User:Phydeaux/Team - Savannah Heat Survivor

This build is intended for Survivor XP farming the minotaurs outside of the Ice Tooth Cave in Hard Mode. While there are certainly other builds that are capable of it, this one is intended to be able to do so with no active protection from the tank at all. Because of the fact that you stay logged into the game world for up to 10 minutes after losing a connection, having a full party with healers and support is normally critical. But gaining XP with a full party is excruciatingly slow compared to farming. This gives the best of both worlds - surety that your character will be OK even if your net dies halfway through your nuke chain, and the high speed XP gain from farming.

With a little bit of practice, this build can kill the normal spawn of 17 minotaurs outside the Ice Tooth Cave in about 2 minutes. Each minotaur grants 252XP before scrolls at level 20, and since the heroes aren't attacking they do not get a share of the XP. On average, a scroll-free run will net 4,284XP, or just under 2000XP per minute after zoning time is taken into account.

Attributes and Skills
[build prof=E/W fir=11+3+1 ear=12+3 ene=4+3 tac=5][Glyph of Elemental Power][Intensity][Meteor Shower][Bed of Coals][Savannah Heat][Earthquake][Aftershock][Balanced Stance][/build]

Equipment

 * 5 Superior runes in order to bring the tank's health down to 105 HP.
 * Any kind of max staff. A +20% Enchant Modifier will allow Intensity to last longer.

Usage

 * Setup
 * Have the Protection bonder cast Protective Bond on the tank first.
 * Have the Healing bonder and the Support bonder cast their copies of Protective Bond second.
 * Have the protection bonder cast Life Barrier and Life Bond in that order.
 * Cast the rest of the spells in any order.
 * Engagement
 * Head around the left side of the "land island" outside the entrance to the Ice Tooth Caves.
 * Flag your heroes to stay on radar, but away from the edges of the "land island" to avoid aggro.
 * Use Balanced Stance to avoid knockdowns while aggroing the minotaurs. You may not be able to get them all at once.
 * Try to cluster all the minotaurs on one side of you, since many of your spells are adjacent range.
 * Once you have the minotaurs balled up in front of you, cast from left to right.
 * If any minotaurs manage to live through the process, simply wait. They will generally die of burning before you need do anything.

Counters
While this build is essentially foolproof if set up properly, there are a few things that can cause problems:
 * Not casting the bonds correctly. Once properly bonded, you're neigh invulnerable. However, failing to bond properly will kill you very quickly.
 * Not flagging the monks to stay within radar range if using heroes. Bonds drop, tank dies.
 * Letting the monks die, either by scatter or bad placement and care for patrols.
 * Not giving the bonders enough energy. Because Protective Bond ends if the energy can't be paid, if a monk has very low (<4) energy, the bonds will drop, and the tank will die.

Variants
There are very few tank variants that will perform as the one listed. However, some minor modifications work:
 * Intensity is optional. It helps prevent scatter at the end of the nuking, but the farm is doable without.
 * Balanced Stance can be replaced with a Dervish secondary and the skill Fleeting Stability.

Protection Bonder
Protection Bonder [build prof=Mo pro=12+3+1 div=12+2][Protective Bond][Life Barrier][Life Bond][Essence Bond][Blessed Signet][Empty][Empty][Empty][/build]

Healing Bonder
Healing Bonder [build prof=Mo hea=10+3+1 pro=10 div=10+2][Protective Bond][Watchful Spirit][Mending][Essence Bond][Blessed Signet][Empty][Empty][Empty][/build]

Support Bonder
Support Bonder [build prof=Mo div=12+3+1 pro=12][Protective Bond][Balthazar's Spirit][Succor][Essence Bond][Blessed Signet][Empty][Empty][Empty][/build]