Curse

Minus Sign · Jul 08, 2006, 08:19 PM // 20:19

Next up in our tour de Cantha is the second most common map Alliance battlers will see; Etharan Keys.

Since I don’t feel like repeating myself, I won’t be doing a general terms list for this map. There is some useful lingo that you can find in the opening post here:

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s....php?t=3069629

to better understand what your allies are talking about. Please note that most people refer to the Ranger shrine by its map name here: Seaside.

Sidenote: in the spirit of fair play, most Kurzicks should consider these tips for their defense of Grenz Frontier. Though the topography is subtly different, the basic strategy remains the same.

Etnaran Keys is a map within Luxon territory, meaning that the overall fight is not going well for the turtle lovers. Fortunately for us, we gain some topographical advantages which I’ll try to discuss. Less holding is required for Keys, making it a great place for many preferred characters to shine…and a few oft unused professions to downright sparkle. As cap groups are the flavor of the day here for Luxon we’ll be spending a lot of this guide running from point A to point B.

A hold team prefferable for center, usually, gaining a quick control of the field is necessary at the start of the game, so most teams alliance teams split into 4-4-4. The center road should concentrate on the Orb shrine first, but NOT JUST TO CAP IT!. The Rez Orb is a valuable weapon to a team trying to gain ground against the Kurzick’s preferred Balanced team/Hold group strategy for this map. Have a caster pick it up and carry it (usually a monk, as they are the most oft targeted and first to die in the sporadic PuG (yes this means less energy and the temporary loss of weapon mods, but for what amounts to a 9th skill on your skillbar, I think its worth it; also, I have fewer energy issues than most other players and no need to attack when I monk, making it a still better choice). There are two strategies to using the orb: an improvised rez sig for a single player, which makes the Kurzick’s first spike a fairly wasted effort, or to just let them kill you and AoE rez yourself and your party when you drop it. Depending on what you’re facing, either of these strats is solid. Just don’t leave the darn thing sitting on the ground back at the shrine. This and Seaside are the only mobile buffs on the map; be sure to carry it with you.

You should be getting your first look at the Kurzick’s while they finish up capping the ranger shrine. Take the time to size them up and decide whether it’s better to fight and hold out for friendly reinforcements…or run like chickens. Since I prefer Hold groups taking center, I suggest you start the party up early. With the added monk on your side, even a balanced team can hold the rez here 5v4 against speed buffed hold teams. At least, they can hold it long enough for the left team to bring in their support.

If you can’t fight (because you’re a cap group and they’ll pound you into turtleburger patties) meet up with the left team for a concentrated attack on Warrior, then ranger, and let a second Kurzick team into your flanks. For the purpose of this guide we’ll assume for now that at least one team is not a cap group.

The “left” team should make its way to the Melee defense point, spawning its two necro NPCs and a Ward Against Melee (Don’t ask me why the necros give you a ward against melee. I have no idea…). Immediately after, you should head toward the Warrior shrine, where you get your first view of the Kurzicks. You have two choices here. The Kurzick’s will usually opt to charge you and fight, but you never actually want to out in the open. Any fight near the warrior shrine at this point gives them the advantage as they can simply retreat and turn the fight from 4v4 to 4v7 with their NPC backup ready to hand. Even a good hold team can’t stand up to that for too long. You may feel obliged to run back to your melee shrine and try the same trick…once. The center team needs your help, even if it means giving up melee for a few minutes to do it. My choice should be obvious: the team that holds the rez at the start of the map can usually control the pace of the fight. Right now, hold rez. Hold onto it with your toenails 8v9 (maybe 9v9 if the warrior team grabbed their Elite NPC for a tagalong) if you have to.

Usually taken by fast running cap groups, the best strat for the left team is to swing around toward the rez, possibly taking a light swipe at the Kurzick’s as you move to support the most important control in the game. They don’t often follow, knowing already that since your center team holds the rez, anyone they kill right now will just be back up and in their face in a matter of seconds thanks either to the orb from center or the rez under your control.

Sidenote:speak to the Elite Warrior or ele and they will follow you, a useful tag along for split cap teams retaking points in the rear. My personal prefference on this map is to leave them where they are though, and accept that a 2 man rearguard cap team will just be a little slow. It takes away from the points defense to grab the NPC here and you want the forward caps to be strong against Kurzick's as they try to retake them. Still, either strat can work in the right hands. Do what you think is best. Just be sure to think before you do it.

Victorious at the rez shrine (at least, I hope you were) the two teams should then proceed to their respective lanes to cap the Ranger and warrior shrine. Often, I see both teams cramming in on the Ranger shrine. My guess is that everyone wants the mobile buff. While the Ranger buff is a useful thing to have, speed in caps and controlling the field is more so. My preference: stick to 4-4-4 here; take the field folks, and remember that at least one enemy team has already flanked you.

Which leaves the right side. Sorry guys, didn’t mean to leave you in the lurch. But then again, topographically, you are. Physically, the right side is the most cut off from the other two lanes, making it a good lane for balanced and hold groups. Grab the mesmer shrine and its Ward against elements (…) then it’s a choice of what group you are. If you’re a strong PvP team, stay far right and you should run into some Kurzick’s as you crest the hill. They may just sit on the ele shrine, but that’s doubtful. Knowing that THEY are also tactically exposed to a two pronged attack from you and center, most will opt to abandon the ele shrine and swing around the seabed and to your mesmer. Let them. If, on the other hand, they charge out from the ele shrine to confront you, you can choose to face them or run over the braown rock bridge to the rez and strong ground. Retreating to the mesmer shrine can be good strategy depending on the group setup you’re facing, but most games I find it easier to let them flank here.

If a cap group has been shoved into this slot, take the seabed for yourself. The roundabout in the center of the map leads to the rez shrine and its NPC monk, making it a good place for the high attack/light defense team to make a stand. This also gives you safer access to your Allied teams and backup.

Lets assume that all three groups continue down their lanes with little trouble, cap Ranger, Warrior, and ele. Lets also assume (since it is most often the case) that you now have two Kurzick teams nearby your base and have flanked you. Melee is in their hands by now, with Mesmer and the rez orb quickly falling. What to do?

I have a mild suggestion: CRUSH THEM! Cut off from their own rez, smart Kurzick’s immediately turn their attention to the rez shrine in hopes of securing a strong point in-map from which to attack. If they don’t, opting instead to stick near their NPCs for extra support, then your 3 teams can push them out of orb like squeezing a grape in a vise. Retreating then to Mesmer or Melee, they show you just how cut off they are as hold teams hammer them into a pile of exploited corpses and cap teams harry them into a line of dead bodies waiting for rez.

Cap teams should lead the charge and start hitting (supported by anything else with a run buff) with balanced team and hold team monks bringing up the middle to let the cappers high damage spike without fear. The rear is of course your slow moving hammer hold attack characters as the finisher, a quick mop-up and then everyone back to rez minus a small contingent to retake your flanks.

That’s right; I just told the Luxons to adopt the Kurzick’s own strategy to this map. Why? Because it’s so darned effective. Thanks to the center rez shrine Luxon players will find themselves quickly returned to any fray that they are killed in, while the Kurzick’s have only one rez orb, quickly burned under the weight of a 12v9 onslaught. Any support they get will have to run through your rez point first, meaning an easy blockade of reinforcements while you handle the cap teams on your flanks.

Doing this, you should now have control of the rez, and a center point to strike out at ele, ranger, melee and warrior with your cap team while the hold and Balanced team huddles up on Ranger and rez for the long haul. Mesmer can for a while, cut off as it is, until control of the board is established and the Kurzick’s are sitting on their heels in their base wonder wtf just happened. More often than not, the rezzed support has wasted valuable time trying to cap warrior, Ranger, ele and melee. This is but a speed bump to a prepared Luxon team holding its rez shrine. With the orb firmly under control, center teams should make their way back to the Ranger shrine and prepare to lock the Kurzick’s inside their base and let the timer run out. If they know they can handle the split its also nice if your cap team breaks 2-2; one team slow capping the flanked mesmer, melee and orb while you gain the added support of two more fast movers to run down stray Kurzicks sneaking out of their base.

This, of course, assumes that you can face the Kurzicks and win. If you fail at orb and lose the rez many teams try their best to punch their way back to that all important central spot. This is the worst possible strategy for such teams to adopt for a simple reason:

EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU WANTS TO PLAY CAP TEAMS ON THIS MISSION!

Capture teams are fun, I’ll grant you that, and the contribution they give to the team is readily apparent in a map like this as they constantly outrun the Kurzick hold teams to take points back. While they can win this battle, a full 4-4-4 spread of cap teams has only once been able to beat out the Kurzicks, secure all 7 points, and nub stomp the enemy until the timer ran out in my time playing here (this does not include err 7 leavers). And that only time…the Kurzicks were a full cap team spread.

And that’s exactly the strategy most people adopt here. Using the cap teams high mobility and front end attack power, control points are steadily lost and retaken, a rolling circle of fast running builds harrying the Kurzick hold teams like 3 packs of wolves on an ox. It ain’t pretty, but it works. So if you find yourself beaten to a pulp by the Kurzicks, do what cap teams do best. Cap cap cap. By avoiding the big fighters and hitting their own cap teams 4v8 (an easy thing to do with 3 fast teams circling 3 slower) you should hit 500 before they do. Who knows; the Kurzicks can even get flustered and their hold teams leave the rez, giving you back the advantage. Because of its poor topography, I find the mesmer shrine ideal for a breakout of the base. Don’t cap it unless someone has the Kurzick’s distracted; just use the tele to get out and flank them to ele, Ranger and war.

The most important thing I can say to teams beaten back to their base is to avoid the orb shrine at all costs. Aside from the monks they used to outpace your damage before, they now have an NPC backup for a 12v13 fight which they have already proven to take the upper hand in. Never straight up fight 3 cap teams against hold and/or balanced. Even if you manage to take out one monk, the other 2 (3 with the NPC) will make sure you get creamed.

Remember though, with just ONE good hold team on your side (and doing its job) this dangerous race becomes a non-issue for most games. It comes down to a question of which you prefer. 10 minutes spent running around in circles in a desperate battle to keep caps under control, or a 5 minute easy win and the chance to do it all over again. Me? I like to bring my monk here most.

Minus Sign · Jul 08, 2006, 08:23 PM // 20:23

TeamSpeak/Vent is a beautiful thing to have in your group. It makes sure that your team is communicating properly with itself. But there is something TS/Vent users need to be aware of here:

YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO CAN HEAR YOUR DIP @$$ TARGET CALLS! Do not spam TCs like this map is a GvG. You are not alone, and any other ally wishing to use allied chat will find his words washed out by:

I’m attacking Kurxick Monk!
I’m attacking Kurxick Monk!
I’m attacking Kurxick Monk!
I’m attacking Kurxick Elementalist!
I’m attacking Kurxick Elementalist!
I’m attacking Kurxick Elementalist!
I’m attacking Kurxick Elementalist!
I’m attacking Kurxick Necromancer!
I’m attacking Kurxick Necromancer!
I’m attacking Kurxick Necromancer!
I’m attacking Kurxick GET THE PICTURE YET?

Be courteous to other players. The more you are, the better they have the chance to help you.

Now, let’s talk toons. As with any guide, I tend to stray away from build discussion in the guide itself. I’ll talk skills mostly, what to bring and how to use. If you wat to talk a specific build, feel free to in the thread.

Assassin: cap kiddies, cap. But it’s a get in/get out strategy that wins with a sin. Stop tanking for crying out loud. Teleports are perfect for capping, your damage spikes are great in the clinch (with Way of the Fox making sure they get through). A great trick is to cast Recall on an NPC ally and go to another cap, then teleport back for a fast defense when Kurzicks try to flank you. Siphon Speed helps chase down kiting monks (something I know all too well) and keep their pace more manageable for you and other melee fighters in your team.

Elementalist: Again, I like Air for cap groups. Blinding Flash is a pain in the rear for players in this condition heavy environment and a useful tool against NPCs at Warrior and Seaside caps (where winning cap teams will be spending much of their time); just bring your buff to keep pace. Fire helps cap points, but I reserve it for slower moving Balanced groups and Hold groups along with Earth’s armor ignoring spells (with those loveably wards) and Water’s Hex snares like Deep Freeze to make your melee fighters fight easy and squishy monks kite to safety. Depending on your preferred element, any team should readily pick you up.

Mesmer: Blackout pwns…when used properly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve unloaded all of my mana into my team for heal/prots only to have a mesmer Black me out just as I start to regen (or just before). Hit castors with Blackout early for a shutdown while you prepare your hex string, not as an afterthought while everything else is recharging. I Dom mostly when I mes, But Illusion Magic is seeing a lot of play here. Just don’t forget your Inspiration magic; if it helps you how can it hurt to bring it? Do you really need 8 offensive spells??? Balanced and hold teams should be ready to accept you.

Monk: Twichy_kid, if you read this, I’ve run Dual smite. It’s a nice build (the one I kicked out based on what you said) but I stick to my Boon Prot and doing what monks do best. Old fashioned Heal monks are seeing a lot more play thanks in part to the PvE aspect of AB and the rampant armor ignoring spells/skills here. Unless you Dual smite with Charge warriors for your run buff, I suggest you find a heal/prot niche in a hold and balance group to keep these powerful teams frosty.

Necromancer: any cap group that has run into a good MM knows just how powerful the class can be here. The question is why Luxons don’t bring them. Specific to hold teams, a good MM will set the Kurzick’s on their heels if you can keep your horde alive…and yours! Bring Verata theft spells to get minions back or take them away.

Alt necros should consider putting a few atty points into minion theft, as necros are FotM on the Kurzicks side.

To be frank, we aren’t going to push them into their territory very often until some more (GOOD!) PvP people start playing MM on Luxon side. Teams, stop dismissing MMs in outpost; they pwn, and will pwn better with practice. Hold groups; take them along and support them.

Curses, of course, make for a deadly day for Cap teams caught out in the open, and Balanced teams find themselves blunted under the weight of your Enfeeble, Faintheartedness, Malaise combos. Wells find corpses quickly, but not always where you need them. Player position when casting a well is important; the nearest corpse to YOU is what gets exploited.

Ranger: I’ve have seen good Beast Masters and I have seen bad. Good beast masters have lv 20 pets and 16 in BM for the skills they use. Bad BMs have anything else, and no pet rez…

This is not tombs. Your pet will not body block stairs for you to Barrage things to death. Best in cap and balanced here, rangers (BMs included) don’t really have the tanking power needed for that fourth slot in a hold groups, and I prefer nukes (after much deliberation). That said, a good trapper (which I haven’t found lately on Luxon) can make control points uninhabitable for any melee range fighter that tries to take them, and give flank teams a bad day without even being nearby. There is so much open ground though, so many different routes to take, that trappers may find a hard time predicting which lane to trap.

In all, I think the Ranger more suited to cap and balanced teams here. They just do a better job there.

Ritualist: I still call you a hold team’s best friend. Since most people should bring their own heals, a good Communing Rit Lord can keep your parties damage to a minimum for a loooooong time (with only 4 people in your group). Other times? I’m goanna say it till people start to hear: rit spirits effect all allies my little nubcakes. He does not have to be on your team to prot the ever-loving heck out of you! Though, for some utterly blinding reason, the monks are the ones who get all the props for an easy win…in PvE, it gets downright insulting.

While Offensive Rits are great in Saltspray for body blocking the bridge, I prefer my Rit (when I can get a hold group) to bring only one offensive spell here: Shadowsong, the one that doesn’t do any damage but causes blind to any melee fighter who decides to take a chunk out of your prots. Stagger as you cast; don’t spam them all in the same place or you’re begging for a nuke.

Warrior: and one of the two only classes in this map that I consider truly versatile for cap, hold and balanced teams. Paired with nukes and spikes, your DPS has never been anything to sneeze at. A preferred Elite I’m seeing here is Eviscerate for its easy apply deep wound and ready damage. Bring your cripples and KDs for kiters and cap teams (whether your built to run all day or to hold the world at bay). Watch Yourself is a personal favorite of mine in tight groups; 20 armor buff makes even a monk a hard nut to crack. For a team build strategy “out of the box’ grab Charge for your Elite here if you don’t use it much. Balanced teams will find a fast running monk a boon if they have to start capping, and even a hold team finds fighting easier with this powerful all ally spped buff. (and did I mention? ALL ALLIES!)

Until when

Play Fair and Good Gaming

"-" Minus Sign