM today, worked decently (first time i tried in HM) but i guess a specific build would be better for this place.
Used Spoil Victor on the order to kill him while "tanking" myself (micro PS) and put SS Rit close to spam som spirits.
Removewd spirits around duncan with Swap.

*edit*
Also did cathedral of flames HM today.
Changed the MM for a Smite/Prot monk due to lots of undead, however i forgot to remove the "Avoid Combat" which, of cource, i did not realise until after completing it...

JohnnyFunkotron · May 02, 2011, 08:29 PM // 20:29

@ farlo and wenspire: just curious about the combined use of nra and drunken master, whats up with that? :P

Wenspire · May 02, 2011, 09:43 PM // 21:43

I use them together to reach the 33% IAS threshold. The increased run speed is also nice for when pulling. An extra benefit that some can make use of is using the insignia that gives armor while in stance, since drunken master is 100% maintainable. However, I use radiant insignias myself when using a bow. My melee set of armor uses them though.

@farlo: the MM issue I have is that it doesn't allow builds to be pushed to the limit when one is present. The damage mitigation allows other characters to be "lazy" in a sense. I feel if you really want to test how well a group build works, do it without an MM at first, ar least. That and the mess minions usually cause with overagro. Of course, I do know how useful having one in a party is. It's just a preference, of not having one, that I have developed.

Wenspire · May 03, 2011, 11:49 PM // 23:49

Arkjok Ward VQ: Was hoping to pick up a few Insect Carpaces (Nicholas week) along the way, but only ended up with 1 dropping by the end of the VQ. Is it just me or does it seem like they reduce the drop rate of the collectable during the week it is needed?...

Farlo · May 04, 2011, 03:49 AM // 03:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wenspire

@farlo: the MM issue I have is that it doesn't allow builds to be pushed to the limit when one is present. The damage mitigation allows other characters to be "lazy" in a sense. I feel if you really want to test how well a group build works, do it without an MM at first, ar least. That and the mess minions usually cause with overagro. Of course, I do know how useful having one in a party is. It's just a preference, of not having one, that I have developed.

Ah, good point, they do tend to over-simplify things, haha. I can't wait for this weekend, gonna vanq all of EotN with this build, so Sacnoth will be fun :P. I'll post screenshots if I remember.

Xiaquin · May 04, 2011, 02:39 PM // 14:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wenspire

Is it just me or does it seem like they reduce the drop rate of the collectable during the week it is needed?...

It's not just you, I've observed enough to convince myself the specific item's rate is reduced, but it's inconsistent and makes no sense as to why. It's not as simple as over-farming, either.

Wenspire · May 05, 2011, 12:43 AM // 00:43

Sunward Marches VQ (today's ZV): I wanted to try out swapping the pMonk for more utility so opted with a Necro/Mo running some prot skills and Mark of Pain.

Bar used: OANEY6td86UVtEBkt4dteU3edA

Yes, the build isn't really orthodox and has some skills that most wouldn't consider putting on a hero bar. How it worked? Well, hero AI is pretty bad at using Air of Enchantment, that's for sure. Bad enough where I think I could have just disabled it with nothing detrimental happening. However, I am unable to pick an elite skill in place of it (any suggestions?). The build is pretty energy intensive with Shield Guardian being used a decent amount. I also cannot say I like using Mark of Pain. The enemy scatter is very noticable at times. Will probably go back to using a pMonk for now until some idea pops into my head again.

Oh ya, zero Insect Carpaces dropped on the VQ...

Wenspire · May 06, 2011, 01:47 AM // 01:47

Vehtendi Valley VQ: Since today's ZB was somewhere in here, I figured I would VQ it as well. Last two groups took 15 minutes to find; I didn't see the submerged bridge on the east side of the map. I left the prot-necro in the group for self torture. No wipes and one or two heroes died through the VQ.

Bringer Of Fury · May 09, 2011, 11:50 AM // 11:50

Vaquished a few Kurzick areas today (changed order for player using some blood dmg build).
Worked nicely, except when i changed my build and remobed SY (to cap elites for other proffesions), melee was a bit of a problem in those instances.
Also did underworld (not the underworld with ectos and stuff) and after a few wipes we managed to hold our horses and not rush everything with a red dot.
UW was in NM tho, so not that hard.
The order necro does make a rather big difference, with only heroes and no capsignets vanquish and HM is really easy, with my friends build + cap signets its actually a bit challenging with the 5-6 heal/prot skills (total).
*edit*
This is the actual bar im running now.

Wenspire · May 13, 2011, 06:50 AM // 06:50

Yatendi Canyons VQ: Decided to complete a ZV I had queued up. Dropped some defense in favor of more offensive power by subbing out the pMonk for a second Splinter Rit with protection skills. Worked ok so far; though VQing is pretty easy so will see after some more testing as to how viable it ends up being. A few deaths at the Air Ele boss when I didn't see an additional fire ele in the group.

I think the best way to see how well a hero build works is to record a run (or a few encounters), and afterwards, rewatch it to see how the hero uses the bar. That's initially how I realized heroes didn't use Find Their Weakness on bow users.

Build used: OAOj8whjIPYslpxNgcXrHvukLA
*Extinguish on manual use

Also did Frostmaw on my Monk running Rangers/OoV. Ended up with Level 1-5 times of 3/6/15/17/4. Instead of a 4th Ranger, I used a Channeling-rit/Beastmaster for the extra splinter. I've been using the group setup on this character with good results so far. Well, it helps when you are also in control of the protecting instead of a hero, I guess.

Build used: OAKjYxiM5MYsf5y04648mcGaDA

Wenspire · May 16, 2011, 03:26 AM // 03:26

Ooze Pit HM: Today's ZB. Used the channeling/prot rit in place of the pMonk. Swapped in SY in place of StandardHonor skill. A few AoE deaths (more than I liked) and one wipe at the end vs bosses (pets died at the same time and a lot of blacked out bars). Ended up with 19min; a faster time than my previous attemps. EoE and enchant removal helps a lot at the end.

Xiaquin · May 16, 2011, 04:44 PM // 16:44

Nice work, Wenspire. Recently I decided to make my own ranger team (had real fails with my other theorycrafts) and I've been extremely satisfied. I'm working through booking Eye of the North in HM, still some bugs to work out, mainly energy problems with my two R/P's and ritualist.

Just curious though, what bows do you use? I started with longbows but that was a mistake, so moved all to shortbow to use with Ebsoh; 20/20, 15>50 and fortitude. Considering zealous to try to deal with energy problems.

Wenspire · May 16, 2011, 07:23 PM // 19:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wenspire

I switch between 4 bows depending on situation.
-1) 20% sundering longbow (used between battles for the en regen)
-2) vampiric shortbow (used when attacking a single target)
-3) zealous shortbow (used most of the time)
-4) zealous flatbow (used for pulling and attacking at long range if favwinds is up)

I would suggest using a zealous string if you plan on spamming 5en skills.

*EDIT* I forgot to mention, for heroes I would suggest giving them long or recurve bows. That allows them to perform an initial "spike" on any stationary group before the enemies start moving. If you give your heroes shortbows, they will run into agro range (and the group will scatter) before they will be able to send off the first attack.

Wenspire · May 17, 2011, 03:23 AM // 03:23

FoW HM: Today's ZB (Khobay). Decided to clear FoW while I was doing the ZB. I went the long route by heading to the Burning Forest earlier (Forest > Menzies > Burning Forest > Forge > Spider Cave > Khobay > Tower) so the clear time of 1:50 is slower than normal from a lot more running around killing the wolves. Ironically, the longer way for me seemed to be easier resulting in less hero deaths. Go figure that the one time I decide to bring a rez I end up never using it...

Added more hex removal on pMonk to deal with the SS/Empathy.

Wenspire · May 19, 2011, 09:26 AM // 09:26

UW NM: Today I decided I wanted to try UW a little. Since I had very little experience in here prior to the Dhuum change, and absolutely no experience after it, I went in under Normal Mode. Did three attempts:

1) reaper died at 4HM from other approaching group. didn't know how much time I had but it wasn't enough.
2) completed 4H and smite area quest. NPC died when I took the quest at Bone Pits. Didn't know a group spawns almost on top of them. Should have read the wiki...
3) cleared everything except Unwanted Guests. I wanted to try flagging the heroes at a spawn point as I took the quest and didn't realize they added more enemies since the update (again, should have read the wiki...). Didn't have a rez scroll with me so it was over. I was at 2h18m at the time.

The Ranger-group setup had very little problems in here in NM in all three attempts. The Chaos Planes area was surprisingly easy; probably since my group was light on casters. Minimal hero deaths (maybe 5 died?), and only from MeteorShower and great hero AI. Don't know how Dhuum would have worked out though. Also don't know how well HM would go. I probably won't attempt to complete it again in NM as this was never one of my favorite places to play around in. The upside for me is I got a total of 6 ecto drops in my three attempts. lol