Wed 9/17 CoF Guild Run 7PM PST [Rescheduled]

Brad and I will be hosting a Cathedral of Flames (CoF) Guild Run on Wed 9/17 at 7 PM PST / 10 PM EST. Our hope is to gain enough cash to get the guild the 100k it needs for the next upgrade, since we are getting rather close. As with all guild runs, the donation is entirely voluntary. You won't be forced to give up the neat new sword that drops and is an upgrade compared to your own or anything like that.

While running it in Hard Mode would be more profitable per person, we'll be running it in Normal Mode so that more people can enter and join the fun. The quest itself gives you 1500g, so if we have 8 people go and donate it, we'll get a minimum of 12,000g.

Things You Need:

Eye of the North, preferably with access to the Doomlore Shrine outpost. You can get there by doing the Ebon Vanguard Primary Quests.

If you do not have access to Doomlore Shrine because you have not done the quests yet it is okay, you can still go, but someone with access will need to run you there. The doors will be closed if you try to run there on your own, but if the leader has completed the quests, the doors will be open. If you can make it to Longeye's Lodge (northeast of Gunnar's Hold) it'll make things easier because it's a rather short and easy run from there. I'll be online early, so can help anyone that needs it get to Doomlore Shrine.

Skills To Bring:

Because of how the run works, the skill you'll need are probably different than what you usually run, especially if you play a damage-dealing class. Brad and I will handle all of the tanking and damage dealing. The only thing you really need is a form of self-healing to keep yourself alive when we go through rooms with Burning or Poison. Bringing some condition removal is also a good idea.

Here are some good examples of self-healing/condition removal for people that aren't already a healing class:

[build prof][healing breeze][mystic regeneration][shadow refuge][faithful intervention][troll unguent][mending touch][antidote signet][extinguish][/build]

These are just examples. Basically, any way you can keep yourself from dying from Poison or Burning will work.

Aside from a form of self-healing, there are several skills that will make the run a bit faster and more profitable.

Firstly, Brad will need some healing due to Reversal of Damage, but even Healing Breeze is usually enough to take care of him. I believe Scion said he will be coming, and he did a great job healing my hero smiter earlier today so we should be fine in that regard. Three spells in particular will be very helpful if someone brings them to use on Brad:

[build prof][mending][succor][watchful spirit][/build]

Also, I will occasionally make a mistake or get unlucky and die. In order to recover, we'll need a rez that teleports me out of the enemies. Two rezes qualify:

[build prof][rebirth][unyielding aura][/build]

Brad has Rebirth, but the more rezes, the safer we are.

Lastly, the dungeon has plenty of Hidden Treasures that can be revealed with [light of deldrimor]. Most Hidden Treasures give from 60-250 gold, but they can also contain rare crafting materials, lockpicks, and gemstones. Only 1 copy of this skills is needed, but having 2 or more can speed up the run because we spend less time waiting on the cooldown.

What To Do On The Run:

Basically, stand back with Brad while I run ahead and kill everything. If you have heals, make sure Brad doesn't die or I won't be doing any damage. Don't worry about healing me (though a [watchful intervention] before I engage can be helpful, just incase I mess up). If you have Light of Deldrimor, spam it whenever you get bored and you'll see yellow 'pings' on the map. This is where Hidden Treasures are. I know where almost all the chest spawns are, so I can help direct people on where to check. Wait for me to clear the area, and then we'll collect all the treasure and goodies. Talk with people on vent, watch TV, listen to music, whatever you like.

What NOT To Do On the Run:


Since it's free to enter and there are rez shrines, there is very little you can do that will really mess up the run. Still, there are some mistakes people make sometimes that make the run longer than it has to be or gets people killed.

1) As tempting as it is to run up and lay down some damage on the monsters as they beat on me or to run up and heal me if you see me taking damage, it is actually best in most cases if you don't. Every time something hits me, I'll be getting 2 Energy and ~140 health and doing approximately 81 damage back (162 vs Undead). Moreover, the max damage I'll take per hit is ~81. Enemies will die fast; I won't (except in cases where I get interrupted or run out of energy).

2) Get aggro'd. Brad and I will draw lines and ping to help you know where is safe to be. If things are beating on people other than me, they won't be taking damage, I won't be getting energy, and keeping everyone alive will be harder. Note that trying to damage things as they beat on me or trying to heal me are also good ways of getting aggro'd.

3) Certain Hidden Treasures do not give treasure, but instead spawn a Dwarven Ghost who then follows us around. The bad part is, like many NPCs, he can occasionally be suicidal and pull entire rooms onto us. If we draw an 'X' over a Hidden Treasure, don't use Light of Deldrimor near it or the ghost will spawn.

4) On the 3rd level of the Dungeon, when we zone in, an undead named Keymaster of Murakai will be standing in front of us. DO NOT ATTACK HIM. He will run off and we will kill him later. If you aggro him right at the entrance, he still runs off, but a nearby undead patrol will aggro us and likely kill us (since we won't be buffed).

5) Lastly, don't go down until the next level of the dungeon until everyone is ready. People might miss drops if people zone too fast. I'll do a "ready" check and zone us when everyone is set.

Conclusion:

I realize this was a long read, and I thank everyone that actually read the whole thing. Knowing all of this isn't entirely needed to make the run, but the more people are informed, the smoother and more enjoyable the run should go for everyone.

For those of you interested, here are the builds Brad and I will be using:

Me, the 600 Monk Tank:

[build prof=Mo/Me pro=12+1+1 div=12+1 ins=3][spell breaker][protective spirit][shield of absorption][spirit bond][mantra of resolve][blessed aura][balthazar's spirit][essence bond][/build]

Brad, the Smiter Monk:

[build prof=Mo/N pro=12+3 smi=12+1+3][blessed signet][purge signet][blood is power][rebirth][vital blessing][life attunement][holy wrath][retribution][/build]

Hope to see everyone there!

Hey guys!!
I have almost all of the above monk skills I am pretty sure...so I can protect Brad and rez everyone too...

But Man!! I wanna kill stuff! It will be nearly impossible for me to just stand around!!! You gotta give me SOMETHING to do! Maybe I will try to buy that skill and find all the treasure or something.

I will try to be on at that time, but I will *just* be getting home from work so we will see. I might miss you all...

If I am not there, then good luck everyone and have fun. Great idea guys!

(Extremely good post there Jon, thorough as always...but I have some big questions to ask you about this whole thing....so get ready to talk buddy! )

Nicolette
(Game Nurse)

Well, when it's a big group of guys on me, if people come up and start attacking, there's a good chance they'll scatter and aggro others. Since we aren't running a normal party setup, that'll probably not go well (though this will be on normal mode, so won't be nearly as bad as on hard mode).

Still, once there's only like 1-2 left, unless it's a dangerous area, it's probably fine for people to come up and help finish the bad guys off. Once it gets down to just 1-2, they usually die a bit slower if I'm the only one up there anyways.

I'll be sure to comment when it's safe for others to come up, if they like. :p

I almost forgot!

If you're coming, be sure to bring a Master Dungeon Guide. Once you get one of these filled up, you can get a ton of xp, gold, and rep for turning it in to one of the groups in EotN.

Also, Light of Deldrimor is a PvE skill you get from a quest:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Light_of_deldrimor

It's towards the end of EotN.

Hey you guys...

Hope the run was good!

I got home from work, ate dinner, took a bath and nearly drowned since I fell asleep in it! So I decided sleeping in a bed was safer *grin*.

See you all tomorrow or so. Sorry to miss the big guild run though.

Nicolette
(Game Nurse)

You didn't miss anything, Nicolette. Brad had the run canceled due to unforeseen circumstances. Last night was basically a dead night, other than the regulars that play.

Indeed, the run was postponed.

Haven't decided an exact date for it yet, but it won't be Thurs (I'll be offline studying for an exam). I'll make a new post here and edit the thread title again when we know for sure.

Oh good! At least I did not miss anything!!

Looking forward to the next attempt!

(And good luck on the exam there Jon...)

Nicolette
(Game Nurse)

I feel I should mention that I can still actually do this run on my own with Ogden as the smiter, I'd just need to figure out a good time. Alternatively, running the smiter build is really easy if someone else wants to bring a monk and has the skills (and a spare, cheap set of armor to slap some +3 runes on).

If someone wants to be the smiter but doesn't have Blood is Power, Blood Ritual can also work. It's just a bit more annoying since it's a touch spell.

Me! Me! Me! *waving my hand wildly*

(Is there any doubt I would be into this???) *grin*

I am all over trying this out. Hope you have a lot of patience.... consider it good training in teaching and learning *smile*.

Nicolette
(Game Nurse)