User talk:Entice789/Gate of Madness guide

Took me a good hour to write this up and make the pictures and stuff. Comments/questions appreciated. - Entice789  (Talk | Contributions) 00:57, 9 January 2007 (CST)
 * I just ran this mission with this setup (for the first time, no less). Worked like a charm! Very nice job. - Greven 10:14, 11 January 2007 (CST)
 * The tank build is overspecialized. It won't be as much help getting to shiro, which imo, is much harder and more tedious. Henchmen do poorly at true tanking, so just give him attack skills. However, that positioning map is definitly the key to beating shiro. You should consider putting only spoil victor on the necro, not faint as well or disable the skill upon reaching shiro. Lastly, there seems to be a contradiction, you suggest the ranger hero w/ magebane shot, but then you say the mes hench is useless because won't be able to interupt shiro. Interupting shiro is not important, and the AI will probably miss anyways. --8765 23:53, 11 January 2007 (CST)
 * The tank has always done a perfect job tanking Shiro, have you even tried it? Also, most sword attacks inflict a condition, which Shiro will then redirect back at your tank...making it pointless.  And about the Ranger, I guess thats true...=)  I've always been the ranger, so I never really thought of it with a hero ^^ - [[Image:Smoke_Trap.jpg|19px]] Entice789  (Talk | Contributions) 23:58, 11 January 2007 (CST)
 * Prot spirit does a perfect job at tanking shiro, not koss. You could give koss an axe or hammer, if you're so concerned about conditions. Even make him into a dragon slasher. Or better yet, give him plague touch. You already gave him war's endurance, so he has plently of energy to burn. --8765 00:06, 12 January 2007 (CST)

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You like Herta's Sandstorm, but you don't like Cynn's Fire Storm because it will disperse Shiro and other mobs. Fire Storm is adjacent, Sandstorm is nearby. Doesn't seem like much of a difference? Does Shiro really run from Fire Storm but not Sandstorm?

Since I only own Nightfall, I'd like to see a build using only Core/Nightfall skills. That means no Sprit Victor/Spiteful Spirit to speed up the Shiro kill. Will 2-3 characters using Empathy compensate enough? I'm trying to put something together, but I don't have much experience with the other professions, playing my first character. It's going to be really tedious to test this since it takes quite a long time to get to the temple using multiple defensive characters.

Also, having read everything at least twice, I'm still not sure which approach is possible/best with Nightfall only skills: 1) Kill Shiro alone first 2) Kill Lich first, then get blessings, all with Shiro harrassing you 3) Try to park Shiro at full health at door with Koss/Tahlkora, kill Lich & capture shrines with remaining 6?

Perko 01:54, 14 February 2007 (CST)


 * @Sandstorm, never actually payed attention...you may be right *shrug*


 * @Core/Nightfall skills only: Basically all you need is a wild blow tank, a monk with prot spirit that can keep it up without running out of energy, and the rest need to be non-melee damage dealers / healers.  Design around that and you should be fine.


 * @last part: Shiro is mean, and needs to be dealt with first.  The lich is weak with damage, and can only hit in burst damage with 1 or 2 spells.  Shiro can constantly attack your party...making it much more difficult to deal with.  I think Shiro can also follow you   farther than the Lich can behind the altars, so that may be a problem too.

- Entice789  (Talk | Contributions) 17:51, 14 February 2007 (CST)

I did this and it worked decently. However i saw no need to waste on elite for energy management on dunky. I replaced Air of Enchantment with essence bond. Heros died a lot but i managed it. Over all your stratagy works. Good Job. BrotherGilburt 01:36, 21 March 2007 (CDT)

Thanks for posting this guide. It helped me a lot with getting masters. I really appreciate it. --Ghost Edge 18:21, 29 April 2007 (CST)
 * Glad it helped =)  - [[Image:Smoke_Trap.jpg|19px]] Entice789  (Talk | Contributions) 19:55, 30 April 2007 (CDT)

Good guide. I would also suggest putting in the easy way of defeating the Lich: luring him to the top of the entrance and then standing behind the wall of the entrance. He'll still be aggroed trying to attack you through the wall. It was actually kind of funny the first time I saw that.

Thank you for a helpful guide. I've beaten this mission with just heroes and henchmen with other strategies, but this was the smoothest, and I like that the player can be any class and this still works well. Koss was the only one to take damage from Shiro. The only significant change I made was to make the necro hero a N-Me, not give him Blood Ritual (having Eve was enough) and equip him with Price Of Failure, Spirit Of Failure, and Reckless Haste. Obviously that reduced the effectiveness of Koss' riposte skills and Reversal Of Damage but I really wanted Shiro to have trouble hitting. It worked great. --Dixon 25 July 2007

Just wanted to add my thanks for a good guide, I ran a modified version (with the 2 hench healers and a para hero instead of dunk) and it worked out well enough that I mastered it on the first try. --Bishop 01:13, 9 December 2007 (UTC)