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...
. This might help some of the hopeless pugs out there, too bad most of those pugs don't come here to read this. 
