Has something changed in Hound of Xoriat recently?

[Bolo_Grubb]

My guild used to short man this quest with 5 to 7 players on hard. We would complete the quest with little to no difficulty.

The last several runs we have failed and we are not sure why we have failed. We even tried Normal difficult and still wiped. We have tried different methods (O and H), but lately it is just not working for us.

Same group as when we have succeeded. Have any of the timers changed? Or is my guild guild just drinking more theses days and too drunk????

Seriously has any thing changed in there?

[Simplesimon1979]

What's actually causing the wipe.

Just getting over run buy trash, or beholders sneaking in and uncharming them.

I know they increaced mama hp a bit, but that was a while back.

[Bolo_Grubb]

Honestly not sure. It seems the puppies are breaking sooner then they used but I can't be sure about that. Once they do break, between trash getting in the middle and trying recharge things fall apart

We did not used to have this problem

[Miow]

I think they nerfed the melee of the puppies they were obviously OP.

[Matuse]

Did one of your guildmates reincarnate and not take Augment Summoning?

That feat makes a really huge difference.

[count_spicoli]

a good tank makes this raid easy as pie. i havent failed a hound in at least 20 attemps. as long as you have good intim and nice ac this raid is easy even on elite. when the dogs break intim them and pull on to you to keep them from turning on each other. also keeping mama on you as tank keeps dogs from taking any damage and get flanking bonus. of course my tank has 92(97 shield blocking)ac, 1000 hp and 72 intim so that helps

[Bolo_Grubb]

the tank is good, 75 ac, 74 intim and 800+ hp.

[deahamlet]

If you put puppies and mummy and everyone else in the east corridor and stop circling once you have 4 stones, the most you will have to deal with is 1 mini beholder. A bard and someone with augment summoning makes this downright flawless. We had one dog die from the healer not being on it, and we still succeeded... and we had no augment summoning. With augment summoning healers do not have to be so "on it" with the puppies. We also have a good tank, that goes without saying.
But the east corridor trick just makes it very stress free as long as nobody hangs too close to the inside or outside and when dealing with the mini beholder... return to corridor immediately!

I don't see much difference to be honest... it's still successful in guild, and still a fail in pugs due to the human condition (aka people picking up the stones and not admitting it lol).

Good luck.

[Wraith_Sarevok]

Beholder Anti-Magic Cone dispels any charms on the dogs.

That's probably why you thought the charms didn't last long enough. Always make sure the beholders are dealt with away from and not facing any of the dogs or you could run the risk of losing control.

[axel15810]

i play on pugs and seem to wipe about 1 in 3 attempts. Every time it's seems to be because the outside players tend to get spread out and take too much damage and/or don't stay close to the outside healer.

[Arshan]

Use the east corridor to tank : It's the longer, thus, you can hide in their, protecting you from beholders coming from north, south and west. The east corridor being long enough, nothing aggroes you from there, and the puppies cant de dispeled.
This works for both methods, H being in my opinion more efficient. You shouldnt be overhelmed in the middle using this tactic, w/e number of people are in the raid.

And in my opinion, the tank actually doesnt matter so much, as soon as he can intimidate. It's more about the location of mama, and thus the puppies.

If you tank in the middle, and arent protected but by 5 people, then ya it can get nasty.

[wax_on_wax_off]

Where exactly is this "east corridor" that you speak of?

We only run elite, very rarely fail (<5%) but always open to new strategies.

Do you mean at the juncture exactly in the middle of NE and SE portal with a view into the middle or somewhere else?

O = run laps, H = 1 team does a H pattern staying together the whole time or splitting up and pulling trash to a central point?

[voodoogroves]

Where exactly is this "east corridor" that you speak of?

We only run elite, very rarely fail (<5%) but always open to new strategies.

Do you mean at the juncture exactly in the middle of NE and SE portal with a view into the middle or somewhere else?

O = run laps, H = 1 team does a H pattern staying together the whole time or splitting up and pulling trash to a central point?

He's saying when your tank intims or solid fogs momma dog, don't do it in the exact middle, be a little towards the east. Still central, but kinda sort more east-ish, in one of those first alcoves there.

[Sarisa]

He's saying when your tank intims or solid fogs momma dog, don't do it in the exact middle, be a little towards the east. Still central, but kinda sort more east-ish, in one of those first alcoves there.

Exactly this. This is because the east tunnel is longer, and will give you a few seconds more before trash sees you if it slips past the guards/outside group. Also gives you less chance of the rare glitched dispels-through-the-wall.

I prefer 'O' most of the time, because in a PUG, you can't guarantee everyone will guard effectively. At least in O, everyone has something to do, even if it's keeping moving counter-clockwise swinging and missing at stuff. Less chance someone will get bored, and pick up extra trash or turn around and watch the middle rather than guard their hallway.

'H' is most effective in an experienced group.

[deahamlet]

Where exactly is this "east corridor" that you speak of?

We only run elite, very rarely fail (<5%) but always open to new strategies.

Do you mean at the juncture exactly in the middle of NE and SE portal with a view into the middle or somewhere else?

O = run laps, H = 1 team does a H pattern staying together the whole time or splitting up and pulling trash to a central point?

See the + in the middle? The right side of it is a lot longer. Park momma and pups in the middle of that, against the north wall. Everyone else come and stay against the sound wall of this. Only mini-beholder to deal with is the one coming from the right portal.
Seriously so much easier! You can even shortman it.

[Syllph]

When I lead this raid the technique I've used since day one pretty much has been to grab the 4 stones and fight in the center as much as possible. The tank with intim/Solid fog clicks holds Mom till the pups are charmed.

After the stone have been got, kill one of the three dogs and charm the other two. The charm is time based and means as soon as one breaks you have a stone to recharm it, and same with the second dog. It'll be slightly slower as you're doing 2/3 the damage but it's a guaranteed victory unless the healer are being lazy.

It's worked every update to date so far without a hitch.

[Bolo_Grubb]

ok thanks for the tips.

we will give it another go. Timing and getting too much trash in the middle seems to be some of the big issues.

Charmed puppy spending any time on a trash mob and not momma hurts.

We will try the east hallway trick.

[Bolo_Grubb]

here is another question, I may make a new post for it too.

What are the critical buffs for the puppies?

I assume Bears endurance, Bulls strength and haste at a minimum. What else?

[Nyvn]

here is another question, I may make a new post for it too.

What are the critical buffs for the puppies?

I assume Bears endurance, Bulls strength and haste at a minimum. What else?

Rage, Bard songs, Good Hope, Prayer all help.

[Doxmaster]

Rage, Bard songs, Good Hope, Prayer all help.

Rage doesn't help. It does not apply.