Shroud noobi

[reddoormedia]

Ok so I ran The shroud for the first time. There were three arcanes in the group which I hear is a lot. I was glad they took me after telling the leader it was my first run.

Anyway there wasn't much happening in voice, no instructions, so I just ran to keep up really not knowing what was going on. My question really is what is a sorc's roll in there? I buffed of course with what i had. Used some enervation on mobs......

Seems like most of the mobs are pretty impossible to burn down for arcanes, not seeing much damage with any offensive spells...all elites with massive hp. So we are not really needed for our dps. So what are sorc's role in the Shroud....what works well for us and the group in there?

[Quarterling]

Ok so I ran The shroud for the first time. There were three arcanes in the group which I hear is a lot. I was glad they took me after telling the leader it was my first run.

Anyway there wasn't much happening in voice, no instructions, so I just ran to keep up really not knowing what was going on. My question really is what is a sorc's roll in there? I buffed of course with what i had. Used some enervation on mobs......

Seems like most of the mobs are pretty impossible to burn down for arcanes, not seeing much damage with any offensive spells...all elites with massive hp. So we are not really needed for our dps. So what are sorc's role in the Shroud....what works well for us and the group in there?

Sadly, just buffing and breaking the crystal for the most part (as well as using wail of banshee to instantly kill trash mobs on part one).

Since most enemies are immune or have resistance to fire, your fire wall won't be as useful and I've never seen it used once.

However, I hear that the Archmage Prestige is planned eventually, and one of the possible abilities is to alter you spells elements. For example, instead of casting a wall of fire, you could do wall of acid or cold instead. I doubt this will be coming soon though.

[Angelus_dead]

Anyway there wasn't much happening in voice, no instructions, so I just ran to keep up really not knowing what was going on.

You should have gotten one other member to help you out and explain things. If you don't know anyone who runs Shroud ever, you should meet someone.

So we are not really needed for our dps. So what are sorc's role in the Shroud....what works well for us and the group in there?

Minimal role, actually. But try and do the following:
pt1: Wail the trogs and stuff that come out of the portals.
pt2: Maybe DPS some bosses with wof or polar, maybe break the crystal at the right moment (waiting in the center to do so). A little Web to control Barbazus earlier.
pt3: Jump on some lights, run some waters. Do not smash the crystals over the puzzle rooms, or place water before that puzzle is done.
pt4: Maybe web the devils, exhaust the boss, wail/finger the gnolls, maybe polar the boss.
pt5: Don't waste much mana damaging the minibosses, because it would take time to refill. Exhaust the real boss and polar him a bit.

Notes:
1. In the unlikely event you don't have a Bard, you'd cover Haste, and maybe Displacement and stuff helps a bit.
2. Many Shroud enemies have several thousand hp, so Finger would be the way to get them. Remember that Enervate can lower saves first, and your Finger is likely to have better penetration than Wail.
3. Some people tend to reply to queries like this by saying you should have good DPS against the boss. That is inaccurate, and refers to a potential power you might be able to get in the future, not what you have now.

[tinyelvis]

Part 1 Trog killing for those DC/Spell Pen impaired casters.

If you have crappy DCs and/or spell pen then you can perform your duties as caster (even sole caster) by falling back on .....wait for it.......wall of fire.

Some casters have poor DC's and little to no spell pen. In my opinion, this is the wrong way to play a caster, however, many people seem to really favor self healing and hitpoints and often the areas of DC's and Spell penetration suffer (just look at typical contemporary builds that appear in this forum). If you fall into this category then try this.

Learn the spawn locations of trogs wrt the route your party runs. Pull aggro of the trogs into a group and drop a wall of fire (in some cases it may take two if they separate). One non extended wall of fire will kill any trog set that spawns quick enough and mana efficient enough that you can deal with trog spawns as sole caster without the need for mana buffs.

Wall of fire is useful in part II to help kill some mini bosses. Stack a bazzillion on the crystal for an instant kill when needed.

[KannyaAryien]

You should have gotten one other member to help you out and explain things. If you don't know anyone who runs Shroud ever, you should meet someone.


Minimal role, actually. But try and do the following:
pt1: Wail the trogs and stuff that come out of the portals.
pt2: Maybe DPS some bosses with wof or polar, maybe break the crystal at the right moment (waiting in the center to do so). A little Web to control Barbazus earlier.
pt3: Jump on some lights, run some waters. Do not smash the crystals over the puzzle rooms, or place water before that puzzle is done.
pt4: Maybe web the devils, exhaust the boss, wail/finger the gnolls, maybe polar the boss.
pt5: Don't waste much mana damaging the minibosses, because it would take time to refill. Exhaust the real boss and polar him a bit.

Notes:
1. In the unlikely event you don't have a Bard, you'd cover Haste, and maybe Displacement and stuff helps a bit.
2. Many Shroud enemies have several thousand hp, so Finger would be the way to get them. Remember that Enervate can lower saves first, and your Finger is likely to have better penetration than Wail.
3. Some people tend to reply to queries like this by saying you should have good DPS against the boss. That is inaccurate, and refers to a potential power you might be able to get in the future, not what you have now.

Most shrouds don't wait for a Bard to fill anymore, so definitely expect to cover those spells. Displacement and Blur generally don't get turned down by anyone, and remember to Haste the party as they beat down portals. If you toss the Haste before they ask, brownie points will be awarded.

Be as self-sufficient as possible, ideally. Casters in Shroud tend to be moving around a lot, and the healers' main priority will not be on you. You're going to be out of range, or blocked quite a bit of the time. So make sure to keep things on you to keep yourself alive, whether it be pots, scrolls, reconstruct, whatever.

Breaking the crystal in part 2 is the big one. Stack firewalls on it, the more the merrier. Once the bosses start dying, you won't have much time, so stay alert. But this is really the only place I've seen firewall used; it's not really effective anywhere else.

It's always helpful for the casters to take over some of the buffing duties from the other classes; same with rangers and paladins. Toss what you can on the party; it'll be appreciated.

Dancing ball can cause horrific lag in part 4; while effective, make sure you make it go away if you can, especially before Harrry drops. The party will thank you for it.

[Zombiekenny]

Wail of the banshee in part1
Part 2 help to clear trash, then break the crystal, and possibly help kill the bosses, but primarilly the crystal in part2.
Part 3 solve/run water
Part 4 buff as needed, web/croud control the trash, then put waves of exhaustion and cloudkill on arratrikos, then DPS him. Empty your spellpoint bar into him, leaving just enough to kill the gnolls if he isn't killed in one round. A caster that doesn't DPS harry here is a useless slot in the party.
Part 5 Waves of Exhaustion and cloudkill on harry, then DPS on harry again, buff as needed. Make sure your spellpoint bar is empty by the time arratrikos dies.

[Sirea]

pt2: Maybe DPS some bosses with wof or polar, maybe break the crystal at the right moment (waiting in the center to do so). A little Web to control Barbazus earlier.

...

pt4: Maybe web the devils, exhaust the boss, wail/finger the gnolls, maybe polar the boss.
pt5: Don't waste much mana damaging the minibosses, because it would take time to refill. Exhaust the real boss and polar him a bit.

I am aware that different servers have different tactics, but a lot of the time on Ghallanda if there are multiple arcanes, we have one of them separate and prep the elemental in part 2, while the other gets the crystal.

If it's Earth Elemental, make sure you have FoM/Displace, and put down some firewalls/fogs for AoE while unloading with your best damage spells (Polar Ray, Chain/Ball Lightning, Meteor Swarm). If it's Fire Elemental, have as many buffs on you as you can to mitigate fire damage (Resist, Protect, Fire Shield: Cold...items such as Firestorm Greaves are nice as well). Try getting him either by a tree or wall that you can dance out from behind while getting him with Polar Ray/Cone of Cold/Frost Lance. Prep down to about 10% until you get the word to kill. Fire Elle is very fast getting back to the center, so often he is killed last.

There are other good spells to damage Harry in Part 4/5 in addition to Polar Ray, most notably Lightning spells. I often tell casters to dump their mana on Harry, unless Pt. 4 looks like it'll be 2 rounds in which case save 5-10% of mana for gnolls.

[twix]

Most shrouds don't wait for a Bard to fill anymore, so definitely expect to cover those spells. Displacement and Blur generally don't get turned down by anyone, and remember to Haste the party as they beat down portals. If you toss the Haste before they ask, brownie points will be awarded.

Be as self-sufficient as possible, ideally. Casters in Shroud tend to be moving around a lot, and the healers' main priority will not be on you. You're going to be out of range, or blocked quite a bit of the time. So make sure to keep things on you to keep yourself alive, whether it be pots, scrolls, reconstruct, whatever.

Breaking the crystal in part 2 is the big one. Stack firewalls on it, the more the merrier. Once the bosses start dying, you won't have much time, so stay alert. But this is really the only place I've seen firewall used; it's not really effective anywhere else.

It's always helpful for the casters to take over some of the buffing duties from the other classes; same with rangers and paladins. Toss what you can on the party; it'll be appreciated.

Dancing ball can cause horrific lag in part 4; while effective, make sure you make it go away if you can, especially before Harrry drops. The party will thank you for it.

What you meant to say was Do Not use dancing ball ever! Use web your party will thank you for it lol That dance ball **** is just too much

[lowborne]

[QUOTE=Sirea;3198970]I am aware that different servers have different tactics, but a lot of the time on Ghallanda if there are multiple arcanes, we have one of them separate and prep the elemental in part 2, while the other gets the crystal.

If it's Fire Elemental, have as many buffs on you as you can to mitigate fire damage (Resist, Protect, Fire Shield: Cold...items such as Firestorm Greaves are nice as well). Try getting him either by a tree or wall that you can dance out from behind while getting him with Polar Ray/Cone of Cold/Frost Lance. Prep down to about 10% until you get the word to kill. Fire Elle is very fast getting back to the center, so often he is killed last.

Does anyone know how may hp the fire ele has, I'm usually the only arcane in my group so I'm usually focused on the crystal but the one time I did try to prep him I crit'd him and he died, which made me the party jerk for a bit. Now I'm so terrified that I won't even consider throwing a polar ray at him unless he is over 25%. What's a good cutoff point for this I guess is what I mean to ask.

While I'm at it, how do i quote just a portion of someone's prior post and not the whole thing. I know this is a posting fail.

[Mercureal]

Not sure exact HP for the various lieutenants, but I'd guess the Fire Elemental to be around 8-12K? Rough estimate.

And to close a quote, you add this tag to the end of the quoted text: [/quote]. You probably erased that by mistake when you deleted the unnecessary text in your response.

[lowborne]

Thanks, i see the /quote now

[KingOfCheese]

Part 1--run in quickly and kill most of the trash before the melee can get to it; kill all portal trash; beat on the portals while waiting for new trash to spawn

Part 2--quickly shrine and run into part 2 before anyone else and kill all of the trash before anyone else can get to it; try to avoid crystal duty so that you can solo one or more of the bosses (or solo a boss and take on crystal duty)

Part 3--get in quickly and do your puzzle; break the crystals to open central room; run around and solve any puzzles that are taking too much time

Part 4--shrine quickly; then run in while everyone else is buffing and kill all the trash. Save one devil (stone it) until the group gets in so that the boss doesn't spawn until the group is ready. Debuff the boss (waves of exhaustion). Unload your remaining spell points on the boss.

Part 5--kite the sub-bosses, killing one or two while you wait for the rest of the group to buff and kill the others. Debuff the boss with waves of exhaustion; dump the rest of you spell points on the boss with dps as quickly as possible. Jump in and melee the boss if he isn't dead yet.