Hey guys. I'm trying to vanquish Cantha using heroes and henchmen, and I've so far cleared 7 areas out of 33. I've been having some difficulty in the Lagoon because of the spirit rift spamming bone collectors and the naga rit boss...
Anyway, I switch my heroes around depending on the party size or situation, but are there some general tips that may come in handy? If there's a build I need I haven't gotten yet, please let me know.
I have SS/SV necro builds, ranger interrupter, Monk LoD/SoR, warrior damage/disrupt, necro MM, SF ele's.
Vanquishing Tips When Using Henchmen?
Government Flu
Benster
A Broad Head Arrow Ranger should shut down the spirit rifts pretty well. Magrid or Jin. You can get the skill really easily in normal mode by heading due south from the outpost where you can access underworld and FoW (I forget the name). Pair that with an MM and a monk for your heroes. Then whichever hench seem to work best.
Fionn Falaich
I'm sure there are more efficient ways to do it, but I found that Razah (Shelter) was the key to clearing the area for me. I ran an air ele Blinding Surge build, with MoW as SS necro, Norgu as a dom mesmer (esp. Backfire and Power Block), and of coruse Razah as Rit Lord (esp. Shelter), with Sister Tai and Talon the annoying warrior hench. Head straight to the Rit boss - he should be the only real issue. Flag your team somewhat apart to avoid quick party wipes from the rifts. I still had one or two full or near-full party wipes at the Rit boss (which is why I say there are surely better team builds, but meh, this one worked for me - I ran it as a test and it took out both bosses, so I stuck with it till the end
). I took out the supporting cast first, starting with the bone collector (it's a bad thing to have simultaneous spirit rifts coming at you...), then the ele, then the rest. I saved the boss for last - he has a decent self-heal, but went down rather easily without his cohorts taking out the team in the meantime. Did I mention Shelter is key here?
After finishing that boss, it was just a matter of working off any party DP against the lesser mobs and then taking out the other boss in the camp when ready. Most of his camp can be lured away and taken out separately. If his mob still has too many healers, rits, or eles, I found that they usually can be strung out and eventually lured away 1 or 2 at a time until his mob is manageable. As for the random bone collectors on patrol, as long as Shelter is up, they shouldn't be an issue at all, even if some of your team has significant DP. They'll be lucky to get off a second spirit rift.
Hope it helps and good luck.
After finishing that boss, it was just a matter of working off any party DP against the lesser mobs and then taking out the other boss in the camp when ready. Most of his camp can be lured away and taken out separately. If his mob still has too many healers, rits, or eles, I found that they usually can be strung out and eventually lured away 1 or 2 at a time until his mob is manageable. As for the random bone collectors on patrol, as long as Shelter is up, they shouldn't be an issue at all, even if some of your team has significant DP. They'll be lucky to get off a second spirit rift.
Hope it helps and good luck.
Government Flu
Thanks for the tips guys. I'll have to PvP a lot to get my ritualist skills up to par though because that's one of the professions I don't even have a single good build for.
I tried using LoD Dunkoro with two SF ele's and the monk/warrior henchmen. It was going extremely well...light of deliverance countered spirit rifts from the bone collectors very nicely but after killing 177 enemies, well...I had just the boss left.
And he wiped me out, time and time again. Just that one ritualist. Unbelievable. So I'll have to try some other time.
I tried using LoD Dunkoro with two SF ele's and the monk/warrior henchmen. It was going extremely well...light of deliverance countered spirit rifts from the bone collectors very nicely but after killing 177 enemies, well...I had just the boss left.
And he wiped me out, time and time again. Just that one ritualist. Unbelievable. So I'll have to try some other time.
Stig Figger
The exact same thing happened to me Gov. I kept charging in to try and spike that party down and forgot to take a candy cane for myself before it was too late. I concur with the general skill tips you follow and have been provided so far. I also use [skill]Enfeebling Blood[/skill] in a Necro build to weaken the melee attackers.
Specifically for this group, with good timing you can use a longbow pull a couple warriors away first to ease the pressure on you. Then, probably the best advice to survive HM Rit and Ele foes is positioning, and interrupting (or 'cause spells to fail', like with [skill]Guilt[/skill]). Since flagging is so tedious it really helps to have a human partner with you so at least the two clumps of your party can stay separate.
Specifically for this group, with good timing you can use a longbow pull a couple warriors away first to ease the pressure on you. Then, probably the best advice to survive HM Rit and Ele foes is positioning, and interrupting (or 'cause spells to fail', like with [skill]Guilt[/skill]). Since flagging is so tedious it really helps to have a human partner with you so at least the two clumps of your party can stay separate.
Zeph
Just take one hero monk setup as a protection bonder with Life barrier. That will save you getting spiked. I used a SS build on myself, a SF fire ele hero and a MM hero. For the other 2 team places I used a healer and spirit hench.
I've just cleared the area first time like this.
I've just cleared the area first time like this.