User:Lotrfish/necromancer

The Midnight Solo is one of a very few builds centered around the Mesmer elite skill Signet of Midnight. This solo build will work on all Warrior bosses located in the Jade Sea. It should be applicable to most Warrior and Assassin bosses in other areas, as long as you isolate them.

This build has been proven to work on:
 * Geoffer Pain Bringer (Boreas Seabed (Explorable))
 * Sskai, Dragon's Birth (Boreas Seabed (Explorable))
 * Jacqui The Reaver (Gyala Hatchery (Explorable))
 * Reefclaw Ragebound (Gyala Hatchery (Explorable))
 * Chkkr Locust Lord (Melandru's Hope)

This build focuses on blinding the target and uses failure hexes to get energy as well as deal some damage. With a high chance to miss with attacks (25%+25%+52% from hexes and 90% from blindness) the target will simply never hit you with an attack. Mixed with -9 Health degeneration this build is very effective and can kill almost any Jade Sea Boss in 60 seconds.

Equipment

 * +5 energy Wand or Sword and any collectors Curses offhand.
 * Wicked Scar Pattern (Curses +1).
 * Superior Curses Rune.

Usage
The usage is very simple.
 * Find the boss, cast Mantra of Resolve and pull him out.
 * Try to cast Signet of Midnight before his first attack. Normally he will hit you once before you can blind him and you should survive it.
 * Now cast the 3 failure hexes, start with Spirit of Failure to start getting energy right away.
 * Follow with Price of Failure which will deal 32 damage on each attack attempt.
 * And finally finish with Reckless Haste to speed up killing. This hex will also keep us safe with 52% chance to miss.
 * The total hit rate, factoring in all miss rates, is 2.7% for any melee boss.
 * Now cast Ignorance to disable Healing Signet.
 * And now cast Conjure Nightmare to add some final fun with -8 Health degeneration.
 * Cast Parasitic Bond as soon as possible as it will heal you only after 20 seconds.
 * Recast Signet of Midnight, Ignorance and Reckless Haste as soon as they are ready to cast, they are the key skills in this build.
 * Recast Conjure Nightmare and Price of Failure with Spirit of Failure as soon as their effect ends.

Variants

 * If you feel safe and don't need healing you can exchange Parasitic Bond for Empathy or Suffering.
 * If you feel you don't need protection against interrupts you can exchange Mantra of Resolve for Enfeebling Touch it will lower damage you receive from attacks and speed up killing. You can also exchange Mantra of Resolve with Mantra of Inscriptions to speed up recharge time of Signet of Midnight.
 * You can also replace Ignorance with a damage-dealing hex when the boss doesn't use Healing Signet.
 * Replace Parasitic Bond and Conjure Nightmare with Empathy and Vampiric Touch or Vampiric Bite. Move your attribute points from Illusion Magic to Blood Magic. You get a more immediate life steal skill in exchange for no degen on your target; but requires more careful energy use.
 * Chkkr Locust Lord farming: replace Mantra of Resolve and Ignorance for Spirit Shackles and Drain Enchantment (or Shatter Enchantment) to get rid of his Shadow Refuge or his Locust's Fury. Mind Wrack can also be used instead of Drain Enchantment.

Counters

 * Even though the hit rate of the boss does become 2.7%, if you are really unlucky, you may still die if the boss get some hits through between the time your hexes has worn off and before you get to replace them (most notably Reckless Haste).

Death Farmer
The Death Farmer is a Necromancer build specifically designed to take on large mobs of adversaries that primarily use melee attacks. It is especially efficient at defeating Mountain Trolls at Droknar's Forge, but also works on other mobs, and with variations, can be built to farm Minotaurs, Trolls, and even various Assassin creatures throughout Cantha.

Equipment

 * Armor:
 * Tormentor's Armor
 * Weapons:
 * The Nightbringer or Ghial's Staff can work quite well.

Usage
In order to properly use this build most effectively, you will need to learn how and when to properly cast. The basic principle is to cast Enfeeble on a target, followed by Virulence, and Epidemic to spread the -8 health degeneration to the surrounding creatures, all the while keeping your armor up with Physical Resistance, and occasionally leeching some life by using Oppressive Gaze. With this build you will be able to farm groupings of 10+ without triggering scatter, meaning that you will be able to farm large groups without getting some to pull off as with builds that use AoE to farm large groups of creatures. Oppressive Gaze will occasionally scatter these creatures, but in some cases it is necessary to do so in order to stay alive. Channeling will be used as a tool for energy-management, and Shadow of Fear is used to slow down enemy attacks so that Blood Renewal can keep your health increasing.

Counters

 * Interrupts. Mountain Trolls especially slow down the process (and occasionally kill you) when they manage to interrupt you with Disrupting Chop. Putting time between Enfeeble and Virulence usually helps, and keeping Shadow of Fear on creatures will also decrease their disruption rate.

Variants

 * For some creatures, Sympathetic Visage and Ancestor's Visage may be necessary to decrease skill usage.
 * For further Variants, consult this thread

Video
A youtube video showing the build in action.

N/Mo Boss Farmer
This build is intended for quick and direct farming of bosses. It relies on the normal 55 standard and very high health regeneration for healing and damage reduction. Essence Bond and Balthazar's Spirit provide energy for the consistent spamming of regeneration skills. The main damage comes from Spoil Victor and possibly one Touch Attack. This build allows the user to charge directly for the boss monster and ignore the boss's mob.

Equipment

 * Each of your armor pieces need to have a superior attribute Rune. This will lower your base Health to 105. (The only required type is blood, but 5 are necessary to hit 105 health.)
 * It is a good idea to bring a second set of armor. This will allow you to adjust your health manually based on any Death Penalty you might accumulate.
 * Any +5 energy/20% longer enchanting sword/axe such as Rajazan's Fervor or Totem Axe.
 * The -50hp Grim Cesta from the Cities of Ascalon quest. (This is not required if you don't mind dying once and using a -20 offhand to hit 13hp. This will work better in most cases.)
 * For 13hp build, any -20hp offhand (preferably +12 energy). (Life is Pain Inscriptions help with this.)
 * If you have any +hp offhands they could also be useful if any DP is accumulated.

Usage

 * Cast your four maintained enchantments when entering the explorable area. Try to allow full energy regeneration after each one until you're used to an area.
 * As you approach your target cast Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze.
 * Target the boss monster and cast Spoil Victor.
 * Get as much aggro as possible from the boss's mob of monsters.
 * Begin using Vampiric Touch on the boss
 * After any touch attempt refresh either Healing Breeze or Protective Spirit. Alternate the refresh between the two.
 * Having the touches interrupted is not an issue. They have a fast refresh time.
 * Refreshing Healing Breeze and Protective Spirit early is ideal when facing a boss whose mob has interrupt capability. If they are interrupted this is less problematic as they'll likely refresh before they expire.
 * To keep melee foes from fleeing, keep hitting them with your axe or sword.

Counters

 * Enchantment stripping spells such as Chilblains, Lingering Curse, Well of the Profane, Gaze of Contempt, Rend Enchantments, Strip Enchantment, Inspired Enchantment, Dark Apostasy, Shatter Enchantment, or Expunge Enchantments.
 * Life Steal attacks will bypass the protection offered from Protective Spirit. This will usually kill you.

Variants

 * Consider using Blood of the Aggressor instead of Vampiric Touch for lesser energy use and damage from a distance (safer against interrupts from warriors or rangers). Vampiric Touch is sometimes impossible to use in areas where there's a lot of energy degeneration such as Domain of Secrets.
 * Some groups apply more degen than you can handle, in this case replace Vampiric Touch with either Life Siphon or Blood Renewal. Life Siphon is better for groups without a lot of interrupts, while Blood Renewal has a faster cast time, and the sacrifice will be healed before you notice it most of the time.
 * Another skill you may consider in replacing Vampiric Touch is Wallow's Bite or Touch of Agony. With only 5 energy cost and 3 sec recharge time, you can definitely spam this skill to speed up killing.  The 10% life sacrifice is hardly noticeable.  A good example would be the case of farming Wing's Axe.  If you encounter a mesmer with two ritualists, it's almost impossible to kill her with just Spoil Victor as she strips off hexes the moment you put it on her.  Not to mention she strips off hexes from the her party too.
 * Replacing Watchful Spirit with Vigorous Spirit and Vampiric Touch with Plague Touch opens up a lot of possibilities. Vigorous Spirit maybe be used as a cover enchantment versus enchantment removal or a cheaper heal than Healing Breeze when down to one or two attackers. When using Vigorous Spirit as a cover, it's usually best to cast Protective Spirit, then Vigorous Spirit, then Healing Breeze immediately before attacking the target mesmer or necro (Kournan Seers are one example of where this works very well). Plague Touch is useful to remove conditions such as Dazed from the Grasping Darknesses in the Underworld, or Deep Wound when fighting Stoneaxe Hekets while farming greens like the Eye of Argon and Balthazar's Fury though removing Deep Wound isn't always a good idea, since you end up taking less damage which makes you harder to kill.

Prophecies Campaign

 * (none so far)

Warrior bosses

 * Arrahhsh Mountainclub - Normal build. Beware of the poison traps that will leave you with only +1 health regen.
 * Geoffer Pain Bringer - Normal build; run his group into the Naga group approaching from the North-West, then pull him alone away from the fight with a long bow, only maintain Balthazar's Spirit and Mending.
 * Jacqui The Reaver - Normal build; be wary of the many other mobs in the area. Kill any Outcast Deathhands and Outcast Assassins in his party.
 * Reefclaw Ragebound - Normal build; be wary of the many other mobs in the area.
 * Sskai, Dragon's Birth - Normal build; bring Awaken the blood. Alternatively pull him away from the group with a longbow and kill him much the same as Geoffer Pain Bringer.
 * Wing, Three Blade - Normal build. Kill off all Mesmers and Ritualists first; to prevent hex removal and healing respectively.

Ranger bosses

 * Chehbaba Roottripper - Stay away from poison traps and bring Blood of the Aggressor for ranged damage. OR alternatively, 13HP and bring Plague Touch
 * Chkkr Thousand Tail - Normal build. Bring Blood of the Aggressor instead of Vampiric Touch and only maintain Balthazar's Spirit and Mending.
 * Ryver Mossplanter - Normal build. Consider Blood of the Aggressor to get Craw Stonereap on the same run. Avoid the groups outside the Shrine, and take on the groups in the room one at a time until you get to Ryver.

Monk bosses

 * Byzzr Wingmender - easiest run you'll ever do, bring Vampiric Gaze instead of bite/touch, avoid aggro while going to it, stand by the wall outside its cave; it can't do any damage to you. You can avoid the spawns this way too. The boss will damage himself quickly, and you can finish it off with Vampiric Gaze.
 * Hukhrah Earthslove - Normal build. Bring Vampiric Touch instead of Watchful and alternate as in usage.
 * Meril Stoneweaver - Normal build. Bring Parasitic Bond as a cover hex for Spoil Victor as Meril has Smite Hex. Maintain only Balthazar's Spirit and use Blood Renewal for health regeneration. Good timing for the hexes is required.
 * Miella Lightwing - Normal build.

Necromancer bosses

 * Craw Stonereap - Normal build; consider Blood of the Aggressor for additional ranged damage. Hide behind the door to avoid getting killed by the enchantment removal. Run past the Wardens until they break aggro. If you acquire the blessing from the Kurzick Priest, it will make this even easier since Craw relies mainly on health degeneration and ranged damage.
 * Foalcrest Darkwish - Normal build. Cast your enchantments and use the Wardens to build up energy. Do not engage them - just run past them. They should break aggro before you reach Foalcrest.
 * Konrru, Tainted Stone - 13 hp, best way to get to him.. is get more Luxon Faction than Kurzick and die, you'll spawn in his area.
 * Sourbeak Rotshell - Normal build.
 * Sessk, Woe Spreader - Replace Vampiric Touch with Blood Renewal, just lure Sessk out of his group with someother foe's

Mesmer bosses

 * Kenrii Sea Sorrow - Normal build, preferred life siphon instead of vamp touch/bite.Kill miella lightwind then lose aggro come back around, avoid all aggro/groups, go between sourbeak and the oncomeing outcasts as soon as u can go around the cove where he is to the back, pull only him pretty far back(as to avoid the oncoming leviathan) keep regen up always, time for knockdowns, and he's yours.

Elementalist bosses

 * Arbor Earthcall - Normal build; the run is very fast and easy and boss is not healed by mobs.
 * Lian, Dragon's Petal - Normal build; kill the ritualists first using only Vampiric Touch followed by the mesmers in the same way, then kill Lian using the normal technique.
 * Zarnas Stonewrath - Bring Blood of the Aggressor instead of Vampiric Touch ranged damage. Getting too close to him risks getting hit by his knockdown.
 * Snapjaw Windshell - 13 build is a must, run past Ssyn to the right from Jade Flats (Luxon), run until you lost aggro (just before the group of Snapjaw), you also might encouter a Oni group you can easily run past them when they spawn but if you die and you need to get passed them again then you can have slight problems, wait until the Naga's are gone and pull Snapjaw away from the midst, or you will be slayed by the carps.

Assassin bosses

 * Chkkr Locust Lord - Normal build. Look at to see directions on how to get to him and isolate him. Beware of the degeneration that Mantis Dreamweavers can cause.
 * Xuekao, the Deceptive - Normal build. Beware of Necromancers as they will not do damage but steal life.

Ritualist bosses

 * Tomton Spiriteater - Blood Renewal variation.
 * Whispering Ritual Lord-normal build or life siphon instead of vamp touch/bite.Kill Miella Lightwind, lose aggro, follow the rit lord out of aggro until you find an opening leading to the back little un-patrolled part of the jade valley cove, avoid aggro, he will come away from groups here. pull him towards you or he attracts monks, stay behind the rock nearby as to avoid disenchanting spirit attacks, he dies slowly but steadily.
 * Quansong Spiritspeak-13 hp is highly advisable and have lots of patience. Run out of Zin Ku Corridor and run to the Rez Shrine.  From there take out the 2 Temple Guardians.  Be sure to move around when you are hit with Smoldering Embers.  To quickly recharge energy while fighting stand in Breath of Fire.  Take out the Temple Guardians 1  by 1.  then when you can reach the boss let her have it.  She is easy by herself.

Warrior bosses

 * Chor the Bladed - Normal or Blood Renewal variation.
 * Churrta the Rock - The 13hp build is preferable. It could get tricky because of the knockdowns; you need to time things to keep Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze up all the time.
 * Mahto Sharptooth - Normal build.
 * Onwan, Lord of the Ntouka - Normal build. It's still possible with 1 Rampaging Ntouka. Just be sure to cast Protective Spirit, Healing Breeze, and then Watchful Spirit before engaging. Let him hit you to get Watchful Spirit removed. Onwan can usually be killed within a minute.
 * Riktund the Vicious - Blood Renewal variation to be safe (use the 13 hp variant, make sure to also aggro the beetles). The regen build still works; stay next to Riktund and use Vampiric Touch when you are on fire. Life Siphon is possible but slower. Both the 13hp and the 55hp builds are fine.
 * Robah Hardback - 13hp build. Be wary of Icy Shackles. To get Buhon Icelord on the same run, switch your -20 hp offhand with -50 hp offhand when Robah dies.
 * Shak-Jarin the Justicebringer - Life Siphon variant or Blood Renewal variant. This may be very difficult due to the mob of giants nearby and the occasional skill disable effects from the main group.

Ranger bosses

 * Bolten Largebelly - 13hp variant.
 * Tenezel the Quick - 13hp or 55hp. Kill the first group of beetles before engaging Tenezel's group. Aggro Tenezel's group and pull back, using the wall as an obstacle. Watch out for beetles that circle around the wall.

Monk bosses

 * Banor Greenbranch - 13hp is preferable. Kill any Mirage Iboga first as they use Conjure Phantasm.

Necromancer bosses

 * Jerneh Nightbringer - Blood Renewal Variation is recommended due to his use of Rotting Flesh.
 * Modti Darkflower - Use Blood Renewal Variation. Difficult to get to due to mandragor imps from the west path, and Kournans from the east.
 * Terob Roundback - Normal Build. (Getting to the boss is much easier if the Ntouka spawn does not have a Crested Ntouka Bird (mesmer))

Mesmer bosses

 * Eshim Mindclouder - Blood Renewal or Life Siphon variant.

Elementalist bosses

 * Buhon Icelord - 13 hp build, this should be a walk in the park then.. only problem is the Icy Shackles, if you desire to kill Robah Hardback too, switch your -20 hp offhand with -50 hp offhand when Buhon dies.
 * Exuro Flatus - Normal build. An alternate option here is to have a Rune of Superior Soul Reaping and Signet of Lost Souls instead of Vampiric Touch in order to counter the effect of the region. Also, raise soul reaping to 3+3 with the remaining attribute points for maximum effectiveness in the Signet.
 * Hajkor, Mystic Flame - 13hp build. Avoid the patrolling mobs. Activate Junundu Tunnel if you encounter a Desert Wurm.
 * Kormab, Burning Heart - Be sure to bring your -20 hp offhand, first you have to run to him (avoid behemoths!), after you killed him, warp in and out Wilderness of Badza, than you can kill him again. Make sure you don't aggro the Ethers. Die when you have +4 MB, than switch to your -20 hp offhand.
 * Korr, Living Flame - Blood Renewal variation. Refresh Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze as soon as they recharge to avoid an untimely knockdown.
 * Setikor Fireflower - Normal build. 13 hp build if you see a Mirage Iboga in his group.

Assassin bosses

 * Faveo Aggredior - Normal build or Blood Renewal variation. Bring Reckless Haste or Guardian/Aegis to disrupt its attack chain so Assault Enchantments doesn't hit (see talk page for more info).
 * Lunto Sharpfoot - Normal build. Use Spoil Victor on the boss and any monks.

Ritualist bosses

 * Lieutenant Kayin - Blood Renewal variation.

Paragon bosses

 * Corporal Argon - Normal build. Kill the priest first.
 * Eshau Longspear - Normal build. Use Spoil Victor on the boss and any monks.
 * Jishol Darksong - Sub in Vocal Minority for Vampiric Touch to stop his self healing and speed it up.
 * Lieutenant Shagu - Consider bringing a cover hex for the Corsair Doctor or kill him first.
 * Oath of Profanity - Blood Renewal variation is safer. Restart if you see Herald of Nightmares in his group (or in the single group on the path to get to it).
 * Pehnsed the Loudmouth - Normal build or Blood Renewal variation. Blood Renewal variation is safer.
 * Tureksin the Delegator - Blood Renewal variant. A rather awkward run. Get the 55hp build ready and kill the 2 elementals. Head west over the bridge. Avoid the awakened to the west and follow behind them. Head north as soon as you get to the next open area. Tureksin should be directly north. Avoid the 3 patrols near the opening to Tureksin. Seers and Dune Carvers will ruin your day. Run in and get to the back of the area. Focus on reapplying Healing Breeze, Blood Renewal, and Protective Spirit. Watch your map as Spoil Victor should be applied only when a patrol is not near the boss. It's a 5-minute run if you get used to it.

Dervish bosses

 * Acolyte of Balthazar - Make sure no kournan mesmer is in the group, otherwise easy to do with 55 health.
 * Acolyte of Melandru - Run is doable,hard though,hug the boss for your life,keeps hb,ps, and vamp touch as soon as they recharge or energy is gained,run all the way to the middle of the castle,do not aggro patrolling side groups,if two oppressors or healers,or any seer's at all spawn in her group,resign,its impossible.
 * Bubahl Icehands - Normal build; or Blood Renewal variation to reduce the possible degeneration from Disease.
 * Leilon, Tranquil Water - Blood Renewal variation. An extremely difficult run. A Longbow or Flatbow and a -20hp offhand is necessary, plus a good dose of timing. It is better to fight your way to the boss (see map) rather than run, since it is easy to get overwhelmed. Always maintain Protective Spirit, Healing Breeze, and Blood Renewal when engaging djinn. Die when you reach her and then run back to her. Maintain only Balthazar's Spirit and Mending; not enough damage for Essence Bond. Wait for full energy then then pull them to the middle of the bridge. Just before they aggro, use Protective Spirit and Blood Renewal. Do not use Healing Breeze due to the drain from the Roaring Ethers. At about 30 energy, wait for Mistrust then cast Spoil Victor on Leilon as soon as possible. Maintain the two enchantments and repeat until she dies.
 * Marobeh Sharptail - Blood Renewal variation for a 13hp build; adjust Blood Magic to 14, Protection Prayers to 8, and the rest to Healing Prayers.
 * Onslaught of Terror - Blood Renewal variation is safer.
 * Shezel Slowreaper - 13hp build to be safe. Mirage Ibogas will make things difficult so consider restarting if you see one.

Videos

 * Craw Stonereaper (Youtube)
 * Craw Stonereaper (Google Video)
 * Foalcrest Darkwish (Youtube)
 * Arbor Earthcall (Youtube)
 * Sskai Dragon's Birth (Youtube)
 * Reefclaw Ragebound (Youtube)

Solo SS
This build is designed to handle the new "erratic" AI with the Solo SS Farmer build.

Equipment
Armor:
 * Scar Pattern Armor or Cabalist's Armor type (if you have Guild Wars Factions) because they offer the most energy required for the build.
 * All armor pieces must have Necromancer superior runes: a Superior Death Magic is recommended but not compulsory. Aim for the cheapest runes.

Weapons:
 * Totem Axe for the energy and the +20% length of enchantments
 * To solo the Underworld you will need a max damage Truncheon such as the one from Uderit Ignis, or, if you have Factions, a Wailing Wand from Gertrud or Telamon.
 * The off-hand item is the Cities of Ascalon quest reward -50HP Grim Cesta

Usage
The process of this build is basically the same as the old one. Cast Essence Bond, Balthazar's Spirit, and Mending Before battle and let your energy recharge. As you aggro your target cast Protective Spirit and Healing Breeze. Once your target attacks cast Spiteful Spirit and shortly after, Rotting Flesh. If the target group is large enough they will start taking turns attacking. Once a body is available cast Well of Suffering. Remember to keep up the enchantments.

Counters

 * Any enchantment removal will most likely kill you.
 * Conditions also pose a threat to any 55. Stack too many and you will negate your health regeneration.
 * Death penalty will majorly mess you up.
 * Be very careful of interrupting attacks from warriors, an example is Mountain Trolls' Disrupting Chop. This is especially dangerous as it adds 20 second cool down to the recharge of the affected spell, if this hits on Protective Spirit or Healing Breeze it can leave you dead in seconds.

Variants

 * Well of the Profane may replace Well of Suffering to hinder enchantment reliant attacks
 * Guardian may be advisable for attacking a large group at one time. The AI still has everyone attack at once and then after some time (Undetermined) they break up
 * The use of Putrid Explosion may be helpful in certain situations.
 * Necrotic Traversal is an energy friendly alternative to Well of Suffering

N/Mo UW Farmer
This build is meant to solo farm the Bladed Aatxe in the Underworld for ectos and to solo the Grasping Darkness for gold drops and other rare items.

Attributes and Skills

 * Consider replacing Vigorous Spirit with Suffering so that you can use it as a cover hex and be able to solo the Smite Crawlers.

Equipment

 * Use cheap radiant armor, or cheap armor that gives you extra energy, and 5 superior runes to bring your health down to 105.
 * Use a sword, or axe with a 20% enchantment mod (this is critical, because vigorous spirit's effect will activate slower with a wand, scythe etc.)
 * The -50 HP grim cesta is also needed for this.

Usage

 * Enter the Underworld
 * Aggro the Bladed Aatxe group on the left, or right, and run in the opposite direction to the opposite corner.
 * The Bladed Aatxe group should not follow you, but if there was a Dying Nightmare near the Bladed Aatxe group then it should have followed you, cast vigorous spirit and wait for the Dying Nightmare to remove it with Rend Enchantments, now use Protective Spirit and wand the Dying Nightmare to death.
 * Stand in a safe spot, and cast all of your maintained enchantments. You should have at least 25 energy after the enchantments before you begin to aggro the Bladed Aatxe group.
 * Cast Vigorous Spirit before you aggro the group of Bladed Aatxe, now use Protective Spirit, target a Bladed Aatxe and use Spoil Victor
 * Begin attacking the Bladed Aatxe with your sword or axe. Health gained from Vigorous Spirit should be enough for a group of 2 Bladed Aatxe.
 * Maintain Protective Spirit and Vigorous Spirit while fighting the group. If you have health problems, and your health stays steady at half full, use Healing Breeze.
 * Apply Spoil Victor to your target(s) when it recharges. Most of the time 1 cast of Spoil Victor will fully kill a Bladed Aatxe or a Grasping Darkness, but if not recast it.
 * Repeat steps 2-9 for the second Bladed Aatxe group.
 * Kill the Bladed Aatxe groups on the right and left, be sure to also include the lone Bladed Aatxe that walks around to both groups frequently (you can kill the middle group, but if there is a nightmare spawn and you run, the entire group will follow you).
 * Take the quest after the Bladed Aatxe on the right and left are killed.
 * Use steps 2-9 for the Grasping Darkness
 * If dazed use Plague Touch on a Grasping Darkness.
 * Usually the health gained from Vigorous Spirit is enough without Healing Breeze to maintain stably high health against a group of 3 or 4 Grasping Darkness.
 * Continue on through the chamber with in the direction of the Smite Crawlers and you will find more Bladed Aatxe and Grasping Darkness to farm.
 * Be sure not to aggro more than 2-4 groups at a time.

Counters

 * Rend Enchantments from a Dying Nightmare that you did not take action upon when the Dying Nightmare spawned.
 * Interrupt.

Variants

 * Live Vicariously can replace Vigorous Spirit so that your main way of healing can't be interrupted. Note that Live Vicariously provides less hp than Vigorous Spirit.

N/P Remains of Salajha Farmer
This build is designed not only to handle killing Lost Souls outside of your Junundu wurm (and getting back into another wurm safely), but also to kill Maddened Spirits 1 on 1 outside of the wurm. It may be used for quickly farming the Ancient Armor Remnants which drop randomly each time you kill a Maddened Spirit or Lost Soul, or if you're patient and have a strong bladder - for taking the high score in the mission. It is *only* fit for the Remains of Sahlahja challenge mission.

Equipment

 * High-energy armor is preferable, though not required.
 * Vanahk's Staff or other Blood weaponry for recharge (or +1 to Blood Magic).

Usage
There are three parts to using this build properly:
 * Killing Maddened Spirits outside of the wurm.
 * Killing Lost Souls outside of the wurm.
 * Using your Junundu wurm effectively.

Maddened Spirits
Maddened Spirits are invulnerable to damage, hexes, and conditions. They are not, however, invulnerable to direct life stealing.

Wait for a single Maddened Spirit to approach you. Hit it with Vampiric Gaze, then hit Blood Renewal and "Can't Touch This!" as it closes in. Immediately start spamming Blood of the Aggressor, Blood Drinker, and Vampiric Gaze as they recharge. As soon as the Maddened Spirit loses more than 50% of its health, hit Signet of Lost Souls and resume spamming. You might also want to hit a nearby Infestation with Life Transfer for healing instead of Blood Renewal - if it's been wanded a few times you'll also get the Soul Reaping bonus.

With practice, you should be able to kill the Maddened Spirits before "Can't Touch This!" expires. However, if it doesn't look like this will happen, run from the Maddened Spirit beforehand. When you have enough energy, reapply "Can't Touch This!", hit the spirit with Signet of Lost Souls to regain a bit more energy, and resume spamming your life stealing skills.

As soon as the spirit dies, hit a nearby Infestation with Life Transfer and wand it to heal up while regenning your energy. Make sure to use Signet of Lost Souls on the Infestation once it gets under half health to help regen energy. Kill one or two Infestations while waiting for the next spirit to arrive, but make sure not to spend much energy on them - you'll want full health and energy for the next Maddened Spirit.

Once you get your score around 100, the spirits will begin spawning quite a bit more quickly. If you get behind and are about to get two of them attacking you, run to the Wurm Spoor and enter your Junundu wurm. If you can hit "Can't Touch This!" just before entry, you'll be protected for a bit as you get inside the wurm.

Lost Souls
Most Lost Souls spawn in locations where they are easy enough to just smack with the wurm. Junundu Bite does the trick in one shot, and you can get the extra heal if you use Junundu Tunnel to race up to them.

A few of the Lost Souls are on rocky terrain, however, so the wurm is useless. Get well ahead of the Maddened Spirits and exit the wurm. If any Maddened Spirits are nearby when you exit, immediately hit "Can't Touch This!" then "Fall Back!" and run towards the Lost Soul. Run as far as you can with "Fall Back!", past the Lost Soul if possible, but not out of casting range from it. Hit it with Life Transfer, then continue running to the next Wurm Spoor, using "Fall Back!" when available. At 16 Blood Magic, Life Transfer will kill the Lost Soul by itself. As you approach the next Wurm Spoor, use "Can't Touch This!" to protect your transition as you jump back into the wurm and race off.

Wurm Usage
For the most part, the basics of Junundu usage are described in the Remains of Sahlahja and the Junundu article. Here's a few additional pointers specifically for this farm:


 * "Can't Touch This!" protects you from Maddened Strike while entering a wurm, and in fact continues protecting you while in the wurm until its normal expiration time. Use it any time you're entering a wurm with Maddened Spirits on your tail.


 * To heal, get well ahead of any Maddened Spirits and use Junundu Tunnel. Find an Infestation you can reach while Junundu Tunnel is active, and use Junundu Bite. This will knock down the Infestation prior to the bite, thus netting you 500 health.  If you have enough time, use Junundu Feast to aquire an additional skill.  If you get really low, exit the wurm in a safe location and run to the nearest Wurm Spoor to get a new one.


 * Kill Infestations as described any chance you get, and make sure to use Junundu Feast if it's ready after the kill. If you happen to get Blinding Breath, you're ready to take on an entire mob of Maddened Spirits.  Get well ahead of the Maddened Spirits, find a Greater Infestation, and kill it quickly.  Then just spam Blinding Breath once the Maddened Spirits are in range until they die.  If you start with full health, killing 4 or 5 Maddened Spirits this way is fairly easy. For extra healing after the fight, use Junundu Wail if nothing else is around.

Counters

 * Death from lag/rubber banding can be extremely frustrating, especially if you get blocked in a doorway and it doesn't register locally. If you notice you are taking hits with no Maddened Spirits near, try running the opposite direction until the server and client resynch.  Another way to resynch is to type /stuck.


 * If you are going for a high score, realize that normal biological processes may be your worst enemy later on. Plan ahead.

Variants

 * If using purely to kill Maddened Spirits, and you don't care about killing Lost Souls at all, replace Life Transfer with Ravenous Gaze. Try to keep your health just below 50% between Maddened Spirits through sacrificing so you can use Ravenous Gaze as an opening attack to get the most out of it.


 * Another method is to remove Blood Drinker and Replace with Song of Power, then remove Life Transfer and replace with Vampiric Spirit. This will allow you to steal an additional 41 health every time you cast a spell.  Then if your energy gets to low, use "Fall Back!" followed by Song of Power.  I suggest taking Soul Reaping down to 5 + 1 for this build and placing those extra points into Motivation however since Song of Power will offset the decreased energy gain in between spirits.

Equipment

 * You'll need one high-health set of armor and weapons and one 55 set (see Invincible Monk for details on 55 equipment).

Usage

 * When you enter the Stygian Veil, there is a mob in the trench immediately to your right (S-SE) that may be (mostly) killed easily for fun and profit and to get the first few no-drops out of the way. If you get a great drop from these, use Consume Corpse and retrieve it.  This will end this farming run.  Watch out for the patrol - particularly the Mind Tormentors and Water Tormentors that often spawn will hurt.


 * Head East, dodging the nasty Shadow patrols. Talk to the Whispers Informant to receive Anguish Hunt.  Then talk to the Adept of Whispers, take the Breaching the Stygian Veil quest, and immediately run NE along the wall above the Dreadspawn Maw.  Wait for three mobs of six Stygian Hungers to gather around the Adept of Whispers.


 * Carefully run along the wall to the lower area around the Dreadspawn Maw - there's just enough room to get down there from either side without aggro'ing any of the groups.

Now the fun begins....

Part 1 - The Hunger Mobs

 * Stygian Hungers are touch/AoE necros with Grenth's Balance as their elite. Switch to your 55 health setup to counter Grenth's Balance. Repeat the following:


 * Use 'c' to select the nearest target - make sure it is in one of the side mobs - save the center mob for last.
 * Cast Suffering.
 * Run away around the Dreadspawn Maw using a running skill until aggro is broken. Occasionally, this will be difficult. Do not stop running until aggro is broken.
 * Make sure you have the nearest target of the same mob, and cast Desecrate Enchantments. The Hungers use Dark Aura, making this do a decent amount of damage to the mob.
 * Run away and break aggro.
 * Nearest target, cast Feast of Corruption.
 * Run away.
 * Go back to the first step, and repeat until their health is low.


 * You really want to finish them off with Feast of Corruption or Desecrate Enchantments. If you let them degen to death while you're not in the area, you may not get any drops.  They should be in an easily killable range with either skill once their health bar is into the 'Lvl' text.  If you are using your 55 armor, then all can be killed simultaneously.


 * When a mob dies, it will be replaced by another one from a spawn point behind the gates the first three mobs came from. You have a lot of time to run around the Dreadspawn Maw to lose aggro from the other two mobs, but do try to avoid aggro'ing the new one.

Part 2 - The Brute Mobs

 * Stygian Brutes are hammer warriors. While facing them, you can switch to your high-health armor if you wish, but you're still probably dead if they actually hit you.  Use the same techniques as on the Stygian Hungers, except only cast Desecrate Enchantments when you have energy to burn, as it is considerably less cost-effective for damaging the Brutes.


 * [[image:Stygian_fiends_path.jpg|frame|Path to run away from Fiends]]

Part 3 - The Fiend Mobs

 * Stygian Fiends are rangers with Crippling Shot, Choking Gas, and other fun skills to mutilate necromancers with. Once again, you really don't want to get hit by these.  Unfortunately, if they even shoot at you and miss, Demonic Miasma will make it hurt. Use the high-health armor when dealing with these, as you're likely to at least be *missed* by a barrage or two of arrows.


 * Once again, hit and run. If possible, run up the nearby hill while running away to minimize any height-advantage and additional range the Fiends may get.  See the highlighted path in the map:


 * [[image:Stygian_muddy_placement.jpg|frame|Placement of Muddy Terrain for Eastern mobs]]

Part 4 - The Golem Mobs

 * Stygian Golems are Dervish beasts which use Harrier's Haste to catch up with you. It's almost impossible to reliably lose them with just running skills.  The trick here is to circle around the mob and plant Muddy Terrain *behind* the mob, to the NE of the Adept of Whispers (center point on the map to the right).  Then head back down below and do the following:


 * Cast Suffering
 * Run away (use a running skill just before leaving Muddy Terrain's area of effect).
 * Wait for mob to resettle.
 * Cast Feast of Corruption.
 * Run away and wait for mob to resettle.
 * Cast Suffering
 * Run away until you lose aggro, then head back and drop another Muddy Terrain spirit at the spot on the map.
 * Rinse, repeat.


 * It works best if you trigger your running skill just prior to leaving the area under the effect of Muddy Terrain. This makes you go fast while the Golems are still stuck trudging along. If the spirit is correctly placed, they'll give up before getting out of its range.

Part 5 - The Horror Mobs

 * Stygian Horrors are warriors which, similar to the Stygian Golems, use Bull's Charge to speed them on their way to killing you. Use the same technique with Muddy Terrain to kill these as used for Stygian Golems.


 * [[image:Stygian_muddy_placement2.jpg|frame|Placement of Muddy Terrain for Western mobs]]

Part 6 - The Mixed Mobs

 * The last mob of each of the three sets has all of the Stygian Demons in it. You'll need to use the high-health armor to deal with the Fiends and use the Muddy Terrain technique (See the map images for placement for Eastern and Western mobs).  Unfortunately, that means you're unlikely to kill them all simultaneously.  Once the Stygian Hungers are the only ones left, switch back to your 55 armor for the final kills.

Part 7 - How do I get my drops?!?!

 * Once you've killed all the mobs, the area around the Adept will be safe. However, it's easy enough to pick up valuable drops long before that point, either directly after killing one set or not.


 * If you've just killed a set, then run away *without* using a running skill. Go around the Dreadspawn Maw with the remaining two mobs trailing behind you. Just as you cross the halfway-around point, hit your running skills and head for your most valuable drops.  If done correctly, you can pick up one or two items, then run away without being hit and be able to continue the farm if desired.


 * This will most likely not work if a mob of Fiends, Golems, or Horrors is present - only make hoover runs with Brutes and Hungers around. Look at the table showing the order of the mobs in Breaching the Stygian Veil to figure out your best kill order to get drops.


 * If you haven't just killed a set, just aggro them with Suffering and run around the Maw as described above.

Variants
A N/A using Deadly Paradox Shadow of Haste Dark Escape and Dash and 12 Shadow Arts instead of the ranger skills and Wilderness Survival. The strategy is very much the same except for the running away part. For that you activate Deadly Paradox then Shadow of Haste, run in, cast your spell(s), then use Dash to cancel out Shadow of Haste. This will teleport you back to the place where you used Shadow of Haste and you can proceed to run using Dark Escape if needed. For a more indepth guide to this version see here.

Counters

 * Everything in this area hits hard. Getting hit once is likely to produce a Necromancer-shaped corpse.  Try to avoid getting hit.