Curse

Zeff Nut · Mar 12, 2009, 10:21 AM // 10:21

Was not sure where to post this as it isn't a farm build per say as it is a team build but my main is a war so I'm posting here.

What I'm looking for is some advice or ideas on how to make this build better/faster. After doing many trial and error runs I have Frostmaw's down so I can do it HM with no cons in 1hr 40 mins with this H/H team. (Wish I could even have just 1 more hero)

OK, I take the Healer, Prot, Earth Ele, and Mes henchies then these are what I run on the heros and myself

Myself
[build=OQQUcy4Q5aS0kyl2k9FfCWC+FTNA]

Pyre
[build=OgojctZ6qSgbghPGqGVgFHrGCAA]

Olias
[build=OANEQTxW+5sUrCoB8Q9IgUV1iA]

Norgu
[build=OQZDA4wpO6uMoFQ1BLMFogRI]

Also, myself and heros all have maxed armor, runes and insignias, Norgu uses a staff which gives him 68 energy so he never has energy issues, Olias is pretty much a Sabway MM, Pyre uses an ebon bow so gets the blinding in also, I'm using a max sword, +30, +15^50, zealous and a tactics shield with a +60 while hexed and a 20% less poison insc and have 20% less weakness and blindness rune on armor. I realize whirlwind attack would be good on this bar but I just didn't have room. Although when worms pop or mandragors and stormclouds go after the bears and minions.... hit mark of pain, weakened armor, HB and sun and moon slash, things die fast and the numbers fly! This has been very reliable for me but I have only taken it this far, now I'm looking for input. Also if anyone else does this dungeon regularly and wants company feel free to PM me ingame, IGN Zeff Nut.

**Marty Silverblade** · Mar 12, 2009, 10:47 AM // 10:47

Ok, it's late at night and I'm not thinking, but heres what I'm seeing:

1) Why do you have Sever Artery? It's only purpose is Gash, but you don't have that. Can't you throw in WA instead?
2) Whay do you have 9 Tactics with no Tactics skills? Unless its for your shield, of course. You might want to show the Str setup if thats the case because most people have Str shields now.

Zeff Nut · Mar 12, 2009, 10:57 AM // 10:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marty Silverblade

Ok, it's late at night and I'm not thinking, but heres what I'm seeing:

1) Why do you have Sever Artery? It's only purpose is Gash, but you don't have that. Can't you throw in WA instead?
2) Whay do you have 9 Tactics with no Tactics skills? Unless its for your shield, of course. You might want to show the Str setup if thats the case because most people have Str shields now.

I had Sever Artery because it causes bleeding, so degen over time(24 secs) and it's low adrenaline cost (only4) however I could give WA a shot there and see what happens. And yes 9 in tacts to meet shield req and just because I happened to have this tact shield set up like this, in fact this build uses no strength or tactics skills so either str or tact shield will work. This is really my 1st attempt at doing something like this with a sword, I've been a pretty die hard axe and strength shield guy from the start.

avantix · Mar 12, 2009, 11:17 AM // 11:17

Don't remeber my build here as I am at work but Str and axe is the way to go really

Zidane Ortef · Mar 12, 2009, 11:30 AM // 11:30

Set up looks fine but drop the points in Tactics get yourself a Str. Shield for the sole purpose that Str. will end up giving you more damage potential as this is the full function of having points in Str.

Strenght: Each rank gives an additional 1% armor penetration when using attack skills and increases the effectiveness of linked skills.

9 in str. will give you 9% AP when you use Sever and Gash which over time the sundering hits you get will add up compared to you have 3%.

Luminarus · Mar 12, 2009, 12:08 PM // 12:08

Body Blow for Sever? You have the cracked, y not use the deep wound. Put all your points from tactics into str.

RYCHER969 · Mar 12, 2009, 12:19 PM // 12:19

my 2 cents:

Minions get wiped fast, i prefer w o p necro/mes with hex removal

Load Norgu with 7 interupts + hex eater, this will lessen seiges + bile

Swap derv hero with sf ele/mes, hav ele pack cry of frustration for aoe interupt

Archress Shayleigh · Mar 12, 2009, 02:00 PM // 14:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zidane Ortef

Strenght: Each rank gives an additional 1% armor penetration when using attack skills and increases the effectiveness of linked skills.

9 in str. will give you 9% AP when you use Sever and Gash which over time the sundering hits you get will add up compared to you have 3%.

True. STR gives u AP which helps alot, so i would recommend getting a str shield instead of tactics

smilingscar · Mar 12, 2009, 03:20 PM // 15:20

Personally, I would drop Pyre and just grab Aidan. This is what I would bring instead:

[Curses Rit; OASjcwhjIT2BWCYMXblTHXYgCAA]

Right there you've got your interrupts, your aoe, condition removal, melee debuffing, and it may even free up some skill slots on your bar if you decide to drop your MoP. Has good synergy if you ever bring a N/rt healer, and works just about as well as a curses N/rt too.

Other than that, Norgu needs some offense but that's about it.

Zeff Nut · Mar 12, 2009, 04:40 PM // 16:40

Thank you all for your input so far, hasn't been picked apart as much as I feared it may, to all those that suggest str shield, you're right, I'll just swap shields, I forgot about the armor penetration bonus from strength, that'll be an easy fix. To Smilingscar, I've tried using Aidan and do for several things, for this dungeon the earth ele seems to work better for me, keep in mind this is the only place I run this team build, for most things I just load up my fav axe build, sabs necs and merrily plow my way through whatever area I'm doing. I think that's why I like this dungeon so much, it's actually forced me to switch my way of thinking and the way I normally play. Also I have tried several different bars on Norgu, he used to die a lot, had him as a mes/mo at one point, but once I added the wards and kinetic armor he's much more durable and his sole purpose is hex removal, which he seems to keep up with rather well. To Rycher969, you're right, in some cases minions go down fast, but are they ever a good meat shield to absorb inital damage from groups of stormclouds and mandragors, those things hit dam hard in HM.

TheodenKing · Mar 12, 2009, 05:14 PM // 17:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeff Nut

I had Sever Artery because it causes bleeding, so degen over time(24 secs) and it's low adrenaline cost (only4) however I could give WA a shot there and see what happens. And yes 9 in tacts to meet shield req and just because I happened to have this tact shield set up like this, in fact this build uses no strength or tactics skills so either str or tact shield will work.

Tactics does nothing for you unless you use tactics skills. Strength gives you armor pen. [whirlwind attack] > [sever artery]. It's not like you need the condition for anything... you already have pyre blinding everything.

I know hexes are heavy, but isn't Norgu's bar a little overkill?

Loki Seiguro · Mar 12, 2009, 05:19 PM // 17:19

I'd say go axe war, whilrwind, cylcone axe and maybe triple chop for elite. I understand why you are using 100 blades butjust try it out. Cuase you seem to be going for the AoE effect and cylcone + whirlwind will accomplish that. not to mention, if memory serves me right, whirlwind is adrine?..w8 never I forgot the recharge time otherwise you could WW, CA, then WW again.

elk · Mar 12, 2009, 05:50 PM // 17:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeff Nut

I had Sever Artery because it causes bleeding, so degen over time(24 secs) and it's low adrenaline cost

degen over time isn't something you should be looking for though. Most of the aggro can or will clump (i.e. wurms) and therefore you want to pour out as much AoE or direct dmg as you can (degen on a wurm isn't super efficent and I think you're posting to try and improve that?). Splinter/ MoP are good starts.

I'd also suggest PvE skills like [whirlwind attack] and [asuran scan] ( [pain inverter] is great though for this dungeon too!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by RYCHER969

my 2 cents:

Minions get wiped fast, i prefer w o p necro/mes with hex removal

Load Norgu with 7 interupts + hex eater, this will lessen seiges + bile

Swap derv hero with sf ele/mes, hav ele pack cry of frustration for aoe interupt

actually you want the wurms to cast bile most of the time for pain inverter (that is conditional to your party's hp). You can basically pop the wurm from its siege attack or wurm bile this way. You need to compenstate with more party team heals (LoD, Heal Party/ ether renewal ele, Life/ Protective was Kaolai N/Rt etc. Even things like the D/N from paragon Racway has the right idea)

Minons also do help soak up some of the dmg especially if they are blowing up and also help increase the output of pain inverter.

I'm not able to post up the builds my guildie and I were using to farm the dungeon (not at home and don't recall them all specifically) but he monked it with a heal party/UA build and I was running a splinter barrage. We both had pain inverter along with tons of AoE and minons.

I hope this is of some help in build mods (sorry..run out of time here at lunch)

elk

Zeff Nut · Mar 12, 2009, 07:12 PM // 19:12

Again thanks for the input, I just did another run, spec'd 9 in str, changed to an r9 str shield +30hp poison 20%shorter duration, swapped body blow in for severed artery left everything else as is and knocked 10 mins off my time, made my day as I wanted to get down to at least the 1hr 30min mark. To Loki, as I said earlier I'm pretty much an axe guy all the way and have tried several different axe builds in Frostmaws and tbh, I never got the results I'm getting with this. To TheodenKing, I've mucked around with Norgu's bar a bunch and while it may seem like overkill, it's actually just about right, he's takin care of the whole party and between recharges and the time taken up from inspired hex and revealed hex being uncastable, it seems just fine. To Elk, you're right you want the worms to go off, hit them with PI and it does great damage with all the minions runnin around and yes degen over time was/is not really efficient here and I think I solved a big part of that specing back into str and putting in body blow. Also that's why I'd like more heros or another person who's familiar with the dungeon to tweak the last couple bars instead of static henchies (even though they seem to be workin OK) I've tried with a couple different friends and it just didn't work out as they didn't understand the area even though they're good players. Anyway, I've achieved my goal on this one, any more improvement will just be a bonus. Again thanks to all who replied!

Hugh Manatee · Mar 12, 2009, 09:35 PM // 21:35

This is a little far out, but I used to farm the sand wurms that dropped bleached shells in the crystal desert outside dunes of despair back when those were popular for that crud shield(then factions came out and added like 50 traders with that same shield...)

Anyway it went something like :

[gladiator's defense][riposte][deadly riposte][dolyak signet][healing signet][mantra of earth](they do earth damage when they pop up, and I think their attacks were earth based)[sever artery][gash]

First thing I thought when I heard "wurm dungeon" was that old build and it worked well enough. It was NM, and this was right when EotN was released so I didn't have many pve skills, I just loaded it from memory and took it for a spin. You just stay way ahead of your heroes, if you pop the incubutts get in your dolyak sig and call em in to deal with it.

tyrant rex · Mar 12, 2009, 09:53 PM // 21:53

im also a war primary and h/h frostmaws in an hour heres my build

me-finish him/i am unstopable/savage slash/sun and moon/dslash/drunken master/dpact

talk/ogden-roj/smite hex/smite condi/reversal of dmng/smiters boon/castigation sig/bane sig/res sig

dunk-prot spir/rc/rof/shield of abs/shielding hands/pdrain/leech sig/aegis

the 2 monk henchies and the 2 rangers henchies , basiclly its a really easy run as long as you pull mobs to walls and use the norn guys as blockers/to take stormcloud initial aggro

marmar256 · Mar 12, 2009, 10:06 PM // 22:06

he cant take WA as he already has 3 PvE skills on his bar and i havent tried frostmaws on my war yet so thanks for posting this thread gonna have to try it out

_Nihilist_ · Mar 13, 2009, 09:26 PM // 21:26

Zeff, Inspired/Revealed Hex should instantly recharge when used on Wurm Bile. Since it's a monster skill, they can't copy it, and instead are ready to use immediately. You might want to disable these 2 skills on Norgu when you aren't facing a Wurm so that you can change his build up a bit to get some more out of it.

Zeff Nut · Mar 14, 2009, 12:39 AM // 00:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyrael_Eveningsong

Zeff, Inspired/Revealed Hex should instantly recharge when used on Wurm Bile. Since it's a monster skill, they can't copy it, and instead are ready to use immediately. You might want to disable these 2 skills on Norgu when you aren't facing a Wurm so that you can change his build up a bit to get some more out of it.

You're right about the instant recharge on worm bile, really I have no issues with Norgu atm, like I said I have tried several bars on him and everything from offense to healing to interupting (along with the hex removal), so far this has served best with the rest of the build. Don't want to tinker too much as overall working pretty good now and consistant, always willing to look at options though. I more farm this than try and just run/plow through it, meaning I go out of my way for chests and probably kill more foes than I actually have to so if it takes me 1 1/2 hours to do instead of 1 I'm OK with that. My main goal when I started was: do it in HM, no cons, consistantly finish in a reasonable time.

_Nihilist_ · Mar 14, 2009, 02:01 AM // 02:01

Just a suggestion, mebbe [[[email protected]] or since the Wurms can't move, [[[email protected]] (sort of out there, but hey, if they can't move, they're gonna take full damage, right - even more when they attack; you already specced into Earth Magic for the Wards...)? That is, when/if you start trying variants.