Howling Stones - Question

[Fettsack]

Hello, I have never been into HS in project1999 and so I am asking myself (L54 Iksar Monk) if I can give it a try to zone into howling stones without beeing harmtouched to death from the entrance mobs?

I have a decent gear at risk for my standards (fungi and 36% haste item) I would rather avoid having a bad corpse recovery - that's why I am asking here.

So would you (maybe as an hs proven vet) give me a go for that? Or should I better stay out till I hit 55/56?

Looking forward to your replies.
Fat

[Teppler]

You won't die off two harm touches. Just be ready to FD.

[mumpz]

if you have epic (or clicky robe), should be a decent spot for you

[Fettsack]

No epic or clicky haste here but still worth a try as I get it from your comments so far. Thanks!

[Crede]

You can do ok in there but it’s not ideal for a monk. If I were you looking to venture off I’d try out the Hole. Wedar wrote a legit guide there soloing to 60 on his monk

[Freakish]

You're going to start every skeleton fight with a harm touch which is an unavoidable 400 dmg+. I would recommend a different zone for melee solo. Now if you're grouping, it's fine. Just don't eat all the harm touches at once when you split rooms.

[Rygar]

No epic or clicky haste here but still worth a try as I get it from your comments so far. Thanks!

You won't do well anywhere solo without epic or clicky haste. I recommend you 100% focus on that, is a game changer for a solo monk. Fungi and item haste will only get you so far.

[Emmin]

Buy a bag or two of stalking probes if you want to solo in HS as a monk. Summon eye, FD, send at skeleton. The skeleton will burn his harm touch on the eye. You can recharge the probes for like 2 pp each when you need to.

[Barlu]

Worst case scenario is 2 HTs like others have mentioned at about 450 dmg a piece so you should be able to survive assuming you don’t fail a FD. Even if you do you can pop Voidance and live (assuming you don’t fail multiple after that). If you die zoning into HS getting your corpse back really won’t be much of an issue. Enterance is a popular spot for enchanters and a /who all Charasis you can usually find out if someone is keeping enterance down. Also, if you can get someone to drag your body to the safe ledge it is very common to find Necros down there. Bank a few EEs at Outpost and try to find a necro Rez assuming there are no clerics.

Corpse recovery isn’t too bad in HS at enterance, basement, or North (boss room can be annoying). Those are reasonably well trafficked and someone can usually help you drag it to the point you can drag through a wall. I always found for the time and frustration it’s better just to get a corpse summon if you die too deep in a wing and don’t want to mess with it.

Overall, I just don’t think it’s the best spot for a Monk at that level unless you have a static group. HS is almost all enchanters and necros soloing and while you can use Stalking Probes to eat the harm touches they take up a ton of bag space and you have to recharge them.

Been loving the Hole on my Monk and Wedars guide is great. Been there 53 to 55 with similar gear and the exp is awesome but like Wedar said need to have epic to solo there.

[Dreenk317]

As a monk that has soloed HS and the hole. Go to the hole. I have beads, which makes HS more manageable with the HT's as was pointed out. But beyond that, mobs in the hole have less hp, give the same exp, multiple camps for you all the way to 60, vs one in HS you could do right now. And at 54, even with fungi and epic, HS would not be easy.

[Hideousclaw]

Where is the Wedar guide? Im looking but cant find it and would love to look it over!

[Bardp1999]

At level 54 you will get eaten alive in HS and honestly no one really wants to group with monks in there unless they are friends. As mentioned above, there are many barriers to a monk being successful in Charasis and your journey will almost certainly end in disaster unless you get a team together.

Lagging out and dying at zone in is a very real threat also.

[Para99]

Can't believe no one mentioned it or maybe I skimmed over it, but the obvious answer for getting into HS for the first few times while you learn the ropes is bum a double invis in OT which is almost always available. This is especially true if you carry some IVU pots so you only have to bum a regular invis from one of the 30 druids in the zone.

If you kill or train away the scorpikis (lvl 35ish SK) on top of the orb you don't even need double invis, just an IVU pot and you will never eat more than 1 HT and some random warrior mob melee while zoning in.

If a see invis bile golem is up at entrance, which is probably like a 10% chance, you will at most get 1 HT if you are double invis. A lot of people new to HS think every bile golem that spawns at ent sees invis, but they don't.

A few root nets wont hurt for the times you cant get double invis or everything goes wrong at once.

Stay away from the east stairs and don't aggro the pather on the stairs ever, that is what kills most people at ent.

[DromalPhrenia]

HS just isn't a great zone for monks, imo. People have said it's all soloers but in my experience, duos and trios are common as well, and full groups aren't THAT rare (depends on the wing, really).

The problem is that HS does not lend itself well to the skills a monk brings to the table. Most pulls with have at least one harm touch involved, often several harm touches, and they aren't easy to split without lulls. So pet pulling is the ideal choice.

If you can't pull, you could always DPS.... but HS is populated mostly by Enchanters, Necros and Clerics. Charmed hasted DW pets are going to be pumping out damage, so your contributions there aren't as significant. You'll automatically have aggro over a pet, but NPC's have a boatload of hitpoints so CHeal is even more efficient than usual on charmed pets - its better for them to have aggro, not you.

Since none of the charmed pets are rogues, you don't need a melee to keep aggro for pets to do their backstabs. You basically don't need melee in HS at all. And the only remaining role is to handle charm breaks, which the usual combination of Enchanter, Necromancer And/Or Cleric will be doing, and you won't be contributing there.

[Ostepop]

Find a shaman to duo with, it'll be fine. Have duoed basement with monks a few times, and it's not bad at all. For the shaman it will be much more relaxing than babysitting an enc or necro. Slightly slower kills but steadier since no charm hassles.
Haven't done the hole much, so the people claiming it's much better might be right. Try both and let us know. :)

[Izmael]

A somewhat geared monk can solo a spot like North safe ledge in semi afk mode... stay FD untill full HP and Mend up, pull a single roamer (easy), ideally with eye to eat HT. Kill, rince repeat. A mob every 10 min or so...

Slow and boring but you'll gain exp solo in HS..

Probably best 58+

[Fettsack]

Thank you all for the great input.

From what I have read so far I will skip my idea to go there solo as monk. It was a bit of dream from live cause I remember the times I've been there with friends and it's was great fun and a great adventure back in the days. I will give The Hole a try. :)

[kjs86z]

Find a shaman buddy and go anywhere you want.

[Dreenk317]

Not saying dont go. But might want to go at 57-58 instead, with a shaman, and you will rock it.

[Dillusional]

I don't believe you will be able to make it to the exit and will be trapped without an OT hammer....

[rubinoff]

Monk/Necro duo is godly in HS and great exp. One of the places you don't need a shaman to get great duo exp.

[Crede]

At level 54 you will get eaten alive in HS and honestly no one really wants to group with monks in there unless they are friends. As mentioned above, there are many barriers to a monk being successful in Charasis and your journey will almost certainly end in disaster unless you get a team together.

Lagging out and dying at zone in is a very real threat also.

Don’t listen to this guy, this isn’t true at all. These kinds of attitudes are the reason why so many redundant and non creative group compositions exist on p99.

While soloing will suck here on a monk, as others have said there are still ways to xp in here. When I used to duo this with enc/cleric id always welcome a monk to join if they came in LFG. The added dps and tanking made this way faster and enjoyable. Don’t be afraid to get out there and try to join groups and think of different combinations to be effective. You’ll make more friends that way too which will make future grouping easier. Definitely try to get your epic asap though. It’s too op to wait on and makes leveling more enjoyable as it stacks with your haste item.

[Izmael]

An enc / cleric duo will not really welcome a monk, most of the time, unless it's a friend etc.

The reason is the one outlined by another poster above - the monk will steal aggro and negate the leverage of CH on the pet, while adding negligible DPS (compared to a hasted and torched pet, that is).

The monk will be more efficient if they stay FD the whole time and just leech exp from the duo.

[Crede]

An enc / cleric duo will not really welcome a monk, most of the time, unless it's a friend etc.

The reason is the one outlined by another poster above - the monk will steal aggro and negate the leverage of CH on the pet, while adding negligible DPS (compared to a hasted and torched pet, that is).

The monk will be more efficient if they stay FD the whole time and just leech exp from the duo.

Monk tanks just fine with slow, having charm pet eat HT with chanter pulling. You then have a tank and monks dps is noticeable. Did west/south all the time with this trio, would prefer it over just enc/cleric any day.

[Teppler]

Monk tanks just fine with slow, having charm pet eat HT with chanter pulling. You then have a tank and monks dps is noticeable. Did west/south all the time with this trio, would prefer it over just enc/cleric any day.

The problem is enc/cleric is an optimized duo. Adding a monk is very far from being an optimized trio.

[Crede]

The problem is enc/cleric is an optimized duo. Adding a monk is very far from being an optimized trio.

Lol how is that very far from being an optimized trio? Best trio in game IMO except maybe swapping a torpor shaman in at 60.

[Izmael]

Adding a monk to a cle/enc duo in HS will result in slower exp for the enc and the cle.

They will have to keep a ~3k hp tank up instead of keeping a 6-8k hp tank up, which changes the dynamics of the party. The cleric will simply not have enough mana. Slowing everything will drain the enchanter's mana, ToT or not.

I wouldn't be surprised if the trio actually had a slower kill rate than the duo.

The monk is basically a liability here.

[Teppler]

If I'm a part of the cleric/chanter duo, honestly, I'd rather have a necro/chanter, mage, shaman and probably even a few other classes before monk.

[Crede]

If I'm a part of the cleric/chanter duo, honestly, I'd rather have a necro/chanter, mage, shaman and probably even a few other classes before monk.

The problem with multiple pets is aggro will likely pong, and it's annoying for the cleric. Having a static tank makes charm life much easier. What's a shaman going to add over a monk in this situation? Their pet dps?

Adding a monk to a cle/enc duo in HS will result in slower exp for the enc and the cle.

They will have to keep a ~3k hp tank up instead of keeping a 6-8k hp tank up, which changes the dynamics of the party. The cleric will simply not have enough mana. Slowing everything will drain the enchanter's mana, ToT or not.

I wouldn't be surprised if the trio actually had a slower kill rate than the duo.

The monk is basically a liability here.

A 55+ monk can tank this easily. Their hp doesn't just melt like you think it does. A chanter using tepid deeds and you won't go OOM. You have c2, and ToT. What else are you using mana on? A few calms & charm breaks? It's not hard.

There are plenty of trios that you can make work in HS. But adding a monk is great with the right supporting classes.

[Izmael]

Then good luck I guess.

[Teppler]

The problem with multiple pets is aggro will likely pong, and it's annoying for the cleric. Having a static tank makes charm life much easier. What's a shaman going to add over a monk in this situation? Their pet dps?



A 55+ monk can tank this easily. Their hp doesn't just melt like you think it does. A chanter using tepid deeds and you won't go OOM. You have c2, and ToT. What else are you using mana on? A few calms & charm breaks? It's not hard.

There are plenty of trios that you can make work in HS. But adding a monk is great with the right supporting classes.

If the team is functioning really well, they can pull 4-5 mobs at once, CC, shaman slows, roots, and then they all destroy mobs one by one. Shaman slowing frees up chanter to do other things. Malaise line spells help pet stay longer. Along with the added support, it may free a chanter up to grab a stronger dps pet.

Cleric can get more work because it can hp buff the shaman and CH them when they canni down. Shaman can basically go nuts with spells in this trio between cleric heals and clarity line spells.

[LazyHydras]

Because HTs will slow you down significantly, it's not the best solo spot for you, efficiency-wise. It's mostly a Necro / Enchanter haven because you can charm everything and avoid getting you or your summoned pet smacked by HT all the time.

If you want to explore HS, find a cleric or shaman buddy.

[beargryllz]

Do not solo HS. This is a huge waste of time because every mob does an automatic 440 free damage on you the moment you start fighting

Do get at least a shm to duo with, or a group and clear a wing out. The exp will be good

HS is really more of a playground for enchanters and necros to cheese the HT mechanics and exploit the high ZEM. Nobody else has a reason to be here unless they're really interested in the zone

[kjs86z]

SolB is a great solo spot. LDCs or bats n bugs.

Can make a group there and do efreeti as well.

[beargryllz]

SolB is a great solo spot. LDCs or bats n bugs.

Can make a group there and do efreeti as well.

This guy gets it

If you have fungi, 36% haste, and tstaff or epic, there is no reason to ever leave solb until you hit 60. If you have none of these items, you still should sit here and solo to 60, it just takes a little longer