A guide to Ritualist/Ranger FoW Forest Farming

[antoninus]

Ritualist/Ranger guide to solo farming the Forest of the Wailing Lord
by Sarutobi Sakura aka Antoninus the Pious

I've been using this build for almost 2 weeks now as i wanted to make sure it would really work. I find it as fast as the R/X build but its just me. I guess im just biased since there's no love for the Ritualist these days :( Either people want a monk, an ele or a necro >_<... anyway here's the guide

Forest Farm Video: http://files.filefront.com/forestfarmFINALwmv/;5153180;;/fileinfo.html
Video of the run: http://files.filefront.com/fowforestrunritualist_0001wmv/;5152166;;/fileinfo.html

THE FOREST OF THE VENGEFUL LORD
This build utilizes the not-so-high-attack-damage of the forest monsters to succesfully tank and at the same time deal damage using the Ritualist Elite Item Spell:
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2448/svengefulwaskhanhei3ti.jpg
Vengeful was Khanei - Hold Khanhei's ashes for 5...10 seconds. Whenever a foe strikes you in combat while you are holding Khanhei's ashes, you steal 5...29 Health from that foe.

First up!
EQUIPS
Armor
A Restorer's headgear of Superior Restoration and an Oracle's (armor +10 while holding an item) suit with minor ritualist runes and major/sup vigor is recommended but not necessary. Halycon's, which gives you additional energy, will also do. If you have the resources, craft a separate armor piece with a minor rune of restoration for the run as you will need as much health as possible.

Weapon :confused: ...yes a weapon!
Any flat or longbow for pulling.

THE BUILD
Restoration - 12+3+1
Wilderness Survival - 12

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4676/skillbar0ud.jpg

1. Vengeful was Khanei [E]
2. Vengeful Weapon - For 8 seconds, the next time target ally takes damage from foe, that ally steals up to 15..51 Health from that foe.
3. Troll Unguent - For 10 seconds, you gain health regeneration of +3...9.
4. Distracting Shot - If Distracting Shot hits, it interrupts target foe's action but deals only 1...13 damage. If the interrupted action was a skill, that skill is disabled for an additional 20 seconds.
5. Storm Chaser- For 8...18 seconds you move 25% faster, and you gain 1...4 Energy whenever you take elemental damage
6. Generous Was Tsungrai - Sacrifice 10% Health. Hold Tsungrai's ashes for up to 15...51 seconds and gain +50...122 maximum Health. When you drop his ashes you gain 100...244 Health.
7. Quickening Zephyr - Create a level 1...8 Spirit. For creatures within its range, all skills recharge twice as fast as normal and cost 30% more Energy to cast. This Spirit dies after 15...39 seconds.
8. Soothing Memories - Target ally is healed for 10...82 Health. If you are holding an item, you gain 3 Energy.

QZ recharges VWK at the same time it starts blinking.
Storm Chaser compensates for the high mana cost of skills. When fighting Sheperds and Worms (which deals lightning dmg) you're able to keep VWK on for 39 seconds!

GETTING THERE
- Cast Generous Was Tsungrai for the health boost. At lvl14 Restoration GWT gives you an additional 134 health for 59 seconds and heals for 268 health when dropped. Keep GWT on at all times.
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/4070/runtoforestmap2iz.jpg
- At Point X, I usually wait for the two groups to wander but here's an alternative.
http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/8863/runcollage41qy.th.jpg (http://img109.imageshack.us/my.php?image=runcollage41qy.jpg)
- 2 Skeletal Impalers will pop out at Point O, just run past them.

THE CREEPS
Spirit Sheperds: stay out of casting range and you'll be safe
skills used: Aura of Restoration, Lightning Strike, Chain Lightning, Iron Mist

Rock Borer WOrms: it is advised that you take on only 3 at a time as they use Chocking Gas (a preparation) which interrupts spells you cast. Time your VWK and VW in between hits. 2-3 VWK + VW spamming kills them.
skills used: (annoying combination) Pin Down, Chocking Gas, Concussion Shot, Lightning Reflexes, Throw Dirt

Spirit Woods: hard hitters. Just keep up Troll Unguent all the time and you'll be fine.

Amored Cave Spiders: surpirisingly the easiest monster to kill in the forest 1on1. Take on only 1 at a time though. They die in 20 seconds.

Skeletons: Storm Chaser past them. Make sure not to brush against the Berserkers or they'll remove Storm Chaser, a stance, with Wild Blow.

[antoninus]

THE FARM
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/1818/edittedforestmap2nf.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

FIRST HALF OF THE FOREST - AREA 1 and 2
First you'll encounter Spirit Sheperds patrolling the entrance. Cast Quickening Zephyr [25 energy cost], wait for 13 energy then activate Storm Chaser (unlimited energy). Use your bow to get their aggro then cast VWK. Remember to stay out of casting range. Spam VWK and Vengeful Weapon. Reactivate Storm Chaser when needed. They should be...
Speed: dead in 38 seconds, around the time when QZ expires. Requires 3 rounds of VWK.
http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/4317/five7xr.th.jpg (http://img128.imageshack.us/my.php?image=five7xr.jpg)

3 Rock Borer Worms will pop out of POINT B. Cast Quickening Zephyr, wait for 13 energy then activate Storm Chaser. Cast VWK then run towards one group (take only 3 at a time-when more than 3 attack, hit Storm Chaser and run..) Use Troll Unguent and keep it on at all times, Chocking Gas only interrupts spells so Troll Unguent is unaffected. Spam Vengeful Weapon and VWK in between hits.
Speed: Dead in 2 rounds of uninterrupted VWK or one VWK and VW spamming (for a single worm).
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/1050/six6qp.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=six6qp.jpg)

Spirit Woods, use your bow to aggro them then cast VWK. Pick one Spirit Wood and watch for it's Troll Unguent. When it uses it drop VWK and hit Distracting Shot. Use Troll Unguent and spam VF. It should be dead before it is able to activate Troll Unguent again. Repeat on the remaining Spirit Wood/s. Use VWK whenever available.
Speed: N/A. VWK lasts for 11 seconds at 12 Restoration and they will often set up expired Nature Rituals which take 4-5 seconds to cast minimizing the effectiveness of VWK.
http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/9425/seven3bc.th.jpg (http://img68.imageshack.us/my.php?image=seven3bc.jpg)

[antoninus]

Wait for the patrolling 3 Spirits Sheperds and Spirit Wood after you've killed the 2 Spirit Woods. Use QZ and Storm Chaser. Unlimited energy = spam spam spam. :) I usually kill the Sheperds first then the Spirit Woods.
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/7458/eight0ca.th.jpg (http://img95.imageshack.us/my.php?image=eight0ca.jpg)

Clearing AREA 1... Armored Cave Spiders - run around Point E to get them to pop out. It is advised that you fight only one at a time. Stand still and wait for Apply Poison to finish then use Distracting Shot on Healing Spring (they use it immediately right after, so you should never miss) Cast VWK then Troll Unguent and keep it on at all times. Spam Vengeful Weapon, they should be dead before they're able to use Healing Spring again.
Speed: Dead in 23 seconds under 1 VWK and 3-4 Vengeful Weapons.
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/2715/nine4vy.th.jpg (http://img212.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nine4vy.jpg)

After killing the spiders, feel free to aggro those on top of the ledge. (AREA 3, POINT A and D). Use Storm Chaser then as soon as they get inside your bubble, press X to get out of casting range.
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/8662/eleven6pv.th.jpg (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=eleven6pv.jpg)

Now to AREA 2... Further north east you will find 2 groups of 3 Spirit Sheperds, 2 Spirit Woods and 3 hidden Rock Borer Worms. Run to a corner to the east and you can aggro all 6 Sheperds.
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/4200/twelve2pd.th.jpg (http://img224.imageshack.us/my.php?image=twelve2pd.jpg)
3 Rock Borer Worms will pop out of Point B kill them. Proceed to the top of the hill and kill the Spirit Woods there. You'll see 3 patrolling Spirit Sheperds and 2 Spirit Woods on the other side, if you haven't killed them yet, you can aggro them using a longbow from here. Pick up your loots its time to head to AREA 3!

Hit Storm Chaser and ruuuun past the Skeletal Army.

2ND HALF OF THE FOREST - AREA 3, 4 and 5
Depending on the spawn, 1-3 spiders might pop out at Point E. If more than one does, Storm Chaser to AREA 4. Run back and aggro one (or two if you already can :P). When fighting these spiders be careful of the patrolling Spirit Sheperds. Kill the the patrolling group at Point D then the 2 Spirit Woods to your right. (You should have already killed the 2 groups of Spirit Sheperds patrolling this edge). AREA 3 cleared!

Head to AREA 4 and you will see 2 Spirit Woods on top of a hill. 3 Rock Borer Worms will pop out at the base of this hill so kill them first. There will be another patrol of Spirit Sheperds, kill them then run around the open plain to lure out any hidden Spiders. Once you've cleared the area of Spiders, (AREA 5 now) kill the 2 patrolling Spirit Woods. There are 3 Rock Borer Worms at POINT B and 3 Spirit Sheperds patrolling the exit of the forest. I find that you can pull the Sheperds with a longbow and not aggro the Worms. Kill the Sheperds, then the Worms and that's the..
:)

end of the Forest run! You've cleared The Forest using you're ritualist :D

CREDITS
Credits go to Dahnel whose Ritualist Vengeful Farming build served as the foundation for this build and Remmeh for his R/Me Solo FoW Forest Farm (http://forums.gwonline.net/showthread.php?t=391296) which got me farming FoW in the first place and was the inspiration for this guide.

Enjoy :D


-antoninus

[Blood seeker]

very very nice i'll check it out

[antoninus]

and be careful at Point X during the run, that part's the killer. once you get to the forest it'll be a breeze from there :)

[Snype Doesnt Heal]

I tried this last night when America [finally] had favor. It worked pretty well, I had no trouble with the run because I just started up a free chest run team and ran with 7 w/mo's. However, I did run into some problems with the elementalist enemies. Somehow I missed the part about not getting into their cast range and got killed by chain lightning. So yeah, if theres any advice that I have, its to stay out of the ele's cast range.

PS. I only got past the first 5 or so groups so the only drops I got were a gold shadow shield (crappy mods) and 2 shards. Not too bad for the first try.

[Kurni]

just a thing to add to it, you could also kill the first 6-8 skeletal army before the bridge. possibly the left or right one after the bridge including the other 2 impaler that pop up after the bridge too. on the top left between area 2 and area 3

there should be 2 impalers, 2 bonders and 4 berserker before the bridge. aggro the bonders first and run back till the berserker started to head back and rehit the bonders. doesn't matter if it hits or evaded eventually they will come back and since they are range, they can start hitting you just when they are outside your aggro circle. they should only cast live viraciously to them self and by this time, the berserker should be standing back where they were before and the bonder hitting you. then just VwK and some VW till they are finished.

with the remaining berserker and impalers, try approaching slowly just in case the impaler pop up so you don't aggro both of them.

the berserker takes 2 luring to kill. if you can lure the berserker first, go and hit them once and quickly cast troll unguent. they should be almost start to hit you when 3 second casting time just abt to finish. then VWK and VW... but when troll just about to finish, somewhere your health in the mid half coz they hit very hard (50-80dmg) just run back and wait till they back to post and do the same luring and cast troll, and VwK and VW/ They should be in their 1/2 life by now. repeat and do the same before they start regenerating their health so quickly and repeat if necessary.

with the one after the bridge, becareful when aggroing the impaler, it might also the berserker and the icehand will also run after you. deep freeze = dead... try to do the same and very slowly and everything should be fine. the purpose of this extra farming isjust if there are Obsidian Chest after the bridge, you could take extra chance opening it... would be good to have a gold shadow bow or some sort =)

if you are not very familiar with it, do this AFTER your forest run just in case you don't stuff up 1/2 way =)

[antoninus]

Somehow I missed the part about not getting into their cast range and got killed by chain lightning. So yeah, if theres any advice that I have, its to stay out of the ele's cast range.

use a long or flatbow and just hit them :P after the initial attack back up a bit and let them hit you first. you should be attacking the sheperds with them way outside your bubble.

and grats on your drops :)

P.S. so how did the worms go? i'm still having a hard time with them (wasted like 10k getting inside fow yesterday then dying from them... i had a bad day i guess the mood reflected on my gameplay) :angry:

[antoninus]

@ Kurni. You were able to kill the skeletons?? niiice. tried it a long time ago when i was still tweaking with the build. after i saw that their damage was greater than what VWK steals i thought they couldnt be killed and left them alone. never bothered with them since then... im gona try this for sure thanks :D

[Snype Doesnt Heal]

use a long or flatbow and just hit them :P after the initial attack back up a bit and let them hit you first. you should be attacking the sheperds with them way outside your bubble.

and grats on your drops :)

P.S. so how did the worms go? i'm still having a hard time with them (wasted like 10k getting inside fow yesterday then dying from them... i had a bad day i guess the mood reflected on my gameplay) :angry:

Actually I thought the worms were eaisest. If I saw that I was getting into any trouble though, I just easily backed up to where they couldnt hit me. Since they cannot move, just keep going (you will be crippled probably) and spam vengeful on your way out.

Also, on the spiders, is it possible to kill 2 at once. Last night I got to a point where when I agroed one, it always agroed the other one too. But I had to go and I didnt get a chance to see if I could take on both.

[antoninus]

Yeah it's possible to take on 2 spiders. Troll and VF seems to be enough to tank them. You won't kill them both at the same time tho, unlike with the spirit sheperds.

Actually I thought the worms were eaisest.

You have yet to experience the 6-Worm-attack on the entrance of the forest :grin: if only they could "fix" the aggro behavior of those things.. or maybe that's really the way they wanted it to be.. I remembered once, i got to the 1st group to attack me, then suddenly the other group attacked me too>_< I lived thanks to stormchaser but that was scary.. 6 worms packed with choking gas and lightning reflexes lol

[Kurni]

hey I'm farming FoW again and just killed the group of skelletons on the bridge, not the one with the icehand... got extra 3 shards drops 1 each from bonder, berserker, and impaler... lucky drop =) btw, I also found out if you just lure one bonder, the other will keep infusing health, so make sure you lure both of them and let them attack you at the same time so they don't do infuse health =)

I almost be able to farm Shiro'ken in the Raizu Palace from the exit of last mission with Rt/Me solo or dual Rt for the purpose of chest runs. the only thing that coudn't be killed would be the ranger and warrior in the first 2 spawn, and then monk and any spawn with elementalist must be avoided at all cost after come out from the raizu palace to the outside in the northen part. its different setting with the vengeful farmer build that goes around and its originally my build from my own thought.

still in progess of testing due to very high chance of failing due to the very high skills required in managing skills due to assasin and mesmer skills that prevent enchantment, hexes, and recharge delay. my record could kill up to 3 assasin shiro'ken and 1 mesmer so hopefully will be written soon =)

[antoninus]

just downloaded GameCam lite (free version.. no sounds :() ill be posting a video soon... just waiting for the favor :D

[antoninus]

I almost be able to farm Shiro'ken in the Raizu Palace from the exit of last mission with Rt/Me solo or dual Rt for the purpose of chest runs. the only thing that coudn't be killed would be the ranger and warrior in the first 2 spawn, and then monk and any spawn with elementalist must be avoided at all cost after come out from the raizu palace to the outside in the northen part. its different setting with the vengeful farmer build that goes around and its originally my build from my own thought.

still in progess of testing due to very high chance of failing due to the very high skills required in managing skills due to assasin and mesmer skills that prevent enchantment, hexes, and recharge delay. my record could kill up to 3 assasin shiro'ken and 1 mesmer so hopefully will be written soon =)

looking forward to your guide :) Rt/Me Solo Raizu Palace farming zomgo_O

[Snype Doesnt Heal]

Yes, I will be looking foward to your guide as well (and the video :grin: )

Anyway, I am working on figuring out a good path to farm Napiu Quarter (spelling is wrong, sorry). I figured out that I can farm the most people when going to the third orb. The only problem is the ritualist enemies, who altough don't post a threat damage-wise, can kill qz and cannot be killed with vengeful/VwK spamming. Basically I just get the rit to keep attacking me while I put up qz, then agro the groups until I have enough free room to break it's agro. I only did 3 or so runs, 2 of which were very short, and got a gold celestial bow (not max unfortuatly) so I know that the profit will be good once I figure it out.

P.S. I was using the rit/ranger build and will reply again once I try out the rt/me build.

[antoninus]

the Rt/Me uses SV or Ancestor's Visage, you could go near the ritualistwhile being attacked by the melee tengus to activate the energy loss. I don't know if you can tank long enough until VWK is recharged after the 3 VWK you're able to chain at the start though

[Snype Doesnt Heal]

the Rt/Me uses SV or Ancestor's Visage, you could go near the ritualistwhile being attacked by the melee tengus to activate the energy loss. I don't know if you can tank long enough until VWK is recharged after the 3 VWK you're able to chain at the start though

OK I tried the Rt/Me tonight. It worked very well, but I brough conjur phantasm for those ritualists called "Spirit Lights". Then after I got done killing the melee and the rangers, I spammed conjur and vengeful until it died. It doesnt take too long, and the run can give you many enemies, which is a good thing. Didn't get any more good drops though. We just got favor so I'm gonna go farm fow again.:grin:

[lavenbb]

when I farmed NQ i brought empathy and backfire exclusively for those spirit lights.. lol, hate them, hate that place >.>

[antoninus]

videos are done :) waiting for the mod to put it on the guide hf!

[Snype Doesnt Heal]

videos are done :) waiting for the mod to put it on the guide hf!

>.> downloading now...

[antoninus]

about the skeletons on the bridge, just put down QZ and keep VWK and Troll on and they'll be dead, no need to pull them a 2nd time. thanks for the tip kurni, i would have Never bothered with them >_<. and they've dropped me a shard too :D

[furiousandflamable]

first of all:

/wave (Max Ironaxes, we were farming FoW together today:grin:)

nice guide, I'd love to try it out

[Holger]

very nice. im curious tho... wouldn't it be possible to solo much more of FoW instead of just the forest? Have you tried running to the beach to kill all of the spiders there?

another thing about the worms..

while doing this with Remmeh's ranger build ive never once had the wurms attack me so it could be possible just to wand them :P
i guess that's the problem with this build... it requires the opponents to inflict damage to deal damage back to them. I'll have to give this build a bash once the server maintenance is over. but im thinking about replacing soothing memories or vengeful weapon with weapon of warding for the evasion and health regeneration, and because weapon spells stack with item spells as far as i know.

[antoninus]

very nice. im curious tho... wouldn't it be possible to solo much more of FoW instead of just the forest? Have you tried running to the beach to kill all of the spiders there?

it is possible if you're patient enough.. the spiders (entrance of the cave>_>?) tend to group up and you can only interrupt one healing spring at a time.. also you will need constant VWK there so after QZ expires (which will be in 39 seconds) you will have one VWK left to activate before needing to lose the aggro using storm chaser. after that you have to wait 30 seconds for QZ (recharges in 60) before going in. GWT + heals + Resilient Weapon won't be enough to tank all of them before VWK is recharged (without QZ) as there are LOTS of spiders attacking/spiking you. but then if you manage to kill ALL the spiders at the entrance, inside the cave should be relatively easy as only groups of 3 spiders will spawn at a time if you watch your aggro.

You can kill the driftwoods and dryder's at the beach. i try to avoid the ancient skales but i did manage to kill a patrol, tho it took forever.... unfortunately i wasn't able to get a screenshot and i think i won't be doing it again anytime soon -__-. basically you bring down their life with VWK they use lifesiphon/transfer and GB when low on health and you just repeat it until they die. the trick is to get your health low enough so they won't use GB but then make sure you heal yourself so that you don't die from the degen (Resilient Weapon is the key to tanking them) and let them kill themselves with VWK. i find that not using VF and relying only on VWK's life steals does the trick. The fight took around 5 minutes before i was able to get it.

ADDED:*Skeletons outside the exit of the forest. Difficulty: hard
When you've finished the forest head out the exit and run along the right wall. 2 Impalers will pop out, kill them. I'm not sure if this is spawn dependent but a patrol of 4-6 skeletal berskers, 1-2 skel. bond and an icehand will be visible from your rader coming from the top. They CAN be killed but with precaution. Your main goal is to chain VWK until they kill themselves which is possible with QZ. Cast QZ hit the berserkers with your bow then use VWK. Keep an eye on the ICEHAND. After Blurred Vision and Deep Freeze it will use Maelstrom and by that time you should be moving (either left or right) to get out of its AOE once it hits the ground. Hit VWK once it starts blinking, watch out for the 2nd Maelstrom and repeat until all have been killed. The bonds will only be able to infuse at most 2 berserkers so it should be fine:cool:

another thing about the worms..
as for the worms.. forget about wanding lol it would take too long :P Just stand beside them and they'll attack. I rarely get interrupted anymore so by the time my ranger kills one worm, my ritualist has already killed all three.

... it requires the opponents to inflict damage to deal damage back to them.
most monsters would rather attack you than just stand still so it might not be that much of a problem after all :grin:

but im thinking about replacing soothing memories or vengeful weapon with weapon of warding for the evasion and health regeneration, and because weapon spells stack with item spells as far as i know.

i just use Soothing Memories for POINT X, it enables me to tank the elementals before going to the cliff on the left corner. it's a swappable skill :smiley:

I don't recommend getting Vengeful Weapon off though:shocked: ... With VWK and QZ on for 39 seconds, it's what makes you deal 99 damage every 1.5 seconds 37 from VWK + 63 from Vengeful Weapon. Without it spiders won't die in under 20 seconds and you won't kill Sheperds and esp. Spirit Woods as fast.
And VWK requires that you get hit by a normal attack...Weapon of Warding (40/50% evasion i think) prevents them from hitting you thus greatly decreasing its effectiveness.

[Snype Doesnt Heal]

ahh tonight im gonna try to go after those skeletons then, and btw, are you working on and UW build antoninus? That would be sweet, I'm trying to think of ideas for one but having trouble figuring out how to lower the damage output of the aataxes

[antoninus]

how did you know?? yes i have in paper a combo for a duo uw run (smite run) using a Ritualist and a Ranger :shocked: Only thing is i can't find a ranger to try it with.. :sad: There is one MAJOR problem with the build and it lies on an offensive skill we would use that seems to be bugged (created a thread about it and it was confirmed). Nevertheles if the tanking capabilities of the ritualist is to be in question, well... it can tank the aatxes (tried it yesterday. went alone *sob* and i've managed to kill 2 patrols of 3), and supposedly even the grasplings and smites.

But there are a lot of issues to be addrressed insided the UW, not just PLAIN tanking. There are the dreaded 2 nightmare spawns, aatxes' savage slash (it sucks when they interrupt VWK...), grasplings' Fear Me! and Skull Bash and ofcourse the Smites and their incredibly Uber [attack+RoF] spike. All of which have been thought of a doable strategy to be killed *ranger hint hint*. (haven't thought about the coldfires yet but at least they're avoidable) guildies too busy with ff to help :-( and with good reason!

[Holger]

Only thing is i can't find a ranger to try it with.. :sad: [B]

if you'd like, i would be willing to help next time i'm on.
IGN: Holger The Ranger

[antoninus]

if you'd like, i would be willing to help next time i'm on.
IGN: Holger The Ranger

Sure. I'll catch you in game:)

[NeferJackal]

Im planning to make a Vengeful tank, but i am asking, is it really worth taking a sup rune, the increase in damage/healing seems minimal

At 14 Restoration, 11sec duraction and 33 dam/heal
At 16 Restoration, 11 sec duration and 37 dam/heal, -75 health

[antoninus]

depends on personal preference i guess. although for the run i do use a sup rune now as i find that soothing memories' 104 heal is better than its 94 at 13/14 restoration. inside the forest the -75 health wouldnt really matter as most monsters hit you for less than 37 damage. also its nice to see the big chunk of life you steal from a spirit wood when you have VWK + VF on you (at lvl16) :D

[Diivox]

this is a really great guide and i just wanted to post my compliments to the author. i have never farmed before and im not exactly a GW pro but reading the post and watching the videos i managed to pull off the run on my first try and i farmed everything in the forest except for the skeletons which i decided to save for another day. no disrespect meant to the other author but my .02 if you are a rit farming for the first time this is the build to do. made 4 plat in the one run and im sure it will come alot faster once i stop checking the movie every pull. thanks again.