Ranger/Mesmer UW solo build.

[Medion]

In this post I'll tell you how to solo the Smite Crawlers in the Ice Wastes as a ranger. The Ice Wastes is the area where 55-monks and SS-necro's normally farm.

First off, equipment;
You'll need a Flatbow for pulling as one set. The other set is an axe or sword with a perfect shelter upgrade and a 45/-2 while in stance shield. If the axe or sword has an inherent +5 energy it's better, but I do it without, so certainly possible without the energy mod.
I use full Druids Armor.

Build:

Famine [E]
Sympathetic Visage (SV)
Ancestor's Visage (AV)
Pysical Resistance
Dodge
Storm Chaser
Troll Unguent
-Free Slot- (Suggestions are welcome)

Attributes:
Expertise 8+1
Wilderness Survival 11+3+1
Inspiration Magic 8
Illusion Magic 9

----
Getting to the Ice Wastes

This is probably the hardest part. First, you need to activate the quest, after which Grasping Darknesses spawn in between the Bladed Aatxes. First put up the spirit Famine. After this, you'll have to pull the Grasping Darknesses to the left of you VERY carefully, if any Aatxes come along, use dodge to break aggro with the Aatxes, the Darknesses will still follow you. Make sure it's only one group, and not two, because they mix up at times. After you have pulled them, switch to your axe and shield, to reduce damage (do this all the time if you are tanking) Keep Troll Unguent up as much as you can, and Physical Resistance all the time. It is wise to enchant yourself with SV or AV first. Make sure to rotate SV and AV, so you drain the enemies their energy and adrenaline all the time. After a while they start dropping, as they are hit with 0 energy continuously, making Famine work.
Now that you have done the first group to the left, go up the right stairs and run past the two Aatxes there and run alongside the wall untill you hit the door to the Ice Wastes. Now carefully pull one Grasping Darkness group at a time, and kill it as described above. After you have killed both groups, you can run past all the Aatxes and Grasping Darknesses, to the Ice Wastes.
NOTE: Do NOT attack the Aatxes, as they WILL kill you.

The Ice Wastes

Now you have arrived at the Ice Wastes, it's pretty straight forward. Put Famine up, and pull one group of Smite Crawlers. Keep SV and AV up, and they will kill themselves. If you think you can't make it, break aggro with Dodge, you will get rid of them. I have survived groups of 5 smites, but it's quite hard. Always pay extra attention when taking on bigger groups than 3.
I am up till now, unable to kill the Coldfires, as they have a outheal me with Aura of Restoration when I use Apply Poison. If anyone has a solution to this, feel welcome to post it here or PM me. The Coldfires don't kill you however, so don't panick when you accidentally pull aggro, just try to avoid it to speed up the run.

As I don't have a good mesmer, I haven't tested it if it is also possible as Mesmer/Ranger, but as there are no primary skills used, I think you might be able to do it. I think it will just take a little longer.

In both my succesfull runs there dropped:
Enough money to cover the entrance fee
An Ecto
A gold Item
Lots of Merchant crap.

Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIu2AiljT50)

If you wish to duo with a 55-monk, take a look here (http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10016212)

Also, Sir Mad made another nice build which can be found on the second page together with a guide!

Hope you'll enjoy solo'ing the Ice Wastes just as much as me!

Added 15 August 2006: Link to a duo build of d00m1n470r after Sir Mad mentioned it.
Added 21 August 2006: Link to the video and added a 'link' to Sir Mad's post on the second page!

[Sacron]

Wow, this sounds amazing, gonna have to try it.

[ryanmoore101]

it sounds like a really good idea but ectos are not dropping as much now. it would also be better if u could kill the aatax as dodging them may be quite hard.

[Medion]

Dodging the Aatxes isn't very hard really, they often don't hit you at all if you run past them, and if they hit you, it's only once.
It is hard to pull off getting to the smites, don't expect to arrive there the first run you do. It will take a few runs just to practice getting out of the chamber..

[Sacron]

it would also be better if u could kill the aatax as dodging them may be quite hard.

Thats easy to say. You try coming up with a build that can solo aatxes, it is much easier just to run past them.

And how about putting a skill like whirling defense or lightning reflexes in the unused slot. That would reduce damage and may let you take on more than 5 crawlers. Also, you dont say anything about using Storm Chaser in your guide, but i guess its used for running. Would it be possible to run using just dodge and replace Storm Chaser with whirling defense or lightning reflexes?

[Medion]

The Crawlers have to hit you to get the -3 energy on them, besides, you can't use both Physical Resistance and Whirling.
Besides...I haven't met any groups bigger than 5 crawlers, so it's not necesarry I think.

By the way, if you have already done this one, could you please comment on the difficulty and where you have difficulties?
I have most difficulties versus the Grasping Darknesses to the left of where you spawn, the other two groups are rather easy (as easy as it can be in UW that is).

it sounds like a really good idea but ectos are not dropping as much now.

Had 3 Ecto drop on my last run :D

[Sacron]

The Crawlers have to hit you to get the -3 energy on them, besides, you can't use both Physical Resistance and Whirling.
Besides...I haven't met any groups bigger than 5 crawlers, so it's not necesarry I think.


Ah good point, i hadnt thought of that, i was thinking off the top of my head. And no, i havent actually done the run, and i doubt i will get to do it today, i still need to find a weapon/upgrade with +7 phy armor. I have everything else though.

[Timmy Shinobi]

Great guide! :D Very nice indeed another solo build that doesnt require you to be a monk or necro to solo UW. Can't wait to try it out.

[ColaManiac]

hmm... how long does it take to complete 1 run?...

[Phrozenflame]

and you dont have to worry about the nightmares popping up! This is a v. nice build

[kh1ndjal]

conjure phantasm to kill the coldfires?

[LiQuId StEeL]

I wish my ranger had skill points :(

Can't wait to see a vid!

[Sir Mad]

I was about to say great build etc, when I notice someone had bumped this build: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10016212 posted 12 days ago. Erm, are you the same person? Otherwise, mentioning this thread would have been fair...

Back on topic: I'm going to try that - however you mention a shelter upgrade. Smite are monks - do they deal physical damages? Otherwise a defense mod would be better...

[Medion]

Sir Mad, I hadn't seen that thread, I'll add a link to it in a minute so people can read how they are able to duo the whole UW.

I assumed it was physical damage, but I wouldn't know how to test it really...any ideas to get confirmation?

ColaManiac, I'm not sure about how long one run takes, to be honest, I have done it only 3 times so far. So I didn't put my watch next to my computer yet :P . Estimation: ~45 minutes, though could be faster when I figure out a faster way for Grasping Darknesses.

kh1ndjal, I first used Apply Poison, but wasn't able to kill the Coldfires, I doubt one pip will matter...

Sacron, a defensive mod may be enough as well, 2 armour doesn't matter very much when you allready have above 130 ;) .

[Sir Mad]

Sir Mad, I hadn't seen that thread, I'll add a link to it in a minute so people can read how they are able to duo the whole UW.

Well I hadn't seen the thread myself when it was published. I just found strange to have 2 threads posted with a simillar build. Apparently I was wrong - sorry about that.

I assumed it was physical damage, but I wouldn't know how to test it really...any ideas to get confirmation?

Well the attack frame of the smites is simillar to the attack frame of divine favor staves, which made me think it could be light damage. There is a simple way to check that: use stormchaser when they hit you and check if you gain energy. If you do, that's elemental damage (lightning most likely).

In this case you may not wana have Physical Resistance on when they hit you (as it would lower your armor). Your free slot may be either Mantra of Lightning or Elemental Resistance then. Mantra of Lightning gives you energy whenever they strike but it won't help against coldfires - I haven't tested the run yet so I don't know if having to tank both smites and coldfires happens often and justofy the use of Elemental Resistance over Mantra of Lightning.

Well, again, it's only if they actually deals lightning damage.

[Jade Zephyr]

I thought the smites did holy dmg therefor ignored the physical resistance..

[Sir Mad]

No weapon deals holy damage. Divine favor monks wands deal lightning damage. I doubt any monster deals holy damage either.

[Medion]

Ok, the smites don't deal elemental damage. I think they deal physical anyway, as putting up Physical Resistance helps a lot.

Just did a run in little bit more than 30 minutes by the way.

[SnipiousMax]

^Have you gotten to where you can complete a run everytime? Or is there a certain amount of luck involved? Running past Aataxes is tricky...

[Medion]

^Have you gotten to where you can complete a run everytime? Or is there a certain amount of luck involved? Running past Aataxes is tricky...

Not yet I think, the place I die is right at the start, lurring the Darknesses and surviving. They sometimes interupt my SV or AV, using Fear Me to drain me, and I die...but I've put Mantra of Concentration into the free slot for one run, and it went easy (it was the 30 minute run).
Tomorrow I have more time, and I'll do some runs if I'm able to do the complete run everytime.

[Sir Mad]

I found a topic about solo farming the same place with a Rt/Me using AV/SV - the explaination of how to clear the 1st part helped me:

Start of by running forward and taking the quest "clearing the chamber" from the ghost directly infront of you as you enter, making sure you dont agro the wandering Aatxes close by. This should spawn some Grasping Darkness groups that patrol close to the steps of the starting area. The idea is to pull the Graspings alone and kill them, however its somewhat impossible to pull them without the Aatxes, so instead we take advantage of their inherent boost in movement speed.

When a group of Graspings comes close to the steps throw up one of your visages then illusion of haste and agro the group, run back into the starting area to break off any Aatxes that might be chasing (since they move so slow they give up easily). Ok now you should have a single group of Graspings pounding on you, however DO NOT attempt to cast anything for a few seconds...just let visage work its magic for about 3-4 seconds, then echo and khanhei, remembering to keep a visage up at all times. Graspings go down fairly easy if you keep that visage up.

After pulling the 3 groups at the starting area, there should be a single group remaining on the right (they get stuck behind the aatxe on the steps alot). This part can be tricky, as you have to Illusion of haste up the right set of stairs, past the 2 stationary Aatxes and get as far right as possible to the little safe spot (the doors that lead to the smite crawlers) be careful here as the 2 stationary Aatxes have a habbit of pinning you against the wall if you are'nt quick enough. From here do the same again to pull the last group of Graspings and kill them, this should open all the doors in the starting area.

Of course the author is talking about a Rt/Me build so replace Illusion of Haste by Stormchaser.

PS: I went yesterday with a 55hp to hide behind and get the hand of it - is there any reason why we don't seem to be able to kill the coldfires?

EDIT - Nvm - Aura of restauration FTL

It seems to be the only thing that keep them alive. I'll bring drain enchantement next run to see if it works. Used at the right time (when they're running out of energy) they shouldn't be able to cast it again.. hopefully.

[DOCB22]

how about adding Illusion of weakness with 9 in Illusion Magic you get 164 hp when/if your hp gets to 25%
I tried it in the troll cave i was able to handle 7 at 1 time
(we didnt have Favor) IoF kicked in just at the right time

[Medion]

I'm pretty confident at the moment about this run. I'll make a video of my next run (now if we have favor =P). That is a very nice post Sir Mad, it's about the same I way I do it. Think I'm just bad at explaining =P .

[Sir Mad]

I'm pretty confident at the moment about this run. I'll make a video of my next run (now if we have favor =P). That is a very nice post Sir Mad, it's about the same I way I do it. Think I'm just bad at explaining =P . You're not bad at explaining: it's just the other guy who is very good at that ;)

Oh and forget my comments about coldfires: I forgot AV/SV don't work with range attacks. Grr, I'll find a way to kill them anyway :)

EDIT - I'll see if spirit shackes could help kill those damn coldfires.

[DOCB22]

well i tried it with Illusion of weakness and i have to say it saved my but more that once. 6-10 run complet 10ecto 6 golds THANK YOU OP

[Sir Mad]

After several attempts both as solo famine ranger and with a 55hp, I found the way to kill Coldfires. I know they don't drop ectos... it's just I don't like when I can't kill something ;)

I will post both builds (solo and dual) - I know *cough* there is another topic about dual farming, but my dual build is just an extention of the solo build, with less defensive skills. I post it here also because going with a 55hp is a good way to get the hand of it.

Note: I'm working on killing aatxes now.. I don't know if it's possible but I think it is - I've been able to tank 2 aatxes long enough to make their health drop to 1/3 so it may not be completely impossible... I'll let you know.

Attributes (solo & dual):

Illusion: 11
Inspiration: 8
Wilderness survival: 15 (11+1+3)
Expertise: 4 (3+1 - that's just the points left)

Remaining attribute points: 2

Equipment:

- Full druid armor with sup vigor, sup WS and WS mask
- "Trapping" staff for partying with a 55hp (the reward of Fires in the East with a +5e head - alternatively any +15e staff will do the job)
- Candy Cane bow for the nightmares with a 55hp (useless for the solo run)
- Longbow (stats don't matter, it's just to lure)
- +5e sword/axe of defense/shelter and 45/-2 in a stance shield

Skills for dual run:

- Ancestor's visage (17 sec)
- Sympathetic visage (17 sec)
- Famine (35 damage - 90 sec)
- Spirit Shackles (19 sec)
- Arcane Echo
- Troll Unguent (10 arrows - just in case)
- Energy Tap (6 energy lost, 12 stolen - optional but that's good when you're not used to run the dual spirit shackles build - you can eventually replace by physical resistance if the 55hp dies and you have to tank a few smites to go and rez him - not a big deal)
- Rez sig

Skills for solo run:

- Ancestor's visage (17 sec)
- Sympathetic visage (17 sec)
- Famine (35 damage - 90 sec)
- Spirit Shackles (19 sec)
- Illusion of Weakness (189 health - thanks DOCB22 for the suggestion - this skill is optional)
- Troll Unguent (10 arrows)
- Physical Resistance
- Stormchaser

My way of killing Darknesses and Smites is simillar to Medion's so I won't describe it again. About darknesses, just one note: I don't use Mantra of Concentration. I tried with this skill on and realized I don't really have the use of it. To kill them, I use Famine, Illusion of Weakness, PR, SV, troll, I lure them. My second troll may be interupted but that's it - you won't die because of it. I also dropped dodge as I think stormchaser is enough. I don't have points in expertise as well as reducing the cost of famine, troll and stormchaser is not needed IMO.

OK now, the coldfires:

With a 55hp: the only thing preventing you from killing clodfires with Medion's build is that AV/SV don't work with range attacks. That's why I use spirit shackles to drain their energy and kill them. With a 55, let him aggro - if there are any smites aggroed, use AV/SV, and then focus on the coldfires. Use arcane echo to cast spirit shackles as fast as possible on the 2 or 3 coldfires aggroed and let famine do the job. That's longer than with SS, but it sill works well. However be carefull, it's highly energy consuming. You do have enough energy, but you'll need a few runs to get used to the duration of spirit shackles and save energy in not spamming it every 10 secs or so. Energy tap is here to help you get a hand of it.

Note: if you go with a 55hp, you should use Spirit Shackles on the aatxes as well to speed it up. With this skill, they die almost as quickly than with SS. I succesfully killed terrorweb dryers with the same strategy too.

Solo build: first off make sure you don't aggro both smites and coldfires. Learn the path of the patrols. If you agro several groups, use stormchaser to break it. Coldfires come in groups of 2 or 3. Once you've aggroed one group, use stormchaser both to get energy and to have the bonus of the shield. Do not use PR: it weakens your armor vs elemental. Having a sword/axe ofdefense ranther than shelter may help to. Forget AV/SV the skils are useless in this case. Spirit Shackles lasts 19 secs and recharges in 5 secs, so you can keep it active on the 3 coldfires. Just watch the maelstroms... With troll unguent on, you should be able to tank them and let famine do the job.

[Medion]

Very nice Sir Mad! I'll add to my original post that there is a solo-build on the second page....along with the video I made! (of my own build that is ;))
I'm not gonna try your build though...I'm just down there for the ecto :D .

Anyway; here is the link for the video:
Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIu2AiljT50)

I know, the quality sucks, but that's the best I could get. As there is a 10 minute limit on youtube, I couldn't get the whole smite run, but I think people are able to figure the rest of the run out themselves ;) .

[helldorado]

excelent build mate.for the free slot would it be a good idea to use
Illusion of Weakness.?

[helldorado]

my bad.i see tht u already talked about Illusion of Weakness.

[AscalonWarrior]

Does this build still work afet AI update, I mean do they still stay in aggro?

[beltran13579]

Does this build still work afet AI update, I mean do they still stay in aggro?


idk i tried it on trolls and minos and Famine makes the scatter

[Bloodied Blade]

idk i tried it on trolls and minos and Famine makes the scatter

I'd be happy to post a somewhat more thorough guide on this...and yes, you should run illusion of weakness in your open slot. I'm currently working on a duo trapping guide, but I'd be happy to postpone that to move the guide I wrote for my guild over to guru for you all to use.

If someone will PM me about this, I'll try to have the guide up in a day or two (just gotta move a file or two around).

Sir Mad- wondering why you have spirit shackles when sv+av make it kinda redundant within the first few seconds. I would run a spare run skill just in case the AI was having "one of those days". Then again, I run dodge + zojun's haste. Anyway, does Storm Chaser still work on its own with the new AI + the sheer distance you have to run + running 2 sup runes with the chance of an aataxe hit?...