Hot on the heels of the prestigious Van Hemlock Game of the Year award, it is indeed, back to Guild Wars: Eye of the North, and a bumper session this New Year's Day in fact, which saw a number of things get done, many of which improved my faith in my own gaming abilities, and mood in general, given the shambolic failures of the previous session posted here.
First job of the night was the final sprint on my regular companion's attempt at Legendary Survivor, a frankly ridiculous title if you ask me, which entails getting 1,337,500 xp (Leet and a half...ah...I see what you did there!) without dying ever. The average monster kill gives about 30xp, and a decent quest pays 2500 but are rarely repeatable, so this is no trivial matter, and the whole permadeath aspect adds a shedload of stress to me just being near my Survivor friend, so I can only imagine what it must have been like for them. The character was a quite specialised Ranger/Monk, based heavily around Symbiosis and Mending for a good solid health bar, which must help, and has largely been grinding away on the other nights when I've been off in other games.
10kxp to go and we hit Drakkar Lake, opting to go for Signet of Captures to fill some of that final push. A successful Elite Skill Capture also gives you 2500xp and there are four bosses in the lake area. A quite hectic session, which saw only one panickey '/resign' (Which doesn't count toward the survivor title failure), our main problems coming from the ice lake itself, which is crawling with Dervish Djinn types, and slows movement massively. Two captures in and we're still short, but the ensuing tense monster scouring saw us reach, and meet the total. Bravo!
For reference, I have about 1.6 million xp on my main Mesmer, but have died about 850 times to get there, although wasn't specifically trying to survive. Despite my personal distaste for the stress that gameplay entails, I remain genuinely impressed with my friend's achievement.
This cements the title, meaning that further deaths from that point won't take it away, and there are no Survivor ranks beyond Legendary. Job done! It also causes a gamewide broadcast message, which saw my friend lost in a deluge of random congratulations from complete strangers via whispers. We were both surprised at how much other people care about such an achievement by a complete stranger. I know I don't tend to congratulate others when I see these messages broadcast, but then I am a bitter twisted old Mesmer, and such things simply aren't done!
This title achievement also had the effect of granting the Favor of the Gods to the world, which had previously been lost. This is the replacement mechanism to the Hall of Heroes Victory Region wins. Now, Favor is granted by PvE 'Legendary' title achievements, rather than PvP prowess, which is probably fairer, as the Underworld and Fissure of Woe - two hardcore endgame raiding type zones - are only accessible if the world has Favor, and both these places are PvE content, not PvP.
To celebrate, (and to get my Legendary Survivor Friend killed as repayment for all the previous stress), we decided to go to the Underworld for the first time ever, and I stumped up the 1,000gp entry fee to the Avatar of Grenth at the Temple of Ages.
More on that place another time I think, but as a preparatory recon scouting trip, it didn't go too badly. The place was full of L29 yard trash right from the word go, but we didn't do too badly with 2 players + 6 Heroes, and it was a network disconnect that put an end to my trip in the end, rather than -60%DP resignation. Some thought on a tailored team build needed there, but the whole place is not nearly as insurmountable as I was expecting, although having L28 yard trash as standard in many of the EoN overland zones does help prepare one for the kind of challenge found there. We didn't make my 1000gp back in loot, but I'm sure we'll be back.
We then went and got my Masters in the Grand Court of Sebelkeh Mission, previously missing from my first go through Nightfall. I'm now only missing two Masters from Nightfall, which will give me the Protector of Elona title. Completionist nonsense, but Elona is my Mesmer's home, afterall. A quick mission , win or lose, but requiring a lot of focused teamwork to get the rifts closed in the very short time allowed for Mastery. More details on that mission in my previous Guild Wars category.
We got that done just in time for the Wintersday Finale Event in Lion's Arch. More on that here, but I've never seen a more methodical conspiracy in a playbase than here. Basically, its a kind of ballot between the spirit of Dwayna, whose manifesto is 'Vote for me and there will be a Spring!' and the spirit of Grenth, on the 'Vote for me and Winter will last forever!' platform. This violates everything taught to me by psychics teachers, Patrick Moore and Dr Who, but frankly, I think UN Inspectors are needed here, as in the district we were in, to a man, every player voted for Dwayna. I'm not fussy, and we got a rather busy hat with flowers and candles on for our participation.
We then hopped across to Kamadan, in time for the delayed event to run again, only this time, to a man, everyone voted for Grenth. Very suspicious, but I'm not complaining, as this time we got a rather fetching ice-crown wig combo hat! It's all about the hats!
There were also lots of presents - openable boxes full of consumable sweets with buff effects and the like. This was all rather handy as it turned out, as our next job was Cyndr, again...
Last time's nightmarish boss monster was giving us troubles, and we prepared in a number of ways. Firstly, an enormous packed lunch for the trip! In addition to the various buff-foods from the preceding winter event, I raided my Xunlai Chest and came up with: Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Cookie, Candy Apple, Candy Corns, Skalefin Soup, three types of Candy Cane, a Powerstone of Courage, an Essence of Celerity, and an Armour of Salvation. Just missing a thermos of coffee, limp ham sandwiches and some pork pies.
I do this a lot - save these seasonal items, just in case they'll one day turn out to be useful, and then they sit there clogging up bank space indefinitely. Well, today was going to be that day, I decided. All of them have 10-30min buff effects when consumed, and my plan was Last Minute Picnic for Great Victory!
My other main preparation was having spent most of my Xmas gaming in GW learning what the Norn Blessing Elite skills are all about. More on that in the Build Masterclass section, below.
With an inventory overflowing with snackfood, we hit the dungeon once more, myself with a Volfen Blessing build, my friend with an Ursan Blessing build, three Beastmaster Rangers, one Interrupt Ranger (Zho) and two Healing Monks. An odd build, designed to bolster our numbers with hefty pet tanks, in addition to fairly powerful archer fire support. Getting to the Wurm was no bother, as expected, although I did managed to get trampled in the room where all the green zombies turn red at a once. Still, with this many 'Get out of DP Free' Candy Canes, it didn't bother me an awful lot.
Once outside the last boss room, we got the checked blanket out and stuffed our faces with junk food until there were two rows of half-hour buffs on most of the party, many of which probably didn't stack, but tasted great! Then we charged in to start the bomb dropping carapace game again.
I'm not quite sure what happened next, so hopped up on sugar in-game, and tension out-of-game, as I was, but as I watched, one bomb, two bomb, three bombs dropped, swiftly and without error, as we sprinted back and forth. The dreaded blobs of incendiary phlegm seemed not to be coming, or maybe we were just moving far too fast for him to hit. And then the carapace was gone and the first round of actual damage started. And, er, finished a few seconds later. The team composition was so powerful we managed to butcher the wurm in the first pass, before he could regenerate his carapace for a second round. Remarkable!
I put it down to the sheer brutality of the wolf and bear forms, and the four extra bodies, in the form of the Ranger pets (three black moas and a crocodile, as it happens), that we had all wailing away on the thing. If I had to pick one buff only, I'd say that the Essence of Celerity was the most useful in there - run-speed and skill recharge buff for the whole party for 30mins. You can get these by trading in surplus skill-points (of which I have about 80-odd now) at Rata Sum, although the story chain gives you one for free - save that.
Wurm defeated, we picked up the Hammer of the Great Dwarf we'd come in there for in the first place, looted the Dungeon Chest (I got a Diamond, rare crafting material) and found ourselves whisked back to King Jallis. He takes the Hammer and in a rousing address to his people does something mystical with it, turning him, and all his followers into some kind of sparkling living stone. That'll probably help with fire resistance, I'd imagine. The Great Dwarf himself doesn't appear, but instead seems to infuse all the dwarves with his spirit, making them all The Great Dwarf to some extent.
Meanwhile, our other allies all convene. Jora has found a whole five Norns for the final push, one more than she thinks we'll need. Oola and Vekk have got the G.O.L.E.M. system all pimped up and ready for even 'dumb bookahs' to use. Gwen reports that the Ebon Vanguard are on standby, ready for orders.
Looks like its down to us to finish this once and for all...
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I've tried to make this a series of Mesmer builds where possible, using a Mesmer Primary, and a Mesmer Elite, but despite my initial grumbling, I'm finding it increasingly hard to ignore the Norn PvE Elite skills. These are faction based, rather than profession based, and use your Norn Rank instead of a profession Attribute Score for power. There are three of these, and pretty much any player can use them well, regardless of profession, making them a useful alternative for some of the harder EoN stuff, for Mesmers and everyone else.
Saying all that, there are different ways to supplement these single Elite skills, using the remaining seven hotkeys. Here's what I bring along:
The Aspect of Beasts
Mesmer/Any
Inspiration 12 (+1 Masque), Fast Casting 12, Anything Else 3. Slayer of Giants (Norn Rank 4)
Requires: Eye of the North (Bear/Wolf/Raven #3, #4), Prophecies (#1,#2, #7), Factions (#5),
Equipment: In all cases, large amounts of +Health and +Armor are critical, especially if a Mesmer. Avoid any +Attribute runes, even the Minors, as these aren't needed and use a slot which could be used with a Vitae rune instead. A dedicated 'other' set of armour is useful if doing this a lot. A melee weapon is helpful here - even if you can't use it very well, as it forces you into melee range, which is needed to get the most out of the Blessings. A +Energy Focus is very helpful too.
When changing into a Bear, Wolf or Raven, Enchantments are removed, but Stances are not, so this should be a key factor in a build based on the Blessings. For the Mesmer, this means Inspiration. #1 - Physical Resistance, and #2 - Elemental Resistance offer improved AC at the cost of reduced AC vs it's opposite, so gauge which to use against which monsters. With an Inspiration of 13, these will last 82 seconds, which is well through the shape-change and into the first few fights. Don't try to use both at once. For more specific adversaries, these can be swapped out with any number of Inspiration Mantras - Flame, Frost, Lightning, and so on.
(Other professions should look to see what Stances you get. Most professions have something that qualifies, although Rangers and Warriors will do well here. Look for durations in particular - the longer the better, as once transformed you won't be able to reapply it until the rampage is over again.)
When changing back from the beast to yourself again, you'll do so with 0 Energy and have to scramble to fill up the energy bar again, so #5 - Ether Signet is an ideal choice to help kickstart the power bar. Its a signet, so needs 0 energy, and if your energy is below X, it will give you Y energy immediately, in my case, boosting me up to the 20 points mark right off the bat, allowing use of the rest of the skill bar right away.
(Other professions should also be thinking of crash jumpstart energy regain here. Signets are usually ideal for this, but in particular, look for signets that increase energy in some way to help make the rest of the bar reusable again asap. Failing that, just signets that cause damage or otherwise make you useful in your normal non-aspect role - healing for Monks, interrupts for Mesmers, and so on, letting you stay busy while the energy recharges itself naturally.)
#4 - "You Move Like A Dwarf" is a good Norn-based all rounder, Knockdown Interrupt, and Cripple too. Use this for pulling, just before you transform. Again, this one is profession independent. Any other condition causing skills would work just as well here, able to both pull, and give you a bit of a head start in the ensuing rampage. Use this, and then hit the Elite and start mauling!
The remainder of the bar is optional. I've gone with my already high Inspiration attribute. #6 - Leech Signet, an energy free interrupt, that is also extra energy gain if done right, making it a good back up for #5. #7 - Inspired Hex, removes and becomes a hex that was on you or teammates. The stealing bit isn't so useful, as we saw some weeks back, by the removal and energy gain are still both handy, even if you only have time to use it on yourself. #8 - Drain Enchantment - a personal favourite if I have high Inspiration anyway - self heal, energy gain and removes buffs from enemies.
(Other professions should be looking to build mini 'Business As Usual' combos with these three slots, since you won't be transformed all the time. Use skills from the attributes you already have high points in. You are only allowed 3 PvE skills in a bar at once, so pick and choose carefully if you want further Norn, Deldrimor, Asura or Ebon Vanguard Skills on board. Signet of Capture also counts as a PvE skill.)
With only a one point boost in Inspiration and nothing that must have high Fast Casting, anyone who can't find a decent Blessing Support build in their own primary can happily use the above build in an Any/Mesmer Secondary capacity with very little loss of effect on the Stances.
Primary profession attributes that help with energy gain or costs are all particularly useful here; Energy Storage (Elementalist), Soul Reaping (Necromancer), Leadership (Paragon), Expertise (Ranger), Mysticism (Dervish) and Critical Strikes (Assassin)
Which leaves the main event, #3 (Elite). This can be Ursan Blessing, Volfen Blessing or Raven Blessing, and all three work in a similar manner, but with slightly different purpose. All three fill your energy bar, and then slap a -2 energy degen on you. Energy is gained if you do damage, or have damage done to you, making the whole ride a bit of a frenzy, much like the Adrenaline mechanic, or WoW's Warrior or CoV's Brute. Wait too long between fights and the energy runs out and you revert to human again. Plan the pushes and rest stops accordingly.
Your skill bar is changed while in the transformed state and cannot be customised. None of the transformed skills actually use energy themselves, so spam away, but watch out for the background degen.
Ursan Blessing
Gained by this quest, this is very much a tank type role. Passive bonuses are Max Health and Armor.
#1 - Ursan Strike is the straight melee attack, hitting twice for a fair amount of armour ignoring damage. Note that you need to already be in melee range for it to hit, otherwise it just 'clicks' uselessly. For this reason, even casters should have a junk-sword in a spare weapon hot-slot, as this will then automatically bring you to the right range when you autoattack.
#2 - Ursan Rage - A potent 'Adjacent' AoE knockdown which does decent damage too.
#3 - Ursan Roar - An 'Earshot' shout that Weakens enemies and buffs allies damage. Very handy.
#4 - Ursan Force - A simple self speed boost. Note that is not a Stance, so cannot be removed by the enemy.
#5 - Totem of Man - The 'Off' switch. Using this will prematurely end the Blessing, giving you your basic skill bar back, and reducing your energy to 0, even if you had lots left. Use this pace your assault, as once out of Aspect form the Blessing skill itself has a fair recharge time before you can transform again, meaning that it can be advantageous to end the thing early to get that recharge period out of the way during quiet spots, helping you to have the shapechange ready when you next need it.
Volfen Blessing
Gained here, this is a much more fast-DPS oriented role, and my personal favourite for solo work. Passive bonuses are Max Health and Health Regen.
#1 - Volfen Claw - A very fast recharge melee attack which also causes Deep Wounds. Again, you'll need to get into melee range before using this. Avoiding using ranged weapons while in animal forms.
#2 - Volfen Pounce - A curious enchantment buff. When used, it gives you a run speed boost, and then the next enemy you move adjacent to triggers the adjacent AoE damage part. Eminently useable toe-to-toe, this also shines as a 'charging into the fray' type of move too - buff up with it prior to engaging.
#3 - Volfen Bloodlust - An adjacent allies shout, giving +33% attack speed. Very handy indeed, and almost continually spammable. Works extremely well in concert with Ursan Roar, above.
#4 - Volfen Agility - A self buff that causes all your Volfen skills to recharge 66%(!) faster. This is a huge boost, and makes the Volfen form so deadly. With this up, #1 and #3 become near-insta recast, and #2 speeds up noticeably. This also makes Volfen the easiest form to maintain, due the very fast attack speed keeping the energy topped up as long as there are enemies anywhere nearby to chew on. The Bear may do more solid damage per hit, but the Wolf hits far more often, largely due to this buff.
#5 - Totem of Man - as above.
Raven Blessing
Gained here, this is a much trickier blessing to use, and seems to function as a kind of assist ninja-debuffer, best used to dart in, lay down conditions, and get out. Passive bonuses are Max Health and Block Chance.
#1 - Raven Talons - The basic melee attack, it actually does no damage, instead applying the Bleeding and Crippled conditions to the enemy. This means no energy is gained for the hit, making the Raven form much more difficult to maintain than the other two.
#2 - Raven Swoop - A respectable straight adjacent AoE damage attack.
#3 - Raven Shriek - A Shout that removes Blindness from friends and causes it on foes.
#4 - Raven Flight - A Stance in which you become immune to knockdown.
#5 - Totem of Man - as above.
The three forms also interlock to some extent. You can only take one along, but with two friends, it is far more potent to take one of each, rather than three Ursan. In particular, the various shouts, all administered at the same time will end up with all of your melee types attacking faster, hitting harder and cured of any blindness that might be about, and fighting blind targets.
I'm not so sure about the Raven personally - it seems a bit feeble compared to the other two, but the extra conditions on demand may be helpful. Heroes cannot be equipped with these PvE skills, so its Players only for the actual Blessings. Aim to fill Hero and Henchmen slots with melee attackers where possible, (Warrior, Assassin, Dervish, Ranger Pets, Necromancer Minions) as they'll get the most out of the animal shouting. Supporting Mesmers would do well to bring Epidemic for condition spreading.
Part of the success of our Wurm run was definitely a Wolf Shout/Bear Shout overlap, allowing our four Ranger pets to become extremely powerful sources of damage, in addition to my own speedy Volfen flailing and my friend's powerful Ursan mauling.
Downsides to it all, whichever you choose, include a false sense of invulnerability. They're all so powerful that it becomes easy to forget that none of the above skills heal you at all, and you will still need the usual sizable Monk entourage, which will need looking after. The constant degeneration puts extra pressure on too, and can encourage sloppy play and over extension. Self-discipline is needed here - the ability to stop yourself, and resist 'just one more group', instead using Totem of Man often to slow down and dictate your own pace, rather than have it done for you. Its also tempting to become over-reliant on these altered shapes, which can take the edge of your more usual favourite and honed profession builds, particularly as the Norn rank continue to increase, making them even more and more powerful.
EoN does indeed provide a number of very stiff challenges, but as my cohort mentioned in comments previous, it does also provide the tools to help you overcome them.