How do you run... Mender Ramiel's Honoree mission?

[Greycat]

In the "What missions do you autocomplete?" thread, I kept seeing the Honoree mission from Lady Grey in Mender Ramiel's arc mentioned. And while it can  be, for some characters, a hard fight, I don't think I've ever skipped or had to autocomplete it. SO, yeah, this - along with people complaining about Trapdoor - always makes me go "why?"

 

Which is part of why I'm making the thread. What throws you? How do you run it? What makes you think this is difficult - or not?

 

Answering this for myself and how I run it (since I think it's "tough fight sometimes but very doable") next, for comparison. (Did I write a guide on this somewhere? I kind of think I did... or planned to. Anyway.)

[Greycat]

I don't tend to see this as a fight to be worried about. That said, I *do* do some prep work on it, and some of what I do might seem cheesy. But it works consistently for me.

 

I also have to point out - "I don't do builds." I don't aim for capping things, perma-ing things, etc. At 50 (and I tend to run the arc right away, since to me the Incarnate XP earned on it is wasted once it auto-unlocks Alpha) I probably have a mix of sets, partial sets, and common IOs.

 

Anyway - the way I run it:

 

Prep work:

 

I know it's fighting two EBs, and as stated I don't want to waste earning iXP on something that'll be auto unlocked, so I'm at base settings. I'm going for the end goal, not all the XPs. (True for the whole unlock arc. It's a "I want this over with," not a farm. Same reason I'll skip most of the enemies on the Trapdoor and 'meet us at the well' missions.)

 

Just-in-case pickup - Nectambo's Curse Breaker. 250 vmerits. If you've run the RWZ arcs, hopefully you have this already - you'll want it in case Captain Holz's curse shot hits, because being stuck at half max END for five minutes straight *sucks.* Unless you need a break to get some coffee.

 

Some sort of temp pet. While the extra damage is nice, I want one (or more) primarily to *eat alphas.* Shivan's free for a few minutes of work, War Wolf's from Striga if you're blueside, RV pet, HVAS (though I think that's a waste here.) in a pinch there's the reinforcement from P2W. You're going to dangle this out there as bait.

 

Inspirations. Purples, greens, red, whatever you feel you need.

 

Blackwand and Nem Staff from P2W if you don't have range, or not very powerful ranged ST.

 

Running the mission:

 

I just go ahead and clear the rikti in the first section. Cut through the tunnel to get to the second hallway where you fight Crey tanks. Then start paying attention to NPC chatter.

 

The hallway layout does this, sort of:
                         |
------------------
|

(Short leg, long hall, then another turn.)

 

Clear the short hall, clear most of the long hall - at this point, just before the last dogleg, you should see Rikti NPC chatter. (Repel:Invaders, I think.) I double back, usually meeting the first group as they exit the little tunnel you want through. Clear them, run back through the tunnel to the bridge - the spawn point for the "ambushes." There are 5. (If you're some powerset with trip mines? You can get a couple down between the attacks - they wait for the bodies from the last fight to fade.) They all spawn at your end of the bridge you initially passed over. THe last one's text mentions "mercy:none!" Clear them, run back to the hallway.

 

Finish the enemies. Don't touch the debris pile glowy. That's what triggers the portals in the Honoree room. (As well as the EBs.)

Clear out the - I keep thinking of it as the "stage." There'll be Rikti there, and an ambush of more rikti when you hit the far end. You'll see, if you did NOT touch the debris pile, that the room the Honoree, Holz, and the portals are in are completely empty. (Again, have trip mines? Use them along the front left and right sides of the front of the bridge. Not the bridge itself, and you can ignore the back.)

Run back, click the debris, trigger the portals. Hit JUST the two (always two there are, no more, no less) in front and what few Rikti have managed to spawn in - from range. I don't want to aggro the EBs yet. (If you're traps,  you won't see anything in front if you put down enough trip mines at this point. :)  )

 

Summon the temp pet(s) in the entrance to the room, about half way. You don't want *them* aggroing either. Mastermind? Keep your real minions back out of the way. (Again, traps/devices? Set any goodies down on a preferred edge and corner first.) ST, non knockback (for sake of time, not aggro) attack on Holz from as far as possible, duck around the corner. The temp pet should be hanging out in the hall, right in line of sight for Holz. It eats their alpha, you fight, Holz goes down.

 

Rinse, repeat for Honoree. (I'll tend to stay at range for non melee.) This tends to be the only place I need to use insps.

 

Ignore the back portals. No XP. Unless you're feeling like seeing how many you can wipe out after that. Can be fun sometimes.

 

Back to see Lady Grey, then fight romans and reflections.

[Yomo Kimyata]

I believe that any build can solo an EB.

[Greycat]

2 minutes ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

I believe that any build can solo an EB.

 

And yet this mission's listed frequently in that other thread as one of the ones people autocomplete - which is why I'm asking why and what people are doing/seeing. (And throwing in what I do.) My *guess* is either they're rushing and getting both EBs (and having to deal with them with half END from Holz's attack) or not staying away from Honoree's melee. I kite him like crazy on something like my ice/emp (who, yes, did finish this solo as well.)

[Yomo Kimyata]

I’m gonna guess that’s because they aren’t doing the mission for the challenge and just want to go back to farming Council minions for incarnate rewards.

[Biff Pow]

I'm usually on a Tank, so it's a bit chaotic but still doable.

 

That said, now when I hit level 50, I keep doing regular missions to unlock Incarnate powers and get them all to tier 3 before starting the Incarnate content. Makes everything a lot easier (maybe too easy?)

[Grouchybeast]

I set the difficulty to whatever I think the character can handle, and then I pack my tray with a ton of purple insps and head off.

[Coyotedancer]

If I'm on a character that doesn't do a lot of damage, or one that I don't think can handle Honoree's damage well, I just turn down the difficulty to +0 or even -1. That's usually enough to let even the squishiest of my gang get through it. 

 

No matter who I'm on, I do deal with the ambushes and snipe the portals typically, and pull the EBs one at a time. I usually hit Honoree first, and follow with the captain because of her Curse debuff, which is annoying.

[Lazarillo]

I often skip it, more 'cause the ambushes are annoying and time consuming, than anything.  The EBs can be a little tough, but the Vanguard one is usually not a problem unless she gets you with Curse of Weariness (gotta bring the temp power!), but can be done without even using Inspirations for me, typically.  Honoree is requires some skittle-popping, but beyond that, usually goes down okay too.  And it's not hard to pull them separately, in my experience.

 

But Rikti drones are up there on my list of "fun-killing" enemies, and having to wait for waves of them if I want to handle the EBs toe-to-toe is a pain.  Doubly so when my goal is usually to unlock my Alpha quickly.

[Hexquisite]

The same way I handle everything, as my more frequent teammates can attest to.

 

Stupidly, but somehow successfully.

[ZorkNemesis]

I did the Honoree last night on a Scrapper.  While more durable than most, I still try to approach this mission with paitence.  First, it helps if you crank the difficulty down a bit.  If you're solo, no need to go in x6 or else you'll be drowning in Rikti spawns (often while still fighting off all the Crey tanks).  Try to avoid approaching the Honoree until you've got the ambushes under control since the portals won't spawn until you're close but once they do they dump Rikti everywhere.  Pop inspirations as needed, especially purples to avoid Psi attacks and especially the Curse of Weariness.  Get the portals down ASAP and then prioritize the captain before Honoree to minimize the odds of getting that damn curse.

[SuperPlyx]

I always do this basically how Greycat describes it. Altho sometimes I click the glowie then head in. But that's all about what toon I'm on and What it can handle.

 

My surprise with this mission arc is how many don't do it at all. I can't tell you the number of people I have told and showed this mission arc to.

And there is even some who know about it but don't do it. Saying Aplha will unlock with Incarnate XP. Well yes it will, but that's XP that could be unlocking all the other slots.

I can't seem to make them understand this concept.

[MTeague]

It will vary. 

 

My Mind/Kin did the solo'd it at +2x3.  All KINDS of Mass Confusion going on to gradually clear the static spawns / kill portals. His attempt was also when I learned that it's possible, (though reallllllly tricky) to manage to split one of the EB's out from the pack and and take him down without aggroing the other.  It involves a lot of aggro-and-run, and re-aggroing some of them as they start to walk back to their original spawn point.  I also had fully loaded Shivan Shard and I wasn't afraid to use it.  I had to full clear the entire map leading up to him to give myself room enough to do that without more adds adding in. But I was able to do it. 

 

My Claws/SR scrapper just embraced her inner scrapperlock.  Static spawns I still pulled back and tore apart.  When all the static spawns were dead, I went after the one with the gun first, and then the honoree after. I died a couple times. But tricked out SR plus a tray full of purples and reds, plus having Elude as an emergency button, will get you through a LOT.  It was terribly satisfying. 

 

I have not yet done it on certain AT's. I'm sure some will be No Fun, and I'll need to lean very hard on temp powers

Edited May 9, 2021 by MTeague

[Monos King]

3 hours ago, Greycat said:

RV pet

I just came to address the misconception that the RV temp pets are anything other than affronts to purpose itself, as those scrap piles do less damage than unequipped Lich and are absolutely nothing compared to their RV zone counterparts. They are a garbage fire in both function and composition, smoldering away at the lightest flush of wind.

They suck, and I hate them.

[Hew]

You got two nasties at once. Honoree and that other jerk. Just one is tough. Two at once, pass. I try to kill em, but I tend to be Die Hard, so sometimes I need to grab an extra body to  help clear rikti to deal with the last room.

 

It isnt exactly easy solo, but HEY, INCARNATE, amirite?

[tidge]

1) I almost always use my lvl 50 respec before taking the mission.

 

2) I make sure I have the "Member of Vanguard" badge to be able to collect Vanguard merits.

 

3) I always run at x8, but I slide the difficulty depending if I have DPS or Debuffs

 

4a) I try to get the Ambushes to trigger before 100% engagement with the big bads.

4b) I try to take out the end-room portals first.

 

5) If I remember, I have SG buffs and big Inspirations.

 

Once, with a very low DPS Controller, I used a signature summons along with Shivans.

[Greycat]

28 minutes ago, Monos King said:

I just came to address the misconception that the RV temp pets are anything other than affronts to purpose itself, as those scrap piles do less damage than unequipped Lich and are absolutely nothing compared to their RV zone counterparts. They are a garbage fire in both function and composition, smoldering away at the lightest flush of wind.

They suck, and I hate them.

 

This is true. Which makes them perfect for "Shoot them not me!" :)  My attitude with the temp pets is one of "any damage they can do, hey, I'll take it, but the distraction is more valuable."

[Coyotedancer]

I've never had any trouble getting the EBs to engage me one at a time... If you don't have a ranged attack in your primary or secondary, pick up a Nemesis Staff or Blackwand from P2W. Target the one you want to take out first, fire it at the longest range you can, duck back around the corner and the one you popped ought to come after you, leaving the other in place. They aren't aggro-linked. or anything like that. 

 

If you killed the portals from a distance, you may not even have any spare Rikti to deal with.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2021 by Coyotedancer

[Luminara]

I forget the details of this mission until I reach the last room and try to pull the Honoree.

 

Then I remember.  And by that point, it's too late for strategies or plans, so I resort to AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHSTABSTABSTABPEWPEWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH.

 

Fortunately, that usually works in this game.

[lemming]

Only real prep I do is if I remember the curse breaker.

Otherwise, it's take care of ambushes before pulling Holz, dealing with him, then the Honoree.

 

I'll have to do the trip mines before getting the blinky with my beam/traps blaster.  Haven't done it yet with that one.

[Spaghetti Betty]

This mission is a good stress test for my melee toons, so I usually just jump in head first to see how I do. If I bring anything it's a tray of blues for when I eventually get hit with Curse of Weariness.

 

There was a couple of times I said F it and solo'd the 2 as AVs with a fully decked out toon. That was pretty fun.

 

One of a small handful of scenarios in the game where strategy is required depending on the strength of your character.

[siolfir]

First, I usually skip the mission. Not because it's hard but because I just don't want to do it; if I run this arc it's because I'm short-cutting getting the alpha slot, not because it's a great work that everyone should run.

 

But, if I am running the mission, I just run through to the end, skipping mobs along the way and fight both EBs at once, because the aggro cap exists and you can, even if there are a ton of Rikti attacking you while you're talking with the Honoree after he turns blue. It's not like inspirations don't exist.

[Doomguide2005]

^This.

I don't really auto complete pretty much anything but this one I've done on a few occasions mostly because I have done it often enough that it's mostly not interesting enough to want to either dial it back or use the resources needed to complete particularly on a support character when I really just want to move on.

 

 

[merrypessimist]

I murder my way there and then kill the crap out of Holtz and then the Honoree.

[nihilii]

It's worth noting they're natural AVs, only downgraded to EBs if you have the "no AVs" solo setting.

So if you're used to AVs on, or if you play on small teams, it's a significant step up.

 

But more importantly, I have a strong suspicion most players have no idea about the specifics of Vanguard Captains -maxend power. Let alone that there is a temp to counter it. Players just suffer through it.

 

Losing half of your maxend, ergo half of your recovery, and having your powers deal twice as much damage... is devastating to many builds. If you're at 3eps recovery and 2eps consumption from toggles (+1eps), going down to 1.5eps recovery turns you negative *even without activating anything* (-0.5eps).

 

A good rule of thumb for "why do people do this thing I find irrational" tends to be "if there is ever a special mechanic that differs ever slightly from what is experienced in most of the game, assume the player isn't aware of it".