User:XT-8147/R/Mo Ascalon Area Mission Solo

This build allows you to easily solo the first four missions in Prophecies (in Normal Mode). Make a little money or something.

Equipment
I use the following, it doesn't really matter so long as you have a max damage bow you meet the requirement for and max armor.


 * Drago's Flatbow (hey, I like the skin)
 * max armor with Radiant insignias

Since the Charr elementalists use Fire Magic, you may want Pyrebound Insignia, but then again, the damage you take is already negligible, and you won't be in one place for very long anyway. So... insignias don't really matter that much.

Usage

 * 1) Get in the mission
 * 2) Apply Holy Veil
 * 3) Run and kill as little as is absolutely necessary
 * 4) Remove Holy Veil if something puts a slow hex on you. This is only necessary in Great Northern Wall.
 * 5) PROFIT!
 * 1) PROFIT!

Great Northern Wall

 * Straight up run
 * You need to talk to Captain Calhaan at the beginning, otherwise the gate won't open for you to run out.
 * Be ready to kill Holy Veil when you run past the Gargoyles on the other side of the bridge (next to the Gargoyle/Grawl fight). They will try to cover it with Conjure Phantasm, but their Conjure Phantasm doesn't last very long so either make it quick or wait for it to wear off.  If you kill it too soon you run the risk of being re-hexed with Imagined Burden, which can be a pain.
 * Get all of Kilnn Testibrie's armor parts before talking to him, then run to him and hit space twice.
 * Just before triggering the cutscene where the Charr see you, rotate yourself so you're facing the inner wall and strafe sideways to trigger the cutscene. This way, you'll be facing the bridge after the cutscene and you can just slap R and 1 to get going.
 * I've successfully done it with just Escape, Storm Chaser, and Holy Veil

Fort Ranik

 * Easier than it looks, most enemies can be run past.
 * Armin Saberlin doesn't need to survive for the bonus to be possible
 * You can just run to the Overseers and kill them. Talk to Deeter, he'll ramble about some crap for a while before giving you credit for freeing his sorry ass.
 * You may want to delay actually attacking the Overseers to avoid knockdown from their Bane Signets. The speed difference is marginal.
 * Do a 180 and run to the next area (faster than going around, though you do have to run the gauntlet, it's a speed vs. safety tradeoff)
 * You don't have to put the catapult together.
 * All you need to do is run to the final catapult, load it, and fire it as soon as the projectile appears in it. It'll hit the end boss.  Yawn.

Frontier Gate to Ruins of Surmia

 * This run is fairly simple and can be done by simply cycling through the speed stances.

Ruins of Surmia

 * You'll need to babysit Rurik, but that's not too difficult. Your skill for the optional slot should enable you to heal him.
 * Use Apply Poison and Tab + space to poison everything you're fighting. Priority targets are the Whiptail Devourers, which have Lightning Reflexes.  You'll want to get that degen on them first.
 * Use your speed stances to keep up with Rurik when he leeroys the groups of Charr.
 * Abandon Rurik and Erol at the bridge, kill the bonus boss, /dance and go get a snack while the Ember Bearers take their sweet time getting the flame to the temple. Seriously.  They take forever, so you won't lose any time.  I think the tar slows them.
 * Once the Ember Bearers open the gate to the bonus area, kill them.
 * Bonus is cake. Four level 7 fire elementalists, and Ranger armor reduces all elemental damage by half (even more if you have pyrebound insignia), so...  yeah.
 * I always clear the end area of Charr entirely, even ones I'm pretty sure don't need to be killed. Just for completeness.  For speed purposes I suppose I should research what exactly needs to be killed.
 * There's a preferred order to killing them, as defeating some groups will cause others to rush the temple.
 * Work your way around the side along the path Rurik normally takes you along to avoid the "fight we cannot win". You know, the one that a level 20 ranger with max armor and a crap self-heal can singlehandedly defeat.
 * Go through the gate, and kill the first group of Charr on your left.
 * This should cause the group on the other side of the temple to run in. Kill them.  If not, kill the closest of the three groups.  They aggro in groups of three.
 * Next, the boss group will rush the temple. Kill them.
 * Clean up the remaining Charr near the temple and mow down the valley.
 * Go back to the bridge and let Rurik and Erol rejoin you
 * Hit both the levers to close the door and make Rurik and Erol take an alternate route to the end area, whee
 * /dance while Rurik uses Knock
 * It actually does spawn more Charr just before the cutscene. They're the Charr for the cutscene.  I want to experiment sometime by laying tons of traps where they spawn.  Just because.  Anyone want to help me with this?

Nolani Academy

 * If you're quick you can kill the Charr that runs out the back exit of the fort with Ebon Vanguard Sniper Support. Follow up with Signet of Infection if you didn't get a headshot.
 * Get bonus book, run to bonus area, turn it in (watch out for the spirits, they cripple you).
 * Evacuate bonus area immediately (don't wait for the spirit's speech)
 * Pwn all the Charr between the wall and Nolani, use the Ascalon Rangers as tanks if you like
 * Once Rurik starts heading out of the fort, haul ass to the bonus area, you should get the bonus just before the cutscene
 * Run to the boulder elementals and keep Rurik alive through them
 * Crucial to kill the Stormcaller cutscene immediately, the sooner you kill it, the longer Rurik stays on Horn Hill and the more time you have to run to Bonfaaz Burntfur and turn him into Bonfaaz Pwntfur.
 * Use this time to run past all the other Charr, to Bonfaaz Burntfur (there's some stairs that lead directly to him), and kill him (EVSS, then SoI and attack as needed). If you're fast enough Rurik shouldn't die.
 * If you're running people (who inevitably don't follow your instructions to skip the cutscenes), you can still beat it, you'll just have to babysit Rurik while he leeroys. Also, Rurik stops just before Bonfaaz.  Once you kill the group at the top of the stairs, he just stands there.  You can run around the other way and do Bonfaaz from behind.

Ways you can die or otherwise fail

 * Not watching your health
 * Not using Escape when under fire while babysitting Rurik
 * Not healing Rurik enough (once per fight is usually enough)
 * Getting bodyblocked, though you have skills that enable you to remove such an obstacle if you react fast enough (may be difficult if you're bodyblocked due to lag)
 * Getting crippled by the spirits in the Nolani bonus area (it's possible to recover from this, but can be difficult if you have a lot of them following you)
 * losing your internet connection entirely - Shouldn't be an issue if you're not on Comcast.
 * antivirus decides it's a good time to scan
 * insert crappy circumstance here

Optional Slot

 * Great Northern Wall: Extra hex removal can be nice if you get re-hexed with Imagined Burden. Consider Cure Hex, as you already have points in Healing Prayers.
 * Fort Ranik: A bow attack can be useful for taking down the Overseers faster. Consider Point Blank Shot, as the Overseers will be hitting you anyway, so half-range isn't a disadvantage.
 * Frontier Gate to Ruins of Surmia: A good self-heal of some sort in case the Grawl body block you. Heal Area is a bad idea, try Patient Spirit.
 * Ruins of Surmia: Ebon Escape, to heal Rurik
 * Nolani Academy: "I Am Unstoppable!", for the bonus area so the spirits can't cripple you