Solo Run: ELITE Zawabi's Revenge (DQ Raid) on a Level 14. 8 minute run

[eruhuan]

Finally. I've managed to Solo Zawabi's Revenge on Elite with a Level 14 character with 8 minutes time elapsed. Took me 3 tries. I'm so ecstatic I can't think straight. Consumed no pots for the first and second tries, then around 4 Major and 3 Greater Mnemonic Potions on the last. However, I did have 600 sp left when finished so I might as well have consumed 2 major pots only. I over-consumed the SP Potions because I was drinking and keeping my SP up when the Demon Queen was not around, just being over cautious I guess.

I failed the first attempt, as I was nervous/excited I failed to press my heal buttons on time. I failed the second attempt as I've forgotten to activate Quicken during the raid. This time around, I revised my enhancements from my Normal and Hard Runs. Also, for this raid, I opted to kill the trash mobs using Divine Punishment as compared to switching to my Mineral II Greatsword.

Again, as usual, no raid loot.

For the Screenshots:

Experience Report

Zero Damage when in full Defensive Mode.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[ArloOne]

a fulfilling achievement..congratulations!

[eruhuan]

a fulfilling achievement..congratulations!

Thank you very much!

[Teharahma]

Thank you very much!

No trap exp ?
Fail.

Gratz though, DoD is awesome .

[ArchStriker]

And stellar loot!

[eruhuan]

How I wish I'd get my Torc soon.

[Tobril]

Again, as usual, no raid loot.

Well, duh!


Good job though, well done.

[Rune_Darkfire]

For the mere mortals among us... how did you do this?

[eruhuan]

For the mere mortals among us... how did you do this?

Shield Block, then Cast Divine Punishment on her at every cooldown. Cast Quickened Heals and Cure Critical as necessary. Drink SP pots as necessary. If you're interested, look up my build on my sig. Thats what I used to achieve this.

[andreascott89]

I thought there was some bug or "feature" that prevented you from soloing this. The DQ bugged and would not engage or some such.

I take it you did not have any of these issue? Perhaps it was changed in U9.

Gratz btw!

[eruhuan]

I thought there was some bug or "feature" that prevented you from soloing this. The DQ bugged and would not engage or some such.

I take it you did not have any of these issue? Perhaps it was changed in U9.

Gratz btw!

I'm not sure what bug are your talking about. Perhaps I did not experience as such, so I can't really confirm. I was unable to detect anything beyond the ordinary. So, I guess no bugs.

[Cardtrick]

Really, really impressive! I finally gave up trying to solo DQ on normal with my L12 FvS . . . I had at least 15 attempts, but I missed leveling too much to keep trying, and it just didn't seem like I was going to get it done without some gear (DoD and Torc, especially). I'm looking forward to giving it another go at some point, after I TR -- you've inspired me!

[eruhuan]

Really, really impressive! I finally gave up trying to solo DQ on normal with my L12 FvS . . . I had at least 15 attempts, but I missed leveling too much to keep trying, and it just didn't seem like I was going to get it done without some gear (DoD and Torc, especially). I'm looking forward to giving it another go at some point, after I TR -- you've inspired me!

Would you narrate to us on what's killing you or how are you failing. So I may have better insight on whats going on for this build. E.g. A poster before said he was failing the DQ raid due to constant damage from the spinning blades even on successful saves. As such, for that instance evasion proved its worth.

You dont need Torc, just so you know, I haven't gotten my Torc yet. (Coincindentally, its what inspired me to make a build capable of soloing this raid). I think the core aspects of this build with regard to this raid is 1. Docent of Defiance and 2. Shield Mastery. Without the two "Activated" I could not keep up with the damage even with Quickend Heals and Cure Critical Wounds.

[Cardtrick]

Would you narrate to us on what's killing you or how are you failing. So I may have better insight on whats going on for this build. E.g. A poster before said he was failing the DQ raid due to constant damage from the spinning blades even on successful saves. As such, for that instance evasion proved its worth.

You dont need Torc, just so you know, I haven't gotten my Torc yet. (Coincindentally, its what inspired me to make a build capable of soloing this raid). I think the core aspects of this build with regard to this raid is 1. Docent of Defiance and 2. Shield Mastery. Without the two "Activated" I could not keep up with the damage even with Quickend Heals and Cure Critical Wounds.

It was just an inability to keep the incoming damage down. You're right, torc wouldn't have been necessary -- I never got below half my spell points, and I could always have used potions.

Just too much incoming damage. I was a pure FvS, level 12, tier 2 of AoV, warforged, wis-dumped. I had Adamantine Body and 2 enhancements, for a passive 4 Dr/, but obviously that couldn't compare to a DoD.

The first part (efreets) was made trivially easy by a Maximized Blade Barrier. I would enter the portal to the queen herself after resting, while wielding a magi weapon, the Crystal Cove spell point trinket, and a set of crafted +balance goggles with a guild augment slot (slotted with power). I had HP around 300 (including a CON +5 item, GFL, stacking 10 from a guild slot), starting SP in the 1400s. I would buff fully to burn some SPs, then activate clickies of superior brilliance III and superior ardor V and cast Obscuring Mist for the concealment. I would also swap out my SP trinket at this point in exchange for the Stalwart Trinket from Crystal Cove (for the earthen guard stoneskin proc).

Then I would trigger the Queen and immediately hit her with a Divine Punishment. My Divine Punishment was reasonably potent, between the 3 tiers of Smiting line and the AoV prestige class, along with Maximize and the +40% damage from the Sora Katra set. (Superior Brilliance V would have been better, but I couldn't craft it at that point). She would port away almost immediately and I would run over to where I could reach her. While I waited for the DP cooldown timer to expire, I would hit her with a maximized, sup brillianced Searing Light (~140 damage), and usually hit myself with a Cure Serious (I was already taking significant damage from arrows at this point). I would generally have time to get off my second Divine Punishment before the blades reached me.

I tried a couple of different strategies with the blades. I have high enough reflex saves, especially Nightshielded and with GH from my Gird, to make most of the blade damage saves, but without evasion they still do a lot of damage. Even making the saves, 2 or 3 hits while being pelted with arrows was enough to kill me if I couldn't heal. Sometimes I would try running to avoid most of the blades, but that was very difficult for me and usually led to me missing out on refreshing my Divine Punishment and/or not managing to heal myself in time. Other times, I would try shield blocking (with a plain +5 mithral tower shield, although I really found myself missing the extra blocking DR of the Madstone Shield my main uses). Shield blocking didn't help much against the blades, but reduced the incoming arrow damage enough that I was able to survive a bit longer, generally enough to keep myself healed. I think it was more effective than running from the blades, at least for me.

Eventually -- usually after 3 Divine Punishments and 1 searing light -- the queen would port back. I would cast a Blade Barrier and try to kite her and the gnolls through it while keeping DPs active on her. I did not have luck standing still and shield blocking against her. She still did too much damage through my shield, and inevitably the blades would come through and finish me off before I could heal myself (or she'd overrun me while I stopped blocking to heal or DP).

A couple of times, I got her down below half health, but most of the time all the incoming damage would overwhelm me before that. One of my most effective runs actually involved getting 3 DPs on her and then jumping over the side into the lava (with self-cast 30 FR and a stacking 10 FR from my favored soul bonus feat, I could survive long enough to make it to the portal if I jumped in the right place). I did this a couple of times with some success, although still not enough to get her down before she killed me.

All in all, it's a combination of factors. Without evasion, the blades are killers. And without higher DR than my inherent 4/ and the occasional Stoneskin or Lifeshield proc (I was using the Stalwart Trinket and a Blademark's Docent), the gnoll arrows were ripping me to pieces, as was the queen herself when she managed to close in.

All of this description makes it sound longer than it was, but I couldn't survive against her for more than 2 or 3 minutes.

I'm not saying it's impossible with my build and gear -- but I didn't have the skill for it, and I got sick of trying. (I did solo Chrono on Hard at level 7, which I was proud of, though.)

[T_ward7a]

Psh. I can solo this on elite easy... On my lvl 20 FvS... Haha. Very well done. Probably my personal favorite raid in the game. Congrats.

[Geonis]

It was just an inability to keep the incoming damage down. You're right, torc wouldn't have been necessary -- I never got below half my spell points, and I could always have used potions.

Just too much incoming damage. I was a pure FvS, level 12, tier 2 of AoV, warforged, wis-dumped. I had Adamantine Body and 2 enhancements, for a passive 4 Dr/, but obviously that couldn't compare to a DoD.

The first part (efreets) was made trivially easy by a Maximized Blade Barrier. I would enter the portal to the queen herself after resting, while wielding a magi weapon, the Crystal Cove spell point trinket, and a set of crafted +balance goggles with a guild augment slot (slotted with power). I had HP around 300 (including a CON +5 item, GFL, stacking 10 from a guild slot), starting SP in the 1400s. I would buff fully to burn some SPs, then activate clickies of superior brilliance III and superior ardor V and cast Obscuring Mist for the concealment. I would also swap out my SP trinket at this point in exchange for the Stalwart Trinket from Crystal Cove (for the earthen guard stoneskin proc).

Then I would trigger the Queen and immediately hit her with a Divine Punishment. My Divine Punishment was reasonably potent, between the 3 tiers of Smiting line and the AoV prestige class, along with Maximize and the +40% damage from the Sora Katra set. (Superior Brilliance V would have been better, but I couldn't craft it at that point). She would port away almost immediately and I would run over to where I could reach her. While I waited for the DP cooldown timer to expire, I would hit her with a maximized, sup brillianced Searing Light (~140 damage), and usually hit myself with a Cure Serious (I was already taking significant damage from arrows at this point). I would generally have time to get off my second Divine Punishment before the blades reached me.

I tried a couple of different strategies with the blades. I have high enough reflex saves, especially Nightshielded and with GH from my Gird, to make most of the blade damage saves, but without evasion they still do a lot of damage. Even making the saves, 2 or 3 hits while being pelted with arrows was enough to kill me if I couldn't heal. Sometimes I would try running to avoid most of the blades, but that was very difficult for me and usually led to me missing out on refreshing my Divine Punishment and/or not managing to heal myself in time. Other times, I would try shield blocking (with a plain +5 mithral tower shield, although I really found myself missing the extra blocking DR of the Madstone Shield my main uses). Shield blocking didn't help much against the blades, but reduced the incoming arrow damage enough that I was able to survive a bit longer, generally enough to keep myself healed. I think it was more effective than running from the blades, at least for me.

Eventually -- usually after 3 Divine Punishments and 1 searing light -- the queen would port back. I would cast a Blade Barrier and try to kite her and the gnolls through it while keeping DPs active on her. I did not have luck standing still and shield blocking against her. She still did too much damage through my shield, and inevitably the blades would come through and finish me off before I could heal myself (or she'd overrun me while I stopped blocking to heal or DP).

A couple of times, I got her down below half health, but most of the time all the incoming damage would overwhelm me before that. One of my most effective runs actually involved getting 3 DPs on her and then jumping over the side into the lava (with self-cast 30 FR and a stacking 10 FR from my favored soul bonus feat, I could survive long enough to make it to the portal if I jumped in the right place). I did this a couple of times with some success, although still not enough to get her down before she killed me.

All in all, it's a combination of factors. Without evasion, the blades are killers. And without higher DR than my inherent 4/ and the occasional Stoneskin or Lifeshield proc (I was using the Stalwart Trinket and a Blademark's Docent), the gnoll arrows were ripping me to pieces, as was the queen herself when she managed to close in.

All of this description makes it sound longer than it was, but I couldn't survive against her for more than 2 or 3 minutes.

I'm not saying it's impossible with my build and gear -- but I didn't have the skill for it, and I got sick of trying. (I did solo Chrono on Hard at level 7, which I was proud of, though.)

1 - Superior Brilliance 5 should be available in pots. (Edit- or maybe it's Grtr)
2 - The major problem I hear is you don't have Quicken Spell (?)

[Cardtrick]

1 - Superior Brilliance 5 should be available in pots. (Edit- or maybe it's Grtr)
2 - The major problem I hear is you don't have Quicken Spell (?)

Neither greater nor superior brilliance V are available in potion form. For whatever reason, light is the only element that tops out at III in potions. They can only be obtained from the new crafting. I have Superior Brilliance V now, but I'm also no longer level 12. I may try again at level 15, armed with Quicken and Superior Brilliance.

I'm not sure I'll bother, though. I had mostly wanted to do it to prove to myself that I could complete it, at-level, on a first life character. Unfortunately, I ended up disproving that. I've soloed it before on my capped melee, so I'm perfectly comfortable saying it can be done over-level by most characters. It's doing it at/near level, or on higher difficulties, that's the real challenge.

[eruhuan]

Neither greater nor superior brilliance V are available in potion form. For whatever reason, light is the only element that tops out at III in potions. They can only be obtained from the new crafting. I have Superior Brilliance V now, but I'm also no longer level 12. I may try again at level 15, armed with Quicken and Superior Brilliance.

I'm not sure I'll bother, though. I had mostly wanted to do it to prove to myself that I could complete it, at-level, on a first life character. Unfortunately, I ended up disproving that. I've soloed it before on my capped melee, so I'm perfectly comfortable saying it can be done over-level by most characters. It's doing it at/near level, or on higher difficulties, that's the real challenge.

You can still try again at 15. Thats still at/near level at least for elite. Also consider saving up for a DoD and a tower shield with 9 DR to bring up at least around 15 blocking DR.

On Normal, the queen hits for ~40 damage and has 3 to 6 attacks per swing animation with a chance to triple swing for a total of 18 swings.

Usually at 6 swings with 0 DR, thats 240 damage per animation, and 720 burst damage during a triple swing.

with 4 DR, thats 216 damage per animation and 648 burst damage on a triple swing. Still not enough to survive this, considering 300 to 400 hp.

with DoD Activated, thats 120 damage per animation and 360 burst damage during a triple swing.

With DoD and 15 blocking DR thats 30 damage per animation and 90 burst damage during a triple swing, might just be enough so you can heal through the damage using quickend Heals and Cure Critical, as your Archon and Divine Punishment takes her down. With 35 DR, that would be enough to mitigate all damage from trash mobs.

However I dont know what damage type the spinning blade thingie does, nor how to mitigate it without evasion. Its important to stand your ground face-to-face with the queen, as she will easily overrun you when you try to move around. When your face-smacked on the floor, thats the time where you will fail the raid.

Also remember, the Demon Queen wields a True Chaos, Unholy, Anarchic, Greater Screaming Khopesh. My Damage calculation did not compute for such. Use Deathward and Sonic Resist to offset this additional sources of damage. If possible be a True Neutral Character to avoid damage from these. Remember She attacks 3 to 18 times per animation. a 1d6 damage source can easily become 108 burst Damage (6x18).

PS.
If by any chance you have Bracers of the Demon Consort, might as well use that, as its ~6 DR and can mitigate a ton of damage too. You just need to be quick with your hands to cast restoration when the neg level procs.
Note that, in my build I also took up Shield Mastery, (20% Physical Damage Resistance on a Tower Shield) which is like giving me ~8 stacking DR when the Queen hits at 40 damage

[MysteryNotes]

Very nice!

[eruhuan]

Very nice!

thank you!