Time for a Ranger

[Zorthaz]

I had a heroic Ranger on my primary account and I decided to try boxing him with my group geared BST on my secondary account.  I got the Ranger up to 105 doing dead hills missions and GMM missions.  The GMM missions were painfully long when you have to count on a BST to split 10 mobs, but with persistence and quite a few deaths, I got it done.  At 105 I was finally able to equip him with EoK gear and especially a bow.

The exp rate got better as I moved to FM to farm gear and headshot really came into play with the better gear and bow.  I have a lot to learn and it shows in the DPS which was around 6K in the mid 90s and increased to around 12K at 100.   I tend to focus on the BST and just plink arrows with the Ranger.

I hit 106 last night and it was nice to see the Ranger "burn" actually have an impact on the named mob's HPs.
-Z-

[Latang]

I must admit, since I got back (hi, btw guys) I have been doing lesson burns in FM. Watching the ranger zooming past getting 2aa/min headshotting stuff made me wonder at my bard box choice. Good for you for trying it out, I'd be curious to see how it works.

I've just started doing daily missions from that teek guy in PoK, and got unlucky with the kor sha lab mission last night. Was nowhere near as fast as the bixie mission.

Apart from the splitting mobs issue (no prob with the bard) what are gmm missions like? Which would you reccomend a pair of 108's in EoK t2 gear try for? I've never even zoned into GMM, only been back a week or 2

Edit: I figured it out when I was supposed to be working. Going to hit 110 and then try The Darkness Howls. Seems to be the one to go to.

I'm going to do my lesson burn in FM tonight then head to GMM to set up for a Summoners Trinket of Insecurity camp! EM21 ftw!

[Zorthaz]

GMM has the best non-visible armor and weapons in the group game.  The mobs in the missions are easier than the mobs in the open zones.  The mobs in the missions are 108 -110 except for the names.  The problem is the mobs tend to be clustered in one spot.  The ranger was too low to CC mobs so I did all of the pulling on my BST.   My Group geared BST already has the GMM pet earring, but even a lower EM pet can tank 1-2 of these mobs.

In the Darkness Howls mission, when you first come in there is a single mob at the bottom of the trail.  He is usually standing there, but if you wait long enough he will path there and make for an easy single pull.  The next pack has 3 mobs.  I back the Ranger out of the way and cycle through the 3 targets to find the DB one instead of the even cons.

I pick the DB one because I am about to use the mother of all BST splitting tools... "Flash of Light"!  It doesn't always land so you have to give it a couple tries, but eventually you can get down to 1 to 2 mobs alone which I sick my pet on and start DPSing on the ranger while I wait for aggro to clear on the 3rd mob.  After that, everything in that first section is a 2 pull which your pet can handle.

I am typically trying to get exp, so I divert from the normal flow of the mission and go under/out the front gate and clear all the mobs in this section.  If you are careful, every pull is 1-2 mobs.

The second part of the mission has 8/9 mobs all together on a platform with a shack on the hillside.  I typically setup way up the hillside (Thanks Cinnabee for this tip) and have my ranger invis'ed.  I once again hit one of the mobs with FoL and run up the hill and then FD when 1 to 2 mobs get in range.  Put the pet on them and wait for aggro to clear and then rinse and repeat.   The problem with this method is sometimes a pack of 4-5 will warp on top of you and then it goes down hill from there.

The third part of the mission has you pulling mobs out of a cave.  The mobs will path to the front of the cave where you can easily pull them from outside with your back to the wall.  The problem is there can be a stack of 3-4 mobs at the front of the cave.  As long as you keep pulls down to 2 to 3 mobs you should be fine.  Once you clear 10 then you get to the next stage of the mission.

The fourth part of the mission has you on the platform by the supply room pulling out mobs.  Take your time and keep pulls at 2 mobs and you will be fine.  After you you finish this stage you will get an emote if the named spawns.  It is pretty rare. 

For the last part of the mission you go out/under the main gate and if you cleared this area previously, the only mobs that will be up now are the target Howler mobs and the PHs for the named mob.  I think you have to kill 5 howler mobs and then you get to open the chest.  Howlers are the only mobs that see through invis.

-Z-

[Zorthaz]

Just a quick note all the loot in GMM missions is 110 required.

-Z-

[Latang]

I'm going crazy on the GMM now with the box team.

The bard makes this one so easy. While I could easily get singles each and every time, you were right. The EM18 pet can easily tank 2 of these with a cleric merc and the odd spot heal by me. I'm using my bard, zerker and the beast. Use the bard to get a mob or 2, parking the beast and zerker down at the wall, and bringing the mob right to them. Bard doesn't melee, just twists the songs, and just autoattack on the zerker with occasional mash button when i can be bothered (not often). But yep. Done.. umm.. 15 or so missions now. Lots of awesome gear, and all 3 are at 110 now so they can use it.

I have never seen the named pop tho. I think I'm cursed.

[Zorthaz]

Named is rare, but he can drop the 80AC aug.  Usually, he drops a ring IIRC.

-Z-

[Zorthaz]

Named actually popped for me over the weekend and I was lucky enough to get the 80 AC aug.
-Z-

[Latang]

Lucky man! He popped once for me on my 23rd run through. Got a Luck 2 neck, lol.

I've od'd on GMM for a bit, I've decided to take a break instead. Luckily, last night Aten Ha Ra died to a determined raid of a solo beastlord after an epic 40 second fight (didn't burn any discs). There is a lot of fun to be had in this game :)

No good clickies dropped all through Vex Thal. I am considering loading in 6 chars and doing the AoC raids for giggles. Vex Thal, Sanctus Seru for Lord Inquisitor, Emp ssra, etc. I ran through Anguish with a 69th level monk who wanted Jayruk's Vest from OMM too, that was pretty fun.

I'm pretty light on AA's, so I am going to have to work on them eventually. Where do you recommend doing the lesson burn?

[Zorthaz]

"Where do you recommend doing the lesson burn?"

GMM mission is one of the best places to burn a lesson.  Clear all the mobs outside the gate so you don't have to waste time/chance death splitting large packs of mobs.  Second choice: HS basement just drop down on the northeast side of the platform you zone in on.  Named can be a huge pain if they are up, but the exp is solid.

-Z-

[Zorthaz]

Ranger is now 110 with the Gnomework bow and all the autogrant AAs.  On GMM missions Head shot doesn't work so DPS is pretty sad just auto attacking (bowing) even with a good bow.  DPS is averaging around 35K and with more button pressing that number will double.  Pushing buttons on the ranger reduces the DPS on my group geared beast.  The two classes are similar in it takes lots of button pressing to maximize damage.  Always Be Casting is important on both classes. Beasts have much better mana recovery capabilities. (more button pressing).  Right now I have to keep the ranger on a mount or he will run OOM before I am halfway through the mission.  That is with enchanter and beast mind buffs running as well as his own.

-Z-

[Karve]

3boxing this with Enc+Mag+BST.

Now I got the layout and the mob groups, it's a doddle, 60 minutes and done.
Had the glass shield and the gyroscope from Grash, and have nearly everything else from the chest for the Bst/enc. and still only 108. I guess clearing the whole zone helps a bit with exp? is it dungeon bonus?

[Zorthaz]

Most people run GMM (Darkness Howls Mission) because the mobs are so easy the kill rate is really high and.....wait for it...it is one of the only zones where the exp counts for evolving gear from TBL.  It is by far the easiest way to get exp for evolving items.  Most people already have all the gear from GMM or are raid geared so they just flip the mission without completing it for the exp.

-Z-

[Zunar]

Flipping darkness howls is a good way to get the augment too from the elusive named orc.

[Karve]

Since the nerf re-tuning, Grash is a bit of a mare.
In other news though, I have all but the Appointment Enforcer 1hb and the Phases ringm as I got the aug last night.

Huzzah! 110 club at last, just in the nick of time for 115 to come along.

[Zorthaz]

Grats on 110!!!  Start cranking those AAs and make sure you have the max AA banked and max quest rewards banked before the next expansion launches.