Help with the Ancients

swoll

New member
Help with the Ancients

I hope you all can help me here.

I am a lvl 87 Bowie who is getting owned by the ancients. I have a lvl 86 defiance merc, and a lvl 32 Valk, but I still get handed easily because the bastards chase me down instead of attacking the tanks. I have 80% faster R/W and try to just run in circles and shoot off a FA when I can, but they are too fast and tend to move out of the way.

Any suggestions on tactics would be greatly appreciated because I want to start doing Baal runs. Thanks

swoll
 
swoll said:
I hope you all can help me here.

I am a lvl 87 Bowie who is getting owned by the ancients. I have a lvl 86 defiance merc, and a lvl 32 Valk, but I still get handed easily because the bastards chase me down instead of attacking the tanks. I have 80% faster R/W and try to just run in circles and shoot off a FA when I can, but they are too fast and tend to move out of the way.

Any suggestions on tactics would be greatly appreciated because I want to start doing Baal runs. Thanks

swoll

OK, what gear are you using and what is your primary attack. At level 87 you should be able to smear the ancients. You might also try casting decoy to take the heat off of you.
 
chaca said:
OK, what gear are you using and what is your primary attack. At level 87 you should be able to smear the ancients. You might also try casting decoy to take the heat off of you.

Buriza
Trang Oul's Scales
Harley
Alder's Advance
Eye of Etlich
Frost Burns
MF rings (nothing spectacular)
Hwanin's Belt (Prevent Monster Heal)

20 FA
20 CA
20 Valk
10 Strafe
some in D/E/A, CS, and Penetrate

I usually use FA. Strafe for CI.

I just cant seem to stay alive long enough. It could just be I dont have enough HP (~900) because 3 or 4 hits and I am gone. They just wont sit still long enough for me pump them with arrows.
 
Hmm, I've never built a FA zon, but I"m curious as to what kind of dmg you are putting out. Also what do your resists look like?

My suggestion would be to cast decoy right by the altar before hitting it. Then run like heck, and recast your valk between you and the the closest of the 3 ancients. keep recasting your decoy/valk between you and the closest ancient. That way you continually fight a retreat. cast slow missles to help out with the one ancient who throws weapons. Load up on a ton of rejuves in your belt. Clear out as much of your inventory as possible and load it up with juves/healing pots. The idea is to be able to stay on the summit for as long as possible.

Now, if you are on Bnet, then my suggestion would be to find a friend. You might also want to swap out your MF ring for some LL/ML rings (a strafe can refil your bulb) and/or some rings with more life. Just remember, keep casting the valk and decoy to keep the ancients away from you. Also, don't always just run circles. Sometimes you need to run as far away as possible. String the Ancients out and then take then on one at a time. Another good idea is to concentrate on one ancient. Take them out one at a time. Take the easiest out first and save the hardest for last. You quickly need to pare down teh odds and the best way of doing that is by knocking off one of the ancients quickly.
 
chaca said:
Hmm, I've never built a FA zon, but I"m curious as to what kind of dmg you are putting out. Also what do your resists look like?

My suggestion would be to cast decoy right by the altar before hitting it. Then run like heck, and recast your valk between you and the the closest of the 3 ancients. keep recasting your decoy/valk between you and the closest ancient. That way you continually fight a retreat. cast slow missles to help out with the one ancient who throws weapons. Load up on a ton of rejuves in your belt. Clear out as much of your inventory as possible and load it up with juves/healing pots. The idea is to be able to stay on the summit for as long as possible.

Now, if you are on Bnet, then my suggestion would be to find a friend. You might also want to swap out your MF ring for some LL/ML rings (a strafe can refil your bulb) and/or some rings with more life. Just remember, keep casting the valk and decoy to keep the ancients away from you. Also, don't always just run circles. Sometimes you need to run as far away as possible. String the Ancients out and then take then on one at a time. Another good idea is to concentrate on one ancient. Take them out one at a time. Take the easiest out first and save the hardest for last. You quickly need to pare down teh odds and the best way of doing that is by knocking off one of the ancients quickly.

thanks.....noted
it never dawned on me run in a straight line from one end to the other.

resists blow :( .............all are negative some more than others. Which hurts if the leaper gets a cold aura. I have a Vipermagi with +35, but I lose my FRW from the scales, not to mention DR as well.

My damage is modest with my strafe arrow getting up to 1500 and my FA doing 1800 physical and 1200 cold
 
I agree with the Valk, decoy, and running pattern suggestions. I also suggest you drop a few piles of potions around the summit to help you stay longer - they will poof, but hopefully you will have picked up a few extra by this time. Also, if you are having trouble stopping and aiming FA, try guided. May take forever, but I should get you there eventually. And unless the ancients are pretty well tied down, I would be loathe to strafe with the burrito.

Good Luck,
DudSpud
 
Most of the times I have fought the ancients in hell with a bowazon, I was in a party. The few times I did solo, I found that run, guided x 3, run, guided x 3 was the best way. It can be difficult to stop and aim when you have 2 chasing you (usually 1 got preocupied with valk/merc and 2 chased me 1 of which was always the leaper for some reason). Would only have had a problem if all 3 were PI but the worst ever for me was 2 PI. I think it would have been very difficult any other way.

After looking at your gear, I can assume that you are not rich. Ancients are Hell for bowazons to solo without top notch gear. Probably best if you party to get past them. I don't think you will be able to do it with your current build / gear by yourself.
 
I agree with xzon. I think Bliz programmed the leaper to always chase you down no matter what. Everytime I solo ancients the leaper always is on my tail. But my advice is to take out Madawc (thrower) first because experience showed me that he has lesser life than the other two and normally this guy just stands there throwing so he will be an easier target for FA while running. Just be careful of Korlic since this guy will keep hounding you. Talic I noticed is almost always tied up with my merc and valk and seldomly goes after you. Getting rid of Madawc early will level the playing field somewhat so take him out first.
 
if i remember right korlic is cold immune in hell and has high cold resist so fa isn't gonna help out with him
 
I've tried to kill the Hell Ancients for the first time today, with a Strafeazon. I"m using a Harmony bow. I took two revives with me. I was thinking of taking close to 20 revives in next time.
And I will make sure to use guided arrow instead of strafe.

Making lots of revives then switching to my edge Xbow, for the thorns and having lots of full rejuves, wouldn't be a good strategy would it? And then switching to the harmony to finish off the thrower.

I managed to finish Diablo off using revived monsters.
My biggest problem is keeping them with me while I go to the Boss I"m trying to kill. Usually I open a portal near where I want them then go to a WP to make them.
 
Hmm you havent told us what u have on swich...My advice would be Spelcaster Bearded Axe. I use it on my PlagueZon on swich, mainly to cast Decrepify and break PI/slow monsters. It has also Teleport charges which can keep u away from Ancients. The Valk/Merc will be teleporting with you so you can save your merc if in trouble.

Other possibility, since you have just Cold Damage source, would be to get one more TrangOul item since you already use an armour, and get +18 to Fireball. The belt would be good for CBF and +Mana/Life. Harley and EoE will then raise your Fireball to lvl 21 so if any of the Ancients is CI you will use fireball.

It is also important what your merc have for Gear as there is not much use of a Merc who will die quickly.
 
This is the strategy I use. Korlic is the most dangerous, his leap attack equals instant death in most cases, so don't give him a chance to use it. Just before you activate them, cast a decoy right in front of him. He is always on the bottom and the deek should be at 8-9o'clock to him. Once you start them up imediately run to the 6 o'clock position and get right in his face and strafe away. Don't let him off his pedestal! Recast the deek when she drops/dies. What you are doing is using Korlic and the decoy as a shield from the other two. Hopefully the merc and valk are holding their own with them. Korlic is going to pound you, so get as much leach/life as you can hold. Be heartened by the fact that his melee attack is nowhere near as deadly as his leap. Also your piercing strafe will be hitting Talic and Madawc. Once Korlic is finished, or if things break down, RUN !!
 
Sherlock said:
Hmm you havent told us what u have on swich...My advice would be Spelcaster Bearded Axe. I use it on my PlagueZon on swich, mainly to cast Decrepify and break PI/slow monsters. It has also Teleport charges which can keep u away from Ancients. The Valk/Merc will be teleporting with you so you can save your merc if in trouble.

Other possibility, since you have just Cold Damage source, would be to get one more TrangOul item since you already use an armour, and get +18 to Fireball. The belt would be good for CBF and +Mana/Life. Harley and EoE will then raise your Fireball to lvl 21 so if any of the Ancients is CI you will use fireball.

It is also important what your merc have for Gear as there is not much use of a Merc who will die quickly.

this wont be as effective as it sounds - zons are very slow casters and you fireballs will be going off slower than moldy meatloaf .. :p
 
YogiRat said:
This is the strategy I use. Korlic is the most dangerous, his leap attack equals instant death in most cases, so don't give him a chance to use it. Just before you activate them, cast a decoy right in front of him. He is always on the bottom and the deek should be at 8-9o'clock to him. Once you start them up imediately run to the 6 o'clock position and get right in his face and strafe away. Don't let him off his pedestal! Recast the deek when she drops/dies. What you are doing is using Korlic and the decoy as a shield from the other two. Hopefully the merc and valk are holding their own with them. Korlic is going to pound you, so get as much leach/life as you can hold. Be heartened by the fact that his melee attack is nowhere near as deadly as his leap. Also your piercing strafe will be hitting Talic and Madawc. Once Korlic is finished, or if things break down, RUN !!

This sounds like a good strategy. More advanced than my thoughts. What I always do though is cast a decoy next to the spear barb before I activate. As soon as I activiate I cast slow missle. What I'm trying to do is not get hit by the ranged attacks. A couple of other people suggested the spear thrower first. I agree. My concern is you always want to have slow missle on, casting it can be annoying and cause a delay, but trust me its a good idea. Once he is dead it is now two against three, with merc and valk. And you stopped the ranged attacker.

The other big thing for me is the fwr like you pointed out. I agree that the AI is better on these guys than most monsters in the game, which make decoy not as effective. One thing I do is when you have your decoy up, which you always should use him like an offensive lineman. Run right past and make sharp cuts, put him between you and the monster. I think the fwr is most important for the leap attacker. This guy rarely hits me. I also have the Burito, a big difference is that I use strafe as my primary killing method. No jokes or comments please. I dont have a faith or wf and I am semi poor, so I think its my best choice. By fwr I can avoid him. I alway keep at least half a screen away and then launch strafe. If he leap I'm generally done and moved before he gets back.

Well those are my tactics which I think will help. I would also ask a couple of gear questions. Get a Ravenfrost. I have gotten two with just perfect gems as trade. You have to have something to keep from being frozen. I'm new to expansion and not sure if your gear covers. The other thing is get rid of your rings at least for this quest. Im not sure if I've ever seen anything good drop but if your dying anything that adds ll, life, resists, damage would be good.
 
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