Elite Mission Event: A Guide To PuGs

(Note to mods: I’d prefer if this wasn’t moved to the Factions PvE section, since many people are unaware of the Elite Missions, which now are popular and more renowned due to the Elite Mission Event this weekend, and the General forums are the primary place to obtain information. Plus, this topic kinda explores the shortsightedness of PuGs.)

Elite Mission Event: A Guide To PuGs
-by Syria Blackblood (Zinger314 on Guru)

If you have a skilled, intelligent Guild and/or Alliance, this guide isn’t for you.

The Elite Missions of Cantha are Urgoz’s Warren and The Deep. These missions have an expanded party limit of 12 people, and consist of many surprises and tricks, which include pop-up enemies, global debuffs and clever exploitation of skills. The missions are normally accessed by a ferry of the Alliance who controls a Faction capital, who can take you to the Elite Mission (House zu Heltzer/Kurzick for Urgoz’s Warren, Cavalon/Luxon for The Deep)

The loot, of course, consist of rare weapon skins. These skins consist of, not only the famed Zodiac Weapons, but also: Wayward Wands, Staw Effigies, Ironwing Longbow/Flatbows, Dragoncrest Axes, Gavels of the Nephilim, Exalted Aegises, and Oni Blades, and the elusive Vertebreaker. There are chest throughout the Elite Mission, which have a chance at dropping a guranteed gold. Any purple or gold items which drop within the mission is guaranteed to have any of these skins. However, you are not guaranteed maximum stats or a low requirement. Therein lies the dilemma.

In addition, after you defeat the final boss of each Elite Mission (Urgoz for Urgoz’s Warren, Kanaxai for The Deep), he’ll drop 3 greens. Urgoz will drop a Shortbow, Flatbow, and a Longbow (All with 20/20 Sundering, +30 Fortitude, and unique skins) and Kanaxai will drop an Axe, a Sword, and a Hammer (All with 20/20 Sundering, +30 Fortitude, and unique skins). All these items sell for at least 70k+.

Due to the event this weekend, many players will be flooding the Elite Missions of Urgoz’s Warren and The Deep. An NPC will be placed in Kaineng Center, who grants access to the Elite Missions. Since Kaineng Center is often the first place Canthan-born characters reach lv. 20 and the general new popularization of rare and unique loot in the Elite Missions, many players, most often unskilled, will want to take their chances at rare and sexy loot.

Therein lies another dilemma. These missions are called “Elite” for good reason. What build is the most effective so that even bad players can score loot?

The answer: none

Henceforth, group composition is extremely important. You have 12 spots, you might as well make use of them all.

Like the 5 man SF and B/P Tombs groups before it, the Elite Mission PuG structure has a rigid selection, but since you have so many slots, you can be flexible.

It’s extremely important that you know your damn role. Warriors tank. Rangers trap. Warriors shouldn’t take along Eviserate. Rangers shouldn’t take along Barrage. I’ve seen it happen. It gets ugly.

The biggest violator is, of course, the W/Mo. Ask him if he has Mending; if he does, you know what to do.

The most widely accepted class roles for PuGs are as follows:

(DISCLAIMER: While the roles mentioned below are the easiest to manage in a PuG, they are not the only way to complete the Elite Mission. I recommend you try different builds in a guild/alliance group, but these roles are generally expected for PuGs)

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Warriors: Tank/Body Blocker. Many areas in the Elite Missions are close and confined, which gives you a great opportunity to body block. If a Thorn Wolf or an Oni of the Deep attacks the casters, you are in trouble. Gladiator’s Stance, of course, is a good Elite. Riposte/Deadly Riposte works well. Just realize that you are not in an Elite Mission to deal damage. Also, bring a Longbow for pulling.

Rangers: Trapper. Spike Trap, Barbed Trap, Flame Trap, Dust Trap. Simple. Set up a bunch of traps, have the Warrior pull, then let the fireworks explode. However, a group with more than one trapper will move at a very slow pace (often taking 1-2 hours more), but will often survive more easily. You should always be using a trapping staff (+10e staff with +5e Mod). If you are using a bow, you are doing something wrong. Trappers should also carry Edge of Extinction if possible, as it helps tremendously, especially against Urgoz.

Elementalists: Fire Nuker. Arcane Echo, Meteor Shower, Echo, Meteor Shower, Meteor Shower. What’s not to like? (Yes, you MUST have Meteor Shower, i.e. Prophecies) 3+ Meteor showers by multiple Elementalists will keep enemy mobs perpetually knocked down. Remember not to use DoT AoEs (Fire Storm, Searing Heat, etc.), as that will break the Warrior’s aggro and cause hell to ensue.

Necromancer: Battery or SS Nuker. Necros get a choice between two roles. See? We’re awesome. Batteries spam the Elite Blood is Power on all applicable casters (and occasionally Trappers). That’s it, really. Using Blood Renewal and Well of Blood can keep your health intact. A 20% Enchanting Staff can help. Toss in some healing like Heal Area/Karei’s Healing Circle if you get bored. SS Nukers have much shorter cooldowns than Fire Nukers, so it’s advisable to take at least one along. They are also incredibly effective against the end bosses. Necromancers should also bring Necrotic Transversal/Consume corpse for an event in Urgoz’s Warren. (PS: Unlike everywhere else in Factions, Minion Masters do not work because Minions don't do nearly enough overall damage that Fire Nukers/SS Nukers provide. Plus, corpses aren't as abundant as they are in the overworld...)


Monk: Heal Party/Prot: Monks get more flexibility than the other professions. Monks should use an Elite Heal and a few non-Elite heals. Monks should also use a few Prot spells, namely Protective Spirit (in-case the Ritualist disconnects) and Holy Veil. Also, every Monk MUST have Heal Party. Not only does it make more sense since you are a 12 man party, but because there are -8 and -15 degeneration rooms in the Elite Missions. Those are not fun without massive healing.

Mesmers: None. Mesmers aren't useless: Backfire and Cry of Frustration can be damaging to enemies. However, the PuG Mentality is that Mesmers are useless. It's been that way since the beginning of the game, sorry. PuGs have always tried the cookie-cutter build. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. You'll never see a group looking specificaly for a Mesmer.

Ritualist: Ritual Lord. My personal build of choice. Shelter is borderline overpowered in Elite Missions, since nearly every enemy will do more than 60 or so damage on normal hits. Obviously, Shelter/Union/Displacement spam with Boon of Creation is the name of the game. See my guide here for more info.

Assassin: None. I gurantee you’ll see a million of these. Not only are most PuG Assassins unskilled, they don’t have much of a use in the Elite Missions. The main strength of an Assassin is that they kill low AL/HP targets very quickly, however, since everything in the Elite mission is lv. 24-28, that situation rarely happens. Fire Nuker sustained DPS will always be greater than any DPS an Assassin can put out. Plus, Assassins put themselves at the front lines in order to deal damage, and that risks attracting aggro from Warriors and ending up as a corpse.

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Tips:

*All classes possible should bring Rebirth, especially for an event in The Deep.

*Voice Chat programs (Ventrilo, etc.) help, but aren’t required, especially for a PuG.

*Quiz your PuG for builds. Again, knowing the role is very important.

*For The Deep, several people should bring Inspired/Revealed Enchantment for the Kanaxai encounter (Usually Elementalists/SS Nukers)

*Pi is exactly 3.

*Read guides on the Elite missions first, especially the restrictions on the boss fights. Guides of Urgoz’s Warren and The Deep.

*Bring atleast 5 keys. You can buy keys from a Merchant at the outpost for 1500g (Faction alignment is irrelevant) or trade in 5 Equipment Requisitions/Luxon Totems at a Quartermaster.

Just make sure you have fun. Because PuGGing FoW is a cakewalk compared to PuGGing these missions...

Please rename this "Guide to Cookie-Cutter Groups"

Name a a non-cookie cutter group that a PuG could play.

(See? I told you it kinda explores the shortsightedness of PuGs!)

It was at this point your thread flat out disappointed me. So basically what your saying is ALL assassins are useless, I would go as far to say most PuG Warriors, Rangers and Elementalists are also unskilled, but hey you'll most likely disagree with me on that one.

Assassins in the right hands out do more DPS then any other class currently ingame.

Spike DPS, yes. Sustained, no. Assassins are good because they kill low AL/HP targets very quickly, however, since everything in the Elite mission is lv. 24-28, that situation rarely happens. Plus powerful AoE > Powerful single-target DPS anyday.

Plus, Assassins who go to the front lines are vulnerable to enemies. Which means, even with AoD or Recall, they stand a good chance at getting clobbered.

I've edited the OP so that it offends you a little less...

Wow, just wow. The OP needs to realize that there is more than one role for every profession. Assassins useless? Try crit-barrage. Warriors can only tank? High single-target DPS and the ability to stay alive to do it is not something to ignore. You recommend Meteor Shower and then forbid DoT AoE. Broad Head Arrow is amazing for those big caster bosses. E/Mos with Heal Party are way more reliable than a monk trying to use it AND negate damage spikes. Mesmers (just like BHA Rangers) work wonders on tough caster bosses. The list goes on...

I haven't been to any of the elite missions yet, so I can't really speak to the cookie-cutter necessity, but this made me do a dance in my chair:

You mean... no blind adds that if I accept I am immediate spammed from 3 members of the team, "eli, you mm???" :: throttles random person who seems to think all necros are MM ::

That will make me the happiest necro ever! :: dances down the hallway and runs into the wall ::

So fast, and already a very good guide to the Elite Event. Nice.
But about the Ritualists, as I am Ritualist myself. Wouldn't it be a good choice if you filled up the empty spaces you have left from only putting in Shelter/Union/Displacement/Boon of Creation and Ritual Lord with like Bloodsong/Dissonance/Shadowsong?

Right, just because you think mesmers suck in these missions, won't stop me from taking mine there and have a look. Then die, adapt my build to whatever I encountered, and go back in. I'm sure there are lots of ways and builds with which to do this, and it's about giving the not-so-elite people a good time as well.

I don't like Factions, and no items-for-free event will make me change my mind. Factions still suck big time, because of the lag it produces and the incredibly overpowered bosses it has. They made an very difficult chapter with some very weak characters (Assassin and Ritualist) to emphazise it.
GW can give all Faction items free, but I stay in Kryta!

Lol, this guide is so sad.

My guess is that teh OP ahs only played as 1-2 of teh games classes and based the rest of the classes on what they have seen in pugs.

Case and point I have beaten this mission several times with my ele, I do not echo nuke but I still lay waste to groups from the skill combo I use.

and the fact the guide says mesmers are useless is so laughable

Christ, 12 slots and not an once of disruption.

That's weak.

So your Writing a guide to help with PUG Ignorance, yet showing one of the most common examples of the same ignorance yourself? *Roll Eyes*


I'll pickup where you Screwed up:


Mesmer: a good Build for these areas is the

Fevered Dreams> Phantom Pain > Shatter Delusions Combo
So Now you have AoE Deep Wound (Worth its Weight in gold already)

Now you can go Either /N to use Enfeeble, Rotting Flesh, Or Go /R and use Pin Down and Apply Poison

(Allowing AoE Deep wound, Weakness and Disease , Or Deep wound Cripple and Poison)

And in your Spare Slot Bring a Utility Skill, Inspired Enchant is Very Useful in the Deep


This is just one Build, theres Plenty more Viable Builds for the Elite Missions



Which Reminds me , You forgot to tell them to bring an Enchant Ripper for the deep!, Kanaxi Becomes a MONSTER to take down without an enchant ripper (Inspired Enchant will instantly recharve VS him)

can ypu post the buidl for the deep urgoz is to long

does this mean i get 2 drops from chests rather than one and does kanaxai drop 6 items not 3

/offtopic. Actually I remember you having lag problems in Prophesies too. But that doesn't take away that several (not a majority) of people have more lag problems in Factions (I experience a bit more lag but none to worrying) in it. However, this topic is about a guide to PUGs in the deep, not about how factions does or does not suck.

/ontopic: Warriors, riposte and deadly riposte? How about hammer knockdown warriors?

Mesmers: only good 1 vs 1? very sorry for your bad experiences with mesmers, but most mesmers I know are good al round and use the tab button the most out of anybody in the party.

It's still nice to see a guide how to deal with PUGs, even though I don't like most of the content in it . This might help some of the hopeless pugs out there, too bad most of those pugs don't come here to read this.

qft

Hands down, the worst "guide" i've seen in a long time. The only way to not totally bash and flame it is to accept it as ironic and sarcastic. Which i really hope it is meant as.

thank you for the guide, it gives me an outline on what to expect once i am there

I'm sorry...mesmers are only good for 1v1? (have you even played a mesmer? O.o) and assassins have no place here? sorta asking to get flamed.

Back to topic... a very bad one it seems.

The OP has probably never ever completed the deep, I fail to see mandetory enchant removal in the builds.

FYI a mesmer can nuke as good as an ele, an ele cant mesmerize like a mesmer.

you're being extremely narrow-minded about possible builds for the elite missions and if you've spent any time down in Urgoz recently you'll know that there are barrage-pet groups there and so rangers CAN bring barrage and their pets.

the biggest problem with W/Mo is not the use of mending, it's luring and not luring them far back enough in trap groups or using skills that they shouldn't eg fighting on front line and using heal sig

minion masters do work, they're wanted in the barrage-pet teams for Urgoz, just like your description for warrior, they are there to bodyblock not to deal damage.

as for mesmers and assassins they can join in; my guild once did a deep run (half guild, half PUG) with a mesmer and we did fine, no complaints either. had an W/A in a Deep run and he was great at distracting mobs away from us.

there is 1 v 1 when you're tackling the healers/rits in the mobs

you also forgot the most important advice, if you don't know, just ask, who cares if you get called a first timer because you are one. if they do call you names, you know it's a bad group

no. fast casting has its uses, but to be a nuker? no. lower energy pool and low elemental stats make that not possible, just like you can't mm with a /n

Tell that to Rit/Ns

Or a Dual Attunement Me/E

Lets try a mesmer dominated party with a few assassins up front, tonight anyone eh?

Nah, but really now... Its all a matter of knowing your skills (regardless of class) and a good deal of teamwork.

they can have all the fun they want with ele attun being based on energy storage now

fast casting does nothing If you have a low energy pool combind with exaustion, and dnt tell my glyph cause now thats 3 skills to be casted before they use 1 skill.

you may be able to cast ele magic, but thats not nuking, you need to cast it alot, and have it do alot of damage

Thanks for the build suggestion, I'll be sure to give it a try this weekend.

To the OP: Maybe you should have consulted a Mesmer before making such an ignorant comment about the class.

Play a mesmer nuker to find out yourself....but don't asume things you haven't tried.

If the monsters are combo knockdowned a nuke is working, the mesmer will need more mana management then an ele, but as it casts quicker its about the same in the long run. Last run on the deep our ele had an error and the nuking mesmer was able to keep the nukes up. We also started in the kockdown room (room 3), a tank, nuking mesmer and monk. We cleared the room just as fast as room 4, which had a tank, nuking ele and monk. Normally room 4 clears earlier then room 3.

Quite Right^^ and here is why:

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s....php?t=3044072

This is why Mesmer's are so underapreciated, it's because ignorant people like the OP are too scared to try them, most obviously because the Mesmer is a threat, or you have never played one.

This thread is an insult, it is because the elite missions are 12 partied that it is entirely possible to take more than 2 different particular builds. Lack of creativity and distinct game planning is what lead casual gamers to believe that this game is so boring. And why there are people who continuously believe "If you can't do it this way, it's impossible".

A moderator or a major contributor would have done a better job making this thread, not some member...I second that.

So mesmers lose 30 seconds on their elemental attunement duration, they can still be nukers, they can't do as much damage as elementalists, but they can recover energy much faster than they can.

Stop criticising the OP about his comments regarding certain professions. I've played Elite plenty of times and thats what the PuGs are doing, they dont want mesmers and they dont want Assasins, you can go there and not be invited for a play and then you will whine you were misguided. This is a guide and is based on what is happening on the ground. Sure you can take assasins or mesmers, but just another e/mo will be better. Everything has its place.

This is the standard, yes there are other possibilities, but people are used to this, why dont assasins and mesmers whine about ToPK/ there also there is pretty much standard barrage build. SF is the same. Mesmer is more of a PvP God imo.

I have tried, and the thing is, its nowhere near as good, you can make any combo you want in guild wars, but unless basicly you are playing a monk to use ele skills, when you can just use an ele that will do better damage, have better energy managemant and can still have enoug left over to use 1-2 mesmer skills wiht enough put in a stat. nuking faster does nothing if you have to wait for energy and dont do as much damage, thast not nukeing thats just doing fire damage.

and knock down isnt a sign of a good nuke, its the sign of a knockdown.

You can't make the comment that certain builds would be better if the only builds you have tried are the ones listed by the OP.

And of course Mesmer is a PvP God, that's just a giveaway^^

Ugh, the trapper build of the 1st post is definitely not what would need for the elite missions - that's the build for dual UW trapping -_-'

Your trapper build has no spammability, which makes it useless there.

2 trappers builds suit the elite missions:

Oath Shot trapping:

Oath Shot
<3 traps>
Whirling Defense
Troll (since you have 16Ws, don't forget the 10 arrows regen )
<whatever you like>
Rez

And:

Martyr Trapping

Serpents Quickness
<3 traps>
Throw Dirt
Troll
Martyr
Rez

(no defensive stance, which means you gotta be really experienced to do that - a good trapper can drop 3/4 traps without being interupted, but that's not in the Deep you'll learn how to do that so if you're not used to it, go oath shot trapping - but Martyr is a must have in the Deep for your blinded warriors or your bleeding team)

And on a side-note, rangers are not good only as trappers there...

So, will I be able to take henches into the elite missions? No? Well, then I guess you guys can keep them. Never done an elite mission, most likely never will.

Guys, let's try to stay on topic discussing the OP's "guide" and the Elite Missions. If people get into flame wars and stray too far off topic, the mods are just going to close this thread.

While many of you may not agree with the OP, let's try to be constructive and provide alternatives (as several people already have). Just slamming the OP, as well as each other, accomplishes nothing.

Trapper must bring EOE, very important!

to all those "ZOMG MESMERS ARE NOT USELESS" whiners
OP just listed builds (or rather professions) currently required by PuGs. Like it or not, thats the way it is.
Can you do it some other way? Sure you can, but you need a group that accomodates your other role. Asking that from PuG is retarded.
PuG work only when everyone knows their simple (cookie-cutter?) predefined role and does it w/o anyone giving him orders to do so. All OP said is "well, here is the list of those roles", and the rest is made up by I-CAN-HEAL-AND-NUKE-WITH-MY-ASSASIN forum trolls.
People like you made me give up on leading PuGs, because you always want to look sooo very different and claim to be sooo very experienced, but in the end all you get is one completely disfunctional group.

Great thread... so most Asn are unskilled, Me are good only for 1vs1, R/N/Me can't find a PuG for FoW&UW... and if you find that all that is ***censored*** then you're a whiner

It's a nightmare and I'll soon wake up...

This is going to be a nightmare...

Mesmers sure as hell ain't useless. I play warrior most of the time and i get owned by mesmers the most cause by the time i get through the wall of warriors and such infront of me the mes has degened me so badly it's pointless to try and chase them down to kill them. Secondly Assassins are very useful when played correctly. they are very useful to take out the healers of the enemies. quick lesson: warriors get aggro, assassin shadow steps to enemy monk, kill it with a nice degen/damage combo, shadow step out. sure not all assassins play that way seeing as the critical barrager build is the order of the day most times but when used correctly a assassin can ruin any other proffessions day. so you can go with your Mes, Sin not useful rant. good luck with the rest of the game.