The Great Captain Solo Thread

[sarefx]

Cariance,
Sorry for late response but think about DB/PA power restore as an icpr, I can hit DB/PA almost every 4/5 sec, if it crits lets say every time so I get 209 power every 4/5 sec, its almost 2400 icpr, thats not including power restore from defensive strike, and plus I get like additional 100-150 power from traited rallying cry. Even if it crits every second time than its 1200 icpr which is still significant. I hope those rough numbers makes sense. And also I have cry power cost and melee skills power cost legacies maxed out on my weapon. If u want real numbers I can run my combat analysis.

[azurebob99]

Yeah, first and third bosses of Northcotton are pretty trivial. Only time I ever really had issues with first boss was when I lagged or didn't notice the egg, and the Spider healed up to full again. However, I'm having issues with the second boss. I can't seem to kill the cauldron, keep myself alive, and slap the hobbits all at once. My DPS is still low enough that I need to spend a large part of the fight hitting the cauldron, but that means standing in the clouds, which I have trouble surviving.

Your mileage will of course vary, but here's how I approached it: start with an archer (this is one of those fights where no argument can be made for a standard, any standard, providing more of an advantage). When the fight starts, throw telling mark and your pet at the cauldron...it's like having an extra cutting attack/grave wound DoT up for the full duration of the fight since pets can't get the eye. You'll pretty much always get double-eyes (since there's nothing else for the pot to target), so just kite those for the duration. Doesn't matter where you put them, just try to avoid them right on top of the boss. While you have an eye, you can also be slapping hobbits with your trusty /slap macro (can see mine over on one of my visible bars, hold-over from level 65 when I ran this a lot...it's next to my /raidshout aliases for telling people to remove corruptions and start/stop DPSing a boss).

When the eye goes away, that's your cue to start hitting the boss with whatever you have (and to use To Arms!). You can afford to stay in until the first puddle of the next eye cycle (if you stay longer you'll probably miss a hobbit, and if you miss too many you'll fail), just be sure to drop that puddle on one side of the cauldron...if you drop it there, you can move to the other side to not be in the puddle for a few more seconds of damage. Repeat until you win...if/when you get the one minute warning, just slap the current hobbit then run in and use last stand to finish the pot off, you won't need it anywhere else in this instance. DPSing through the pools is inadviseable (they stack!), and you don't really need to heal yourself much, if at all once you get the timing down.

That being said, I did fail it once on my very first try (played too conservative and ran out of time) before I got the timing down. Gets much easier with practice.

Megumi, are you doing all this traited HoH? I tend to prefer MoW, because it gives far more damage, which means more healing from Revealing Mark (which I have at 20%). Also, it gives me double the uses of DB and +5% crit chance, which means far more uses of RC. Other than unlimited power (which is awesome), why'd you go for HoH? Just curious.

Yes, you caught me, most of what I posted was indeed done traited HoH. As for the reason? That's easy: laziness. That's right, there's no real mechanical advantage to soloing most content traited HoH, I'm just too lazy to bother retraiting unless it's something I can't manage otherwise. I'd just have to retrait back again later anyway!

That being said, don't take the fact that I can solo something traited that way to mean it's automatically effortless...some of the stuff I've tried (and even succeeded at!) required a notably more crafty approach than "throw revealing mark at it, turn on auto-attack, go afk, come back to victory". Probably.

Also, you really only need screens of the boss kill. If you can kill the boss, we'll trust that you handled the adds on your own

I can't speak for Milnor, but the reason why I posted pictures of the waves for the Barz fight wasn't because I thought that otherwise someone would jump on me saying I had a group and had them drop at the last 15k or something, but more because this thread isn't being flooded with pictures just yet and I felt I needed to do my part!

When more people start posting pretty pictures, I'll be happy to reduce my posts to just a boss kill shot and text explaining how much I cheated (or maybe some sort of RP story, depends what mood I'm in!).

On a related note, I also think we should post relative difficulty (admittedly that's subjective, but still) along with new solos. As a baseline, anything that can be beaten just by throwing revealing mark up on a mob and auto-attacking (admittedly there are probably knockbacks and leashing and switching targets to consider, so it's not THAT simple), like Carn Dum or Urugarth, or content where you can just stand there and hit a boss without your morale moving would rate as "trivial" or "very easy" or some other term if people don't like those. Basically this is a fight where barring going linkdead or the mob resetting (or falling asleep!) the chance of failure is minimal.

Stuff like the last boss of Northcotton Farms (tier 2!), or Inn of the Forsaken's boss fights (set to level 75...below that, it's still trivial!), where it's possible to die and there are mechanics to consider, but the battle is still won mainly by standing still and letting revealing mark heal you, would rate as "easy" or something similar.

Then content where you have to be clever, or kite a little, or maybe even kite a lot at times, or where there would be a mark of choice that isn't revealing (or isn't always revealing), or a position of choice that's not "the same place you were 30 seconds ago" could rate as "moderate" or something in that vein. I'd say the cauldron in NCFt2 and the fights with Barz and Zurm in the Rift would fall around here, as would the first boss of Stoneheight tier 2.

And of course the content that pushes the limits of the class, requires gear and traits and possibly what-not would then qualify as "difficult" or "really difficult" or "super difficult" or whatever else makes people feel like they accomplished something. The final fight of Stoneheight tier 2 would fall here, for example. The end fight in FG probably would too, in my opinion, but I'll think about it more when I go back there for pictures.

Thoughts?

[IGolbezI]

not quite sure what you guys think is so hard about boss 2 of NCF. here is the last half, i guess i could upload the first half if you want but it's not too hard i dont think

id stick the two halves together but im running on 32bit machine for a little while and i cant find any 32 bit program that doesn't compress the video way too much if you merge vids

[azurebob99]

not quite sure what you guys think is so hard about boss 2 of NCF. here is the last half, i guess i could upload the first half if you want but it's not too hard i dont think

Not "hard", just harder than say...the rest of the instance, or Grand Stairs or something like that.

A better way to put it (I think) would be that it takes more than standing still and auto-attacking with revealing mark up, so regardless of how difficult it actually is, it's a fight worth trying.

And I don't think there's a point trying to combine the halves of the video or uploading the rest even. Like you said, it's not such a hard fight to solo that people shouldn't believe you can...plus, it'd just be an extra 2 minutes of the exact same thing you already showed! Not like the pot changes forms or starts shooting lasers or something at any point!

[sarefx]

Did SHT t2c again, with pics =P

[sarefx]

NCF t2c last 2 bosses with pics =) note I killed second boss in 2 mins =P

[IGolbezI]

soloed the first boss of SG. got it first try but it was hard.

second boss is impossible i think lol

trash isnt easy either

[azurebob99]

First off, grats on soloing Urchir (SG fire guy...that's his name, I think). Now I have to try that one too!

Second, I ended up going back to FG so I could prove I did it. First boss is trivial, so not going to bother showing proof of that.

Second boss:



Oh god! The stuns, they refuse to stop! The stupid lieutenants just spam them, and the stun lasts longer than their warband contribution, so the damage REALLY adds up. Even though you can resist the stun, it still happens so often that you're stunned for half the last part of the fight. The first two thirds of the fight are really easy, but honestly this fight may well be harder than General Talug at the end.

Third boss:





It may only be level 60, but this fight has everything! Stuns, more wounds than you can consistently cure, a hard-hitting but slow-moving invulnerable boss, an invulnerability mechanic, positioning...in all it's a ton of fun solo with a captain. Not impossibly hard, but it's a ton of incoming damage and you won't win just depending on revealing mark and standing still. Makes Northcotton tier 2 seem like landscape content by comparison. Well, not quite...but it's still challenging and fun!

Up next, 16th Hall...maybe.

[azurebob99]

Ah, good old 16th Hall, redefining fun twenty completely identical trash pulls at a time.

First two bosses I'd say are trivial, pictures available on request.

Lost One (with challenge):



First, I will NEVER do that again. Getting to the end reminded me of why I hate 16th Hall and always have. As for the boss? Easy, I guess. Can't just stand there and take the hits though, there are a lot of little beetles. I miss the old version of this fight, with the corruptions and exploding ninja orc death squads dropping down from the sky every minute.

[sarefx]

I did HoC HM, here r pics =P Also a first boss seem the hardest one to me, and trash pulls before a first boss were insane, but rest of the fight was simple.

[L_Loomis]

Nice work in there, makes the captain look fun!!!

Now to ditch that RK and get my lowbie captain levelled up!

[Acherman102]

Well, using a light shield + some nice traits is really handy for soloing aswell and the right relics for more evade parry and block. I've solod T2 SHT aswell but the last boss. That one is really a nasty one for captains. also NCF isn't that hard for a cappy and sword halls Hm is doable aswell. GS isn't that hard either anymore now. but how about trying the first boss in rift ? it's pretty hard but Im assure u can complete it! Also a nice place to try ur solo skills is to go to nars peak and complete some bosses over there ^.^

[sarefx]

I got first six bosses down in the rift, working right now on the giant in the arena, here are the pics
http://s1110.photobucket.com/albums/h455/Sarefx/

[azurebob99]

"So, Meg..." People may be saying, "You may be able to solo all this grey content, but what does that prove? I mean...it's grey! Trivial! Right?"

Well, I doubt anyone's actually saying that. But let's pretend they were, and that knowledge (along with the voices in my head) prompted me to go try something more...at-level.

Pits tier 1 First boss:



Took three tries. Honestly, it came down to how often I critted him; there's nothing I could have done better strategy-wise, and I used every meaningful non-store buff I can think of by the end (pay to win buffs are cheating, but I'll throw as much DP and as many consumables at something as it takes to beat it), and still had to man-heal the last time. The picture makes it seem like I was more in control than I actually was, like I said I critted literally EVERY DB on him that attempt. The main advantage of the prisoners was that I could blade-brother them without sacrificing a standard (best of both worlds!), the DPS they added was at best trivial since they attack once every fifteen seconds, or so it seemed.

After that, I cleared the fire wing trash (had a friend open the wing for me, but she left immediately after that). That was even harder than the first boss, especially once haze started tiering up. First few pulls were easy enough, but by the time I got to the two elite/one sig pull at the end, I had to kill one, die, and run back to finish.

Before Fire Wing Boss:



I gave the boss two solid attempts before all those nifty buffs started to run out, but I couldn't get him below ~70k. The crits just weren't going off in my favor I guess, and I kept getting hard to avoid fire patterns and taking 1k or so from that before I could move out of them. In the end, I got sick of it and walked off to take a break, but this boss is possible. I'd say harder than Stoneheight tier 2's end fight though, and also the sort of fight that depends more on gear and luck with crits on the right skill at the right time to pull off. Certainly not something you'd solo for seals.

[sarefx]

After numerous attempts I finally managed to kill fire boss in pits t1, but I had no quest because I forced to leave instance so I can repair and re supply my consumables, here are pics, not gonna show pics for first boss because it was simple unless someone doent believe me lol

[sarefx]

Well, I think there is nothing you can´t do solo...^^

But: Anyone who kill the OP WOOD(!!)troll solo yet? (moors)

I tried 4 times so far, in my best attempt got boss to 70k morale. Wood troll heals him self often. He has huge block chance. His defense getting stronger over time which works against cappy >.< So I can surely say its nearly impossible to solo wood troll on cappy.

[deeman25845601]

Grand Stair Hard Mode

I am pretty sure this is impossible. Not because the bosses are hard, because there is a time limit (unless they got rid of it). Even wit ha suicide run, I don't think you can kill the mobs to drop the gates in time. Did you actually do this, or did you just solo the final boss?

[deeman25845601]

P.S. no i didn't use any of the store pots on my hotbar, i use those in the moors lol

That's even worse.

[Neverwhere616]

I am pretty sure this is impossible. Not because the bosses are hard, because there is a time limit (unless they got rid of it). Even wit ha suicide run, I don't think you can kill the mobs to drop the gates in time. Did you actually do this, or did you just solo the final boss?

I cleared to Nardur in about 8-9 minutes. It wasn't bad, I just used my man heal to move through the last couple pulls quicker. Once you get to the final stairs you can run up to grab the first pull and activate Nardur. A suicide run also wouldn't work as you lose the challenge if you die. As far as damage, I crank out about 700-900 dps single target self buffed. Basically, I killed stuff at the speed a decent level 60 fellowship would have.

[sarefx]

I am pretty sure this is impossible. Not because the bosses are hard, because there is a time limit (unless they got rid of it). Even wit ha suicide run, I don't think you can kill the mobs to drop the gates in time. Did you actually do this, or did you just solo the final boss?

That fight is not even nearly impossible. I would say its one of the easiest solo. If cappy traited LtC with second age fully upgraded weapon there should be no problem clearing all adds in 7-8 mins like it was mentioned before.

[ChristophShannon]

I got first six bosses down in the rift, working right now on the giant in the arena, here are the pics
http://s1110.photobucket.com/albums/h455/Sarefx/

I never thought to try this solo but I always loved the Rift. Even at 75 some of the boss fights seem tough addwise. How was Zogtark with the two dragons, worm adds and the boss all at once? Narnulubat seems like another add heavy fight if any of the darklings spawn world eaters. How long did this take you?

[sarefx]

I got 7th boss also after trying new strat here are the pics http://s1110.photobucket.com/albums/h455/Sarefx/
couldnt get balrog solo, but I have some crazy strat that might work will see.

To ChristophShannon, i killed one drake in 30 sec with OS than kited worms, boss, other drake, and took one worm at the time than finished drake, and boss was a piece of cake. For the boss near door with darklings I killed all adds first than killed darklings than dps boss untill darklings spawned again and keep doing that, imo piece of cake fight.

[ChristophShannon]

ITo ChristophShannon, i killed one drake in 30 sec with OS than kited worms, boss, other drake, and took one worm at the time than finished drake, and boss was a piece of cake. For the boss near door with darklings I killed all adds first than killed darklings than dps boss untill darklings spawned again and keep doing that, imo piece of cake fight.

Cool, thank you for the reply! Well done.

[Omen_Kaizer]

I soloed 16th hall a couple times recently, in my quest to get a Goat. I couldn't do the challenge, though. Because I succeeded in getting my goat, I'm afraid I won't be going back to that wretched place to get screenshots.

Last time I tried NcF T2, I couldn't get past the 2nd boss's DPS check (even with my archer Concorde plinking away while I avoided puddles and slapped hobbits). I may have to give it another go as soon as I scrounge up enough seals for my Dagor Chest&Boots.

[DelgonTheWise]

Tried Fangorn T1 last night out of curiousity. Got through the trash nicely, though I lost 1 Huron (was sloppy, think it can be done without losing any). The boss before the trolls did me in though. I tried him with herald of hope (for heal, inspire reflection) and revealing mark, was traited LtC + Now for Wrath/SfW. I was doing OK for a while, but my herald took lots of damage even though he was behind boss. Once herald went down, was all over pretty quickly. I think I got him down about 50K before dying. Didn't seem hopeless though. Maybe next time I'll try with archer -- I lose my herald heal, but he'll stay at a bit more of a distance... That was with food/scrolls/tokens, but no destiny buys. Mind you, if I get by this guy I'll have trouble burning down trolls fast enough, but it was interesting anyway. Anybody done this solo?