Curse

Mavrik · Feb 09, 2006, 06:02 AM // 06:02

Well I'm getting near the end of the game for the first time with any of my characters... this one being my Mesmer who is past THK. I have the goal of beating the game before chapter 2 and I know I'm very close now. So I get to Abaddon's Mouth, knowing it may very well be hard and since Mesmers are not the first choice... even harder. But I get myself into a group and my THK fate strikes me again... People run on ahead... people drop... people die, curse the monks and leave... it was becoming frustrating. I even tried it with hench and a friend but that did not work. Hench late even the basic brain that eluded previous groups I was in and we all met the same fate... over and over.

I would get to the first bosses, those two next to the seals and there I would die every time along with the rest of the group. But then tonight... oh tonight was different. I log on about 6:20 into Abaddon's Mouth and start the usual spam "Mesmer LFG Mission" and other variations. I see others spamming for groups to... but 15 mins later... no one wants a Mesmer...

But then I get into an invite from a group of 6... the leader who's name I won't mention, was not really confidence inspiring lets just say. But hey, a name is simply a representation of the character right? Ends up with a couple W/Mo, W/E M/E (me being the mesmer) A monk joined us and two Necros... 8 of us all together. So off we set... clear the first wall, then the gate... my my even the next two bosses and then the Jade Bows and Seals. We're feeling good. So on we go... some wanted bonus. I needed both so we went and did that to. Of course... as soon as we got the bonus... one of the warriors dropped. Like we didn't see that coming.

So we head back the way we came and proceed off in the direction to finish the mission. A couple more Jade Bow, a Mursaat Monk and 2 bosses... tricky we think but we can do it... And during the course of that battle... the monk drops from the game. We're down to six, 2 of us are alive... 1 mursaat boss, the monk and 4 jade bows to go. This is going to be interesting. Lucky for us, the remaining warrior had rebirth so while I stayed back, she went and rebirthed the remaining 4 and we all regrouped. During this time the last boss rushed us so we went after it and took it out. Next died the mursaat boss and the jade bows. By this time most of the other 5 were at 60% DP so I passed around some free candy canes. Am I glad I brought those.

On we went, using a simple but tried tested and true method of pull... attack, fall back and heal (we had no monk remember) pull... and repeat. All the way to the next bosses. Luckly they attacked one at a time so we took out the mesmer boss, the warrior boss and then the seal.

6 seals to go, 3 ghostly warriors each and 3 spawning mursaat each... One by one we took out a seal, the ghosts and the mursaat. Down to the last seal... we all felt betrayed by the Vizor, killed the titan and walzed into Hell as happy as can be.

Now I'm sure a lot of you are experts and do this all the time but I was amazed we were able to do this. A missmatched group without a monk completed Abaddon's Mouth including the bonus. Oh... and it took us a little over 2 hours from start to finish to do this. I'm going to bed lol

ideologue · Feb 09, 2006, 06:14 AM // 06:14

NICE! Congrats. I had similar experience with Elona reach. 3 of our team members left... it's just me, an ele/r, a warrior and a ranger trying desperately to retrieve the two shards. Surprisingly, we made it, each of us with at least 30 dp. I don't even remember how we made it -_-. for some reason we finished Elona reach where my previous 6 member group couldn't finish. Im guessing it's more about cooperation than the size of the team. That's why my farming team finished Orozar quest along with farming, and my previous 8 member PUG team failed miserably.

kvndoom · Feb 09, 2006, 07:56 AM // 07:56

Abaddon's Mouth is a sore spot for me right now. I've finished that mission with my Monk FIVE TIMES in the past week, trying to cap Restore Condition, but the goddamned boss I need WILL NOT SPAWN. Walked all over the godforsaken map, killed every Dryder, searched every nook and cranny, but the muthafugga WILL NOT SPAWN. I am SICK of Abaddon's Mouth. Why the bloody f**k is it set up so that the ONLY way to cap the skill is 30 minutes into the freaking mission, and it may or may not be there?!? Does some masochistic a-hole out there find it FUNNY, and think a person has nothing to do but waste hours of their time not playing the game but repeating the same stupid grind over an dover? There are not execrations in the English language to describe how angry I am about that crap. You think you had it bad going through once, do it 4 more times, and find you still haven't capped the one skill you can't get anywhere else. On my 4th try I got a Superior Absorption from a chest, and I didn't even care. I would have given it away just to cap the goddamned skill. I suppose I'll try again today, and tomorrow, and the day after...

To whatever crackhead programmed in the boss spawn randomizations: thanks. I love you.

Gildor Took · Feb 09, 2006, 09:26 AM // 09:26

nice job

when i went to abaddons mouth it was practically left empty on the only people there are afk

Thank god for henchies

plastichead · Feb 09, 2006, 10:42 AM // 10:42

I actually just completed that mission with my monk tonight. But it was not easy. Our only tank left, then our necro (no more battery :{ )left (before the first bosses). Which just left me, 3 ele's, a mesmer and a level 19 monk who brought mesmer skills.
Luckily for me I brought a cap sig and capped aura of faith which greatly reduced the stress on me and all the healing I needed to do. I found out that mesmers make realy bad tanks, but ele's can in a pinch (or me, but that means i'm not healing them).

It was a long hard slog, but I actually feel as if I accomplished something.

Btw: 1st try with that character

Avarre · Feb 09, 2006, 12:14 PM // 12:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by kvndoom

To whatever crackhead programmed in the boss spawn randomizations: thanks. I love you.

Ugh, capping Fevered Dreams was a pain, and Abbadon's definitely ranks in the top 3 for 'most annoying captures' (Migrane/Prodigy/SoD takes 2nd, FoC takes first).

Fighting it out to finally win a mission, even with dropped players is great, and can be alot more fun than playing with a solid group. GG

Quote:

Originally Posted by plastichead

I found out that mesmers make realy bad tanks

No! Never! Mesmers tank long time! Better than many W/Mo

Cirian · Feb 09, 2006, 12:27 PM // 12:27

Grats! Winning with an unconventional group is the best

xxSilhouette · Feb 09, 2006, 01:07 PM // 13:07

Congrats! as frustrating as it was im sure, you probley felt really great when it was over

Mavrik · Feb 09, 2006, 04:44 PM // 16:44

Mesmers suck as tanks lol but we pull very well since we can attack outside of agro range.

And yeah xxSihouette, it did feel very good to complete it like that and I gave a big sigh of relief when it was over. I think I was actually shaking lol.

What was really funny though is one of the group had done the mission before so when we arrived in hell she goes "Welcome to hell" and what is the first thing I see? A bunch of dancing naked necros and eles in that centre ring haha. Hell never looked better.

I don't recall seeing any monk bosses either so to complete the mission 4 times just to get that elite... well I'm sure the groups you were in were happy to have you.

jciardha · Feb 09, 2006, 05:44 PM // 17:44

I do the Fire Islands missions for fun every so often (masochism, I know), and I've seen all sorts of groups. One time, in Abbadon's Mouth, we lost both warriors, the second monk, and the ele. Which left us with one monk, one ranger, one necro, and me, the mesmer. Right before the room with all the seals too. We somehow managed to take all the seals, ghosts and mursaat down, and breezed into Hell's Precipice. As with any mission, the party composition only matters somewhat less than the competence of the players. With good players who know their skills and what they're doing, anything is a snap.

kvndoom · Feb 09, 2006, 06:10 PM // 18:10

On my 7th try, I finally got it. Now I feel drained. But I feel whole.

Mavrik · Feb 09, 2006, 07:16 PM // 19:16

So you got the skill? Sweet.

Mesmer's best skill for the mission... well every skill is good but I brought that interupt skill that then disables all enemy skills. For example if you interupt Thunderclap... any lightening skill the seal has are disabled for X number of seconds. For each seal I'd wait for Thunderclap or any other lightening spell, I'd interupt it with the elite interupt I had. Then if the seal was still alive when it could cast thunderclap or any lightening skill again for that matter, I'd use one of my other 2 interupts to either tap energy from it or hurt it.

One more mission to go!

PrincessKyra · Feb 09, 2006, 07:30 PM // 19:30

That is a truly amazing story!!! Congratulations!!! That mission is quite challenging for a party of 4 to beat with all those mursaat and bosses. It's nice to hear success stories once in a while.

Great job!

Ken Dei · Feb 09, 2006, 07:50 PM // 19:50

Great story, long time since I've heard of a group that clawed thier way to the end. Usually when a monk drops, so does everyone else. Running and Candy Canes (I know you used them, but in your case it was ok, most use them for everything) have turned a good portion of the games population into a bunch of ignorant, panicky, quitters. I rarely find a group who are willing to fight tooth and nail to survive, let alone know how to.

Glad to see there are still a few around.

Fungus Amongus · Feb 10, 2006, 12:14 AM // 00:14

Sincere congratulations to you and your (remaining) group. Those are the most enjoyable and memorable adventures.

Mavrik · Feb 10, 2006, 01:03 AM // 01:03

well thanks guys

I don't know if I'll have such tales to tell when tackling Hell's Precipice but if I do, those will have to wait until monday when I will likely have a couple hours free to invest in it.

But so far longest mission has been this one. I took hench through Galrath mission and that took about 2 hours but that was clearing several zones and more traveling then Abaddon's mouth.

And this is exactly what I farmed for candy canes... to remove 60%DP

streetboy · Feb 10, 2006, 01:21 AM // 01:21

I did with Ring of Fire mission last night with my ranger, we have a mesmer on the team, he can't even shutdown the monk boss, and wanted me to use interrupt monk's Orison Healing instead. Luckly, combine with two Ele knock down and my interrupt, was able to take that monk boss out. It is all depends how ppl played in game.

Mavrik · Feb 10, 2006, 01:57 AM // 01:57

well how many interupt skills did the mesmer bring? The shortest interupt recharges in 10 seconds, the next if 15 and the power block elite is 20-30 I don't remember but I believe its 30seconds. Cast time is 1/4 seconds on all of those. There are other interupts as well. They range from energy costs of 5-15energy. You can't interupt if your using poor energy management and have no energy. And I know the monks spam Orison of Healing like you wouldn't believe. And it casts pretty quick to so you need to be on the ball to interupt it in time. I know I couldn't interupt half the ones they were spamming simply because I had no interupts charged or no energy to cast ones that I did have charged. Backfire only lasts 7 seconds for me and you need to know when to cast that because monks don't start out spamming skills lol.

Dex · Feb 10, 2006, 02:33 AM // 02:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by streetboy

I did with Ring of Fire mission last night with my ranger, we have a mesmer on the team, he can't even shutdown the monk boss, and wanted me to use interrupt monk's Orison Healing instead. Luckly, combine with two Ele knock down and my interrupt, was able to take that monk boss out. It is all depends how ppl played in game.

Oooo, I ALWAYS do Ring of Fire with henchies. Every time I do it with a PUG someone screws up the aggro or runs into the Mursaat fortress and dies amid 4 Ether Seals wherein at least one of the monks dies trying to rez them. That mission is all about managing aggro and planning your attacks on the Ether Seals. Henchies are dumb, but at least they do what I say!

jciardha · Feb 10, 2006, 02:46 AM // 02:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by streetboy

I did with Ring of Fire mission last night with my ranger, we have a mesmer on the team, he can't even shutdown the monk boss, and wanted me to use interrupt monk's Orison Healing instead. Luckly, combine with two Ele knock down and my interrupt, was able to take that monk boss out. It is all depends how ppl played in game.

Depends on the type of interrupt the mesmer brought, otherwise trying to interrupt Orison is worthless, since the recharge on it is so short. Even Power Block isn't a good bet against a Mursaat monk boss, as I've noticed the duration for that seems to be shorter than against ordinary mobs. I usually do Echo + Arcane Thievery (and keep my fingers crossed I steal Orison and/or Aura of Faith and not that blasted Purge Condtions), and an Inspired or Shatter Enchantment to take down Mursaat monk bosses. AThievery does seem to last the entire duration, and is not shortened or halved, and while the duration AThievery is active, I spam Wastrel's Worry on the boss.

Unless I have really bad luck and get Purge Condtions twice, I can help bring Coventina or Willa down in about thirty seconds or less. I've heard other ways to bring them down quickly, such as e-denial.

(Edited for clarity.)