Curse

Laraja · Feb 23, 2009, 10:05 PM // 22:05

I was hanging out in Umbral Grotto this weekend--I swear the people there speak another acronym language that I can't decipher--anyway, there were multiple groups that were VSFing which I found out was Voltaic Spear Farming. One group added me but I had to quit as I had NO clue what to do.

So, next time I'm asked (I would like to go because I just like going out with other people never mind the VSFing) as a ranger what build would I be expected to bring? Barrage? Interrupt? Trap? Other? I'm pretty good as either a barrage ranger or an interrupt ranger but haven't really worked on skillls as a trapper. I have a mesmer secondary that I use for condition spreading. I also have most major ranger elites.

Also, to VSF, do you go into Vloxen Excavations? Do the Voltaic spears come from the end chest?

I tried to find a relevent thread (Index of farming builds) I didn't find it helpful as far as the questions I have and, perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems like those builds are mostly for solo farming in HM? I did also look on PvXwiki but again, nothing very detailed on what VSF farming is.

Stimm · Feb 23, 2009, 10:27 PM // 22:27

You ll find that VSF revolves around using the mesmer PvE skill Cry of Pain. Ive only done 1 of these runs but what happens is the Permasin runs to the Slavers Dungeon and then to the end boss. He leads him to the wall where the rest of the team is waiting on the other side and they spam cry of pain after a hex is placed on the target. A ranger usually brings a few spirits to speed things up.

This is the "cliffs notes" version as Ive said Ive only done 1 of these but its hot hard to get whats going on.

lewis91 · Feb 23, 2009, 10:31 PM // 22:31

as for a ranger, you'd expect to run only one type of build, and thats called FS

FS consists of Frozen Soil, but also you'd be expected to be /Rt and bring the skill Gaze of Fury to destroy any spirits. Also another good spirit to bring is edge of extinction. and you'd be expected to just sit there and keep FS and EoE up.

Lazygrim · Feb 23, 2009, 10:38 PM // 22:38

alright so yes vsf is voltaic spear farming. You collect a group consisting of 1 perma sin 1 ranger with frozen soil gaze of fury and other spirits and then 6 cry of pain nukers or Ray of judgment nukers. you then go into verdant cascades and run to the slavers exile dungeon. Once inside you go to the thommis dungeon. you then let the perma run to the boss and draw him to a wall. You then nuke him and all his friends. Once all defeated, the wall disappears and you can get the endchest which may drop a voltaic spear. A good run takes 3-5 minutes.

Laraja · Feb 24, 2009, 01:38 AM // 01:38

Thanks everyone, this is exactly the information I was looking for. And now that I know, I'm not sure it's for me. However, I may try it once just to say I have. I'm not much for farming, but there were so many people grouping at Umbral Grotto for VSF that I had to know what it was and what exactly it entailed.

Mustache Mayhem · Feb 24, 2009, 07:22 AM // 07:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lazygrim

alright so yes vsf is voltaic spear farming. You collect a group consisting of 1 perma sin 1 ranger with frozen soil gaze of fury and other spirits and then 6 cry of pain nukers or Ray of judgment nukers. you then go into verdant cascades and run to the slavers exile dungeon. Once inside you go to the thommis dungeon. you then let the perma run to the boss and draw him to a wall. You then nuke him and all his friends. Once all defeated, the wall disappears and you can get the endchest which may drop a voltaic spear. A good run takes 3-5 minutes.

from inside not from town.. I was wondering what a typical pug was like timewise without me playing perma (played roj cryer just for the heck of it)- long story short 3 runs an hour including party formation

had one perma totally fail =p one of the 3 we had a group where the cryers were able to wipe the group in one pull.. thing that's crazy I got a pyroclastic axe r9 and amethyst shield r11 in those three runs.. so I can't complain

the h/h is a much better farm timewise.. no unknowns to deal with

Tommy's · Feb 24, 2009, 10:37 AM // 10:37

First of all, I would suggest you do something better with your life then VSF. Its just an failing think to do in my opinion. But if you still like to do it, ill explain the build for ranger.

All you got to do is place FS (frozen soil) in range of the enemies, so they don't res.
If someone important dies on your team, you can use Gaze on FS spirit and res him.
Also place EoE (Edge of Extinction) in range of the enemies. EoE is there to kill the enemies quicker.

As soon as you killed Thomnis, the wall breaks. Then you need to wait on the perma to lure the resting enemies away, and you can go to the chest and get the drops.

Possible good drops are Amethyst Aegis, Voltaic Spear, Pyroclastic Axe, Embersteel blade (correct me if I'm wrong here) Stormbow, but don't count too much on getting those.

And no, you don't go to Vloxen Excavations, thats another dungeon, you let the Perma run to Slavers Exile.

misshissyfit · Jun 16, 2009, 05:08 AM // 05:08

What skill bar exactly am I expected to have for this?
There seem to be a certain set of people at Umbral Grotta (actually all over the game) that are REALLY MEAN about your set up. I have done Justiciar Thommas several times with NICE groups who asked nothing more from me than to sit there and use FS, so normally I take nothing more than my usual barrage/splinter setup and throw in FS right?
Last night someone looking for an FS ranger just added me, asked me to ping my skills and then booted me? wth? That was SO rude? Is that NORMAL in vsf? sheeesh

**Marty Silverblade** · Jun 16, 2009, 06:46 AM // 06:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by misshissyfit

asked me to ping my skills and then booted me? wth? That was SO rude? Is that NORMAL in vsf? sheeesh

That tends to be normal anywhere. Here's the thing to understand: most people are really really stupid and lack the capacity to use their brains. If they see a build with one minor modification to the build on PvX then "your an absolute failure at life gtfo noob". Sad, but it happens.

riktw · Jun 16, 2009, 07:47 AM // 07:47

http://pvx.wikia.com/wiki/Build:Team_-_RoJ_VS_Farm
there are the VSF builds, and as ranger your supposed to run a build that looks like the build on pvx.
if you bring barrage its useless becouse there is an big wall between you and the enemies.
and as far as i know you cant shoot though a wal(never tried it in VSF so correct me if i am wrong)

so if you run barraga i can understand why you are kicked.

misshissyfit · Jun 16, 2009, 09:19 AM // 09:19

really riktw? Why the freak would it matter if I have barrage in my skill bar?
I've gone 6 times again tonight and I click FS and GoF and that's it, so WHAT does it matter what else is in my bar? I'm not using them.
I guess those type people serve a purpose after all, weeds out the mean people and leaves the nice ones to play with.
The people I went with tonight (2 different parties) could of cared less what I had other than FS and GoF, so go figure.

*LOL I just noted the posts in order. Reading Marty's and then having it followed by riktw's is too funny for words.*

argh · Jun 18, 2009, 03:34 AM // 03:34

I'm not sure the drop rates now but when this farm first came out, I got 3 VS in 4 days. So it's a pretty good farm. But I haven't tried it for the past X months.