Curse

Hand of Ruin · Jul 20, 2006, 05:58 PM // 17:58

I need some advice about how to effectively kill these damned things while totem farming.

I swear these were designed to mess up the W/Mo. Any enchants get shattered dealing me damage, and any healing spells I use get interrupted. So I'm forced to sit there with -6 degeneration, trying to spike them off one by one then running for my life before I die. It takes me almost twenty minutes to clear a small mob of 5-6... Obvsiously not effective.

So can anyone give me advice on how to deal with these things? The rest of the run is easy enough, but these are slowing me down considerably.

remmeh · Jul 20, 2006, 06:40 PM // 18:40

Question: what do you use the /mo for? Shatter enchantment and Cry of Frustration are pretty anti-monk period... since /mo means lots of enchantment spells that can be interrupted.

A few options if you can afford to change your secondary:
/Rt: Resilient Weapon (precast it)
/R: Melandru's Resilience (ofc this sacrifices your elite)

dndhatcher · Jul 20, 2006, 09:23 PM // 21:23

There are a couple options I use.
1> Go the other way. Kill the roots you can get to and maybe any protected only by small groups of riders. They only drop stupid fans and are not worth the effort.

2> Bring a friend. Tag team attacking and RTFAing so you get continuous pressure on them while you get to run back out of aggro, signet then run back in while your friend RFTAs. You can get through them much faster and not let damaged ones heal in between.

I dont know of anything that they are unable to interrupt with cry. I also dont know any skill that will last long enough to keep you up while you chip away at them. Melandrus resilience may help, but I am concerned they will be able to interrupt it (they should not be able to, but I think they can - they interrupt cyclone axe which also has a zero time). I dont think resilient weapon is going to last long enough to really help much.

(someone is going to ask, so here is the answer: RTFA = Run The Heck Away)

Hand of Ruin · Jul 21, 2006, 12:34 AM // 00:34

The monk skills I use are pretty important, and it would be a real pain to do it without them.

I use live viscariousity and vigorous spirit to gain 23 health every time I hit, which helps reduce the 29 damage from holy wrath on the damned life pods to 6. When I first tried the run the life pods took FOREVER because I was having to constantly heal myself and couldn't put out enough DPS to overcome their constant healing one another. With those two skills I can clear the pods in 1-2 minutes now though.

So I don't think changing 2nd to ranger is an option for this run...

VitisVinifera · Jul 21, 2006, 12:49 AM // 00:49

hack one or two, run back, heal, run back in.....simple strategy

I soloed the place as a wammo with mend/balth spir back in the very first day and had no idea those enchants would get stripped, and still managed it solo easy

so just take your time and DONT DIE!!!!!

edit: just have good axe attack skills. I literally used my exact ettin farm build for this, not knowing what to expect

Hand of Ruin · Jul 21, 2006, 03:02 PM // 15:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by VitisVinifera

hack one or two, run back, heal, run back in.....simple strategy

I soloed the place as a wammo with mend/balth spir back in the very first day and had no idea those enchants would get stripped, and still managed it solo easy

so just take your time and DONT DIE!!!!!

edit: just have good axe attack skills. I literally used my exact ettin farm build for this, not knowing what to expect

Ok? I can cut down a tree with a butter knife... does that mean I should use a butter knife whenever I need to cut down a tree?

The point is I want to farm efficiently. You can apply your ettin build wherever you go if that's what you want to do... I on the other hand have a sense of efficiency I like to maintain...

Count Feanor · Jul 21, 2006, 04:21 PM // 16:21

I actually do it VitisVinifera's way when dealing with Windryders. It doesn't actually take very long at all. I usually hack one or two down, then run off. I bring endure pain if the degen is too much. Then I heal and come back to kill the rest. Or you could try and avoid them. As a Warrior trying to solo, I'm not sure what else you can do. If you're a Wammo, then you could possibly bring spell shield, but your skills will be disabled for so many seconds. I've never tested it. If someone else can suggest a better way, then cool, but this has been the best way that I've been able to find.

MalVeauX · Jul 21, 2006, 04:31 PM // 16:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hand of Ruin

I need some advice about how to effectively kill these damned things while totem farming.

I swear these were designed to mess up the W/Mo. Any enchants get shattered dealing me damage, and any healing spells I use get interrupted. So I'm forced to sit there with -6 degeneration, trying to spike them off one by one then running for my life before I die. It takes me almost twenty minutes to clear a small mob of 5-6... Obvsiously not effective.

So can anyone give me advice on how to deal with these things? The rest of the run is easy enough, but these are slowing me down considerably.

Heya,

I'll try to save you a potential headache in several areas. I kill the Roots for Totem Axes as well, though I prefer a Ranger for the job (it's easier in my opinion), but I've done it with Warrior as well.

The simple answer: you need flexibility, more options. This comes from weapons and other such things.

1 - Take a bow. Keep it on a Weapon Switch. You will want to argo and pull Life Pods away from Roots one at a time.

2 - Take multiple weapons with differing damage types. You want Fire Damage because it kills Pods faster than any other damage type. As a Warrior, the only way to do this is with your weapon (rangers can take kindle arrows and do it without taking additional gear).

3 - Live Vicariously/Vigorous Spirit should be dropping off while fighting Wind Riders. All you need to fight Riders is a Heal Signet and a Running Skill. I'll go into this later.

4 - Killing the Life pods is a pain, but that's because you're walking up to fight three at a time. Don't do this. Use your argo bubble and walk just close enough to get near the Root and near one life pod. It will emerge, and no others will. Stop there, switch to a bow of any kind and attack the little buggar. He will generally attack you, or heal, etc. Just pull him away from the Root. When he's far enough away, switch to your attacking weapon of choice and go to town on him. Use a fire weapon of any kind. They take insane double damage from fire attacks. Two hits will end him if you are using a firey axe or sword. Take one just for Life Pods. Do this to all three Life Pods. Once you've pulled and killed each one, without argoing all of them at once, you're free to go beat down your Root.

5 - Fighting Wind Riders takes patience. The key is to watch how they behave. If you argo one, and attack it, then several will come. Usually 4 to 5 of them. However, if you pull them away (just jog backwards), and then use your Sprint (or whatever running skill you use), they will break away. However, you'll notice one of them will probably not run back to the original location. Go kill him with your normal attacks. One is an effortless job. As you re-approach the area, the rest are going to auto-argo and come running for you, even if they're not close. Do the same thing until they're all dead.

While fighting them, forget enchantments. You will just have it removed instantly. Instead, just go to town on one of them until it's low health. They will attempt to Cry of Frustration you early so long as you're using skills (they only do it once, each, until they're out. Then you have a good 20 seconds before they ever use it again). They will attempt to use Cry on any skill, no matter what it is. Let them Cry your attack skills. Once you've been Cry'd the same number of times as there are Riders attacking you, use your Heal Sig instantly. You will get all your health and be fine. Their degen doesn't stack and their normal attacks should be doing very little damage (2, 3, tops?). If you're low on health (less than half, like 30% health) then turn and use Sprint. Heal up, and run back. They will argo again, keep doing it until they're gone.

Just play smart and you'll get 'em just fine, solo.

Cheers!

kanuks · Jul 21, 2006, 09:32 PM // 21:32

I Solo farmed the whole area except one boss. The key to survive against the wind riders is victory is mine. I used flurry, sever artery, gash, galrath slash or final thrust, victory is mine, healing signet, watch yourself, sprint. Superior Swordsmanship and Tactics rune of course.

Whats actually funny is that i farmed this area cause im shooting for the 100% exploration title. At my great surprise i found 2 totem axes and 2 forgotten fangs, green items i had absolutely no clue about their existence

.

**Marty Silverblade** · Jul 21, 2006, 09:47 PM // 21:47

Go W/R. They can handle anything out there. I've run twice and got 2 totem axes and a gold sword that someone offered me 5k for.

Anyway, it's technically my build, but I based it on one I got off GuildWiki.

1.Sever Artery
2.Gash
3.Final Thrust
4.Sprint
5.'Shields Up'
6.Healing Signet
7.Melandru's Resilience
8.Troll Ungeunt

Swordsmanship-14+
Tactics-9
Wilderness Survival-10
Strength-All spare

Take a longbow with you aswell, so you can take out the life pods one on one.

Easy to use, kills all you have to kill without when you can't run past.

Rera · Jul 21, 2006, 11:21 PM // 23:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by dndhatcher

Melandrus resilience may help, but I am concerned they will be able to interrupt it (they should not be able to, but I think they can - they interrupt cyclone axe which also has a zero time).

Not directly related to the original topic, but this needs to be corrected. First of all, cyclone axe does not have 'zero time'. Attack skills with no casting time execute at the same speed as your normal attack animation - in the case of cyclone axe, this is generally 1.33s. Melandru's Resilience is a stance, and therefore cannot be interrupted.

mutig drachen · Jul 22, 2006, 03:34 AM // 03:34

For me its w/r that does the job

Anyways does any1 find that one life pod just sits there taking hits cos i dont know if its a glitch or not? but mine do so i have no trouble killing them wind riders on the other hand, as several people have said just run in and kill 1 or 2 then run away and heal=simple

Can some1 get back to me on life pods tho

Dollztempta · Jul 22, 2006, 07:20 PM // 19:20

Wind Riders are easy, pull with longbow to you and start hitting on it. When 1 is killed sprint out and heal, rinse and repeat.

I'm more worried about those Life Pods, people say its easy to kill but when there is 5 of them (5 Life Pods = Mursaat monk lol) They all heal each other and I cannot kill them fast enough.

dndhatcher · Jul 28, 2006, 11:56 PM // 23:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by VitisVinifera

edit: just have good axe attack skills. I literally used my exact ettin farm build for this, not knowing what to expect

Uh - I dont think you have tried this recently. I went out a couple nights ago just for fun. They can interrupt ANYTHING now including attack skills like Cyclone axe and even adrenal attacks like Penetrating Blow and Cleave. Max your attribute and dont use any skills unless you are prepared to handle the first one being cry-ed (and if there are 3 or 4 in range maybe more).

dndhatcher · Jul 29, 2006, 12:06 AM // 00:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rera

Not directly related to the original topic, but this needs to be corrected. First of all, cyclone axe does not have 'zero time'. Attack skills with no casting time execute at the same speed as your normal attack animation - in the case of cyclone axe, this is generally 1.33s. Melandru's Resilience is a stance, and therefore cannot be interrupted.

It is off topic but interesting nonetheless.

I see what you are saying about why it works like it does. I just want to say that it dont think it makes sense that they can interrupt an attack that is bolstered by an attack skill, but are not able to interrupt a regular attack. I went out and confirmed they can interrupt ANY attack skill even adrenal ones like penetrating blow. (Which would mean they would be able to interrupt my interrupt - totally unfair and nonsensical.)

Question for you human mesmers out there? Can you interrupt Warrior adrenal attack skills?

dndhatcher · Jul 29, 2006, 12:13 AM // 00:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dollztempta

I'm more worried about those Life Pods, people say its easy to kill but when there is 5 of them (5 Life Pods = Mursaat monk lol) They all heal each other and I cannot kill them fast enough.

I have never had a problem with the Life pods. I have also never aggroed more than 3 at a time. I also carry a Firey Axe that frequently does 130 damage per hit on them. You can move in close - aggro one or two and move back. They will follow you then you can pound them. How did you manage to aggro 5 at once? Had to be more than one group. You should have backed up and pulled the two groups apart.

Bonehead632 · Jul 29, 2006, 07:28 PM // 19:28

I just found this area 2 days ago with my rit/mes.....using the normal VWK build I set out......winds were a bear......on second attempt....I equipped mantra of resolve.....wind problem solved......now if I can just figure out how to get rid of the life pods.....I can kill the roots before the pods pop up, but in order to collect your goodies......you have to pop the pods....then they stick with you to the next root and so on ....real pain

Knoobish · Jul 29, 2006, 10:52 PM // 22:52

Cry of frustration can interrupt warrior attack skills, it's pretty easy against a non-frenzied warrior.

I use a charge sword warrior, something like...

15 sword
11 tactics
11 strength

Charge {E}
Sprint
Healing Signet
Shields Up
Sever
Gash
Galrath
Frenzy

Just run into wind riders, kill 3 or 4, run out. Don't bother using healing signet while trying to fight them, they'll just use cry and interrupt it. Use frenzy against wind riders: most damage they do is through degen, so double damage wand hits is nothing. Just power through them, always keeping frenzy up. When fighting the root behemoths/life pods, don't use frenzy. Holy wrath will kill you if you do, and the root behemoths deal a decent amount of damage anyways. Frenzy is only for wind riders, and any mobs you notice don't have holy wrath on them.

Have fun!