The Future of Hydra farming my w/mo riposte build

dont feel no pain

dont feel no pain

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Uk,Wales

glad its going well, lol after the removel of the griff's this build sure has kicked off

Chaos Eryx

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Sep 2005

Death Destruction Domination

W/Mo

Build works awesome....I changed a few things for my expirementing...

Flurry
Riposte
Deadly riposte
Healing Hands {elite}
Doylak signet
Vigorous spirit
Mending
Balthazars spirit

Seems to work well for me..8 hydra is all I could get to aggro. I'm going troll hunting in my next adventure!

pbspectre

pbspectre

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Oct 2005

Oral's Chosen

W/Mo

is anyone actually getting any decent drops from the hydras?...i've been running this build for a week now and have had 2 purples and 0 golds drop in that time between Augury hyrdas and Mahgo hydras...

don't get me wrong, it's a great build (took 8 hydras pretty easy), but the hydra drops are crap...even worse than trolls...

Murder In China

Murder In China

Banned

Join Date: Sep 2005

/B/Chan

Looking for one

W/

Hydras never really did give you great drops only gold.

TheFungalYokamVirus

Academy Page

Join Date: Mar 2006

Tyria

nice build... good thing i found this, with my current build im only able to take on 3 hydras. does this work on hydras in ring of fire islands?

regarding the crappy drops, i think it occurs when we kill the same monsters all the time... i always alternate where i farm, im able to find rare most of the time

lambda the great

lambda the great

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Nov 2005

here

Almost a Guild

W/N

Yes, I imagine it could.

dont feel no pain

dont feel no pain

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Uk,Wales

well acauly I got like alot of good wepeons from them , more than i had from troll's

Empirism

Empirism

Academy Page

Join Date: Apr 2005

Long live and live vicariously, very nice build. good work

hf

cryoes

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jan 2006

Nice build, its good to see someone still sticking to W/Mo instead of going to W/Me or W/N. Right now I am able to take on 12 hydra's using my W/Me build and i can also take them down pretty fast. If I get bored I'll give your build a try.

pbspectre

pbspectre

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Oct 2005

Oral's Chosen

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFungalYokamVirus
does this work on hydras in ring of fire islands? yup...mahgo's aren't really even a challenge if you kite them until they cast Meteor Shower, then pull them away from it...even if they hit you with it, you can out-heal the dmg with flurry/live vic/vig spirit as long as you have dolyak and defy pain up...just make sure you don't pull a phantom in the same group as the mahgo's...blind = no healing...no healing = death...

as far as alternating spots, i alternate between trolls, augury, perdition, and elona...still haven't gotten a gold from hyrdas, though..

vancha

vancha

Academy Page

Join Date: Sep 2005

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by pbspectre
yup...mahgo's aren't really even a challenge if you kite them until they cast Meteor Shower, then pull them away from it...even if they hit you with it, you can out-heal the dmg with flurry/live vic/vig spirit as long as you have dolyak and defy pain up...just make sure you don't pull a phantom in the same group as the mahgo's...blind = no healing...no healing = death...

as far as alternating spots, i alternate between trolls, augury, perdition, and elona...still haven't gotten a gold from hyrdas, though.. Ive only gotten 2 golds from hydras and none from the mahgo hydra

robitusinz

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2006

W/Mo

I just finished trying this build out last night. It works stupendously. The real trick to it is using Dolyak Signet at the right moment. If you do it from too far out, your health drops to dangerous levels before you're able to start slashing away.

Proposed variant:

Flurry
Riposte
Deadly Riposte
Defy Pain {E}
Dolyak Signet
Vigorous Spirit --> Switch to Cyclone Axe
Live Vicariously
Balthazar's Spirit

I've found Vigorous Spirit to be rather superfluous, and I don't miss it at all when I forget to cast it. Between Dolyak Signet, and a total of -6 Absorption (easily attainabile: -2 from Knight Boots, -2 from Major Absorption Rune, and -2 from Crimson Carapace Shield), plus Defy Pain and Live Vicariously, I never have health problems once the actual hacking and slashing begins.

If one wanted to take the trouble to quickly switch to Axe for a Cyclone, then swap back to Sword for Ripostes while Cyclone cools down, it could get pretty insane, especially if you put a Zealous mod on the Axe. Plus, it's possible also to move a few points from Strength (and maybe Tactics) in order to increase Axe Mastery, so that Cyclone deals out some significant damage when you use it. I haven't tested this theoritical modification yet, but I figure an 18 second Dolyak as opposed to a full 20 second one, and slightly less health from Defy Pain, could be worth having some competent Axe Mastery that would allow for quicker kills.

All in all, great job in making this build and thanks for sharing it. My brain is definitely not as creative, and I much appreciate the spark of brilliance.

Reve2uk

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2005

W/N

i normel get on average 1 gold everytime i farm all the hydras and griffons outside augry and after i sell all the items i get i normel make about 5-7k per run, and with a run lasting 20-30mins max its a fast way to make money

best i have got was a max gold falchon req12, +14% enchanted, +5 armor always, furious 9/10

i use a W/E

krytas

krytas

Academy Page

Join Date: Dec 2005

Mississagua, Ontario, Canada

Quote:
Originally Posted by pbspectre
is anyone actually getting any decent drops from the hydras?...i've been running this build for a week now and have had 2 purples and 0 golds drop in that time between Augury hyrdas and Mahgo hydras...

don't get me wrong, it's a great build (took 8 hydras pretty easy), but the hydra drops are crap...even worse than trolls... Well this is my best drop

no pic of drop, but if you wanna believe or not thats up to you, but IT did drop for me.

dont feel no pain

dont feel no pain

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Uk,Wales

yeah even thought i havn't many drops i have had perfects off them

pbspectre

pbspectre

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Oct 2005

Oral's Chosen

W/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by robitusinz
I just finished trying this build out last night. It works stupendously. The real trick to it is using Dolyak Signet at the right moment. If you do it from too far out, your health drops to dangerous levels before you're able to start slashing away.

Proposed variant:

Flurry
Riposte
Deadly Riposte
Defy Pain {E}
Dolyak Signet
Vigorous Spirit --> Switch to Cyclone Axe
Live Vicariously
Balthazar's Spirit

I've found Vigorous Spirit to be rather superfluous, and I don't miss it at all when I forget to cast it. Between Dolyak Signet, and a total of -6 Absorption (easily attainabile: -2 from Knight Boots, -2 from Major Absorption Rune, and -2 from Crimson Carapace Shield), plus Defy Pain and Live Vicariously, I never have health problems once the actual hacking and slashing begins.

If one wanted to take the trouble to quickly switch to Axe for a Cyclone, then swap back to Sword for Ripostes while Cyclone cools down, it could get pretty insane, especially if you put a Zealous mod on the Axe. Plus, it's possible also to move a few points from Strength (and maybe Tactics) in order to increase Axe Mastery, so that Cyclone deals out some significant damage when you use it. I haven't tested this theoritical modification yet, but I figure an 18 second Dolyak as opposed to a full 20 second one, and slightly less health from Defy Pain, could be worth having some competent Axe Mastery that would allow for quicker kills.

All in all, great job in making this build and thanks for sharing it. My brain is definitely not as creative, and I much appreciate the spark of brilliance. meh...i doubt cyclone axe would be needed in this build...in order to use it to speed up kills by any significant amount, you would have to sacrifice quite a bit in some other area...i actually run 16str on this build and the 21 second dolyak is great...no worrying about getting hit with a bunch of damage in the second or two dolyak is down...

as far as Vig spirit, i find it really helps with larger groups...with +11 from live vic and +9 from vig spirit (healing@ 8 or 9), when you throw on flurry you can outheal some pretty large groups if you have all your defenses up...

robitusinz

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2006

W/Mo

This build takes
Healing 10 - 61 pts
Strength 15 (11+1+3) - 77 pts
Tactics 13 (10+3) - 61 pts

Total: 199 pts.

Needed for Axe Mastery 9, the usual requirement for an easily attainable, decently usable axe - 48 pts (runes would offset this)

If you dropped Strength by 2, Tactics by 1, and Healing by 1, you would have 55 attribute points leftover. That would leave you with Axe Mastery 9 + Smiting 3, which would help Balt's give 3 Adrenaline strikes per hit, instead of 2, hence faster Ripostes.

If you use a Vampiric Axe (the negative energy regen negated by the fact that you only use the axe for 1 second, at most), you get 3 * N health back, PLUS 9 * (N-1) EXTRA health from Live Vicariously that you wouldn't have gotten if you hadn't used Cyclone.

Say you're doing 6 Hydras...1 Cyclone just netted you 60 HP, and dealt out the equivalent of 1 Riposte worth's of damage to each Hydra around you. You can do this every 5 seconds, and it gets more efficient with more mobs. Considering you don't even need Vigorous Spirit for less than 4 mobs, it will never really beat out a Cyclone with a Vampiric Axe for healing, and it doesn't do the extra AoE damage that the Cyclone does.

The only problem may be Energy, with Cyclone competing w/ Flurry or D. Riposte for energy, but with enough mobs, the energy will come fast enough, and with few mobs, you won't need Cyclone, but you wouldn't have needed VS anyway either.

Oh, and dropping Str by 2 results in losing about 28 HP from Defy Pain, and the Dolyak Signet loses 2 seconds and 4 AL. You can factor that into how much value you give to the Cyclone. Level 9 Cyclone is +9 damage per hit.

dont feel no pain

dont feel no pain

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Uk,Wales

ok heres my drops from a hydra run (i didn't kill all of them) but i did kill most

came out as 4312 gold


weird thing was yesterday i was over my mates , first group few groups and i had 2 gold drops

Reve2uk

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2005

W/N

u normel kill the griffons as well?

robitusinz

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2006

W/Mo

DFNP, I see the circular route you took in that pic, and I'm wondering what your strategy is for clumping the hydras.

Most of the time, the hydras are in pairs, with just enough space between them such that you only aggro one group at a time. I find that makes for some inefficient killing, and doing the circular route that you pointed out can take rather long if you go killing them 2 by 2. So how do you clump them?

One thing that I personally tried was to go run into another group of hydras as soon as the first Dolyak runs out from the first group I was killing. In other words...aggro 2 hydras, hit Dolyak, wait for Dolyak's to drop, go aggro 2 more, hit Dolyak again (fighting 4 now). I actually cheer when extra hydras aggro on me.

So any tips on gathering groups?

krytas

krytas

Academy Page

Join Date: Dec 2005

Mississagua, Ontario, Canada

Quote:
Originally Posted by dont feel no pain
ok heres my drops from a hydra run (i didn't kill all of them) but i did kill most

came out as 4312 gold


weird thing was yesterday i was over my mates , first group few groups and i had 2 gold drops

you take the exact same route as me
Off topic: 300th post!

dont feel no pain

dont feel no pain

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Uk,Wales

Quote:
Originally Posted by robitusinz
DFNP, I see the circular route you took in that pic, and I'm wondering what your strategy is for clumping the hydras.

Most of the time, the hydras are in pairs, with just enough space between them such that you only aggro one group at a time. I find that makes for some inefficient killing, and doing the circular route that you pointed out can take rather long if you go killing them 2 by 2. So how do you clump them?

One thing that I personally tried was to go run into another group of hydras as soon as the first Dolyak runs out from the first group I was killing. In other words...aggro 2 hydras, hit Dolyak, wait for Dolyak's to drop, go aggro 2 more, hit Dolyak again (fighting 4 now). I actually cheer when extra hydras aggro on me.

So any tips on gathering groups? when you agroo a group you have about 2 secs to move to nother group before they're fireball/meteor hits you, + take a longbow , its realy good for pulling surrounding groups . and with doylak down you can always charge up defy pain , drag along with doylak on for a few secs to near hydra and if your health gets low defy pain and try to get to other hydra as fast as you can so your health is't below 300, then start slashing, i usualy take 5-10 hydra, skip the odd ones sometimes but 1 or 2 die realy fast aswell.

pink monster

pink monster

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Dec 2005

The Sarra and Chad Guild [Love]

W/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by robitusinz
So any tips on gathering groups? Personally I've gotten many sets of 15k and cash for pvp etc. off of mostly this strategy of high def + live vicariously/vig spirit type farming of hydra, and I have to say the best strategies for clumping hydra would be:

1. if you see a couple groups not too far apart run right between them so you have them on the very edge of your aggro circle; then aggro as many as you can by basically tapping each of them around you; often I can aggro like 3 groups this way before i need to slap on dolyak signet for the oncoming meteors

2. if theyre too far apart to do this or you're dying while trying to do this, simply aggro as much as you can w/o dying, then fight until vig spirit & liv vic up your health to max again, then run over to another group while dolyak signet has worn off (when it is about 3/4 recharged, it should be wearing off)~you can repeat this to get like 10 hydra on you at least if you really try.

Especially if you are using the cyclone axe version of this build (which is much hardier than the riposte build) you benefit by taking as many hydra on at once as you can, so this is important for upping the speed you have on these runs and ultimately the amount of money you're raking in. W/Cyclone axe you pay 5 energy to hit every hydra around you no matter how many there are, and you are'nt gonna die with this build unless you do something stupid because you have so much protection, so the more the merrier~ good luck

BTW of the builds I have tried for hydra farming I have to say the best skill set would be:

Cyclone Axe
Dolyak Signet
Watch Yourself
Defy Pain
Healing Breeze
Vigorous Spirit
Live Vicariously
Balthazar's Spirit

This build is also nice for aggroing many hydra because you can bring healing breeze; if you're not super-aggroing you dont really even need it, but if you are trying #2, you can slap on healing breeze just before dolyak runs out and you'll heal as you run to the next group; This way, even if you get knocked down by a meteor, you'll be healing already so it's not so dangerous. If you're still dying you should have enough time w/healing breeze to slap on dolyak sig; if you want you can fight up to full health and run again when it wears off again, letting you cover even more ground. good luck guys!

dont feel no pain

dont feel no pain

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Uk,Wales

Quote:
Originally Posted by Reve2uk
u normel kill the griffons as well? nope , was all from hydra

Parakleet

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2006

Mmm i may try the axe build since i already have the skills and an axe, but ill need defy pain anyways, where can i get this skill?

sh4ft3d

sh4ft3d

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2005

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...

Frank Ought To Monk [FotM]

W/

Frozen Forest, Orbhit Barkwood.

Thorath Of Krosa

Academy Page

Join Date: Jul 2005

Cornville,Arizona USA

Urban Storm Troopers [USTG] (Leader)

W/Mo

I know that this isnt really a riptose build here but how could I farm these things with an axe I wonder. I was thinking Balthazars Spirit Life Vicaciously And Vigerous Spirit for starters. Then Cyclone Axe and Glads D for damage output. Then Ill prolly put in something like Balanced Sance And Watch Yourself to just stay alive a little longer and stay on meh feet =]

dont feel no pain

dont feel no pain

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Uk,Wales

doylak sigit = your defence agains't hydra, crawl back a few pages there is a good cyclone axe build in here

Parakleet

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2006

Which skill trainer gives riposte and deadly riposte?

robitusinz

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2006

W/Mo

Deadly Riposte can be bought in Fisherman's Haven, just north of Sanctum Cay.

Riposte can be bought in Copperhammer Mines.

krytas

krytas

Academy Page

Join Date: Dec 2005

Mississagua, Ontario, Canada

Quote:
Originally Posted by robitusinz
Deadly Riposte can be bought in Fisherman's Haven, just north of Sanctum Cay.

Riposte can be bought in Copperhammer Mines. Or you can just buy them both from ember light camp

Reve2uk

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2005

W/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by dont feel no pain
nope , was all from hydra i normel kill them, there on route well kinda, and they sometimes drop alright

this is my build i use:

Healing signet
Bonneti's Defense
Watch Yourself
Dolyak Signet
Armor of Earth
Riposte
Deadly Riposte
Gladiator's Defense

haven't tried your build yet, didn't cap defy till soon think i will try it thou, haven't farmed W/mo in a long time

dont feel no pain

dont feel no pain

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Uk,Wales

Quote:
Originally Posted by Reve2uk
i normel kill them, there on route well kinda, and they sometimes drop alright

this is my build i use:

Healing signet
Bonneti's Defense
Watch Yourself
Dolyak Signet
Armor of Earth
Riposte
Deadly Riposte
Gladiator's Defense

haven't tried your build yet, didn't cap defy till soon think i will try it thou, haven't farmed W/mo in a long time you'd probably find my build more lay'd back since there is no sec wait for heal sigit and a bonneit's defence wait.

Alexi Jotun

Alexi Jotun

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

New York

Official SteamPowered Guild (Valves Valiant Tyrian Fighters, [VVTF])

Got any builds/tips for sand giants?

dont feel no pain

dont feel no pain

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Uk,Wales

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexi Jotun
Got any builds/tips for sand giants? 15 strength (+4)
13 tactics (+3)
10 healing

zealous sword of defence

flurry
riposte
gladiators defence
watchyourself/ heal sigit
doylak sigit
live vicously
vigerous spirit
sprint

Alexi Jotun

Alexi Jotun

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

New York

Official SteamPowered Guild (Valves Valiant Tyrian Fighters, [VVTF])

Quote:
Originally Posted by dont feel no pain
15 strength (+4)
13 tactics (+3)
10 healing

zealous sword of defence

flurry
riposte
gladiators defence
watchyourself/ heal sigit
doylak sigit
live vicously
vigerous spirit
sprint I was tooling a with a build kind of like that, but instead of glad's defense I have Healing Hands.

mine was:

Flurry
Riposte
healing hands {e}
Dolyak
healing breeze
mending
vig. spirit
bath. spirit

I should drop bath spirit and go for a zealous sword mod.

Alexi Jotun

Alexi Jotun

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2005

New York

Official SteamPowered Guild (Valves Valiant Tyrian Fighters, [VVTF])

I do "have" glads defense, but not at that time, lol i'm not a noob :x

dont feel no pain

dont feel no pain

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Uk,Wales

lol, yikes breeze in one costly spell, i would put in bonneit's if your taking that.

karuna the wisper

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Apr 2006

The Brotherhood Of Kai

R/

i use solid w/me build

ele resis
dollyak
WY
riposte
deadly riposte
VIM
heal sig
desperation blow

and strengt to att 15 to get the dollyak in 20 sec so u cant be knok down.... and i dont use heal sig. i spread conditions all around and use VIM so it is guite easy

dont feel no pain

dont feel no pain

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2005

Uk,Wales

got to say, im loving that w/mes build... but i miss flurry, it may be easier and more invincible, but may be slower