Ok, this is my first guide of any sort that I have posted from my own discovery rather than contributing to the work already done by someone else, but thanks to some awesome builds being posted lately I have been inspired to try a few new things.
I was browsing Wiki and I came across a really nice looking shield: Merki's Gaze. I decided I had to have it so I went about finding out how to get it.
The shield is dropped by a boss named Merki the Reaver in Unwaking Waters (explorable area).
The build:
*Thank you Amsterdam for your awesome guide to Sskai's sword, it was my inspiration.
Str 14
Tactics 13
Zealous Sword
Shield with health always (can be obtained from a collector and damage reduction isn't important here if you only have a +health shield)
Stance collectors shield +45 -2 (for the run)
Heal Sig
Dolyak
Wary Stance (A blessing when running through the assasins as it prevents you from being crippled)
Grenths Balance
Riposte
Deadly Riposte
Bonneti's Defense (help with heal sig if you accidentally aggro more than merki)
Sprint
Instructions:
The only hard part of this run is actually getting to Merki and getting him separated from his goup.
1. Begin in Harvest Temple and take the only exit
2. Travel in a winding circle, casting shields up and sprint to move past the archers and Shiroken's
3. Once you reach the res shrine you are halfway there. It should take you no more than 30 seconds to get here. This is where things begin to get tricky.
Merki can be found hovering right outside the luxon entrance to Unwaking Waters mission area. He is surrounded by several mobs which will be in your way and getting to him in the first place can be a little annoying.
1st rule, do not get hit by any assasins. If you get crippled you are over with. Run past the carp and stay to the left. There is a boat of some sort to the left, stay near it. A group of assasins will spawn. Run past them and don't get crippled. Ditch them and if you have found a place to rest (there is only one) you are now very close to Merki.
There will probably be a couple of mobs between you and him and this is where it gets really tricky. You need to lure the mobs out of your way and then ditch them. It takes a little practice but you will get it down in no time. After you move the mobs, just wait for merki to break loose from his mob, he almost always does. Lure him to the area where you previously rested and then stand there whacking away at him until your health is really low and fire off grenths. Rinse and repeat 1 time. After that, hit Dolyak and keep riposting 3 or 4 more times and he will be dead.
He is really weak and this could be done entirely without dolyak, especially if you brought endure pain (which could also be useful during the run)
*Edit: I added the map image above to show you where to lure him. If you can bring him back to there you will be in good shape.
Also note that if you are having trouble with the mobs you can use the chest run trick on a couple of them. Specifically the Shiroken mobs will attack the outcast mobs. So if you are unlucky enough to get crippled aggro the two groups together and they will ignore you while you heal up and get the hell out.
He actually drops some decent stuff, he has dropped 3 gold scrolls, a gold rune and a broadsword plus other various loot in the 4 times I have killed him.
*Edit: You can clearly see him wielding the shield, so there is no need to kill him if he doesn't have it. This has been disputed by several accounts, so I will just note that he has never dropped it for me unless he was holding it.
This run is not one I would do for profit (unless you can sell this thing for a lot which I doubt) because he doesn't carry very often (took me more than 30 times to see him holding it). But it is fun to try.
Let me know how you like the build and the guide.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys the guide as much as I enjoyed making it.
s
