Archive:W/R Melandru's Resilience Totem Axe Farmer

This is a simple method to farm the Root Behemoths in The Falls to obtain the unique item, the Totem Axe.

Attributes and Skills
[build name="melandru's resilience totem axe farmer" prof=warri/range swords=12+3+1 tactic=9+1 streng=3+1 wilder=9][melandrus resilience][sprint][sever artery][gash][riposte][apply poison][healing signet][troll unguent][/build]

Equipment

 * Any armor set will do as long as it is the maximum armor level (such as found in Droknar's Forge and Kaineng Center), preferably with Radiant Insignias.
 * Any Sword/Shield combination should do, as long as you meet the requirement for the Sword (you have 16 attributes into it) and the Shield (10 into Tactics). Grognar's Defender is ideal. Also, Geoffer's Bulwark makes it a little easier to deal with the Magumma Spiders along the way, and a Fiery sword hilt give higher damage to Life Pods.

Usage

 * Ventari's Refuge
 * Start in Ventari's Refuge which is south from Quarrel Falls through Silverwood and Ettin's Back. Exit and head south towards the Reed Bog. Along the way you will encounter the conditions Bleeding and Burning. Use Troll Unguent or Melandru’s Resilience to counter this. Sprint when Melandru’s is recharging. Don’t use them together as they are both Stances and will cancel each other out. This is an easy run and won’t cause too much trouble.


 * Reed Bog
 * When you enter the Reed Bog there are two ways you can go. If you decide to go south west you will find this much easier than if you head directly south as you won’t encounter as many creatures along the way. In this area you will only get conditions such as bleeding, poison and cripple. Use your Troll Unguent or Melandru’s when needed and watch out for Moss Scarabs. You can basically sprint through this area with minimal trouble. Head south to find the portal into The Falls.


 * The Falls
 * You will meet all conditions, explained in the Enemy notes, here. When conditioned use Melandru's Resilience or Troll Unguent. When you come accross Jungle Trolls just Sprint past them making sure you have enough space to get past. The Jungle Skales drop Gold and Blue items quite often so you might want to kill them. Use your Healing Signet in an emergency or when attacking the Life Pods. Sever Artery and Gash help speed the process up. When you come accross Wind Riders just alternate between Sprint and Melandru's to get past them. If you want to attack them then kill 3 at a time and run to regen health. The Wind Riders also drop a green item named Forgotten Fan.

Enemy Notes



 * Jungle Skales
 * Jungle Skale use the skill Rotting Flesh which gives you a health degen of -4. Using Melandru's Resilience negates this and gives you +1 energy regen, so they shouldn’t cause any damage to you. Their 'wanding' is weak so defeating even large groups of them to clear the way to the Root Behemoths is very easy.


 * Jungle Trolls
 * Stay away from these creatures as they are dangerous in large groups. They use the skill Power Attack which causes a lot of damage and patrol the area in large numbers. You will be passing by these groups on the way and using sprint is the best way to avoid them. Be careful when running around them as a few of the pathways are quite narrow and getting trapped is not an option.


 * Life Pods
 * These creatures are nothing but an annoyance in this area. The only skill they have that causes damage to you is Holy Wrath. The best way to deal with these creatures is to draw them away from the Root Behemoths and try to kill them one at a time. It’s possible to kill them in groups of three, but it takes a while. Even when they are drawn away, they still tend to kite and heal themselves, and pods heal each other excessively. Life pods will always run along the side of a wall, making it very easy to bodyblock any runners. Remember that if you find yourself dying against them, it is because of Holy Wrath- stop attacking, heal, then try your attack combo again.


 * Maguuma Hunter
 * The Maguuma Hunter uses Hunter's Shot to inflict Bleeding. They also lay down flame traps to inflict Burning. Burning doesn’t last very long and the Bleeding can be negated with Melandru's Resilience.


 * Maguuma Spiders
 * The Maguuma Spider uses Pin Down and Apply Poison to slow you down on the run towards The Falls. Using Melandru's Resilience will negate this and followed up with Troll Unguent you shouldn’t have a problem with them.


 * Redwood Shepherds
 * These creatures are in the same location as the Maguuma Spiders and prevent you from using your Healing Signet with Primal Echoes and Debilitating Shot. Using Troll Unguent works well in this area.


 * Root Behemoths
 * Root Behemoths are easy enough to kill, as long as you clear out the Life Pods first.


 * Wind Riders
 * The Wind Riders are dangerous in large groups and inflict health degen of -5 with Conjure Phantasm. Melandru's Resilience will reduce this to -1 and give you +1 energy regen, but the Wind Riders interrupt your skills---most importantly, Healing Signet and Troll Unguent. With experience, you can kill up to 3 or 4 in a row, then run away to regenerate health. In smaller groups of Wind Riders, it is possible to get them to "use up" their interrupts. Simply cast skills multiple times to get the Wind Riders to use their interrupts. Then you will have a safe amount of time to activate Troll Unguent and Healing Signet.

General Tactics

 * If you've rubber-banded, immediately cast Troll Unguent.
 * Follow these steps against all enemies you wish to fight, partularly Life Pods.
 * 1. Activate Apply Poison
 * 2. Hit the enemy until Sever Artery is ready, then use it.
 * 3. Continue hitting the enemy until Gash is ready, then use it to inflict a Deep Wound.
 * When you are facing a large group of enemies, cast Apply Poison, use tab to shift through the enemies and hit each one once. This will cause enemies to degenerate health even when you are not directly fighting them, and avoids having to recast Apply Poison

Counters
While this build is generally quite effective and safe, it will have a hard time against monsters, such as the Wind Rider, which use Cry of Frustration to interrupt the healing skills.

Variants

 * A wise move to add is in the 'optional' slot is "I Will Survive!" which makes you gain Health regeneration of 3 for each condition you are suffering for 5-10 seconds. This, combined with Melandru's Resilience works very well for resisting health degeneration.
 * Swapping sprint with Storm Chaser. It uses wilderness survival, so the minor strength rune is saved and the speed boost is longer active. The higher energy cost is no problem during running sequences.
 * Predatory Season can be used before attacking a group of Wind Riders. This gives +5 health every time you hit with an attack. It also reduces your healing by 20%, but this does not affect Troll Unguent's regeneration. Your Healing Signets will be interrupted anyway. This can also be useful against the Life Pods, as it reduces their healing by 20%.
 * Adding Final Thrust for the spike helps on Life Pods - pull one at a time by barely touching your aggro circle to the behemoth and quickly backing away.
 * If you would like the stance to last longer, cast Dwarven Stability.
 * If you have EoTN, consider swapping Sever Artery for the Deldrimor skill Ear Bite to inflict bleeding as well as 50...70 piercing damage. With the Deldrimor Title at rank 10, Ear Bite provides 1 less second of bleeding (25 seconds) than Sever Artery at a Swordsmanship attribute of 16 (26 seconds). Both skills require 4 strikes of Adrenaline.

Here's the R/W Version for those that want to use a Ranger instead: [build name="melandru's resilience totem axe farmer" prof=R/W swo=11 tac=9 exp=4+1 wil=10+1][Melandru's Resilience][Storm Chaser][Sever Artery][Gash][Apply Poison]["Shields Up!"][Healing Signet][Troll Unguent][/build]