Urgoz's Warren

[mura]

I don't know how favorable the crowd here will be to an elite mission, but we'll have 12 slots available. The standard build is like this:

3x Ranger/Monk
3x Elementalist/Mesmer
2x Monk/Mesmer
1x Ritualist/-
2x Necro/Mesmer
1x Mesmer/Elementalist

However, I'm sure variances can be made with the NF skill list. I also wouldn't worry too much about the specific attributes. But I'd like for you to share your thoughts and the like. I didn't have a guild good enough to do either of the elite missions. So I'd really like to do the Warren or the Deep.

3x Ranger/Monk
Wilderness Survival: 12+4
Expertise: 12+3
Beastmastery: 3

Spike Trap {elite}
Viper's Nest
Dust Trap
Flame Trap
Barbed Trap
Serpent's Quickness
Whirling Defense (or) Throw Dirt
Rebirth

This is a standard trapper's build. The three rangers are the leaders of the group. They determine pace and direction. In the runs we've done, all 3 rangers had Whirling Defense to help with pulling or trapping in battle. But Throw Dirt can be used. Place multiple traps in a bottleneck area before pulling. Corners, doorways, pillars, etc can all be bottlenecks. A good pull combined with a bottleneck can eliminate most, if not all, the enemies at once.



3x Elementalist/Mesmer
Fire Magic: 12+4
Energy Storage: 12+1

Fireball
Rodgort's Invocation
Breath of Fire
Firestorm
Meteor Shower
Arcane Echo
Glyph of Renewal (or) Elemental Attunement (or) Glyph of Energy {elite}
Fire Attunement

Again, standard nukers build. This is a flexible build depending on your tastes. But two skills that are extremely useful are Firestorm and Breath of Fire. Yes, I do realize they cause scatter, but hear me out. Some of the mobs in Urgoz's Warren are massive. Sometimes they are so large that if you AoE nuke them, they don't move simply because they're all stuck on each other. Couple that with Cripple/Knockdown traps and Meteor Shower and they can't get out. But that's not the reason why you bring Firestorm and Breath of Fire.

Firestorm and Breath of Fire are simply the best skills to use against stationary targets. Worms cannot move out of AoE. And if you've never seen Urgoz, I won't ruin it, but I will say that he cannot move either. Echo/Renewal Firestorm and Breath of Fire have more Damage per Second than Meteor Shower. So don't use Meteor Shower on stationary targets, it's just a waste of time and energy.



2x Monk/Mesmer
Healing Prayers: 12+4
Divine Favor: 8+1
Inspiration: 10

Ethereal Light
Heal Other
Infuse Health
Healing Breeze
Heal Party
Ether Signet
Mantra of Recall {elite}
Rebirth

A little more energy-heavy than a standard healing build, but you'll need it. Ethereal Light and Heal Other are the all-purpose heals of this build. Ethereal Light is self-targetable. Infuse Health should only be used as a saving heal, some enemies hit hard, and you don't have time for a 1 second cast. Be prepared to use Infuse on the pulling ranger.

Healing Breeze is for countering the degen from conditions/hexes. But it's also useful in the 2 areas of Urgoz where there is environmental -15 degen. I'll explain more later.

Heal Party is an absolute must for the monks. And if you need Heal Party, you need Mantra of Recall. You'll be spamming Heal Party occasionally. Especially at the end while fighting Urgoz himself. You won't be getting near any of you teammates, so Heal Party is the only way to heal them.



1x Ritualist/-
Communing: 12+4
Spawning Power: 12+1

Displacement
Earthbind
Shelter
Union
Ritual Lord {elite}
Boon of Creation
Feast of Souls
Flesh of My Flesh

The ritualist is one of the most important aspects of this build. Without the ritualist, the chances of you beating Urgoz are slim to none. Despite its importance, ritualist is one of the most repetitive parts of this build. All you do is keep spirits up constantly. And nothing better for spamming than Ritual Lord. This elite is a must for every ritualist. It will enable you to keep all the spirits up and alive. Use Boon of Creation for energy.

Keep Displacement, Shelter, and Union up at all times. Spread them out and behind the traps, as the enemy does use AoE spells, and you don't want all your spirits dead in one blow.

Out of the 4 spirits mentioned, Earthbind is the only one that isn't essential, but useful. With all the knockdowns from the trappers and elementalists, it's a great benefit.

Use Feast of Souls if the team starts to get too low, monks can only go so far.



2x Necro/Mesmer
Curses: 12+4
Soulreaping: 10+1
Blood Magic: 8+1

Arcane Echo
Spiteful Spirit/Feast of Corruption {elite}
Reckless Haste/Suffering
Mark of Pain/Desecrate Enchantments
Enfeeble (or) Enfeebling Blood
Blood Ritual
Consume Corpse
Rez Signet

These two Necros have different builds. The one with Spiteful Spirit also has Reckless and Mark of Pain. The Feast of Corruption necro has Suffering and Desecrate Enchantments.

Spiteful Spirit: Typical SS necro. Spread it around. Use Reckless Haste to make SS even more deadly. Mark of Pain is AoE too, but it works best if you cast it on an enemy before it encounters traps. Some of the traps are piercing damage, which work well with Mark of Pain. Use Blood Ritual on the Trappers and anyone else who needs it.

Feast of Corruption: Use Suffering as a group hex so Feast of Corruption works to it's full potential. Desecrate Enchantments for more AoE damage.

Use Enfeeble for enemies that are a danger to spellcasters. The melee enemies in Urgoz hit hard and use Wild Blow, so weakness is extremely helpful. Consume Corpse is used in only one spot, but I'll talk about that later.



1x Mesmer/Elementalist
Illusion Magic: 12+4
Fast Casting: 8+1
Inspiration Magic: 10+1

Power Return
Power Drain
Images of Remorse
Conjure Phantasm
Conjure Nightmare
Mantra of Persistence
Energy Drain {elite}
Glyph of Lesser Energy

An extremely powerful single-target degen mesmer. This is the spike aspect. If an enemy gets behind the rangers, quickly put degen on it and watch it die. Remorse is good to spam if you're bored, it does 55 damage if foe is attacking. The mesmer was never made with mobs in mind, this mesmer was born to kill Urgoz. When you get to Urgoz, keep the degen on him constantly. Remember that bosses have half-length hexes, so your 15 second Nightmare only lasts 7 seconds. Mantra of Persistance helps with this. Use Glyph of Lesser Energy before casting Nightmare, as 25 energy cost really hurts. Use Energy Drain and Power Drain for energy.

[Khunlin]

Well, our last (two?) Urgoz attempts were... horrifying. I can't stand that mission. Perhaps the Deep sometime, but the Warren was just an all around really mean, evil, and sickening place.

The Deep would certainly be my preference, but it's still a matter of getting together 12 people with enough time to do it ;D
I would, however, very much like to take on the Domain of Anguish when we get a few more people through the end of the game. Would that be a tolerable alternative for you, Mura? ;D

[Logo]

Urgoz drove me away from Guild Wars. I can't go back.

So far, the Nightfall PvE stuff is worlds better than Factions', so I'd focus on the Domain of Anguish, personally.

[mura]

Well, I personally wanted Urgoz because I have that bit of determination in me to finish it. I'd also like to get the longbow since all the other unique skins for longbows don't really please me the same way as the "bush."

The Deep sounds more horrible to me actually with all the Oni from what I read. I wouldn't mind Kanaxi's Axe either....but the Oni scare me far more than Urgoz, Dredge, and plants.

The Gate of Anguish requires a lot more prep work though. ~_~ To seriously get through it, you'd have to have at least a rank 7-8 lightbringer, and I don't really want to hunt demons for days for just that.

Plus, the greens don't really seem to be worth it. More and more are being discovered, so I guess you get a random number depending on party size. Which I guess it a box of 8 greens with each member getting one.

Plus, Mallyx sounds like a real devil in comparison to Kanaxi/Urgoz.

[Jupiter]

I trapped Urgoz when we went and enjoyed myself probably more so than the others. It was just a time factor, it is horribly slow (we went with only 2 trappers and that was before I had my complete trapping trappings ;D) and long and we tend not to get started on time. I don't function well after about midnight and that was the bulk of the time we spent in Urgoz. I also prefer the ranger greens over the warrior ones.
I think the Deep was more successful because we had a guide that warned us what to do and not do and a real person-in-the-group guide (on Vent!) is better than any write up. Do we still have that knowledge somewhere in the guild because I sure don't!
I want to poke around in the Domain of Anguish just to see what its like and not get all tied up if we don't make it all the way.
Anyway, main point of my rambling; been there done that and I would LOVE to do it again. Heck we've not even taken a balanced group to the UW yet.

[Kaiser]

I enjoyed both Urgoz and the Deep very much. If only we hadn't had those ISP problems, I might've been able to actually see the end of the Deep. I think I had the same problem in Urgoz, though that was my computer's fault, not the ISP. I didn't have to put up with the wearying aspects of these, since I wasn't able to finish them. So, now that I have made my computer more stable (3 months without a random lockup and counting!) I would like to give these another go. My only requests are that we start at a decent hour, and that any greens that drop be donated to the Kaiser-didn't-get-to-do-this-last-time fund.

[Delor]

Personally, I think that someday we must get revenge on Urgoz. Maybe not yet, but someday. Maybe after wintersday when we're all fully stocked on candy canes?

[mura]

I trapped Urgoz as well. It was actually my first "real" trapping experience. I had the skills, but I had never really put them into practice besides what I call the "great dwarf trapping" in which I attempted to solo the area right outside of Sorrow's Furnace. Many Stone Summit died, but I didn't get any greens nor could I kill Yakslapper.

Suffice it to say, I was quite freaked out at first when I saw the massive amounts of Dredge coming at me, but Urgoz is really not too bad. The monsters don't super kite like the oni, I imagine (assuming their AI patterns are similiar). The only problems were time. It was about 1:30 in the morning, and I was sitting in Urgoz while watching Eureka 7 on [adult swim]. I joined a group, and half were morons. The trappers consisted of no one with a staff besides me. One had a sword and ran off after a mob of Dredge. Generally speaking, the casters left because of that....and it eventually collapsed at the fourth room.

Since I heard the guild had already done The Deep, I guessed that no one would want to go back in with me. ^^; I'd like Kanaxi's Axe as a Luxon trophy, but I figured Urgoz would be more pleasing to others. However, it seems it's more to the nay side rather then the maybe.

It honestly seems more like there is a vested interest in the Gate of Anguish. If we go that route though, I hope we do some lightbringer rank farming first. >_> Because you can't really poke around much besides the outpost. Since you can't get through the mobs if you don't have a good lightbringer rank. I went in with all paragons with constant motivation and other healing chants on with level 2-5 lightbringers throughout the group. We couldn't get past the first mob.

As for a green, I think Kaiser deserves some. Candy canes? You'd go through them all fairly fast especially since the wintergreen ones only take of 15% DP. I'd only use them before the boss myself if we went that route.

[Jupiter]

I was reading the WBWay thread earlier and I did like the mention of B/Ping our way through Urgoz. I really think with the addition of some of those PVE skills we need to get back into some grand PvEing and hack through places that we haven't in a while.
Of course that requires lots of people interested so...?

[drumheller]

I would LOVE to do this, as I have yet to participate in this mission.

[mura]

If you were talking about Wailing Barrageway for Urgoz---I believe I addressed the counter. The heals are attack based, and Urgoz himself stops attacks. Plus the degen in rooms and such.

But if you're talking specifically about rangers with barrage + pets, MM, and at least 3 monks...

Might work.

[Liadan]

<.<

Count me in? Although only the necro's finished Factions, my ele's close to it, and I could, if required, get my Ranger ready fast-ish.

[Khunlin]

I'm up for it. Of course I don't have an Urgoz B/P build already. *Cough*. How pitiful a build freak do you think I am?
So, if we're gonna do it... I guess I'll have to go touch up my build make a build from scratch.

[Jupiter]

I might even monk for it...worked ok in the Deep, right?
Anyone have a scroll?

[mura]

Well, it depends on how many people we get to participate whether it's necessary to worry about the easy-to-get scrolls. >_> I see a potential of 5 of 12 thus far.