air mephits - aggravatingly effective...

[dunklezhan]

ok so I know these gribblies aren't actually that tough. However, couple them with, say, large earth elementals and they become... a nightmare. Even on normal, which is where our party nearly got our rears handed to us yesterday in Tame the Flames in house K. Yes, we're all new players. Maybe we're n00bs as well as newbs. But still:

Has anyone got any useful tips for dealing with them - more specifically stopping them using the disorient effect on you? Its only a short lived blind, but its enough for any adds they have with them to stomp on you quite effectively. Excellent encounter building, exactly the sort of thing I'd do as a GM... but aggravating nonetheless. what save is it? preventative buffs that would work?

Its doesn't seem worth popping a remove blindness potion/spell as the effect is so short lived that it would be over by the time you drank/cast it, and there's so many of the durned things that you'd remove the effect only for the next one to hit you with another one, let alone the Plat/SP cost.

In my newbishness, what have I missed please?

[Talon_Moonshadow]

IMO that is the toughest fight in that quest.

Bring lots of healing pots.

Fight with your back in a corner, so they cannot get behind you.

Shield block and heal up as needed.

Keep swinging as they seem to fade in and out, turn invis, summon more...all kind of dirty tricks they like to pull.


BTW, the back in a corner trick, and having your own healing will allow you to handle most tough fights in the game. Add a couple rez clickies to call for backup. And Displacment and Stoneskin self buffs....and a paralyser.
You'll be surprised how long you can last against a superior army of monsters.

[Runaway]

I only had to read your first sentence and 1 thought popped up into my mind: Taming the Flames!

There's one particularly deadly room (right right from the entrance I think), which instantly overwhelmed me the first time I did it (solo). The final fight at the boss is hard as well, but by then I had learned my lesson.

My way around it was not to fight the air+earth elementals head on, but to pull them to the central room and fight them inside the lava. I was able to kill them faster than they would catch up, making for an easy fight. I also had 20 fire resistance, which was enough to entirely negate the lava damage there, the elementals on the other hand were getting burned. In a team I suppose you could pick a good ambush spot for the team and have one person pull to there. As long as you kill fast enough you will have the numerical advantage and noone will be getting surrounded/swamped by them.

[dunklezhan]

IMO that is the toughest fight in that quest.

Bring lots of healing pots.

Fight with your back in a corner, so they cannot get behind you.

All good tips I regularly forget about ;) (well, I remember to BRING healing pots. Remembering to USE them though...)


Shield block

Tricky as a monk. Unarmed blocking not very effective


and heal up as needed.

See previous comment. But yes. *writes on forehead 'DRINK HEALING POTS NOOB!' and sticks mirror to monitor*


Keep swinging as they seem to fade in and out, turn invis, summon more...all kind of dirty tricks they like to pull.

This one I was already doing! Just depressing seeing missmissmissmiss scrolling up your screen through the whiteout.


BTW, the back in a corner trick, and having your own healing will allow you to handle most tough fights in the game.

*writes out a hundred times: "I WILL back into a corner and drink heal pots and you can call me susan if it isn't so"


Add a couple rez clickies to call for backup. And Displacment and Stoneskin self buffs....and a paralyser.


All of those are... quite difficult to get as a new player of only L8. But if you're on Argo, and offering to hand out a bunch of those effects on handwraps to me... :)


You'll be surprised how long you can last against a superior army of monsters.

Au contraire, mon ami - you'll be surprised at how quickly I can die against a totally inferior number of monsters. :D

But in all seriousness, you make good points, most which which I know really and if I just remember to adhere to them would I'm sure do much better. I was hoping for a magic bullet, but I should've known better, I s'pose!

thanks for taking the time n'all, Talon.

[SirAggravator]

I'm not sure a blindness ward item would help as those only work for blindness spells usually (and not for physically blinding effects like glitterdust). I'm guessing it's a fort save.

I recently ran a level 8 cleric solo through this to collect winter coins- average gear and no twink items - got all optionals too (and 16 coins).
I found Freedom of movement is handy to prevent earthgrab. Positioning yourself between a wall and a flame jet will also cause massive damage to the earthies and the air mephits. I used a lot of the environment to cause damage whilst I just blocked. Make sure you have electric and fire resists - 20 points where possible..
Also Earth ellies have low will saves and can be commanded or hypnotised readily.

[BurningDownTheHouse]

Use blindes immunity item. It wont stop the screen from turnning black, but it will prevent the other effects of blindness (50% miss chance, -4 to hit, -4 ac, auto flanked).

Use electric resistance against their cone damage.

If you have a caster in the group, use croud control (web and hypnotism or hypnotic pattern work well there).

If you have a cleric, use command.

[BurningDownTheHouse]

I'm not sure a blindness ward item would help as those only work for blindness spells usually (and not for physically blinding effects like glitterdust). I'm guessing it's a fort save.


As I said above, it will prevent all the negative effects of blindness except the visual effect (the same goes for the glitterdust effect).

[Elmaster_Thay]

I remember that one. My party wiped there the first time we went on that quest a few months ago.

There are several monsters on the game that will mess your sight without any way to prevent it, like the Inevitable later. But they do not mess your minimap, combat log or hearing. I tipically use that to fight back, just position yourself back to a wall and hack away. If you are hitting you should be able to hear it and see it on the log.

I love how this game has this low level "lesson quests" that will teach you something about the tactics you need to progress on the game. Kobold Assault teaches about resource managment, Irestone Inlet is the first quest on normal where "get the caster first!" is painfully scorched into the mind (and characters) of the new players. And this quest (and proof is in the poison) teaches about the value of a permanent resist item vs potions and spells!

[dunklezhan]

Sigh. The list of 'must-have' items gets longer and longer, and my bag space and plat-count gets less and less...

At L8 I'm already getting told I need:

A blindness ward (white out or not, its the missing that's the problem. I could even see vague shapes through the white - if I hadnt' had the modifiers I'd've had those mephits no worries).
A deathward/deathblock item
Immune to disease (got that as a monk already at least, but my other characters, not so much)
Immune to poison (not got that yet as a monk, so that's a 'need'...)
Paralyzer
Vorpal too!
Better have an elemental burst item of each type just to be on the safe side
multiple robes because AC is apparently meaningless within a couple of levels or so anyway (though, as a monk, I *already* had multiple robes...)
at least medium fortification
permanent featherfall
item of water action
Rez item
Stoneskin & displacement clickies or pots (assuming you can get them on pots?), which seemingly I'll have to use frequently, so I'll need many pots, which no doubt are not remotely cheap at this level without a Higher level character to finance me
Haste item! lets not forget the haste item!
Non-standard caster level energy resist pots or a caster who can cast same at L7 or higher.
And I also need items of +many to my core stats, which as a monk (in this case) are Str, Dex, Wis and Con.

Putting aside all the different weapons, that's already way more slots than I have available, so I'll have to carry everything all around with me all the time until I've learned what's in each quest, assuming I can actually get them all in the first place. Then, because I don't really want to end up taking off a vital core-stat item mid fight what I really need is items which have stat bonuses PLUS one of the above effects, or to plan my gear to make sure there's little to no overlap and...

Gah. I've gone cross eyed.

Guess I'll just pick up what I can, keep my back to the wall and swing wildly, hoping a casters' CC spell goes off in a timely manner...

:)

On a less hysterical note, thanks for all the tips. I really will try to find a blind-immunity item, that sounds very useful even if the screen will still white-out. I will prod my caster friends to learn some charm-type spells and ensure they always have a resist or two available, even if only on wands. Heck, I'll buy 'em the wands myself, its the most cost effective way, after all.

[Kaldahr]

It wont stop the screen from turnning black,

You're 100% sure of this? Only reason that I ask is that I've been soloing in there the past few days and I'm wearing blindness ward goggles and never been blinded on 5 or 6 runs, normal and hard. I just don't think it's possible that I was making every save - my saves just aren't that high and I know that I'm being hit by the mephits. I've also not been blinded at any other point since equipping those goggles.

As mentioned above, the central room works well. If you can kite a few of them back and jump to the left where there's a gap in the path to the tunnel mouth, the mephits don't seem to be able to follow you (I've not tested this thoroughly) across that gap. You can then range away without too much problem. Keep in mind that you can still get earthgrabbed from there.

[Draccus]

Mephits are my most hated mob in the game. Yes, I hate them more than Air Elementals (even before they were neutered).

I mainly hate them because of their sound. I have four kids and the last thing I need to be reminded of OVER AND OVER AND OVER is the sound of a baby puking.

The second thing, and the thing that makes the sound grate my nerves even more, is the fact that mephits are the most overused mob in the game. I think they are hard-coded into the dungeon design software that Turbine uses. The software sees an empty room and says "Oh no. We can't have that. Add mephits!" They are everywhere! They are in quest after quest after quest in places they don't belong.

There are mephits on the beach in Three Barrel Cove?!?

What distorted sense of logic are the designers using to justify putting freakin' mephits EVERYWHERE???

"Hey, I bet that room is dusty...Perfect place for some DUST mephits!"

"Oooh...lava...can't have lava without FIRE mephits!"

"Hmm...is it chilly in here to you? It is? ICE mephit time!!"

"This hill is a bit barren. No fire around. Not dusty. Not cold. I have the strongest desire to put a mephit here but I can't justify it...oh..wait...there's AIR there, isn't there?!?"

(wow...not sure where that rant came from...)

[Cedwin]

Sigh. The list of 'must-have' items gets longer and longer, and my bag space and plat-count gets less and less...


That's why we get 5 bags.

If you solo as a monk, you should have different outfits as well. On mine I carry greater resistance of each elemental type for a "just in case" moment.

One of those moments happened a few days ago. During Enter the Kobald (level 17 quest). Somehow the fire elementals and mephits ended up going through the opening by the shrine and wiping out the entire party. I died down in the room with only the Efreeti left, and he was half dead. I popped a rez cake, put on my greater fire resist outfit, and beat him down, completing the quest. If I didn't have that outfit, there's no way we could have completed it.

[Missing_Minds]

A blindness ward You will find this one to be rather worth while IMO. Beats having to chug pots when you actually get
blinded."
A deathward/deathblock item debatable on the deathblock. I normally just let the dice roll. There is a deathward clicky (1 click) as a possible named reward out of the Tangleroot set. Now that sucker is definitely worth having. You are lucky in the fact it binds to account now.
Immune to disease (got that as a monk already at least, but my other characters, not so much) Easy to find, just put it on in quests where you are going to get hit with it.
Immune to poison (not got that yet as a monk, so that's a 'need'...) Pots of Remove Poison work just as well.
Paralyzer Useful at low levels. Not much DPS, but if you are TWF, very handy, or in clusters the para is your friend. Paras should be used with different tactics than nomal hit the mob.
Vorpal too! You get one when you get one. If you noticed that you normally don't roll 20s for squat, may not be worth the plat as you are starting out.
Better have an elemental burst item of each type just to be on the safe side
multiple robes because AC is apparently meaningless within a couple of levels or so anyway (though, as a monk, I *already* had multiple robes...) Bursts are cute for numbers, that is about it. The only "NEED" is fire/acid for trolls/scrags. Beyond that I find shock/acid to be great multi purpose hitters, and an ice because of so many fire creatures. AC, unless you put in the grind does become pointless at the upper levels. The point of change is about desert archers/gianthold region.
at least medium fortification And when you can, Heavy is a must. You can get a heavy fort necklace doing the adamantine ore grind in Black Anvil Nights. Quest giver in house D, quest in house K. I forget if it is f2p or not.
permanent featherfall Highly useful. Or really bump up your tumble depending.
item of water action They do sell pots of this for those quests when you need it, but the items are great for when you REALLY need it.
Rez item UMD scrolls, or you will be farming the Shroud raid, or if you are good aligned, one of the Titan pre req quests. Personally, I don't find it worth the grind.
Stoneskin & displacement clickies or pots No pots. Stoneskin comes on wand, scroll, and clicky. displacment comes on one lvl 18 item I can think of. Unless you are a UMDer, I wouldn't worry about it at your level. But if your arcane can use them, it is a life saver. There are easy to get items that will grant a 10% miss chance that are easy to get that are a perm while wearing effect. A little is better than none, but I wouldn't worry about it a whole lot.
Haste item! lets not forget the haste item! Personal Opinion. If you need haste that bad, you need better skills.
Non-standard caster level energy resist pots or a caster who can cast same at L7 or higher. I find a set of greater resist clothing to be better, fire cold and lighting being key. acid and sonic for the most part you'll be fine with pots.
And I also need items of +many to my core stats, which as a monk (in this case) are Str, Dex, Wis and Con.

Yeah.. you'll want stat item stuff.

[Kaervas]

Use blindes immunity item. It wont stop the screen from turnning black, but it will prevent the other effects of blindness (50% miss chance, -4 to hit, -4 ac, auto flanked).

Blindness Ward will stop the screen turning black when you get blinded.

What it does not stop is the screen turning foggy from the direct vision impairment of cloud/fog effects, which are unrelated really since they don't cause the actual blindness effect aside from Glitterdust which has a blindness effect that can be saved against. Even if you are immune, the cloud effect still applies -40 hide to you without a save and turns the screen golden and shiny from the dust.


RE: the air mephit and earth elemental combo in Taming the Flames

If you have freedom of movement, a great reflex save, or are warforged, and otherwise will not get earthgrabbed, just kite the entire bunch of junk through the nearby lava. You should have fire resistance when doing that dungeon, so regular lava should not deal you too much hurt (avoid the lavaspouts and any 'deep' lava).
It will make that annoying pack of creatures very easy compared to the usual tactic of dancing in and out of the earth elemental's range when they crouch down to earthgrab, and just duking it out with the air mephits.
Blindness ward is still important to avoid the disorient though, so you can see where you're running in the lava. The air mephits also sneak attack (which is one reason why their blindness effect hurts so much, suddenly all of them are getting automatic sneak attacks).

[dunklezhan]

Yeah.. you'll want stat item stuff.

:)

Everything else you've said regarding those items marries up loosely with my opinion. And I don't need Haste that badly. But I've seen plenty of people (at least on the forums) who believe if haste isn't up then the fight clearly isn't ready to start yet...

I'm deliberately not bothering with UMD on this character. I plan to be friends with many clerics and mages :)

[BurningDownTheHouse]

You're 100% sure of this? Only reason that I ask is that I've been soloing in there the past few days and I'm wearing blindness ward goggles and never been blinded on 5 or 6 runs, normal and hard. I just don't think it's possible that I was making every save - my saves just aren't that high and I know that I'm being hit by the mephits. I've also not been blinded at any other point since equipping those goggles.

As mentioned above, the central room works well. If you can kite a few of them back and jump to the left where there's a gap in the path to the tunnel mouth, the mephits don't seem to be able to follow you (I've not tested this thoroughly) across that gap. You can then range away without too much problem. Keep in mind that you can still get earthgrabbed from there.

You might be right, I might have mixed it with their obscuring mist efect...
Ither way it prevents the worst of it.