Necro in lower guk

[Castamere]

I never did a whole lot of guk on live so I thought I would take my 51 necro their to learn a bit of the zone. IVU down to to the frenzy spawn and decided to try root rotting some of the blue cons *outside* of the spawn room. The main problem I'm having is paralyzing earth breaking so often. That combined with the tight spaces and not a lot of room for a runway made for some pretty painful breaks.

So after thinking about it I have a couple ideas for a new approach and hopefully someone can share their experiences as well.

My first idea was to try using screaming terror as apposed to immediately casting PE again on breaks. But now that
I'm looking at it, ST has a longer cast time so that option seems out.

So i'm wondering if perhaps a different root spell would be a better option. For instance, hungry earth. Only works on undead which is fine in this case and last for 8 ticks. The wiki doesn't say that it breaks randomly but that could have been left out I suppose. If that's true, I would love a consistent 8 ticks of root if I could count on it. Seems to good to be true.

Besides that I'm kind of at a loss. Wait for 52 and manaskin?

At work can't test myself. Thanks!

[Izmael]

All roots break randomly AFAIK.

I never did lguk on a necro but I'd try the charming approach for sure.

[Castamere]

All roots break randomly AFAIK.

I never did lguk on a necro but I'd try the charming approach for sure.

Right on. gonna give that a go

[Crawdad]

I never did a whole lot of guk on live so I thought I would take my 51 necro their to learn a bit of the zone. IVU down to to the frenzy spawn and decided to try root rotting some of the blue cons *outside* of the spawn room. The main problem I'm having is paralyzing earth breaking so often. That combined with the tight spaces and not a lot of room for a runway made for some pretty painful breaks.

So after thinking about it I have a couple ideas for a new approach and hopefully someone can share their experiences as well.

My first idea was to try using screaming terror as apposed to immediately casting PE again on breaks. But now that
I'm looking at it, ST has a longer cast time so that option seems out.

So i'm wondering if perhaps a different root spell would be a better option. For instance, hungry earth. Only works on undead which is fine in this case and last for 8 ticks. The wiki doesn't say that it breaks randomly but that could have been left out I suppose. If that's true, I would love a consistent 8 ticks of root if I could count on it. Seems to good to be true.

Besides that I'm kind of at a loss. Wait for 52 and manaskin?

At work can't test myself. Thanks!

All roots break randomly, so hungry earth will set you back to 8 ticks vs 30 ticks with paralyzing earth. Higher levels are going to be the main factor in your roots lasting until duration. You'll get Enstill at 53 but its a downgrade. PE is a 49/56 spell versus Enstill at 29/34 for a lot of classes.

Charm is the way to go in Lguk, just always be ready to Screaming Terror when it breaks. If your roots are breaking too much you can always dooming darkness for some time, but as always pay attention to dots when needing to FD.

Manaskin might be useful for when you're first getting used to charming but I use steelskin 90% of the time.

[Tecmos Deception]

Don't use PE unless you have quite a few levels on stuff, you need a root to last a long time, and no direct damage (nukes, procs) is being done to the rooted mob... especially if you're only dealing with 1-3 mobs at a time.

Otherwise lower-level roots are as efficient time:cost wise and are cheaper to recast on breaks and are faster casting.

[beel]

I always felt that PE had a higher chance at lasting longer than the other roots (except Fetter). For example that it resisted breaking better on nukes and stuff.

Not scientifically tested though. Just feels more reliable. Might just be the potential (and awesome) max duration giving me the feels.

[Ando]

I've spent SIGNIFICANT time charm soloing in Lguk on a Necro. Here are a few tips.

1. You will die learning.
2. You will die more learning.
3. Always have FD, Harmshield, and ST memmed.
4. Rest the Dead is a necessity. Also, LoS is neither necessary nor desired when casting it. You should be in a spot so that if you get a crit resist and aggro frogs you have time to FD, stand up (if it fails) and cast harmshield prior to even seeing frogs and wait for FD CD. If you get 2 FD fails in a row or a spell takes you out of FD the second time there is usually nothing you could have done about this and is an inherent risk charm soloing in Lguk.
5. Get used to spell swapping mid fight - quickly.
6. Go for very low dark blues. Level is by far the most influencing factor here when it comes to resists and charm/root breaks. If you have to lull a bunch of stuff, start from the low level stuff up.
7. I've found using root vice Hungry earth is sufficient. You don't have the spell bar space for 2 roots most of the time and HE has a cooldown so if you have to root multiple things or you get a resist/break during the CD you are completely fucked.
8. Learn to time FD with mob spell casts.
9. ALWAYS keep the mob your pet is fighting rooted, and if it is a caster, keep it out of LOS so when charm breaks it won't immediately start casting on you.
10. Your pet's ghoul root will overwrite your root and it will be impossible to tell when it breaks, necessitating another re-root by you - another reason to use your cheapest root. This will often be the limiting time on root, not full duration or early breaks.
11. Dar ghoul knights do not fuck around.
12. You need some item that resets GCD, be that goblin earring or something similar.
13. Circlet of Shadow is very helpful (although not necessary) for breaking charm.
14. You will die learning.
15. Diamondskin is clutch. Jasper (like 7g, right?) for several hundred hitpoints. The only time I used manaskin was during hard breaks such as on Arch Magus (he and the Jins/Kors nuke for 650-700) or during Ghoul Lord (who btw, IMO, is the hardest room to solo in Dead Side. The resists are insane and he has a lot of HP. Do not recommend until 56-57 at the earliest).
16. Charm soloing in Lguk is the most fun I've ever had in the game.

[Izmael]

I can almost hear the sound of bones being crushed and the text "You've been slain by a dar ghoul knight!".

[Castamere]

I've spent SIGNIFICANT time charm soloing in Lguk on a Necro. Here are a few tips.

1. You will die learning.
2. You will die more learning.
3. Always have FD, Harmshield, and ST memmed.
4. Rest the Dead is a necessity. Also, LoS is neither necessary nor desired when casting it. You should be in a spot so that if you get a crit resist and aggro frogs you have time to FD, stand up (if it fails) and cast harmshield prior to even seeing frogs and wait for FD CD. If you get 2 FD fails in a row or a spell takes you out of FD the second time there is usually nothing you could have done about this and is an inherent risk charm soloing in Lguk.
5. Get used to spell swapping mid fight - quickly.
6. Go for very low dark blues. Level is by far the most influencing factor here when it comes to resists and charm/root breaks. If you have to lull a bunch of stuff, start from the low level stuff up.
7. I've found using root vice Hungry earth is sufficient. You don't have the spell bar space for 2 roots most of the time and HE has a cooldown so if you have to root multiple things or you get a resist/break during the CD you are completely fucked.
8. Learn to time FD with mob spell casts.
9. ALWAYS keep the mob your pet is fighting rooted, and if it is a caster, keep it out of LOS so when charm breaks it won't immediately start casting on you.
10. Your pet's ghoul root will overwrite your root and it will be impossible to tell when it breaks, necessitating another re-root by you - another reason to use your cheapest root. This will often be the limiting time on root, not full duration or early breaks.
11. Dar ghoul knights do not fuck around.
12. You need some item that resets GCD, be that goblin earring or something similar.
13. Circlet of Shadow is very helpful (although not necessary) for breaking charm.
14. You will die learning.
15. Diamondskin is clutch. Jasper (like 7g, right?) for several hundred hitpoints. The only time I used manaskin was during hard breaks such as on Arch Magus (he and the Jins/Kors nuke for 650-700) or during Ghoul Lord (who btw, IMO, is the hardest room to solo in Dead Side. The resists are insane and he has a lot of HP. Do not recommend until 56-57 at the earliest).
16. Charm soloing in Lguk is the most fun I've ever had in the game.

Thanks for the write up. Most of my deaths so far have been from fat fingering (on red) and having to take the damage while I wait for the wrong spell to finish channeling. Charming has been tough since I can't put a whole lot of distance between me and the two mobs and I have to recast root so dang often that I end up with two mobs running at me on charm break. Granted, I spent a good bit of time trying to break the frenzy camp and I know the bloodthirsty ghouls are tougher. Maybe I should stick to non-named for a level or two and retry.

[Ando]

Yeah, I wouldn't feel comfortable charming AM or Frenzy at 51 as someone new to charming. Root rotting frenzy with lull though is definitely viable, especially since snare and root now stack.

If you're going to root rot a hard camp I'd pull out a pet, especially on AM, and let him eat all of the nukes long enough for you to DOT the everliving shit out of him and then root him around a corner and LOS. Props here also if you have a shovel of ponz and reclaim your pet as he is about to die to regain a lot of the mana you just used casting said DOTs.

[Castamere]

Thanks! I'll give it a go.

[Tecmos Deception]

A few questions/comments:

1. Reclaiming a nearly-dead pet doesn't give you much mana back, does it?

2. Diamondskin is a dot, steelskin is a jasper. Definitely worth using steelskin 24/7 imo though, and the higher runes when you know you're getting into a tougher fight.

3. Be sure to learn your way around. Lguk can be pretty easy to get lost in if you haven't spent time there, and the last thing you need when you're down there is sitting to med while your pet goes to town on something and a pather comes across you... or you're running to buy some more room for a second FD after your first failed and you cast HS and you fall in a pit or run through a secret wall and aggro 3 more frogs, etc.

4. MR MR MR. Don't get ghoul-rooted! Cast shielding spells and don't discount MR on gear even if it isn't as many hp/int/mp as another piece.

[Ando]

A few questions/comments:

1. Reclaiming a nearly-dead pet doesn't give you much mana back, does it?

2. Diamondskin is a dot, steelskin is a jasper. Definitely worth using steelskin 24/7 imo though, and the higher runes when you know you're getting into a tougher fight.

3. Be sure to learn your way around. Lguk can be pretty easy to get lost in if you haven't spent time there, and the last thing you need when you're down there is sitting to med while your pet goes to town on something and a pather comes across you... or you're running to buy some more room for a second FD after your first failed and you cast HS and you fall in a pit or run through a secret wall and aggro 3 more frogs, etc.

4. MR MR MR. Don't get ghoul-rooted! Cast shielding spells and don't discount MR on gear even if it isn't as many hp/int/mp as another piece.

1. I'm fairly sure you always get 100% mana back, regardless of HP.

2. Yeah, meant Steelskin. Been a while.

4. Yes and no. I wouldn't sacrifice HP for MR, because Ghoul Root is specifically designed to have a huge -MR modifier. It was very noticeable on Red where they would continue to root PCs 5+ lvls above them with 100-150 MR.

[Izmael]

Reclaiming gets you an amount of mana proportional to the remaining HP. Reclaiming a near dead pet gives you nearly no mana. Otherwise this would be the easiest exploit ever and you could chain pets for ever.

[eisley]

1. I'm fairly sure you always get 100% mana back, regardless of HP.

a pet with 10% health gives back 10% of the mana cost

4. Yes and no. I wouldn't sacrifice HP for MR, because Ghoul Root is specifically designed to have a huge -MR modifier. It was very noticeable on Red where they would continue to root PCs 5+ lvls above them with 100-150 MR.

ghoul root has no resist adjust, although root, and magic based spells in general, are bugged on this server and are far harder to resist/break than classic.

[Ando]

TIL.

[Gumbo]

I hate Guk... Upper and Lower. No matter which character I take there and how often I am there. I'm either going to get lost or get killed and still get lost trying to find my corpse.

[comadose]

52 enc here, can't give necro specific advice but charm solo I'm all over.

I learned to charm solo in lguk so I can tell you that, as someone else said (too lazy to scroll), you WILL die. Know that going in. You're going to have to learn the zone, camps, roamer paths, spawn timer (28.5), etc.

I'd recommend starting with something like sage camp. Two spawns in the room, one roamer. Do NOT walk into the fake wall in the back as there are 4 wiz mobs there. They won't aggro as long as you don't walk through the fake wall. Take note of which mob you kill first so you know what to expect on the repop. I usually try to make sure the roamer dies first, set timer, then take out the room. I set my timer for 26 minutes so that when it goes off I know I have 2 minutes to rebuff/prepare for next spawn cycle.

Once you feel confident with sage camp you can start dropping exe camp as well, right next to sage. Exe may be a little tough for necro as there's 5 spawns in room and one roamer, I'm not sure if you get any kind of calm/lull spell but it may be necessary for exe. I calm everything and pull just the exe/ph, kill him with the charmed roamer.

Magi is another surprisingly easy camp. He has a lot of hp and he nukes hard but keep mez on bar and hit him with it any time you see him start to cast anything, if you don't interrupt his casting you and your pet will both die quickly. If you can manage that it's a pretty easy camp as it's only 2 spawns, no roamer, and the hallway right outside the room is safe. Magi sees through IVU though so be careful. There's also a fake wall in the magi room with 1 spawn behind it. Again, don't go through it and he won't aggro.

I use the lowest level root available for mana efficiency, same with mez. Always root the mob you're killing because charm WILL break at inopportune times and you don't want 2 mobs on you. I don't know the cast time on your charm, but mine takes a bit to cast, so I always mez before charming. 24 sec mez on my lowest rank isn't a bad wait and it saves you from being shredded/interrupted while trying to recharm.

Again, you WILL die learning this stuff, but it's very much worth it. The money I've made charm solo farming has easily outweighed the deaths it took to get good/confident enough at it. I was nervous going in and it caused some deaths due to slow reaction time or wondering what I should be casting and when, it becomes a knee jerk reaction after a while and your skill/confidence will grow quickly.

I solo farm everything in lguk short of lord at this point, because the guk wizard scares me. Ice comet would 1 shot me without buffs. ;p

I'm in lguk a lot, hit me up on Nahd if you're blue, I can run you through some camps.



PS, YOU WILL DIE.. it's worth it though. ;)

[DMN]

screaming terror has a higher chance of being flat out resisted than PE does of having couple second/instant break. When it does instant break you can quickly recast, too.

I would stick to PE when you are just trying to break a spawn area. ST is more of efficiency thing when exping IMO or you are going to be charming casters with some frequency.

[Llodd]

DMN ... just stop. thats nonsense

[DMN]

DMN ... just stop. thats nonsense

Stop what? knowing more than you? gonna have to talk to your mom or God about that one, son.

[Izmael]

Just stop everything.

[DMN]

Just stop everything.

I'm aware that you don't know, but oxygen is pretty precious for your brain cells.