playing around with the whole 1hp idea, i developed this really fun terra build. here's the run-down:
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Equipment: 105 armor, Totem Axe (or equivalent), -50hp grim cesta
Atts:
Earth Magic-16 (12+3+1)
Energy Storage-9 (6+3)
Protection Prayers-11
Skills:
Protective Spirit
Life Sheath (E)
Balthazar's Spirit
Sliver Armor
Ward of Stability
<optional>
<optional>
<optional>
the three optional slots can be whatever aoe earth spells you choose. aftershock, tenai's crystals, and crystal wave is a pretty solid choice. eruption is nice to cause blindness, but usually causes one or two of them to scatter, making things a bit more complicated. another option is a running skill like storm/flame djinn's haste, as you will be running a lot. here's the run:
Step 1: Die. you need 1 hp for this to work or else life sheath will be gone in a heartbeat.
Step 2: apply the first three buffs (save the prot spirit and LS for just before you aggro). it is very important that you thow up prot spirit first followed by LS, otherwise the LS will trigger first and get removed very quickly.
Step 3: aggro one mob, wait for each of them to cast meteor, then recast your prot spirit and LS, then go aggro more.
Step 4: once you have a pretty nice group of hydras (usually 2-4 mobs is about right), throw up ward of stability. it is very important to time this correctly as the first mob you aggroed will probably be throwing meteors your way soon. one trick is to get just outside aggro range of your final mob, throw up the ward, aggro, then dive back in.
Step 5: start the casting. throw your prot spirit and LS back up again and apply sliver armor. chain cast your three damage skills followed by your buffs. depending on the damage skills you pick, you could get off some more attacks. usually 1 or 2 hydras will drop instantaneously from the sliver armor alone, and the damage skills will get the rest very close to dead. the ward will usually drop before the last two or three die, but this should be no problem provided you have done hydra runs before and know how to time your skills. finish off the stragglers with sliver armor and attack skills.
Step 6 (optional): here's where you get some variability, depending on how obsessive you are. you can take out single mobs of two or three fairly easily with this build (just don't use ward of stability and make sure you time things right--a little practice goes a long way with this). i personally prefer not to bother as it wastes time and just feels less profitable for the amount of time you're cranking into this.
Step 7: die. again. you will be back to 0 dp from one round of this guaranteed. and we just can't have that, now can we?
finish out the rest of the zone using this method. there are usually about 5-6 spots where you can pull a bunch of hydras together fairly easily. it takes some practice to get used to the timing of your buffs, but it becomes very easy and very fun. when getting used to it (assuming you have never done hydra runs before), you can pack meteor in one of your optional slots just to see when you are about to get meteored from the first hydra again.
hydra farming has never been the absolute most efficient farming method out there, but it is fairly consistent, as opposed to the get rich quick schemes *cough*colossal scimitars*cough*. depending on your luck, you could get around 5 golds in a run in addition to whatever locked chests you find. you will always get your lockpick money back just from the cash drops, so don't worry about that. on my first run, i got an elite ele tome (generally around 15k atm) plus, this run is fairly fast and simple compared to a lot of others where you can only aggro one mob at a time or gg. you are likely to already have everything that's required (except maybe life sheath, but it's an easy cap). and dying is always encouraged.
maybe if i get truly ambitious i will post some screenshots of clumped mob locations or some amazing drop i get.
Disclaimer: if someone has come up with this build before me and im just blowing hot air, i apologize. i looked and couldnt find one like this, so i figured id post it. again, let me know if this has been done before and i will shut up. also, any recommendations/tricks that you find would be appreciated.
one last thing: i have only tried this with hydras. hybrids of this build could probably be used for some easy melee mob farming like trolls, ettins, or the anvil rock/elona minos. with life sheath, you could even take on spellcasters that don't strip enchants or interrupt (although Glyph of Concentration could help there). remember, though, that you must have 1 hp for this to work to its full potential, so spots that have easily accessible rez shrines are best. if you find more spots for this build, please, do tell!
