Curse

IxChel · Oct 19, 2005, 03:56 PM // 15:56

There are many people who find Defend North Kryta Provence (and to a lesser extent Defend Denravi) particularly difficult (the latter is easy if you don't talk to Elvena). I have a few observations and suggestions I'd like to share. Let me start with a review of the opponent.

The Earth Born Titan opens with Ward against Elements and then spams Stone Daggers, occasionally using Grasping Earth. Due to the daggar spamming, this titan is a wonderful target for Backfire or Spiteful Spirit; although in both cases, the titan will stop short of killing himself.

The Wind Born Titan uses Enervating Charge, Chain Lightning, and spams Blinding Flash on warriors (but won't bother blinding casters). It probably has the best logic, it also seems to prefer targets below 50% health and will move and switch targets if it can kill.

The Water Born Titan uses Shard Storm, Malestorm, and if someone engages it locally, Frozen Burst. Overall, this is probably the most damaging of the three elementalist titans to casters due to the Malestorm, with which it tends to target healers or "clumps" of casters.

The Wild Growth is a Ranger that uses Spike Trap [E], Apply Poison, Pin Down, Troll Ugent, Whirling Defense (and, unconfirmed, Throw Dirt). Against a caster w/o buffs, its plain arrow attack does 60 damage. When you kill a Wild Growth, you get 3 random Earth/Wind/Water Born titans.

The Rotting Titan is a Necromancer that uses Rotting Flesh, and spams Parasitic Bond. It will use Well of Suffing when a corpse appears, and will place Death Nova on any ally below 50% HP. When a Rotting Titan dies, a Wild Growth appears

A few random observations:

Optimize for defense against elemental attacks. With the exception of the Rotting Titan's stomp attack and the Wild Growth's arrows, all damage is elemental. Therefore, Ward against Elements is a great skill to spam, as well as the mesmer's Elemental Resistance.
Spread out. There are a good amount of AoE attacks: disease spreads to "nearby" team-mates; chain lightning, grasping earth, frozen burst, and malestorm are all heal-area sized effect circles.
Plan for condition removal. There are lots of conditiions: blind and weakness (esp targeted at warriors) spread by the Wind Born titans, disease spread by the Rotting Titan, and poison spread by the Wild Growth.
Use Physical or Fire Attacks. With the exception of the Rotting Titan, all of these foes have very good armour vs elemental attacks; a warrior will want to use a physical weapon. Of the elementalist skill lines, Fire is the best to attack with; but it isn't great and the Earth Born's spamming of Ward against Elements makes AoE fire attacks even less effective.
Cause Poison and Bleeding. All of the opponents are subject to bleeding, poison, and disease; and given their high lvl 28 armour -- these sorts of degen are especially effective. Furthermore, the elementalists have no self-heals and there arn't any healers to help them (the wild growth uses troll ugent, and the rotting titan uses 140+ HP parasitic bond).
Use Enchantments Liberally With the sole exception of one of the necomancer Boss Titan -- one in each mission -- your enchantments are safe! Further, there isn't any burning to worry about. These two titans use Desecreate Enchantments, Strip Enchantment, and have your familiar local AoE burning.
With the exception of malestorm, which you can walk out of, there are no interrupts to worry about.
Get +10% morale boost. If you take the portal near the Ascelon Settlement there is a temple to Dwayna just to the right; if each person donates a bit of loose change you can get to +10% morale and then re-enter North Kryta Provence.

The most difficult problem in this mission is keeping the NPC alive. Elvena isn't so bad, she keeps hearself and her close-friends alive with Heal Area (which can make killing the Titan boss a bit of a pain). The Captain Greywind, however, is clearly sub-par; he doesn't use any armour buffs and swings away even when he's blind. Further, like most ascelon natives (Ruik), he charges right into the thick of things. This mission requires at least one healer, and 80% of that Healer's attention will be spent on Captain Greywind. Since Greywind doesn't do much damage (cuz he's blind and weakened 80% of the time), Life Attunement helps.

Given that you only have 6 players (yes, you can run from ToA to get 8, but this isn't necessary), you can only afford to have one monk, and as I stated earlier, that monk will be busy keeping themselves and the NPC alive. Therefore, each of your 5 other members must thing very hard about how they can reduce the damage they take. Specific suggestions include:

A warrior should take Watch Yourself, Healing Signet, and the Doldak Signet; I'd also take I Will Avenge You since your team mates will die. With high strength and tactics, if you keep both Watch Yourself and Doldak active, you will take very little damage -- and the damage you can take can be healed /w your Healing Signet. Since you will be taking Res Signet, this leaves you with 3 remaining skills. One of them should be condition removal; plague touch or mend ailment. The other two skills should be some sort of attack; a Disrupting Chop on a Malestorm will help your healers/nukers. If you go sword, I recommend Sever Artery. You won't have that much time while you're not-blind; so you need to make the most of it. Ideally you can hang out next to Captain Greywind so he can also get that Watch Yourself armour buff.

A ranger should take troll ungent for self heal; and thing hard about what amour buffs they can get from their secondary. Dryder's Defenses will really help when things get rough. Since you have clustered casters to pick on, I recommend Choking Gas with Praticed Stance or Poison Arrow. If you've got a heavy physical damage team, take Winnowing since the opponent's damage is mostly elemental. Storm Chaser is a particularly good energy engine here. Luckily, your armour is very nice already against elementalist attacks; so you don't need a huge armour buff.

An Elementalist should be taking Armour of Earth or Kenetic Armour to push their already good vs-elemental armour over the top. With Armour of Earth, most spells only do 10-20 damage, without it, you're into the 100HP range. Further, at least one elementalist in your group should be spamming Ward against Elements. For offense, take Fire; as Water/Air/Earth are less effective against the corresponding titan. If you can squeeze in Malestorm (and take Glyph of Concentration for it), it's possible to save hundreds of points of your team mate's damage.

Your mesmer and necomancer are in a horrible position with respect to armour. You absolutely have to have a armour buff. For the mesmer, use Elemental Resistance and avoid the ranger's arrows and the rotting titan's stomp. But even with elemental resistance (+40 amour), you will still be taking decent damage from the elemental attacks; so use your secondary for some other buff. Necromancers might want to consider using their elite slot for Aura of the Lich to help reduce damage and provide secondary healing; otherwise they may have to rely upon the monk and/or their secondary for protection -- just stay back if you don't have the armour to take the hits.

I have not tested it, but your 55 monk build should do just wonderful in this mission -- as long as he stays far far away from that first necromancer boss, which uses desecrate enchantments and then strips them.

Once you have your "build" for your particular class, before you join a team, you are best testing the build against a group of 2 or 3 elementalist titans right side lion's arch. Your build, if it is to be viable for the team, should be able to take down, at the very least, a group of 2 without dying.

If you're a monk, you can also test your build. Simply go outside LA, aggro one elemental mob and lure them back to the 3 lvl-15 guards. If you can keep the guards alive while they kill the titans -- you're ready. A death necromancer is a slight variant, go lure a titan group back to the 3 guards; and use them for fodder. If you can kill the 3 titans w/o dying (and ideally with 2-3 minions when you're done), then you are ready.

My mesmer/elementalist used the following build for this mission:

Earth (10) / Inspiration (11+1) / Domination (10+4) / Fast Casting (1+1)
* Armour of Earth
* Elemental Resistance
* Ether Feast
* Energy Surge [E]
* Backfire
* Guilt
* Power Drain (interrupt)
* Res Signet

I would keep Armour of Earth and Elemental Resistance up all of the time, and keep using Ether Feast so my health doesn't drop below 50. I'd first look for Earth Elementalists, and use Backfire on them -- they'd get down to about 60HP rather quickly. While the Earth fella is backfired, I'd use Guilt on a Air Elementalst, since their attacks do the most damage. Then, I'd swap over to the Water Born titan to try and nab Malestorm /w the Power Drain. After this, I go back to the Earth born titan and use Energy Surge to finish him off. If facing two water elementalists, you have to be careful to avoid the maelstorm. But, with pratice, this build can solo 3-4 titans.

I still haven't found a good build for my warrior/necromancer, but here
is one that it's currently set at:

Strength (11+4), Tactics (9+1), Death (8), Sword (8)
* Doldak Signet (keep up all the time)
* I Will Survive
* Healing Signet
* Watch Yourself
* Plague Touch
* Sever Artery
* Virulence [E]
* Res Signet

Basically, you keep Doldak up 100% of the time; the movement penalty isn't a huge issue, they come to you. You hit Watch Yourself followed by Healing Signet when you get below 80% health. Use Sever Artery when every you're not blind and weakened, they don't heal themselves. Once you've got an artery severed, or have used Plague Touch to send your Blindness or Weakness over, use virulence to give them Poison and Disease. Between the bleeding, poison, and disease, you make fast work of the titans. This build can handle 2-3 titans without any problems; I've been able to take 4 titans as well, but if there are 2-3 water titans /w constant malestorm I just cannot easily get virulence or plague touch off; and it is significantly harder (your window for getting your punch in is very small in this case).

Basically, if you have 5 people that can solo 2-3 titans, and a monk to give Captain Greywind proper care and feeding and counter the ranger's poison / necomancer's disease, you should have no problem finishing this mission. For this mission it is especially important that people don't rely upon the healer for "routine" maintenance -- the healer is there for emergencies only. If you are assembling a "random" PUG, map into the area, and have each person demonstrate they can solo a 2-3 titan group at the entrance. If you've got 5 people that can *solo* that first group.... your success will be gaurneteed. If someone who you've invited can't solo that group; give them 1-2 more chances to get their build right. If on the 3rd attempt they can't do it... find another player.

That said, if you go in /w a PUG of 5 random people who haven't bothered to test their build for damage mitigation.... be prepared for failure after failure after failure.

Amused Observer · Oct 21, 2005, 02:20 AM // 02:20

I tried doing this quest once this morning (prior to game update), and failed miserably. I was running a Me/E with backfire, chaostorm, glyph lesser energy, ice spike, arcane echo, ward Harm [E], and rez sig. the idea was to to do aoe damage, and soften the blow w/ the ward. But still i was taking too much damage.

I find your idea of taking ether feast for self heal interesting. I hardly ever use it b/c I am somewhat used to depending on a monk to keep me alive. Your key strategy of having members relying on self heal is rather controversial. I don't know if there are many PUGs who would be able to adapt to your strategy. :/

IxChel · Oct 21, 2005, 02:53 AM // 02:53

Amused,

Thank you for taking time to read and comment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amused Observer

I was running a Me/E with backfire, chaostorm, glyph lesser energy, ice spike, arcane echo, ward Harm [E], and rez sig. The idea was to to do aoe damage, and soften the blow w/ the ward. But still i was taking too much damage.

Yes. This is the biggest problem /w your average pug. The damage dished out in this mission is quite high -- just one chain lightning can do 100+ damage to 3 team members. That's at least 15 energy to counter, and as a monk /w an un-prepared team the healing just cannot keep pace with the damage. You're idea to use the Ward against Harm is quite nice; only I'd drop the ice spike and pick up Elemental Resistance, even at 0 inspiration you've got +40 armour against elemental damage which accounts for 90% of the damage in this mission. Certainly you'll take a -20 armour penalty from ranger's arrows and the necromancer's stomp -- but, these two attacks are not numerous and not for the big numbers. I'm curious how many other me/el builds can solo 3 titans outside lion's arch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amused Observer

I find your idea of taking ether feast for self heal interesting. I hardly ever use it b/c I am somewhat used to depending on a monk to keep me alive. Your key strategy of having members relying on self heal is rather controversial. I don't know if there are many PUGs who would be able to adapt to your strategy. :/

The primary part of the strategy is to get each player to _experience_ how much damage they are really taking so that they can start thinking about even the simplest defensive measures. Your random Pugger just doesn't think, "gee, how can I not take damage". They like to see the big damage numbers on their output, and forget to find the balance between defense and offense. When a monk has an entire party of fully-offensive players, it makes his job very difficult -- if not impossible. By asking each player to show how they can solo 3 titans, and asking them to heal themselves -- even if they can't do it -- you raise awareness of defence. You'll notice that the players that have the worst armour and decide not to take defensive measures become more cautious and don't go tanking on you... it has lots of positive effects.

As a monk I concern myself with people below 50% health; and I'll wait till someone gets close to 50% before I send a heal their way. In missions where some or all of the PUG members brought self-healing, the team was much more resilient to "oh shit, there goes our monk" kinds of situations. It would be nicer if a monk could play a more "proactive" role healing, and as an "emergency" safety net rather than as the constant blood-line of a leaky ship....

That said, the self-heal is really not the main concern of my post. After working out a build that can withstand a good amount of damage, as a monk, I'd be happy if they decide _not_ to take a self-heal and instead add yet another defensive or offensive skill. That's fine. My assertion is that if all 6 members of your team can "solo" the three titans, you will succeed and it won't be luck.

rsgordon · Oct 24, 2005, 06:01 PM // 18:01

IxChel,

I just wanted to thank you for taking the time and effort to post such a thorough analysis of this quest. I'm actually looking forward to trying this quest again now.

labsenpai · Oct 24, 2005, 06:50 PM // 18:50

As a monk, I've noticed that groups that spread out to avoid AoE also tend to leave my healing range. Having to chase the Captain around only worsens the situation. In these Titan missions, your party needs to take full advantage of the precious seconds between waves and re-group for mass heals/regen/buffs. IxChels's "awareness of defence" is also a must. I hate it when Mo secondaries bring one shot Res instead of condition removal...

In regard to Ward use: For Defend Denravi I tried using Ward against Elements. The modest armor bonus did little against the Stone Dagger and Lightning spam. Perhaps it is useful on an Elem's skill bar, but a Mo/E has better options within his primary.

Ashley Twig · Oct 25, 2005, 08:21 AM // 08:21

I think, they key to most quests and missions that have casters in them is, to take 2 or 3 interrupters with you.
The physical damage the titans deal is not at all that big a problem, as in most quests/mission. that's the reason why warrior mobs are usually attacked last.
Inerrupters need to make the casting mobs waste their energy, so the damage dealers can do their work uniterrupted.
The right targeting order of the titans also seems essential.
The teams I sucessfuly did this with used the following orders.
Earth->Water->Air->Rotten->Wild
or
Water->Earth->...

I also learned that (contrary to what usually is done) the big necro boss at the settlement should be taken out prior to any other targets.

Now, all you need is a team, knowing about all that, and following the rules of healthy combat, which is probably the toughest part in almost any quest/mission.

IxChel · Oct 25, 2005, 03:47 PM // 15:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsgordon

I just wanted to thank you for taking the time and effort to post such a thorough analysis of this quest. I'm actually looking forward to trying this quest again now.

You're certainly welcome. However, I wrote this more out of selfishness than anything else. I still have to get my warrior through this mission. As a monk you can pretty much dictate the terms of your engagement; making people go outside and showing that they can "solo" a group of 2-3 titans. However, as a warrior, you just don't have that option. So, I was hoping that by posting this, next time I get on-line I can point everyone to the thread and perhaps... perhaps we might be successful.

Speaking of which, I haven't tried using the standard "enchant monk" build (see below) in this mission. So, if you want to do a run through, I can always bring my monk "Ix Chel" to help you through (and to see if this enchant build works).

Quote:

Originally Posted by labsenpai

In regard to Ward use: For Defend Denravi I tried using Ward against Elements. The modest armor bonus did little against the Stone Dagger and Lightning spam. Perhaps it is useful on an Elem's skill bar, but a Mo/E has better options within his primary.

It should reduce damage by about 30% Yes, 30% of 150HP (what their chain lightning can do to an 60 armour is only about 45 points, so it's still well over 100. However, over the duration of that ward, 10 here, 20 there, and a few 40s adds up very quickly. The ward shouldn't be the only method of damage mitigation. Mesmers should take Elemental Resistance, Warriors should have Watch Yourself and/or Doldak Signet.

That said, you're spot on; this should be carried by your "forward" elementalist; not by your monk who's should be hanging back. A good elementalist will go 11 fire, 10 earth, 10 energy storage in this mission; bringing either Kenetic or Armour of Earth plus Ward aganst Elements.

A wa/el is also nice on this mission; one that came on me earlier was using doldak signet, armour of earth, plus ward against foes (I had balthazar's on him, so his energy was no problem). He'd run far far out and aggro the titans as they arrived; then he'd throw up the ward. With the ward against foes up, the titans seem to be content hanging out around him rahter than charging the casters. He'd then use Earth Shaker followed by Aftershock. I also saw cyclone axe... so I think he was running axe/shield most of the time, and then swapping over to hammer for the knock-down (probably only had 4 hammer mastery).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ashley Twig

I think, they key to most quests and missions that have casters in them is, to take 2 or 3 interrupters with you.

Absolutely. Malestorm and a choking-gas ranger are very nice on this mission. A mesmer /w cry of frustration can also save much damage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ashley Twig

The physical damage the titans deal is not at all that big a problem, as in most quests/mission. that's the reason why warrior mobs are usually attacked last.

Well, best yet; the only physical damage in this mission seems to be the wild growths (the rangers) and the rotting titan's stomp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ashley Twig

The teams I sucessfuly did this with used the following orders.
Earth->Water->Air->Rotten->Wild
or
Water->Earth->...

I would do the Rotten first, since they create wells of suffering and use disease; the rotten spawns a Wild. Once you've got one wild poisoning your team; having a few more doesn't create much of a big difference (but you're warriors really need to avoid their spike traps... 200+ damage). My last successful mission we totally ignored the wilds till the very last wave arrived; I was using Restore Condition [E] so keeping up with the poison wasn't all that hard.

A good mesmer /w backfire or a necromancer /w spiteful spirit can single-handlely take the earth born titans in under 15 seconds.

Since this quest does not remove enchantments; you might be able to use a life-bond , mending monk /w martyr. Once they get the enchantments up (right before you talk to the Captain), they just stay far far back and keep using blessed signet. A +4 mending will cancel out the poison (your entire team will be poisoned), so you will still need a secondary healer. However, having life-bond and mending on just about everyone makes the mission go rather well. Note that the maintained enchantment monk really needs to have balthazar's spirit on himself to keep these enchantments up... I'd also recommend a sprint skill so that when a titan comes for you; you hit sprint and run away -- hopefully he changes his mind.

sludgy · Oct 25, 2005, 04:27 PM // 16:27

This is all good and should be required reading before attempting the quest but it is hard enough to find people to attempt the quest nvm having them meet these requirements... On that note.... anyone up for meeting up to do the quest? I can bring my e/n or mo/me both still need to complete....

Joe L. · Oct 25, 2005, 10:07 PM // 22:07

I too would like to meet up and do the mission. This seems like as good of a place as any, as people here seem to want to gain some wisdom on the task at hand, as opposed to the ones in the game who think they can try the same build over and over, assuming the outcome will change. Right now, I use a R/E. Interrupter extraordinare. And I am not just saying that. Have over 300 hrs with this character alone. Can also employ an effective spike build if we have enough mes, and or other rangers.

I propose that those who want to give it a shot with good adaptable players should post here, then we could set up a time.

P.S. I also know a good tank, if need be.
P.S.S. I also want to thank to OP for the very helpful, and informative guide. One of the best ones I have seen.

Corbin · Oct 28, 2005, 12:24 AM // 00:24

im on this quest, if you guys need an interrupting ranger (R/E) i am your man

ign: sir adrien brody

Ashley Twig · Oct 28, 2005, 06:53 AM // 06:53

None of my chars except my warrior (but she hasn't ascended yet

) needs this quest, but Heather May (monk) should be able to help you.
My ele still needs help on LDD and Kryta (including the followup quest TitanSource) and FA.
And me, I still need help on TitanSource.

I am on european servers.

Amused Observer · Oct 29, 2005, 05:51 AM // 05:51

I've finally managed to finish the Last Day Dawns and Defend North Kryta today. The PUG grp for LDD was Me/E, Mo/W, E/Me, and R/Mo. Despite not having a "tank," we were still able to finish LDD b/c we used the npc King as tank.

The PUG grp for DNK was made of 8 ppl coming from ToA: Me/E, Mo/R, Mo/W, E/N, N/E, R/N, W/Mo, Me/N. One monk was a protector/bonder.

For both quests, I ran a Me/E and my skillbar was: Maelstrom, Backfire, Chaos Storm, Glyph Lesser Energy, Ether Feast, Energy Drain (E), Elemental Resistance, Rez Sig. I tossed in the Maelstorm, Ether Feast, and Resistance at Ix Chel's suggestion in this thread, and it worked pretty well. the Drain was added because my Mes didn't have enough energy to deal with the exhaustion and cast other spells without a quick energy boost; energy tap is also usable if I didn't have ED. I had like 10 or 11 points in Inspiration, meaning that the Feast is good for 100+ hp recovery every 8 seconds. The Resistance also lasted 80 seconds or so. I also had 9+4=13 pts in domination, and the rest in water. 140 damage for backfire makes quick work of the relentlessly spell spamming titans.

Frankly, I'm pleasantly surprised at how effective this build worked against the titans.

Amused Observer · Oct 29, 2005, 05:55 AM // 05:55

I agree that the Necro titan boss should be taken out first. He uses Wither and if allowed to stay alive, will deny your party energy regen.

rsgordon · Oct 29, 2005, 02:23 PM // 14:23

I've been able to handle 3-4 titans with this build, but it takes my warrior at least 3 minutes kill them off. It seems like the Wind Titans stop putting Blindness and Weakness on me about 2 minutes into it, which may be the only reason I can actually kill them.

W/E Anti Titan Tank

Strength 15 (+3 rune, +1 helm)
Tactics 11 (+1 rune)
Earth Magic 9
Swordsmanship 4

1) Sever Artery (10 secs of bleeding)
2) Aftershock (adjacent take 70 earth dmg)
3) "I Will Survive" (+3 health regen for each condition for 11 secs)
4) Armor of Earth (+46 armor for 30 secs)
5) Dolyak Signet (+40 armor for 20 secs)
6) "Watch Yourself" (+20 armor for 9 secs)
7) Healing Signet (+122 health, -40 armor while using)
8) Res Signet

I always keep Armor of Earth and Dolyak Signet up. Whenever I have the mana to spare, I cast Aftershock. Whenever I'm not blind, I use Sever Artery. The problem is this build lacks offensive punch. I could stand there forever and not die, but I'm doing very little damage as I'm usually blinded and I usually don't have enought mana to cast Aftershock. Any recommendations?

I had tried your W/N build IxChel, but I always seemed to go down very quickly. I might just need more practice with it, as the timing takes some getting used to.

IxChel · Oct 29, 2005, 05:17 PM // 17:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsgordon

I've been able to handle 3-4 titans with this build, but it takes my warrior at least 3 minutes kill them off. It seems like the Wind Titans stop putting Blindness and Weakness on me about 2 minutes into it, which may be the only reason I can actually kill them.

Due to the constant blindness and weakness applied, a warrior is quite hobbled against the titans; and you are right, the wa/ne build needs help; I've since dropped the sword and bleeding altogether. I've been playing around with rotting flesh, aura of the lich; but I don't have anythin to report. Luckily, my wa/ne has enough skill points so I only need to complete the mission.

I had an "almost successful" run of this mission /w a PuG and my Wa/Ne (although the PuPs refused to listen to any of my advice and kept chanting "fire fire fire"). We entered from Neboo and walked by the rez portal near town. After we beat the first round and moved closer to town, I'd run way out and aggro the titans before they hit town. Captain Greywind was never close enough to engage. Anyway, since the fire chanting echo nuker(s) failed to bring any defensive skills (or heals) they were taking 140 damage from chain lightening, and the healer quickly ran out of energy... and we died. I was the last one to go down (of course), and since I was so far out, the titans took a while to head-in to town. To make a long story short, those 6 town guards gave us the buffer to get from the rez portal all the way to captain Greywind before he had even taken damage. Unfortunately, even with our "second chance" we died quickly. I hate PuGs that don't even bother to listen. Oh well, such is life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amused Observer

The PUG grp for DNK was made of 8 ppl coming from ToA: Me/E, Mo/R, Mo/W, E/N, N/E, R/N, W/Mo, Me/N. One monk was a protector/bonder.

Yes. I joined a pug /w Ix Chel (my monk) just to help out two days ago. I was trying a lifebond build. I'd first put balthazar's on myself, then I'd use lifebond on the two "tanks" [1] to trigger enough balthazar's to allow me to life bond others. I then used bond and mending on the Captain and the other healer. After that I had 7 maintained enchantments (for -3 degen), I found it hard to maintain any more than 7 and still use martyr regularly. I'm not usually a mending fan, but this allowed me to stay way back and use Martyr every 10s (I'd target the rotting titan so I could use martyr as soon as his disease got off). Overall, the build worked relatively well; the other monk and captain greywind (the ones with bond and mending) were the very last ones to go down. As usual, this pug failed due to most of the party taking 100+ damage for every chain lightning and not having any self-heals. After we "barely" failed, the leader told me: "you have to heal". So, I got a healing build and we didn't even make it past the first group w/o 4 deaths (the other monk went down right away without bond and mending). My conclusion: a martyr plus life-bond monk is probably a very good idea for this mission.

[1] Despite my plea for them to take Doldak Signet, Healing Signet, and Watch Yourself; they took all offensive attacks. The result... they screamed the whole time about me not removing blind (I'd remove it as much as I could, but a Wind Born would just blind them 2 seconds later, it is just futile to run a damage-dealing warrior in this mission). I don't even want to talk about the 2x el/mo who echoed meteor shower and only got the first one off before they were killed by chain lightening. Nice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amused Observer

140 damage for backfire makes quick work of the relentlessly spell spamming titans.

With a warrior or ranger present, the Wind Born elementalist spam Blinding Flash and EnervatingCharge, so they would make good targets for Backfire as well as the Earth Elementalists.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amused Observer

Frankly, I'm pleasantly surprised at how effective this build worked against the titans.

I'm so glad to hear about your success. If you and a few others which to run again, my wa/ne (Ah Kin) needs to finish this mission. I'm holding off on finishing it with my me/el (Xaman Ex) since I want to farm the area for another 6-8 skill points and pick up a few more major runes (the me/el build I posted, with Power Spike added in makes for wonderful titan farming).

Best,

Ix Chel

Amused Observer · Oct 30, 2005, 07:23 AM // 07:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsgordon

I've been able to handle 3-4 titans with this build, but it takes my warrior at least 3 minutes kill them off. It seems like the Wind Titans stop putting Blindness and Weakness on me about 2 minutes into it, which may be the only reason I can actually kill them.

W/E Anti Titan Tank

Strength 15 (+3 rune, +1 helm)
Tactics 11 (+1 rune)
Earth Magic 9
Swordsmanship 4

1) Sever Artery (10 secs of bleeding)
2) Aftershock (adjacent take 70 earth dmg)
3) "I Will Survive" (+3 health regen for each condition for 11 secs)
4) Armor of Earth (+46 armor for 30 secs)
5) Dolyak Signet (+40 armor for 20 secs)
6) "Watch Yourself" (+20 armor for 9 secs)
7) Healing Signet (+122 health, -40 armor while using)
8) Res Signet

I always keep Armor of Earth and Dolyak Signet up. Whenever I have the mana to spare, I cast Aftershock. Whenever I'm not blind, I use Sever Artery. The problem is this build lacks offensive punch. I could stand there forever and not die, but I'm doing very little damage as I'm usually blinded and I usually don't have enought mana to cast Aftershock. Any recommendations?

It's a very strong tank build. But I do think that Aftershock and Sever are somewhat out of place for the Titan quests. I would replace them with Obsidian Flesh and Distracting Blow. Also, I would replace I will Survive with Endure Pain, which I think is more useful for a meat shield.

Amused Observer · Oct 30, 2005, 07:28 AM // 07:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by IxChel

I'm so glad to hear about your success. If you and a few others which to run again, my wa/ne (Ah Kin) needs to finish this mission. I'm holding off on finishing it with my me/el (Xaman Ex) since I want to farm the area for another 6-8 skill points and pick up a few more major runes (the me/el build I posted, with Power Spike added in makes for wonderful titan farming).

Will keep an eye out for you on my list. I could use more xp fighting mobs whenever America doesn't have favor. And the more ppl finish DNK, the more possibile PUG teammates I would meet for Titan Source.

labsenpai · Oct 30, 2005, 07:20 PM // 19:20

I'm on attempt number 10 or so, having gone with PuG teams usually starting at the ToA. Even a team with 2 monks in addition to my healer bit the dust around the last wave of Titans. I attribute about half the losses to Ruri--Greywind croaking, the other times to massive conditions and energy degen. I've noticed that fighters tend to let the big Necro Boss Titan "hang around" at the gate, to the dismay of us casters. IMO, too many enemies slip past/gain ground to keep the "safe distance while healing" tactic working till the end. I'm tempted to go against common sense and try a Mo build that runs with the W, so their attacks have real bite. I know, sounds about as crazy as trying to convince uber echo nukers that they need to bring wards/armor buffs.

Amused Observer · Oct 30, 2005, 11:22 PM // 23:22

As Ix Chel noted in tihs thread, if ppl don't bring protection/defensive/self heal skills, it's just not gonna work. The echo nukers can't afford to go 100% offensive in this quest. They won't last enough to cast a second shower (asssuming that they can even get the first off successfully).

I finally managed to get together a PUG for titan source this morning from Yak's Bend. W/E, E/Me, N/R, R/Mo, Mo/W, Me/E. And we managed to see the last 3 titan bosses. Unfortunately, ppl just got frustrated b/c of dp build up and just leave. And I saw firsthand why this quest is worth 50k xp. . . b/c there are a lot more titans floating around. And the "usual" charr patrols are nasty too. I watched the Charr Necro use a Aura of Lich build---combining w/ health drains. ouch. The Necro wandered with Charr rangers, and used Mark of Pain to set up the rangers' barrages. I think that AN had a real blast coming up with these nasty builds for us players. >_<

Based on this experience doing Titan Source, aegis is a must to get past the charr patrols. And the necros have to be the first target for your party. One tank is ok, but has to go tactics and use "Watch Yourself" for the party.

rsgordon · Oct 31, 2005, 12:45 AM // 00:45

I did a quick test and discovered that Illusionary Weaponry ignores being blind. This might be the silver bullet skill for a warrior in this quest. You could also use Elemental Resistance to help keep yourself alive while you swing away for ~30 damage each time. As soon as my warrior gets another skill point, I'm going to give it a try.