Guild Wars Nightfall: Progress Update Ten

Still running well behind my actual in-game progress so we're going to make this quick. When last we left off I'd worn myself out hunting down elites. But before that little sidetrip, I'd just finished the Venta Cemetery mission and wound up back in Istan. Well, questing got me out of there and also netted me some new Heroes to play with. I've got 9 unlocked now. 8 of which I can use with my Dervish. Since I tend to come up with quote unquote clever nicknames to remind myself which one's which again, let's review.

• Koss (Warrior) = Carson (Think TRL).
• Dunkoro (Monk) = Dunk (It's a nickname of the lead programmer of ClotH)
• Melonni (Dervish) = Melly Mel
• Tahlkara (Monk) = Powder
• Acolyte Jin (Ranger) = Juice
• Acolyte Sousuke (Elementalist) = Uzimaki
• Olias (Necromancer) = Olly
• Zenmai (Assassin) = Tao
• Zhed Shadowhoof (Elementalist) = Godiva

The quests leading up to the next mission, Kodonur Crossroads, basically involved gaining Godiva and, well, the mistrust of the centaurs (Love the new models for them in Nightfall, by the way). Brings something of a smile to my face because a scenario like that was one I used, long long ago illustrate how you could have branching paths in the game. Decisions and allies that would change the experience. It was another tester's idea but I was firmly behind it at the time (If you want to see what that would have looked like in practice, well, go take a look at Factions. Because I think that's where the germ for that game's opposing sides started. Or, you know, the branching missions in Nightfall. Me and others were clamoring for it back in, I don't know, January of 2005 if not earlier.) so it was nice to see something like it in game, at least. And thanks to all my questing and elite hunting, Godiva's the only Hero I have that's below lv20.

Anyhow, as I promised in the last installment before we were rudely interrupted by my actually playing the game, with all those options at my fingertips I sat down before running the next mission and put some thought into what builds I was using and whether or not they were being effective. Perhaps it was lingering fatigue from the weekend but I didn't feel like stripping things down and rebuilding from scratch. I wound up simply tweaking things.

With Oreon I've been using a Melandru's build (With all my pretty new avatar skills, I'm thinking of making a switch. But it's been working for me so far.). But the problem's been that huge 25 energy cost which leaves me pretty low on energy and stuck recharging for a bit once the form pops off. And spamming Wearying Strike once I can doesn't help matters much (Energy-wise. For killin' stuff it's just fine.). So, I swapped in Zealous Renewal – with Heart of Holy Flames and the high Mysticism I run with, it's good for a lot of energy when it fades off. More than enough to give me an instant boost back if I time it right with Melandru.

Also, I've been worried about my survivability so I added in Dwayna's Touch in favor of Vital Boon. With all the enchantment's flying around it makes for a decent self-heal with a pretty quick cooldown. Not the best at healing anyone else but since I roll with a lot of melee bangers, when we're training on something and one of them's getting beat on I can reach over and heal them, too.

That gives me a build like this:

Oreon Rex

Mysticism – 11+1
Scythe Mastery – 12+2
Wind Prayers – 6
Earth Prayers – 2

1. Rending Sweep
2. Wearying Strike
3. Avatar of Melandru
4. Dwayna's Touch
5. Signet of Return
6. Zealous Renewal
7. Mystic Vigor
8. Heart of Holy Flame

Which has been working pretty well for me since. Wearying Strike and Rending Sweep make for a good combination (And I like the utility of having an enchantment removal in there, too. Comes in handy.) although it can be counter-productive with Melandru's down. And Mystic Vigor, Zealous Renewal, and Heart of Holy Flame make each swing count for a lot even on a single target. If I catch enemies grouping up then it only gets better.

But, in general, I find it to be a pretty solid melee Dervish build. Does decent damage and has enough resilience that I don't wither when the enemy focuses on me.

To go along with it, I went with pretty much the team I ran around with during the weekend. I wanted to level Godiva up so he was a given. Alongside him, I went with Tao who's Shadow Prison gives me an easy opening Rending Sweep if the target has any problemic enchantments – she's good at spiking down targets and it's fun playing alongside her so I left her in the group. I'm pretty happy, at the moment, with the Shadow Prison/Black Spider/Twisting Fangs build she's got going. And since she's made better when the target's suffering from a hex leaving Godiva dipping into the water skills made a lot of sense. So I gave him a ward build that includes Blurred Vision and Ice Spikes. And for my last Hero spot I wanted to have at least one Hero Monk and I went with my man Dunk over the increasingly annoying Powder (Don't ask me why, she gets on my nerves. I blame her upbringing.). I'd like to give him a different build but, at the moment, and having taken a critical eye to the Protection skills, his Life Sheath build is getting the job done so he's kept it (At least until I get Zealous Benediction but I'm not so sure that would be better, actually. Definitely in terms of PvP but there's just not a lot of enchantment removal around and when you have a lot of DP – as I expect will be the case as the going gets tought – preventative prot spells actually do you more good than straight heals.).

After that I pick up the Illusion henchie (Who doesn't really hex as well as I'd like but she at least interrupts), one of the Healer henchies (still trying to figure out which one dovetails best with my Monk build. I tend to favor Mhenlo, though, for that prot/heal combination.), and Devona and the Derv henchie. That gives me a team like this:

• Oreon (me – D/P)
• Zenmai (A/Mo)
• Zhed (lv18 E/Mo)
• Dunkoro (Mo/Me)
• Mhenlo (Mo, Healer Henchman)
• Odurra (Me, Illusion Henchman)
• Devona (W, Fighter Henchman)
• Gehraz (D, Holy Henchman)

Anyhow, as for the mission it went off without a hitch. Thanks to my research for the elite capping weekend I knew a bit about what to expect (I try not to look at guides and maps and things for missions. Or even ask my friends about them too much. I do like to beat them but I also like the challenge involved in figuring them out on my own. I think the fact that by the time came out I'd urn through the missions in the first campaign dozens of time each – up until the crystal desert anyway – was a large factor in my frustration at the time. I knew too much so it was just a matter of grinding my way through. Going into a mission, fresh, on the other hand, is a lot of fun. This is why, I think, I've never bothered to get my characters very far through other campaigns.) so I knew I had to hunt down certain enemies for the keys to open the cells. And for the bonus as well which I also got. If you're keeping score, that's six missions I've done and I've gotten the full bonus on each and every one so far (Not including my many trips through Consulate Docks getting to Kourna over the weekend. But got the bonuses there, too.).

If you're looking for my impressions of the mission, I don't have that many. Wasn't anything I found particularly frustrating or annoying. But nothing extraordinary, either. It was mediocre, for me, and I guess that's damning it with faint praise. A nice mission but not one I'll look forward to trying again, then.

Of course, maybe the fact that I knew what was next in the sequence of missions that left me a little underwhelmed. Because, you know, I was definitely looking forward to it. Next time join me as Oreon is faced with a momentous decision. Will he choose....The Lady or the Hunger?