W/X FoW Spider Farmer

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I have the same problem. I keep dying at the skales. I guess its just a matter of patience.

That is an excellent map Lyra, thanks for the contribution. It really does show the path quite well and is a lot better than the two screenshots I posted on the radar.

I just need to ask a general question, when you say you're getting kill by the skales, what exactly do you mean? If you're stopping to kill them, well I can tell where the error is without even going down with you myself.

Typically, two snarling patrols will be up by the entrance path to the beach. You'll kill one with the dryder, and another will come shortly after. You'll have to pull this one with your bow. If you get hit with a hamstring, even though it only lasts for 3 seconds, you can very easily die.

Where I posted about the second stop spot, don't expect it to work 100% of the time. The last few times I've shown the path to fellow players, I've had to the hug the other wall, and circle around the coast. Also when you're running, try as hard as possible not to aggro any dryders. You can't stop running, and they can usually get two Wastrel's Worry against you in that time. That amounts to over 100 damage, on top of a possible Life Transfer and Life Siphon and however many times the Ancient Skales attacked you. I have died under similar circumstances, and have learned that a few extra seconds to scan the wandering patterns can save you that platinum.

If it gets nerfed, so be it. I won't mind, and I hope no one else does. Had I not shared it with everyone in the first place, then you wouldn't have shared in the profits in the first place. Whether or not I was the one to discover it, it didn't do a whole lot of good to keep it hidden. I mainly do it for the thrill, and loading up on the shards for my friends. Ultimately I hope it creates a slew of better warriors since unlike the griffons and 55 monks it actually takes time to understand the fundamentals of it all. Watching your aggro, when to heal... it's an excellent tutorial as well as a nice farming spot.

As a side note, zoom in to the first person like view and look at the chests first. If they're purple, don't open them. The consensus from some players I've talked to is that they will only drop purple items if they're that colour. I have a screenshot which I'll post later so you can be on the lookout for them.

And again, thanks for all the positive feedback and I hope everyone continues to enjoy this.

The times I have been killed is when a skale gets to close while I am engaging driftwoods, then I pretty much know it's over lol. I am standing outside the tunnel right now though, so all I had to do was get familiar with the safe spots and avoiding skales while fighting driftwoods

it's important not to aggro any of the skales, as that will ensure your death if you are also fighting other things (most times, even if you're not). sometimes, it's good to just sit at the safe spots and watch the skale movements for a while. once you have figured out their patrol areas, decide on your route.

if you're having trouble at the entrance, you can let the shadows fight the driftwood/dryders/skales. i found out by accident as i had a pretty bad spawn on one run. when i decided to just gun it and run in, i found them fighting each other, leaving me free.

on another note, i will confirm that the run is doable with a hammer. however, i won't bother posting the build because it takes a lot longer and is more trouble than it's worth. you also have to be a lot more careful since you are missing 16 AL from a shield and attack slower. the general strategy is the same anyway, with a few skills switched for the appropriate weapon. i did it for fun, but those who do it for farming are better off using a sword or axe.

i also tried "i will survive" and it turned out pretty well. it's a good skill to halt the degen for a bit.

next up: figure out how to kill the skales. care to join, ract?

I mean that sometimes the skales totally block the route and there is no way to get past them without dying. But i guess i just have to outrun them.

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This picture is from a while back from a thread in the screenshot exposition. I covered up the skill tab because at that time I was keeping the build hidden. I can assure you however, that the skills on the tab are identical to what I posted here.

Now, Racthoh, I'm sure this is a very good tactic but I would very much like you to answer one question: Am I supposed to kill skales or not?

I wasted close to 4 plats, thinking I was to kill skales, but I kept on dying at the entrance. I know not to fight 2 groups at one time, but 3 skales kill me utterly. I couldn't even get one to 50% health without dying.

So am I just supposed to run past them?

i don't doubt that you can take the skales out with the current build, and the ss proves that you actually can. i guess my question would be how consistently do you do it?

i've always ended my runs with the skales. each time, i can last a bit longer but the degen eventually catches up to me. i may just be timing my heals improperly. a few more tries might help me get the timing right.

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Lol, thank you Sentao.

Guess I'll just do that then.

running past them is probably best unless you are sure that you can kill them.

thanks for the build and ideas Racthoh, I now have something to do!

I also found out a while back that you can kill groups of 8 (maybe up to 10), Ice Imps in Ice Floe with Dolyak Signet/Watch Yourself!/Healing Signet and then your choice of attacks..

just a little idea since America has been lacking in the favor department lately..

Do not kill the skales under any circumstance unless you're looking for a challenge afterwards.

Good?

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thanks a lot for posting about this, ive been having a lot of fun fighting there


for those of you who want to take on the skales may i suggest the lieutenant helm from denravi, cuts hex duration in half, i use it to run through them but i imagine it would be helpful to fight them as well

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Ack, I knew I remembered crafting one of those helms for a reason. That would REALLY help against those skales. 8 less health from my Healing Signet, but 6 less seconds of massive degeneration.

Great idea!

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hm...everytime i get to the spiders...I seem to die really fast and have no idea why. Do I need to have superior absorption to do it, because I am taking a lot of dmg from their normal hits. I have a +5 axe grip too, so I don't know why I am taking so much dmg from normal spider hits and their called shots. Maybe I'm too hesitant and I don't go up to them fast enough with my shouts? I don't know, but do most of you guys use a superior vig and absorp?

I use both major vigor/sup, shield got -2dam, ascalon give -x dam too. With signet and Shout you're getting 0 dam or at ost 1-2.

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The last few times I've been showing some people how to do this, they have generally been making the same mistake. They would never use the Healing Signet until they were nearly dead, which is never a good idea. Watch the video again, you'll notice that I'm using the Healing Signet quite often, pretty much as soon as my health dips below 200 which usual only happens when I'm trying to finish off a spider. Make sure you're using a max defense shield, and if you can get one either a Grognar's Defender or the collectors crimson carapace in the desert.

I can show you in game in you'd like, but I'm still trying to get through some others so just gimme a shout.

agreed.

it's important for you to always keep your health up. use healing sig often to keep it up, but always be sure that you have dolyak + watch yourself or shield's up + watch yourself up when using it. personally, i never like seeing my health dip below the halfway mark.

also, i doubt that you really need a superior absorption. it has already been mentioned, but i will reiterate that knight's/ascalon + a major absorption is enough. also, having the shields that racthoh mentioned helps. one thing that people should know is that you should use sprint even when you're not running. i use it in the middle of fighting the spiders just to activate the -2 dmg +45 hp on my shield.

lately, i've been cutting my runs short because i have decided to take on the skales. call me crazy or suicidal, if you will. ract, how consistently can you take the skales out?

Well I think there is a certain pattern that if followed can ensure success everytime. I recall the first few times I tried it, I would die because of Grenth's Balance (damn those two elite carrying monsters, why can't they be as easy as the driftwoods). Sometimes I can kill a few groups, sometimes not even one. I haven't tried it with the Denravi helm, but I'm sure it will probably help quite a bit.

Basically, you have a 15 second timeframe to kill them in before Grenth's Balance recharges, and more often than not when they use that skill you'll be around 100 health with Life Transfer and Life Siphon on you. If the Life Transfer currently on you was cast by the one you're attacking, look at it's remaining life and determine whether or not you could kill it before the Life Transfer would kill you. Ideally, once its life nears those final points, keep a Final Thrust ready (if using a sword) to pretty much kill it after it uses Grenth's Balance. Remember, you'll have just over 100 health and probably experiencing 10 pips of degeneration... good freaking luck.

try this with w/n its crazy EZ

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I actually used W/R and dumped attributes into Wilderness to be able to use Troll Unguent.

Get this...i tanked 3 skales while fighting 6 driftwood!! O.o

As soon as the Driftwood died, i walked to the skales to take them out. BIG MISTAKE. That little lapse in time to walk to the skale cost me too much degen and killed me before signet took effect. But i was happy i was able to tank LIFE TRANSFER. @.@

Dolyak signet is one of the most underused skills in the game: free, little cooldown and cannot be dispelled or interrupted.

I usually use it to farm Hydras and jades (wild blow=no stances), but i've never thought to use it in FoW.

So thanks a lot for sharing all these informations.

I don't think they will nerf this, because is not easy and still requires some time, but is *really* funny.

That's me after my first complete run (4th try...damn skales):




Thanks again, Racthoh

can someone show me what to do once i get in fow to get past the shadows and skales? ill pay the entrance fee
. i just keep on dying

My last run was finally a sucess, but at the expense of my entire night. It took me two and a half hours to clear it, but goddamnit, I DID!

There were 2 groups of skales in a path just on the first ramp, and there was no permanent safe spot on the entire beach. The skales were speard out that badly. When I managed to kill the dryders, the Spiders came down, and the hell began.

No matter how far one wandered, ALL of the spiders would come after me. At one point, there was one that was so far off, the others were almost off the radar. Hit it once, and boom, all of them come after me. That part alone took me two hours. Cruised through thr rest of the tunnel, after killing the originals one by one, and fleeing after each one.

For all my time, I got a gold chaos axe (req11, 13 hexed... MERCHED), and a bunch of legs. I'll try again, but it might not be the best way to make money (IMO), but it is damn fun/exhilerating.