Curse

Nechtan Thaumaturge · Sep 22, 2006, 07:24 AM // 07:24

Profession: Elementalist/Mesmer

Type: Solo farming, Shiro'ken

Category: Hydromancer

Attributes:

Water Magic - 12 (8 + 3 + 1)
Energy Storage - 10 (9 + 1)
Inspiration Magic - 8
Illusion Magic - 11

Skills:

Arcane Echo - No Attribute
Mist Form - Water Magic
Sympathetic Visage - Illusion Magic
Ancestor's Visage - Illusion Magic
Swirling Aura - Water Magic
Wastrel's Worry - Domination Magic
Channeling - Inspiration Magic
Mantra of Resolve - Inspiration Magic

Equipment:

A weapon with +20% enchantment duration and an offhand that provides energy. I use a Totem Axe and a Straw Effigy (Water Magic), which seems to be more or less optimal.

Video:

http://files.filefront.com/E_Me_Shir.../fileinfo.html

Summary:

This build was inspired by the Mo/Me build posted by Dan Backblade here. The basic idea is to use the Shiro'ken Ranger's Famine spirit to kill off the melee Shiro'ken by draining their energy with the Visage spells. The hard part is living long enough to make this work. On top of the massive damage that the Shiro'ken can deliver, the Rangers can be particularly annoying with their Debilitating Shot, which drains energy rapidly. Mo/Me (and Me/Mo) builds use Protective Spirit and Spirit Bond to nullify the damage and Essence Bond and Balthazar's Spirit to regain energy. As Elementalists, we have to use a bit more finesse.

To deal with the damage problem, this build combines Arcane Echo and Mist Form -- nothing new, see here and here for other examples. Basically, you cast Arcane Echo, then follow that with Mist Form. Arcane Echo then becomes a Mist Form duplicate, which you can then cast when the original Mist Form ends. By the time the Echoed Mist Form is done, the original Mist Form has recharged. So, all in all, you can cast three straight Mist Forms and be covered for about 60 seconds, which should be just enough time to take care of business.

Obviously, you must be in Mist Form constantly while creatures are aggro'ed. With a +20% enchantment duration bonus, you will be able to do this. In fact, you will outlast the Arcane Echo by a couple of seconds; so, make sure you have cast the echoed Mist Form before the recharge on the real Mist Form reaches 2/3 complete. If you think of the icon as a clock face, you have until the recharge meter reaches 7 o'clock, more or less.

Unfortunately, Mist Form does nothing to prevent the energy drain of Debilitating Shot, and without energy, you've got about a three second life expectancy. Swirling Aura gives you some protection against the Rangers, but since you've only got about 20 seconds worth, you want to save it for when it will help the most, which is during aggro. Channeling also helps to offset the energy drain.

Wastrel's Worry might look pretty strange in this build. Actually, it isn't included for the purpose of doing damage; it just happens to have some really useful statistics. Since it only costs 5 energy, you can gain energy (via Channeling) by casting it with the mob around you. This helps fight the Debilitating Shots. At 1/4 second to cast, you shouldn't have to worry much about being interrupted, which saves you the energy that you would lose through Mantra of Resolve. Finally, the one second recharge means you can cast it basically any time you want. Even in the tight schedule that this run requires, you can usually get two to five off without much problem.

Finally, Mantra of Resolve, that old, familiar friend of Elementalists everywhere, solves the interrupt problem, although at an energy penalty. In this case, it's well worth it.

Walkthrough:

The run is all about timing and movement, as the skill activations are pretty much set in stone.

Start from Harvest Temple and exit into Unwaking Waters. Once there, immediately activate Mantra of Resolve and start heading down the stairs. Stop after descending one flight, wait for your energy to hit maximum, and cast Channeling then Arcane Echo. Move further down the stairs and cast Mist Form as you make contact with the first group of Shiro'ken. Run through this group until you are about halfway down the last flight of stairs, making sure you stop before aggro'ing the second group of Shiro'ken. Stay to the inside so that there is a corner between you and the trailing Rangers.

Next, cast Sympathetic Visage, Channeling, the Echoed Mist Form, and Swirling Aura in rapid succession and head to the second and third groups of Shiro'ken. Ideally, you want to aggro both groups. However, you have a limited amount of time in which to do this and enter battle. So, if the third group is moving away from you, don't chase them, as the clock will run out on you. Also, be careful to avoid getting body-blocked by the Shiro'ken.

The most important thing at this stage is to group the Shiro'ken as tightly as possible. Concentrating the Shiro'ken makes the Visage spells more effective and allows you to kill the Warriors reliably (when they are loosely grouped, they tend to use Healing Signet and outlast you). At the very worst, all Shiro'ken should be grouped within a 180 degree arc immediately adjacent to you. Also, I advise staying away from the Rangers, since their Song of the Mists will tend to counteract your energy draining. However, you might want to try taking out a few Rangers by drawing the mob next to them. I find I don't have as much success doing this though, so I can't recommend it. Finally, I try to stay away from the walls. I can't identify any reason why this would help, perhaps it's just superstition at this point, but I seem to have fewer bad runs when I stay in the middle.

At any rate, your aggro time is up when Sympathetic Visage starts blinking. You will have to cast Ancestor's Visage to replace it, but take care, as this is the most critical part of the run. You don't want to let Sympathetic Visage lapse without getting Ancestor's Visage up, the reason being that you allow the Shiro'ken to get off skills while under Song of the Mists and then you face a large chunk of damage directly. Ideally, you will have the 10 energy available to cast this spell, if not, then hit a quick Wastrel's Worry to get some energy back. Also, the Shiro'ken Assassins have Wild Strike, which will knock the Mantra of Resolve straight off of you. They also have Disrupting Stab (and remember the Ranger's Savage Shot), which can then interrupt your cast, which makes it game, set, and match. So, make sure Mantra of Resolve is up when you activate Sympathetic Visage. It will have recharged by this time; so, you can renew it if need be.

If you get off the Ancestor's Visage and your Mantra of Resolve is still up, you are more or less assured of success. So, now's the time to activate any experience scrolls you might have. After that, you can get off one or two Wastrel's Worries before Mist Form comes due, at which point you should recast that. Note that the same warnings apply to casting Mist Form as with casting Ancestor's Visage.

If you get these two spells off, you can more or less sit back and relax. Keep the energy up with Wastrel's Worry, and hit Sympathetic Visage when it comes around for safety. Within ten seconds the Shiro'ken should have hit the floor, or at worst the last few should be nearly dead. Pick up the drops as you get them, as you won't have a lot of time later. The run ends when your final Mist Form finishes about 75 seconds after you entered the area. After you die, you'll resurrect at a nearby shrine. You can choose to turn around and take out the fourth group using similar methods, but I find it's more efficient simply to begin again.

With patience and practice, you should be able to complete at least 75% of runs successfully, but sometimes it just isn't in the cards. The main hazards are getting surrounded by the Shiro'ken at the wrong time and getting Ancestor's Visage or Mist Form interrupted. Also, once in awhile, the Rangers don't put up the Famine spirit, which wrecks everything.

Notes and Concerns:

The payoff varies greatly. You'll probably get a couple platinum pieces worth of drops in your first three runs or so; however, the anti-farming code sets in quickly and fiercely. After ten runs, you'll be lucky to get a drop at all. So, if you're interested in the money, limit your runs and work them into a schedule of missions and farming in other areas. The one reward you can expect every single time is experience points. Each Level 28 Shiro'ken killed will earn you 232 XP. So, if you kill 10 in about a minute and a half, you'll get a skill point in 10 minutes or so, or about 6 an hour. Of course, using XP scrolls adds to the efficiency and is recommended.

All in all, if you have a choice to take your Monk or Mesmer on this run or your Elementalist, opt for the former. The Monk profession gives you such powerful tools for a solo build, it's hard to beat. However, if your favorite Elementalist needs some quick skill points, there's hardly a better method in all of Guild Wars for getting them than by farming Shiro'ken. Good luck and have fun.

Credit:

Dan Backblade for the original Mo/Me build.

Riken Chrono · Sep 22, 2006, 10:28 PM // 22:28

oo its good, tried it out then deleted my ele, looks good