14 Mar 2006 at 03:18 - 9
I'm very experienced with troll farming, and I must say that tactics is the way to go. Completely maxed out. You can do this by buying an ascalon helm and slapping a superior tactics rune on it, for +4 tactics in helm alone. Here's my build:
Healing: 8
Tactics: 16
Swordsmanship: 10-11 (not entirely necessary, since you're relying heavily on tactics skills)
The Skills:
Gladiator's Defense {E}
Bonneti's Defense
Healing Signet
Riposte
Deadly Riposte
Healing Breeze
Mending
-Last spot is free, I usually take sprint
to pass avicara, they are annoying to fight
Ok, now I'm gonna talk about why should you use these skills:
Gladiator's Defense:
This is a must. With tactics at 16, the stance will last 11 seconds and dish out 37 dmg everytime you evade an attack. It's especially effective when trolls use Battle Rage, they'll attack faster, meaning you'll likely dish out more damage. On average, most trolls are at about half hp once glad's is finished.
Bonneti's Defense:
Two purposes: energy refill and evade. This is the "downtime" where you're not really dealing adjacent dmg. This is the time where you refill on energy. Because of high tactics, you can squeeze two Bonneti's in by the time Glad's defense recharges.
Healing Signet:
Primarily used for emergencies. Trolls can interrupt (and they have been doing so more often), but it's a 25% chance and it's very likely they'll miss. With tactics maxed out, heal sig restores 159 hp, good for quick recovery.
Riposte + Deadly Riposte:
With recent updates, these two do sick damage. With maxed tactics, riposte hits for 84 dmg, and deadly about 72. If an unlucky troll gets smacked with both, it's instant -50% hp for them. Use them when Glad's defense is activated and when Bonneti's is about to run out, sneak both in to speed things up a bit.
Healing Breeze:
Your main source of healing. Activate it right around when glad's defense ends. With bonneti's + healing breeze, you'll be restoring energy and health. With only 8 in healing prayers (+mending in the background), you get about 8 pips of regeneration. Once bonneti's starts to wear out, hit healing breeze again and reavticate bonneti's. Sit tight until glad's defense is up, and do it all over again ^_^
Mending:
One major purpose, possibly two, depending on your shield of choice. It provides a constant 3 pips of regeneration, so it's useful at that. If you have a +hp while enchanted shield, then that's covered.
Again I take sprint just to run past avicara. They're pretty annoying, since the Brave use pure strike, a skill that completely ignores stances. The Fierce just pummel you by stacking like 10 skills on top of each other. 3 Fierces can get you in trouble. Plus they really don't drop anything special, besides runes once in a great while.
Equipment:
Ok so why sword over axe? Two reasons. One, you can use the ripostes. And they do a great deal of damage. Trolls tend to interrupt axe skills very often, especially cyclone axe. I know from experience ^_^. You'll basically be prolonging the time it takes to take a mob out. Yes you can use cyclone in a stance, but when it comes down to it, cyclone axe doesn't really make the fight faster. I've tried both, and sword is the way to go.
Sword mods don't really matter much. A barbed hilt possibly, to lengthen deadly riposte's bleeding duration. Zealous is overkill, since you use Bonneti's for energy recharge. I personally use a vampiric mod, it helps a bit with healing, plus it's a bit of extra damage.
Shields, anything with +health and/or dmg reduction is perfect. A Malion Shield (+45 hp, dmg -2 while enchanted) is absolutely perfect for this farm.
With this build, you can take on 7 or so trolls at once, the maximum being about 12. It's very effective and fast. Once you get the hang of timing the ripostes inbetween the stances and all, you can clear the cave out in about 4 to five minutes. Toss a scroll in, and you've become an effective powerleveler ^_^. The one possible flaw in this build is the downtime you experience from bonneti's, since using a skill with deactivate it.