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Elite Chronicles: Rogues Guide to Elite Forest
Currently, the Elite Runners guild is in the middle of a competition for fastest Elite Forest runs, with awards given for best times by each class (eg. Warrior, Sorcerer, Rogue).
In light of this competition, I would like to share my experience on how to attain the best times in Elite Forest. Using the build and techniques described below, I can consistently solo Elite Forest in under 3:30, which, considering Kettle Eggs drop here, can really help improve profitability while on Reroll elixirs.
To start with, let me describe my build – I am a lv31 full DEX Bow Rogue specd for maximum DMG. I don’t own any mythics, and my gear and pet selection are, for the most part, very attainable for even the most casual player.
Skills:
- Shadow Piercer
- Noxious Bolt
- Aimed Shot
- Combat Medic
Obviously, Combat Medic is a useless skill for PvE and in a pure elite running build, should be replaced by either Shadow Veil or Razor Shield; however, I do enjoy PvP a lot, so for me, this skill stays. Noxious Bolt, an often spurned skill, is critical to generating elite times, the reasons of which, I will describe later on. The same goes for Shadow Piercer – it is one of those skills that many players see little value in, but with the right technique, it contributes substantial damage, and can shave many seconds off your timed run.
Gear:
- Weapon – Lv31 Bonechill/Devourer Bow of Potency
- Helm – Lv31 Noble Mask of Will (DEX/INT version)
- Armor – Lv31 Noble Double of Will (DEX/INT version)
- Ring – Lv30 Cobalt Band of Warfare (DEX version with 3.1 DMG)
- Amulet – Lv31 Swirling Amulet of Potency
The most expensive piece of gear in this build is probably the Noble Mask of Will. This can be easily substituted by a Bonechill or Champion helm for the price conscious, but the rest of the gear should be attainable for mainstream players. Note that this gear selection sacrifices survivability for damage, which, in the case of timed runs, an acceptable trade-off.
Pet Selection:
Loki
Not only is Loki affordable, but over the course of hundreds of Elite Forest timed runs, and substantial calculations, I have determined that the combination of Loki’s +15% DMG Bonus, plus his +20 DEX (with equals +10.5 DMG) consistently yields the best times. I have pitted this overlooked pet against the likes of Malison, Wrathjaw, Kettle, Ribbit and many others, yet this underdog continues to come out on top for this particular map – your mileage, however, may vary.
Tactical Effectiveness
Pro Tip:
This elite map, as with all others are timed. The timer does not begin until a mob has been aggroed or attacked. Take advantage of this fact my launching 2 or 3 aimed shots prior to first contact so you can start your Crit stacking early, which will shave off a second or two. The key to effective elite running for Rogues is to keep your Crit levels high, which maximizes your total damage output.
Initiate contact with the first mob, leading with a charged Aimed Shot, followed by an uncharged Noxious Bolt and finishing with a Shadow Piercer attack. Avoid drawing aggro from the set of three archers to the left. After the initial volley, all skills should be released uncharged, and should be triggered as soon as the skills cooldown. This skill rotation is critical because if followed in order, Aimed Shot cools down as soon as the half-second Global Cool Down (GCD) of Shadow Piercer is complete. Shadow Piercer, unlike Nox or Aimed, has a longer GCD, so you will want this at the back-end of your skill rotation.
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As soon as you have dispensed with the first mob, launch a charged Noxious Bolt. The reasoning for this is to maximize the damage over time from the poison. The more work the poison does, the less you mana you will need to burn in the form of skills. If possible, it would be beneficial if you can avoid aggro from the spear-holding mob beyond the archers. This isn’t always possible because archers are ranged enemies, so they tend to back into the spear holding mob, which draws aggro.
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After dealing with the archers and spear-holding mob, move to the next group hiding behind the tree. Focus your attack only on the archer, leave the accompanying tank alone, because the archer has lower HP and lower armor, which means faster kills.
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After you skip the tank accompanying the archer by the tree, move on to the next spear-holding mob. Try to avoid aggro on the group of two archers just behind him – again, not always possible, but does help reduce HP pot consumption.
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Next, you will encounter a team of three spear-holding tanks with an archer further behind. Attempt to launch a charged Aimed Shot at the very edge of your kiting range, followed by a charged Noxious Bolt and pull the trio away from the archer. Having a mixture of ranged and melee mobs all attacking you at the same time can lead to trouble, so deal with them separately. If you do manage to aggro the archer, always deal with the ranged mobs first – they deal more DMG and are far enough away that they are outside of your AoE range of Noxious Bolt.
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Pro Tip:
In between pulls, always charge your next skill to maximize initial strike damage. If done properly, you can attack with a charged Aimed Shot AND a charged Noxious Bolt before you get into melee range, where you start your uncharged three skill combo.
After you have dealt with the tanks, charge Aimed Shot and lead with an aggressive attack to dispense of this single mob quickly.
Pro Tip:
Throughout the map, you can take advantage of Noxious Bolt poison to deal the killing blow. When a mob gets below 5% health, focus your attacks on the next mob, allowing poison to do the killing. Not only does this improve your time and effectiveness in the map, but also helps to reduce mana consumption. In cases, such as with this lone archer, disengage when his HP is low and start towards the next pull. While disengaging, you can fire Aimed and Nox behind you to deal the killing blow, while at the same time positioning yourself for the next mob pull.
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Now, we approach the two archers on the bridge. Again, lead with charged Aimed and charged Nox to start the DoT process. Once you have dispensed with these two, skip all the way to the boss (leaving the tank at the bridge alone as well).
Pro Tip:
Don’t always spam Loki’s Arcane ability as soon as it cools down. Use his arcane just prior to mob engagement to maximize the effectiveness of your leading charged skills. Remember, the +20 DEX from the Arcane lasts for 8 seconds, but the ability cools down in 12 seconds, leaving you unbuffed for 4 seconds. Don’t squander your buff time running to or repositioning around mobs, you want to be maxed out while attacking.
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This is the part of the map where you are skipping a large number of mobs. The key to success here is to time your Shadow Piercer dash, so that you cover ground very quickly. Knowing the range of Piercer is critical to performing this correctly. If your range is wrong, you will end up dashing backwards into an awaiting mob pull, so this will take some practice. If done well, you can shave several seconds off your time during this stretch.
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Finally, the boss area! I bypass the first two tanks, and try to take out the two archers as quickly as I can. Here is where you will need to start spamming HP pots. Because of the mixture of ranged and melee mobs, along with a bunch of barrels nearby means that you have to position your Rogue carefully, or else, your skills will hit the wrong target (namely, those wretched barrels). After dealing with the archers, take out the two remaining tanks as fast as possible and then Elite Stabb will spawn.
From here it is a race against the clock. Spam your skills in the same triple combo as soon as they come off of cooldown. Trigger Loki’s arcane ability prior to launching your next combo (which starts with aimed shot), to maximize the damage output – there is no sense triggering his arcane just as you enter a cool down, so use those 8 seconds of buffed damage effectively.
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So, that’s all there is to this map – now go run it like a boss and give me all your Kettle Eggs :-)
