EQ2: TSO

[Noxxy]

Hey,

So...TSO

Simply, I am having a shocker of a time in TSO dungeons - seems the difference in results between the 'normal' FG kitted out with the basic legend/treasured combo doesn't stack up too well vs the full fabled team - hence, getting a few large repair bills - the mobs are chewin' me a new one!

Has any current mboxing EQ2 player had any success in TSO dungeons and can you suggest any strategies for a full boxing team?

Ta,

n0x

[Brookie]

EQ2?

::crickets::

[Frosty]

I could barely get EQ2 to run on one machine. :S

[Redbeard]

Eq2 had some fun ideas but always (in my opinion) lacked that level of blizzard polish that could push it beyond the fringe.

Good luck with your search.

[mesmerise]

my team is lv 60 and tried TSO juste one time in befallen, pulled one mob then an army came, then i was dead....

thats all my short experience is TSO so far ><

[gantell]

My mains are pretty well knitted out with decent Legendary gear the TSO mobs i can take but most of the names are insane. The names are also very gimicky. Each has a trick to it. My current strategy is to take a lvl 51 toon in mentoring. Then kick him and grey the zone. This lets me do the mission quests and learn the lay of the land. I am hoping that once I get outfitted with the new void shard armour things will get a little better.

But still they are going to have to do some tuning. There are some Names that my 6X group at 80 can not take the lvl 53 named. I dont' see how a level 50 group would have any chance at all.

[Noxxy]

Totally agree re TSO - FG at 80/140, fully adp3'd and the latest and greatest legends can do trash ok...but bosses...ha

The scary thing is - I did try the 5 x 80/140 and 1 x 50 - did it the 'honest' way (i.e., not greying) and walzed in there thinking I could at least clear the bosses...all I can think of is, you know that larf the guy from the simpsons does? Harharrrr ahha

Maybe have to go the way you suggested (i.e., greying) but seriously...6 accnts to whack grey mobs? sheeesh - and when you think of it:
- 135 shards for advanced jewelry (3 sets per)
- say 180?? shards for advanced AC (actually, prob cost more than 30 shards a go)
- 20 for a shield
- 40 for charms

So make it say 400 shards to get 'everything' - like that's a lot of 'grey' dungeon running. Given we have say 8 dungeons which cater for a lvl 50 group, 6 of those could be termed easy at grey the other 2 have major bosses standing in the way. So let's make it 6 shards a day (not counting the 2 x bonus shard or the totally stuffed bonus chest which a lvl 50 group can't get) - so 6 a day for total of 400 = 67ish days... /oh please, shoot me now

And when you think of it - it actually take twice as long becuase 1 accnt had to have a locked 50 so the other 5 accnts could get the shards...130 days - more than happy to grind as is my way...but 130 days worth of grey?

[asgradth]

I tried Quad boxing one of the lvl 50 instances with a lvl 73 team (lvl73 mobs). I wiped in a matter of seconds after the first pull. The mobs are tougher than normal mobs, ie - they hit harder and take more hits to drop.

I just bought all the hardware I need for my 6-box team... Hopefully things will have been 'tweaked' by the time I get the two new members to lvl 50... Otherwise, looks like we finally have a real challenge on our hands!

[Noxxy]

You know the funny thing Asg? I went to the old worlds and jumped into a raid dungeon with my 6 - trash came up as x2 - pulled a few for the fun of it (as I am getting pretty peeved with tso so thought what the stuff) and sure enough - whacked their asses no problemo - sure they took time and I had to keep the wards up plus spam the odd heals but I can do the lvl 70+ x2s - had the same success with x2 bosses, pretty low on mana by the end of the fight but still could get them down

But, IMHO - the lvl 80 trash mobs in TSO have the same if not more hitpoints and dmg output than the raid x 2 mobs in the old worlds - this just doesn't make sense to me tbh - as I am sure, like me, the 'best' gear you have got is probably legend and the odd fabled (class weapon, thugga ring, etc)

nfi how to get the tso ac (without greying)

[gantell]

Ok , I am about to give up. The TSO mobs are just too tough. I am not going to pay for six acounts and then not be able to run at least some of the new instances.

What SOE is thinking I don't know. But what fun is it if you can't kill the bosses. Sure I am up for a challenge but not on every boss fight. They introduce station cash because they want to get more money from the players willing to pay more (hello boxing people here paying for 4, 5, 6 accounts). So they make the instance require stupid physical tricks that can't be done while playing mulitpule accounts. Some one needs to be fired over here. Been playing since launch and I am about to give WoW a try I think.

[Noxxy]

Totally sympathise with you Gantell - am having a shocker of a time in TSO myself - the whole expansion is anything but boxer friendly

Even so, I am starting to have a 'fair' (not great) amount of success with my team - BUT - it is extremely difficult - and I am only talking about the lvl 50 dungeons (mentored not greyed)

Which dungeon are you currently up to (remembering I grind the lvl 50s - ment to the lowest char which is 52 atm unlocked)? Be happy to give you any info I have worked out myself through trial and error (LOT of errors!)

Why do the bosses at lvl 50s you may ask? Simply, I 'should' have an easier time at working out how to handle the bosses than if going in their at 80 - that's the plan anyway

(The Team - dropped 2 x 80s and replaced with a lvl 57ish and a 52 which I ment the team off (might as well pl some new blood while I'm at it) - rest are all 80s with legend/fable/and a mix of basic/adv tso ac and adv tso ring sets with 'bout +170aa now)

[asgradth]

I've put together the following 6-man: Guardian, Templar, Defiler, Coercer, Dirge, Warlock and with this team, I've taken down every Epic x2 Mob I've come across (all wins, no losses). At level 51, I took down Meathooks (lvl 53 Epic x3 in SS)... I cleared every dungeon/instance from 1-50 that I could find. I have my stuff down when it comes to hunting and even took down Emperor Crush on my first try when my team was lvl 41.

At level 51, we tried "The Deep Forge" in Lavastorm. I was able to clear all the trash mobs, and yeah, they feel like X2 Epics. At level 51, I took down the Doomsmith (named mob in bottom left corner). It was a helluv a fight and lasted 'forever'. I then tried the named in the middle of the platforms and wiped while he was still @ 80% health. I then tried the other TSO Dungeon (down the lift, around the corner) in lavastorm. I cleared all the trash, then went for the named... Then the named dropped some kinda bomb or something and I wiped 2 seconds later. Forget that.

I then went back at level 56 and tried Deep Forge again... Teh Doomsmith had a new proc, something like "Armor Absorbtion". I didn't pay much attention cause just as i noticed my guys starting to die, everyone died... I rebuffed and tried again and... yeah, forget that too.

IMO: TSO Dungeons are meant for epic/raid geared max_aa toons. These aren't trash dungeons for newbies... This is some intense dungeon running. I think i'll get my team to lvl 80 and buff them out on gear/aa as much as I can, then mentor a lvl 51 toon and give TSO another shot... For now tho, I'm out, no more TSO.

[Noxxy]

Hey Asgradth

Grats on the epic clears

There's a trick to Doomsmith - and yes, it keeps changing all the time due to stealth 'improvements' - beside doom is a hammer - pull the hammer with the named and ALL focus on the hammer - easy to kill that sucker fast - killing the hammer puts a pretty nasty DoT on the team - don't remove it, just leave it there simply because it is also a damage reflect, i.e., whatever damage doom does to you is reflected straight back at him - therefore, he kills himself by trying to kill you. If the DoT wears off, grab another hammer, rinse repeat till your going through doom's pockets

Now this script has changed a fair few times with doom - on first release, you HAD to always have the hammer DoT on the char taking the damage, then a patch came along and doom was made 'easier' then he was repatched again to be mega-harder (even when greyed using 80s) - and back again etc etc - this particular named seems to changed every other week - but I can confirm that having the DoT ticking on the teams works - just make sure you keep the AOE healing up as it can get nasty

The other dungeon in lavastorm you described is najena's hallow tower - the first boss is fitzfangle - and I can honestly confirm, he is bugged - I have placed over 6 reports on him now but still waiting for him to be fixed.

Basically with fitz - what is 'supposed' to happen is this:
- in the corner of the first room are valves with mobs, whack the mobs, turn the valves
- upon turning the last valve (of which there are 4), fitz becomes attackable and quite upset you played with his valves
- start whacking him down, about at 75%/50%/25% he drop about 6 bombs, STOP whacking fitz, kill the bombs ASAP - from my very hazy memory you have about 6 or 9?? seconds to destroy the bombs - if you do not it's dirt nap time, the bomb blasts are instance wide (i.e., you can't run or hide, even chars left at the door will die)
- keep going till he is dead - loot - /yeh

Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, this script is bugged so what actually happens is (to a non-level 80 team):
- start whacking fitz (say your a level 50 team, fitz will be level 50 also)
- he drops bombs...level 80 bombs...6 of them...red con...good luck with even scratching one
- boom x 6 - arrrrgghhhhh /much gnashing of teeth

I have bugged it but keep getting the reply it is - functioning as intended - which is total BS as we all know, no matter the game, that you'd be stuffed trying to whack 1 red con let alone downing 6 in 6/9 odd seconds

As to your plan re getting to 80, gearing, then coming back to TSO - unfortunately, IMHO, you are totally correct as it is the only way I have been able to do TSO (even with the fables et al) - a possible suggestion to your plan is to perma-lock some utility char at 50 (say a warden or fury for easy porting and speed) so when you cap your team you can ment down to 50, grab some quick shards then kit yourself out in TSO AC

[Oternakn]

ooo this sounds nice:) hehe not. i havent been to tso yet, working a new setup of dudes on runnyeye up to 80atm. well well for once ill go in a guild group :huh:

[asgradth]

Thanks for the info Noxxy, saved me a bunch of research this week (was going to scour the eq2 forums on TSO). Doomsmith, that explains it... My first fight w/ him was in his room and i kept getting attacked by the hammers (just dealt with it at the time). My 2nd fight was outside his room, on the ramparts, to avoid the hammers! hah, no wonder he seemed so easy the first time around! Thanks, also, for Fitz's info... Looks like i have much research to do on TSO before invading again...

I'm noticing, the higher I get, the harder the Epic x2 and x3 mobs are getting... Have any of you (6-boxers) made it through the last 'room' of the Silent City (filled w/ x2 to x4 mobs)... I took out the x3 Captain on my 3rd try and that was by far the hardest fight i've encountered yet in-game. All of the epic x2 un-named trash mobs were 'easy'... The x4 guy wiped my team with a double shot of 3k aoe in a matter of seconds (2hrs to clear to him, 5seconds to die to him).

EQ2 6-boxers, what are some of the highest Epic x2/3/4 kills you've pulled off with just your team of 6?

[Oternakn]

trash in labs is about my best against epics

[Anarius]

Well I four box Bruiser / Mystic / Dirge / Inquisitor and I can do CoA (the one in Seb) and VoES easy, and if I add a mezzer I can do MC / RE2.

I don't use all this software jazz that you folks do, I just run two pc's with two clients each and two G series keyboards (one g15 one g11)

As for TSO I can do all of the Everfrost zones (not mentored or anything, straight at 80) A buddy of mine says that if I can do the EF ones there's a damned good chance I can do the Lavastorm ones as well, and possibly AoB or OoA (I think, the one in Moors by the second quest hub).

The Mystic is fairly decently geared with Mythical and what not, the Bruiser is in full T1 shard gear and some other stuff, not great but in the group I have set up I'm sitting at 82.7% avoidance, no Mythical on any toon except for Mystic. I'll have Mythicals on Bruiser, Inquisitor, and Dirge within two weeks, which will make all these zones cake because of the DPS increase and the click to cure all and double heals on Inquisitor mythical, also will be done with the TSO signature quest within a week or so as well on all four, which will help drastically having a better shield for shield ally on the Inquiz, and the good off hand weapon for the Bruiser. On top of it all, I don't even have my healing stance on either priest, and haven't unlocked the chain mit or chance to stoneskin from the Bruiser tree, nor the 10 second avoid all button, which is two tsunami's in total basically on the Bruiser post mythical and capped AA's.

If you have any questions or want suggestions on AA builds, group setups, gear, or just in general anything game related you can send me a PM here and I'll get back at ya with my MSN or AIM.