User:Zerris/W/Me Enduring Visage UW Solo

The W/Me Enduring Visage UW Solo uses both Visages, Dolyak Signet, and Warrior's Endurance combined with Energy based attacks to farm the Smite Crawlers in the Underworld. Because it does not use Healing Signet, it can also kill Coldfire Nights. It has a very high survival rate and is possibly the safest Underworld Solo Build around for its speed. If you don't stop and smell the roses, this build can finish a run in around 30 minutes.

Equipment

 * Armor
 * Radiant, Stalwart, or Sentry's Insignias.
 * Runes of Superior Strength, Superior Vigor, Superior Absorption, Minor Tactics, and Minor Axe Mastery.
 * Weapons
 * A Zealous Axe or Sword of Enchanting with "Strength and Honor" or "Dance with Death" inscription. Since you have no weapon based attacks, Sword and Axe work equally well.
 * A Shield of Endurance (Requiring Strength) with a "Run for your Life!" Inscription, or any shield with equivalent stats. Arrahhsh's Aegis is ideal. For those with the money, a shield with both -2 Physical Damage while in a Stance and while Enchanted is even better.
 * Any type of Longbow or Flatbow. Since it will only be used for pulling, the stats do not matter.  Flatbow is preferred, since you will be obstructed less frequently.

The Entrance:

 * Take Clear the Chamber as soon as you can without being seen by any Aatxes.
 * Wait till a group of Grasping Darknesses patrols nearby, and hit them with your bow.
 * Activate Enraging Charge and run to the middle of the chamber to lose the Bladed Aatxes, then activate Dolyak Signet.
 * Switch to your Axe or Sword.

Alternative Method:
 * Grasping Darknesses has a natural speed boost of around 33%.
 * This means that any time you aggro both Aatxes and Grasping Darknesses, the Grasping Darknesses will get to your first.
 * To take advantage of this, you can use an alternative pulling technique.
 * First, turn your back to the mob of Grasping Darknesses you want to pull, and wait till it moves near a group of Aatxes.
 * Back up, aggroing the Aatxes. Instantly hit Enraging Charge and rush for the wall in front of you.
 * When the Aatxes aggro, the Grasping Darknesses will come along with.
 * The Aatxes will give up very quickly, but the Grasping Darknesses will keep coming.
 * If you tend to lag, this is a much safer way of luring then using a bow.
 * After doing this, switch to your Axe or Sword and continue with the instructions below.

To Kill Grasping Darknesses

 * Use Warrior's Endurance, followed by spamming Power Attack and Counterattack every time they recharge. Maintain Dolyak Signet.
 * If you run out of energy after Warrior's Endurance runs out, just keep hitting them till you get back up to 5 and can use it.
 * They do almost no damage, and their interrupts are little more then annoying. These should be easy, if boring, kills.
 * Once you've killed one group, lure the next and repeat.

Notes:
 * Warrior's Endurance is more powerful then "Fear Me!", but they will sometimes interrupt Lion's Comfort and will often interrupt your attack skills. Using Visages is suggested, but not required.
 * Sometimes the third group will get itself stuck on the stairs to the right. If this happens, kill the other two groups first.  Then hit Enraging Charge and run past the right side Aatxes.  Aggro the Grasping Darknesses, then run to the right, straight into the locked door.  You should lose the Aatxes, but the Grasping Darknesses will follow you, and can now be killed.

To Kill Dying Nightmares

 * Since you couldn't care less if they strip your enchants, these enemies pose no threat to you whatsoever (except possibly around Smite Crawlers) and can either by killed or ignored at your leisure.

To Kill Bladed Aatxes

 * Just don't. Try to avoid them at all costs.  If you do manage to aggro some, just keep running away until they leave you alone.
 * Unlike some builds, you will not die in one hit from an Aatxe, it usually takes five or six.

The Run

 * Once you have completed the quest, run along the right side to the open gate, being sure to break aggro with the three or four nearby Aatxes.
 * If there are enemies in the passageway, this is a (mostly) safe point to stop and wait. Be careful of the patrols nearby.
 * As soon as the passageway is clear, run through it. Try to time your run so that you will not be seen by the Grasping Darkness patrol, as even with Enraging Charge you cannot outrun them and will be forced to fight. Use Enraging Charge just as you leave the passage, and head to the left.
 * If you can, try to run all the way past both groups of Aatxes in one shot. If you can't, break aggro and wait in the big room (avoiding patrols) until Enraging Charge has recharged, then run past the last pair of Aatxes.
 * Stop as soon as you have broken their aggro, there is a safe spot between them and the first group of Smite Crawlers.

To Kill Smite Crawlers

 * Pull one group of Smite Crawlers with your bow to a place where you can fight them alone. When fighting multiple groups, a mistake often leads to death.
 * Once you've gotten to the spot you want to fight at, hit Dolyak Signet and switch weapons.
 * As soon as they start to reach you, hit Ancestor's Visage and Warrior's Endurance.
 * Wait a few seconds until you think they've been sufficiently drain of energy, then start attacking.
 * When Ancestor's Visage is halfway recharged, cast Sympathetic Visage.
 * Handle them just like Grasping Darknesses, but here Visages are required to stop their healing. Warrior's Endurance will provide you with plenty of energy to maintain them.

Notes:
 * If you start taking damage from Shield of Judgment, it means you have not fully drained their energy. Cast your next Visage and switch targets.
 * Once you get down to the last Smite Crawler, the energy drain is much slower. It can out heal you easily though, so make sure to keep your Visages up.
 * Occasionally, for unknown reasons, a Smite Crawler group will become hostile to all other Smite and Coldfire groups in the area. Just let them die, it's not worth running in for the loot.
 * You should be able to handle up to five Smite Crawlers at once, which is the largest that most groups contain.

To Kill Coldfire Nights

 * First, identify their patrol route. Stand in front of their path, so they they're walking towards you when they see you.
 * Hit Enraging Charge just before getting in their range, you should be able to reach them before they can cast Shard Storm or Maelstrom.
 * As soon as you get in melee range, hit Dolyak Signet, Lion's Comfort, and Warrior's Endurance.
 * Fire off both your attack skills. Keep attacking as often as you can with your attack skills, using Warrior's Endurance and Dolyak Signet when they recharge.
 * You can use Lion's Comfort twice per Dolyak Signet, once just after it's used, and once about 9 seconds later. The rest of the time, just keep the adrenaline stored.
 * You will be at around 100-200 health the whole time, but if done properly, you should survive.
 * As they cast Shard Storm often, running away is unlikely to succeed.

Notes:
 * Coldfires have no valuable drops, and thus it is often better to skip them altogether then to kill them, unless they are blocking a mob of Smite Crawlers.
 * Killing groups of two is fairly easy, but groups of three are not recommended.
 * If you do need to kill a group of three, try to find a barrier that you can pull them to. Hide behind it to block Shard Storm until you see them cast at least two of their Maelstroms, then engage.

Safety Spots
This is a map of the path taken by this build:


 * The Green line is the path you should be taking.
 * The Red dots are the Safety Spots.
 * If you need to take a break or recharge, go to the closest Safety Spot you've cleared, and stay there.
 * All enemies can be pulled to at least one of the marked safety spots and fought there.
 * Two of the Safety Spots are not on the path. These spots are only used when a group of Smite Crawlers spawns in a bad location nearby.
 * All of these spots (except the ones in the middle of The Run) are free of Patrols.

Survival Tips

 * When trying to run around Aatxes, always try to go past on the most open side. They like to trap you by forcing you to run to one side, then cutting you off. Running past them close to walls is a good way to dig an early grave, as is running past them without Enraging Charge activated.


 * If you accidentally use Lion's Comfort just before Dolyak Signet recharges, just hit Enraging Charge and run. You can't tank more then 4 Smite Crawlers or Grasping Darknesses safely without it.


 * If the Grasping Darknesses drain all your energy, just keep Dolyak Signet up and keep hitting them. Eventually either you'll get up to 5 energy and you can hit your stance, or they'll just die.  They can't kill you as long as Dolyak Signet is up. Note that this will only happen if you opted not to use your Visages while engaging them.


 * If you hit Dolyak Signet when you didn't mean to, just stop running. You can't escape anywhere, so stand back and tank for 21 seconds if there are any enemies in the area.


 * Use Enraging Charge while Warrior's Endurance is recharging, followed by Lion's Comfort for a quick heal. Remember to do this only after you've activated Dolyak Signet.

Varients

 * As of Nightfall, there are no varients for the skillbar. All other skill combinations involving Warrior's Endurance for this purpose are inferior.
 * The only skill which can even be considered non-essential is Counterattack. This can be replaced by any other quick recharging 5 Energy Attack Skill. Be warned of energy problems if you do change it. Not Recommended.
 * The only varient for the attribute distribution is 10+1+3 Strength, 8+1 Weapon Mastery, 2+1 Tactics, and 12 Illusion Magic. This varient is slightly more effective against Smite Crawlers, but is a good deal slower.  Only Recommended if you have no Axe Grip of Enchanting.
 * There are many varients to the strategies proposed for pulling, running, and tanking. None were considered common enough to include here, but if it works for you, use it.

Counters

 * Bladed Aatxes.
 * Over Aggroing.
 * Attacking Smite Crawlers with Shield of Judgment on them.