Guild Wars Forums - GW Guru
 
 

Go Back   Guild Wars Forums - GW Guru > The Hall of Knowledge > Explorer's League

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old Oct 09, 2007, 01:22 PM // 13:22   #1
Jungle Guide
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Europe
Guild: Keepers of Chaos
Advertisement

Disable Ads
Default A question about Vloxen Excavation

This evening I will do this dungeon with friends, I read on wiki the description an I'd like to know - from someone who already completed the dungeon - whether the "Minions of Zoldark" at the final boss are undead or not.
It's not clear on wiki, they're just described as axe warriors.

This to decide if we can go with 3 smiters as we did in Shards of Orr (with amazing results too).

Thanks in advance.
Abnaxus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 09, 2007, 02:09 PM // 14:09   #2
The Humanoid Typhoon
 
RTSFirebat's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: UK
Guild: Servants of Fortuna [SoF]
Profession: R/
Default

Only the last level has undead in it, so smiting is worth it. The last boss with his Minions are very easy to kill over and over again. I had no smiters on my H+H team and we killed him in under 2 mins with no deaths.

Not completely sure if they are undead, but more then likely they are.
__________________

Guru Event Guide Editor
RTSFirebat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 09, 2007, 06:19 PM // 18:19   #3
Grotto Attendant
 
Arduin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: The Netherlands
Guild: Limburgse Jagers [LJ]
Profession: R/
Default

From the talk page of Zoldark:

Quote:
Possible Bugged Minions

Zoldark's minions don't qualify as "summoned creatures" even though clearly they are undead and summoned. So skills like Holy Spear and Unnatural Signet aren't able to garner their benefits from these creatures. --Veraci 15:07, 5 September 2007 (UTC)
So i'd guess holy damage doesn't add any benefit during the finale battle, as far as the minions are involved.
Arduin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 09, 2007, 10:19 PM // 22:19   #4
Jungle Guide
 
Hammer Drawn's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Default

Yep Holy Dmg really makes minimal difference in the boss fight. Just keep killing minions till he stops ressing them and he will be almost dead. Bring Light of Deldimore with you anyways cause there are treasure and such and I believe LoD deals HOly Dmg.
Hammer Drawn is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 10, 2007, 12:57 AM // 00:57   #5
Banned
 
VitisVinifera's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Northern California
Guild: HoTR
Profession: N/Me
Default

the holy damage applies to Minions of Zoldark -- if everyone brings light of deldrimor you can insta wipe them
VitisVinifera is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 10, 2007, 08:47 AM // 08:47   #6
Krytan Explorer
 
Uber Mass's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: The Netherlands
Guild: retired from gw [agro] still ftw
Profession: W/
Default

Or kill the minions once and keep his minion rezzing interupted... I use a mesmer hero for that
Uber Mass is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 10, 2007, 01:40 PM // 13:40   #7
Krytan Explorer
 
flipfly2004's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Profession: A/
Default

i dont know if they are undeads but id recommend to take a slinter barrager + eoe... at the end splinter barrage his minions, just like magnonite farming. everytime the boss tries to heal/rez his minions... he offers his own HP... let him sac his life up to 25% and he no longer heals/rez his minions... at that time ur group can kill him because he is alone ^^
flipfly2004 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 10, 2007, 01:56 PM // 13:56   #8
Ascalonian Squire
 
Join Date: May 2006
Default

I did this just last night with an H&H group. Kill the Stone Summit healers first and then take out the gnashers. Take your time and be careful not to aggro more than one group at a time (basic GW101). When Zoldark raises his minions, he sacs some of his health so just ignore him, keep killing his minions and watch his health drop. When he's near death, he'll stop raising minions and thats when you concentrate your attacks on HIM. I killed him in under 2 minutes. I brought Mhenlo and Lina as my monks, Devona, Talon, 2 necro heroes (MM and SS), resto rit hero and myself (Ele).

Last edited by DaHammer; Oct 10, 2007 at 01:59 PM // 13:59..
DaHammer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 10, 2007, 02:09 PM // 14:09   #9
The Humanoid Typhoon
 
RTSFirebat's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: UK
Guild: Servants of Fortuna [SoF]
Profession: R/
Default

??? There are no Stone Summit on the third level, just undead.
__________________

Guru Event Guide Editor
RTSFirebat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 10, 2007, 02:23 PM // 14:23   #10
Ascalonian Squire
 
Join Date: May 2006
Default

I know that. I was just giving him some general dungeon advice in addition to killing the last boss. I put that in because I was with a PUG before I went in myself and no one except me tried to take out the gnashers. Needless to say, we got overwhelmed very quickly just before we got to the last level. Sorry for any confusion.

Last edited by DaHammer; Oct 10, 2007 at 02:27 PM // 14:27..
DaHammer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 10, 2007, 03:07 PM // 15:07   #11
Jungle Guide
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Europe
Guild: Keepers of Chaos
Default

Thanks a lot for the information, this evening we'll try this, and I think we'll go with our standard anti melee heroes - eles with blinding surge, cracked armor, weakness and epidemic

Last edited by Abnaxus; Oct 10, 2007 at 03:11 PM // 15:11..
Abnaxus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Oct 11, 2007, 04:38 AM // 04:38   #12
Forge Runner
 
blue.rellik's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Guild: None
Profession: W/
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Uber Mass
Or kill the minions once and keep his minion rezzing interupted... I use a mesmer hero for that
The best way for him to kill him is to let him res him minions
blue.rellik is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jan 15, 2008, 04:32 AM // 04:32   #13
Lion's Arch Merchant
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Default

Any1 can offer me builds for H/H. I am a monk & there seem to be no 1 doing volxen excavation HM. I tried frozen soil actually. I did manage to kill the healer & 2 of the 3 mesmers who had hard rezzes. But by this time, my minions died & I am swamped by the mobs minions & with those wars using res sigs & it was back to square 1.
cyber88 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jan 15, 2008, 06:51 AM // 06:51   #14
Krytan Explorer
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Default

I did it on my monk. among other characters, with H/H. Ran as smiter. Holy damage does double damage to the minions of Zoldark.
Mark Nevermiss is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jan 15, 2008, 07:04 AM // 07:04   #15
Desert Nomad
 
StormDragonZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: New York
Profession: W/R
Default

Here's something random about Vloxen: Took me two hours... on Normal Mode... with hero/hench... at -60% DP... with no consumables... at four in the morning.

But in regards to his minions, my Paragon hero used Holy Spear skill and it did normal damage, so holy doesn't work... could there be two kinds of holy?
StormDragonZ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jan 15, 2008, 09:59 AM // 09:59   #16
Krytan Explorer
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Default

This is the setup I used when I hero/henched it on my monk. I finished it in no more than 1 hour without an DP.

my monk:

Monk/Paragon:

[skill]Wearying Spear[/skill][skill]spear of light[/skill][skill]banish[/skill][skill]shield of judgment[/skill][skill]reversal of damage[/skill][skill]Smite Condition[/skill][skill]smite hex[/skill][skill]rebirth[/skill]

Sab's 3 necros

Mhenlo
Cynn
Herta
Lina

Careful pulling is essential. Use longbow if need be. This mainly concerns the stone summit.
3rd level resembles Thommis/Rend dungeon if you ever did it. When faced by choice go right.
Use Shield of Judgment o n the hero or henchman under heavy fire.

Last edited by Mark Nevermiss; Jan 15, 2008 at 10:03 AM // 10:03..
Mark Nevermiss is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jan 15, 2008, 10:23 AM // 10:23   #17
Lion's Arch Merchant
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Nevermiss
This is the setup I used when I hero/henched it on my monk. I finished it in no more than 1 hour without an DP.

my monk:

Monk/Paragon:

[skill]Wearying Spear[/skill][skill]spear of light[/skill][skill]banish[/skill][skill]shield of judgment[/skill][skill]reversal of damage[/skill][skill]Smite Condition[/skill][skill]smite hex[/skill][skill]rebirth[/skill]

Sab's 3 necros

Mhenlo
Cynn
Herta
Lina

Careful pulling is essential. Use longbow if need be. This mainly concerns the stone summit.
3rd level resembles Thommis/Rend dungeon if you ever did it. When faced by choice go right.
Use Shield of Judgment o n the hero or henchman under heavy fire.
For this setup, is it for HM or NM?
cyber88 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jan 15, 2008, 10:43 AM // 10:43   #18
Frost Gate Guardian
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Profession: P/
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by cyber88
Any1 can offer me builds for H/H. I am a monk & there seem to be no 1 doing volxen excavation HM. I tried frozen soil actually. I did manage to kill the healer & 2 of the 3 mesmers who had hard rezzes. But by this time, my minions died & I am swamped by the mobs minions & with those wars using res sigs & it was back to square 1.
HM Vloxen is one those most annoying places that i know. With a little luck; you can get to Taskmaster Bellok with almost any team builds but if you wipe there, it's over, sooo over. Or heck, even with great builds the HnH finds new ways to wipe against the casters on lvl 1 or a rather silly ways. One mistake, can sometimes cause a wipe no matter how small it was.

For Vloxen it's important that the FS is renewed before it expires and that it doesn't get killed by summit and/or minions (minions just love to gank it). I tested lots of different builds for two weeks and some work while others dont but nothing works perfect enough. There is always a change for a wipe or few deaths against the bigger groups (two healers on these).

These two worked the best:

MM Bombing builds with Jagged Bones work but due to their fragility the summit wipe them in seconds without taking that much damage while doing it. But it's still a distraction for melee if only for a limited time.

BHA Ranger works but not without cover conditions, poison or bleeding. Cant rely on it to stick around for too long or long enough to take down that healer or healers.

Third, well third.. it's a mystery. Mesmer hero that is an anti-caster is melee fodder, fire ele = melee-fodder. Blinds or water ele hex is removed by Healer/Priest - faster than it's to re-apply them. Wards & Enchants are the only solid ways to defend against summit melee that cant be removed (imo).

For third necro/rit healer (similar to sab's) has worked but not always, ritualist spirit spammer builds have worked (but again not perfect), smiting worked once then it didn't again (bad luck & good luck). SS necro would work but then i found out the power of summit healer/priest/defender duo - waste of effort to keep them up for long periods of time.

Ah well .. Earth ele with Wards worked the best usually (against foes/ward of weakness/against melee, eruption, unsteady ground, self defensive skills & energy management). You can't have all these wards so you have to pick one or two at max. Personally i'm using weakness ward since we can provide blocking other ways. Basically keep him locked on melee guys while everyone else is trying to get those healer(s) down. Dont ignore the melee or they will make you pay for it.

edit: forgot the quote >.< .

Last edited by Jaceb; Jan 15, 2008 at 03:17 PM // 15:17..
Jaceb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jan 15, 2008, 02:41 PM // 14:41   #19
Lion's Arch Merchant
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Default

That is so true. the rest of the dungeon, it was pretty ok with careful pulling. The shit started at the group guarding the door.

Hmmzzz....any chance of putting up your earth ele warder. I hope I can punch thru to the taskmaster with it. :P
cyber88 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old Jan 15, 2008, 03:08 PM // 15:08   #20
Frost Gate Guardian
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Guild: Acolytes of Death
Profession: N/
Default

Take [skill]Aegis[/skill][skill]Light of Deliverance[/skill] for monks. They make it easier.

Minions ARE undead, so light of deldrimor makes things easier. I done it h/h, so only i had it, but very nice damage. Then, SS (me), fire-ele, earth-ele and some random stuff, went well. DONT INTERRUPT MINION REZ, as it sacrifices 5% of hp and Zoldrak don't regenerate. He stopped rezzing 'bout 15% hp, then just nuke him down. It's easy. IMO Sepulche of Dragrimmar is harder dungeon than this.
Quru is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Share This Forum!  
 
 
           

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Vestar Explorer's League 5 Sep 18, 2007 03:35 AM // 03:35
Urban Tiger Explorer's League 1 Sep 06, 2007 06:48 AM // 06:48
Armor Rating question & Energy regen rate question Splatter Mcnasty The Riverside Inn 10 Feb 04, 2006 07:31 AM // 07:31
Orrian Excavation Question Keesa Explorer's League 2 May 29, 2005 04:58 PM // 16:58
Akilles Questions & Answers 4 May 23, 2005 04:08 AM // 04:08


All times are GMT. The time now is 05:08 PM // 17:08.


Powered by: vBulletin
Copyright ©2000 - 2016, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
jQuery(document).ready(checkAds()); function checkAds(){if (document.getElementById('adsense')!=undefined){document.write("_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'Adblock', 'Unblocked', 'false',,true]);");}else{document.write("