Alright, another update for Project: Tank! Today we go behind-the-scenes to follow FatalRemixed as she successfully dominates the Mini-Dragon Kingdom Quest! Well okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it was a successful run highlighted by two competent tanks dueling for aggro for most of the KQ.
That in itself was pretty unique and kind of a first for me on this character. Without any fanfare, I typically take the lead in the KQ more so because nobody else wants to step up. However, this time, there was another player willing to do the dirty work: JAZMYNE6969. It's kinda funny because she even went so far as to call me a "nub" when I was Kicking the Minibosses she was running!
To be honest, I didn't even realize that she was talking to me on the Grave Robber Boss, until she called me by name and told me I was a "nub" when we were pulling Robo. I turned off Fraps at that time so I couldn't get a screencap of it, rats. But anyway, lesson to be learned here is to not underestimate the others that are around. She was more capable than I thought, and I was definitely more skilled than she imagined. Maybe we all just automatically assume the worst as far as the skill level of other players, but there are times when yeah, you can be surprised.
JAZ and I battled for aggro control on each Miniboss, no words were exchanged, but I know I was spamming all my aggro grabs and I could definitely see her doing it also. I extended the olive branch and asked her if she wanted to "Main Tank" MD, but I got no response, so I went ahead and took the lead.
I'm not one to call other people "noobs" or "nubs" like she did, I just let their own actions prove their own fallacies. So I didn't at any time call her out about what she said to me, I just let my own skill do the talking. I do think she was a bit aggravated by it all, she didn't really say much and it didn't seem like her heart was in it towards the end. Maybe she figured it was under control so she could relax a bit, or maybe she was just irritated by another Alpha Tank stealing her thunder. Can't really say for sure. For me, I took it as a challenge and saw the fun side to it. So no hard feelings JAZ! We'll see each other again I'm sure!
The Mini-Dragon KQ isn't really all that hard, even with the stunted Jump AOE he now has, we're assuming that's a glitch, but what makes it somewhat unbearable is just how long it takes! This KQ seems to take F-O-R-E-V-E-R!! As I tanked this KQ another round, I was asked myself, "Why does this seem to take so much longer than before?" With that, I visually surveyed the other players, and here's what I found:
2 Mages were there, both either 4x-5x, neither with a +9 weapon. 3 Archers there, one with a +9, the others with a +3 and a +0. 4-5 other various melee-types none of which can handle MD's jump, so they stand around basically doing nothing other than adding to the Cleric's party buffs by NOT dying. So there we were, a Tank with a +8 50 Blue 1h and 1 5x Archer with a +9 X-bow. The rest either standing around or just doing pecking damage to Mini-Dragon.
Those observations above just kinda confirm what a lot of people were thinking, that the Fiestan economy is pretty bad. A ton of enhanced stuff is really overpriced and with the influx of new players, they're unable to afford such luxuries. So yeah, I get it. I guess that's another factor into why this KQ in particular takes so friggin long, just not enough damage to go around. Can't fault the players in the KQ too much though, I'm sure if they could afford a +9, they'd love to have one.
So anyway, not much to say about Tanking MD, as you can watch the video and read the annotations I made there. I would advise you to watch the video on my YouTube channel instead of the embedded player since the embedded one seems to cut off some of the annotations.
I did meet another player, Blissie, the Cleric of our party. She really did do a great job of managing her heals between myself and JAZ as well as took control of the backline, going so far as to call out people who were doing nothing! I thought that was awesome and I told her so afterwards.
As far as my gear/stats and stuff, here's a breakdown of what I was using at the time (I've since leveled so my stats are a bit different):
DEF: About 850
EVA: About 430
M.DEF: About 285
DMG : Max About 730
HP: About 4200hp, extended.
Gear:
+8 Flight of Cainance (Level 50 Blue 1h) 24str 24end 21dex 15int
+9 Level 50 Shield 21str 25end
+0 Level 46 Hat 21end 16spr
+9 Level 50 Armor 23end 20dex 19int
+0 Level 35 Mighty Pants 12str 13end 14dex
+0 Level 35 Mighty Boots 17end 16dex
+0 Level 55 Necklace 3end 1int 2spr
+0 Level 40 Cursed Tooth Earring 10str
+3 Level 45 GGK Ring (totals) 6str 22end 21dex 13spr
+3 Level 45 GGK Ring (totals) 28end 22dex 9int 2spr
SparkCash Items:
+50% HP/SP Extender
Blessing of Teva
+100% EXP Boost Card
Statless Black Dress
5% Crit Butterfly Wings (Mystery Vault)
+2 All Stat Mini Rudolph
Build: 2:1 End:Dex
+20 Dex, +40 End
So as you can see by the gear above, it's nothing really spectacular aside from the 1h and the Mighty Boots. Having the Extender of course helps tremendously, but it wouldn't be necessary if you had better gear. What can be done on +0s with no SC? I'm not really sure to be honest, if someone else wants to take up that position, by all means go for it!
What can be done on +0's and no sc? Pretty much the same thing but with a bit more reliance on a good cleric to help cover that extra damage that's coming in.
ReplyDeleteGranted I haven't done MD on a fighter in ages, so I'm sure that no doubt times have changed. Way back when my main was in MD's level range I used to tank him regularly. Given my main was a pure-STR 2h user (but given my love for tanking when I can, I carry a 1h and a shield at all times for the extra def.) I thank all the gods that be that I was married ig to an exceptional cleric.
The first thing I learnt was that his jump was M Dmg. It literally took a t3 vit and mdef scroll, a full party buff and an endure for me to just barely survive the jump until I got into my Swing set, a set that wasn't exactly spectacularly stated.
Once I got the timing of my stone and potion use down to a T, it pretty much became the usual routine of tanking skill use.
It just boils down to what I've always said about tanking: Tanking isn't bound to a certain item build or stat build, those things just make it easier or harder to tank. It is mainly dependent on the mentality of the tanker towards the situation and the support he or she gets from the others around him. If you as a fighter think that you can't tank something, it will become almost impossible for you to do it. If your party/kq group isn't supporting you enough you could be the greatest fighter on the planet but you'd be fighting an uphill battle.
well i'd be pretty mad too if someone kept kicking while i was running a boss xD
ReplyDeleteunderstand why she called you a nub lol
maybe better if you recorded 1 where you was tanking and pulling all the way instead...
like the next MD kq or something o.o
I've recently tanked MD as well. I don't remember it being that difficult while doing it on other characters years ago. At level 57 with a +8 axe and part of a diminish set, I had an extender, buff, and t3 scrolls and was able to tank efficiently. If you think about it though, without the blues, extender, and scrolls, I definitely wouldn't have been able to do it. At this level (or any level, really), SC should not be necessary to complete a KQ.
ReplyDeleteYou are right though, it does take forever to kill MD. They really could keep everything but get rid of the four heals he has, and it'd be much more manageable.
The only reason I really did the KQ again as a higher level in the bracket was because when I was trying to get all the quests and stuff and finish the KQ at 46-53ish, we usually didn't have a competent tank and ended up failing, so I felt now that I could handle it I should participate in a few to give others a shot at finishing it.
I have recently been doing MD kQ on my DD fighter. I wanted to see what can be done in terms of tanking as a DD since this seems to be an reason lots of fighter do no dare to tank this kq.
ReplyDeleteLuckily for me (but a bit unlucky for my goal) I managed to get my hands on full +9 kick and swing sets, 1h/shield, axe, helm, and necklace; the rings are rings of chaos only +3.
My build is full str and skill empowerment is on dmg skills cd, vit duration and cd. No empowerment on aggro generating skills. Also, no sc whatsoever.
I have been tanking MD with an axe since I was level 46, needing nearly a full stack of t3 hp pots, at least half of my hp stones, full set of scrolls, and one extremely good cleric, or 2 decent ones. I always try to keep mob spawns with me and it works out fine. If I see the cleric is having problems then I let the spawns go. So fully +9, with +3 ring of chaos can tank MD at level 46 with axe and no sc, just need good backup - pots and clerics. (Do not recall the stats, but they were very meh, nothing too exciting other than the enhancement).
Once I hit 55, put on my swing set. I still tanked MD with axe for the dmg, still kept mobs with me, with 2 clerics on me. Everything smooth until AOE killed the clerics and I failed to realized it since they glitched and they seemed alive on my screen. So next spawn comes and it kills me dead. So with axe and no clerics I cannot tank MD and the spawns.
So I put on my +9 1h/shield for the first time. And go back to MD, sadly that was both my clerics last life. But I still decided to go for it and test myself. Only last spawn was left. Long story short, with +9 shield, +9 swing set, +9 46 helm, full set of scrolls, and t3 hp pots a full str fighter can tank MD with no clerics; for the boss spawn at the end I needed to stun them and run until only MD was left, otherwise I would have been dead (I think even regular spawns would kill me in this scenario).