Curse

kielus · Oct 28, 2007, 12:40 AM // 00:40

Hello fellow GW-Guru's, it's about time i contributed at least something for the community. I can't take credits for the original build itself (as we all know 600/smite is 'ye good old builde'), i just adapted the original build for the specific of Cathedral of Flames Dungeon.

Keep in mind i was using heroes (smiter / ranger) and they were kinda... not pimped, so runes are lacking. Matter of taste if you ask me, works without them at all ;]

I. Why?
II. How?
a. 600 tank
b. smiter
c. ranger
d. overall strategy
III. Hotspots
IV. Screens (to be added)
V. <section for your ideas how to improve the build>

I. Why?
- it's a nice dungeon, filled with packs of mobs that are 'just big enough for 1SB' and small enough not to cause problems if taken in bigger amounts.
- Diessa Chalices/Golden Rin Relics drop there, aswell as Superb Charr Carvings (haven't encountered them myself though)
- Murakai's greens
- Lots of nice gold drops (sephis swords as for example)
- Challenge?

II. How?
As stated before, it's basis is the 600/smiter combo, with added a ranger for qz/eoe support and in case of troublesome charr some dmg support

a. 600
Template: OwAS8YIP1j7qWMikS0H0DAC

Monk/Mesmer
Protection Prayers: 12+3+1
Divine Favor: 12+1 (+3 for blessed aura)

1.Protective Spirit
2.Shield of Absorption
3.Spirit Bond
4.Spell Breaker (e)
5.Blessed Signet
6.Essence Bond
7.Life Attunement
8.Blessed Aura

regular 15 AL set, +20% weapon, i accidentally switched to my Stoneweaver staff (+20, +5al), not much changed so it's matter of taste actually. The +3 divine favor scalp is quite important for precasting Blessed Aura.

b. smiter
Template: OwAT44nCxx6bSqnpE8RIJfIPAA

Monk
Smiting Prayers: 12
Protection Prayers: 10
Divine Favor: 8

1.Castigation Signet
2.Signet of Judgement (e)
3.Signet of Rage
4.Blessed Signet
5.Retribution
6.Holy Wrath
7.Vital Blessing
8.Balthazar's Spirit

i'd advise putting +3+1 on smite, that player has to be in range of bonds most of the time. When troublesome mob stays alive (e.g. Charr Prophet or Blademaster with Healing Signet) his job along with ranger is to finish him off.

c. Ranger
Template: OgMU4ELeVMPQntDyxkY91HXfZCA

Ranger/Monk
Wilderness Survival: 12
Expertise: 9/10
Beast Mastery: 8/9
Smiting Prayers: 2

1.Edge of Extinction
2.Quickening Zephyr
3.Serpent's Quickness
4.Signet of Judgement (e)
5.Castigation Signet
6.Essence Bond
7.Puryfying Veil
8.Rebirth

note: the x/y in stats are depending on your choice, 9 is breakpoint for energy cost so it's better either to add some smiting prayers or beast mastery

well this player's job is quite hard, from his spirit placement depends if he aggroes or not ;] lots of responsibility, cause as we all know undead hurt (sometimes). Anyways his job usually is about to precast bonds, SQ->QZ->QZ->SQ and so on...
While fighting Murakai, there's a stone (on the left), tank stands on the Murakai's side of it few steps away from aggro of the spirits, EoE->SQ->QZ and keep qz/sq up as much as you can. you won't keep it up 100% time, but recharge (of Spell Breaker) makes you happy and always hits when QZ is up ;]

d. overall strategy
it's about throwing all bonds on tank actually, for the two support guys staying back and watching aggro. Tank's job requires most attention (how predictible huh?). and communication between teammates (or flagging and shift-clicking on skills, skill forcing is kinda vital here).

III. Hotspots & tips on fighting certain enemies
1. First level is easy and straightforward, first few groups of undead and one group of charr doesn't pose a threat. When entering a tunnel there'll be one charr and one undead group collision (fight and undead victory), let them fight or if timed right take both groups one after another (SB when in range of QZ, later recast, with good luring 2 SB's in a row are enough)
2. First Boss isn't hard actually, just dont forget to precast blessed aura with correct (divine favor) else you'll get some stress when SB goes down and you'll get enchant stripped.
3. After Boss, proceed with caution as the immobile group with Murakai's (second part of name please?) Dude moves at you (usually results with overaggro and without second SB = interrupts from undead Wraiths (mesmers))
4. pulling both patrol undead groups further and leaving Last Necro boss at dessert. After that few more undead will spawn, ignore them (bug huh?)

5. Second Level - go left, kill two patrols of undead, turn right but avoid the area map group (not needed and may cause trouble cause of prophets)
6. We'll use the poison traps path (saves the darts at the bridges if used left way), Enchanted Foes are main threat here. After killing two groups of Enchanted, there will be popup of undead near the big bowl in middle of poison traps (left part of the path). Kill last Enchanted group and proceed. Turn Right, grab shrine and set up spirits (eoe is advised), keeping SB up while fighting the boss is also handy. Pay attention, as when you enter next cave (near Condamned boss), he'll run at you (bunch of melee foes so might break aggro if too close to smiter/ranger. Down there, there are two undead groups and enchanted one, keep one sb per group (excluding enchanted's) and vs boss and you'll be fine.

7. Tricky, i used to take 5 henchies just in case one mob stays and we can't kill it ^^", so i was able to take out Murakai's Keymaster at the very start of level. If he's not killed you'll just get him later. Grab shrine and head left, kill both undead groups and enter the burning trees area. Take first right and then left (killing undead group). Stick to your side of lava river.
8. If you haven't killed Keymaster of Murakai yet, you'll have to cross the river, mind there is a group of undead and there is a popup of (4?) Lava Blisters, their skillbars are probably as bad as the threat they pose, SB to get rid of pesky degen. Kill Keymaster and get the key (grab shrine if really want these +xx Dwarf pts ;]).
9. When you got to end of the river, cross it on the right side, and use the doors leading uphill (people that done the dungeon should know what i mean, but will add screens later on), keep the left side of wall, taking one group of undead, later if you want to make yourself comfortable you can take enchanted dudes.
10. Murakai's Servant can be pain, due to never ending respawn of mobs and annoying poison darts. QZ should be placed just at the door, so tank can recast SB in QZ range (3 SB's should do the trick, counting the time if bodyblocked).
11. Get out, take left, left, right (2-3 undead groups + 1 enchanted if not killed earlier) Fire Darts area can be pain. Use Vital Blessing on all party members, For tank it's best to just use Spirit Bond on himself (enough outheal), and just in case on other party members. Run upstairs (turn left and use the side stairs), stop past the flame jet, before the geyser to regen and recast bonds. Later it's walk in the park, use left way, kill both groups of bone fiends

12. Plant the spirits before the stones, tank casts ps -> blessed -> sb (when qz is up), aggroes murakai. If you want some stress/fun/quicker you can aggro the fiends that are ahead of you (past murakai so watch your aggro, best just after having killed the summons). Keep QZ, PS and SB & SB up to counter dmg taken (she can hit for 200 :P) and watch your aggro. She takes about 1minute to take down (yeye i know it's long but easy anyways). Take your loot and enjoy

Undead - They guys we don't like here are Mesmers and Warriors, Warriors use Savage Slash (noticed it's used as first attack, so time your casts, or later on; thus later on usually means death for them so no worries), mesmers interrupt, though you can stay alive by using Spirit Bond only (remember, recasting while it's duration will only reset the 8second last time, won't reset the 10 hits counter!). For the regular groups one Spell Breaker is enough (still using QZ before SB is advised, speeds up the recharge and allows you to save some time ;]

Enchanted - They hit hard and fast so coordinating your SoA/SB recast is important, they don't cast spells so you can skip SpellBreaker. Assassins use Disrupting Stab as Lead Attack and seem to have fairly high dual strike rate (better for us ehh? ;] ), cast PS -> and SoA at the very aggro bubble, then make few steps and aggro -> SB. After first SoA there's usually only ranged guys alive (and few hammers). You can take few groups at time, just watch not to overaggro melee guys so you won't have a Dagger all of the sudden interrupting your SoA.

Charr - Prophets have nasty skillbars vs 600/smite, hopefully you should (with timing kd's and such) be able to kill them with this setup. Blademasters use Healing Signet spam, so also time when he's on 'rage' (^^) and goes bit lower than usual (H-Sig recharge), then throw all you got from your siggys at him. Other Charr groups don't pose a threat (except Dominators for ench removal and rezzing but that's more like 'meh')

End Note:
i've done the dungeon NM, and have to say it was harder due to lack of dmg (= less healing). My average now (with heroes) is ~50 minutes, i could go ~40 perhaps if i didn't die few times (overaggro/interrupt/the undead popup i always forget about on second level) or flagged wrong.

Why Puryfying Veil? i had no clue what to put (of course i could throw bane signet or signet of rage but hey we all want to be original/creative huh? :P)

Hope someone makes some use of the guide, it's my first one and yet i'm happy with my hero drops. You could clear whole levels for more drops, won't take that much time.
i really await some criticism ;]

Butters1110 · Oct 28, 2007, 12:47 AM // 00:47

You can do this without the ranger. You might die once or twice, but the other monk has rebirth so it really doesnt matter.

insightful moth · Oct 28, 2007, 01:25 AM // 01:25

As posted above, the ranger is not needed to complete the run.

In hard mode if you swap blessed sig for serpents quickness on the tank you can easily chain your shield of absorption for long enough to kill a group.

kielus · Oct 28, 2007, 02:30 AM // 02:30

ranger is to make it all smooth vs murakai actually as the storm of souls can be pain (well you could go and wall hide for 10 sec whilst dazed).

+ how much longer does it take? and you tested it? (i take it as you did)

i take it that you put SQ instead Blessed Sig in tank's build and Rebirth instead one of dmg signets or Blessed Sig in smiter's build? Well thx for credits ;] got to try that out

Trevor The Wave · Oct 28, 2007, 02:53 AM // 02:53

instead of bringing SoJ on the bonder, bring RC and when he uses storm of souls the bonder monk can switch to his high energy set and use rc.

That way you wont need a ranger.

Omega Finale · Oct 28, 2007, 07:05 AM // 07:05

Been doing this since HM came out for EotN as 2 man, one being Ogden as a smiter. Obviously a few enchantments swapped about to suit, and as the tank, I prefer them to take Mantra of Resolve to prevent interrupts such as: Disrupting Stab (Enchanted Daggers), Savage Slash (Restless Spirit[Warrior], Crypt Ghoul) and The Crypt Wraiths' numerous interrupts should it be alive when Spellbreaker ends.

But yeah, a ranger isn't really neccessary at all, and so long as it's only the tank in Murakai's aggro, while Spellbreaker is active, it will cause Murakai's Consumption to fail. Provided the tank uses Spellbreaker as soon as it's recharged, and the smiting monk has 15-16 Smiting, she will be dead before her bar is charged.

With a hero bonder, can do all the way upto Murakai and kill her in 36 minutes taking into account a possible wipe or break. That's going at a good pace and missing out of the way mobs, which is no fun, they must all die.

Only thing that would cause hassle is a Charr Mender. If they don't die outright, and end up being the only foe left, I personally enjoy luring a group of undead to him.

Here are 2 screens from a 2 weeks ago:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...nale/gw054.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...nale/gw053.jpg

Nice guide though, well explained and has the route through the cathedral in detail.

Butters1110 · Oct 28, 2007, 02:52 PM // 14:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trevor The Wave

instead of bringing SoJ on the bonder, bring RC and when he uses storm of souls the bonder monk can switch to his high energy set and use rc.

That way you wont need a ranger.

Or purge signet so he doesnt have to swap

Res Ipsi · Oct 28, 2007, 05:56 PM // 17:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Omega Finale

Been doing this since HM came out for EotN as 2 man, one being Ogden as a smiter.

And I thought you preferred a Sig of Illusion Mesmer-smiter as your partner. All this time, hanging out with Ogden. I'm crushed :/

Fun run, btw

unknown1 · Oct 28, 2007, 07:12 PM // 19:12

couldn't u use this build for pratically everything =) lol

Kazamafury · Oct 28, 2007, 10:30 PM // 22:30

Tried the build with the hero variant, worked like a charm!

Thanks for posting this.

kielus · Oct 28, 2007, 10:55 PM // 22:55

if you don't mind guys i'll change the topic name (or ask for it to be changed? :P) and add the 2 man version aswell ;] thx for that info

tuna-fish_sushi · Oct 28, 2007, 11:38 PM // 23:38

can anyone tell me what the elite skill is on omega finale's hero in his screen shot

cant seem to tell what it is and want to try this run out.

Grenths Entropy · Oct 28, 2007, 11:49 PM // 23:49

it looks like BiP to me since Odgen is Mo/N

The Bard · Oct 28, 2007, 11:51 PM // 23:51

oops, too tired to post ^^;

tuna-fish_sushi · Oct 29, 2007, 03:26 AM // 03:26

Just tried the build with hero and with friend both work perfectly fine. Only tough part was running through all those traps to get to murakai. Had to maintain SB on both people to make it across.

Sold!er · Oct 29, 2007, 09:27 AM // 09:27

nice found and nice guide.

but isnt there an Obsi Tank + Bonder build out there?
i cant remember the exact skills...

Omega Finale · Oct 29, 2007, 10:56 AM // 10:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuna-fish_sushi

can anyone tell me what the elite skill is on omega finale's hero in his screen shot

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grenths Entropy

it looks like BiP to me since Odgen is Mo/N

Entropy is indeed correct. I normally run Blood Is Power on my hero bonder to speed things up while bonding (and as a quick way to recharge energy if it's needed after a battle), as I don't really trust Ogden with Signet of Judgement. But the elite is completely variable. Also, he has Castigation Signet on his bar, but it's an old screenshot and I hadn't really thought much to his bar at the time, can throw in Purge Signet or anything else you like really. Doesn't even have to be Mo/N. Hope that helps a bit.

Master Kaii · Oct 29, 2007, 05:35 PM // 17:35

K, This may seem noob but im not too good with heroes..
When ever i try a vq i have to bond, because heroes cannot maintain them, they cast them and are auto-stripped.
Help...?

insightful moth · Oct 29, 2007, 06:19 PM // 18:19

Shift click on the hero's bar to disable the skills and apply the enchants yourself. Because they are disabled, the hero won't cancel them.

mariadosanjos · Oct 30, 2007, 07:25 PM // 19:25

very nice farm