HOX failures since mod 9

[Rob_Nealand]

why is it everytime they change something in the game it makes some quests like next to impossible to complete. You can't intim the dogs in hound anymore and the big dog jumps ago all over the place. solid fog clickies don't work. Is the only way to hold any AGRO now is to have a pure hate tank? I have heard more complaints from guildies on failed runs on hox. now i see why. does anyone have a good fix or strategy to increase the success ratio for this one

[Meetch1972]

I hadn't noticed... just as good a successful run rate as before U9 here (on Ghallanda).

Last run I was in, momma broke free and tramped around on people a bit at the very start, but we recovered and made it. When all you're doing is running to a formula, it's not particularly exciting. Things like that make you live on the edge a little, and living on the edge is fun. :)

[ssg2wo]

It's more difficult now that vorpal has changed, but solid fog still works well. Intim took some time to get right though.

Did it on hard on Ghallanda

[Impaqt]

how come is it every mod that released, someone comes up with a thread like this complaining about a "change" that didnt happen?

[Der_Incubo]

Pre U9 i usually ran HoX on my bard and was usually told my the sole purpose of a bard is to pick up stones. I have even been yelled at for sprint boosting (barb splash) ahead and killing the bosses that drop the stones, so important was i that my self healing 580 hp bard could not be risked in battle. So i dont really have any experience tanking xyzzy in the old update.

Then the otherday i joined a PuG on my FvS (17/1figther) and lo and behold we had no intimitanks! (Thankfully we had a bard to grab stones) So i volunteered to do the tanking since i had a madstone shield and SF clickies in my inventory. Rather than try to tell a witty story ill just say it went fairly smooth. 2 of the dogs ran out, 1 of which died, the other was brought back into the SF and got back on me. The 3 dogs were charmed and the completion was had.

My FvS didnt use intim or threat generating gear. The PrE aura might have helped along with the solid fog, not really sure to be honest. So the only advice i guess i have for your guildies is to make sure the bard is gettin them stones!

[lugoman]

I didnt notice any difference pre or post u9. I was worried the longer intim wouldnt keep the big dog on me 100% of the time, but I didnt notice her turning on the puppies.

[azrael4h]

Since U9 I've been too busy to play much, but I did catch a HoX on my Paladin last night. Solid Fog still works, as two people running the circle caught puppy aggro, and had to run through the tank's SF clickie. It was as smooth a completion as I ever had doing the piker method. The two divine casters didn't even get down to half their bars.

[Bloodstealer]

why is it everytime they change something in the game it makes some quests like next to impossible to complete. You can't intim the dogs in hound anymore and the big dog jumps ago all over the place. solid fog clickies don't work. Is the only way to hold any AGRO now is to have a pure hate tank? I have heard more complaints from guildies on failed runs on hox. now i see why. does anyone have a good fix or strategy to increase the success ratio for this one

Rnning Hox maybe 3-4 times per week as usual, nothing to report about here.. all nice and easy, no dram,a no.. well nothing really, still the same boring pike raid with not much that can really go wrong... unless of course your tactics are bad, PUG is realyl aweful, or your meatshield/clerics werem't up to the job yet... not heard of any change to HOX only the way Intimi works... but I think thats a "time to adapt" kinda thing and maybe your runs haven't adapted to it as yet,... keep trying is all I can say really.

[Moltier]

why is it everytime they change something in the game it makes some quests like next to impossible to complete. You can't intim the dogs in hound anymore and the big dog jumps ago all over the place. solid fog clickies don't work. Is the only way to hold any AGRO now is to have a pure hate tank? I have heard more complaints from guildies on failed runs on hox. now i see why. does anyone have a good fix or strategy to increase the success ratio for this one

Since U9 i tanked her on my cleric, barbarian (both with solid fog), and on my intimi.
All successed easily. I heard the devs removed some bug. Thats the only change i know about.

[Sarisa]

Ran it last night, no issue at all. The tank didn't get his first Solid Fog up in time, so she ran after me, but he was able to get the fog up and I ran Mamma through without issue. He was able to intim the small dogs and hold Mamma with the fog.

[sweez]

How exactly does one "hate tank" Xyzzy, if I may enquire? :rolleyes:

Solid fog works exactly the same as it's always worked.

[Illiain]

Hound is the same as always. VOD was the cakewalk that became harder, if you were used to timmytanks and vorpaling trash. If you normally hatetanked and dps'ed VOD, then there's no change.

[Razcar]

My FvS didnt use intim or threat generating gear. The PrE aura might have helped along with the solid fog, not really sure to be honest.
The AoV aura should work the same as a Solid Fog really, except being better since it is automatic.

This should make FvS's good Hound tanks, since a common cause of problems is tanks that get overrun while clicking their Solid Fog clicky. A FvS could enter the middle while already blocking. (I don't really run this raid anymore, so maybe this is already an established tactic.)

[Bufo_Alvarius]

How exactly does one "hate tank" Xyzzy, if I may enquire? :rolleyes:


Guards? :p

[RumbIe]

I have to say I've seen more HoX PUG failures then any other PUG quest in the game. It seems to fail on Cannith 60% of the time. Every PUG I join before entering the quest if the leader hasn't spoken up I ask what his tactic is. Drag to corner? Melees run circles? Protect entrances? I've seen all ways work so I'm open to any way so long as there's some organization. Frankly changing up tactics each run makes it slightly less boring. However without fail (or more often with fail) something goes wrong. No one heals the dogs. No one fights trash. People try and attack Mama Doggy. You name it.

Regardless of whether it's been said or not I always say "Please do NOT kill the small dogs" just as we buff and inevitably as we race down the hall I see someone attacking a dog and killing it. I love it.

Also if the plan is to guard the entrance I always say "I will solo West entrance. Who has East, North and South" and no one speaks up. I set up in the entrance, kill the mobs (vorpal still works fine btw dual wielding the epic Pirate event swords). In a lull I look at my map and there are 10 blue dots sitting in the center and one running laps. Hmmm how did those beholders and trash get in? I wonder. I love it.

Or when the plan is to have melees run laps I love seeing me and one other blue dot going Nascar style around the map and everyone else standing in the center. Love it. Though in defense of this one time someone did ask what a melee was so no if that's the plan I add to it by specifying if you don't primarily cast a spell as your offense you're a melee btw. (I know. I know. People will tear this apart, but the general idea is conveyed)

So if you run with a dedicated group or most of the people you know well and run often with it's not really a PUG. Hence why you likely have such success. If you are running a true PUG though I'd be surprised if you have such good results. I seem to have the best results when I play my Wiz and am in the center buffing the dogs so I can watch whats happening and yell as needed. lol.

I actually ended up tanking for a bit on my Exploiter which was fun. Both Clerics died, Tank died. I ran in and raised the clerics. They tried to raise the tank, but he bailed. Momma kept chasing the healers so no one could set up so I attacked her and she took a liking to me :) I stood there for a bit swinging every now and again and blocking to avoid getting knocked over and the healers settled everything down and healed me. However by then the large beholders were spawning and most people started bailing so it was a loss, but it was good to know that on normal I could tank if i had to. Not ideal, but a stand in while things settle if it all goes to hell.

[Teen]

HoX has gotten harder in my opinion on Sarlona maybe it's because I PUG since our guild can only make up 6 slots I don't know. I've only completed when my sorc is on stones......... Nobody takes the trash efficiently and things are constantly in the middle.... I just finger of Death Beholders even if it fails it does a good chunk of neg damage.

[Aries1040]

Even though you don't do dmg you can still hate tank mamma did it on my monk ran into center she was attacking 1 of the fvs I hit her a few times she turned I pulled her into a corner was an easy completion and most run Ive been in we let the dogs tank her

[Aurora_nyx]

It seems to be the same as usual on Khyber...hound really isn't a hard quest if you have a few people who know what they are doing...most times I even run it while drinking (yes I'm the healer) makes it way more fun ;)

[NeutronStar]

Solid Fog still works.

[cdemeritt]

Hound of Xoriat, The easiest raid that PuGs fail often.

It has always made me laugh at how often pugs fail HoX... the problem in my opinion is that because the most of the hound loot isn't worth the time, most of the people who really know how to run this raid have stopped. Really I run it 1 and done for favor, and have no interest in any of the raid loot that it drops (ok, I'll take the shield if it drops for me, but it isn't part of my build plan )

There are a couple methods to successfully complete a HoX, but even if the party leader explains the plan in detail, there are some that simple don't listen and do what they want. This usually leads to a quick failure...

[Darkrok]

Pre U9 i usually ran HoX on my bard and was usually told my the sole purpose of a bard is to pick up stones.

This is the reason that my capped bard has never run HoX. I'm not a bardbarian like your toon so I'm slow. No monk/barb natural speed. No sprint boost. I'm like the last character that should be running stones.

But it's how people have done it so there's 'no other way'. That's fine. Every group that sends me a tell saying "can you run HoX" I send back a tell saying "sure, if someone else is running the stones". I haven't gotten a single tell back yet but I'm not going to support the general thought that the best strategy for HoX is to have the slow person that should be spending their time buffing the dogs as they're charmed instead of charming the next one as the one doing the stones.

[Noneof]

... not heard of any change to HOX only the way Intimi works...

They did make a change to HOX with update 9. One that wasn't listed in the release notes.

They took out the ability to use the "South Wall" strategy.

[countfitz]

They did make a change to HOX with update 9. One that wasn't listed in the release notes.

They took out the ability to use the "South Wall" strategy.

This.

The OP was probably use to doing this, and not the "running around in circles like chicken's with our heads cut off" style. I think the "South Wall" strategy was an "exploit" that DDO "fixed," but since talking about exploits is actually worse than using them (as far as punishment is concerned), most people doing it didn't even know it was an exploit, so when it was fixed people thought it was bugged.

[TEcarson]

They did make a change to HOX with update 9. One that wasn't listed in the release notes.

They took out the ability to use the "South Wall" strategy.

I'm glad. :D

I joined a Hound run (elite) and was pretty jazzed to be running at the harder diff. Once we got in we were "directed" on how to proceed.

Completion? yes
Easy? Pretty much
Boring? Oh yeah...boring as he11.

Glad that loophole has been closed, and getting a giggle thinking of folks that didn't know it was closed as they got a big surprise. (Is that mean???)

[Eistander]

Man, I am almost (and I mean ALMOST) tempted to take a pug group on my healer down into Hound, advertise it for Elite, take as many people as I can, and see how many remember the way it was done before the raid broke.. I almost think it would be worth the price of admission!

On second thought, I could always join a pug group doing Normal and see the same thing, just a bit slower I guess..

[nolaureltree000]

are you pugging HoX? HoX has always been the worst raid in the game to PUG. id rather PUG tempest spine with 11 100hp, no fort rogues than PUG HoX.