Marut takedown

[Fenrisulven6]

VON3. I know my primary responsibility at end boss is to keep the shield wall alive. But often I'm having to go on offense when the mage/sorc runs out of mana.

I've been using emp/maxed Searing Light to get the job done. Is there a better spell out there I'm somehow missing? Please advise.

/edt: 9th lvl Cleric, 5th lvl spells

[Angelus_dead]

VON3. I know my primary responsibility at end boss is to keep the shield wall alive. But often I'm having to go on offense when the mage/sorc runs out of mana.

Huh?

I've been using emp/maxed Searing Light to get the job done. Is there a better spell out there I'm somehow missing? Please advise.

Searing Light has reduced damage against constructs. How about Divine Power?

[Zenako]

Single target, Searing Light is about your best choice at those levels.

Divine Power is if you are going to go up and melee, which frankly a lot of clerics are not equipped to do, and next to useless unless you are holding a viable weapon that will get past its DR. Even then, it would be hard to come close to the DPS of searing light in this battle, since quite often those in close proximity end up stunned by the Marut, while you can fire off spells from a distance without interruption. (I usually make sure to hold onto any higher level wands of Searing Light I find and give them one of my clerics as emergency backup, just like my Arcanes stock a high level wand of Force Missiles for that same reason.

[weyoun]

Forget the melees, max empowered blade barriers and kite. He drops fast.

[Zenako]

Forget the melees, max empowered blade barriers and kite. He drops fast.

Tough to cast BB at level 9 however like the OP is....

Level 11 and up...yup...easy, all the time...

[Fenrisulven6]

Huh?

I've only run it about 20 times, but every party leader so far sets up a shield wall of tanks at the door, cleric passes out sonic res then grt command the eles, mage throws mm, shield wall blocks till mage has established aggro then attacks.

If the tanks aren't kept alive via heals, the wall fails and Marut kills mage. Party wipe.

Maybe there's a better way, I'm just saying I thought my primary role was to keep the tanks up. Because the few times I've run out mana from using Searing, the tanks die and we wipe.

Searing Light has reduced damage against constructs. How about Divine Power?

For a melee role? Only bumps my BAB +3 [6 to 9] and damage +1 [not stacking with something]. I've got a grt construct bane. I guess I could go melee but that seems counterintuitive.

[Fenrisulven6]

it would be hard to come close to the DPS of searing light in this battle, since quite often those in close proximity end up stunned by the Marut, while you can fire off spells from a distance without interruption.

Ok, cool. Thanks. Sorry to be noobish, but this encounter seems to have gotten more difficult recently. Did they beef him up?

Also, it looks like the Marut only employs its special attacks if the toon it has aggro on gets within short range [which really hurts the tanks up front].

So, if I have aggro but stay back near the chest area, he's less likely to use his stunning attack?

[Fenrisulven6]

Tough to cast BB at level 9 however like the OP is

Hmmm. Seen a few scrolls on the AH. Might grab some as a fallback.

Any vendors sell it? Looked around J & P but didn't see it.

[weyoun]

sorry missed the level 9 thing. BBs off scrolls aren't going to hurt him enough to break the regen. cometfall scrolls are better for helping the tanks on the shield wall.

[Zenako]

OK the reduced effectiveness of Searing Light means that the variable damage drops from a d8/2 levels to a d6/2 levels.

With Max/Emp and hopefully at least a Superior Potency III item in hand, even at level 9 against a construct you would be getting decent damage. Is it worth it if you have a working arcane pumping in damage? Perhaps. IF you can DPS the Marut fast enough, that mitigates the need for more healing.

Also be careful about just calling the wall of melee's "tanks". A decent level tank at those levels might need almost no healing if they have a Few Resists up. Even the Marut has a hard time hitting high AC builds in there, resulting in very little healing being needed.

[Zenako]

One problem is that the Marut has some fast healing/regen effects going on. Which means that things like the Blade Barrier Jellies (used a few a while back) can help, but unless you have other sources of damage, he will just regen almost as fast as you can kite him through those wimpy BB's.

Tricks / technigues to use. Curse the Marut (it should slow down the incoming damage a bit with the -4 to hit and saves). Have a melee or ranged attacker nail him with a cursespewer. Since he has decent AC, hit him with a Destruction (-4AC) weapon earlier on. I pack DH's on my clerics as well as DV's. With a good tank or two on the line, drop a DH on each and most times that is enough to keep them going for 30 seconds. Try to have a Stalwart Pact active on everyone. It can make the difference between winning and a wipe as it auto heals some HP when they fall below 50%.

[Fenrisulven6]

K. I've got enhancements up to Smiting III and Sup Pot. And a cursespew LB. Extra buffing with sonic/elec res and prot. Will add Stalwart to the mix.

Just wanted to be sure I wasn't missing something obvious. I have my blonde moments. Thanks Zen.

[Ghoste]

It helps if the arcane in the party brings along wands of magic missile or force missile, just to get the job done.

[Laith]

I've only run it about 20 times, but every party leader so far sets up a shield wall of tanks at the door, cleric passes out sonic res then grt command the eles, mage throws mm, shield wall blocks till mage has established aggro then attacks.

MM isn't really a great DPS spell. Sure, it gets red numbers, but there are better options (yellow numbers can beat red ones, and it's all about doing damage quick due to his regen). Wall of Fire won't tick big damage at that level, but it's basically a passive attack. Charming the eles is probably easier than commanding them.

As for clerical spells, Chaos Hammer might be worth a shot, but it's not really all that great. If you're going to melee him at a cleric, it might not be a bad idea to try and sneak around behind him (so you dont' get stunned and what not). Odds are you won't take aggro.

[rimble]

This quest is a serious arcane caster check. My first time through with my Sorcerer we failed because of me. I think I had neither Maximize nor Empower, I was unable to take down the Marut. I think I was having fun with Charm spells at the time, I'm not sure, but I quickly (well, okay, over six days) made room for both Maximize and Empower.

Now that I know, it's easy: Max/Emp Wall of Fire, spam Max/Emp Magic/Force Missiles, and have approprite Lore/Potency items.

I've never seen the Cleric do anything there but keep the party up, I doubt you could make up for a seriously deficient arcane caster, like I was that first time.

[Zenako]

It helps if the arcane in the party brings along wands of magic missile or force missile, just to get the job done.

Heck even at cap I pull out a level 9 wand of Force Missiles at times to finish off the dang Ghost Beholder in Soami Gardens at times. Rather than drink a pot or something.

As for making up for a less than stellar arcane. Hard to do, but you can augment the DPS and make him drop a LOT faster.

Think about it this way using simplistic numbers.

Arcane is dropping 30 DPS, Melees dropping 20 DPS net. He has 1000 HP (not sure of the exact number, but it seems in that ballpark). IF he has healing which does an effective -15 DPS, that means you have a net of 35 DPS and it takes you around 30 seconds to drop him. If your clerical spell DPS kicks in for 15 DPS lets say, then that drops the time to take him down to around 20 seconds. (These are not actual numbers just hypothetical for an example). Finishing in 20 vs 30 seconds is probably the difference between having any or 0 spell points left as you near the end. This is largely driven by his REGEN effects. IT REALLY matters how FAST you hurt the guy. Harder/Faster = a LOT Better in this case, since Slow and low damage = you never win.

[Fenrisulven6]

Four Marut takedowns since last post. Without breaking a sweat.

Thanks Zen.

[Zenako]

Good to hear it. Using all the resources characters have at their disposal (but are often overlooked or neglected) can make a world of difference in the outcomes and ease of many quests.

good going.

[FluffyCalico]

This quest is a serious arcane caster check. My first time through with my Sorcerer we failed because of me. I think I had neither Maximize nor Empower, I was unable to take down the Marut. .

1) You can take him down with no metas
2) Melee can take him down without you if they have decent gear
3) Hes not immune to fire which can add some more DPS
4) A wiz may have trouble there but a sorc should not
5) Magic missle force missle work well and as above firewall as a free tick while you are doing other stuff.

[UCBlack]

I've just encountered the Marut for the first time...8 monk/2 rog. I am able to pound him down, but I keep getting hit with the whiteout blindness. I buff with elec and sonic res potions before going in. Doing this with one other person, 8 fighter, and two hirelings. How do we avoid that blindness? Or minimize it? I have +1 anarchic burst hw of decp that have no probs damaging, just hard to hit when you can't see nuthin...