HM Snowmen Farm?

Nimrod EX

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

Jew Land

W/Mo

well...the obsi build is the one i posted at the beggining of the thread, and shadow form thingy gives you 20 seconds to kill them all or you're dead. well...thanks anyway...i allready knew these builds...basically i opened this thread so that someone could TEST them for me (cause im not gonna be there with an elementalist any time soon).

Hott Bill

Hott Bill

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2007

Shards of a Broken Crown

R/

snowmen on NM are crazy enough, but HM is like snowmen on speed

holababe

holababe

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2006

Goon Squad [LLJK]

Mo/

I still stand by my claim that 2 monks + 6 SF/MS eles are enough to clear it.

Hott Bill

Hott Bill

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2007

Shards of a Broken Crown

R/

I've ran a splinter group couple of times in there. 6 R/rt's 2 Monks (1 Channeling LoD) (1 ZB or SoD Prot)

sentinel tank

sentinel tank

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jul 2006

thribble and reds terminators [TART]

W/

i soloed it 2 also in about 50 mins and i used the skills:
Mantra of earth, stone striker, stoneflesh, glyph of swiftness, obsidian flesh, sliver armor, crystal wave and stone daggers

it was very easy, just look out for the misschievous snowmen they daze you, but you can kill the 2 after the first 2 groups and one later just by first killing him

spun ducky

spun ducky

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Nov 2005

WTB: q8 bows

R/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by holababe
I still stand by my claim that 2 monks + 6 SF/MS eles are enough to clear it. That is enough to clear it but i personally think the r/rt tank makes it quicker.

Dark Paladin X

Dark Paladin X

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2007

A/

Well I think the only reason I could farm this dungeon is the exclusive wintersday items at the end chest, that's it.

Aum

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jul 2007

EOE is good if you are just going for delver points in either mode.

Nimrod EX

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

Jew Land

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Paladin X
Well I think the only reason I could farm this dungeon is the exclusive wintersday items at the end chest, that's it.
argh! why are people so short sighted sometimes?! i've said this once, and i've said it a million times:

this is the only place in all of guildwars with 170 level 24 monsters in such a tiny cooped up space, that come in mobs of 10 at a time!!!! they drop golds YES they drop lockpicks? YES they drop black dyes? YES!!! this can be one of the best mass aggro farming ever if done correctly! level 24 in mobs of 10 and in such a tiny spot!!! so what if theyr'e SNOWMEN?
plus theres the awesome reputation bonuses!

Nimrod EX

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

Jew Land

W/Mo

bump and a message :P

so to all the people who have succesfully obsi farmed this location, aren't the drops just awesome? :P

ForgeWhelp

ForgeWhelp

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2006

TGW

N/Mo

Dude, bumping in the same day you made a post is likely to get you locked...

Nimrod EX

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

Jew Land

W/Mo

really? isnt bump every 3 hours or something? XD

Aum

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jul 2007

I do this HM with Sab's necro builds, 2 hench monk and 2 hench eles. I go as ursan axe warrior with eoe. Or switch out 2 necros for dunk and another fire ele.

scraggles

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jul 2006

LaZy

I'm still curious if there is a Monk build for this.

monstersparkler

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2005

England

Anyone thought about taking a Dervish w/ Vow of Silence?

Zodiak

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2005

Gatineau, Qc, Canada

Kiss of Anguish [KISS]

P/W

I use a Warrior/Ritualist and i use Defiant was Xinrae

[skill]defiant was xinrae[/skill]

Description above does not match the skill

5 energy, 1/4 second cast, 5 second recharge
At 12 Communing it lasts 13 seconds and disables all ally mob spells for 17 seconds

What I do is hold the ashes, use signet of stamina and a stance to prevent knockdowns.

I run in first to get the first wave of smackdown. Once they've used snowball on it, it gets disabled for ALL of them. After that, all they can do is throw their normal attacks, which only does about 7-10dmg at most.

Thats where where the 6 fire eles come in and just obliterate everything while the 2 monks clean up any small damage received.

I then proceed to run into the next incomming mob before they can reach my allies.

Easy to H/H like this

Jebus

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2006

Belgium

Legion of Sacred Light [LSL]

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zodiak
I use a Warrior/Ritualist and i use Defiant was Xinrae

[skill]defiant was xinrae[/skill]

Description above does not match the skill

5 energy, 1/4 second cast, 5 second recharge
At 12 Communing it lasts 13 seconds and disables all ally mob spells for 17 seconds

What I do is hold the ashes, use signet of stamina and a stance to prevent knockdowns.

I run in first to get the first wave of smackdown. Once they've used snowball on it, it gets disabled for ALL of them. After that, all they can do is throw their normal attacks, which only does about 7-10dmg at most.

Thats where where the 6 fire eles come in and just obliterate everything while the 2 monks clean up any small damage received.

I then proceed to run into the next incomming mob before they can reach my allies.

Easy to H/H like this Same.
This is my build: [skill]Defiant Was Xinrae[/skill][skill]Light of Deldrimor[/skill][skill]"Shields Up!"[/skill][skill]Defensive Stance[/skill][skill]Signet of Stamina[/skill][skill]Endure Pain[/skill][skill]Healing Signet[/skill][skill]Sunspear Rebirth Signet[/skill]
Template code: OQgjEtVLISsMkivFZFDWbFBAYcA

Works fine with 3X sf heroes, 2ele hench and 2 monk hench. Going to take EoE next time

Zodiak

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2005

Gatineau, Qc, Canada

Kiss of Anguish [KISS]

P/W

I tried EOE

Spirit range is 2.3x (or something like that) your aggro bubble and it just didnt seem to stay alive long or targets werent in range of it most of the time.

Not to mention the recharge, which you usually dont want to wait for to recharge to move to the next mob.

Maybe with a real ranger with Serpent's quickness or something.

*shrugs*

Sold!er

Sold!er

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Oct 2006

Germany

Virtual Escape [vE]

Mo/Me

i tried with E/Me Terra Tank + sliver

OgVEMLWJz0wDl+LxsxXVbsVNAA

works fine...

but how u deal with "dazed"?

Zodiak

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2005

Gatineau, Qc, Canada

Kiss of Anguish [KISS]

P/W

This is what I use

[skill]defiant was xinrae[/skill], "I Am Unstopable", [skill]frenzied defense[/skill], Optional, [skill]healing signet[/skill], Light of Deldrimor, Summon Ruby Djinn, [skill]signet of stamina[/skill]

The Great Al

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

ALOA

E/Me

easy way to kill the first 2 groups:

<whatever the sin stance is that halves recharge of spells for 10 seconds>

shadow form

shadow of haste from far away

run in, sliver armor, and bring another stance to cancel out shadow of haste, and return to that location when shadow form ends.

Missmelady

Missmelady

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Feb 2006

Wisconsin

Our Gostly Solo Caps

Mo/

First off i am a monk so my job in hm snowman dungeon is so easy its laughable. I run 3 sf ele heros a friend comes ith he runs 2 sf eles and we take the heal hench. I run bonder. Moving fast enough i can double bond the entire team haveing -11 energy degen the entire dungeon. Right now our recrod for completeing the dungeon mainly for the chests and the end chest since both of us have max deld is a little over 8 minutes. GG anet GG.

So in the time it takes you guys to solo it and get 6 golds + the amount of whites i can have this completed 4-6 times netting me around 15-20 golds from chests and drops and the number of white items. I just dont get y you solo....

Nimrod EX

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

Jew Land

W/Mo

look the point here is NOT to post TEAM builds...because thats easy...i want to solo it so all the drops are for myself! :P

Sir Pandra Pierva

Sir Pandra Pierva

Forge Runner

Join Date: Apr 2007

Sardelec yelling at Tenshi

Angels Of Strife

E/

They bring up a good point though that is it faster and probolly much more profitable to team farm this area than solo it.

Nimrod EX

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

Jew Land

W/Mo

but teaming it is the same as henching it...so hwy not just hench it?

Wrath Of Dragons

Wrath Of Dragons

Burninate Stuff

Join Date: Aug 2005

New Mexico

E/Mo

glyph of concentration + aura of the lich + the dwarven anti KD + stoneflesh

Nimrod EX

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

Jew Land

W/Mo

lol...since apparently until now there was a bug that prevented the snowmen from using their exclusive HM skill...we're doomed XD

Steboy93

Steboy93

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Feb 2007

Trinity of the Ascended [ToA] | Ex-Officer [TAM]

W/

What actually is their HM exclusive skill?

Marth Reynolds

Marth Reynolds

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jan 2006

The Netherlands

The Lore Enforcers

Me/A

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steboy93
What actually is their HM exclusive skill? all snowmen have mega snowball in hm, and they knwo how to use it to (they can make perfect kd chains )

seems shadowform with fire nuking spells and shadow form with sliver armor still works tough. (atm i prefer fire just cause it's good for taking down single targets as well)

the dwarven anti kd skill, there's nothing to fear i think sounds like a good alternative but cannot be mainted that easy (cough, rits can get vocal was ...)

@calynda and others:
meant this for solo style farming, only forgot to mention it :P

calynda danyciar

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2007

DVDF

Me/N

Why don't you give one or two ele heroes 'ward of stability'. KD problem solved

Master Kaii

Master Kaii

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: May 2007

LoSt

Mo/

wow
Quickest ive done is 7mins HM with 5 eles 3 monks.
Eles are fire atunement with 7 aoe fire spells
Monks are seeds + shields, 1 hh, 1 lod, 1 woh
Its best if the player is a monk, and the player agroes first
-EASY.

royal mercenary

royal mercenary

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2006

Glob Of Ectospasm [GoE]

Me/Rt

again,,, go 55hp with spellbreaker and that fire dmg skill enchantemend (don t remember it)

zealots fire !!! they ll die slow but that gives you more drops

ultimastrike

Academy Page

Join Date: May 2005

I think the point people are missing is that although it's faster and easier to kill the snowmen with a team, you won't get nearly as many drops.

Not because of loot scaling.

It's because there is an unspoken nerf where there is literally a drop rate. You can only get x drops/sec. To test this, take a bunch of heroes with searing flames and blast the first group of snowmen to smithereens. Assuming you kill them simultaneously or within a few seconds of eachother, you'll get maybe one or two drops.

Now go back with heroes that have single-target spells and kill the snowmen one at a time. Do you notice a massive difference in the number of drops?

The game has been in this state for a while.

Nimrod EX

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

Jew Land

W/Mo

...so? every1 knows that...it can still be soloed if they aren't killed exactly the same second

KANE OG

KANE OG

Banned

Join Date: Oct 2005

Ogmios Graybeards

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Missmelady
First off i am a monk so my job in hm snowman dungeon is so easy its laughable. I run 3 sf ele heros a friend comes ith he runs 2 sf eles and we take the heal hench. I run bonder. Moving fast enough i can double bond the entire team haveing -11 energy degen the entire dungeon. Right now our recrod for completeing the dungeon mainly for the chests and the end chest since both of us have max deld is a little over 8 minutes. GG anet GG.

So in the time it takes you guys to solo it and get 6 golds + the amount of whites i can have this completed 4-6 times netting me around 15-20 golds from chests and drops and the number of white items. I just dont get y you solo.... You know.... most of us in the farming section enjoy the challenge of soloing just as much as the loot.

KANE

thor thunder

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Sep 2007

Mass

Cellestial Guard

W/E

if you guys are talking about the secret lair of snow men heres some pointers

AoE is very useful in this dungeon because of the many large groups of enemies. Searing Flames, Savannah Heat, Barrage, and Splinter Weapon are some good examples of effective skills. Also, because snowballs are spells, a dervish with Vow of Silence is nearly immune to the snowman's attacks.
Because the snowmen have a limited range of spells Defiant Was Xinrae can stop them casting almost entirely.
Edge of Extinction is also very useful in this regard.
"Shields Up!" helps dodge snowballs as well as kiting side to side.
There is a Level 24 Dwarven Ghost near the area map which you can unveil with Light of Deldrimor.
There are also three non-tamable Wintersday Moas in the caves. While they do not count toward the enemy count in normal mode, they do in hard mode.
This quest is repeatable. You must rezone after claiming the reward for it to become available again.
You gain 500 Deldrimor reputation points the first time, and 100 thereafter, when the chest appears. In hard mode, you gain 750 the first time and 150 thereafter, even if you have beat it before in normal mode.
Thus when repeating this dungeon it will yield 600-1900 Deldrimor points , depends on the bonuses you get (this excludes the dungeon completion bonus of 500 for the first time and 100 subsequently).
In Hard Mode you will get about 1300-3500 Deldrimor points (including the bonus for completing the dungeon)
The map is same as the fourth floor of Frostmaw's Burrows.
There are about 175 enemies in this dungeon, not including summoned Jack Frosts or Wintersday Moas. However it is noted that not all kills register, eg; the group of 11 Playful Snowmen may only yield 9 registered kills. Using a quick group (such as 4 Searing Flames Elementalists) seems to create more of these unregistered kills.
Snowmen do not suffer additional damage from fire.
Snowmen standard attacks deal Cold damage, however some skills deal a non-specific type of elemental damage.
Snowmen leave corpses that are exploitable by Necromancers.
Snowmen are fleshy, meaning they are susceptible to all Conditions.
Defeating the Angry Snowman will disable the traps surrounding his area.
Can be successfully completed with henchmen/heroes in 8 - 15 minutes (15-20 minutes in Hard Mode).


also they only drop winter green items if they drop stuff...

but if you really want to farm it go D/w with VoS and warrior healing/protecting skills and keep VoS up 24/7 you will take close to zero dmg if your good enogh.

Titine

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2008

Aube

R/

Hi,

Searching on the web, it's the only thread I have found about farming snowmen in HM, that's why I resurrect this thread :P.

I have managed to farm the first 2 waves as a ranger using Whirling Defense. Here is the build i have used :

Ranger/Ritualist
Expertise : 12+1+3
Communing : 9
Restoration : 9

- Mental Block
- Defiant Was Xinrae
- Soothing Memories
- Dwarven Stability
- Whirling Defense
- Lightning Reflexes
- Feel No Pain

This provides a 42 sec Whirling Defense with a Dwarf title r10. With Lightning Reflexes, it provides 87.5 % chance to block attacks, so that Soothing Memories + Feel No Pain is enought to stay alive. Defiant Was Xinrae must be kept up all the time.

The 2 groups must be taken one at a time, you can tank 15 snowmen but not 25. I think it's better to kill snowmen 2 by 2 instead of the whole group in a row because of anti farm code, anyway as soon as there is at least 5 snowmen hitting you, they drop quite fast. You can clear a whole group in less than 10 sec (15 snowmen hitting you is about 165 DPS to all enemis close to you).

I have tested with EoE, but the range of WW is too close to be efficient with EoE. (I may not use it right). Troll onguent don't work for the healing : 3 sec make it easily interrupted.

I have done about 10 runs and got 4 golds. A run can be done in about 2 minutes .

Xylia

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jul 2006

The Pond [pond]

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by ultimastrike
To test this, take a bunch of heroes with searing flames and blast the first group of snowmen to smithereens. Assuming you kill them simultaneously or within a few seconds of eachother, you'll get maybe one or two drops.

Now go back with heroes that have single-target spells and kill the snowmen one at a time. Do you notice a massive difference in the number of drops?
Do this with the same group of monsters at least 100 times with each, record all of the specifics of your runs and all drops, and you have begun to test this. Loot is random enough that testing this once each way doesn't begin to form a pattern.

|Chewie|

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jul 2006

Here's my two cents.
I have done this farm around 50-100 times in hardmode I guess. Not because the farming is good, I needed the dwarven title and the candy and booze from the end chest.
I would say the drops are good enough to qualify for a decent farm area.
It takes around 15-18 minutes average in hm. 7 min. in normal mode.
Defiant Was Xinrae, Spell Breaker etc. isn't worth the effort in my opinion.
Edge of Extinction is fast but gives less drops, so don't bring it.

Here is an easy and - thrust me - very well tested way to do it.
Not saying it's the best way, but it works very nicely for those of us who doesn't like to concentrate too much.

Me = Warrior in Raven Blessing. Go in front and tank, do lots of damage (100 to every snowman in groups, no knockdowns.) Air of Superiority is good to bring too and use before raven. I have I'm Unstoppable, Shields Up, Endure Pain when not in Raven.
Doesn't matter if you're a warrior or not when you are in Raven.
Heroes:
1 healer monk: OwUTMmGD5ZjkR8H1VQCcNuhGBA
If you like to micromanage go with some protection skills like shield of absorbtion instead.
1 ss necro: OANEQRpme7kHqCTB0gQTRgHQjA
(Spiteful Spirit is key here, the minions are cannon fodder and bombs. I know this build looks funny but thrust me it works. I have vanquished everything in hm in all campaigns with this necro build at my side, only I swap dark bond with rend enchantments in some areas)
1 earth ele: OgVDMTyMPMtTxSgr+VTFIDnA

And bring the monks and ele henchies.

I'm sure this build can be improved, but I doubt it can be done much faster without reducing the drops significantly. Of course, if you are just after dwarven points, you should go for speed.

Hope you'll find it useful.