Curse

Minus Sign · May 13, 2006, 10:09 AM // 10:09

I’m tied of everyone saying that the Luxons have the advantage in Aspenwood. Luxons have an offense boost. Kurzicks have a defense. This does not translate into advantage, just an adjustment of combat style. Defenses are a powerful tool against an offensive opponent but you need to know what the hell you’re doing if you want to win. It’s “easier” for the Luxons to know what to do; follow the turtles and you just might win. I’m writing this to help players adjust to the different strategy of the Kurzick side of combat in Aspenwood. These aren’t hard and fast rules; they’re guidelines for learning. As you evolve your playstyle you’ll find things that work better or work better for you. Please feel free to post them.

Since it’s a Competitive mission, I’m posting here. Mods feel free to move it but is both PvP and PvE and hardcore PvEers seem to be having the most trouble.

Amber: You’re on defense. So it falls to Kurzicks to keep their defenses up and strong throughout the fight. Translation: someone needs to be running amber all the time. If they aren’t, the gates will break open and the Luxons will come inside and kick your butt. And they will kick your butt. All too often I’ve heard people say in Team Chat: “Don’t fight! That’s the trick to this mission; just run amber and we will win!” My reply is always “tell that to the Luxons”.

Still, at least two people—preferably more as in anyone who isn't a monk should be making their way to the mine hint hint—should run amber all the time. If you’ve got a run buff then be willing to take on the job. The biggest thing you should be aware of when running amber is what is being smashed by the turtles. Don’t just run straight to Gunther every time. If gates are being broken they need to be repaired. Many people are asking how. That’s easy: beside Gunther are two “gatekeepers” with sub-titles behind their names, orange and purple. Watch your screen. If the purple gate gets knocked open, give amber to the purple gatekeeper. Also, keep in mind that teles are still faster than your own two feet, even with run buffs. Use them, and if Luxons start to camp them tell your defense team.

Amber runners are the eyes of this game, their run pattern taking them through most of the play area. That’s why I say there should be at least two when possible. One for Orange side, one purple. Do that and you will see (and be able to tell your team) potential threats moving in on the base.

When the gates are all fixed and a lull has set in, give that amber to Gunther. Giving Amber to him adds a significant amount of blue ot that bar, reducing the amount of time needed to play the mission.

Amber runners are like Mesmers in a way. While their contribution is not as easily seen as that ele who keeps blasting Luxon wars from afar, it is even more powerfully felt for its global impact. The luxons can get those warriors back when the turtle respawns; the time you add to Gunther cannot be retrieved.

Example: Luxon monks have a habit of standing as far away from the turtle they are heal/protecting as they can to avoid agro and attack. This is often to the point of standing outside of a gate long after the turtle has opened it and moved through. If they don’t, they often die from Archer snipes and concentrated attacks. If you don’t think you’re hurting the Luxons by running Amber, go to the other side and try to heal that turtle when you can’t get it into your agro bubble.

Defense:Bring self-heals. There’s no guarantee that you’ll have a monk on your side and no assurance that he won’t be running smite if you do. Take care of yourself out there.

That said, Death Penalty is a non-issue in Aspenwood. Don’t be afraid to die if you kill something of equal importance or slow the advance long enough (if one person kites two players for a minute, you’ve done a damn good job). Defense is about disruption of the enemies plans. We know the Luxon strategy: take the Amber Mines so they can teleport quickly into the fight and move their turtles in so they can pound a hole into your base. For Kurzicks to win, slow the advance. Take the orange and purple mines early and often. It’s a quicker run for your amber team and shuts down Luxon quick response teleports.

Which also makes it very important to take them both. All too often I see the entire Kurzick team running only to the purple side; sometimes only one player going orange. You have half a minute to strat before you start to play. Choose who is running and who is going orange and purple. Protect your runners and BOTH those mines.

Your priority is what is killing your team faster. It’s not just run to amber and kill turtles. Ignoring the enemy team gets you killed every single time. If you don’t believe me, convince your team to ignore the Luxon PvPers and see how well you do. They sure as heck aren’t ignoring you.

But that doesn't mean fighting all the time.

Kiting is another issue. I prefer calling it exactly what it is: target lock. Do not get focused on one person or mob to the exclusion of everything else. That’s how you lose. Be aware of your environment and what’s going on. Watch team chat and target calls. If something bad is happening on the purple side and orange gate is all quiet, consider going to help.

And one more thing. Repetitive Map pings. Stop it right now! If all you’re doing is tapping your left mouse button over the turtles red dot, how the hell do you consider that useful information (let alone you’re doing that instead of fighting!)? I don’t know what you want (other than you want me to drop what I think is important and come help you). Call targets, use Team Chat during rez time to describe the situation. Be clear in why you need help, don’t just stand there and ping the turtle/MM/monk. Most people will ignore you for the noob you are. If you Ctrl+1 to say “I’m using Flare on Siege turtle!” then I know you need an interrupter. If I’m a Mesmer or a Ranger, I’m “OMW”.

Minus Sign · May 13, 2006, 10:10 AM // 10:10

Now a little about each profession. I’m not going to tell you what build to bring (not always at least) because you can’t tailor a build to a group style. You may have to run; you may have to fight. The point is, better to be prepared to do everything you can because, chances are, you’ll have to.

Assassin: get in and get out is the Assassins stock and trade. Good for running amber (or teleporting it if you prefer) and a one man spike, Assassins can kill casters with a quickness, hex, slow and disrupt. Many of your skills are useful here, especially your speed. Get in/get out in what an Assassin is best at though. For the love of god, stop trying to tank!

Some of the best amber runners I've seen are Sins. Easily taking out the Longbow NPCs solo, all too many Assassins turn fromt he mine cleaners and run to their next target. Don't. You have run buffs, run amber after you clean that mine.

Elementalist: Wards. I love Earth eles. While an Air spiker is good and fire AoE can make a bad day for a group, Wards are downright nasty when it comes to disruption. Ward against Foes is a slow that no Luxon can ignore (no matter how hard they try) and can’t be countered once it’s down. Offensive means a constant advance; slow that advance and you stall their entire play style. Bring your armor buffs and Obsidian Flesh and its GG; let them kill you when you run out of mana. Most groups in game atm can’t stop you.

Even better than Assassins, NPCs do not leave their post in Aspenwood. Drop a pair of AoEs ont heir heads old school style for a quick and easy clearing of those mines.

Mesmer: interrupt turtles as your first priority…unless there is a MM on the other side. I’ve found Backfire to be downright brutal against the opposition, especially Minion Masters. A Backfired BotM+Energy Surge{E}=dead necro. Just don’t ignore that turtle. Mesmers always have multiple points of focus; don’t get target locked on one thing to the exclusion of all else. Cry of Frustration and Complicate makes for a permenant shutdown of a turtle. Bringing Diversion to take tear up those pesky (and previlant) touch rangers will make you a favored character on Kurzick side in no time.

If Dom isn't your thing, however, Degen hexes can make short work of turtles.

Monk: The best build I’ve found is an Air of Enchantment PvE Boon Prot build, but many people are using A Barrier Bonder too. A word of caution, enchants can and will be stripped. Bring 20/20 weapons to help recycle and go to town. Keep your casters frosty, especially Minion Masters. BotM is the preferred choice for horde control now; they need your help to spam it.

Originally just a hint, I'm going to say it out straight this time: the best role for a monk is as a gate guard. Gates do not fall until all NPCs guarding it have been killed. If you, the monk, can keep just one of them alive it locks that gate to the Luxons. The target of choice is the gate ele because of its Ward against Mellee, fuirther adding buffs to yoru target.

This is increasingly difficult as Luxons have seen this strategy stop them dead in their tracks and have devised counters to it. Most of these strategies revolve around enchant strips or blocks, reducing your effectivness or stopping your ability to heal the gate ele COLD. Well of Profane is a favored spell for this. Try to keep at least 2 non-enchant spells handy to coutneract it. Once well drops, you're pretty much lost until defense teams push them back out, but a few extra heals can make a world of difference if your amber runners are on the ball.

Necro: Echo SS (that’s Spiteful Spirit with Arcane Echoe to spam the skill) is a good build to bring here. Target the Luxon AI mobs--they tend to bunch—and bring interrupts for turtles (Spinal Shivers, Cry of Frustration, etc).

Minion Master is better. MM is like putting a turtle on your side of the board, but it can go anywhere faster and do more damage in less time. They are the black glass cannon of the PvE game, and a good MM can hold their own against as many as three people with very few problems if they don’t bring interrupts (key phrase: “if they don’t bring interrupts”).

MMs; this sub-game is the reason why you were nerfed. I don’t like it, and I still think they went overkill with 10, but Aspenwood and Jade Quarry style games make you the player to worry about.

The key to MMing Aspenwood is to stay alive. Healing spells, life stealing skills, Dark bond and the like. N/Mos should not bring their beloved Heal Area since Assassins and Whammos will be running you down and using your own heal for themselves while they slaughter you. Don’t expect or rely on a monk to help you; try to be as self sufficient as possible. The better MMs I’ve seen so far are the new N/Rts. This gives them the ability to both build a horde and spam spirits, so they can still function even when corpses are low. And they have good self heals.

But you are not going to be the only MM there. Luxons have quickly learned how nasty this build is and there is often at least one (sometimes two) on the other side. Expect to fight for corpse resources.

If you just despise MM, then bring something you can burn corpses with. A lot of people are going Blood Spiker in game and it’s an effective build. Wells are faster than summons, but its best to have something that can really be a pain in the neck to that Luxon MM. My personal preference is Consume Corpse with some death magic worked into your atty points. It’s a fast corpse burn and it’s cheap with heal worked in, great for a life sacking blood necro.

Rangers: You have some of the best run skills of the game. The ones who run amber, run amber great. The ones who don’t have a nasty habit of sitting on the perch between gates, waiting for the Luxons to bust open the first gate and come to them. Doing this, rangers die less…to start.

Key point here: you just gave the Luxons a free outer gate with no help to your team for the first minute. You’re as useful as an AFK while you’re waiting for the Luxons to “come to you” if you do this.

Go offensive in your defense, seek out turtles with Oath shot and interrupts, then lay in wait to help slow their advance if they make it through the outer doors. Camping the high ground inside the base is better left as a last resort. Teleports mean that you can be back on your favorite perch in 10 seconds or less, ready if they kill you to start Longbow-ing them into n00blivion.

The safest way to retake orange mine is as a ranger. Your perches on the outside of the base let you get off shots without retaliation from teh NPCs. If you're more hands on--in your face--then I suggest traps. trap the mines, the turtles path, anywhere you know there will be enemies in the next 90 seconds.

Thumpers and touch rangers are previlant in Aspenwood. Try those builds as well if you don't mind the people you slaughter calling you a hacker and a noob.

Ritualist: Spirit spamming Rit Lords (Shelter=what turtle???) make a protective gauntlet for runners (that the Luxons have to clear out before they advance) when placed properly, and rit healers are good to have. But they aren’t as effective as a monk, imho. Their built more for the smite lovers among us, an offensive heal/protter at last. Those turtles seem to have a very fun time with your stationary spirits and dropping them in a useless area (where they won’t be attacked, but also can’t fight anything or heal) is just as bad. Park spirits where they will do the most good to the most people, not just wherever you happen to be when the skill recharges.

Warriors: A droks runners dream and a stance tank heaven. Warriors have the highest single target DoT in the game (I still believe so because they can stay alive longer than an Assassin) and the ability to move quickly into areas they are most needed. They are a force Luxons cannot ignore. Defense or Amber, bring your run buffs and heal sig. You already know how nasty “Coward” can be to a player. Kill kiters, interrupt monks and turtles as you can. As you can because your job is running amber, like every other run buff reliant build in the game.

Nuff said.

The Unwelcome Team Member: Faction Farmers are AKF players and botters who stand around at the zone point or follow a random player on the team. They do nothng to help you and are only there to mooch off your efforts.

http://support.plaync.com is the place to report AFKs and suspected bots. take screenshots of their actions (or inactions) and include them along with a detailed report of where you were (the mission), what time it happened (include your time-zone), the players name and what they did. Submit this information via the "Ask A Question" tab provided at the top of the screen.

A lot of these people are completely AFK, using 3rd Party Programs to auto-zone into the mission. Thats a violation of EULA that can get them banned IF you report them. Reporting them does not mean zoning back to the outpost after losing and complaining about them in All Chat. If you don't like them, do something about them. If enough people complain about a persons actions in game, NCSoft will take notice and check the server logs, see the anommoly and do something. If no one reports them, nothing happens.

EndersNight · May 13, 2006, 04:25 PM // 16:25

Very nice guide - thank you for all your hard work.

However, since it is a random PUG game (and the AFK bots) I believe most vets will stay away from this map.

I believe the jade is balanced - but most people stay away from that map for some lame reason.

Till their is some monitoring of the game I don't believe most players will continue to play this map.

However - I wouldn't mind seeing you in action - PM Enders Fool in game. Thanks.

Riou McDohl · May 13, 2006, 05:36 PM // 17:36

Great guide there. I might just start bringing more Mes interupts with me when I go SS'ing, eheh -_-;...

There is a reason why people stay away from Jade.

Winning at Jade = 300 faction
Losing at Aspenwood =100-300 faction

People would much rarther lose at Aspenwood than win at Jade. Not saying that this is *my* mindset, I'd gladly play at Jade if there was actually enough there for a few games, but alas.

Savio · May 13, 2006, 07:21 PM // 19:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minus Sign

MMs; this sub-game is the reason why you were nerfed.

I'd have said it was the farming groups and 12v12, not the challenge missions.

Quote:

The best build I’ve found is a modified PvE Boon Prot build with Aegis swapped out for Guardian

Since when do boon prots use Aegis? Maybe it's the fact you said PvE boon prot like it's vastly different than PvP. Anyhow, I find Prot Spirit to be quite useful against Siege Turtles.

Quote:

A word of caution, enchants can and will be stripped.

No, not really. It's only happened once to me from a Well of Suffering; all other times I was just dandy.

Quote:

a stance tank heaven

Stance tanks only are really useful to hold Luxon Warrior aggro; otherwise, a regular damage-dealing Warrior works better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enders Fool

Till their is some monitoring of the game I don't believe most players will continue to play this map.

I've seen quite a few leave the game, never to come back online. Do report them if you have the time.

A few other things to add:

Amber mines: Even if nobody's actively running amber from both mines, you should always keep the Orange and Green mines under your control. While under Luxon control they become the Luxons' res shrines, which means they take half as much time to reach your gates.
The amber from the Orange and Purple mines boost weapon completion by 2%, and the amber from the Green mine (near the Luxons' home base) boosts completion by 4%. Both types of amber fix gates the same way though, so if you're trying to repair, it's faster to get amber from a side mine.
A neat thing to do with gate repairing is to fix the gate when the attacking group is between the Outer and Inner gates; that way they can't get reinforcements as fast.
Only one or two people are needed to run amber; the rest should be dealing with the enemy groups coming in.
Oh, and don't try to run amber when the gatekeepers or Gunther is under attack; they won't take amber while an enemy's still in range, so you're wasting your time.
Command points: If you can't solo them, don't try to. Only one or two people, perhaps the people running amber, should be running around taking the points while the Luxons are attacking.
Friendly NPCs: Believe it or not, they are the key to winning. As long as one of your NPCs guarding a gate is alive, the gate will stay standing. If you are a Monk or Ritualist capable of keeping a single NPC alive against turtles and melee (a la Prot Spirit, bonding, or the Rit equivalent), then do so. The Juggernaut by the Green Gate can tear apart turtles past the inner gates so long as you keep it alive.
Aside from the Juggernaut, my favorite NPC is the Kurzick Elementalist. Unsteady Ground, Ward Against Melee, and Silver Armor can make him deadly versus the Luxon Warriors and enemy melee so long as he has a little backup, especially against the turtles. I like to prot one of them and stall an attacking group for a few minutes.
Enemy NPCs: Obviously, Siege Turtles and Luxon Warriors are the bane of Kurzicks. Bring a hard interrupt, one that interrupts all skills, to nullify the Siege Turtle Attack (which actually isn't an "attack" but a regular skill). Be aware that turtles also use Turtle Shell, which will reduce the damage it takes by quite a bit. Degen, hexes, and attack skills are more useful against them.
Luxon Warriors are only annoying when you've got all four on you at once. Also, keep in mind that so long as the Luxon Warriors for a particular group are alive, the Siege Turtle won't respawn, so after the turtle falls just ignore the Warriors and let your allied NPCs deal with them.
Luxon Monks are easily pushed around; the Luxon Longbows at best have Crippling Shot. The Luxon Commanders have Whirling Defense, but that's about it for difficulty.
Enemy players: If there's an enemy MM, please try to kill them. Sometimes they use Taste of Death to keep themselves alive, which means less minions to deal with. When an enemy MM dies, the Luxon NPCs go after the rogue minions, so it's a little less pressure on your team.
If you've got a dumb Warrior or Assassin after you, run to your nearest allied NPC, preferably an Elementalist. They'll get torn apart.
When the Green Gate falls: Amber becomes worthless because by now your NPCs are most likely under attack; if you are lucky enough to get back and they're not under attack, give amber to either of the gatekeepers to fix the Green Gate. While under attack, you should be doing everything in your power to get the Luxons out of the inner area. The gatekeepers are both monks with Prot Spirit and make it much more difficult to kill Gunther. If you've got a semi-competent Luxon group, they'll tend to go after the gatekeepers first.
If you're monking while the Luxons are beating down your main three NPCs, your best form of energy management can be death. Since there isn't DP, you can unload all your spells, die from the horde that will most likely be targetting you, and get back to healing Gunther in 10 seconds. That was perhaps one of the few times I found my dual +15/-1 set to be useful.
Faction earned at Aspenwood: 4 * percent completion, plus 200 if you win. Obviously not the fastest way to get faction, but it tends to be a bit more interesting.

Vermilion Okeanos · May 14, 2006, 07:59 AM // 07:59

As a ritualist who had farm kurzick at aspendwood, I have few things to say.

Your warriors make alot of differences. My team would have trouble when there are over 3 warriors.

Your bonder is next to useless, I just put disenchantment next to your NPC, and you just finish cooking with nothing else to offer.

Your teleport point in the base (the one to the center) are very important. The moment I can do spirit block on the loaction, all of you will get stuck there for our turtle to smash you into obvilion. The only one that can stop me is an ele who is willing to do meteor shower with glyph of sacrifise etc. and get him/herself kill right after; it at least get your team through.

Killing the warrior npc is equally important in killing the turtle. With just turtle and no warrior NPC, we have difficult time advancing anywhere. If anything, leaving one of our npc alive is the key of your survival in dragging. If you kill them all, they respawn, and you will have more hard time.

If you going to protect any NPC, protect those that don't respawn first.

If you only have 1 kurzick on each side for amber run, you are doomed. We will mob you.

Your ranger interrupt won't be effective, all we need is the typical blocking or blind to render you useless till our turtle move on.

Don't rely on using those wall to the side (hall way of the gate), all we have to do is move to the further side, and you will be render useless.

Keep your juggernaut alive as often as possible, it is like our turtle, a big threat. Buffing him with moving speed, hp, atk, etc would be very helpful. (I do buff my turtle quite often)

EoE is helping us more than helping you, the moment we get pass your gate and into the center.

Fertile season, symbiosis, muddy terrian (rather not in some locations), and maybe even energzing wind will help you greatly to drag it longer.

Killing commander point is pretty much a waste of time and effort. We can get rid of those npc kurzick spawn there faster than you can drop our ranger at amber mines. Do it when you got the luxury.

Spiteful spirit pissed alot of my team mate off. Try more AoE debuff, like shadow of fear etc.

Spirit ritualist can be a very important deciding factor. I am starting to think they are quite overpowered... good heal, good buff, AoE, single-target, you name it. While completely anti ritualist is not very practical either. Most effective is still e-denial.

Most of all, respond to their action accordingly. A message to both side.

Huntmaster · May 14, 2006, 08:26 AM // 08:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Savio

No, not really. It's only happened once to me from a Well of Suffering; all other times I was just dandy.

Seriously? Guildies and i bring an enchant strip no matter what, every match.. Is it only us? Ever since we saw some crazy bonder hiding behind a wall, we've been packing them. But yeah, hopefully we see more organized kurzik teams now, us luxons are getting bored. ;P

Minus Sign · Jun 22, 2006, 05:59 AM // 05:59

Updated the Core Guide and Seperate Proffesion Strategies and pitfalls.

All I can really add beyond that is RUN AMBER!!! Its as important as killing the turtle if not more. Don't get into a flexing contest with the Luxons; you will lose.

@Savio: after a lot of time gate guarding, Aegis is back out of my Kurzick Boon Prot. It does remain in my Luxon Boon Prot for this map, however, as well as Release Enchantments as a sub. The All Party prot, even at only 9 seconds, makes for a surprising damage reducer when you're the only monk on the team and half your side is out of casting range for most of the match. But on the Kurzick Side, most of my time and mana is now devoted to the Gate Guards and myself.

moko · Jun 22, 2006, 06:31 AM // 06:31

ive played on both sides, and from experience i can say, luxons dont have many enchant strippers. i watched them, all gatekeepers and gunther were bonded and i was the only one that could strip a bit, but that didnt help much.

on the other side, im sitting behind the gate and they keep in bashing on them, and after 5 mins i just hear an

'impossible to kill....' and have to giggle. :P

if you have a bonder, and you are running amber, just drop amber next to the bonder, and tell him to give it to the gatekeepers when a gate falls. such a quick repair can mess up the luxons quite a lot. i often see half the team inside, the turtle getting stuck, and in the end all are dead because the monk was on the other side.

also, if there is a monk protecting the gate and is safe behind the locked gate....DONT, no really, DONT OPEN IT. ive seen it so often..they try to kill the guards, i sit behind, nothing hurts me, and some idiot that runs amber comes and opens the gate, luxons see me, and you find a dead mokone. bonds break, gates fall, team flames me, gunther dies, and im the reason they lost. geez. if you see the luxons near..do something else, kill the turtle, take the mines, set traps, heal allies or NPCs, i dont know. but please, dont let them in by opening the gates. -.-

anyways, great topic. this should surely improove the gameplay of some kurzicks at aspenwood. when i first started, nobody had a clue what to do. thats why i switched to luxon and played there pretty much. now im back to kurzick and its a bit better, but still, could be better.

oh, and listen to Vermilion Okeanos. he said some good stuff there.

Kaguya · Jun 22, 2006, 11:46 AM // 11:46

Don't obsess over the commanders / green mines too much. Too many times when I've been playing on Luxons, the commanders are under attack/dying while two turtles and core of the Luxon team is breaching the green gate. The command points are really easy to get back for the luxons anyways, there is no real pressure to take them back right away (ie divert manpower from the attack to outpost), until the turle squads are dead.

But if there's a chance, and it looks like you could kill the commanders safely (ie. your effort in defending isn't required in holding the fort) then go ahead. Many times the Luxon players don't even care to take them back. My monk can just /shrug and look at the Kurzick mobs on the outpost, and on the all-heals skillbar. Same for orange/purple mine. Take them both out. Quite often the Luxons don't care about them, they obsess too much on running past the turtles and getting killed on the green gate with blind rage of 'RAAARGGHHH GUNTHER MUST DIE'. Of course, doesn't apply to the teams that actually read team chat or have a couple of players who know what they are doing

Bonder monks work most of the time, there isn't that many 'pro' players that pack enchant removals, or just don't have room for such luxuries, as the randomness forces players to do little everything. And yes, don't open the gate if there are angry luxons on other side, and a squishy bonder on the other side.

Former Ruling · Jun 27, 2006, 08:32 PM // 20:32

Wow, Kurzicks lose at Fort Aspenwood?

I've only played that mission as Kurzick, and I admit not much (only 5-6 times) but Kurzicks have won EVERY TIME I've played...and Its been no contest...It didn't even fair how bad the luxons lost every time...(these days were all on different days and such also - not a straight line of go ins).

All I played as a CripShot Ranger. All I did the whole match each time was Pick on Siege Turtles (keep Degen on them, and interupt their Siege).

MelechRic · Jun 27, 2006, 11:16 PM // 23:16

I commonly bring Well of Profane when I necro. In fact, it's the only skill that stays on my bar regardless of whether I run Blood/Curses/Death. It's that important.

I will occasionally subsitute it for Order of Apostosy or Lingering Curse, but sometimes I will double up. Well of Profane is so nice because it not only helps crash gates, but it acts as a nice AoE enchant strip. I've seen countless Healing Hands warriors run through it to fight a mob of Luxon Warrior NPCs only to die instantly because they didn't know HH went away. The same goes for the Assassin that use enchants like Shadow Refuge and elementalists with thier attunements. I don't know how many times I've seen a HH kurzick warrior kill one of our command point NPCs only to have me cast WoP on the corpse... bye bye warrior.

Best of all is when I go Blood/Death because I can randomly put up well of Blood and Well of Profane to blanket an entire area. Previously stripped foes will avoid Blood thinking it's Profane.

I also know that I'm one of the first targets to get ganked when we get into the Green gate because the Kurzicks know how a WoP on Gunther == loss.

Lastly, I prefer WoP because I can usually count on several Luxon Warrior NPC corpses around a bonded Elementalist NPC at a gate. Barring that I can get a PC teammate to die near the bonded NPC. Unlike WoP, using enchant strips is highly influenced by timing. They have reasonably long recharge times and you're likely to see your stripped enchants reapplied almost instantly of you have a good bonder on the other side of the gate. That will leave you waiting for your enchant strips to recharge while the bonder slowly heals the NPC back to 100%. That means it's imperative that you time the strip with when the turtle fires its siege weapon for maximum effect. That a lot harder then plopping down a Well of Profane.

Amadei · Jun 28, 2006, 07:58 AM // 07:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mokone

if you have a bonder, and you are running amber, just drop amber next to the bonder, and tell him to give it to the gatekeepers when a gate falls. such a quick repair can mess up the luxons quite a lot.

Please keep in mind that dropped amber disappears after five seconds or so. You can't keep a stack of amber in the green room because of this; it would be unfair to the Luxons and unbalanced. Sometimes, when there's heavy fighting, I hide out in the green room with amber and kill people getting near the gate through the wall (I'm a mesmer) -- then, when the gate falls, I rush to the nearest gatekeeper and get the gate back up. It buys the Kurzicks a little time, hopefully enough to get a mine back if the Luxons have taken both.

Quote:

also, if there is a monk protecting the gate and is safe behind the locked gate....DONT, no really, DONT OPEN IT.

QFT. I will say that if there are only a few Luxons inside, you can open it, but FOR THE LOVE OF COOKIES CLOSE IT BEHIND YOU. People should just get into the habit of opening a gate, going through it, and then closing it before moving on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vermillion Okeanos

Don't rely on using those wall to the side (hall way of the gate), all we have to do is move to the further side, and you will be render useless.

It's frankly amazing how many Luxons don't realize it at all, or figure it out when it's too late (i.e. they've been smacked with -10 degen already). If there are people on the balcony inside, hug the other wall, Luxons! I can't reach you from up here if you do that and I will either find an easier target or open the gate and come get you (if you're stupid enough to go in alone).

Shadowfox1125 · Jun 29, 2006, 04:49 AM // 04:49

As stated before, please close the gates behind you. When playing as my warrior on the Luxon side, I've counted 4 times where I've been able to run through the Green Gate after someone has opened it to transfer amber. And those 4 times I have been able to kill either the Orange or Purple Gate repairman. I've played on both sides (15k Kurz armor - guild is Lux >.>) Necros should bring SS and Rotting Flesh (helpful against the Luxon Warriors who crowd together and help spread the Disease).

Zinger314 · Jun 29, 2006, 04:57 AM // 04:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadowfox1125

Necros should bring SS and Rotting Flesh (helpful against the Luxon Warriors who crowd together and help spread the Disease).

Luxon Warriors, AFAIK, don't count as Humans, and thus can't spread Disease to them.

Phoenix Arrows · Jun 29, 2006, 05:38 AM // 05:38

What I learned today:

You can close gates behind yourself. Lol I am sooooo stupid. I thought gates were suppose to close by themselves after a while. And least now I know : )

Shadowfox1125 · Jun 29, 2006, 03:50 PM // 15:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zinger314

Luxon Warriors, AFAIK, don't count as Humans, and thus can't spread Disease to them.

Seriously? I swear that I've received disease from them.. must have been something else then.. I recall that it was only the turtle and the warriors.. hm..

Winstar · Jul 01, 2006, 01:52 AM // 01:52

Fun reading this thread, i love the fort.

As a kurzick I love to bond here, and despite the obvious value anti-enchantment I would say the majority of times I have no trouble holding the gates because I never see anti-enchant. Generally, its the other side that eventually falls and forces me to fall back. Once and a while I get pushed back, but anti-enchantment doesn't seem to be that common yet. If it were, i'd probably give up on this.

I also love to play a ranger since they can can do everything so nicely. Running amber, soloing mines, interrupting/killing turtles. You can even come close to standing your ground and soloing a dreaded hammer mob if you bar is all recharged. As a ranger I usually run amber until a turtle is between the inner and outer gates. At that point I perch on the balcony and lock in on the turtle interrupting the attack and killing it. When its dead, its back to amber running.

Other things to note that I didn't notice. Look for Edge of Extinction, if you see it lying around kill it right away. Look for primal echos. If you have a bonder this is one thing you can do to help since it screws over their energy management. Kill MM's when you see hoards of minions. Don't drop when you have 1 person afk, its still very winnable.

B§x¿44¶»1@$ · Jul 01, 2006, 02:58 AM // 02:58

Bravo-

but the Luxons do have the advantage. Why? Because only a small fraction of Kurzicks will ever read this.

I know I've managed to win with 4 people AFK with the strategy of taking the fight to them.

I was running a touchie, and decided that disabling their turtles would at least buy us a minute to get some amber and repair the gates. It did more than that. The luxons were completely dumbfounded as soon as their precious points fell, that they didn't know what to do. We had a front outside of the Fort, and they came in shambles in reckless attempts to regain their precious turtles. When they have gotten inside the outer gates is a good time to go. They are pressing in, and won't have much to gaurd their rear.

Yakumo · Jul 07, 2006, 09:57 AM // 09:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mokone

also, if there is a monk protecting the gate and is safe behind the locked gate....DONT, no really, DONT OPEN IT.

QFT!

I had one of those nights when it happened more often than I would really have liked, and felt that this point should be stressed.

If a Monk is bonding a gate NPC, and there is a horde of Luxons out there... please do NOT open the gate!

Opening the gate to take them on is a heroic, yet futile charge. Heroic... yes, you're out numbered and you're going head-to-head with them. Futile... yes, they'll just ignore you and go straight for the Monk. Monk dies = Bonds break = NPC dies = Gate falls.

If you need to get out there to help take pressure off the Monk, please use the teleporter and sneak up on them from behind. Usually, they'll be too focused on taking down the gate NPC and disrupting the Monk that they may not notice or feel too frustrated to switch target, especially when they believe they are close to killing the NPC. They've been trying since the beginning of the match, so there's a challenge/pride thing going on there, and a sneak attack will frustrate them even further.