Envoy of Shadow

[Uun]

I like to get the Coldhearted/Coldblooded badge for the Demonic accolade. I had a couple of characters that needed another 50 or so Hellfrosts, so as a change of pace to street hunting, I decided to run Cadao Kestrel's Envoy of Shadows story arc. I set it to +1/x4 so it would be relatively speedy but Hellfrosts would also spawn. If you're not aware, you have to face the Envoy of Shadow 3x in the arc (I had AVs turned off).

 

First time through was on my Ice/Savage dominator. Even on a fully tricked out lvl 50 with permadom, the Envoy kicked my ass several times. Among the issues is that he's got an autohit damage aura plus his Greater Fire Sword hits for more than my hit points (even with all the accolades). Staying out of melee range is a must, which is tricky in caves or Oranbega maps, and eliminated melee attacks from my attack chain. Keeping him mezzed is difficult even with Domination due to the PTOD and Jack Frost died immediately every time I summoned him. I popped purples and oranges and eventually got it done, but I died multiple times during the first two encounters (none in the 3rd encounter, which is on an outdoor map).

 

Then I ran the arc on my Elec/Bio sentinel. It was like night and day. I crushed the Envoy easily in all 3 encounters, never using inspirations or even needing my heal, and finished the arc in about 2 hours.

[Psyonico]

I feel like I had issues with him on my Rad/StJ tank.

 

he’s a tough cookie

[MTeague]

Purple Triangles feel intensely personal on a Controller/Dominator.  I get they didn't want City of Statues, but I dislike having my characters main strength crumpled up in front of me, slam dunked into a trash can, and lit on fire. When everyone else gets to have their toolkit remain essentially unchanged vs the exact same foe.

 

Envoy of Shadows is one of those bosses I only do once per character and then Never Again, and I go prepared with 80% dodge inspiriations and a full Shivan Shard, planning on using every charge in it before the fight is over. At that point, I am not the hero. My shivan is. 

 

At some point the binary "boss is completely helpless" OR "your control failed completely", should give way to some kind of sliding scale, where a hold sticks, but for a greatly reduced duration, or a failed hold increases the recharge on the bosses attacks, or something.

 

#RantOff

 

 

[Maelwys]

I remember soloing that guy on Live on several squishies; and by far the easiest way of dealing with him was to grab a Shivan Shard. IIRC Infernal had a similar problem back in the day before all the IO power creep.

[Major_Decoy]

2 hours ago, MTeague said:

Purple Triangles feel intensely personal on a Controller/Dominator

I feel like they're worse for Dominators. I mean, at least controllers have a whole secondary that might not be superfluous.

 

I kind of like the idea of giving anything that has purple triangles specific lockouts on attacks. So like, if the Envoy of Shadows has a mag 3 hold on it, even if it's not held, it cannot use Greater Fire Sword. A Mag 6 hold will also prevent the use of the DoT aura Shadow. A mag 6 confusion keeps it from using Healing Flames. A Mag 6 stun gets rid of Fireball. Something like that. It can still move, still attack, but controls are still doing something.

[Scarlet Shocker]

I'm not sure what the big takeaway from this thread is; Dominators are shit?

 

Joking aside I love that there are still some significant challenges in the game that require thought, strategy, temps maybe and sometimes a bit of good luck... and in extremis, help from other players. I know that's a pretty unusual concept especially in an MMO but it's something that is often worth remembering. I'm a firm believer that not everything should be capable of being soloed, that's not good design or gameplay. Nor should everything be able to solo all the things.

 

One of the great and lasting strengths of this game is that often we have to rethink how we plan objectives even after two decades, and that's a very good thing. Long may it continue!

[Sarrate]

8 hours ago, Uun said:

First time through was on my Ice/Savage dominator. Even on a fully tricked out lvl 50 with permadom, the Envoy kicked my ass several times. Among the issues is that he's got an autohit damage aura plus his Greater Fire Sword hits for more than my hit points (even with all the accolades). Staying out of melee range is a must, which is tricky in caves or Oranbega maps, and eliminated melee attacks from my attack chain. Keeping him mezzed is difficult even with Domination due to the PTOD and Jack Frost died immediately every time I summoned him. I popped purples and oranges and eventually got it done, but I died multiple times during the first two encounters (none in the 3rd encounter, which is on an outdoor map).

 

Unless things have changed (possible), PTOD don't offer any Immobilize or Sleep protection, so you should be able to keep AVs / EBs immobilized, and thus away from you, pretty easily. (Some AVs / EBs could have additional status protection, like Unyielding, but still not up to the same amount at PTOD.)

[Psyonico]

34 minutes ago, Sarrate said:

PTOD don't offer any Immobilize or Sleep protection, so you should be able to keep AVs / EBs immobilized, and thus away from you, pretty easily.

Leaving mind and arsenal control out in the cold.

[Scarlet Shocker]

8 minutes ago, Psyonico said:

Leaving mind and arsenal control out in the cold.

 

Are you suggesting that every power set should be "all things to all men"? Should everything be able to solo every content?

 

Then what's the point of it being an MMO? You might as well turn it into a solo game and have done.

 

Ultimately, teaming is what makes us great. Sure, set yourself challenges. Set unrealistic challenges. But don't come home bleating because you couldn't beat all the things with a thing that wasn't designed for that

[MTeague]

1 hour ago, Psyonico said:

Leaving mind and arsenal control out in the cold.

Actually Mind does have two sleeps. single target and AE. Historically some people have skipped them, but they can be very useful.

I suspect with the upcoming Deep Sleep changes, they'll be more popular, though I don't expect Deep Sleep to have any greater effect when triangles are in play.

[Uun]

1 hour ago, Sarrate said:

Unless things have changed (possible), PTOD don't offer any Immobilize or Sleep protection, so you should be able to keep AVs / EBs immobilized, and thus away from you, pretty easily. (Some AVs / EBs could have additional status protection, like Unyielding, but still not up to the same amount at PTOD.)

I only have the AoE immobilize, but don't remember if I was using it.

[Psyonico]

3 minutes ago, MTeague said:

Actually Mind does have two sleeps. single target and AE. Historically some people have skipped them, but they can be very useful.

I suspect with the upcoming Deep Sleep changes, they'll be more popular, though I don't expect Deep Sleep to have any greater effect when triangles are in play.

Sleep is great, except for the past 21 years where you couldn’t do anything to the sleeping target, so it’s not an effective tool against EBs unless you use it with the intention of hitting rest right away.

[MTeague]

well, you can do attack-attack-attack, then finish with sleep, and get distance while your attack chain recharges.

Of course, if you're using a Shivan, or a Snow Beast, or any other kind of summon, your sleep will be insta-broken. But it could give you time to summon a replacement tank.

 

Teaming probably IS the best answer to bosses like Envoy.

 

I just occasionally get bitter because well, debuffers still get to debuff during triangles, the boss doesn't ignore anyone's defenses or resistance during triangles, blasters don't deal any reduced damage during triangles, it's only my meat and potatoes controls that get told to sit and spin. I do hear what @Scarlet Shocker is saying, and they're probably right. My frustration with triangles may not be an entirely rational reaction, but, I am not always rational. 

[Psyonico]

2 hours ago, MTeague said:

I just occasionally get bitter because well, debuffers still get to debuff during triangles, the boss doesn't ignore anyone's defenses or resistance during triangles, blasters don't deal any reduced damage during triangles, it's only my meat and potatoes controls that get told to sit and spin. I do hear what @Scarlet Shocker is saying, and they're probably right. My frustration with triangles may not be an entirely rational reaction, but, I am not always rational. 

oh, I’m right there with you, especially since there are only 2 control sets that dinged with “well, I guess I’m not using my passive”

[Jacke]

16 hours ago, Uun said:

I like to get the Coldhearted/Coldblooded badge for the Demonic accolade. I had a couple of characters that needed another 50 or so Hellfrosts, so as a change of pace to street hunting, I decided to run Cadao Kestrel's Envoy of Shadows story arc. I set it to +1/x4 so it would be relatively speedy but Hellfrosts would also spawn. If you're not aware, you have to face the Envoy of Shadow 3x in the arc (I had AVs turned off).

 

Hmmm, now I'm curious.  I should try this on my main AR/Devices Blaster (he'd have his secret weapon, a Resist-All 90% Gun Drone to tank).  And my Ice/Cold Controller--but I think I'd need to fiddle the build, as I took Frostworks at L49 in the current one.  Ice Shield and Glacial Shield may not be enough.

 

I assume you need +1x4 to get Hellfrosts in sufficient numbers.  So, there's a few other things to get help outside of Teaming with other Players:

• Use the City Player's Secret Weapon: 2nd Account Toons.
  • On my 2nd account, I've got an Anchor Toon (DM/Inv Scrapper), a single-build universal Farmer (Spines/Fiery Aura Brute), and a Kinetics Toon (Kin/Electric Defender) for future things like getting the Ski Slope Badges.
  • A 2nd Account makes so many things easier:
    • Hold Loot from all the Toons, like Recipes, etc.
    • Main Account Toon isn't in the Jacke SG and needs gear from my Base or dropping off.
    • Anything to do with the Auction House and controlling both sides of the transactions, like AH Attuning.
  • I've often brought out the Brute with both Auras running and autofiring Burn.
• At least get some extra toys:
  • Shivan from Bloody Bay
  • From S.T.A.R.T. vendors:
    https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/S.T.A.R.T.
    • Envenomed Dagger (-Regen -Def)
    • Backup Radio (PPD Hardsuit (Ranged/Melee offensive mix, but at -1 Player Level) for 2 minutes, maybe use after an Ultimate Inspiration, below)
    • Signature Summons (pricey)
    • Amplifiers (pricey)
    • Kinetic Damper (+SLE Defense)
    • St. Louis Slammer (good KB)
    • Ethereal Shift
    • Med Pack
    • Recovery Serum
    • AoE Powers if there's problems with too many targets (there's a Praetorian Imperial City mission that these are a life-saver for)
      • Hand Grenade
      • Stun Grenade
      • Plasmatic Taser
      • Smoke Flash (-Acc)
  • From Luna:
    https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Luna
    • Super Inspirations for Incarnate Threads (can also buy off of the AH)
    • Especially 3 Ultimate Inspiration, each 30 Threads, for +1 Level, once for each run-in with the Envoy

Anyhoo, hope this helps.

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 07:55 AM by Jacke

[MTeague]

If you've done the Striga Arcs, Ring of Peebles might help you stack enough Resistance to soak a hit, too.

It can be a "too cool to use" temp power, but for Envoy, I have no problem activating the Precious.