Swordsman Archive
Thread: A (continuing) tale of an elder . . .
Page 2 of 2
Actairr
Thu Oct 07, 2004 10:54 am
#14
Here is my story, gotta make it quick though, got a dam test.
Me and a buddy of mine, both master swordsman both got fs speed as well go and find Elders. First night we kill about 11 of them and no loot. Next time we went we killed prolly 12 or so but had a rifleman with us too so split that three ways, i wound up with 2 prem crystals. With two swordsman it takes about 5 minutes or less to kill an elder. Try it out it is much better than anything else i have tried. Plus you dont have to worry about him getting attacked, like that rifleman friend of yours.
Me and a buddy of mine, both master swordsman both got fs speed as well go and find Elders. First night we kill about 11 of them and no loot. Next time we went we killed prolly 12 or so but had a rifleman with us too so split that three ways, i wound up with 2 prem crystals. With two swordsman it takes about 5 minutes or less to kill an elder. Try it out it is much better than anything else i have tried. Plus you dont have to worry about him getting attacked, like that rifleman friend of yours.
Ittsyk
Thu Oct 07, 2004 2:32 pm
#15
No - my other character is fs, but I just can't bring myself to do the grind lol. My main character lately (m. swords/m. doc) is the one I use for NS hunting. He "feels no connection with the force." I suppose I should get out there and just bite the bullet and get the badges again . . . but I will probably just go out and pay the 20 mill for some attachments. Would rather have fun playing than grind.
Ittsyk
Ittsyk
Ittsyk
Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:11 am
#16
lol good idea. I need speed cap, I believe. Better start earning the money I guess.
Baio2K
Fri Oct 08, 2004 3:50 am
#17
good stories.. youll get it soon man. i know it took me a long time before i could take an elder solo.. i finally did it a few days ago. 3 in a row actually. was quite pleased despite the lack of anything but creds and a crappy VL. it was scary though, on the first one i was on a pixie downer (lol) when she had about 75k left. warcry saved my arse then. the 2nd was like butter she had a plain ns lance and only kd'd me once (i have very low def vs kd/dizzy) she also did very lil dmg. I felt Godlike
the third 1 was the scary 1. I could never find a spot that wouldnt aggro a spell weaver or 2 but i managed with my 600bf and armor in bad shape. by the time she was down to around 40k mind my ent buffs ran out and i just saw my mind bar turn to a sliver. luckily i got her to 30k and she was running to her freinds doing me less harm. i frantically spam intimidate (to be safe) and taunt to get her to stop but my mind isnt getting better. I thought i was safe until i read "You do not have enough pool points to preform this action" oh great im frantic cause if this b!tch taps my mind once im a goner. or even a lil freakin baznitch. I must say that seeing that message come up while trying to finish off an elder is the most terrifying thing ever!! and of course im on pixie again ( no downer though *whew*) and of course stomach full, so no way to recharge my nonexistant mind pool. i somehow managed to kill her (i think i blacked out though) and was very releaved to go home on my bike and not through the cloner
its difficult cause i am as well not speed capped but only 5 points off so close enough. but what truly saved my ass is the dmg i do. having a 801 max hammer makes everything easier lol.
i could have never soloed 3 elders in a row wihtout spending over 15mil on speed tapes and my uber hammer. but also i couldnt have done it without the help ive gotten on this prof forum. you guys all rule thnx for teaching me about stacking intimidate and the true beauty of taunt.. you guys rock. keep the dream alive man someday we will loot something good
the third 1 was the scary 1. I could never find a spot that wouldnt aggro a spell weaver or 2 but i managed with my 600bf and armor in bad shape. by the time she was down to around 40k mind my ent buffs ran out and i just saw my mind bar turn to a sliver. luckily i got her to 30k and she was running to her freinds doing me less harm. i frantically spam intimidate (to be safe) and taunt to get her to stop but my mind isnt getting better. I thought i was safe until i read "You do not have enough pool points to preform this action" oh great im frantic cause if this b!tch taps my mind once im a goner. or even a lil freakin baznitch. I must say that seeing that message come up while trying to finish off an elder is the most terrifying thing ever!! and of course im on pixie again ( no downer though *whew*) and of course stomach full, so no way to recharge my nonexistant mind pool. i somehow managed to kill her (i think i blacked out though) and was very releaved to go home on my bike and not through the cloner
its difficult cause i am as well not speed capped but only 5 points off so close enough. but what truly saved my ass is the dmg i do. having a 801 max hammer makes everything easier lol.
i could have never soloed 3 elders in a row wihtout spending over 15mil on speed tapes and my uber hammer. but also i couldnt have done it without the help ive gotten on this prof forum. you guys all rule thnx for teaching me about stacking intimidate and the true beauty of taunt.. you guys rock. keep the dream alive man someday we will loot something good
Message Edited by Baio2K on 10-08-2004 04:52 AM
fdiskman1492
Fri Oct 08, 2004 12:08 pm
#18
Is masterSwords/mstr doc a good combonation for hunting elders?
Milgram
Tue Oct 12, 2004 12:54 am
#19
Ok, i have a real duzzy of a tale. I went to the static spawn right behind the imp prison, and pulled her down to the storm troopers and atst's. I /ex her and ugg, she is holding a stun bat. Well, i think, if I can keep her tanked on the imps (I am an imp myself, so they help) I can shoot her with my mind fire geo and then lunge2 her with my poison lances and power hammer. That works pretty well, but I am getting board, so i move in to 10m soi can hit her with headhit3. My computer I do that for a little while, and i have a big smirk on my face 
when my screen freezes for a couple of seconds, then i am dead with a couple of 1k numbers above my head.
when my screen freezes for a couple of seconds, then i am dead with a couple of 1k numbers above my head. "holy S@#% i say to myself as i head back to the cloner. I had her down to half mind and this is the first night sister elder i have "soloed" so i head back out. There she is, playing with the imps still. I have no buffs, and dont want to go find a doc (it is about 2:00 in the morning) so i take a pixie, and start shooting her with fire, and lunging her with a poison lance. I was taking some damage from having 1 str and quickness, so i took off a few pieces of armor to save some HAM (it was late, i wasn't thinking clearly, and i was wanting to go to bed). Wham, 5000 point storm of hatred.
Fly back out. Ok, good, she is still on the Imps. While i was away, she succeded in finding the ATST. How do you like 100% stun resistance you crazy b1tch? No screwing around this time. I shoot her untill she hits 40k then she starts walking away. All my imp friends say "ya, and dont come back" "Umm, dont you guys want to help me finish her?" "Nah, we would rather patrol the front door here, thanks for the offer though" So, up the hill i go,chasing her asI switch between DX2 and Geo Fire Pistol. The fire is hitting her for 450, and she is at 30k. Great, only 60 burns left to go. Why the hell did i leave my republic blaster at home? So, i keep chasing her. She slows down to murder some escaped slaves, then keeps walking. About 100m from her friends she finally goes down. Luckily, i looted a 1241/1241 premium power crystal off of her, or i would have probably deleted the game off of my hard drive.
Please flame me and my stupid experience, as I totaly deserve it. Thinking back on the experience, WHAT WAS I DOING? Well, i dont know, but i sold the crystal for 6 million, so all is well that ends well i guess.
Ittsyk
Thu Oct 14, 2004 6:35 am
#20
OK, hope this isn't boring, but here's another story - I have learned from previous experience and your advice here.
So . . . I am hunting around Dathomir again getting lousy loot - only one good night in the past week so far. See a bunch of initiate/slave groups, some ranger groups, an outcast group and that's about it. But then I come across a spell weaver/sentinel/rancor group and thought my luck was turning up! Well, all credits except for a locked container (I really have to grind my other character to novice smuggler). I get on my bike to turn to leave when I see this oddly shaped structure on my overhead map. Therefore, I get off my bike, store it and start walking to it. The wierdest thing. There was an elder in this little compound surrounded by 1 spellweaver, 2 sentinels, 2 rancors and a slave. Hmmm, first time I've seen this configuration - usually a spell weaver or two, a protector or two, maybe a couple sentinels. Have never seen an elder inside a spawned compound like this (maybe they do this all the time, I just haven't seen it.
So, I approach cautiously and get the spellweaver (who was outside the compound) and the rancors to aggro me. I kill them, loot some rancor armor layers (have no idea what's good in these), some rancor bile, a lousy lance and some credits. The spellweaver and rancors spawn almost immediatley, so I drag them out again, keeping a wary eye on the elder. Just credits this time. Same thing happens again - almost an immediate spawn. Kill them, credits.
I'm getting a little impatient by this time. For once, I have enough supplies (stims, muon, canape, brandy) out to do some serious battle, but I remember thinking that soloing an elder is just too much work - I swear I believe that. But . . . . I decide what the heck - let's do this elder.
So I run up to the compound (with 2 sentinels, an elder and a slave inside) to drag them away. They were simply grouped too closely together to avoid aggro'ing them all. I get up to the wall, am looking through a crack, only 10m away from the elder. Nothing. No aggro. Hmmm, I think. What should I do? So I try to intimidate here. Even though I am looking right at her as she dances away it says "You cannot see that target." Whatever.
OK, so I run into the compound and out again. That got their attention. 4 red dots . . .oops 3 dots after the silly slave died . . . run after me. I run a good distance away turn, run back a bit to get between the elder and the compound (so I don't find myself running right back into a new spawn of NS). Intimidate, hit follow, start spamming area attack 3. I only did this to get rid of the sentinels before beginning mind attack on the elder.
The sentinels die (100 credits or thereabouts from each) and it's now just me and the elder. I now spam Intimidate, Intimidate, Head Hit 3, Head Hit 3, Head Hit 3, Initimidate, Intimidate . . . over and over and over. Heal states as they come up. I look at my HAM. Wow, just minor dips that are recovered right away. Uh oh, forgot to check mind buff stats. . . .darn - only 20 mins left on mind buffs. Oh well, nothing I can do now. Keep fighting. Mind goes down (slowly - I REALLY need more speed) to 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%. OK, it's been about 15 minutes now, what with all the healing and state removal I 've been doing. Had to fight off a stalker with a stun baton too -I hate stalkers and certainly didn't need one to attack me out of nowhere while fighting an elder. But at least it was only one.
Then my mind buffs go. Up to this point a fairly uneventful fight. Now, however, my mind is showing bigger dips. I pop a muon, back to business. But I know I could be in trouble once the muon downer begins, so I ask in guild chat whether anyone is on dath or would like to help with an elder. One guy says no, he's not on dath, but will come. He's a TKM, so I know he won't do much other than distract me and force me to heal him (and then rez him lol). So, when he gets there, I just ask him to hang back and keep intimidate on the elder so I don't have to worry about it. I tell him to store his bike - he asks why . . . . OK, so maybe a little inexperienced. But, he keeps the elder intimidated very nicely. The elder's mind goes down a little quicker (although not as much as I would have thought). Still took my mind off of having to intimidate.
Muon downer begins a little while later. But, much to my surprise, my mind is still OK. So far, no big emergencies like those that have occured in the past. Muon downer ends and I pop another, just in case. The elder's mind gets down to about 25K HAM and she turns around ready to run. I was ready for this. I don't have a macro that clears the queue and spams /taunt (who wants to take the time to write macros?), so I clear queue manually and spam it. She stops, turns fights, turns to run, spam taunt, stops.. . .etc, about 5 times. A sentinel shows up, but I keep on hitting mind on the elder. A couple minutes later the elder was dead. YEA!!!!!!! Then I looted 2003 credits. yippee. Then I loot 1900 credits from the sentinel. Even more disgusted.
Although not a true solo, it felt like it to me because I was the only one who laid a finger on her. The extra intimidation from my guild made did help, however. But given how my HAM never really dropped, I could have done it myself - just would have taken slightly longer.
LESSONS LEARNED:
1) 80 elec, 30% stun, 88% base armor, although expensive, works well with elders
2) Preparation is key - make sure everything out and ready to go.
3) Finally, I will never again solo an elder until I get speed capped. Just too much work. A small group, including a rifleman is much more preferred. In the past couple days I grouped up with a couple guildmates and then we split up to hunt elders. When someone found an elder, we would all run to that place and kill her. (5 mins or so) Whoever found the elder got the loot. Of course, I was a tank and so my armor took a hit each time, but oh well. I much prefer this way.
So . . . I am hunting around Dathomir again getting lousy loot - only one good night in the past week so far. See a bunch of initiate/slave groups, some ranger groups, an outcast group and that's about it. But then I come across a spell weaver/sentinel/rancor group and thought my luck was turning up! Well, all credits except for a locked container (I really have to grind my other character to novice smuggler). I get on my bike to turn to leave when I see this oddly shaped structure on my overhead map. Therefore, I get off my bike, store it and start walking to it. The wierdest thing. There was an elder in this little compound surrounded by 1 spellweaver, 2 sentinels, 2 rancors and a slave. Hmmm, first time I've seen this configuration - usually a spell weaver or two, a protector or two, maybe a couple sentinels. Have never seen an elder inside a spawned compound like this (maybe they do this all the time, I just haven't seen it.
So, I approach cautiously and get the spellweaver (who was outside the compound) and the rancors to aggro me. I kill them, loot some rancor armor layers (have no idea what's good in these), some rancor bile, a lousy lance and some credits. The spellweaver and rancors spawn almost immediatley, so I drag them out again, keeping a wary eye on the elder. Just credits this time. Same thing happens again - almost an immediate spawn. Kill them, credits.
I'm getting a little impatient by this time. For once, I have enough supplies (stims, muon, canape, brandy) out to do some serious battle, but I remember thinking that soloing an elder is just too much work - I swear I believe that. But . . . . I decide what the heck - let's do this elder.
So I run up to the compound (with 2 sentinels, an elder and a slave inside) to drag them away. They were simply grouped too closely together to avoid aggro'ing them all. I get up to the wall, am looking through a crack, only 10m away from the elder. Nothing. No aggro. Hmmm, I think. What should I do? So I try to intimidate here. Even though I am looking right at her as she dances away it says "You cannot see that target." Whatever.
OK, so I run into the compound and out again. That got their attention. 4 red dots . . .oops 3 dots after the silly slave died . . . run after me. I run a good distance away turn, run back a bit to get between the elder and the compound (so I don't find myself running right back into a new spawn of NS). Intimidate, hit follow, start spamming area attack 3. I only did this to get rid of the sentinels before beginning mind attack on the elder.
The sentinels die (100 credits or thereabouts from each) and it's now just me and the elder. I now spam Intimidate, Intimidate, Head Hit 3, Head Hit 3, Head Hit 3, Initimidate, Intimidate . . . over and over and over. Heal states as they come up. I look at my HAM. Wow, just minor dips that are recovered right away. Uh oh, forgot to check mind buff stats. . . .darn - only 20 mins left on mind buffs. Oh well, nothing I can do now. Keep fighting. Mind goes down (slowly - I REALLY need more speed) to 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%. OK, it's been about 15 minutes now, what with all the healing and state removal I 've been doing. Had to fight off a stalker with a stun baton too -I hate stalkers and certainly didn't need one to attack me out of nowhere while fighting an elder. But at least it was only one.
Then my mind buffs go. Up to this point a fairly uneventful fight. Now, however, my mind is showing bigger dips. I pop a muon, back to business. But I know I could be in trouble once the muon downer begins, so I ask in guild chat whether anyone is on dath or would like to help with an elder. One guy says no, he's not on dath, but will come. He's a TKM, so I know he won't do much other than distract me and force me to heal him (and then rez him lol). So, when he gets there, I just ask him to hang back and keep intimidate on the elder so I don't have to worry about it. I tell him to store his bike - he asks why . . . . OK, so maybe a little inexperienced. But, he keeps the elder intimidated very nicely. The elder's mind goes down a little quicker (although not as much as I would have thought). Still took my mind off of having to intimidate.
Muon downer begins a little while later. But, much to my surprise, my mind is still OK. So far, no big emergencies like those that have occured in the past. Muon downer ends and I pop another, just in case. The elder's mind gets down to about 25K HAM and she turns around ready to run. I was ready for this. I don't have a macro that clears the queue and spams /taunt (who wants to take the time to write macros?), so I clear queue manually and spam it. She stops, turns fights, turns to run, spam taunt, stops.. . .etc, about 5 times. A sentinel shows up, but I keep on hitting mind on the elder. A couple minutes later the elder was dead. YEA!!!!!!! Then I looted 2003 credits. yippee. Then I loot 1900 credits from the sentinel. Even more disgusted.
Although not a true solo, it felt like it to me because I was the only one who laid a finger on her. The extra intimidation from my guild made did help, however. But given how my HAM never really dropped, I could have done it myself - just would have taken slightly longer.
LESSONS LEARNED:
1) 80 elec, 30% stun, 88% base armor, although expensive, works well with elders
2) Preparation is key - make sure everything out and ready to go.
3) Finally, I will never again solo an elder until I get speed capped. Just too much work. A small group, including a rifleman is much more preferred. In the past couple days I grouped up with a couple guildmates and then we split up to hunt elders. When someone found an elder, we would all run to that place and kill her. (5 mins or so) Whoever found the elder got the loot. Of course, I was a tank and so my armor took a hit each time, but oh well. I much prefer this way.
Message Edited by Ittsyk on 10-14-2004 06:40 AM
Fezzig
Thu Oct 14, 2004 7:38 am
#21
Ittsyk wrote:
A couple minutes later the elder was dead. YEA!!!!!!! Then I looted 2003 credits. yippee. Then I loot 1900 credits from the sentinel. Even more disgusted.
I killed 10 elders last night ina buff set. From each I got either creds or a while Lance/LVA.
The conspiracy theorist in me wants to say that there was some kind of nerf to the elder loot recently... 
Ittsyk
Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:02 am
#22
I would agree Fezzig, but for one data point I have.
I have been hunting NS most nights now for 3-4 weeks. In the first week alone, I got 9 crystals from non-elder, upper level NS. The next week, I got 3-4 more, but was not hunting as much. Over the past couple weeks, I've begun noticing a trend. First, there have not been as many NS around. This could directly relate to the fact that I've noticed more people hunting them. But I just don't think this is the major reason. I think there has been a drop in the spawn rate of upper level NS. I went one 2-hour session where all I found were initiate/slave groups, a few rangers, and a few outcasts. That was it. Also, I have noticed a dramatic decrease in any loot at all, much less crystals. I used to bank on getting 1, maybe 2 and if very lucky 3 crystals per night. Now I bank on getting just credits. Not even as many lances/LVAs. Noticed an increase in the loot-kit component drops also.
However, with this said, I had one fantastic night a couple nights ago . . . Grouped with a few people to hunt elders. Person who found the elder got the loot, but we would all help kill her. First person . . premium crystal. Second person (me)... premium crystal. Lots of crystals from the non-elder NS. Good DoT weapons. . . . This was only one night, but it was a stark contrast from what my recent experience has been.
Therefore, there are a few possibilities . . .
1) Grouping produces better drops.
2) Drops are dependent upon time, either the time of day or day of the week, or some timer expiring. (I would be interested in the experience of those who can hunt during the day, right after server reset).
3) Drops from NS have been nerfed.
They certainly have the ability to throttle the drops, but I just don't know why they would do this. Crystals are already very expensive on this server. If they slow drops down, they will only increase in price.
Ittsyk
I have been hunting NS most nights now for 3-4 weeks. In the first week alone, I got 9 crystals from non-elder, upper level NS. The next week, I got 3-4 more, but was not hunting as much. Over the past couple weeks, I've begun noticing a trend. First, there have not been as many NS around. This could directly relate to the fact that I've noticed more people hunting them. But I just don't think this is the major reason. I think there has been a drop in the spawn rate of upper level NS. I went one 2-hour session where all I found were initiate/slave groups, a few rangers, and a few outcasts. That was it. Also, I have noticed a dramatic decrease in any loot at all, much less crystals. I used to bank on getting 1, maybe 2 and if very lucky 3 crystals per night. Now I bank on getting just credits. Not even as many lances/LVAs. Noticed an increase in the loot-kit component drops also.
However, with this said, I had one fantastic night a couple nights ago . . . Grouped with a few people to hunt elders. Person who found the elder got the loot, but we would all help kill her. First person . . premium crystal. Second person (me)... premium crystal. Lots of crystals from the non-elder NS. Good DoT weapons. . . . This was only one night, but it was a stark contrast from what my recent experience has been.
Therefore, there are a few possibilities . . .
1) Grouping produces better drops.
2) Drops are dependent upon time, either the time of day or day of the week, or some timer expiring. (I would be interested in the experience of those who can hunt during the day, right after server reset).
3) Drops from NS have been nerfed.
They certainly have the ability to throttle the drops, but I just don't know why they would do this. Crystals are already very expensive on this server. If they slow drops down, they will only increase in price.
Ittsyk
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