I know capping skills in Prophecies was rough...

But A-Net, do you need to have 2 of the same bosses spawn just so you can get the cap?



Seriously though, I love how the new bosses have static spawns. It is most definitely for the win! (No more running through RoF 20 times to that windrider spawn for shield of deflection x.x)

As a certified Skill Hunter, capping skills in ch1 wasn't that bad, except in the Ring of Fire missions. Those were long and annoying to cap in.

I did kinda get tired of capping only in the Southern Shiverpeaks and Ring of Fire island chain. There's only a handful of skills in the Crystal Desert to cap, and you can tag them all in Thirsty River. I understand why elites weren't more spread out over the continent, but I still almost wish they had been, just for more change in scenery... Heck, stick an Elite on Roscale (Majesty's Rest), and give him a reason to exist again...

Personally, I came to dislike capping in missions; I prefer the freedom of capping in non-mission zones. The ability to die and not have to start over is a good reason.

In the end, though, I think Mineral Springs became one of my favorite zones. Avicara FTW.

I didn't mind random spawns -- after enough skill capping, you just know where all the boss spawn spots are and the process becomes quick.

eudas

capping in the southern shiverpeaks was awful. its so easy in chapter 2, especially the area south of eternal grove

Double the chance for a green illusion magic cane! Zomg yes. (I actually got one while capping from that boss--er, bosses--yesterday.)

But yes, I'm also loving the static positions for boss spawns in Factions. Having to fight through zones multiple times just to get the right boss to spawn was a pain.

You too huh... almost as annoying as Ether Prodigy was. Even fighting through Mineral Springs to find your boss wasn't that annoying. And of course, zomg illusion canes ftw!

They fixed that bug, didnt they?

Nope, not unless it was fixed since about 10:30 EST today.

ARgh!! I am so sick of Mineral Springs and all of Southern Shiverpeaks. Static bosses make it easier to cap but isn't the point of capping an Elite the challenge of getting to and/or finding the bosses you need? I dunno. After working on Skill Trainer title I am beginning to like the statics more and more

I love Mineral Springs. Avicara kicking the shit out of any other mob that dares come into their territory. That rules! I hate seeing mobs that just walk up to each other, say "Mornin', Frank." and walk away, when in a natural setting they'd probably attack each other, or at least hiss, shoot off a couple of shots, and run away from each other.

eudas

There needs to be another reason to go in the zone in the first place, like if it involves traveling to the next mission or completing a quest (with a good reward). Just the other day I took a Mo/N to cap Feast of Corruption (I was really mapping the whole droks run for cartographer). It's just one of those places that theres almost no chance of finding someone else going your way, so I had to hench it.

Absolutely unbearable spawns in Dreadnaughts, one being a massive group with several ice golems, rangers, carvers, heretics, and 3 dolyak masters. The henchies were snared with Crippling Anguish/Deep Freeze before getting the massive degen from Melandrus/Conjure Phantasm degen on them making it almost impossible to separate the group. After about 30 minutes of backtracking, I finally got the Dolyaks to separate and took down this group.

Next group was 4 Dolyak Masters/3 Heretics. That means Mark of Protection cast every time someone dropped down to near death. Not to mention Dolyak's use Life Attunement to make orisons heal about half of their bar. I managed to drop this group in another 30 minutes, partly because I couldn't run past. The next group was some wierd 2 ranger/6 axe warrior combination that would have merged with the 4 dolyaks just to get by. Don't even get me started fighting the Frost Worms/Herders/Giants/Shadows who knock you down every five seconds.

These types of things aren't fair to make people have to hench. The freedom to die multiple times doesn't help because its the inability of the build to kill anything that hurts. It's a matter of both your primary and secondary classes leaving you ineffective to deal with what you are facing so you can cap a skill, and you are limited by what you can take to these places. Prophecies henches were very ineffective against caster groups. I would take "ANY" pickup group in this situation, and I don't mind redoing missions over and over again with random people hoping for the right spawn compared to this.

So like I said, put the skill capping in places where I can at least expect real people to go every once in a while.

I <3 static spawns. I don't even care if it's a little harder to get there or beat them.

Double the chance for greens is always appreciated, too bad they dont drop

I blazed through and capped all 180 skills in about one week. None of it was really that hard, and I never saw a double spawn. Some of the elite skill sites are totally wrong. Saying skills are only in missions, when they're in explorable areas in Cantha. :P

Hello?!! You're capping FoC on a Mo/N and complaining that the build can't handle whats up there? It's NOT a required cap for you. It's a feather in your cap. Admittedly, it's a difficult cap, even for a N/Mo, but definately attainable with hench.

I capped 13 Monk elites yesterday, and when I started I was dreading it. But, I got in a rythym and rolled boss after boss. (MM's hate monk bosses BTW)

I still have to cap Restore Condition which is wayyyyyy in the back of Abbadon's and Shield of Deflection deep in Mineral Springs. Neither will be 'hard' but they will take some time.

If nothing else, just leave FoC for another day when real people can help you.

EDIT: Oh, and Mungri Magicbox is the toughest monk boss for me to kill, by farrrr. I had to withdraw three times before I got him. It's the Gardner with him that makes it so hard.

LOL Reminds me of the old Bug Bunny cartoons with the Sheep Dog and the Coyote...I guess that shows my age a bit


OMG I hit these exact same groups with me Hench team. 4 monks healing every bit of damage I could dish out, henchs dropping like flies, henchs rushing in and aggroing EVERY monster in that little hollow, DP at 60%, me crying alone at my keyboard...

I decided to use a Candy Cane and try one more time. For some unknown reason, the Dolyaks came out of that hollow alone and I was able to draw them even further out and finally take them down.

This whole process of capping this Elite?: 1 hour 30 mins.
Times I died?: 8
Times I wanted to smash my computer?: 5
Curse words I uttered that day?:1,436
Experience of Capping Mark of Protection?:NOT Priceless

.....would have had a more enjoyable time pulling my eyeballs slowing from thier sockets and stuffing the holes with salt.

there's not even 180 elite skills in the game right now, is there? on average, around 15 elites per class, that's 90 in ch1 (15*6), another 30 in ch2 from the 2 new classes (15*2), plus 2-3 new elites for the original 6 (figure, around 12-18, avg 15), so 90+30+15 = 135.

plus, guildwiki.org ftw.

eudas

there are 180 elites.

There is exactly 180 elite skills in the game atm, there was 10 new elites for each core class in Factions. Your equation should be roughly 90+30+60=180.

Feast of Corruption was quite a difficult cap. I'd forgotten that one. I was W/N with henchies, and it was a PITA to get there, even leaving from Deldrimor War Camp. Very tedious. I wish I'd taken players, but how are you going to get 7 other players to go out in the middle of nowhere to help you cap a random elite when it's such a pain in the arse? Nope, it's henchies or guildies. With a PUG, you'd get 75% of the way there, then people would start ragequitting, leaving, or just get tired of it, and then the whole group's hosed, and it was all for nothing. Henchies are at least reliable and won't quit out.

eudas

Ah, well, good to know!
Thanks for the info.
Maybe I should have checked guildwiki.org more thoroughly for the info FTW. :P

Stil, it almost makes me want to cry. Capping all the ch1 elites took about a month of dedicated effort... now to start the task all over again... :P

eudas