I haven't done PvE in a while prior to starting a ranger PvE dude last month to unlock a few ranger skills. So I get to the Amnoon Oasis, got a 6 man party together for Augury Rock, and we all got wiped out by the first mob of oh... A DOZEN JADE SCARABS. Honestly now, what's with that? I dont' remember them being this difficult with my previous characters. It was a pretty balanced party too. 2 W's, 2 E's, R, and Alesia.
Those buggers are level 20.
They can:
strip enchantments
heal themselves every 20 seconds with parasitic bond
poison you
transfer the poison back to you IF you try to poison them BACK
run fast as hell
Do armor ignoring damage with Vile Touch
pop up from god knows where, 5 or 6 at a time, IN ADDITION to their buddies already on the surface which you aggroed
Work in tandem with their scorpion buddies spamming distracting shot.
My entire team went down in less than a minute.
There are about 10 mobs from amnoon to the teleporter.
Honestly now, what's the big idea?
Jade Scarabs: WTH?
Mithie
UnOrthOdOx
They always have been able to do all that with my characters.
I rather enjoy having a minor challenge.
I rather enjoy having a minor challenge.
Sunrazor
They've always been a problem. What I suggest is avoiding PUG's at the Oasis, because you'll always get someone who doesn't quite understand how aggro is bad. And then get some henchmen and go slow, taking care not to aggro too many at a time.
Mithie
They are the Zerglings of GW.
RTSFirebat
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Mithie
They are the Zerglings of GW.
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The mission Monk's Path has tons of these thing attacking you, I mean like 10 at a time in waves.
I found them easy, the trick? BARRAGE, the move does wonders against these things. They have fairly weak armor and since Barrage can be spammed everyone 1 second for the price of only 5 energy, taking them on is easy.
I did Monk's quest with myself and 5 henchmen for cannon fodder/healing purposes.
Tactical-Dillusions
They used to be alot easier, the OP is correct. They are the victims of one of ArenaNets first nerfs.
They never used to strip enchantments but because people used them to have fun...that was put a stop to.
They never used to strip enchantments but because people used them to have fun...that was put a stop to.
trelloskilos
In conjunction with Barrage, try Edge of Extinction too. Lay that one down, and after a few barrage spams, you've got a pile of dead scarabs at your feet without needing to even break out the RAID.
Mithie
Quote:
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Originally Posted by RTSFirebat
And like Zerglings the trick is being able to damage many targets at a single time.
The mission Monk's Path has tons of these thing attacking you, I mean like 10 at a time in waves. I found them easy, the trick? BARRAGE, the move does wonders against these things. They have fairly weak armor and since Barrage can be spammed everyone 1 second for the price of only 5 energy, taking them on is easy. I did Monk's quest with myself and 5 henchmen for cannon fodder/healing purposes. |
Though, I guess ignite arrows + flurry might work too, that is, if I'm not the first one to be swarmed.
RTSFirebat
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Mithie
I'm far from Markis at the moment
Though, I guess ignite arrows + flurry might work too, that is, if I'm not the first one to be swarmed. |
Elena
if you need some help i got a necro and a r/w in desert willing to help can you say putrid spam! :P
KvanCetre
Call targets
Its the only way to survive the desert
Its the only way to survive the desert
ManadartheHealer
The only time I have made it past that area with other people was while running...all my other PUGs wiped. But I haven't died there once while using a full team of good old henches 
Mithie
Thank you all for the advice, and Elena, for your offer. 
I'm going to go try it out with henchies! Yay!
I'm going to go try it out with henchies! Yay!
Acan Vishnu
While barrage is a nice skill against them, its good to remember that the earliest you can get that skill is in the Iron Mines. Not necessarily very useful to someone in the Crystal Desert unless they've just been going back for kicks.
They did get a boost since release, but quite frankly they needed it. I could solo pretty much every one of them in the area with my monk (not a 105'er, just regular skills) before their boost. They needed the help.
They did get a boost since release, but quite frankly they needed it. I could solo pretty much every one of them in the area with my monk (not a 105'er, just regular skills) before their boost. They needed the help.
Loved by guildwars fans.
You can actually still sprint passed them. It's not hard to do at all, you can even do the teleporter as well.
newfangle
I love fighting these lil douches with a minionator. With level 16 death magic, simply animate bone minions (assuming you can get at least 1 corpse) and your meat shield will grow super fast. Heck, even if the nublet W/Mo in your party dies, you still get a corpse and energy. In my experience, monster baddies in the game love to go after boners more than humans, so I say, let em have it!
RTSFirebat
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Loved by guildwars fans.
You can actually still sprint passed them. It's not hard to do at all, you can even do the teleporter as well.
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BrandonIT
Just to put in my .02, I was also surprised at the difficulty of the scarabs when I showed up to the Oasis for the first time last night. Wiped my party out before we had even gotten 100 yards out the door.
Definitely gonna bring Ignite Arrows next time, and do some Dual Shot spamming. Maybe see if I can find a couple of these other skills mentioned.
Definitely gonna bring Ignite Arrows next time, and do some Dual Shot spamming. Maybe see if I can find a couple of these other skills mentioned.
Sleazy_D
If you're not expecting to be zerg rushed, they suck. The trick I've used on them is PB AoE spells, and healing. If you're doing this a ranger, it makes it very hard since you have few of either.
When you're with henchies, figure that you're the one who'll take all the aggro, and prepare for it. Bring some defensive spells, and some AoE skills. Once you're sett, charge into a group of them so you take most of the aggro, hit your densive stance/troll unguent/whatever, and spam AoE as best you can. Let the Henchies do the nuking, and spot healing. Shoot scarbs gunning for alesia.
When you're with henchies, figure that you're the one who'll take all the aggro, and prepare for it. Bring some defensive spells, and some AoE skills. Once you're sett, charge into a group of them so you take most of the aggro, hit your densive stance/troll unguent/whatever, and spam AoE as best you can. Let the Henchies do the nuking, and spot healing. Shoot scarbs gunning for alesia.
Kishin
The problem you're having is only because there are two groups of Scarabs very close together directly outside of Amnoon. Move very slowly and you should be able to get the one directly north of you, then the one to the east, without aggroing both of them.
And there's a lot more than 10 mobs to the teleporter. Its a pretty packed fight from Amnoon, honestly. But take it slow and manage your aggro. Scarabs are little more than annoyances if there isn't 9+ of them.
And there's a lot more than 10 mobs to the teleporter. Its a pretty packed fight from Amnoon, honestly. But take it slow and manage your aggro. Scarabs are little more than annoyances if there isn't 9+ of them.
Old Dood
If you take your time they are not all that bad. I go out with Henchmen and take one group of them at a time. I use my Mo/Ele and bring either Firestorm or Meteor Shower. After a big battle I will stand there and fully recharge and let my AoE spell reset too. Then I am ready for the next group.
Having SmiteHex and Mend Aliment along is really nice to have. Top that off with Word of Healing then it is all down hill from there.
Having SmiteHex and Mend Aliment along is really nice to have. Top that off with Word of Healing then it is all down hill from there.
Ares Runeblade
These ideas are fine, but for those of us that lack the skills mentioned, theres a nice little Warrior solution to it. If your Warrior is an Axe warrior, then they should have Cyclone Axe from Pre-Searing. Post-Searing at the latest Hopefully you're warrior will have the Aggro of every one of those buggers (Mine does all the time). Then it's fairly easy to kill the little buggers with a few dosages of Cyclone Axe. Through in 1 or two shouts to protect your party, and you're pretty much set
Damon Windwalker
axe warrior + cyclone axe + vampiric haft + hold aggro = good times!
Xue Yi Liang
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Mithie
They can:
strip enchantments heal themselves every 20 seconds with parasitic bond poison you transfer the poison back to you IF you try to poison them BACK run fast as hell Do armor ignoring damage with Vile Touch pop up from god knows where, 5 or 6 at a time, IN ADDITION to their buddies already on the surface which you aggroed Work in tandem with their scorpion buddies spamming distracting shot. My entire team went down in less than a minute. There are about 10 mobs from amnoon to the teleporter. Honestly now, what's the big idea? |
Have your tank be the point man. Your smiter/healer is well behind him just outside of his aggro circle. When your tank gets overrun - Cast Shield of Judgement and/or Balthazar's Aura while keeping him protected/healed. Balthazar's Aura is especially effective. But remember to only touch the aggro circle when you cast - otherwise they'll come after you too.
kleps
Quote:
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Originally Posted by KvanCetre
Call targets
Its the only way to survive the desert |
borkbork
These guys probably won't have shield of judgement or barrage... if it's their first time hitting the desert.
Just watch your step. The scarabs are really easy if you just take you time. Besides, the best tip is to bring henchies instead. They don't panic and run off like crazy.
Just watch your step. The scarabs are really easy if you just take you time. Besides, the best tip is to bring henchies instead. They don't panic and run off like crazy.
Divinitys Creature
Here is some genuine advice from me - not bragging. I have owned those with my level 9 ranger and henchies, and it's easier with lina. Ok the there are so many mobs there buried in the ground but they are in the same places each time. You need to move like a few feet at a time and take on one mob at a time. When they pop up take one out as soon as possible, then hit x (to turn around) and run like hell back towards the starting point. This gives you some time to heal and breaks up the mob a bit. Strafe around in such a way to keep them off lina and alesia. Then take another out and run like hell. Most of the time you need at least 2 retreats before you kill one so practise and see what works best for you - be like a Caromi tengu elite Then once the whole mob is dead, go back to where they spawned and then move forward slowly until an new mob burrows out of the groud, rinse and repeat. That's basically the same kind of pulling and manipulating technique I used when I did the reverse droknar's run with my level 5 ranger.
Sadly, doing it with real people will be harder LOL
Then once the whole mob is dead, go back to where they spawned and then move forward slowly until an new mob burrows out of the groud, rinse and repeat. That's basically the same kind of pulling and manipulating technique I used when I did the reverse droknar's run with my level 5 ranger.Sadly, doing it with real people will be harder LOL
Mountain Man
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Originally Posted by RTSFirebat
Running is for the weak.
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Mara
Mark of Pain works really well on scarabs and the minotaurs later in the zone. I used it with my N/W and I bet it would work even better with a R/N using MoP and Dual Shot. Just get as many standing close together as possible.
Vorlin
This is sort of an inherent problem you can run across several times in GWars. To put it bluntly, this game is almost incoherent when it comes to balance. Too easy, too hard, just right, back to too easy, then suddenly too hard, on and on. When you experience this depends on what class you have and how your group is put together (different groups experience this different times in different places). For instance, I find Thirsty River with henchmen to be ridiculously difficult with my current character. Yet other people find it to be no problem.
The only thing you can do when you run into a nutcracker like this is try to alter your group composition to one that can handle it. There's always a group design that can make mincemeat out of any given situation in GWars, knowing this can get you through any part of the game once you understand that you aren't the problem and stop banging your head against it.
The only thing you can do when you run into a nutcracker like this is try to alter your group composition to one that can handle it. There's always a group design that can make mincemeat out of any given situation in GWars, knowing this can get you through any part of the game once you understand that you aren't the problem and stop banging your head against it.
Krank
I still dont understand why this part is so difficult WHY anet WHY
My lvl 20 dies in like 2 seconds there
My lvl 20 dies in like 2 seconds there
Kamatsu
heh I've never found them to be a danger. Never really bothered me.. and i play with henchies. but henchies are good in that they will focus fire on what your targeting - and I guess it helps that the character I have in the desert is a warrior with cyclone axe and WY!.
First time into the desert was fun.. was sorta semi-expecting pop-up critters.. wasn't surprised when they popped up and attacked me. attacked closest and started my attack cycle.. moving onto the next target when the one I was mashing died.
I don't have any condition removers and I don't have drok armor either. Henchies I had was Thom, Alesia, Lina, Reyna & Claude. I guess being a warrior really makes fighting them a walk in the park... can't wait to get there with my ranger and see how hard/tough it is with one (since it seems most of the ppl having troubles here are rangers... hehe)
First time into the desert was fun.. was sorta semi-expecting pop-up critters.. wasn't surprised when they popped up and attacked me. attacked closest and started my attack cycle.. moving onto the next target when the one I was mashing died.
I don't have any condition removers and I don't have drok armor either. Henchies I had was Thom, Alesia, Lina, Reyna & Claude. I guess being a warrior really makes fighting them a walk in the park... can't wait to get there with my ranger and see how hard/tough it is with one (since it seems most of the ppl having troubles here are rangers... hehe)
Weezer_Blue
Cry me a river. Try some teamwork and coordination.
a_scrawny_gnoll01
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Mithie
I haven't done PvE in a while prior to starting a ranger PvE dude last month to unlock a few ranger skills. So I get to the Amnoon Oasis, got a 6 man party together for Augury Rock, and we all got wiped out by the first mob of oh... A DOZEN JADE SCARABS. Honestly now, what's with that? I dont' remember them being this difficult with my previous characters. It was a pretty balanced party too. 2 W's, 2 E's, R, and Alesia.
Those buggers are level 20. They can: strip enchantments heal themselves every 20 seconds with parasitic bond poison you transfer the poison back to you IF you try to poison them BACK run fast as hell Do armor ignoring damage with Vile Touch pop up from god knows where, 5 or 6 at a time, IN ADDITION to their buddies already on the surface which you aggroed Work in tandem with their scorpion buddies spamming distracting shot. My entire team went down in less than a minute. There are about 10 mobs from amnoon to the teleporter. Honestly now, what's the big idea? |
I am not an avid PvP player (if you thought otherwise), but I do believe that PvE should be stepped up in difficulty because it is so simple to overcome with brute force in Elementalist AE's and a few warriors to hold the enemies while spells are spammed.
If anything, A-net needs to increase the difficulty, because pve is so simply accomplished with basic war / monk / elem groups.
Your thoughts...?
JanderBlackstar
Personally I've never had a problem with these...but I'm an elementalist.
I just grab the 2 healers and maybe the brawler hench and wade into the lot of the jades, cast lava font, inferno and fireball and 3 seconds later, I've got a BBQ.
The hardest part of the desert for me was probably the ranger mission. So many mesmers and hydras in my path...hench just don't cut it when they're being disrupted too much.
I just grab the 2 healers and maybe the brawler hench and wade into the lot of the jades, cast lava font, inferno and fireball and 3 seconds later, I've got a BBQ.
The hardest part of the desert for me was probably the ranger mission. So many mesmers and hydras in my path...hench just don't cut it when they're being disrupted too much.
Warskull
Scarab splattering:
Monk: You are probably best off keeping your allies alive and praying they don't suck. Alternatively you can smite the scarabs with zealot's fire. You have to stay back though and buffer zealot's with another enchant for the odd scarab that gets though. Divine boon is great for this.
Mesmer: Arcane echo and shatter hex, these suckers love to hex and you have 200-300 damage right there. Drop a chaos storm or some conjur phantasms to finish it off. Alternatively take them out one at a time with heavy degen.
Necro: Putrid explosion rocks these things. Also if you have incompetent allies stick death nova on them.
Ele: The buggers like to move around, shift away from your usual meteor swarm/fire storm. Use faster AoE, inferno, phoenix, chain lightning, deep freeze, ice spikes, ect. Get the damage out in a spike, not over 10 seconds.
Ranger: Let the decoys (you know the guy who has W/Mo next to his name and casts mending on himself) collect the agro and go nuts with dual shot and ignite arrows. As said before, edge really hurts these suckers. Just be careful it hurts your team too.
Warrior: Now would be a good time to start thinking about putting that secondary to good use. I will survive is also nice here. You have to take them one at a time. At this point the only thing close to AoE you have is cyclone axe and it won't cut it. You need to go without enchants (will trigger chilblains less often.) Find strong combos (like KD+Holy Strike or KD+Aftershock) and put them to good use.
Monk: You are probably best off keeping your allies alive and praying they don't suck. Alternatively you can smite the scarabs with zealot's fire. You have to stay back though and buffer zealot's with another enchant for the odd scarab that gets though. Divine boon is great for this.
Mesmer: Arcane echo and shatter hex, these suckers love to hex and you have 200-300 damage right there. Drop a chaos storm or some conjur phantasms to finish it off. Alternatively take them out one at a time with heavy degen.
Necro: Putrid explosion rocks these things. Also if you have incompetent allies stick death nova on them.
Ele: The buggers like to move around, shift away from your usual meteor swarm/fire storm. Use faster AoE, inferno, phoenix, chain lightning, deep freeze, ice spikes, ect. Get the damage out in a spike, not over 10 seconds.
Ranger: Let the decoys (you know the guy who has W/Mo next to his name and casts mending on himself) collect the agro and go nuts with dual shot and ignite arrows. As said before, edge really hurts these suckers. Just be careful it hurts your team too.
Warrior: Now would be a good time to start thinking about putting that secondary to good use. I will survive is also nice here. You have to take them one at a time. At this point the only thing close to AoE you have is cyclone axe and it won't cut it. You need to go without enchants (will trigger chilblains less often.) Find strong combos (like KD+Holy Strike or KD+Aftershock) and put them to good use.
Weezer_Blue
Last I checked, Jade's are considered undead. Smites do well against them.
Krank
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Originally Posted by Weezer_Blue
Last I checked, Jade's are considered undead. Smites do well against them.
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Zubrowka
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Mithie
A DOZEN JADE SCARABS. Honestly now, what's with that? I dont' remember them being this difficult with my previous characters. It was a pretty balanced party too. 2 W's, 2 E's, R, and Alesia.
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Elena
hmm i did it yesterday still wearing lions arch armour and i only died once :O
here's my henchy setup
Alesia
Lina
Thom
Stefan
Orion
they did great for me
here's my henchy setup
Alesia
Lina
Thom
Stefan
Orion
they did great for me