Bjond
01-29-2021, 06:20 PM
This post is meant to give hope and some helpful tidbits to others that might determined to duo the pre-raid and are a bit stuck. I would definitely not consider duo'ing VON5 as a productive way to XP or as a means to unlock it for more to join a quick VON6. It was certainly fun trying to figure out how to get past the head-count checks in the raid, though.
When Heroic leveling, I'll typically do VON1-6 as part of the trip. I'll start VON5 with whomever had been with me on VON1-4 that also wants the raid, sometimes even solo. Recruit has in the past always filled it out "enough" to finish VON6. Last evening, though, no one joined. So, ended up duo'ing all of VON5. This was not our plan. We kept expecting more to join "any minute now" as we ran about working puzzles & chat.
The synchronized "levers" are the barriers to duo: the 3x2 and the 4+Launch. Another two players would have made this all VERY easy and we would also have gone on to do VON6 with four, too. If you want to plan ahead, bringing 4+ is by far the best method.
The 6 are easier than the 4; 20 WIS + 25 STR + Ranged attack in two locations. One character can meet all 3 checks. Neither of us hit the stats. Cookies from the recent event solved fixed that. The levers have animation lag. You have to move immediately after pulling to cancel that lag and permit you to tag the other levers. The ranged target lever has LOS issues up close, too. Small races are actually VERY bad for this -- standing close enough to pull STR+WIS means the ledge below the ranged blocks LOS for shorties. Tall+Throwing seems best. Worst case, you can jump to hit it, but I found a spot that permits tag with careful xbow aiming a few pixels off the target's 10 o'clock. Recommend testing ranged spot before saying you're ready or eating a 60s STR cookie.
Sync is very tight. My solution: target STR while aiming at ranged. Type the 321go countdown. Use STR lever (KB button press to use the active target) while moving hand to mouse to press button for ranged. Shoot ranged (cancels lever anim). Turn/tab WIS and button that. My fellow duo'er seemed to prefer jumping for ranged last. I couldn't get jump+2xlevers tight enough on timing. BTW, get inside FAST; door only opens for 2s.
The 4x synchronized levers to fire the air cannon to launch a player to the top was our next conundrum. We solved it by each tagging 2x levers and then I ran to the top to try and ride the last cannon blast before it returned to non-blasting state. How this finally worked for us was by staggering the levers a bit. If the runner hits their last lever a little bit earlier than the partner's last lever (0.5s?), they still sync enough to fire, but you get a HUGE lead on running back up.
The reason we picked my char as the runner was due to Barb runspeed. We tried 10~12? times before making it. The extra speed was certainly an advantage, but there was enough extra time on the successful final run that I think maybe basic Run+30 could do it. Lag, bumping into corners in the rush, jumping slightly less than ideal, etc. etc. all contribute to a failed run. On the one that worked, everything was perfect right down to running on the inner rim of the ramp (without falling off) to v.slightly reduce run distance.
BTW, my char also had a pet available to work a lever. It's not a requirement. My duo didn't use a pet and managed to get his levers done. It likely contributed to getting a head-start on the run up and made it easier for me as the runner to try and time my lever pulls a tad quicker for some extra run time. My method: pre target pet lever. Hit that on go, then hit the one I'm standing on at nearly the same time. Jump over lava to ramp the instant it clicks. Tried doing pet second, but mousing my lever seemed to overwrite target for pet. If you can manage to pet the second during or a tad after the jump to the ramp, it could give a very substantial lead running up.
A player with two pets could conceivably work all four levers solo, but that would be a pretty rare build and I don't know if it's possible to have two pets out at once even if your build can do it. Two players each with one pet could likely best be done with one player working 3x (2xChar + 1xPet) levers so the other could stand up top at the cannon -- we wished for another pet, but just not there for us.
Eh, SSG often puts items in the store purely to help people get unstuck from a quest. So, I could see them adding "pet" hires that don't take up a slot just for handing things like this. If there was such a beast, I bet we'd have tried that before working timing+running.
When Heroic leveling, I'll typically do VON1-6 as part of the trip. I'll start VON5 with whomever had been with me on VON1-4 that also wants the raid, sometimes even solo. Recruit has in the past always filled it out "enough" to finish VON6. Last evening, though, no one joined. So, ended up duo'ing all of VON5. This was not our plan. We kept expecting more to join "any minute now" as we ran about working puzzles & chat.
The synchronized "levers" are the barriers to duo: the 3x2 and the 4+Launch. Another two players would have made this all VERY easy and we would also have gone on to do VON6 with four, too. If you want to plan ahead, bringing 4+ is by far the best method.
The 6 are easier than the 4; 20 WIS + 25 STR + Ranged attack in two locations. One character can meet all 3 checks. Neither of us hit the stats. Cookies from the recent event solved fixed that. The levers have animation lag. You have to move immediately after pulling to cancel that lag and permit you to tag the other levers. The ranged target lever has LOS issues up close, too. Small races are actually VERY bad for this -- standing close enough to pull STR+WIS means the ledge below the ranged blocks LOS for shorties. Tall+Throwing seems best. Worst case, you can jump to hit it, but I found a spot that permits tag with careful xbow aiming a few pixels off the target's 10 o'clock. Recommend testing ranged spot before saying you're ready or eating a 60s STR cookie.
Sync is very tight. My solution: target STR while aiming at ranged. Type the 321go countdown. Use STR lever (KB button press to use the active target) while moving hand to mouse to press button for ranged. Shoot ranged (cancels lever anim). Turn/tab WIS and button that. My fellow duo'er seemed to prefer jumping for ranged last. I couldn't get jump+2xlevers tight enough on timing. BTW, get inside FAST; door only opens for 2s.
The 4x synchronized levers to fire the air cannon to launch a player to the top was our next conundrum. We solved it by each tagging 2x levers and then I ran to the top to try and ride the last cannon blast before it returned to non-blasting state. How this finally worked for us was by staggering the levers a bit. If the runner hits their last lever a little bit earlier than the partner's last lever (0.5s?), they still sync enough to fire, but you get a HUGE lead on running back up.
The reason we picked my char as the runner was due to Barb runspeed. We tried 10~12? times before making it. The extra speed was certainly an advantage, but there was enough extra time on the successful final run that I think maybe basic Run+30 could do it. Lag, bumping into corners in the rush, jumping slightly less than ideal, etc. etc. all contribute to a failed run. On the one that worked, everything was perfect right down to running on the inner rim of the ramp (without falling off) to v.slightly reduce run distance.
BTW, my char also had a pet available to work a lever. It's not a requirement. My duo didn't use a pet and managed to get his levers done. It likely contributed to getting a head-start on the run up and made it easier for me as the runner to try and time my lever pulls a tad quicker for some extra run time. My method: pre target pet lever. Hit that on go, then hit the one I'm standing on at nearly the same time. Jump over lava to ramp the instant it clicks. Tried doing pet second, but mousing my lever seemed to overwrite target for pet. If you can manage to pet the second during or a tad after the jump to the ramp, it could give a very substantial lead running up.
A player with two pets could conceivably work all four levers solo, but that would be a pretty rare build and I don't know if it's possible to have two pets out at once even if your build can do it. Two players each with one pet could likely best be done with one player working 3x (2xChar + 1xPet) levers so the other could stand up top at the cannon -- we wished for another pet, but just not there for us.
Eh, SSG often puts items in the store purely to help people get unstuck from a quest. So, I could see them adding "pet" hires that don't take up a slot just for handing things like this. If there was such a beast, I bet we'd have tried that before working timing+running.