Wild Blossom Star and other TBL names

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Gio-Cefalu, May 11, 2019.

  1. Gio-Cefalu Augur

    So, either I'm completely misunderstanding TBL difficulty and itemization, or I just really, really suck as a player. I'd love some help here.

    I am 3 boxing a 110 SK, Shaman, and Mage. The SK has all the GMM non-visibles, sword and board from GMM, etc. The others have the GMM non-vis as well. I've been able to kill a few TBL names in Stratos, and so I have 2 pieces of TBL visible gear on the SK and Shaman. I have 33K AAs on the SK and 25K+ on the shaman and mage. I use a healer merc on reactive and 2 wizzie mercs on Burn, at least for names.

    In general, the named mobs I'm tackling are barely do-able with my group. I'm using every disc, lifetap, buff, etc. I have about 258K hps and think i'm just over 6k AC with the SK. With discs, the AC goes up a bit more depending on the line of buffs. Oh, and apparently all these TBL named mob buffs can't be dispelled. I tried using the shaman spell, mage AA, and Skull of Null on the SK. The named reflect buffs, 80% mitigation buffs, etc. I can't get rid of any of them.

    Specifically for Wild Blossom Star, I read that he can summon adds, and one poster mentioned that one time, he only summoned a single add. For me, he will summon TONS of adds (10-12 easily, no exaggeration). I started wondering if it's related to his health, like X mobs per 5% life or something, and I thought that if I take him down too quickly, I'll get a ton of adds. However, I don't actually see that as the pattern when I'm fighting him. Sometimes I take down a bunch of life with no adds, and sometimes I get 5-10 at once.

    Sometimes the mage's AOE can burn down the greenies and dent the light blue adds, but if I stop and focus on the adds, he just summons more. All the while, he's beating me down pretty hard, and I'm cycling through each disc and lifetap (epic 2.0, Anguish BP, Conflagrant BP, Blood Drinker's, etc). I generally have one disc and lifetap up at a time. I'm using my spell lifetaps, Terror line, Spur, etc. When I first start tanking, I'll pop all my DPS abilities to increase my lifetapping (2nd spire, Clarent Blade, etc). I tried to Harm Touch at the beginning of the fight. I tried to save it for later. Sometimes this mob will wipe me right when we engage, and sometimes I can make it until he's down to 40-50% before I finally wipe.

    All of this probably wouldn't be too terrible if it weren't for how hard he hits. He'll quad me up to 40K per hit sometimes. Even with my shaman trying to heal (and debuff, DoT, and nuke), I can't keep up, and once the tank goes down, the rest is over. I must have died 6 or 7 times tonight.

    It just seems like the expectation is that I should already have RoS raid gear before I can even touch TBL T1 zones, and since I don't raid, that puts me in a tight spot. I seriously wonder how I ever would have done this if I didn't have GMM to help gear me up first.

    1. Should I just be skipping this mob all together?
    2. Am I seriously misunderstanding some mechanic of this fight?
    3. Do I just suck?
    4. Is TBL really just as painfully difficult as some have whined about?
    5. Any other advice?

    Thanks for your time.
  2. Brohg Augur

    It doesn't sound like you're doing anything intrinsically wrong, but it's likely that, as dumb as it sounds, you're losing because you die before the mob does. In other words, a DPS issue. You speak of doing one thing for tanking to start then doing something next, so clearly you're hanging in there against the mob damage. You speak of sometimes getting a couple adds, and sometimes getting many, so clearly the mechanics aren't just slaughtering you.

    You can look at improving the output of your own characters, like with working in dots from the shm or better discs on the magician, or discing harder on the SK to enable tanking with 2h (that'd be huge), but basically you're playing a solid midfield. You need to Phone A Friend, get some strikers (dps) to join you :)
  3. Axxius Augur

    Some of the TBL named, including Wild Blossom Star, summon cc-able adds. They are usually mezzable, rootable, snareable, stunnable - i.e. any cc class can handle them. Sadly, your group just happens to have no cc, and you would be better off avoiding this type of named.
  4. Cicelee Augur

    The problem with your group isn't SK, shaman or magician.

    The problem with your group is merc, merc, merc.

    I bet if you replace one or two of those mercs, you will see much different results...
    Brohg likes this.
  5. Brohg Augur

    Shm player counts as CC, VP & Rebuke AAs are real real good. Shm player also counts as dps vs big mobs. Shm box? not so much, on either front.
    Gyurika Godofwar likes this.
  6. Paradisic_parasite Elder

    Drop the mage for a bard and you'll be good.
  7. Gio-Cefalu Augur

    Thanks for all the tips. I'm going to go back to Stratos and farm some of the other named instead. I'm hoping as I get more TBL T1 visibles that the rest of the fights become so much easier anyway, even with adds. Then, maybe these tough ones become do-able.

    Is there a good spot in particular if I'm just looking for lamps and visibles? I was fighting Silver Eyes on the south east island, but she's the only named that can spawn there. I also tried the central island with the little pond, but now that I know Wild Blossom Star likes to hang out there, I may avoid that island.
  8. Brohg Augur

    There are 0 lamps in Stratos, they're only on tier 2 named. And mission chests.
  9. Cadira Augur

    Believe lamps only drop in t2 zones. You can also farm any missions for lamps. I'd farm trial of 3, wending ways, maybe ampitheater, and maybe cyclone. Contract of war and brass palace, should be easy too for lamps and type 5 currency if you are progressed enough to to request all that.

    As other have said, your problem seems to be mercs (or lack of dps in general). I'd either invest in 3 more toons or find a fellow three boxer to join your endeavors!
  10. Morthakia Augur

    Your SK might be undergeared or underprepared, hard to say with your description. Do you have on your tank:

    1) A full set of Type 5 augs from RoS Tier 2 + purchased with currency?
    2) A full set of AC / H STA/AGI/DEX augs from RoS + EoK, including Nathsar Darkness and Frosty Gem of Enhanced Protection in your shield?
    3) Icy Prism of Avoidance from LDoN or Stone of Judgement from PoWar?
    4) Tears of Alaris or at least a partially leveled Tear from VOA / RoF expansion (i know it starts to slow down a ton around level 10)?
    5) Hero AAs from CoTF through Ring of Scale? (I think this will put you at rank 50 or so)
    6) DoN progression done?
    7) Have you activated Tribute and do you have trophies from RoS and other collectibles?
    8) Are you using a Cliff Stone? Do you have +35 purity augs in your visible slots?
    9) Are you using Stat food?

    While none of these things is required individually, the more you lack the more you’ll struggle through TBL named.

    I sympathize with the challenge and encourage you to keep trying. For some of these harder named where your group makeup isn’t great to handle, I suggest you revisit it after you get more visible armor on your tank (assuming you don’t have all the above).
  11. Mehdisin Mahn Augur

    for the named that spawn adds, it's a DPS check typically. and as brohg pointed out you probably just don't have enough to burn it down in time.
    for basically every other named, if nothing else a mage earth pet w/ 2 cleric mercs will stay up just fine while you whittle it down. use the shaman to splash/group heal against any nasty effects, and to DoT....
  12. Kolani Augur

    6k ac seems awfully low, I have 6.2k buffed on my ranger.
  13. Yendar Augur

    Sounds like a DPS issue, the fight shouldn’t be taking that long. You aren’t max AA yet, but you may need to use some glyphs to up your dps on a few selected namers. Destruction for the mage and shamans and dragon scales maybe on the SK when the adds start popping.

    You’re better off skipping these namers and going into T2 stuff for now. Come back to them when you have a better group (ask a chanter to help) etc. I wouldn’t waste time gearing up T1 gear anyways. The T2 stuff is so abundant this expansion.
  14. Gio-Cefalu Augur

    1. No, they are from TBM. I never got to the point of grinding missions in EoK or ROS for the currency, so my stat augs aren't from RoS, but at this point, I don't see myself doing all of RoS progression for a small bump in stats. I'll do that in TBL once I have my visibles complete.
    2. Pretty much yes. I have Frosty Gem and Zev'ran's bauble in my shield. There may be 1 or 2 augs I'm missing, but I'm pretty close.
    3. Icy Prism yes. I never did Stone of Judgement.
    4. I have this but never leveled it up. I'd have to go kill for ages to level this up for what I believe would be a small bump. Not sure it's worth the time.
    5. Nope. I don't have enough time to go back and do all of this; I just have limited playtime. I'd never have time for anything else.
    6. Nope. See number 5.
    7. I blow through tribute too fast, so I quit using it. I would try to use it on named mobs but forget to turn it on, or I'd end up forgetting to turning it off. I do have the PoWar helm and Tent from anniversary.
    8. Still farming for one. I tried farming General V'Deers for a bit in HS, but then realized farming current named would still yield a chance at a Cliff Stone plus rank II spells, visibles, etc. I've gotten the caster dps and healer power sources, but not the tank one yet.
    9. Sometimes. This gets expensive fast. I'm usually buying cheaper food just to keep my belly full.

    Regarding lamps, I've been in Stratos this whole time, and I've killed named mobs about 8 times, and I've gotten a lamp almost every time, so either I'm bugged in a good way, or T1 mobs definitely drop lamps.
  15. Tuco Augur

    TBL named are no joke, if i dont strategize they're even a threat to me. So dont feel too bad if they knock you out.


    As for advice, i recommend checking out the shamans ae root cc, spiritual rebuke and virulent paralysis.

    And dont be ashamed to ask for help to take out a specific mob. Some named are really tough, most shouldnt be a problem.
  16. Yendar Augur

    By “lamps” he means diminished inhabited muhbis for the t3 Tradeskill gear. You’re getting those in stratos?
  17. Nniki Augur

    Lamps are spells.
  18. Nifty Slacker Augur

    First of all, you don't suck. Some tbl names are harder than others. It can be especially difficult to deal with adds when you are 3 boxing and have mercs filling the group, as well. I would avoid this named all together, as it is exploiting a weakness in your team, namely that you have no crowd control. If you really want to gear up, try doing trials of smoke, especially ampitheatre and trial of three, and get your gear from chests. Those chests can even drop muhbis, which will allow you to skip tier 2 altogether.

    Stop bashing your head against a wall, sir. Try another namer camp or the trials, come back to this one when you have better gear.
  19. Muvandog Journeyman

    As Cicelee mentioned, your merc setup is part of your problem if you're dying. Cleric mercs stack beautifully, and can easily make a 'close call' or impossible fight much easier or possible. I don't know if this will necessarily help with Wild Blossom Star mechanics specifically, but in general it will be helpful for you to know.

    Also I agree that ~6K AC is a bit low for a knight in TBL. You really should be using tribute and trophy on a named if it's a close call. If you find you're forgetting to turn it off, just never put more than 50k tribute in at a time. If it runs out, no big loss. Rot gear from GMM orc runs is a great source of tributeable gear.
  20. Gio-Cefalu Augur

    The lamps I'm referring to are the glowing lamps that give spells/tomes, like: https://items.eqresource.com/items.php?id=158305

    I don't know anything past Stratos at this point. I figured I would at least need T1 visibles before I even attempted the trials. Should I be doing these trials instead? That seemed counter-intuitive to me.

    Also, is it pretty much impossible to dispell any of the buffs these mobs have? From what I've read, some look dispellable, and in practice, I don't think I've been able to negate any of them.