Curse

[Nika] · Mar 10, 2011, 01:30 PM // 13:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhavv

The other areas were already complete with real players yes. I'll try complete mallyx, and then try all the areas.

If i would be you, i would start with Veil.
Because Mallyx is pretty hard because you can't use hexes conditions and enches...

bhavv · Mar 10, 2011, 01:49 PM // 13:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by [Nika]

If i would be you, i would start with Veil.
Because Mallyx is pretty hard because you can't use hexes conditions and enches...

I knew about the enchantments, but didnt know about the no hexes or conditions

I'll try with 3 rits and whatever else I can make work.

timbo_3101 · Mar 10, 2011, 01:59 PM // 13:59

Mallyx is actually simpler than the four prerequisites. Only the combined groups 18 and 19 may cause grief ...
After defeating groups 18 and 19, I suggest that you immediately cancel the cutscene and run outside immediately before the gate closes, so you can isolate Mallyx away from his four spirits and summons. Deactivate all hero enchantments/conditions/hexes then just bodyblock him outside for a fast kill. Learnt this from DwG farming.
(It takes around 20-30sec to run from the field to the door, so plan ahead otherwise you will need Gaze of Fury etc etc, becomes complicated.)
Good luck.

greenough · Mar 10, 2011, 02:26 PM // 14:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhavv

I knew about the enchantments, but didnt know about the no hexes or conditions

I'll try with 3 rits and whatever else I can make work.

the way i did it made it really easy, just used the same builds i did for the rest of doa, but dropped the mm i was using and loaded a mez with union, shelter, and some other defensive spirits, went inside and flagged hero's by the door, got his argo and just let the spirits do the work.

make sure u remove the your hero's weapons before going in. keep the focus items and shields on them though. disable all hexes and conditions and let the spirits do all the work. when the spawns come set your hero's to target them and just micro the hexes like panic and SS onto them. took 19 minutes with just a essence. only problem with flagging by the door is that i found he would tele you threw the door and back outside sometimes but would always bring u back.

bhavv · Mar 10, 2011, 02:32 PM // 14:32

I have a really good build that is working for malyx - 3 rits (SoS, SOGM, ST), 100 blade warrior, 2 invoke ellys, Healing Burst monk, and me as E/Mo (would avoid using enchants at malyx and disable the elly attunemets + auras) ...

However I keep getting party wiped at the wave of several tortureweb dryders

hrusha · Mar 10, 2011, 02:55 PM // 14:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by bhavv

I have a really good build that is working for malyx - 3 rits (SoS, SOGM, ST), 100 blade warrior, 2 invoke ellys, Healing Burst monk, and me as E/Mo (would avoid using enchants at malyx and disable the elly attunemets + auras) ...

However I keep getting party wiped at the wave of several tortureweb dryders

I think I had SoS/Resto, ST, SoGM (N/Rt), mesmers with esurge/edrain + non-hex mesmer spells (also with some resto), N/Rt healer with Consume Soul, and a Defensive Anthem Para (was trying to use stuff from the Mallyx heroway build on PvX, don't think it was that useful). Definitely suboptimal builds for a bunch of them. I just avoided having any enchantments or hexes.

I was D/W AoG with random non-teardown scythe attacks. The waves weren't hard. Mallyx got a bit close at the end, but I didn't do any micro besides Consume Soul. This was NM, no cons.

Maybe changing the eles to mesmers could help you with the dryders?

Jeydra · Mar 10, 2011, 03:13 PM // 15:13

Searing Flames best Elementalist elite ever!!

I won't exaggerate, Foundry HM is really hard, but once I could consistently get to the fifth room relatively intact completion was only a matter of time. Making do without "Save Yourselves!" - uber defensive skill there, notice how aga, Life Bringing and Relyk all used it - was difficult; I had to cope with ~400 damage nukes that would instantly kill any unprotted target. After failing several times and almost considering going ER Prot myself, I realized that Paragons could not only provide "Stand Your Ground!", they could also provide "They're On Fire!". The first time I tried that build I cleared things a lot easier than before, and that I realized was the answer.

Mucho Gracias to Life Bringing, without whose help I might never have gotten past the third room. The build I used is still imperfect, but it worked, so

Tips for those who would try:

1. Be ready to fail. Foundry is hard, and I mean hard. It makes Forgewight HM look easy. Just about every single mob needs to be carefully aggro'ed, and you absolutely cannot risk deaths. At this point I think I have like a 25% chance of success each time I enter the area.
2. Not every Titan, when killed, spawns monsters. Even two Despair Titans can behave in different ways. You'll have to learn which that do and which that do not, sadly.
3. Try to have a hard res on a hero that you can flag!! If you can't, you'll have to risk your pack of 4 heroes to bring the brunt of your damage to bear, and equally risk a wipe and restart. I didn't; this is a flaw in the teambuild.
4. The spawns from Titans aren't tied to the original mob or to each other. That is, they stay where they spawn and will chase you. It means you can easily take on 6 Anguish Titans, or even 8, by aggro'ing at long range -> kill a couple of them -> run far away and disengage. The Despair Titan spawns will not retreat with the rest of the Anguish Titans, and you can easily kill them at your leisure.
5. The really dangerous Titans are the Rage Titans (Earth Eles). The most dangerous Margonites are the Margonite Sus (Air Eles). Get Burning on them ASAP. Dryder + Dream Rider mobs are very dangerous as well. From experience targetting the Dryders first is better than killing the Dream Riders, because although Dryders don't cast very often if they do cast when they're not burning or - God forbid - when "Stand Your Ground!" isn't up, you risk a wipe.
6. To get past the second room: do the Life Bringing tactic, flag your heroes in first (split up, a lot), set up spirits, etc, and then only walk in yourself.
7. To get past the third room: go for the far corner, and flag there. You won't aggro any random patrols, but you still must be careful with your aggro. If you can fight the patrols one by one, it's not too bad.
8. Midway through the area you get a 10k experience boost. Save it for when you need it; it can immediately remove 60% DP from everyone in the party.
9. When pulling Rage Titans, be sure to avoid bringing Churning Earth and Eruption onto the rest of your team! EBSoH is a luxury (you can afford to outlast the Demons - they don't have strong heals), don't risk AoE exploding on your team just to get your heroes into EBSoH.
10. Remember to micro Panic, spirits, Splinter Weapon on physicals, Prot Spirit and Spirit Bond on DP'ed targets, etc. In fact, be ready to micro all these and ignore your own bar. No one said Foundry was easy.
11. The hardest part of the entire area is definitely The Fury. Know where he will spawn and don't be there when the Black Beast's mob dies. After that know his long pull range (it's slightly behind where I am in the screenshot). Spam spirits beyond that, pull and kill the Dryders first (they will stay behind longer for some reason), then kill the Ki's when you can. Be patient if you must; they will eventually die. Do NOT prot yourself, do NOT cast your enchantments, in fact do NOT even cast any spell, although you can put down EBSoH before aggro. 250 damage from Shatter Enchant / Cry of Frustration is deadly. I learned all this the hard way, that's why I have 60% DP in the screenshot. At this point it might be possible to improve the build with a snare somewhere (perhaps Pin Down on the Ranger), but I haven't tried.

SF best Elementalist Elite ever (even though it hits for 34 damage on Fury Titans rofl)!!

And so we have:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeydra

My understanding of UW, FoW and DoA post update, with (relatively) balanced builds:

FoW NM: doable, easily
FoW HM: doable, easily - in fact I've even done it once with 6 heroes instead of 7, some of which weren't runed
UW NM: done with consumables, should still be doable without them
UW HM: unknown, possibly impossible
DoA City NM: doable, easily
DoA City HM: should still be doable, although not so easily
DoA Gloom NM: doable easily
DoA Gloom HM: should be doable, but not easy
DoA Foundry NM: doable
DoA Foundry HM: doable, but exceedingly difficult
DoA Veil NM: doable easily
DoA Veil HM: should still be doable, but not easy
DoA FR NM: doable
DoA FR HM: done with consumables + perma Sin (it's a micro'ed SC, as Life Bringing put it ...), possibly impossible otherwise

It's a jungle out there in this new era

Daesu · Mar 10, 2011, 04:13 PM // 16:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeydra

Searing Flames best Elementalist elite ever!!

I won't exaggerate, Foundry HM is really hard, but once I could consistently get to the fifth room relatively intact completion was only a matter of time. Making do without "Save Yourselves!" - uber defensive skill there, notice how aga, Life Bringing and Relyk all used it - was difficult; I had to cope with ~400 damage nukes that would instantly kill any unprotted target. After failing several times and almost considering going ER Prot myself, I realized that Paragons could not only provide "Stand Your Ground!", they could also provide "They're On Fire!". The first time I tried that build I cleared things a lot easier than before, and that I realized was the answer.

Congratulations!

Now I feel vindicated by having a paragon in my build with such skills. Thanks.

Dzjudz · Mar 10, 2011, 04:21 PM // 16:21

Interesting. What was the approximate /age?

Good for you for not bringing any necros, but was the ranger that helpful? I can imagine swapping him out for something else.

Life Bringing · Mar 10, 2011, 05:13 PM // 17:13

The only thing that necros are really good for is MoP, and considering that Jeydra never plays a physical it's not really worth it.

Nice work Jeydra. It's extra impressive because you used SF ahaha. Gave me a really interesting idea though with Avatar of Balth, SY, and ToF! for ridiculous amounts of defense. And I'd have to agree that the ranger looks kinda useless especially with the blind spam. Perhaps another SF ele or something with UA on it even if it's not a healer.

timbo_3101 · Mar 10, 2011, 09:22 PM // 21:22

Haha wtf DoA Foundry HM no consets?! Your doing this was as stubborn as me running discordway on Duncan HM (2:30h).
No, I won't try this. Cannot barely handle Forgewight HM let alone -150% DP

P

After >700 gemstones, I consider Foundry of a similar difficulty to Underworld - but you have proven it is possible with a balanced team (I suspect most of us will never be able to reproduce such achievements though).

Sorry Jeydra - thanks again for sharing your observations and an amazing result, but i'll be aspiring towards solo tank tactics with mesmerway as per Life Bringing (and praying I survive rooms three and four).

Life Bringing · Mar 10, 2011, 10:01 PM // 22:01

Haha that wasn't my screen, it was Poms

PoM PoM PoM PoM PoM · Mar 10, 2011, 11:17 PM // 23:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bright Star Shine

Adds up to: 1h10-1h15, which sounds pretty fast imo, so I think you could be done in 1h25-1h35. Easily, if you use the correct tactics.

Damn ! I was so close ^^
But unfortunately I don't have much time. I really like this update, there is a new way to play with heroes. <3

This is my heroes skills bar with locked skills for the spike and I use hotkeys for the emo skills. It's a lot of work but really fun to play.

Enjoy !

aga · Mar 11, 2011, 01:18 AM // 01:18

Using SF takes a lot of the risk and difficulty out of the run. But regardless that's a very respectable time for a 7 hero party.

novawhiz · Mar 11, 2011, 01:31 AM // 01:31

dam dude, how did you micro all that lol.

timbo_3101 · Mar 11, 2011, 03:09 AM // 03:09

Oh the great man speaks!
Thanks Pom Pom - incredible, just incredible on micro/control of seven heroes.
By the way, are you mimicry on UA for each Me hero, or are you actually mimicry on offense eg ESurge?

Ariane · Mar 11, 2011, 12:03 PM // 12:03

Wow, that's amazing! I just wish this worked with Duncan HM too, so my warrior could finish it :'(

Jeydra · Mar 11, 2011, 12:07 PM // 12:07

Lol Pom, you're incredible. I could never micro that many skills. One of my friends told me once that there's this macro (whatever that is) that lets you order all heroes to use skill 1 or something, but I never used it ... when I micro, I micro skills that aren't disabled most of the time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dzjudz

Interesting. What was the approximate /age?

Good for you for not bringing any necros, but was the ranger that helpful? I can imagine swapping him out for something else.

I'd say /age was about 1 hour 40 minutes. I pulled really carefully the entire area, and I had to recover from near wipes with BUH a couple of times, adding to the total time.

And yes, now that I think about it the Ranger is rather weird. It was originally there because I had a Paragon before, but decided that the second Paragon really isn't useful. I simply used another physical without thinking too much. Another SF Ele would make most sense; I don't quite see how UA would work on a non-healer and besides BUH sort of compensates for UA anyway. If I make another run now, I'd probably go E/R Fire with EoE in that last slot, and then put Death Pact on Xandra.

PS: Mesmer, Mesmer, Mesmer, Mesmer. Maybe Mesmers are far stronger than I gave them credit for ...

bhavv · Mar 11, 2011, 12:23 PM // 12:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dzjudz

Good for you for not bringing any necros

That really doesnt matter when rits and mesmers are stronger than Necros are

Bright Star Shine · Mar 11, 2011, 12:46 PM // 12:46

Wow Pom, I don't have merc heroes, so I can't try it like you did, but I will try it using necs I think. Gonna use diff tactics though^^

it's on :P