Rogues staying alive in Planar 3

[Zestee]

I'm new to Planar 3, and hoping for tips to save on ankhs. For example, is there a prime spot to stand when the boss is down the bottom? I've learned that you've gotta sic Kelvin onto him as soon as the red appears to stop the rock throwing, but that's all I've got so far. Anyone have any other tips?

I ran with a rogue yesterday who said you fight him on the platform until the vines appear, then take him lower. She said only one person needs to use Kelvin, others should use damage pets. Do you agree?

With a bad party I might die a dozen or more times, gotta find a way to spend less on ankhs

[Tatman]

There are some useful guides in the forum and also some other threads, where there are tips and strategies for fighting the boss.

Anyway, since you are asking about survivability, here are some tips:

1. Do not run around the boss like a headless chicken. The more you move, the more boss moves too. Take position and stand ground.

2. If you are in a tankless party, rogues/mages take positions in opposite corners (i.e. box the boss) and just shoot from there. Do not stay too close to each other. Do not panic and run away when he heads towards you - you may take a step back, but that's it. If you abandon the fight for a couple seconds, you might save yourself, but someone else will most likely die.

3. If rocks start falling, do not run towards other party members. You will get overlapping rocks and both you and your partymate will die.

4. Use Blinky and don't use his AA randomly. I have saved myself and others (especially tanks) countless times by using Blinky's AA at the right moment.

5. Use veil. On yourself, on tank+boss, on mage at vines, whatever. Veil alone has saved me from one hits.

6. If boss is chasing you around the map, there is something wrong with what the others in the party are doing. Pro tip: do not run with that party again.

Good luck

[Jazzi]

^^ Pretty much what Tatman said

[GoodSyntax]

Whomever gave you the idea to draw the boss down gave you good advice. This gives you more room to work and you will be less likely to get pinned and die.

Tatman is correct, do not keep running around, have the rogues fan out around him, attacking from different directions. A horseshoe pattern, with the open end facing the top is the best alignment. This generates aggro from several locations at once, and is often enough to confuse him, while at the same time, staying far enough away from the spawning vines to avoid accidental aggro. If you see yourself grabbing too much aggro, stop attacking for a couple of seconds to allow the boss to find a new target. The point is to try to keep him in the center of the lower area of the room.

If the boss pins you near a wall, charge Pierce and pierce through. It is important to reposition so your party maintains a fanned out attack. Try to maintain a spread attack pattern so aggro is constantly shifting from player to player. When he gets too close to a wall, someone inevitably gets pinned and dies.

Now, all of this hinges on having someone (preferably a Sorc or a high DMG rogue) taking control of the vines that spawn in the top part of the room. Every now and then, a vine will slip down, and when that happens it is important to take it out quickly, since it often steals targeting and changes how you are spreading around aggro on the boss.

What I like to do is use Kelvin and stun the boss when he does his AoE attack that can create the boulders. Then, while he is doing his stomps, spam Aimed, Nox, Pierce and lay traps at his feet. This wave attack of his won't one-hit and if you are quick, you will be able to pot through the damage while getting two full attack combos out. The benefit to this strategy is that you can burst A LOT of damage in the 6 seconds he is doing this attack (especially if someone has Gyrm/Ribbit/Maridos). As soon as you are finished with your second round of combo attacks, get out and return to your original kiting position.

If you have a tank in party, you have two options:

The first, and most reliable option is to adjust your attack pattern from a horseshoe to an obtuse triangular pattern, with the tank at the top point of the triangle, and two other rogues/sorcs fanning out left and right.

Second, and this only applies if you have a really, really good tank that can control aggro nearly 100% of the time, is to fight the boss straight up. Basically, you just spam your attack combo (aimed, nox, pierce) and reposition just enough so that your attacks are coming from behind the boss. Don't leave the boss' side (ie, don't retreat into kiting range), just whenever you see him turn towards you make sure you are on the opposite side of the tank...that way when the tank uses a taunting skill, the boss turns back around. The real danger comes from his no-warning one hit punch. If Kelvin misses during the boss windup, you might still be able to get out of the way of the boulders (whether by running, or by a charged pierce), but as I said, it is dangerous. This method can make for much faster boss kills, but really is for the well geared, pro-crowd. With this strategy (and a few DMG & DMG Reduction elixirs), I used to run T3 with a tank in 6-7 minutes with only an ankh or two being used.

Ultimately, tank or no tank, pro party or noobs, it all comes down to teamwork. If your party does not reposition correctly and/or does not execute their role correctly, does not stun at the right time, any run will be an ankh wasting struggle.

[Terminhater]

It all depends on what toons are in your party. First and foremost do not use more than one kelvin and only use kelvin if tank present. Rogues using kelvin only reduces the damage you do, the less damage the longer it will take to kill the boss, the longer it takes the more deaths you accrue.

You do not need kelvin if you have a pt with rogues or mages. When redzone flashes run clear and then keep well away from the pink/purple flashes, you do that and rocks will never fall.

Leaving a tank and rogue to fight boss is a dumb idea. You need to kill boss! Too many people worry about vines. As I said non-tank pt stay away from the flashes. In a Tank-pt fight the boss near entrance so vines have a travel distance, which you can then easily control and keep away from kelvin, if they manage to aggro kelvin, then all of you take them out and then carry on attacking the boss.

Follow the above guidelines and you'll find your experience in T3 happier and easy on the ankh.

[GoodSyntax]

It all depends on what toons are in your party. First and foremost do not use more than one kelvin and only use kelvin if tank present. Rogues using kelvin only reduces the damage you do, the less damage the longer it will take to kill the boss, the longer it takes the more deaths you accrue.

You do not need kelvin if you have a pt with rogues or mages. When redzone flashes run clear and then keep well away from the pink/purple flashes, you do that and rocks will never fall.

Leaving a tank and rogue to fight boss is a dumb idea. You need to kill boss! Too many people worry about vines. As I said non-tank pt stay away from the flashes. In a Tank-pt fight the boss near entrance so vines have a travel distance, which you can then easily control and keep away from kelvin, if they manage to aggro kelvin, then all of you take them out and then carry on attacking the boss.

Follow the above guidelines and you'll find your experience in T3 happier and easy on the ankh.

I actually did like to have 2 Kelvins. The reason being that one Kelvin would stun during windup (to prevent boulders) and everyone can spam skills. Then, just as the boss comes out of his big attack, a second Kelvin stuns again. This means that you can get in 3 combo attacks without fear of one-hit deaths.

Everyone has their own strategies, so whatever works best for you.

[merch_master]

To any tank reading this,; do not , i repeat do not distance yourself too much from taurus ( even during axe throw)
Especially during the pink flashes, ive known lot of tanks to move far.
From my personal experience, when all members are further away from taurus, the chance of his rush one hit is great and usually hits just after pink zone flashes end
Another tip is to use charged jugger/vb just after flash, if your original hp/armour is atleast in 6.6k/2.2k ; you dont get one hit
Also when using windmill to taunt, dont charge. Uncharged windmill taunts well enough and skill reappearance isnt stopped for long as is usual case with a charged windmill
Additionalu another trick i use is, run circles around the boss ( extremely small circles, like almost at his feet) while using wind and using axe in middle of wind recharge;
there is a huge chance that the boss swing misses..using this i have run the entire length between two kelvin stuns without being hit even once and still holding aggto

[Zestee]

This is all really good stuff, thanks so much for taking the time to write it all out

[Edward Coug]

I'm new to Planar 3, and hoping for tips to save on ankhs. For example, is there a prime spot to stand when the boss is down the bottom? I've learned that you've gotta sic Kelvin onto him as soon as the red appears to stop the rock throwing, but that's all I've got so far. Anyone have any other tips?

I ran with a rogue yesterday who said you fight him on the platform until the vines appear, then take him lower. She said only one person needs to use Kelvin, others should use damage pets. Do you agree?

With a bad party I might die a dozen or more times, gotta find a way to spend less on ankhs

LOL. This might have been me. My gamertag is a girl's name. The main reason I tell other rogues to put their Kelvin away is because they might not know what they're doing and block my stuns. Having multiple Kelvins out via Kalizza's method is great, too, as long as it doesn't result in random stunning.

Here's a tip on how to time your stuns to block Taurus's boulder drop. Kelvin's cooldown is 2 seconds faster than Taurus's. Once Kelvin's cooldown is back up, get ready to stun again.