[Spoiler] Ascalonian Catacombs

[Tasha]

Wondered what everyone thought about their trip through the catacombs, especially in relation to dungeons in other games. I haven't done a lot of them.

Also how you got on fighting the lovers? My skills to push enemies didn't work on them so it was more of a scrap than a fight :/

[Eki]

I couldn't KD the male, worked against the female though. I tried meleeing him, but I took way too much damage towards then end (think he got mad or something?) with all the additional illusionary mages. So I ended up using the longbow insted. The female went down easy enough.

I really enjoyed the dungeon and the challenge. It was hard, IMHO, as it should be when doing it for the first time around. The beginning I found to be the hardest part, especially when you had to fight several lvl30 ghosts at once in a tight space. We may have also accidentally interacted with the sarcophagi (sp??), spawning additional foes. We struggled at the beginning, but it got easier towards the end with improving teamwork and targeting.

In some other MMOs I've tried, some monsters that are meant to be tough means they just have a crapload of hit points but deal no real damage. So it really came down to just beating them slowly down and yawning. This was not the case in the dungeon though, the monsters hit hard! Loved it!!

[Timmeey]

I (again) agree with with Eki. That dungeon was challenging but I liked that (except Adalbern was a disappointment...he went down SO quick). I found the rewards a bit unsatisfying though..I didn't really get anything that good out of it, the final reward being for level 35, getting that at level 30 is kinda frustrating (..only 4 levels to go, yay!).
The lovers were the hardest encounter..I died like 2 times fighting them xD
I couldn't push back the bosses either..I think that's intentional

[ranjit33]

I loved the way the dungeon's learning curve. I've learned as much about my elementalist in those two hours as in all the hours in normal PvE before.

I have to agree though that Adelbern was a bit too easy.

Concerning the pair of bosses (Ele and Mesmer), I seem to remember a Video with TotalBiscuit that explained that one is supposed to separate the two bosses. This can be achieved, since the ante chamber(s?) can be sealed by removing the stones from the pressure plates.

[Lazarus]

For me, it was hard at first, too. We where so overwhelmed by the foes sheer firepower in the beginning, we stopped using vent to communicate. But right from the start, even though foes where really tough, it somehow felt awesome, almost epic.
There was constant struggle, and sometimes almost too much opposition, but we prevailed and always came through with the party alive, most people didn't even loose any armor pieces at all. RJ and I where eles, and we got downed every now and then, but none of us ever when out completely, there was always someone to res, or we could retreat far enough to rally up.
The teamplay learning-curve was what amazed me the most, though. We stumbled over each others feet in the first chamber, several people trying to trigger the next foe at once, but then it got really smooth and in the end we were the perfect 5 component asura war golem going on rampage on an - admittedly too weak - King Adelbern.

Regarding the Lovers: I found them challenging, but not much more so actually than the others. Nente summoned tough wolves, Blackblood had tons of minions and her mean firewall. I understand we eles with sever AoE possibilities payed not enough attention to the Mesmer illusions, we should have dispatched them faster, but they never really bothered me.

The only thing that needs more practice - but that's no wonder - is to recognize and react to other players support skills. I cast my healing AoEs several times on party members with low health, but they of course dodged an effect they understandably perceived to be hostile in the heat of battle. The earth attunement -> arcane shield -> res technique worked very well in the dungeon, though, so even if the healing failed, the ressing went well. XD

[Tasha]

Re what you said about support skills Laz, I've noticed that a lot. I cast Geyser on someone who's low health, and then they move out the way XD It'd be nice I think if healing/regen AoE had a blue ring.

[Lazarus]

In fact, it has, but it's only very slightly blue, so it's easily confused with white. Although most hostile effects actually have a red ring and white is usually a damage AoE effect from the own team/side and thus also harmless.

[Eki]

Catacombs - revisited

During the stress test on June the 27th, we went for another tour in the Ascalonian Catacombs. I think we had the exact same people with us than the first time around during the last BWE.

I must say, it was a LOT easier the second time around. Basically, we didn't have any trouble now except for the 2 spots I've marked in the map below. We were more organised and worked better as a group, bringing foes down one at a time using the targeting system, while being careful not to trigger any additional spawns. It looked like we were also starting to recognize the buffing/healing effects other people lay around and were better at dodging than before. At least it seemed like we were taking a lot less damage than in the last BWE. Or maybe it's all in my head

In the below map are marked (with yellow stars) the parts I think are easily the toughest spots in the entire dungeon (story mode). Clicking the spoiler will reveal the catacombs map so please avoid it if you want to explore it for yourself. Yo dawg we hurd you liek spoilers so we put a spoiler in ur spoiler!

Show Spoiler

1) I'd hardly call this a "trash" mob. Both times we did the dungeon it was a well balanced group with 1 monk, 1 warrior and 1 ele. They hurt. A lot. Not much space to dodge out of the AoE, either. This is were we lost a member or two on both runs. Maybe they could be lured out 1 by 1 to the room where you fight the 1 monk and 1 elementalist. We shall know in the next BWE

2) These rangers are nasty. They'll snare you, and they'll poison you. Again and again. And again. They are very good at shooting you to the knee. On top of all that, they do a fair amount of damage and interrupt with a KD shot of sorts. Not too much space to move around. There is an additional spawn location too, so if you're not careful you could find yourself fighting 4 enemies instead of just the 3 rangers. The spawn seems to be random, yesterday it was a warrior while during the BWE it was a monk. There might be other spawns around, but this is the one we noticed and promptly dealt with both times in the dungeon.

I don't know if the other party members (RJ, Laz, Timmmeey and Carlo(?)) changed their utilities much for this tour. I gave my utility skill slots a complete overhaul, focusing on buffing allies with shouts and banners while attacking with the bow from afar. Worked quite nicely I think! First time around I was more focused on snares and KD and favored the greatsword. The latter setup was vastly superior in and for our group.

We also applied some advanced trickery on the Lovers this time, separating them and trapping one of them in a hallway behind a door. S/He teleported out of the trap after a while though. Could be the trick needs to be repeated in order to keep them separated.

Well that's the short battle report I thought I'd make, can't wait for another tour in the dunjun
Thanks to the participants, had a great time again.

Edit: We also went for 2nd run with the good TLS folks and Puppy (sorry I just don't remember your RL name ). When we reached the rangers at 2, we lost 1 member to an RL emergency leaving us struggling with 4 people. It was hard with a handicapped group, but we did manage to complete the dungeon Altough the fight vs The Lovers took a long, long time. *Cheers to Katya, Tim and Puppy*

[Lazarus]

Thanks for this detailed report!

[Timmeey]

I don't know if the other party members (RJ, Laz, Timmmeey and Carlo(?)) changed their utilities much for this tour. I gave my utility skill slots a complete overhaul, focusing on buffing allies with shouts and banners while attacking with the bow from afar. W

I did the same with my utilities, I took in all of my spirits, which have a passive effect that buffs the group and active effects, I also used my bow most of the time, just the greatsword was just for knocking out single enemies.


p.s.
two "m" in "Timmeey" are enough eki =P

[Eki]

two "m" in "Timmeey" are enough eki =P

O' hokay dokay

[Lazarus]

p.s.
two "m" in "Timmeey" are enough eki =P

There you got awarded an extra 'm' and then you go and refuse it...

[Timmeey]

p.s.
two "m" in "Timmeey" are enough eki =P

There you got awarded an extra 'm' and then you go and refuse it...

I feel uneasy being rewarded an extra "m"...I'm more of a modest person...