Nightshade exp guide- Part 3

[old.Klazartthetank]

Here is part 3

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PBAOE groups – an introduction

Okay so this type of grouping will work fine till level40, but after that especially 42+ it gets really hard. And basically what you need are PBAOE groups because everyone wants to be in one of these.
What is PBAOE? PBAOE = Point Blank Area of Effect damage. Basically Mana spec enchanters and eldritchs can do an AMAZING amount of damage to multiple mobs at point blank range. They way a pb group works is this.
You find agro mobs that come in 3’s. You get a tank to pull the mobs. For this you will need three tanks. Each tank must intercept a mob and then they pull the mobs together onto one spot. The tanks should be using a TAUNT all the time. Now the PB’er can go and stand in the middle of the 3 mobs, and PBAOE them. The mobs will die really really fast, and you will get an amazing amount of exp thanks to the group bonus. What mobs to hunt? Banshee’s near Alain Bin in the Bog of cullen are ideal for a good pbaoe group level 42-45 ( but you really need your tanks to be closer to 44/45 for this) . After level level 44-50 you should try to make PBAOE groups for FINLAITHS, these can be found near CRIM, which is the best place to hunt them, ask ppl in ur guild for directions, to both places as I’m not to good at that myself.

What you need to make the group

The ideal pbaoe group is as follows –
3 tanks
2 Pb casters
1 druid
1 warden
1 mana regen.
- wait a minute that’s 8 people??!?!?!?!??! Where does the NS fit in then?

Now when it comes to fins, you will find that with a shield hero in your group having /GUARD on you will make it possible for you to tank finlaiths especially as you get closer to level 50. I was tanking fins pretty comfortably from level 47 or so. But if you have a lot of HIGH CON items you might be able to do it a bit sooner. Buffs and bubble are essential for this.

Banshees however I was never really able to tank effectively and I think most NSs will have a problem with this. But if you have a high level warden, then he can tank a banshee. Variations in a Pbaoe group……
Its very rare that you will get all the IDEAL classes that you need so here are some variations, but first the essentials,
YOU NEED atleast 1 shield hero, 1 high mana spec PB’er, 1 warden, 1 mana regen.

Variations

Variations are as follows – A high level warden can double up as a tank and in my finlaith groups I usually tried to get a warden who was 45+ and I was usually able to because I was one of the few ppl making such a group.
Ideally you want two Pbers, but if you can manage with only one, but try to make sure that they are high mana spec. If you have 1 high mana spec pb’er then you can easily get another pber who is not so high, but is still useful. But if you only have 1 pber then you what you need depends on what you have. If you have only 2 tanks u and a warden tanking, u can get a 3rd tank and let the warden heal. If you can get another warden then your group will really rock.
It all depends really on what you have. If you have weakfish tanks you need strong pbers so mobs die fast. If you don’t have a proper healer, i.e. a good druid then you need strong tanks and strong pbers. If you have two wardens this gives you a LOT more leeway. You won’t really need endurance song because the main limiting factor in this kind of group is mana for the PB casters. The tanks need END to taunt but they can rest after each fight and its not a big deal. For mana regen you can get a bard, or a mentalist. Say you have a bard, and only 1 good pber, then you can try to get a mentalist, or maybe another bard.

Chat groups – the key to PBAOE

That’s basically the make up of a PBAOE group. Now lets talk a bit about making these groups. Firstly you will need a LOT of patience to make a PBAOE groups. Sometimes it takes up to 3-4 hours to make a good pbaoe group, sometimes it took me longer than that. Basically you really have to work your ass off, but there are certain things that can help you on the way.
It helps if you are online early so that you can grab the essential peeps needed as they come online. You need to be doing /who 45 50 ever couple of minutes to check to see if someone you need just came online so u can grab them for your group before someone else does. Again once people know that you are good at this, it will be a lot easier for you to get peeps in ur group. After a while I would log on and ppl would PM me asking me if I was gonna set up a group.
The essential trick to making a good pbaoe group (there really aren’t any other kind) is CHAT GROUPS. Good bless the guy at mythic who came up with the idea of chat groups. To start a chat group just type /cg invite nameofperson and your chat group is ready. See its unrealistic to expect people to wait for 3 hours in a group while you look for people. So you make a chat group and people can basically do what they want while the group gets people. Then once you have everyone you need, you can get the group together and go hunt your mobs. A lot of people at level 45+ will go RvRing/crafting/etc until they can get into a good pbaoe group, especially if they know how good a pbaoe group is. Again start by getting a tank, tell ppl what you plan on hunting, tell them what you need, and try to be fair. Once you get a Pber (mana spec enchanter/eldritch ) or a high level warden, it will be a LOT LOT easier to get everyone else that you need. Once you have your group set up, occassionaly people will leave, hopefully they will give you some notice before they leave so you can find a replacement. I usually ask my group every hour or so that if someone is planning on leaving in the next couple of hours pls let me know asap so I can look for a replacement. It may sound crazy, but the more early warning you have the greater the chance of keeping your group alive. I’ve made Pb groups that lasted up to 15 hours plus, and it was very rare that I ended up with the same people in the group that I started out with, but then I was a psychopath J

Replacements

The general rules on looking for replacements are the same ones you need to keep in mind as you did when you made your group. You cannot replace a MAIN Pb’er with a tank or a mana regen guy. But at the same time you have to try and be fair to the people in the Queue, a good way to do this is have a separate Q, so there is a Q for Pbers, there is a Q for tanks, there is a Q for hears, there is a Q for mana regen etc. Always be honest with people about where they are in the Q and what their chances are of getting into a group and if they do get in how long it will take them.

Well that’s basically it for now, more to come I hope J

Any suggestions /comments are welcome at vmossad@hotmail.com (but no spam mail PLEASE).

By
Klazart
Level 50 NS of Hibernia, Excalibur.

 

[old.Thanatlos]

and the number one waaay to get a group as a nightshade:
1. hire a high level pocketwarden



Nice topic klaz! I'm always too lazy to arrange for groups .. don't really need to..
Most stupid thing I heard was that a ranger was arranging a group and asked ME to ask someone to join because the chance would be higher because i was a warden.
Does anybody judge a group on what class someone is that is asking? if ppl do then they are really missing out on excellent groups!

Best groups aren't the ones that give you the fastest exp, best groups are the ones that are the most fun and nightshades are always fun

Try the <tie-nightshade-to-rope-and-throw-him-in-EZ> trick to get the named glimmers out of epic zone!

 

[old.acoan]

hi than,its guinty hope your doing well m8

 

[old.Takahome]

Tie a niteshade



That´s really good one hahahaha, klazart knows wot he says, and thana, u can adopt some shades, hehe.

Wanna get in a group? Find a friend warden, when he says: "I´ll come with sb (any class here) if u wanna group him/her, otherwise I won´t come" that means this sb WILL be in ya group, coz there´s literally too few wardens at 45+ who´s free, so the most demanded class in hib can really adopt a hard lvl class, nor do I can adopt one

When I was at about 42-43 my condition of entering in a group is that they must group another pbaoer, a full spec mana chanter... And I´ve got almost 0 possibitilies about entering in that... klazart and iziz know that well... I wonder if now I can adopt sb... hehehe

 

[<Harle>]

Excellent guide there, and some parts are a worthwhile read for all players out there.
I especially liked the part about always being nice when asking for a group ( countless times you tell someone "sorry, group is full" and you get a nice reply like " yeah, it always is" or something like that, which gets really old with time), and the best part was the one about the spoilt healer-classes: just a few days ago a Bard left our xp-group because we were "too low" - Bard was same lvl as 2 of our tanks, rest was a few lvls below. Playing a warden myself i know i can just aswell get into higher groups, but i always feel really bad when being the lowest lvl in a group and i'd rather join a group closer to my own lvl.

 

[old.Thanatlos]

I've never turned down a group because they were 'too low' .. I have recommended a group to try and find a healer their own level instead of me (not because I didn't want to help them but because if I'm the highest lvl in a group the fight is going to be real tough)

I've never considered myself spoilt although there are a few occasions where I get a bit bored .. (hard to imagine as a warden I know )

Play for fun and try to make other ppls experience as fun as yours.. Damn, I sound like a mad hippy!