Solo Artist Challenge

[Splorf22]

Wow that is a serious cha build you have going there Tecmos. Less than 1k hp with buffs! Its safe to say someone is not taking my gearing advice [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] I'd be really curious though to see a test of 255 vs 200 CHA to see whether that makes sense or not. Unfortunately that's likely to be a long and obnoxious test.

Anyway nice job! The next big step up is summoning mobs; I'd guess you could start working on disciple rank at 57-58 or so. If you want say hi in game some time and we can exchange tips.

[Tecmos Deception]

Haha... yeah. Charisma gear was so cheap + I didn't plan on ever getting hit while leveling (I just stuck to soloing outdoors or in spacious dungeons), so I couldn't resist going all out. Charming in the back of lcy/jail/basement is starting to make me want some more survivability (screw you, dots that ignore my runes), but really if I manage to die through rune 5 and BS and 1300 hp self-buffed with the stuff I'm doing, I messed something up. I'm sure I'll feel differently once I start dealing with summoners.

I actually half-heartedly messed around with the spectral knights in KC trying to spawn a Knight of Sathir the other day, but I kept getting pathers aggroing me or I'd do something dumb and then just stun/mez/gate. I'll feel a lot better about trying this stuff once I can use AE mez point blank without hitting myself, I think.

Definitely looking forward to doing the other warmups for fun before I go back to focusing on xp.

[Triangle]

Originally Posted by Tecmos Deception [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Oooohh, this is fun.

I swear I'm not going to narrate my every kill, but breaking into HS north, making 56 in the process, learning what paths where, finding a safe spot to log out, finding The Spectre Sepulcher up and killing him easily... it's damn fun! [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I especially get a kick out of how much I hate HTs when I'm here with a normal group, but on a chanter? I'm glad to see mobs that HT. 1) I can steal their mana, and 2) they speed up the killing.

It's cool that you narrate them and provide SS's. Encounters are tougher when you are lower level, and its cool that you are starting this prior to 60.

Soon I might start trying for legend but its hard to find the motivation especially when some of these mobs are rare spawns that involve keeping 5-6 mobs clear in the hopes of seeing them pop.

[Handull]

Seriously, keep posting your kills. It is fun to read for sure. Learning all the tricks to the pulls is a big part of most fights. the KC stuff for example is tough until you know which mobs will glitch through the floor where and chain agro trains on you, etc

been a while since i've tried anything new myself, though really want to try to Duo protector of sky with both shaman/monk and shaman/druid combos (svenn/orruar, that means you)

[Tecmos Deception]

Originally Posted by Tecmos Deception [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[S] The Spectre Sepulcher [50 Monk, HS North]

Alrighty then. I deleted my short version of my first HS north kill and I'll post the real one with SSs. Gonna end up with more breaking-in story than actually kill though:

I was like 2% from 55 when I zoned into HS. It was primetime yesterday, but all the entry-way mobs were actually up so I ran off to the side and waited until they were away from the east stairs before killing them. Got my key, killed the golems leading into north, then went to see what I had to deal with inside.

Greater war boned, bile, sepulcher skele, golem. I was concerned (again) about whether I'd be able to rely on lull as heavily as I have while xping, but even though I had 5 resists on the bile, 255 charisma really, REALLY reduces the crit resist chance. Finished these off for full xp and dinged 56 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Gnome illusion to see what I had to deal with on the other side of the painting. It's worth mentioning that I have never set foot in HS north (or south, or east) before, so I do my best to be careful before rounding a new corner, etc. Bile, sepulcher, sperm, from right to left. I IVUd with both runes up and hoped I could run down the ramp partway with the skele chasing without losing invis, but HT + I got bashstunned and meleed was more damage than I expected, so I ended up just stunning everything together and AE mezzing and proceeding to kill them safely.

While they were fighting I kept an eye on the bottom of the ramp, paranoid as crap cause I didn't know if pathers came up here of if they'd drag more stuff up to me, etc. As far as I can tell there are 2 pathers that just wander between the hallways and the rooms right near them, no doubt serving to train you if you aggro at the wrong time, and then a couple of mobs that patrol the hallways farther. 4 (5? I didn't go up near the room with the exit teleporter yet) static mobs, and 3 side rooms with 3-4 mobs each.

The first time going down the ramp I drifted down the trap because I was in third person but with my angle down to keep me near the floor. Memmed gate and got out and then quick invis/lulled my way back into north before the stuff in front of painting repopped. Stupid carpet.

I almost got myself trained and killed (3 HTers in the room) by that room on the leff, down the hallway when facing down the ramp that has the pit trap at it's base. The eqatlas map didn't show any mobs spawning in there, and I actually had a pet and a mob fighting RIGHT outside that door but somehow I didn't aggro from inside.

By this point I had cleared the pathers in the hallway except the one skele that was pathing between the two named rooms. I IVU'd and used third-person camera angles to check out the rooms. Saw the Spectre Sepulcher up in the room marked #2 on this map (http://www.eqmacwiki.com/eqatlas/howlingstonesmap.html) along with 2 skeles (contrary to the map's legend saying there would be 4 total mobs in there PLUS the pather).

Lulls!

Mezzed the named and debuffed him thoroughly, mezzed the pather and petted him, send him to do his work (http://s9.postimage.org/lrfa82zen/EQ000031.png). I relulled the two other skeles in the room with me, dealt with 1 pet break (after nearly killing myself because I didn't remember that I couldnt use AE stun with 2 lulled mobs right next to me until the LAST second), and that pet was pretty much dead (http://s10.postimage.org/aap2hb5ih/EQ000032.png).

I believe slow was wearing off by now, since these level 43ish mobs were getting massacred by the 50 named since I was just doing debuffs, not buffing pets or giving weps. I petted one of the mobs inside the room and dealt with a poorly-timed charm+root break combo, but by this time the named was almost down (http://s8.postimage.org/uo6lp9qat/EQ000033.png).

Non-adamantite club loot: http://s9.postimage.org/cml62th33/EQ000035.png

Pet and the last skele in the room beat each other to the brink of death, I finished them off, then I needed to log. I carefully ran back to a spot I discovered is safe (I think), and took off.


The whole ordeal was much more exhilarating than lguk was. I'm about to log on again to see if I can find more nameds up in there [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Tecmos Deception]

Originally Posted by Triangle [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It's cool that you narrate them and provide SS's. Encounters are tougher when you are lower level, and its cool that you are starting this prior to 60.

Soon I might start trying for legend but its hard to find the motivation especially when some of these mobs are rare spawns that involve keeping 5-6 mobs clear in the hopes of seeing them pop.

I'm glad I'm not boring you, haha.

And I can see how it would get frustrating to work on this stuff eventually. For me at the moment, this is SUCH a welcome change of pace from grinding solo charm xp that I'm absolutely loving it. Crawling my way through a dungeon and seeing a new corner of the game that I've never seen before every step of the way while earning xp, potentially getting some loot, AND getting to check things off on this challenge? Wins all around.

Of course I've had exceptional luck with nameds so far in my SAC work... lol.

[Tecmos Deception]

Haven't had as good of luck this morning.

About 3 hours online and I've killed the two named PH in north (still not going to northmost room - don't want to fight a level 50 necro) 7 times between them. Managed to hat accidentally early on, then sold and banked but forgot to recharge, then stupidly stood next to a pather who was about to respawn when I KNEW he was about to respawn and aggrod a room and had to stun/mez/gate, was slow on killing hallway pathers and missed relulling them so I had 6 mobs + a pet all rooted in one of the named rooms while I was trying to get the PH killed and had to gate about after that too.

Then I got my first death since I started this, lol. I was omw back into HS and a goo and sperm were up when I came in (and only had ivu on). In the process of killing them, my pet pathed weird and brought down the pather from east. For a couple days it had been just a non-caster spectre or some kind, but a group that went into east earlier today killed it and it respawned as a helot skeleton. I managed to get him mezzed after 2 stun attempts and a few mez attempts, but he had already stuck ebolt and boil blood on me, so yeah. I died.

Got rezzed up by Stump (thank you!) and going to check North for nameds again before I call it good for now.

[Triangle]

Nice write up about HS North. I wasn't able to do things there until 59 and even then I could only do the 1 single room that is on the left before you round the corner.

Deaths were a regular in this challenge and I think all of us carried leatherfoot raider skullcaps. 180pp recharge is worth avoiding certain death in almost all cases, but it becomes an even bigger life saver if you are preventing your corpse from being stuck in a wing of HS.

[Splorf22]

Sure its always fun to read reports, especially with screenshots. The middle of the ramp in HS North is indeed safe. Also you can use camera angles to lull stuff by standing in the tapestries before the drop-down on all the wings. But as you found out the real key to HS in general is not getting spawned on and HTed.

All in all, nice kills. I don't blame you for not going after the Crypt Keeper; he isn't that bad personally but his room is extremely nasty and there are a lot of roamers and guards that are hard to see. In fact I think he is the only L50 mob on the disciple list.

[Tecmos Deception]

Originally Posted by Tecmos Deception [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[S] Sentient Bile [50 Warrior, HS North]

Again, the actual fight itself was much less harrowing and worth talking about than getting TO the fight!


I was up early (3 am here) because I couldn't sleep and figured I'd go play in HS for a couple hours before anyone else in the house is awake. No one has been in north, so I just lulled the one bile that I can't get to stay dead and IVU'd to the safe area. Saw the two true hallway pathers wander off and the one who goes in and out of the first room standing in the hall, so I figured I'd mez him and let it wear off and root as he got closer and start killing stuff.

Well to this point, that has worked great for me. But that's because there was no named spawned in the room right there. The trash won't aggro if I mez that pather at his stationary spot in hallway, but apparently the named will. http://s7.postimage.org/l1m2h0wjv/EQ000037.png

While being frantic because of this unexpected surprise (I didn't even realize a named could spawn in that room - I had only killed a couple mobs from it yesterday after I aggrod them on accident!), I let the mez wear off the skele down the hallway and ate a HT and some melee. And I got a pather add, which managed to deliver a nearly-fatal blow just as I stepped away from him after rooting: http://s17.postimage.org/5f06l31xb/EQ000038.png

I sat there for a minute, not realizing that I needed to "stand" to get up... lol. When I did get back up, I realized I didn't relish the prospect of dying back in here at the time, so I gated out.


Take two, I safely cleared the hallway pather (he proxy aggrod onto a pet I sent at him and didn't bring adds from the room along. Lucky timing/LoS I guess?) and room pathers, lulled bile room, petted a skele and brought them into hallway to fight: http://s11.postimage.org/lhlveo6yr/EQ000039.png

No charm break, no root breaks, no adds. My pet bit the dust with bile at 1% and I finished him off. Loot: http://s7.postimage.org/dzxbmb7pn/EQ000041.png

You may notice that I'm properly positioning my berserker spirit and rune 5 now. I just realized the higher buff is the one that takes damage first after seeing a log in this thread of "your bedlam fades" before rune dropped. Also figured I might as well bolster my mediocre intelligence for named fights just incase, and stuff. I'm also about to switch in a piece of hp gear to do you proud, Splorf! New charisma buff from 56 has me several points over max charisma [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]


I'm going to be out of town on a crappy laptop for the weekend, so I don't expect to be killing any more nameds for a couple days. But I'll be all-too-happy to regale you with my SAC warmup stories when I get back [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]