Talk:Guide to defeating Magni the Bison/Archive 2

Archive 1

Archived
I don't think I broke anything... --Toraen 02:00, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Ranger build attributes
I'm kind of inclined to revert Toraen's change to the attributes listed on the ranger build, but figured I'd look for an explanation here first. Against M. Bison, the changes make the build unambigously worse. The extra point in expertise does nothing for you, as neither of the skills linked to expertise are used in that battle. It doesn't save any energy, as the 14th point in expertise only affects 10 and 25 energy skills, neither of which are used in that battle.

Losing the point in marksmanship, on the other hand, can really hurt. 11 was already low; unless you're higher than 12, each additional point taken out of marksmanship docks you more than 8% of your base damage. Since it's mostly vanilla bow attacks that kill M. Bison, this can make the battle take quite a bit longer.

But what really hurts is losing duration on Pin Down and Hunter's Shot, the two skills that you use. You want to keep M. Bison perpetually crippled so he can't hit you, and bleeding to cancel his health regeneration. At only 10 marksmanship, you're using 9 energy every 11 seconds for those, which uses up most of your energy regeneration. At 11 marksmanship, it's the same 9 energy used, but now only every 12 seconds. That leaves quite a bit more leeway for error, whether to use other skills to heal if you mess up, refresh crippled before it wears off, or whatever.

There's also the issue of peculiar specialty gear. Crippling bowstrings are pretty much worthless in nearly all PvE, with this battle being the only exception that I can think of. I think my ranger had about 6 different bowstrings that I used for PvE (counting all the elemental types as only one), but not a crippling one, because it wasn't nearly as commonly useful as the others. While one could make up for the loss of crippling duration with such a bowstring, assuming that players have it is a bad idea.

Getting to 14 expertise also takes specialty gear that a lot of players won't have. Either you'd need a major or superior attribute rune or expertise headgear. I usually used 9 expertise; for pve purposes, a ranger usually can't justify more than that unless using only expertise and marksmanship, some gimmick farming build, or relying heavily on a secondary profession and not using a bow at all. Incidentally, the previous 13-11-11 attributes listed have the same requirements, but someone could easily drop drop wilderness survival to 10 without much harm.

Is there some earlier opponent where the additional point in expertise makes a big difference? When I did this on my ranger (albeit on a different build; pin down wasn't viable for M. Bison at the time, as its duration was too short), the opponents that were the most troublesome were those that were strong enough healers as to be a pain to kill. I'd think that gimping your damage with reduced marksmanship would make those harder, not easier. Quizzical 06:10, 20 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Completely with ya on this. Although I won't resort to walling ;) You don't need the extra point of Expertise. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]]-- (s)talkpage  09:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I actually used Burning Arrow against Bison, let him Purge Sig, and then used Pin Down & Hunter's Shot, followed by another Burning Arrow while Purge Sig recharged (repeat until dead). Go ahead and revert, as it doesn't really matter (I think I did it with both attribute sets during my testing). Burning Arrow sped things up a bit, but isn't really necessary to beat him. It would make sense to have easier to obtain gear in this guide. --Toraen 17:53, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Warrior Build Note
(moved from article) Note: Through repeated testing by an experienced warrior, Danika, Kisai, Headmaster Vhang and Argo are all a challenge for this build, with even Magni himself being difficult (which is surprising for a full anti-melee build) not recommended at all.

If an experienced warrior is having problems with the build, they should bring up the specific problems here so we can hopefully make a better build or clarify its use. Quizzical (the creator of that build) tested it and all of the other single class builds (except the current ranger) extensively, so it is rather odd that someone can't get the build to work. Some skills that opponents use were updated since that build's posting, but nothing is really different in their strategies. As for the note, it doesn't seem to belong on the main page. --Toraen 14:06, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
 * It needs an Elite to be worthy of an experienced Warrior. -- no, really, the build should work. Kisai doesn't even cause Blind anymore. On all others it ought to function fine. There could be some problems on Magni since usually one needs practice to learn how to fight him - but that isn't because the build doesn't work. I'd also like to state that just because you are an experienced player for a profession in other parts of Guild Wars, doesn't make you good at fighting in the Bison Tourney. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 14:35, 28 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Magni shouldn't be much of a problem. He should only hit you once every aeon, and KD you every so not-very-often. Maintainable 75% block and some 100% blocks tossed in between, with 2 Heals and an Interrupt. You could interrupt his Irresistible Blow to stop him from KDing you, even. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]]-- (s)talkpage  14:44, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Perhaps if the interrupt isn't really needed, could take something like Auspicious Parry too. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 14:53, 28 August 2008 (UTC)


 * You'll need it against any caster with a Heal, and esp Gwen (lol, Sig of Midnight). --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]]-- (s)talkpage  14:55, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
 * (EC) Actually, Kisai's elite was changed to blinding surge, so she still blinds. But I don't see how the build would fail against the casters. I only have a level 14 warrior actually, and I think the build should work properly as is for a level 20 one. --Toraen 14:58, 28 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Against the elementalists, you mostly stand there spamming healing signet a while until your opponent runs out of energy, and then it is easy. Well, move out of Meteor Shower, Sandstorm, and so forth, too.  That's said in the section on opponents, so I didn't restate it for each of several builds.


 * For M. Bison in particular, the build does struggle more than most of the builds I posted. It can usually beat Bison if you use it right, but isn't completely reliable.  If you mess up the tactics, it probably will fail, though.  You need to keep a blocking skill up at nearly all times, as Bison can do tremendous damage if you don't block most of his attacks.  It's often tempting to spam skills, but you have to wait a while until a blocking skill is near ending to use another skill, so that there will always be another blocking skill available to use.


 * The other thing that can easily kill you is if you heal wrong. Healing Signet is the better heal against most earlier opponents, but it's suicide against Bison.  Lion's Comfort is the much safer heal to use against Bison.  It has been relatively nerfed for this build since I tested it, as some healing was later diverted to useless adrenaline gain, which may or may not be much of a problem.


 * As for an elite, there really isn't a place to add it. Furthermore, there isn't any skill in the build for which an elite is a viable substitute.  As explained above, you need to be able to block nearly everything, which is why I brought three blocking stances.  Gladiator's Defense is not a viable substitute for any of them due to its long recharge, as that would leave you with a 20 second period with only two blocking stances available.  Auspicious Parry blocks only one attack intermittently, which might kind of work with the longer lasting stances, but would be awkward to use.  Riposte and deadly riposte are your damage, which is important, as you can't survive Bison's assaults forever.  Lion's comfort alone isn't enough of a heal for some earlier opponents, while healing signet is suicide against Bison if he doesn't get blocked--and he'll also knock you down (and hence interrupt you) while using it quite a bit.  Distracting blow helps for finishing off some earlier opponents, and the only elite warrior interrupt is skull crack, which isn't useable as often.  Quizzical 14:58, 28 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Auspicious could be used to help refill Bonetti's and Riposte more easily, even though it is kinda clumsy. Replace Distracting Blow with Savage Slash? More damage for finishing off...meh. I wonder if there isn't a better way to do Warrior build than this. Dwarven Stability makes it cake but of course that's PvE only etc. Maybe weapon swap for Renewing Smash. Have you tried damage-oriented Axe builds or KD-oriented Hammer builds? ...or maybe a Dragonslasher (would be hard against Bison though)? [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 15:06, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

I've used:

And got raped badly by Magni :P With Grenth's Balance I might've won, I got him down pretty far. You can drop Sever then, Deadly Riposte will supply sufficient Bleeding ;) --- -- (s)talkpage  15:11, 28 August 2008 (UTC)


 * Try to trade hits and you'll get destroyed. That's why my build was designed to block most of what M. Bison does.  If you go axe, you lose riposte and deadly riposte, which greatly reduces your damage.  Try to rely on blocking and you'll have to keep Bison knocked down pretty much continuously for about two minutes, which doesn't strike me as practical.  The net effect of bleeding is to cancel M. Bison's intrinsic +3 health regeneration for bosses.  And if you use Grenth's Balance, it's no longer a warrior build.  Quizzical 16:50, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Palawa Joko
For those watching this page, you might have noticed my last edit. Here's the build I ran into him with:

His minions destroyed me, but alternate tactics might work. Interestingly, he didn't even wand me (or move at all) like Danika does. Also, when I locked him as my pet's target, he was standing close enough that the pet went and attacked him without retaliation. I did step out to see if the build itself could beat him, as he might not always stand that close (Danika does the same thing actually). Lastly, the minions appear to be carrying interrupts (contrary to what the official wiki says). --Toraen 22:23, 9 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Marksmanship 12
 * Expertise 10
 * Wilderness Survival 10
 * Beast Mastery 9

Necro Sunspear/Norn Title to win
I'm new and I really wanted to add this build to the how to defeat M.Bison section but wasn't sure how. Can someone here review it and post it to the main page? I've been trying to defeat him for some time and was finally able to do so using this three skill build. Necrosis Ursan Blessing and "You Move Like A Dwarf!" Ursan Blessing will defeat the first five opponents and YMLAD and Necrosis will take down M.Bison. You only have to retreat so he returns to his starting point. Since Necrosis is a sunspear skill you only have to have necro available as a secondary prof. Blbailey3 03:43, 14 September 2008 (UTC)


 * You're using Ursan so don't bother adding it. Ursan will beat nearly every opponent with ease. :\ YMLAD + Necrosis beating Bison is interesting, though, since I don't know of any other way to do it with so few skills. What rank Norn and Sunspear did you have? [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 11:00, 14 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Norn Rank 5 Sunspear Rank 9. Perhaps Ursan is common knowledge but I've been searching for a while with no success and no mention of Ursan. This was literally the first build that ever worked against Magni. Plus it's super easy and it'll work for every character (with Nightfall and at least as necro secondary).Blbailey3 20:05, 14 September 2008 (UTC)


 * The reason we have tried to eliminate Ursan from these sorts of articles is because it works against...almost anything. So it doesn't merit a mention. That's fairly high Title ranks if you are starting the Tournament as soon as you get there, and for non-NF...meh. Though it should probably still work at lower ranks, as long as Cripple is permanent. One thing I would wonder about is Energy management, though, for class like Warrior or Paragon - 20 base energy wouldn't be so hot. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 20:19, 14 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Nor would be the two pips of regen. YMLaD at maximum rank takes all of that just to keep them crippled. Rank 3 is the minimum to keep them crippled now, but that takes 3 pips of energy. Although, warriors can just use riptoses and only cripple him when they need to run and heal. Paragons have maiming spear. On a sort of related note: should we combine all of the Ursan builds on the page? Toraen (Talk  / Contrib)  19:35, 17 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Sounds like a good idea. :\ Riposte costs 5e, Deadly Riposte takes 4 Adren, so I am not sure how that would work out either. You may have to use Knee Cutter. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 19:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)


 * [[image:Adrenaline.png|Riposte]]Other way around[[image:Energy.png|Deadly Riposte]], Entropy :) --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]]-- (s)talkpage  20:22, 17 September 2008 (UTC)


 * I think GuildWiki has been contributing to my previously unknown latent dyslexia. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 21:54, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Warrior build v2

 * 1) Mhenlo: This took forever. You have to interrupt Healing Breeze and pray that he misses his reflexes on the next cast. Otherwise it is mathematically impossible to beat him.
 * 2) Tydus: Really hard to outheal his constant degen, since he has Distracting and Savage Shot. Pray they don't hit through a blocking stance or you lose.
 * 3) Cynn: Key is to kite from Inferno and Flame Burst, and hopefully interrupt Glyph of Restoration if you can.
 * 4) Lo Sha: See Tydus. You need to interrupt Ether Feast repeatedly.
 * 5) Lukas: Destroys you with his own Ripostes and Parries. Need to switch to a Wand for Adrenaline, I think...
 * 6) Magni: I just don't see how you could ever win without Dshotting Bear Form or such. He's just too strong, too much Health. Too much a gamble.

I am going to try a Quarter knocker and see how that works. Because I can't run this Riposte build... :\ (T/C) 22:35, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, I suck. Expanded tactics:


 * 1) Mhenlo: Interrupt Blessed Signet. It recharges in 10 and so does Distracting Blow, which is convenient. Keep attacking and keep Health up with Lion's Comfort. Eventually he'll run out of Energy. If he puts up Shield of Judgment, switch to Healing Signet, or just stop attacking; only attack to interrupt Blessed Signet.
 * 2) Argo, Kisai, Vekk, Orion, Headmaster Vhang: Eventually they run out of Energy. Meanwhile, attack, use Healing Signet, Stances to help against strong spells like Shatterstone (or interrupt if you can). Headmaster Vhang is a challenge since his spells have a huge damage output, and getting hit during Healing Signet is suicidal. Argo is mostly hard because he takes so long to wear down; eventually he will do nothing but spam Stone Daggers, and if he starts to wand then he is truly drained.
 * 3) Cynn: Mostly it's a matter to interrupt Glyph of Restoration or the 15-energy spells; and catch her with Ripostes when possible. Some kiting is necessary.
 * 4) Lukas: It helps A LOT to bring a ranged weapon like a Spear. This lets you build up Adrenaline for Riposte. Use Deadly Riposte and wait till he's around half health, then attack and take damage from both Ripostes; he'll put up Auspicious so attack through that; at the same time, put up both of your Ripostes. He'll get to low health and cast Healing Signet; interrupt and you win.
 * 5) Warmaster Tydus: Interrupt Troll Unguent, stick to Lion's Comfort, use stances. Usually you can win. Distracting Shot will probably cause you to lose.
 * 6) Lo Sha: Just spam Healing Signet and let him run low on Energy. After that, interrupt Ether Feast and you'll beat him eventually.
 * 7) Norgu: Quite a long fight. Let him waste Energy, and spam Healing Signet. Attack if you're not under the effects of Empathy. As it is, healing through Visions of Regret gives a very small heal, so it will be a long fight. Eventually, when you think he has wasted most of his Energy, you just need to interrupt Empathy and Ether Feast, and you should win.
 * 8) Xandra: A bit challenging. You can heal over any damage she does, but the more you attack her, the more she will start to spam Vengeful Weapon and Soothing Memories. Vengeful is a 1/4 cast and virtually impossible to interrupt without anticipation; it also does 60 lifesteal so you'll have to also constantly spam Lion's Comfort. You need to interrupt Soothing Memories a few times all the while. The good news is that she will never be able to kill you, as long as you have Healing Signet available.
 * 9) Razah: Interrupt Wanderlust, spam Healing Signet and wait for the Spirit of Shadowsong to die; attack Razah in the meantime to see if you can't score a few hits. This is a long fight.
 * 10) Gwen: Interrupt Signet of Midnight repeatedly. Even if you miss, she can never kill you, as her damage skills are negligible for a non-caster.
 * Eve: Really annoying fight, possibly even the longest period. Stand around for a minute or two and spam Healing Signet; don't attack if you are under the effects of Spiteful Spirit, Price of Failure, or Insidious Parasite. Eventually she will (apparently) run out of Energy. At this point she will mostly be wanding, casting SS, and maintaining Parasitic Bond. At this point, after SS wears off, start to attack. Here is the hard part: you must interrupt EVERY cast of Insidious Parasite until she dies, or you will have to start over. And in the meantime, you need to make sure you watch your health bar and use Lion's Comfort as necessary. If she casts Price of Failure, SS, or Reckless Haste, that usually also means you need to start over; you can hit through SS if you spam Healing Signet (sort of) but otherwise it's no good. If she gets off even one Insidious Parasite, you have no choice but to stop attacking, since she'll be healed fully. Even if you interrupt all of them, it's a long battle, since with Parasitic Bond and Ether Feast she has strong healing. If you pull Eve as your first foe, it may be faster just to /resign and try again.
 * 1) Magni Himself: Never put up both Ripostes at the same time, since blocking two attacks is better than one; it helps greatly if you have one available for Devastating Hammer and/or Crushing Blow. Any time both Ripostes are charging, put up a Stance. When Lion's Comfort is charged, use it, and then Riposte immediately afterwards (it'll charge thanks to the adrenal boost). When Bonetti's Defense is charged, even if you are already in a stance, switch to that; you'll need the Energy. If you get really unlucky, Magni can spike you down or hit through Block too much, but usually you can win. If you have really good reflexes, interrupt Devastating Hammer.

Everyone else is pretty easy, except maybe Palawa Joko; if you're unlucky, the minions will interrupt Healing Signet and Lion's Comfort, and you will die. (T/C) 06:06, 11 October 2008 (UTC)


 * The trick to beating Lukas is to refrain from attacking. It will hurt you more than it hurts him.  Just stand there blocking and using healing signet, and kill him with deadly riposte.  You might have to attack a bit to finish him off once he gets low, but you should be essentially full life when this happens, and able to withstand some of his damage reflection stuff just fine.


 * Also, you can't get Eve as your first foe. If you draw her as an opponent, it will be in round 4.


 * I'll concede that beating the tournament with my warrior build can be a little tricky. But if you've got a better strictly warrior build, I'd like to see it.  Warriors don't match up terribly well here, kind of like how monks don't match up that well against the doppelganger, or paragons don't match up that well against the rabid bear.  Quizzical 06:56, 11 October 2008 (UTC)


 * With Lukas, if you only use Deadly Riposte, he will never die since it doesn't recharge fast enough...if you build up enough adrenaline from being hit, and you time both Ripostes exactly right, you can actually win without ever attacking. But that's really slow, hence why some ranged weapon helps (at least to get him down).
 * Hmm. Didn't know that about Eve; I never keep track of what round I fight opponents in. Well I guess it's unavoidable then. :\
 * I really like to use Auspicious Parry instead of Disciplined Stance, since it lets me charge Riposte and Bonetti's Defense faster. Disciplined Stance also lasts 2 seconds less and ends on Lion's Comfort; Defensive Stance is good because it lasts longer, you use it vs. Argo for example...I dunno. That's the only real change I make to the build, and it seems to be roughly as good. Having two interrupts would be incredibly useful also, but Skull Crack is iffy and the bar is pretty tight already... I guess it really comes down to if you want to run a riskier build versus Magni, at the advantage of being able to beat the tough opponents more easily.
 * Once you learn to use this build, I find that it is actually quite nice, though it's definitely not for people who aren't up for a challenge and test of their skills.
 * Oh...Monks own the Doppleganger, though you need a skill that you shouldn't have by that point in the campaign - Shield of Judgment. With that and Holy Wrath plus Retribution, you win very quickly. Works in Hard Mode too.
 * Paras usually have to gimp the bear using secondary profession...it's apparently possible to kill with degen alone, and Para could easily maintain Burning and maybe Bleeding, but... [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 07:59, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Elementalist build
This works better, and is still a single class build with no PvE skills:

14/13/4 Air, Estorage, Water

Blinding Flash is just as maintainable as Blinding Surge. Weapons foes are completely shut down, and you can out-damage all caster foes (just don't stand in their AoE spells of course). The only two foes who are potential trouble are Norgu and Gwen. For Norgu, you need to sit and wait for Backfire and Visions of Regret to wear off, and then you have a window of opportunity...for Gwen, she will perfect-counter you with Interrupts and Shatter, but after she uses her skills you can still pummel her and win.

And, Icy Prism is there to deal with Mhenlo. Use it to interrupt Blessed Signet. Eventually he will run out of Energy. You can also use it against various foes' Healing Signet, though I much prefer to smack them with Lightning Orb for 150+ damage. It can even be used against Bison's Purge Signet, though that is rather useless, as you can reapply Blind in 5 seconds max.

Shock Arrow isn't strictly necessary, but it helps just in case an interrupt slips through Blind and you lose 25 from Lightning Hammer, or Koss interrupts you with Shock, etc. (T/C) 10:45, 11 October 2008 (UTC)


 * I used Gaze of Content over Icy Prism, myself. It was rather effective. The rest of my build was exactly the same. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]]-- (s)talkpage  10:50, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
 * The point was to keep it Elementalist only. That's the only reason I have/had trouble with the builds on this page, is because I'm not using skills from secondary, PvE only stuff, etc. That being said, the builds are mostly ideal, at least against Bison, and unless you go Ursan I'm not sure any other way a Warrior could win. Etc etc [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 10:57, 11 October 2008 (UTC)


 * A Warrior? Loltypo I hope. Anyways, I get it now. You might be able to complete the Tourny with some Water spam build. Glowing Ice has an easy req and with the shatload of snares... Well, Magni shouldn't be able to hit you. Shatstone -> Ice Spikes -> Glowing Ice -> Rust is a great chain for big domoge and some E-manag. It even slows down any sigs, making them food for Icy Prism :) --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]]-- (s)talkpage  11:03, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Icy Prism recharges in 2 seconds. You can't guarantee a victory when the target only has Blurred Vision on them (ranged attackers), and Air deals superior damage anyway. Rust would work well against Mhenlo and Bison but otherwise it's useless. Air lets you kill people while just standing there; Water would need to do kiting. Water may not kill fast enough or deal enough sustained damage to overcome some foes. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 11:11, 11 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Water deals a great load of damage tbh. Even snares deal damage. It's just an idea for people who don't have the Air skills but <3 Water (like me! Then again, I <3 Unsteady and Invoke too, so maybe I don't count ;) ). I'll give it a try once my internet speed is back to at least regular. Slow as now. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]]--  (s)talkpage  11:15, 11 October 2008 (UTC)


 * ^If you have a pure Warrior build that is better than the current posted, and isn't Ursan, then I want to see it.
 * The Water build would work better with Water Trident to repeatedly KD Magni and other melee range foes. Probably there is an Earth build that works also. But I think Air is the most reliable across all opponents because of maintainable Blind. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 11:27, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Monk build
I find the following to be better:

...running 12-12-11(smite/prot/divine), though you can switch those around a bit if you need to.

I've never had Energy problems against Bison or any other (beatable) foes, and so Defender's Zeal was useless for me. Signet of Judgment allows for faster kills and an interrupt of sorts.

Palawa Joko seems very hard to beat, since Order of the Lich goes right through Protective Spirit, and his two minions both have IAS and interrupts. Norgu is also highly irritating as you have to deal with either Backfire or Visions of Regret, "pick your poison". Tydus is also a challenge since he tends to interrupt your damaging skills and Castigation Signet... against him, I concur that Retribution is a very good choice.

With either build, Danika is impossible because you can't deal enough damage quick enough to kill anything through her healing - and you cannot outlast her because the pet Wallows use Lifestealing, which goes through Protection Prayers. And Mhenlo of course you can never defeat - not fast enough damage packets, and SoJ doesn't recharge fast enough to use as an interrupt. Going Mo/N and replacing RoD with Gaze of Contempt fixes this (and also makes some other foes easier), but it breaks the single-class rule.

Alesia is very difficult because she will out-heal you through Healing Breeze, and unlike other regen-using foes such as Melonni she takes a long time to run out of energy. Gash for Deep Wound also reduces your healing.

Opponents not attempted: Ghostly Hero, but he is probably beatable. Interrupts like Tydus, though. (T/C) 11:05, 11 October 2008 (UTC)