Wow, very impressive champion work the bunch of you... I was taking totally the wrong approach to soloing, trying to win dps races against bosses... The feats in these videos are truly amazing to me.
I just recently hit the level cap at 65, and all I really plan on doing in my limited playing time now is pug instances and raids, I still haven't done half of them... especially looking forward to watcher, DN, and some more runs in HoC. Do you guys have any traiting, gear, jewelry or LI recommendations for rad-gated PUG raiding? I like the idea of sticking on the heavy shield (got wall or resolute in my 1st ever GS run, along with axe-handlers boots, back in the day when it had a specific coin, awesome run, been downhill since) and traiting to survive wierd group make ups (i.e 4 DPS classes a warden and an RK yesterday...ouch) I can't afford the crafted malledhrim (can't use it becuase of rad-gate anyway...) and aureate/greenwood gear atm, but I'm already cooking away to raise some spending cash! Also sticking with Axe-handler helm over Whirlwind for the moment, need the medallions for other things...Thinking about a kind of intermediary set-up with raid armour, solo LI's and jewelry...not sure whether to go martial on traits? So what is the ultimate PUG set-up?
I have the +65 fate ear (http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Item:Orod-din) as a fate boost now, gives about 100 more ICMR over anything else I had, thinking I might stick to that along with the diamond stud when i get it .
Thanks so much for the videos Athelious, they have been enlightening! Look forward to reaching that next end-game and checking off some of the begginer list
Last edited by Sculpin; Aug 22 2010 at 02:35 PM.
Reason: Link
I do recommend sticking with the usual Champion builds even in pugs unless you know for a fact they are not very good players. If I do know they are bad I will just wait for another group. The champions role in the group is ultimate Aoe Damage and survivability for the group is having the champ kill his targets quickly. There are a few posts and threads on top champion builds I would highly recommend taking a browse over them. But for Solo fighting for sure the build stated in the videos are a great way to kill things solo. I actually have two complete sets of gear and jewellery. One for fellowing and one for solo. Groups may actually get upset if they see the gear stated in my solo vids when you join there group because you are reducing your damage and crit chance a bit. I would for sure hang on to the solo gear you have though as they are not easy to come by. I do not want to discourage you but I don't want to give you gear suggestions for fellowing when it is meant for Solo.
Good luck with your gear hunting
Thank you for the great comment as well
Thanks for the thought out response athelious. I'm definitely going to dedicate a vault bag to the solo gear. Off to look for a good thread discussing raid gear, set-up and tactics!
I actually have two complete sets of gear and jewellery. One for fellowing and one for solo.
Originally Posted by Sculpin
I'm definitely going to dedicate a vault bag to the solo gear. Off to look for a good thread discussing raid gear, set-up and tactics!
:3 I was pleased to find out that the gear I was using pretty much was identical to your (Athelious's) group set up, with the exception of my Aureate earrings for your Tolloch and... some other dropped one, I think. XD So I was on the right track there.
I now have 9 slots free in my bags, and I have back-up gear for every slot (except the boots, no Fate boots yet) plus a handful of extra clickies. @_@ If I didn't just run skirmishes all the time, dying would be expensive.
Great video! And the screen shot (still) at 4:56 is classic! NICE WORK!
Checked off some more on the list - troll area of Carn Dum (and Barashal), first boss of GS, Brullag from Sarnur (pretty tough, given the only ancient dwarf damage I had was much lower DPS rating, required a little kiting - which is much easier if you are fighting him around the crystal pillar and not the ground floor, btw), more DV repeat full pulls....
Two really hard ones, though, were first boss of SH (way too much kiting involved to be overly prooud of that one - I plan on doing it a little differently and hopefully much shorter) and Bregochel (Eregion shard dropper). Bregochel was nasty. It dealt lots of damage VERY quickly. Had to burn all cooldowns on that one - I suppose with Frost mitigation armour of some sort it would be easier, but I have none.
One more to add: the first boss in CD you encounter on the way to the trolls (or the upper level of Helchgam). Urro was his name. 36K, with 6 (I think) poisonous slaves. Not too hard, just one to add to Intermediate probably, or Beginner.
Found a sweet new one handed weapon for soloing this weekend! Crit, Brutal, AOE, plus Sprint duration, BF cooldown, and SD duration. No rend, but that's ok. I've got Sudden Defense legs on Rune and Weapon now - that should help a bit!
Oh, and GRATZ on BG first boss - nice work! So nice of him to spawn those 6 spirits after he was dead...
Finally finished my video series here is part 9. These encounters would be easier if I had second age weapon. I for sure will have them once the game is changed in september.
For what it's worth, I did Barrow-downs Survival for 33m39s, enough to complete the 30m deed. Not enough to "complete" the skirmish for the full hour, but with enough luck with LTs and being more attentive to my Herbalist, as well as beefing it up a bit and maybe focusing on some more defensive Personals, I bet it could be done.
Hey Bobion what kind of damage did you find you were taking the most of? Common or Shadow? That is a pretty impressive time for a champ.
Athelious
Didn't matter. The trick isn't in building your own defences, it's in building your Herbalist, and how quickly you can react to save it.
As long as your Herbalist is out and you don't get LTs that completely destroy you (ranged specifically, though you can live through some), all it boils down to is your ability to keep it from dying. Forest-born Reavers, Frigid Squalls and new adds make it tough, but it is possible if you're good.
If I were going to spec for any one specific damagetype, it'd probably be Common and Shadow, but I think getting picky like that is silly. It's more your skill to keep your Herbalist safe via Rising Ire and other aggro skills while keeping yourself alive, and above all, good LT luck.
I was able to get back in to the Delving Of Fror last night finally, and to my surprise I did not get jumped. I was able to take down 2 more bosses. I am only posting one fight for now which has already been posted by Silense, his name is Munglug the worm. You can fight him pretty well toe to toe if you get no adds. He could be defeated using no dire need or man heal if you prefer to kite.
Grats Athelious! Nice vid again! You are too funny - I noticed you hid UI elements when Munglug was on it's last leg to take a still shot, but popped back out to find your morale dangerously low at like 300! All for posterity, I supppose...
Guilty as charged radian. That was a close one for sure, I take screen shots in case I want to use them in the vid and that one almost cost me my life.
For what it's worth, I did Barrow-downs Survival for 33m39s, enough to complete the 30m deed. Not enough to "complete" the skirmish for the full hour, but with enough luck with LTs and being more attentive to my Herbalist, as well as beefing it up a bit and maybe focusing on some more defensive Personals, I bet it could be done.
Why no Hamstrings? Those guys down there aren't immune - or at least the one you're fighting isn't immune - like many other Elite Masters are, so why not? Give you some more ranged attacks and time for Bracing cooldown for sure. Those guys might even be vulnerable to stuns, unlike normal Elite Masters, I'm not sure. The mobs in the Delving are funny and tend to act differently. I think it's because they made a lot of changes to Elite Masters and etc., but Delving never really got a lot of attention.
Last edited by Feybobiam; Sep 02 2010 at 12:07 PM.
Bobion I would say you are one of the more observant players out there. This was the second time I had fought Malembor and I lagged out and died right at the end of the battle. The first time that I had battled Malembor I was using the hamstring technique and it does work. The only problem with that method for this guy is the extra attack of the hamstring gives him time to deal one of his special attacks and also hit you with that wound over time. I just couldn't clear the wounds fast enough and he ended up bleeding me out during that fight. I had to use a second dire need, even though I was getting more Bracing attacks in and a little extra damage. I found more success with a quick reverse direction and nailing him with the Rend when I am past him running already. I could somewhat keep up with his damage better and I was rarely stuck with wound pots on cooldown. He could only fit one attack in on me because of the quick exchange as well. The hamstring method may of worked better if the kiting range would have been a bit longer letting the cooldowns diminish. If I had my pots available I would toe to toe a little or if I seen my bracing attack was near I would sometimes stick it out toe to toe as well. I beleive this fight could have been completed without my single Dire Need use. I used it at 15k Approx and he was slowed at 13k Approx but I just did not want to take any small risks because it seems I can never get into the Delving or I get Ganked. He was slowed right after I used the Dire Need which would have given me the coolodown timers that I needed for Bracing Attack Ect. Who knows though I could have Died, that is why I used it.
I should maybe put this information on the youtube video.
I haven't been trying anything solo for a week and a half because I got sucked into the moors! Went in there to get rank three so I could get that nice Stonehelm Shield, but I'm having too much fun to leave! LOL
Athelious - how does your solo build work 1 v 1 PVP? Do you win or lose more fights? It obviously is much better for survival and getting out of a gank situation (jumped by 4 wargs), but simply 1 v 1 is the standard DPS build still bettter?
Also, I wanted to add three mini-bosses from Carn Dum (prob Beginner). They are the three merrevail overlooking Helchy. All with 24K morale. Bulgrukh; Zurtith; Tarbam
There is also Urro from CD - he's pretty much the first boss when you head downstairs, right outside the room with the hornblower platform. He has 4 (or was it 6) little adds so it could be Intermediate because I don't think you'd survive without some of the solo healing/mitigation gear without kiting.
Maybe this weekend I'll get back to some solo stuff if I could just stop PvMPing. :-)
Have been away for a few days sorry for the slow update. I do not play around in the moors too much maybe someone will hopefully post.
Sure thing ill add to the list the four that you had mentioned. I have one video to make that is from Bg since the game is still down. I was hoping to try and take down castellan Wisdan before the game started to update, but was out of town longer than I thought.
Seeing as F2P will make much of this list easier (increased morale pots, store-bought morale pots on separate CD timer, stat tomes, other changes), I can't wait to see what new accomplishments you add to the list, Athelious!
Personally, pre-F2P I was able to accomplish the following:
*All Beginners (except Gashan - never went looking for him)
*All Intermediates except CD bosses in the Castle and BG boss (got sidetracked out of Angmar for past couple weeks - dernital Moors!)
*All Very Difficult except SH 2nd Boss, Coldbear (never tried), Mazauk (um, where is he?) and Delving bosses (haven't even stepped foot in there yet)
*NONE of the Extremely Difficult
I tell you, it was a rush to solo flip an outpost in the Moors! Level 65 boss with 100K! NEVER would have thought it was possible a month ago. I thought the irony of the message was funny: "You have assisted in the capture of an outpost of the enemy." or something like that.
That Wintersebb Drake! WOAH! Sure it isn't Extremely Difficult? That was the most brutal DPS race I've seen so far. I think I died about 10 times over the past week or so, blowing all CDs each time. Also tried kiting (yah, not good with his nasty ranged attacks) and playing hide-and-seek around one of the rock pillars (got pretty good at it, but I think he reset about 7 times on me, 3 of which he was like 10K morale and I was close to full). Finally, it came down to two things: getting more crits than he did; and his doing LOTS of induction attacks. I think he did about 5 induction attacks when I finally out-dps'd him. ((All his induction attacks are directional, so you can dart through him the moment one starts and have a few seconds of free attacks from behind.))
Just curious, have other champs done the Extremely Difficult mobs and just not chimed in yet? I.E. Have other champs (or should I say how many other champs?) solo'd SH? (Pre F2P of course)
I have forgotten that the Wintersebb Drake may have been upped in level since I defeated him back when I was level 60. May have to revisit him. Mazauk is only present when certain areas are held by the freepeople can't remember which ones. I have tried a couple of the new drakes without the new healing pots and have come fairly close but not a done deal yet, my last attempt he was down to 9k. Those drakes do get some nasty crits for sure. I really do not want to use the new pots because I have a hard time paying actual cash for them I guess. I believe the giants will not be as hard because kiting can be used. I have aquired my first couple second ages which help alot except for a nice solo one hander. I want rend %, brutal, and crit mult and I would be super happy, Some day I guess.
I agree re: new healing pots. I have not bought any and plan not to, actually. In any case, once I get through most of the new content, hopefully get a 2nd age LI-- I plan on continuing with this list, without using the store bought pots.
That's interesting re: Wintersebb Drakes! Yes, it was by far the hardest I've done. Yikes! To think that moving from level 60 to 65 made them relatively harder-- I wonder if that's true. No real way to test though, I'm sure.
If you can beat that Wintersebb drake then you should have no problem taking down the Extreme challenges that I have posted so far. I went and played around with him real quick and he hits super hard now. I will need to make a new video. I think he could be beat with kiting around the rock and using no dire-need and man-heal but it would take a very long time. I was playing with him a bit and a good trick is to kite and come out with full fervour and stun with sound the attack then a rend or braced attack to follow. Standing toe to toe I do not think is an option. I was going to try with a shield but these type of fights where the hits are to hard are usually not possible with a shield. I will be bumping him to EXTREME!
Thanks for the update radian I did not realize he was an increased level.
Phew! That makes me feel better, cuz he was one tough nut!
I did try the kite around rock/horn/rend for a bit, but his dps kept outdoing mine, and I'd be forced to kite so long that he'd reset! I tried that like 10 times with him resetting, once when he was at about 5K. Also, assuming you were pulling the same drake I was (outside the southern enctance to Isendeep Mines), kiting around the smallish rock was tough because you were still taking constant damage from his fire aura, and kiting around the large rock was OK but one of the other mobs (either a Bear or a Troll) would aggro. Of course, this was pre-F2P, and if the Moors got the same changes as the rest of the game, then the aggro radius of the Bear/Troll would be reduced enough that you could squeeze by. Oh, and thank goodness the Drake is not aggro-linked with it's four Drakelings around it... otherwise that fight would be 5 v 1!
Good to know re: other Extremely Difficults... next big chunk of playing time I get, I'm heading back to Thangulhad and SH to slay me some trolls....
Have the new video and wow did I have problems. My melee jewellery would not fire at the start and my Shield didn't equip. I was fighting for awhile without noticing as well. Then at about 9k he punted me into another drake and I was going to finish without the man-heal but then had to burn it with the extra add. Hoping to complete the video today and ill post.
This thread has inspired me! I watched all the videos, re-traited and bought some new jewelry. I'm now killing more mobs a once than I was comfortable with. My first test was to fight two skirmish encounters at once..ended the fight with full morale and power! It's probably not as difficult as the stuff on the Beginner list, but it's a start.
Baraghir, Gletto, Haldhir and Spriddo on Windfola.
As soon as I can get the rep in Endewaith I am going to start to tackle some of the challenges in the new area. There are some very nice solo challenges that I can see so far. I may post a few intermediate that I can see just for fun. The pocket heavy shield combo will open up a trait spot for other than common damage solo challenges. Not sure what to replace innocence with since the combo gives a hefty 1500Melee defense. This would be a nice set for the pesky Fire & Shadow damage battles. There is also a nice parry-evade with 42 fate I am eyeing up as well. It is just too bad that the amount of rep quests are so limited.
Was able to get into the new area of endewaith and make a quick vid of a couple intermediate challenges. Bring some fire defence gear and a decent shield. The Gwiber and Gwiberling can be defeated without a shield but you will tend to use pots. Sound the attack is your best friend with these foes as well.
EDIT: Athelious, great vids, especially the Drake! I can't believe that you took on that add at the end too - excellent work! Funny thing is, pre-F2P, running around that rock would have aggro'd two of those drakelings for sure. It's quite dramatic the amount that they reduced the aggro radius for world mobs!
Some great news and some disappointing news....
Dissapointing first... The 3 trolls for Crushing Force have been nerfed! No more damage corruption at all... Not sure if this is WAI or bugged, but it made them much easier. I'd even say intermediate, as I didn't even have to use any cooldown skills at all, except that I started with Controlled Burn, of course. Besides that, they were pretty simple without the stacking damage corruptions. But at least I checked them off the list!
Great news! I successfully solo'd SH! It was pretty thrilling! Took me three tries, but by the third I had it down pretty well, with minimal kiting, etc. The keys to doing it were: knowing the boss scripts very well; burning down the adds before the bosses showed up (I actually tended to use my controlled burn for the adds and glory for the bosses); getting to 3rd boss (troll) with all your cooldowns (which is what you put in your video, Athelious); and then learning a good strat for the troll fight. For the troll, I got him down to about half health or so with fast DPS (controlled burn, 2 hander, dps rune, using cooldowns like dire need, invincible, elf parry skill, etc.). But then it came down to survivability - glory, shield, tanking rune, etc etc. As long as your morale/power is even or slightly more each time he runs back to the center, you are golden. I found that this was just barely doable, and used Sudden Defense, Sprint (for a bit of kiting/avoidance and regen), and the new +parry from Hedge in rotation to keep my morale up while of course throwing in all Bracing Attacks and morale pots when available. But once you get it down, your morale should keep building over time and his morale should keep dropping. BTW, I found that kiting the troll without sprint does not work against him, as he's just fast enough to keep up and eventually stun you and do more damage than you can regen/rebuild. It was exhiliarating watching him finally drop, though!
Thanks for expanding the list, Athelious... I noticed you got yourself a nice one-handed sword - your new 2nd age? Gratz!
And gratz, P1MEtalDave, on the two skirm encounters at once! I'll have to give it a try!
NOTE: Some of the destiny perks are quite nice, as I noticed the +morale, +power, +armour are all higher than they used to be (for same cost?) and now there is that +4% damage as well. I'm sure that all helped incrementally versus SH....
Last edited by Rhino-Man; Sep 20 2010 at 11:16 AM.
Thanks for the great comment toga. The songs used for the how to videos are from es posthumes (Makara) and the album Trailorhead: saga (immediate). You can actually purchase them from itunes as well.
Great job Radian! I can't believe the trolls are nerfed like that I hope it is just a bug because that sure shrinks the Extreme list. Once I get rep from endewaith I will hopefully down one of the new drakes almost got one down the other day but they are actually stronger then the Wintersebb drake so it will be very challenging.
Thanks for letting me know about the trolls I will leave them where they are for now but may just need to bump them down I guess in the future.
Defeated one of the giant bosses in Endewaith last night, sorry to say he won't be an extreme. His name is Brathach the one with the bear pet. It is also the last foe to defeat with my beloved spear. I was speaking with Optim last night about my new solo second age sword that is near perfection. It has crit mult, Brutal, and rend increased damage. I have sudden defence on my main weapon so I can use it as a utility during solo fights. Wild attack or AOE would have been nice but that is ok since a shield is always used with this weapon. All the other Lis were converted to stats because they will not be used on this weapon. It's a mad rush to get this one levelled. I will try and get the video completed as soon as i can find some music for it.
This video is not to exciting to watch because there is a great deal of kiting. He does hit fairly hard I would not recommend toe to toe unless invinvible or sudden defence is up.
May be adding another giant to the list but under the extreme section. His name is Tuisog from the enedwaith area. He has the fire reflect damage of 25% return. He is a very hard hitter plus the reflect damage can sure add up quickly. Not sure about the other two giants yet because they have alot of adds near them and not alot of room to kite them. You could clear the area but they would respawn fairly quickly. I sure am enjoying my new second age sword with the additional rend damage.
Completed a couple new extreme challenges. Tuisog the giant and Tantafod the drake both from Enedwaith. When I get some time hopefully will take down one of the other giants and the next drake. They will for sure be a challenge.
Had a great time battling in Enedwaith again. Was able to beat the two remaining giants and the second drake as well. It was kinda funny and my own fault for trying to solo something in the new area at a busy time. I was attempting the hardest Giant with the corruptions and had just pulled him and 3 or 4 peeps jumped right in so I took a step back and was gonna log to help keep my buffs and attempt him again. Instead I thought ill just take down the easier Giant with the random aggro. In the end I felt bad because that group wiped in about a minute or so. Then the giant came after ME! lol. So I ran out to let him reset and snuck back in. I pulled the easier giant and was doing very well and had him down to about 5k and in the background what do I see! another group coming! So I stop kiting and tried and burn him down as fast as I can to complete the video. It was too late the minnie had healed me and the giant was at about 3k. The one great thing about this game is the community. Everyone is always very helpful and at most times nice so I will never be upset for someone helping me. In the end I said it was ok and ill get him on a respawn. So for solo champs out there try not to get too upset when a group comes to help because it happens very often, I know first hand. It is better to be pro-active on this matter. Check the fellowing for any peeps in the area before an attempt, send out a message to the area that your attempting something solo to please not join the battle. The best of all is to attempt these fights when the server is least populated.
A quick note about the giant with corruptions he is really tough! He can hit you for 1900 damage with a single hit with all his corruptions up. Kiting is really not an option he will just burn you down. Your best option is too change out your block bracelets and ICMR earrings for major will and power for two bigger dire needs and go full out Feral strikes and hope the corruptions stay low using dual weapons. Once he gets to 9k you do have a little room to kite and change out a few pieces of jewellery back to B/P/E and put a shield back on. Using Rend you can now bleed him out and do not need to hamstring because he is already slowed. With only one attack needed he can only attempt one hit on you instead of two. Ill try and get the vids made ASAP. I find that I am having the tendancy to pull extra adds lately. I did it again with the giant vid and was going to burn down the add as part of the vid but the Giant boss respawned! so I had to run out again.
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Originally Posted by Kingtheo
:3 I was pleased to find out that the gear I was using pretty much was identical to your (Athelious's) group set up, with the exception of my Aureate earrings for your Tolloch and... some other dropped one, I think. XD So I was on the right track there.
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. Then at about 9k he punted me into another drake and I was going to finish without the man-heal but then had to burn it with the extra add
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