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Elite Chronicles: Rogues Guide To Elite Skull Cove
I have received many requests to detail my strategy on how I manage Elite Skull Cove solo. Don't get me wrong, this is a very challenging map, and I would like to preface it by saying I've only managed to solo this in full Legendary gear once or twice, and that was with Combo Elixir. My suggestion is that at the barest minimum, you only attempt this if you are currently wearing upgraded Mythic Helm and Armor, and the rest of your gear is all high-end Legendaries. There are three challenges on this map worth noting, one of which is unique across all of Arlor:
- Hard hitting, high DPS gunners with incredible range!
- Red Crabs which can one-hit most tanks, let alone Rogues
- Sheer volume of mobs at the boss (this is unique amongst all elite maps)
This map has the potential to drop Kraken Skewers (still a high value item) and Elite Golden Pirate Chests.
As with most other challenging maps, range, patience and resets are your only hope for survival. To dive into some of these large group of mobs is pure suicide, so, as frustratingly slow as this map will be to solo, avoid the temptation to try to Rambo this run - it won't work, I've tried.
This map starts off innocuous enough, with a medium sized group of mobs clustered just ahead. Take note of the Shark and the gunners, you don't want their attention yet until you have thinned out the herd. Wait for the right opportunity to strike by exercising some patience and allow for the mob(s) to reposition to an area where they are isolated and you won't attract aggro from the rest of the group.
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Repeat this process of waiting for optimal repositioning and pick off the lead melee mobs one-by-one.
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With the lead melee mobs cleared, we are now confronted with three gunners and a hard hitting shark with AoE attacks. From here, just fire off an arrow, drawing the attention of the entire group. In this case, my preference is to ensure that you gain aggro on all three gunners.
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Once you have their attention, start retreating back towards the start of the map. There is a point right around the teleportation area where the shark will reset, leaving you with just the gunners to manage. While retreating, I suggest you fire off a few charged Noxious Bolts to get the damage started on the gunners.
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Once the gunners have been disposed of, it is time to return your attention back to the shark. Fire off an arrow at range and retreat just a bit. You don't want to start attracting aggro from the mobs up ahead.
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Deal with the lone gunner if you were unable to get him before he reset earlier. He should be standing all alone, so this is just a straightforward attack.
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Proceeding further, you will see two gunners and two melee mobs. I don't feel particularly threatened by the two melee mob, so I suggest drawing aggro on the entire group, and focus your attacks on the gunners first, then after they have been handled, shift your attention to the two melee.
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If you are uncomfortable confronting all four at once, you can use a separation tactic which resets the melee mobs and leaves you with just the two gunners. You will have to retreat back towards the starting point to the tip of the large leaf that overhangs the start of the map.
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With the gunners separated and managed, you can comfortably go ahead and deal with the two remaining melee mobs.
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At the bridge ahead, you will want to run into the group and fire off two arrows. The reason for this is because after you initially get aggro, additional mobs will appear, so you need to hang around and gather aggro from them as well.
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Now, we will use the separation approach once again so that we only have the gunners to deal with. Make sure that you fire charged Nox behind you to get the damage started. The reset point is right about where the two palm trees reside. Once the melee mobs have reset, you have to quickly move ahead and start attacking the gunners.
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Sometimes, you cannot get all of the gunners in a single reset, so repeat this step as needed until you have eliminated all gunners.
With all the ranged mobs disposed, you will encounter a rather large group of melee mobs. In this case, rather than attempting to single out a single one and attempting to reset the rest, I prefer to use a strafing strategy, which will keep you outside of melee range while you poison the mobs with Nox. To get the strafe started, gather aggro, retreat back to an open space, and start running large circles with the mobs trailing closely behind. While running fire off charged Nox and allow the poison to do the bulk of the damage. Do not use Pierce here, as it will just get you into trouble.
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At this point, prepare yourself for a long run to the entrance of where BloodHammer resides. This is indeed a long run, and you will take substantial damage, so equip a pet like Malison, which provides additional HP and Dodge, or Abaddon, which provides speed and armor. You will have to run around the corner and keep going until you reach the mouth of BloodHammers lair. There is a palm tree which designates a critical reset point, leaving you with two melee and a gunner to dispose of before you can take a break.
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With a cleared space now available, we can continue clearing mobs. Fire off an arrow to get their attention and retreat back into the open area so you can kite the Red Crab. The Crab's AoE windup attack will one hit kill most Warriors, so be wary of him and keep your distance.
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Work your way ahead to the group of five. Draw aggro and retreat back around the corner to where the terrain just starts to jut out a bit. This serves as the reset point for the melee mob, leaving you with just the gunner.
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With the only ranged threat out of the way, you can gather the attention of the remaining four melee and retreat into an open space. Start using a strafing strategy to minimize HP pot usage.
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With that group handled, inch ahead to about the columns start, and a Red Crab will spawn. Retreat back and kite him, avoiding his windup attacks.
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Proceed ahead on the far left edge and when you are just inside of bow range, aggro the second Red Crab. Retreat back because you do not want to aggro the gunner ahead.
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Return back to BloodHammers lair and suddenly eight new mobs (five gunners and 3 melee) will appear. Aggro the entire group and begin retreating immediately!
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Retreat back to just before the coiled rope. This serves as the melee reset point. Depending on how far back you retreat, some of the gunners may retreat as well, which is desirable.
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Repeat this separation process until you kill off all gunners - at this point, they are your primary threat.
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With all the hard hitting ranged mobs controlled, return back and begin a strafing attack, avoiding the windup zone of the Red Crab.
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Now, we have an open area where BloodHammer will eventually spawn. Proceed back to the coiled rope and draw aggro from the group of three standing there. You will want to separate the two gunners from the one melee, so retreat backwards to where the second indentation in the right side of the terrain appears. This serves as the reset point for melee mobs.
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Return and draw out the one melee. Be patient and wait for him to reposition to a point where he is isolated so you don't draw aggro from the other gunner.
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Kill off the remaining gunner. Make sure you attack at range and do not use Nox to get his attention, as you could accidentally aggro the four mobs behind him. Once he has been disposed of, BloodHammer will spawn.
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Proceed ahead to BloodHammer and kite him as best you can. Don't wander too far away from him, as he tends to use his cannon arm attack if you are too far away. His cannon attack hits for significant damage and can kill you if it crits. Also, avoid being in melee range as he has a jumping double-handed fist attack which also hurts more than one would expect.
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When BloodHammer gets down to 50% health, he calls in reinforcements. And, when I say reinforcements, I mean something on the order of 25-30 mobs! As soon as you see the first wave of reinforcements appear, start retreating immediately. This is usually the point where most parties struggle and ultimately fail on this map, because you have a horrifying combination of one hit killers (Red Crab, Blood Hammer), hard hitting ranged mobs (gunners) and a handful of melee mobs.
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Retreat back into the open space you have created. You are trying to separate the ranged mobs from the melee, so this spot here, in the middle of the clearing is about where the reset point is to separate the gunners. A step or two further back will reset most of the gunners, so play the balancing game of mob control, where you reset as many mobs as you need until you are comfortable.
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You will need to repeat this process many times, because reinforcements just keep on coming. Move ahead, get a group to chase and retreat, resetting as many as you need until you can manage.
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Now that you have thinned out the crowd, the reset point starts to move forward. Any time you find a single mob (or two) all alone while the others are resetting, hit them hard. You don't get that many opportunities where you can go 1v1 or 2v1, so make the most of it.
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Keep repeating the process of draw and reset. Eventually, you will notice that the reset point moves forward to about the column here.
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Now that all of the spawning mobs are gone, you will see BloodHammer and a Red Crab. Aggro the first crab. Retreat back to the open area so BloodHammer resets. Kite the crab and dispose of him.
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There will be a second Red Crab standing next to BloodHammer. Repeat the process.
Now that you are alone with BloodHammer, attack him as you did before, trying to stay at an intermediate range. Close enough that BloodHammer won't fire off as many cannon arm attacks, but not so close that you are open to his melee attack. Be mindful that his close range windup attack not only does significant damage, but it restores his health as well; hence the reason why we try to stay at an intermediate range.
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With BloodHammer killed, pick up your loot and enjoy.
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My Thoughs: This is a very challenging map to solo. Expect solo runs to take anywhere from 22-30 minutes with about 250-300 HP pots and 250-300 Mana pots as well. I strongly urge you to not run this map solo for the loot, and to do it purely for the challenge. Even well geared players will struggle here, so it is still best to approach this map with a party.
To be honest, I struggled getting screen shots here because you can go from full health to dead in the blink of an eye. As much as I like the strategy and challenge to solo, I don't run this map all that often. The sheer difficulty of this map along with the length of time needed and the extremely low odds for good loot make this a map that I run only when I'm in the mood for a challenge.
As with all of my guides, if any of you find this walkthrough helpful, I'd love to see a screen shot. And, if you happen to get lucky, feel free to drop off a Kraken Skewer, because I've never managed to loot one. Good luck runners!
