Curse

JoeKnowMo · Jan 17, 2008, 12:06 AM // 00:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by tekDragon

And if it was the OP's intention for everyone to work together to create a guide he/she should have simply said so rather than billing the post as *the* guide.

It was not the OP's intention to create a guide. This was just a regular thread with tips. It has been turned into a guide because (a) many of us appreciated the info and requested that it be stickied and (b) because there is a need for it. Hence the need for a group effort. I hope that clears it up for you. Not that we don't appreciate your fine vintage 2008 whine.

Here's a map for Curse of the Nornbear taken from guildwiki. Not that Tmak's directions are difficult to understand if you have a compass for a brain.

Thanks to RTS for his work on this "guide."

tekDragon · Jan 17, 2008, 12:31 AM // 00:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeKnowMo

It was not the OP's intention to create a guide. This was just a regular thread with tips. It has been turned into a guide because (a) many of us appreciated the info and requested that it be stickied and (b) because there is a need for it. Hence the need for a group effort. I hope that clears it up for you. Not that we don't appreciate your fine vintage 2008 whine.

LOL... fair enough, though seriously, if this is meant to be a collaborative effort maybe make that more explicit in the first post. Otherwise cynical bastards like me who get annoyed at non-guides might offer more of your favourite vintage.

As for the idea of just doing the shorter quests to fill in a book faster. There have been many many threads about this already. A quick search should reveal a couple. Many people have done this. How fast is is compared to the 30k you get from filling a full book probably depends on your primary and your builds. Some have it easier than others.

Doing the same 3-4 quests over and over is extremely monotonous though... I figure doing the whole book is a little more fulfilling and you'd have to do it far fewer times. Alternately it might be better idea to figure out if it's worth it just leaving out the longer quests...

From personal experience the quests that have taken the longest are Warband of Brothers and Destruction's Depths. Leaving those two out might be worth. You still get about 18k for the book, but shave about 90mins or more from your run time.

I Might Avenge U · Jan 17, 2008, 12:38 AM // 00:38

It would probably be faster and easier to get up to r8 by filling in Normal mode books, then use this technique to get to r10..

Doing 3-4 quests over and over again does get quite monotonous..

cellardweller · Jan 17, 2008, 01:24 AM // 01:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Might Avenge U

It would probably be faster and easier to get up to r8 by filling in Normal mode books, then use this technique to get to r10..

Doing 3-4 quests over and over again does get quite monotonous..

Full NM books can be done in 2-2.5 hours, and full NM dungeon books can be done in ~4-5 if you're rushing, which is comparable, but you're going to end up doing this for one of your rep titles, no matter what you do.
->Full NM Hero books up to 79k for each
->Full NM Dungeon Book up to 119k for each
->Completing MoTN will Max Deldirmore Naturally
->Valgar Falls HM to Max Norn (10k/hr from this is faster than booking)
->Full HM Dungeon book to max max Asura
->Full HM Hero book to bring Vanguard to ~160k

You're then left with the decision as to whether you do the 3 quests 7 times in 2-3 hours or do 10 in 4-5 hours.

tekDragon · Jan 17, 2008, 01:49 AM // 01:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by cellardweller

Full NM books can be done in 2-2.5 hours, and full NM dungeon books can be done in ~4-5 if you're rushing, which is comparable, but you're going to end up doing this for one of your rep titles, no matter what you do.

I'll grant you the NM hero handbook in 2.5 hours, but I simply wont accept someone putting forth a full NM Dungeon book in 4-5 without some solid evidence to back it up....

Missmelady · Jan 17, 2008, 03:11 AM // 03:11

Actually I have found that I can complete a Hm hero's handbook very close to the same time I can complete a hm one. Just a little tip that h missions go by faster because ss= amazing in hm with the maxed out attack of the monsters. 10k rep an hour is not better then Hm books. I can fill a hm book in less then 3 hours if not right around 3 hours. So thats 10k an hour right there from that...

cellardweller · Jan 17, 2008, 04:04 AM // 04:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by tekDragon

I'll grant you the NM hero handbook in 2.5 hours, but I simply wont accept someone putting forth a full NM Dungeon book in 4-5 without some solid evidence to back it up....

I only did 4 (one for each rep), wasn't timing myself and was taking breaks in between so yes, my numbers could be way off.

Edit: I'm also not including any of the time that you don't actually need to be there. At the boss fights I'd often flag the h/h and go away and watch a tv show and come back and the chest would be there... this can be done in slavers, bogroot, Darkrime, arachnis amongst others.

Cherng Butter · Jan 17, 2008, 05:30 AM // 05:30

I tried squeezing up against the right on Against the Stronghold and being eliminated by the Charr Rangers, but...I couldn't die! Sab's build + Mhenlo, Lina, Herta, and Zho just tanked it out (though one hero got spiked) till the Saurus broke down the door

Avatar Exico · Jan 17, 2008, 06:31 AM // 06:31

I needed some guidence for the HM books and this helps alot. Try your Methods when i get home this Spring.

tekDragon · Jan 17, 2008, 07:58 AM // 07:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by cellardweller

I only did 4 (one for each rep), wasn't timing myself and was taking breaks in between so yes, my numbers could be way off.

Ok... but seriously 4 dungeons isn't a full dungeon book by a wide margin. Which is what you indicated in your original post.

And yes... in NM the HnH team can take care of most of the mobs and for you.

tmakinen · Jan 17, 2008, 10:13 AM // 10:13

Here are some more contributions

Curse of the Nornbear

It is indeed possible to bypass the shrine completely, in which case the optimal route is:

Spawn points are indicated with green numbers. Since you clear the path on the first pass through, it's just a matter of running back and forth. Total time 9-11 minutes depending on whether you have a party wide speed boost.

Against the Charr

The optimal route is:

Blue dot: start of the mission
Green dot: mob that must be killed
White dot: mob that can be avoided

Haven't done recently to get a time estimate.

G.O.L.E.M.

Flag MM, blindbot and healer heroes around the eastern kiln and kill the first wave of 2 destroyers to seed the minion factory, then move to the northern kiln with henches. The 3 heroes will do just fine on their own until heating is complete. Release heroes, deploy golems and attack through the northern bridge (there are 3 stationary barrage destroyers overseeing the eastern bridge, making it the less desirable route). Kill everything that moves. Total time needed 11 minutes, cannot be substantially reduced because most of the time you'll be twiddling your thumbs and waiting for the kilns to heat up.

If people can provide hard numbers about the time needed to complete each mission in HM it would be possible to tell which combination of missions maximizes the gain of reputation per hour.

RTSFirebat · Jan 17, 2008, 11:25 AM // 11:25

Since the OP is a bit busy and its the slow season for Guru guides, think I'll take this upon myself to start updating.

cellardweller · Jan 17, 2008, 11:37 AM // 11:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by tekDragon

Ok... but seriously 4 dungeons isn't a full dungeon book by a wide margin. Which is what you indicated in your original post.

And yes... in NM the HnH team can take care of most of the mobs and for you.

not 4 dungeons - 4 dungeon books one for each rep to make the jump from 79k->119k - you can't even hand in a book with 4 dungeons =)

Missmelady · Jan 17, 2008, 02:00 PM // 14:00

Thanks RTS. Yes the busy life of a chef is kinda bad at times. Been working 10-12 hour days and then I have class for 6-7 hours. I will try to get on to update it everyday in the evening but I cant garuentee that it will happen. Tonight I am going to do a run through on a new book and see how long it takes me. Last one I did I beleive it was around 2 hours and 45 minutes and I went afk for 10-15 to eat. I will confirm it though.

Jagged · Jan 17, 2008, 02:55 PM // 14:55

Awesome updates. More maps!

Xylia · Jan 17, 2008, 04:02 PM // 16:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Missmelady

[/INDENT]

Ideally you will need: I am Unstoppable! and Pain Inverter

Start by killing the first stationary Destroyer on the left and then kill the 2 incoming destroyers. Next kill the sstationary Destroyer. Run I am Unstoppable and cast Pain Inventor on the Great Destroyer and then allow him to attack. Then just interrupt him so he used Enraged Blast on your party, two of these under the effects of Pain Inventor will kill him.

Time to Complete: 2 - 5 minutes (Pain Inventor speeds things up!)

Thanks to: Missmelady, tmakinen, RTSFirebat

The duration of pain inverter is pretty short, especially on a boss. If you are going to rely on that to kill him, it might be a good idea to bring arcane echo so that you can slap in on him again when the first is finished.

tekDragon · Jan 17, 2008, 04:42 PM // 16:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Missmelady

[/INDENT]

Assualt on the Stronghold: First kill the first 2 groups of Charr near the catapults. Once the Ceretadon spawns and begins to charge the gate, run along the right side of the gate aggroing all the guys along the way. Stand on the very right hand side of the gate and die. You will then res on the other side of the gate!

[INDENT]Next just run all the way to the pit with the Ebon Vanguard are being held and allow the Charr and Destroyers to fight each other. Once the fight is over simply clean up whoever is left and then proceed to kill the two groups of Charr Rangers on the buffs near the gate. This quest can be done in 6-8 minutes if done properly.

Time to Complete: 10-15 minutes. Depends on your team build.

OK then... just to clarify this bit. The only surefire way to make sure the resurrection trick works is to avoid triggering the resurrection shrine near the start of the mission. In order to do that you have to hug the right side wall at the start of the mission to make your way to the first catapult group. Then you can go and kill the second. If you take the middle path where you arrive between both destroyers you will likely trigger the starting location resurrection shrine which in my experience has made the trick fail.

Setting both catapults to target the gate groups makes it slightly easier and takes no extra time.

Disabling heroes resurrection skills for the first part is a good idea, you don't want them wasting signets while you're trying to die. That'll incidentally generate more DP.

Once you're inside the fort the group of Charr at the gate is usually stationary though the casters are active. They're easy to bypass but you must kill them to complete the mission. If the destroyers and Charr groups near the boss and hostages give you a hard time, stand back a minute and they'll fight it out and kill each other well enough.

-----

And as for the full NM dungeon book in 4-5 hrs... counting travel time or no, counting afk boss time or no, I still don't buy. But then again I'm a natural skeptic. If it is really possible I'd like more evidence.

-----

Also... the OP looks much more like a guide now, and that's great. Sorry if I came off a bit cynical at first but at the time I posted it most certainly was not. So... Kudos for how it's looking now.

tmakinen · Jan 17, 2008, 04:58 PM // 16:58

Concerning Assault on the Stronghold, I asked Tahlkora to cast Life Barrier and Life Bond on the saurus as it went past the devourers, and that was enough to keep it alive until the gate was broken (maybe 2-3 minutes in the mission). Tried a couple of times to make sure that it wasn't a fluke, and I greatly prefer this method, since it works reliably and doesn't require taking any DP.

The bonder isn't even dead weight since you can bond key members of the party, especially other monks and the MM, to avoid surprise spikes.

blurmedia · Jan 17, 2008, 08:37 PM // 20:37

NM to 8 and HM to 10 or HM all the way?

zerulus · Jan 18, 2008, 03:15 AM // 03:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmakinen

Here are some more contributions

Curse of the Nornbear

It is indeed possible to bypass the shrine completely, in which case the optimal route is:

Spawn points are indicated with green numbers. Since you clear the path on the first pass through, it's just a matter of running back and forth. Total time 9-11 minutes depending on whether you have a party wide speed boost.

Your're still wasting a bit of time, when going for the first location there is a path into the center area near where you start, you can finish this quest in about 7 minutes in hard mode.