Farming in Mineral Springs? Your thoughts

I've noticed that entirely clearing mineral springs yields quite a lot of ths, and is kinda fun, not to mention it's a large area (several chests) with several collectors. So, I want to be able to farm there.

The real attraction is all the avicara in the area, because their armor is almost always salvaged into tanned hide squares, and they also provide feathers. Who could ask for more?

There are Braves (warriors), Fierces (rangers), Guiles (necros), Ardents (monks), and Wises (mesmers) in this area, and because of the large amount of avicara wise, I think it might be prudent to use a Melandru's Resiliance + Unguent build. I think with proper warrior stances and skills, this could work out against non-caster groups (brave/fierce) as well. The fire damage from the use of ignite arrows can be countered at least partially by wearing drakescale. The big problem I've had is getting through Tasca's Demise into Mineral Springs itself, so I haven't really been able to test the build's effectiveness and tweak as needed. Here's what I've tried, after reading this thread.

R/W
Melandru's Resiliance {E}
Troll Unguent
"Shields Up!"
Balanced Stance
Storm Chaser
Quickening Zephyr
Seeking Blade
Whirling Defense

I skip the first summit group outside of Granite Citadel by hugging the right wall, then storm chaser past the next group of summit (with some miserable failures sometimes) and usually head to the right to lose aggro. Then, I try to pass the group of ice golems in the field (the direct route to the portal). This is where I usually go wrong, because Deep Freeze screws me up. If I try to run through it, I get Water Trident-ed to KD and death. I can hold my own with a quick Melandru's Resiliance + Unguent + Shields Up and then casting QZ to keep them all up as much as possible, but this obviously doesn't help me get past the group.

I've made it past that group a few times, only to be ruined the same exact way by the second group of golems/summit.

So, I actually have several questions. First of all, does MS even seem like it could be farmed by R/W or R/*? I don't think trapping would really work, given the range of the fierces. Perhaps the spike is just too large to get past, even with drakescale. I just don't know actually. I bet a W/Mo could do it easily (Holy Veil perhaps), but I'd kinda like to see Melandru's Resiliance work out.

Any thoughts on actually GETTING to mineral springs? I'm considering slapping nature's renewal onto that bar, so that Deep Freeze doesn't get cast fast enough to do any harm to me.

I realize that maybe an axe build would work out a little better, but such is the way this stuff works out. If I can't even make it to the farming area, there's not much sense in worrying about how effective the farming would be.

If I could make it to MS and work out a viable build, I could just clear the enemies that are possible, re-zone, and repeat, collecting only the stuff I want (ie. ths + feathers + anything nice).

Discuss.

Wheee...you linked to my thread, I guess I have to say something.

The biggest problem facing Avicara as a ranger, I'd think, is tanking the damage. The Braves have Pure Strike, which cuts right through any evasion stances. The Fierce have Ignite, which, IIRC, more or less ignores evasion as it's an AOE attack. And there are some groups which are accompanied by Ardents, whose Healing Touch you either have to outdamage or interrupt. If you're taking the north route, you'll have to deal with Wises...Ineptitude...ugh...the Guiles aren't too bad though.

Forgetting about Wises for a second, since they're completely avoidable if you take the south route, Melandru's Resiliance doesn't quite fit anymore since you won't be hit with hexes or conditions. That frees up the Elite slot for something else which can keep you alive. The only other thing I can think of for R/W is Sever Artery/Gash/Apply Poison + Victory is Mine, replenishing HP and energy as long as you keep the conditions up. Combine this with a constant Troll Unguent/QZ and hopefully you can stay alive against whatever Mineral Springs throws at you.

Dealing damage is another matter, I guess an energy-based attack skill would work best to save adrenaline for Sever/Gash.

The last slot would be Storm Chaser, naturally, otherwise you can't get there in the first place. Plus it'll work as energy management against Fierces since they deal elemental damage, and activating stance equipment, if you're using them.

So...

Sever Artery
Gash
Seeking Blade
Apply Poison
Victory is Mine! (E)
Troll Unguent
Quickening Zephyr
Storm Chaser

There are some Avicara just north of Droks if you want to test this out, and also some in Lornar's Pass, but you'll have to get through some Ice Imps first there. Those places should act as nice "Mineral Springs simulators" before you go out and farm the real deal.

Hope this helps.