MW Mage Tower challenge question.

[Saverem]

How do you guys handle the very last wave of P1?

I only managed to pass that wave twice in my 20 or so attempts (first attempt was basically wasted, didn't know you could dispel the aoe fear guy and he feared me into the green orbs and I died).

Any-whoo, that last (and 2nd to last) wave is like a brick wall. I manage to do wave 1-4 super easy and then the last 2 go from EZ to near impossible. By the time I reach second to last wave, I'm sitting pretty at like 70-80% mana, then by end of 2nd to last wave I'm already down to like 40% and last wave, both times I beat, I managed by the skin of my teeth with literally 0-1% mana left. If you mess up one little detail, if you're .1s late on a spell, you don't paralyze the correct target at the correct time, if you get unlucky and mage hits same target 3 times or 2 times with arrow dude, then that's a wipe.

Also, can I use Drums on my party? If so I'll probably save them for last phase so we can kill that final boss ASAP and 1 shot him.

[Signals-ZJ]

You want to have as much mana and as many cooldowns available for the last wave. As you practice more and get better at handling each wave you'll figure out ways to use less stuff.

My strategy for the last wave specifically was to pop drums immediately (it not only increases your casting speed but it makes the NPCs kill the mage faster), use a mana potion if necessary, and stand in melee. When the first knife dance cast finishes and the channel begins, leg sweep both the mage and the warrior. Paralyze mana sting. When the warrior enrages (after leg sweep ends), I use fort brew and just tank the damage so I can keep casting, since at this point you have both a mage and an archer beating down on your party and you can't afford to run around. Use life cocoon on yourself if you have to. After the mage dies, keep paralyzing mana sting (so that your NPCs don't swap back and forth between the archer and mage), and just heal through knife dances by using revival and vivify spam.

Last thing, make sure you aren't casting essence font. It's not efficient against 4 targets, so just cast vivify instead and that will save mana. I also spent most of my TFTs on vivify (used focus thunder, not mana tea).

Edit: I misread what you were saying about drums. What you want to do is use drums on the last wave of stage 1, and then after the stage is over, wait for your cooldowns to come back. Don't start the last phase (where you have to heal the spirits) before the debuff expires, because you should use drums again on the 1st set of spirits (and then use no cooldowns for the 2nd set because you only want to heal 2 out of 3, then use sheilun's gift and life cocoon on the 3rd set).

[Saverem]

Edit: I misread what you were saying about drums. What you want to do is use drums on the last wave of stage 1, and then after the stage is over, wait for your cooldowns to come back. Don't start the last phase (where you have to heal the spirits) before the debuff expires, because you should use drums again on the 1st set of spirits (and then use no cooldowns for the 2nd set because you only want to heal 2 out of 3, then use sheilun's gift and life cocoon on the 3rd set).

Are you referring to the spirits while my team mates fight with each other? Wouldn't drums cause them to do more damage to each other?

[Signals-ZJ]

I never checked if it does or not, but the increase in healing you can do will more than make up for it. The NPCs by themselves don't really require that much healing, if you're unlucky the tank/hunter will pick on the rogue and you'll have to keep an EM rolling on her. Usually the vivifies you cast on the spirits will cleave onto the NPCs and contribute pretty significantly to keeping them alive, without even thinking about it.

[Saverem]

I never checked if it does or not, but the increase in healing you can do will more than make up for it. The NPCs by themselves don't really require that much healing, if you're unlucky the tank/hunter will pick on the rogue and you'll have to keep an EM rolling on her. Usually the vivifies you cast on the spirits will cleave onto the NPCs and contribute pretty significantly to keeping them alive, without even thinking about it.

Tried it, didn't work out well, was OOM before last spirit was healed and failed because couldn't heal team mates. They definitely do do more DPS to each other with Lust up. I'll just save it for final boss.

[Devonitar]

I don't think NPCs get debuff from drums. IIRC, I've used one for myself right before the first wave of ghosts and then for NPCs during the boss fight (although, I don't remember if they received that buff). Still, it may all come to the legendaries you have. Boots, belt and trinket shine on the ghost healing, while Sephuz's Secret is awesome during the first stage (and it sort of increases your damage done during the second).

Ghost waves are easier than stage one, but I find it's really annoying to target ghosts, as the camera in that place works terrible. Right before first wave use prepot, then EnM->Vivify spam ghosts. EnM->Effuse->Sheilun's Gift with whispers may be better rotation, but can't really tell, as I was doing the challenge without these traits. ReM and occasional EnM or Vivify should be enough to keep the party alive. During second wave two adds come close to each other, you can Chi Wave them and Vivify them up at the same time; 3rd ghost should be topped the normal way. During the last wave, use cocoon on the rightmost ghost, and Sheilun's Gift other. If you find any wave to be rather hard to top, it's a good idea to use Revival or Crane. Apparently, you can prepot each wave, so that's really nice.

You might want to let one add (Archer or Warrior preferably) to reach the boss. It makes RP longer and gives you more time to prepare. I "accidentally" healed them all, but it still gave me enough time to drink.

The boss fight is really easy though. Watch your debuff, damage yourself to ~50%, stay at the edge of fire, calmly top the NPCs, and even if you die don't worry. Your presence during that stage actually hurts more than helps, and NPCs should be able to finish the boss off.

[Saverem]

I don't think NPCs get debuff from drums. IIRC, I've used one for myself right before the first wave of ghosts and then for NPCs during the boss fight (although, I don't remember if they received that buff). Still, it may all come to the legendaries you have. Boots, belt and trinket shine on the ghost healing, while Sephuz's Secret is awesome during the first stage (and it sort of increases your damage done during the second).

Ghost waves are easier than stage one, but I find it's really annoying to target ghosts, as the camera in that place works terrible. Right before first wave use prepot, then EnM->Vivify spam ghosts. EnM->Effuse->Sheilun's Gift with whispers may be better rotation, but can't really tell, as I was doing the challenge without these traits. ReM and occasional EnM or Vivify should be enough to keep the party alive. During second wave two adds come close to each other, you can Chi Wave them and Vivify them up at the same time; 3rd ghost should be topped the normal way. During the last wave, use cocoon on the rightmost ghost, and Sheilun's Gift other. If you find any wave to be rather hard to top, it's a good idea to use Revival or Crane. Apparently, you can prepot each wave, so that's really nice.

You might want to let one add (Archer or Warrior preferably) to reach the boss. It makes RP longer and gives you more time to prepare. I "accidentally" healed them all, but it still gave me enough time to drink.

The boss fight is really easy though. Watch your debuff, damage yourself to ~50%, stay at the edge of fire, calmly top the NPCs, and even if you die don't worry. Your presence during that stage actually hurts more than helps, and NPCs should be able to finish the boss off.

Good tips, thanks.

I managed to get to the spirit phase only twice, but I didn't use any pot, it was mostly just to practice and get the hang of it. Next time tower is up, I'm going all out with pots and drums (they're expensive and don't have much money, so have to use them sparingly). The 2 times I made it to spirit phase, I was OOM on literally the last spirit and my party member killed each other and I lost.

I can consistently make it to the last wave of P1 now (I'd say I make it to last wave about 80% of the time or so and make it to second to last wave pretty much 100%) but that last wave is a bitch. Way too much damage going out. This is how it goes down and why I lose:

Last wave starts, I'm at around 45% mana (no mana pots).

As soon as it starts I cast bird heals, I normally have 3 charges of BoK saved and RSK, so I RSK-3XBoK-RSK again(if it's reset) the Mage and by that time the warrior is about to fan of blades, so that's when I use LS to stun both the warrior's AoE and the Mage.

Then I immediately run out (and throw a Chi Burst at them) to prepare Para for archer and get within kiting distance of warrior because when stun breaks, he's going on my ass. I have Transcendence by him to slow him 40% initially (found snare range of it to be pathetic, it's like 5-8 yards, it's crap).

Archer begins casting mana sting and I para and then warrior get's on my ass. This is when it gets hard. I have to heal grp with Mage DPS, Warrior DPS on me and Archer DPS. Sometimes I have Cocoon up, sometimes I don't. I never have Fort Brew because I use it on last wave. I Revival does shit healing, it's like putting a bandaid on a gushing wound. And then a few seconds later that Warrior starts fan of knifing again and this is when I fail 80% of the time.

Too much damage going out at this point. Mage is almost dead (or just died) but grp is hurting. Fan of knife and archer is putting out retarded grp damage (and para and LS are on CD, so can't interrupt the aoe) and this is the point where I fail most of my attempts. Someone always dies. The 3 times I made it, I was running on fumes against the archer.


I run with Prydaz and wrist. But I recently got the boots as well, so I'm thinking maybe that one is better. I like the bracers because it buffs 1 or 2 other grp mates with the 40% bonus healing, but maybe 4 target Viv may be better for last wave.

[Devonitar]

What I've done during the last wave of the 1st stage is that I stunned all three mobs right after the Warrior began his channel. Then came fixate, which I tanked using Cocoon/Brew (or Dampen Harm). If Arbalest is close enough to Paralyze, then I do that, but if not I let one of the NPCs soak it. It doesn't make healing less stressful, but when standing still it's much easier to fix everyone up. Afterwards, Mage should be dead momentarily and then it's a smooth ride. Kite fixates, paraylze Mana Stings, try to stun Blade Dance channels, etc. If you want to use drums at any stage of the challenge, do it during this wave; it'll make Mage go down much faster.

Personally, I found 1 Mage + 2 Warrior wave to be harsher, given that you barely have time to heal between endless fixates. Remember that you can use lightning to knock Warrior back (it will save ~2 seconds), so that can make your life much easier.

In one word: consumables. They really help. You might even consider using Augment Rune.

[erlster]

My best tip, is to use all consumable available to you.

p1:
Just before the last warrior dies on the second last wave (double warrior and mage) use Bloodlust, Crane, so it's up going into the phase. The "hardest" part, is the third channel from the archer, it will happen while the warrior fixates you.

p5:
Before I open the gates, i wait until Sated CD from bloodlust is at 2-3 minutes, it helps alot for the 6th phase. The ghost phase is pretty simple, the Effuse + Whispers of Shalalalalala talent is fantastic. Also, Vivify the living crap out of the ghosts, with Crane up, and keep hotting the NPCs.

p6:
Bloodlust will come up during the fight. I needed it. I also used the trinket, "Royal Dagger Haft" which saved my life on the boss.