Curse

jgraham1981 · Apr 02, 2006, 04:13 AM // 04:13

I've beeen having a ton of trouble lately forming a group for FoW. I guess I just don't know the right combination of people for a group. So my question is: What is the best combination for a FoW group. Who do I need to form a successful group? The characters I have created now are W/M and R/M. Thanks in advance.

Ira Blinks · Apr 02, 2006, 05:09 AM // 05:09

FoW group is no different from any group you have done missions with. Tanks, monks, damage dealers. If you want to be fancy you can start cutting down number of people by removing redundant or lazy things things like second tank, third monk, battery etc... You can effectively do it with one tank, two monks, nuker and SS necro (5 in total).
Now I already see some guy to jump in and say he done it with 3 people, but that is if you have people who you can trust to do their jobs well, pay attention and work well in team (preferably with voice comm). I myself work on improving my 2 man FoW build (with pretty low success i must say

). There are in fact 1 man builds for FoW which you can find on these forums, but then it all depends on what exactly you want to do there... That place is pretty big, much bigger than usual tower of courage->book->forge->cave route, so in the end I say dont try to form groups... join one, do it and then decide what build you want based on what you want to do.

PS to admins: oh yes, very funny with "banned" status :\

FeaR1 · Apr 02, 2006, 05:32 AM // 05:32

My fav build that works well most of the time is
1 tank (using stances monk skills)
1 SS necro (echo if u can find one) Blood rit etc
3 echo nukers
3 monks (1 using life barrier)

Aerials · Apr 04, 2006, 06:54 PM // 18:54

i usually take
1x stance tank
1x SS/BR necro
1x barrage/interupt ranger
1x domination mesmer(Ineptitude, echo shatter hex)
2x nukers (either echo or renewal, doesn't really matter you have other damage dealers)
2x monks( one bonder one healer, i have done well with two healers as well)

that build usually goes smoothly as long as you let the tank take full aggro (i.e. have a tank that can stay alive long enough so ppl dont feel they have to rush in and save him/her). once you get to the book you should go through it very quickly

Effendi Westland · Apr 05, 2006, 10:53 AM // 10:53

group i usually take:
1x wa/me
1x SS/enfeebling blood necro
1x interupt ranger
1x domination mesmer(Power Block, wastrel, shatter hex)
1x Nuker (preferably renewal without arcane echo)
2x monks (never a bonder, makes a useless monk in the forest)

The 8th depends on what i can get, switches between another ele and a 2nd warrior. However I don't really care what build the 8th is as long as it doesn't interfere with SS and aggro.

If you play FoW without the book trick (which we all may be doing soon o.O) its all about aggro-control with the tank, which isnt too hard to figure out.

Stranger The Ranger · Apr 06, 2006, 07:28 AM // 07:28

I mostly go with:
1 Bonder Monk
2 Healer Monks
1 Stance Tank Warrior
1 Interrupter Ranger (me =) )
2 Echo Nukers/1 Nuker and 1 SS Necro
1 Battery Necro/Domination Mesmer

If you're doing the book trick: dont take 2 Tanks, you'll have a useless piece of meat after you get the book, unless it's a Warrior with attack skills, but most attacking 'tankers' dont know how to tank. Meh whateff, also try to give Mesmers and Rangers a chance ;P

striderkaaru · Apr 06, 2006, 04:22 PM // 16:22

i hope most of you realize what a waste of slots a bonder and a battery are.

as my guild leader once said, the only thing you need for fow are:
1 tank who knows how to control aggro
1 monk
6 others who know how to let the tank do his job and can kill things

stance tanks (unless they are w/me with both physical and elemental resistance), bonders, and batteries aren't very good for fow.

anyway, since you are relatively inexperienced with fow, maybe you shouldn't try to form your own groups yet. join other groups until you get a better feel for it.

Effigy · Apr 07, 2006, 02:07 PM // 14:07

Bonder isn't a waste, although you can get by without it. It definitely helps speed things along before you get the book, and even after that it still helps to keep the tank alive. The thing is you need a bonder who knows how to quickly reapply bonds when they get shattered.

D.E.V.i.A.N.C.E · Apr 07, 2006, 09:01 PM // 21:01

What I recently will only run as of 2 days ago is...
1 W/ stance tank
2 Mo/ 's Heal/prot hybrid (aegis and prot spirit + heal spells duh all ya need)
5 R/ 's Barrage and Int's

I got tired of dumb ele nukers running ahead of the tank and being a nice standing still target for 4 seconds.

So I decided ranged guys who can hit ppl out of thier argo range would be the best option for being idiot proff(still some dumb ass rangers but atleast they move around after getting hit)

Will never use elementalists in Fissure of Woe anymore.
Will never use "bonding monk", I'v ran it, a real waste of team work; has to be thee lazist build I'v ever played and I'll never ask for one.
Will never use a "battery" as a team member also: the elementalists slave. never ran it but I bet its almost as easy as the "bonding monk"

eternal pho · Apr 11, 2006, 02:47 PM // 14:47

I suggest soloing fow with a w/x so u would not endlessly wait for groups.
(check out the soloing builds for tanks)

Effigy · Apr 11, 2006, 05:53 PM // 17:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by D.E.V.i.A.N.C.E

Will never use elementalists in Fissure of Woe anymore.
Will never use "bonding monk", I'v ran it, a real waste of team work; has to be thee lazist build I'v ever played and I'll never ask for one.
Will never use a "battery" as a team member also: the elementalists slave. never ran it but I bet its almost as easy as the "bonding monk"

What point are you trying to make here? A build isn't useful just because it's "easy" or "lazy"? I guess a stance tank is useless because all they have to do is hold a book and hit stances, right? Wrong.

And you seem to be making the mistake of assuming that a build is bad just because some people are bad at using it. If you get a bad player, don't blame it on the profession and vow to never invite someone with that build into your group ever again. Just find someone who knows what they're doing.

Effendi Westland · Apr 12, 2006, 02:26 PM // 14:26

He probably means a bonder and battery don't add anything to the team, which in my experience is true. But hey I don't use the book trick, so what do I know.

Effigy · Apr 12, 2006, 05:17 PM // 17:17

Sure they add something to the team, if they're being played effectively. A bonder can reduce the damage your group takes by half or more, plus they can provide other prot skills like condition removal, hex removal, melee/arrow blocking, etc.

It only takes one skill to be a "battery" necro, and it's not even elite. That same necro can be bringing orders, SS, or plenty of other skills that can help your group.

Like I said, the difference between a good build and a bad build is the player behind it. Don't make hasty conclusions about a certain class/build being useless until you've had a chance to see a good player running it. And contrary to popular belief, you don't need to run the single, "best" team build to do well in SF, FoW, UW, or any of these other areas. I've gone to these zones plenty of times where guildmates just played whatever they felt like at the moment and we cleaned house no problem. Keeping an open mind is the most important thing.

D.E.V.i.A.N.C.E · Apr 12, 2006, 08:29 PM // 20:29

What I was getting at was, Forming a FoW group thats almost or more fool proff that the other builds listed.

The bonding monk is barely worth it, so many mesmers rip it off for dmg agaisnt the tank.
I belive bonders would only be good if in fact your group didnt have a stance tank, or has an incompetent one (or in my case ppl creep up too fast to deal dmg to monsters, might aswell not have a stance tank)

no matter how many times I order ppl and other ppl order with me, theres atleast always 1 dumbass standing next to the tank waiting for the tank to move, its like they dont even read the chat box...

as my standard heal/prot hydrid I always bring prot spirit, Does pretty well inplace of a bonder.

elektra_lucia · Apr 12, 2006, 11:18 PM // 23:18

I don't really like Ele's for the reasons many people rush in, die and complain about healing. Yes there may be good people that make good use of an Ele. Fact is though, I don't get to meet these good people, and I have to put up with bad people. There is also little need for unconditional damage when you can do conditional damage.

As for rangers, I dont find them much use on my team. Yes, once again there may be a good player with a ranger some where. As said before about the ele, I don't get to meet such people.

Quote:

It only takes one skill to be a "battery" necro, and it's not even elite

Ignorant statement. That's like saying it only takes Elemental resistance (well it is a stance =P) to be a stance tank.

Quote:

Like I said, the difference between a good build and a bad build is the player behind it. Don't make hasty conclusions about a certain class/build being useless until you've had a chance to see a good player running it.

We arn't here to be amazed by people playing well with certain builds. The majority of people will enter ToA Dist 1, make a group, and have a bunch of crap team mates.

Quote:

He probably means a bonder and battery don't add anything to the team, which in my experience is true. But hey I don't use the book trick, so what do I know.

I've been a 55 bip battery before, and people have insulted me. It has been a major use, helps the monk A LOT. In some cases, probably works better than having 2 monks instead of one and a battery.

Once again though, you're not going to have a good battery on your team, and sure there's a possibility of it, but it isn't worth risking. So forget putting a battery on the team.

Quote:

And you seem to be making the mistake of assuming that a build is bad just because some people are bad at using it. If you get a bad player, don't blame it on the profession and vow to never invite someone with that build into your group ever again. Just find someone who knows what they're doing.

HaHa. What are you going to do then, before you pay the 1k to enter, ask them for rank 9+'s only? Oh come off it =P.

Quote:

I've gone to these zones plenty of times where guildmates just played whatever they felt like at the moment and we cleaned house no problem. Keeping an open mind is the most important thing.

If you look at how the topic started, the person making the topic doesn't really have that same help.

----------------------

Now to actually help the guy (which was what he wanted).

I would suggest making a new thread asking for people to come along and help you in FoW. Do it solo sure if you want, but it can be boring alone.

I would offer to come help but I mostly PVP now sorry. I also always get landed with the groupz1z datz typz lyk diz and tbqfh itz drivz me nutz so i leavz LOLOMGORLY whenever I play PVE :/.

D.E.V.i.A.N.C.E · Apr 12, 2006, 11:26 PM // 23:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by elektra_lucia

I also always get landed with the groupz1z datz typz lyk diz and tbqfh itz drivz me nutz so i leavz LOLOMGORLY whenever I play PVE :/.

stop making pve groups in grotto

elektra_lucia, well the reason why I dont bring a batt is I use OoB and hardly get below 35e of 64e...

otheriwse I could see a 2ndary batt needed if I where runnin WoH n such...

elektra_lucia · Apr 12, 2006, 11:41 PM // 23:41

Yeah, well I've only once had one good battery (55 battery, so he could spam BiP a lot) and it was cool because I could use up the spells I'd not normally use... You just kind of get used to being more energy efficient though, which is good since the change over to PVP is quite harsh if you're used to a lot of energy from another player.

As for Grotto, LOL. Everytime I see that place mentioned I laugh. I once had a conversation about greed with someone in that place. He started whispering me and, after 10 minutes, he lost the argument then put me on ignore. Well, ever since then the only logical thing to do, is just come out with silly comments... Like "I have fow, k you suck bye". o.O.

Effigy · Apr 13, 2006, 05:14 PM // 17:14

If all you can ever get in your group are bad players, you're not going to be successful regardless of what build they're playing. I don't think it makes much sense to assume that all member of a pug are automatically going to suck and therefore refusing to accept anything except the "standard" builds. Besides, even people playing the accepted classes/builds may be bad players. I been in a pug with a monk that just used Mending, Breeze, and Heal Party. Does that mean I'm going to give up on bringing monks with me in the future? Let's be reasonable here.

Anyone can overaggro, regardless of their class. This isn't exclusive to eles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by elektra lucia

Ignorant statement. That's like saying it only takes Elemental resistance (well it is a stance =P) to be a stance tank.

Those are completely different builds. A stance tank needs multiple stance and potentially other things like Dolyak Signet and shouts to be a good stance tank. A battery necro doesn't need to base their build around being a battery. Of course they could, but it's far from necessary and limits them from contributing much of anything else to the team. BiP can be nice but isn't required, Blood Rit is a suitable substitute. All you need besides that is some sort of self-heal, and even that isn't entirely necessary because the monks can heal the sac damage. Your other 7-8 skills can be used to provide other benefits to the team.

As for rangers, they may not be necessary but they can be a big help. Barrage delivers respectable damage, interrupts can be incredibly useful, and conditions like poison and blind can also help.

My point is, don't get tunnelvision and assume that there is only one right way to make a group. Practically any team build can work if people cooperate and know what they're doing. If you can't find quality players in pugs, look for a competent guild and your worries will be over.