Curse

Mariena Feladon · May 10, 2005, 03:50 PM // 15:50

I found the quest to be challenging and difficult. Which is good, because it would be pretty stupid if every quest was as easy as the King's Message. There are some difficult quests like, maybe, Fires in the East which require some skill and there are the more difficult quests like Althea's Ashes.

But did you even look at the reward you got for that quest? 2000 exp! That's quite a few Carrion Devourers, if you ask me.

I have to admit, our party almost got wiped out. When we got there, the pets died, our warriors and ranger died and luckily I managed to escape. I healed, summoned a spirit (to distract charrs, should I have to retreat again) and resurrected them one by one. Took out the Shamans on the side one by one, and eventually we finished the quest.

PS. Since when has Arena.net become Battle.net?

SOT · May 10, 2005, 04:03 PM // 16:03

The second time I entered Piken Square, I had already tried the ashes quest several times with bots. I have died so many times that our -% was 62 and that is horrid. I decided to abandon it, come back later. Well, some bizatch was broadcasting in trade they had ashes for 150 gold. I fell for it too

I never buy quest items now, but it was only 150 from my rather large purse. But for gamers like me, its the mf-ing PRINCIPLE of the thing. Asshats abound.

NoChance · May 10, 2005, 09:49 PM // 21:49

one thing you can do for Althea's ashes is to get the group of hydras to chase you as you run towards the charr (this is near the temple)... the hydras will fight with the charr -- while you sit back and watch (or help one side or the other, or fight them all).

i wonder how many charr squads you can wipe out this way -- i only tried this once, and the hydras wiped out maybe two squads of charr (with no help from me) before being finished. however, if you help the hydras fight the charr.. maybe you can do a lot better?

anyone tried this?

SOT · May 10, 2005, 09:53 PM // 21:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoChance

one thing you can do for Althea's ashes is to get the group of hydras to chase you as you run towards the charr (this is near the temple)... the hydras will fight with the charr -- while you sit back and watch (or help one side or the other, or fight them all).

i wonder how many charr squads you can wipe out this way -- i only tried this once, and the hydras wiped out maybe two squads of charr (with no help from me) before being finished. however, if you help the hydras fight the charr.. maybe you can do a lot better?

anyone tried this?

I really appreciate youposting this, but I cannot get To the hydras

Didn't even know bout em till you spoke up! Thanks though!

I have done that tactic with devourers against charr in ruins of surmia

Azmodan · May 11, 2005, 12:15 PM // 12:15

This may help some people. I already completed this quest and still had the urn in my inventory.

I went with a friend who had not completed the quest yet, but left the urn in storage. We were already there and had most of the Charr dead, so we didn't want to go back to town.

I gave him my urn, and he was able to complete the quest.

Qin Shi Huang · May 13, 2005, 11:38 AM // 11:38

I got to the Altar soloing with with henchies with no DP untill then.
The nightmare came after that.
Those henchies run over anything that you try to atack, even dumb alesia, the worst healer in all of GW. When the henches run over the packs of monsters they get in range of the sorrounding groups, from then on we all are dead meat.
With real players, you pull the mobs/groups individually with a ranger and take them out one by one. It is slow but effective. Once the melee monsters get near, let the tanks do their work, and one AoE spell will work wonders too.
It is not unballanced. It is challenging.
By the way, i didn't complete it yet, because the two PUG's that I found run over anything that moves unorderly, being even worse than henches.

phantomhound · May 13, 2005, 12:13 PM // 12:13

OK, now for those who think henchies don't listen you are wrong. Heard of target calling? They follow the targets you call.

Anyway the first time I did this quest it was a bit north of Nolani if I remember correctly. So is it actually at the Flaming Temple Corridor now?

Azrakel_Dreik · May 13, 2005, 12:18 PM // 12:18

Im not so sure that the Henchmen are all that useless. There are times when you just want to go exploring but doing so alone is suicide. So henchmen are at the very least, expendable.

Once you start getting some of the higher level henchmen however, that changes quite a bit. Got as far as the Ascalon Highlands with the henchmen before we were all murdered by a pack of Hydras.

Needless to say, having a good healer (two would be better if you yourself also had healing skills), a Mage and a Warrior has always been my group of choice when going exploring and questing.

Azrakel Dreik
Guildmaster
The Shroud of the Setting Sun

The Way of the Warrior is the Path of Shadows…
The gift to the warrior is to see the Unseen….
The spirit of the warrior strikes in a single moment…
The Destiny of the Warrior is balance in all things…
When balance is lost the reckoning awaits…

This is the code of the Shroud of the Setting Sun…

Qin Shi Huang · May 13, 2005, 12:55 PM // 12:55

phantom, Yes, I heard of target calling...
Henchmen follow the called target and FYI they also follow an "uncalled" target.
Select a monster with [C] or [TAB] and then hit space or any atacking skill key. They follow your target this way too. The thing is: you want to pull a monster with, say, a long bow (the de facto pulling weapon). After selecting the baddie and attempting the first shot, your warrior will run towards the guy, eventually getting within detection range of the nearby foes. Conclusion: ALL nearby foes will follow the warrior and consequently you too because you are not that far from him.
Also, if Alesia is a "Healer Henchmen" why does she atack whenever I atack a monster? She has a terrible habit of entering the detection radius of monsters, and since monsters, pretty like humans, try to take out the healer in first place, Alesia is slayed pretty easilly, and depending on the monsters' dificulty the whole party may follow.
That reminds me an idea. Henchmen should only follow your target when you actually call it. Otherwise they keep their positions and only atack anything that comes in their range. Eventually with a few adjustments, this rule might improve your control over hanchies substancially. It also would make many players learn how to call targets because it is very usefull if used correctly.
Cheers.
--Qin.

avnos · May 13, 2005, 02:31 PM // 14:31

Did it with a ranger friend and the rest henchman... im a ranger myself. I thikn that quest took us 3 tries... i dont think 3 is unreasonable.

Ishamael Sedai · May 13, 2005, 02:39 PM // 14:39

might as well start learning to not attack everyone. i have to do a lot of hiding in the desert w/ those sand elementals.

Volarian · May 13, 2005, 02:49 PM // 14:49

In a quest like this it IS all about strategy and I honestly don't think anyone could pull it off with the less than AI/Henchman as (a) they don't behave in a rational manner that's needed when facing easily 40+ Charr in different size groups & (b) because they are 4-8 lvls lower than your Character and just not equipped for it.

I tried this several times with henchman, first trying the rush in approach on a few groups of 5-6 Charr (I'm a W/E lvl 11 at the time). Casting Rain of Fire when I hit the core of Charr, then Endure Pain, Sever Art etc. I have 4 of them down to killable level, but as mentioned before the healer is leading with her chin so down she goes......and from there they're able to heal up some of their Charr and it's a slaughter. Next time I try pulling a few, but the minute they come into closer range....the henchman fighter runs out to meet em which draws more....I just don't see it getting done with henchman. Next time I group with 3 players lvl 11-13, two monk secondary, 2 Warrior primary and a Ranger primary - this time it's strategy - targeting a specific clump of Charr, taking them down, falling back to reset, targeting the next ....rinse/repeat. Now we're at the alter and there are no less than 15-20 standing on top.......there is no pulling from this point..we tried several times to do so but none would come all the way down the steps and with their range attacks and healing abilities....we just couldn't make a dent. So it was sacrifice time, just so we could complete the quest......2 ran up to draw aggro, I used Sprint to run thru and touch the alter....done.

vai demine · May 13, 2005, 03:24 PM // 15:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qin Shi Huang

Select a monster with [C] or [TAB] and then hit space or any atacking skill key. They follow your target this way too. The thing is: you want to pull a monster with, say, a long bow (the de facto pulling weapon). After selecting the baddie and attempting the first shot, your warrior will run towards the guy, eventually getting within detection range of the nearby foes. Conclusion: ALL nearby foes will follow the warrior and consequently you too because you are not that far from him.
--Qin.

Hey Qin! I have an idea for you. You are correct, by the way about henchmen automatically targeting whichever enemy you attack, regardless of whether or not you call it. My solution for this problem, which works well in certain situations is ro not attack the enemy. I just go within aggro range of them and then run. If you don't attack, neither will your henchmen. So you have to get close enough to aggro them without attacking and then run away. You'll pull, your henchmen won't attack, and you can get one group at a time.

Like I said, it's situational. Sometimes you'll aggro more than one group at a time this way because they are so close together. You just have to work at it. Anyway, have fun.

Vai

sybban · May 13, 2005, 04:24 PM // 16:24

No balance? are you kidding me? Say you're some legendary hunter dude in real life. A wolf bites you....it's going to hurt right? A pack of wolves comes at you and no skill in the world is going to save you. This isn't a hack and slash game. This quest is easy as hell. Ping away at the surrounding groups with a smart healer backing you up. They shouldn't need to heal every 2 seconds if they use their skills right. When you get to the base of the mountain the healer can Healing seed and healing breeze a warrior with sprint. He is invincible for a short period of time and runs in and grabs the ashes. How much easier can this get?

But back to what i was saying before, even a level 20 character shouldn't be able to go around and just kill evreything he sees, it's not realistic. S-T-R-A-T-E-G-Y...spell it with me

Zilm · May 13, 2005, 04:47 PM // 16:47

Ashes takes strategy pure and simple. Of course being LVL 12 at a minimum wouldnt hurt.

Just a side note. Went through Dragon Gullet the other night. We cleared out the whole map except one area that had between 15-20 Hydra masses in two seperate groups.

Anyone know what they might be protecting? Anyone wanna go there? Let me know! Zilm Trufar

Taranis · May 13, 2005, 07:29 PM // 19:29

Stop ****ing complain about it, do you think 2x2000 XP (including Duke's Daughter) is a pushover? Sorry had to say that....we did the Ashes quest with 3!!! people, me as a Ranger/Warrior wielding swords and two Elementalist/Mesmers and NO healer, use some tactic, if you're too stupid for that skip the quest -_- sorry got sick off all those complaining...

Epinephrine · May 13, 2005, 07:53 PM // 19:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roken

Atleast you didn't pull a Roken. I see a lever and I pull it. That didnt help much in the Rin City mission.

Lol, we used to always (BWE) open the front door and just pull the groups one by one instead of going around. Now you get swarmed - discovered that the hard way.

Xavier · May 13, 2005, 10:27 PM // 22:27

They seem to have modified the quest somewhat to make it easier. The groups of Charr mobs are more spread out now and there are less Charr per group now. I came back to it last night after a couple of days away. I did the quest with me at L14 and the 3 L8 Henchies. I died 3 times but at least I was able to get it done and get my 2k xps.

Skrilling · May 14, 2005, 04:43 AM // 04:43

Loviatar brings up a good specific point that many people don't realize the general side of till later. I've been playing since the alpha so i have an easier time than most, but the point is each class has the capability to be self suficient in its own way. They can deal with nearly any attack if you are ready. This being said, you aren't doomed to failure if your group doesn't have "one of the puzzle pieces" (aka tank, monk, etc.). Some of the best groups i've been in we're missing one of these pieces (usually the monk). A good way to see the true strength of a class is to go completely solo a few times and see what can happen. Its an aquired skill, so start out on easy missions and work your way up. Blow away everything you can and aviod what you can't till you see a solution to the situation. Not everybody like it, but I'm kind of partial to soloing becuase thats what i find fun. I've soloed every class. To give you an idea fo how far you can get, my current personal record is my tank (W/N) can solo any mission up to and including river side. I'm enjoying the challenge of figuring out sanctum cay. My mage (E/Me) Can go almost as far as my warrior, and with earth magic, can tank just as well, but i haven't been playing it as long and it faces a very different challenge than a warrior. I encourage my guild mates to try to solo things because once you can solo, bringing henches just means fire support for the rough spots.

Radical · May 27, 2005, 08:30 PM // 20:30

As long as I bring along my Resurrect spell, I haven't had too much trouble completing quests with henchies.

One tip for the tanks above having problems and complaining about there healers.

Learn from the CHARR!! You run head long into their warriors using your AOE spells while the Charr kill your healer....LOL
Skip past their warriors and kill their healer. The shamans go down easy and the warriors are simple to dispatch with your tank and AOE afterwards.