User:Tennessee Ernie Ford/Shortcuts/Guide to chest running

Brain Fart
This material needs all the help it can get.
(I'm sure I meant something mo' better.)

OK to edit
You have permission to edit this page as long as you respect its intent. (I reserve the right to revert.)

Background[edit]

Running chests is one of the quickest ways to maximize titles for Treasure Hunter, Lucky and Unlucky, Wisdom, and to grab some nice upgrades you haven't been able to find in trade. ~~However, repeating the same task for hours gets dull.~~ This guide attempts to give players more choices about where to farm chests, a sense of the loot available for each, and to offer options to those who would like to maximize the efficiency.

General tips[edit]

The goal is getting to the greatest number of chests in the least amount of time; anything else is a distraction.

Always run

Don't stop for anything except to boost your speed or to protect/heal your character.
Reserve short speed boosts (e.g. Dash) for critical moments: breaking aggro, final stretch to chest, ...

Bring the right back-up team

Bring sturdy henchmen with skills that have little to no activation time or cooldown (e.g. warriors).
Flag h/h to take the first hits.
Bring heroes that can speed your progress and remove any snares (e.g. crippling or speed-reduction hexes).
Sacrifice party members so that you can reach the target chest(s) more easily.
Don't bring other players; adding extra players adds extra time, including waiting to open chests, resigning, loading instances.
If using heroes with speed buffs, note that you will likely have to micro using their skills to keep IMS buffs up at all times.

Bring the right equipment

Take the time to prepare an armor set specifically for the run: maximum AL, high health, specific resistances to local threats.
Bring 3-4 weapon sets: high defense, high health, high resistance, and/or energy boost.

Be prepared to minimize time in town

Keep a list of upgrades/weapon skins worth saving; have plenty of salvage kits handy (expert and perfect).
Consider using sweets to speed your time crossing outposts, especially if concurrently working towards that title.

~~=== Builds ===~~

~~==== Solo builds ====~~

~~These solo builds (from PvX) can be used for any of the runs.~~

* OgcScZMTDHpG/asS0kTQ3k0G (Can be any class with the ranger skills, used to run with monk, this is probably faster/fastest)

Hero builds[edit]

~~These are standard hero builds that can be used to help the chest runner reach the chests. They are useful in any of the runs unless otherwise noted.~~

* OQCiYyo8wj3x5YfsAAAAAAAA (usually two)

* OQkiUxm8wW2x+YuyRDvIAAAA (or a third para)

Cathedral of Flames[edit]

Summary[edit]

Chests: 1-2
Casual time: 2 minutes
Optimal time: 70 seconds
Cathedral of Flames quest, enter from Gron Fierceclaw

Threats & recommended skills[edit]

Threats: Wastrel's Worry, Cripple, Knockdown

Recommended skills: "I Am Unstoppable!", "Fall Back!", "Incoming!", "Charge!", Dash, other IMS skills, and any throw-away skills.

Tactics: Ensure at least 33% IMS the whole time.
- "Fall Back!" or "Incoming!" should be active at all times for healing.
- Flagging the party is also a good idea, because it will make it slightly easier to survive if they are taking the first hits.
- Expect to be body-blocked at times in the hall leading to the second room, consider using click to move to get out, and reflagging heroes.
- Charr Axemasters use Bull's Strike so be ready with an anti-KD.
- Crypt Ghouls use Hamstring, so either use "I am Unstoppable!" before contact, or after being crippled to prevent slowdown. Using a hero's "Charge!" will also remove the condition.
- Wastrel's Worry can be dealt with by using a throw-away skill besides Dash (so as not to outdo your party).
- Dash can be used as a last burst to the final chest, or as a way to catch up to your heroes and henchmen after the first chest.
- Expect some of your party to die every time.

Possible Team Build[edit]

Runner: OgcScZMTDHpG/asS0kTQ3k4k

Paragon Hero(x2): OQCiYyo8wj3x5YfsAAAAAAAA

Paragon or Warrior: OQGjUtmMqNsldsPmrgXEAAAAAA or OQkiUxm8wW2xcFfsAAAAAAAA

Add warrior and ranger henchmen for cannon fodder.

Other details[edit]

The green icon is the place you should stop, if you can see no chests from it. The circles joined by lines are the outer boundaries of possible chest spawns. The blue arrows represent good hero flagging locations to keep them in front of you.

Rewards include an average of 10 runes per 35 items, and somewhere between 20-40% rare drops. Results will vary. Some uncommon skins, such as Sephis Swords, Hawkeye Hammers, Equine Aegis, Pyrewood Staves, etc, have been acquired here. If inventory time is minimized, one can average better than a chest a minute over the aggregate.

(Begin temp template)