User:Bcstingg/Shards of Orr

= Shards of Orr = There seem to be a lot of complaints about the difficulty of this dungeon on forums and the wiki. This isn't surprising, considering that you can't go into this dungeon using builds and strategies that work well elsewhere and expect to survive. I also haven't managed to find hero/hench build that will allow you to simply flag them near something and have them kill it. This works most other places, but everything I try here is killed on the first group. The player definitely makes a difference here. I had a lot of difficulty the first time through this dungeon. Here are some tips that should help.

General Tips

 * A tank makes things easier. A lot easier. Having 5 Eruptions focused on one player is a lot easier to deal with than having them spread around the entire party. Tanks have fallen out of favor for the majority of the game; as skills have become more powerful, they're no longer really necessary for the majority of PvE. That isn't the case here. Based on my experiences with trying and failing to find a "set it and forget it" hero/hench build that requires no participation from me (which works fine in many, many other places), I'd probably go so far as to say a tank is required here.
 * If you don't bring a tank, snare. The Skeleton Wizards like to run up to various players to use Shock, and before you know it they're all over the place and you have to take them out one by one. Deep Freeze is an excellent choice for any elementalist because its duration is unaffected by your investment in Water Magic. Grasping Earth is a great choice for tanks because of its 5e cost and long duration even at low levels of Earth Magic.
 * Good condition removal is required. Cautery Signet is an excellent choice considering that Disease is one of the conditions encountered. Martyr is a good choice if combined with Purge Conditions to remove the disease quickly. Restore Condition is also a good choice because of its fast recharge.
 * Bring holy damage. Smiting monks are good; Dervishes are better. A single Dervish with some skills that deal holy damage upon activation (Heart of Holy Flame, Zealous Renewal, Balthazar's Rage, Eternal Aura) can wipe out the majority of a group by simply activating these spells. However, heroes are not good at using this tactic. Although most dervish skills that deal holy damage are in the Mysticism line, secondary Dervishes can acquire and effectively use Eternal Aura, which will do 160 AoE damage against undead every 30 seconds at a Sunspear rank of 7. Light of Deldrimor is also a good choice.
 * Wait to recharge between fights. Wait for all key skills to recharge for everyone, and wait for everyone's energy to regenerate. This is not always necessary in other areas, but moving to the next group too quickly here will lead to your death.
 * Pull. In the rest of the game, you can usually aggro a nearby group accidentally and still survive. If you aggro more than one group here, you will die, even with a good team build.
 * If your build depends on hexes, bring a few AoE hexes. If you only bring a handful of hexes and no AoE hexes, they'll be removed with Smite Hex. Bring a long-lasting AoE hex like Suffering to keep them busy and help your important hexes get through.

Builds
Here's something I'm currently working on. This is a work in progress, not a guarantee of success.

Me (Assassin/Elementalist) 12 Earth Magic Totem Axe + Earth Scroll

Assassins don't have great options here. They need gimmicks. Also, I need to be a tank. The henchies need a tank to hold aggro. Stoneflesh Aura, "I Am Unstoppable!", and Grasping Earth allow me to perform that function, and the PBAoE spells I'm carrying do plenty of damage. Grasping Earth is cheap and long-lasting, and can easily hold most foes to "nearby" if not "adjacent" range in time for Shockwave.


 * Wait for enemies to bunch up. Cast Stoneflesh Aura. Activate Death's Charge, activate "I Am Unstoppable!" on the way there.
 * Snare with Grasping Earth so your smiters can get to work.
 * Hit Shockwave, Light of Deldrimor, and Crystal Wave to help out.
 * Protect yourself. You're out of energy, but most of the group is dead, and the henchies can clean up from here even without your help.

This would work better as an E/A for more energy. But I'm not playing an E/A, I'm playing an Assassin primary, and I'm still trying to figure out what else my primary profession might be able to add here.

Hero 1&2 (Monk/Mesmer) 14 Smiting, 13 Divine Favor, 3 Inspiration

Why Scourge Enchantment? Because other than Zealous Benediction, the only way the enemy monks heal is with Enchantments. And they'll be so busy trying to get Grasping Earth off of their allies, they probably won't hit Scourge Enchantment with Smite Hex. So every time they try to heal the massive damage, they'll take more damage themselves.

Hero 3 (Mesmer/Paragon) 11 Fast Casting, 13 Illusion, 10 Inspiration

With Mantra of Inscriptions and Symbolic Celerity, Cautery Signet becomes the best choice for condition removal here. Faster than Martyr, and eliminates disease before it has a chance to transfer back to anyone. You'll need good hex removal when facing the Illusionists. With Mantra of Inscriptions, Hex Eater Signet is one of the best hex removal skills for henchmen and heroes, who tend to be near each other. Things are noticeably easier when I bring this hero along.