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When you go on an Oro or FA...please bring more than 2 bonds. Thanks. (I just had 4 groups in a row ruined because of this same problem, they were all diffrent bonders too)
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try asking what bonds the bonder is bringing before you start. what part are you dying at? if its the first part i doubt its the bonder its just "somebody" is not controlling the aggro.
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As much as I'm inclined to start ranting loudly at the OP [since he called me a "f*ck*ng d*mb*ss" in game once for the heinous crime of not noticing the "FA" portion of his LFG spam--god forbid someone should miss a word or two in the biblical flood that is the War Camp main chat], I have to admit I have noticed someting of a degeneration in the overall ability of SF farming groups lately.
I usually play as a bonder, so I can't say as I share in his particular concern, but it seems like more and more people are just being complete dumbasses about the whole SF farming deal. Today I had a warrior run down the hill before I had set any bonds at all, which is just ridiculous. It's slightly more understandable to have one run in once his own bonds are up, but I have to say I've reached the point where taking off before I'm done setting my bonds is usually an instant-quit offense as far as I'm concerned [since it's definately not a good sign of things to come]. It's generally a fairly safe assumption that a bonder isn't going to just stand around and expect everyone to magically know when he's done setting his bonds. Be patient, and they will eventually say "OK, go." I promise. If you want to make it go faster, pester the necro to BR him. Patience is a virtue that is horribly lacking in this game, not just in SF but everywhere. I can't for the life of me understand what would possess a group to go aggro three mobs before the monk is even done loading, but it's happened to me too many times to count.
Seems like everyone is getting dumber, or maybe there are just more SF noobs around or something. As usual, I blame the running community, as it puts clueless and largely inexperienced players in high-risk, high-level areas of the game. For example, yesterday I had a N/W "SS Necro" [I use the term loosely] who insisted that he did "plenty of damage with this build," despite the fact that everyone except myself died while fighting the first boss as a result of his asshattery. Suffice to say, nearly no damage was being dealt. The day before, I had a warrior that not only didn't use any stances, he used no skills at all. I saw him sprint once [in the middle of combat, while holding the gear], and I had to ask him what his skillset was about ten times before I got an answer.
Now, I can understand not wanting to run "cookie cutter" builds, and I sympathize with the need for creativity. That said, there are certain things that work, and certain things that don't work. For instance:
--You're not going to be able to beat monk bosses without a source of constant interrupts [preferably spinal shivers]. If you want to bring an Elementalist Echo Nuker into a farm group for some variety, please acknowledge the fact that the group will most likely not be able to beat Wroth, since for some damn crazyass reason, Meteor Shower never seems to interrupt him [unless that got changed since I last tried]. Likewise, other monk bosses will be much more difficult without shivers.
--Spiteful Spirit should probably be echoed. If you don't want to run a N/Me because everyone is doing it, fine; but you should probably be aware of the fact that it will take about twice as long without Arcane Echo. For this reason, I'm sure the farming community would appreciate it vastly if you farmed with friends rather than random strangers. I don't like it when my Orozar runs take 2 fuggin' hours.
--If you're not a stance tank, please do not advertise as one. I've had literally dozens of idiots tell me that they're "Stance tanks" only to load up and see half of their skillbar are attack skills, and the other half are healing abilities or smite skills or whatnot. That would be like me advertising as a "Bonder" and bringing smite or fire nuking spells. Your elite should not be Mark of Protection or Healing Hands. You have two monks behind you; let them do their job.
--N/R Minion Masters, for the love of God, please use Serpent's Quickness. Otherwise you're wasting minions. Please stop bringing pets, they just die in the first fight. If you rez them, you've just wasted two skill slots. Try bringing Winnowing instead if you can't decide on your last ability.
So yeah, sorry about the rant, but this raises an interesting point about the overall quality of 5-man SF groups. I honestly don't see what's so hard about doing a little bit of research before you try something: god knows I didn't fire up my 55 monk without reading up on a few workable builds. At the very least, actually think about your build for a moment or three and how it will work in the context of your team's goals and desires.
Last edited by Konrad Althalon; 26-03-2006 at 08:02.
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Life barrier and life bond should be enough their cowboy.
Maybe you should aggro correctly and bring stances!!! Honestly, life bond is enough for me.
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I went the other day with a warrior/ele and I assumed he wouldnt use his second profession, he used a sword No sword attacks, Rush, FRENZY, Firestorm, and immolate...
I asked him why he used frenzy and he said its a stance. I said, "Yea but have you read it?" He says "Stfu you stupid monk" And continued to use it. Then later when in he died from the drago boss and never used frenzy again, (Probably because he read the skill) but nonetheless, he was an idiot. Not to mention, he had the desired wamo weapons, Fellblade, Eternal sheild and platemail armor (Suprised it wasnt a FDS).
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I have the echo the sentiment - if you are worried about people screwing up your run, ask their skills before you leave. Ive done plenty of generic PVE bonding, and Ive never taken more than 2 bonds. I understand its necessary for SF farming, and thats fine. However, when you advertise for a "bonder" you are bound to get people who dont know what exact bond-build youre asking for. I know that happened to me the first time I went in as a bonder.
The only people Ive ever added to my ignore list originated from that group.
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While we're ranting,
As a monk I mainly have beef with 2 classes.
Warriors and elementalists.
Warriors who can't tank and elementalists who think they can.
If you're a warrior and you like dealing damage that's fine, but when you're in running a mission or you're in PvE, your job is to be a bloody tank. If we wanted DPS we'd get an ele' or a necro or something. 90% of the warriors I've partied with are completely focused on attacking. Most don't even bring defensive skills, and I've had tons of W/Mo's who won't even heal themselves when a situation is desparate because they say that's my job. Also, if casters have aggro', ****ing do something about it.
Elementalists, please, stay at the back of the goddamn group and when you get aggro'd, don't stand there like a moron, circle around the tank until they drop off of you, and USE your goddamn skills. I can't count how many eles I see just standing there shooting away with their wands. Staying at full mana while everyone is screaming SHOWER.
In fact, most of the casters I've partied with in general don't seem to know how to get rid of aggro'. You just circle around the tank a few times, it's not that ****ing hard.
Last edited by Kyokuji; 26-03-2006 at 09:24.
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I think What Cuevas is talking about [what with the having more than 2 bonds and what-not] is once you get inside SF. If you only carry the two bonds, it's not terribly unlikely that one or both of them will get stripped at some point. Personally, I carry Essence Bond and Life Attunement, for what should be patently obvious reasons. Not only are they useful, but they cover my bonds and barrier.
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when i bond i cast life barrier, life bond, vital blessingon the warrior, then i cast balth spirit on myself... And, my guild mate ussually casts essence bond on the warrior for energy management. almost never run out of energy, and no one dies.
Last edited by thorus; 26-03-2006 at 18:52.
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While its not really a giant concern, Vital Blessing is not needed. Given the amount of protection/healing flying around, the extra HP is really quite negligible. It works, but not as well as Life Attunement, IMO. Life Attunement is also a lot more handy when you're protecting Oro, since the healing bonus is more powerful than having the extra HP, and no one is dealing their damage in combat anyway. Try life attuning the whole party when you fight at Oro and things will go much more smoothly.
Also, Essence Bond on the tank is more effective than Balth's on yourself, since Essence Bond triggers whenever he takes physical or elemental damage, and Balth's only triggers when damage is redirected to you from Life Bond [i.e. when he's attacked]. Again, it's not a life and death issue--and I'm sure your build works just fine--but its not optimal.
