Solo Elite Caves of Tarewa....Initial Thoughts

[GoodSyntax]

OK, so like a dope, I copied the screenie to the clipboard and left the map. When I went to paste the image into the editor, I discovered that instead of Print Screen, I hit Scroll Lock.

So, without the screenie, you'll just have to take my word that the run took about 34 minutes to solo.

Basically, my thought is that this is a near-impossible map to solo. I was shocked at how difficult it was right off the bat. Immediately, you are faced with 3 snakes, shielded shaman and an annoying whelp that wants to join the parade. If you even dream of soloing this thing prepare for some deaths, because that's what it will take. I found the best strategy here is to plow straight ahead and into the corner where the spiders are, then allow yourself to die (make sure the snakes and shaman are following). While the mobs are resetting, you can do a free respawn and get a few seconds where you can attack the totem without fending off attacks.

With the shield down, all I can suggest is to run in circles, cycling between Aimed and Nox, potting viciously while moving (get used to this, you will be doing it a lot!). As you progress, it is really, really important to pick off one or two mobs at a time. Anytime you aggro a group, you must reset them - the limited space and hard hitting mobs are simply too much to overcome.

Continue working your way around, separating mobs as best you can. With the variation of mob types in this map, all you can really separate are the snakes from the spiders/whelps. Even so, handling just snakes without being pummeled by an army of melee mobs will ease the pressure just a little bit.

Keep working your way towards the boss chamber, being really, really careful with aggro and range.

Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed to learn that a strategy which I discovered in parties does not work when solo, but I'll give you the basics of it anyway, since I do feel it will help a lot in party.

Corner and Park Strategy:
This strategy only works with a party, and it requires a sacrifice. While it may mean one death for someone, ultimately, it will save many deaths. The last two corridors before you get into the boss chamber are packed full of mobs and shielded shamans. The strategy here is that a hero, Tank preferably, but anyone that can pot quickly and take a lot of hits will suffice, will pull everything in the corridor and run them back into the far corner. It is important to get as many mobs to cluster into this corner as you can. As long as a party member is alive, when you die, these mobs will not reset! Effectively, you can park 20-30 mobs into the corner, so the rest of your party can continue with a clean run to the next corridor. See screenie for example (and note all the mobs being parked into the corner in the mini-map).

Clear everything up to the last two corridors, and use this strategy, it actually makes the run with a party somewhat pedestrian.




When doing the second Corner and Park, go all the way into the boss chamber and, if the boss has already spawned, pull in all of the little spiders that appear. If the boss is already there, these additional spiders are a distraction, so park them.

For me, however, Corner and Park did not apply. So, I rushed in, aggroing everything, which forces all the spiders to spawn, then reset them all. This leaves all the spawned spiders positioned so I can pick them off one, by one. The last two, hiding behind the boss, were a bit of an annoyance. I was able to hug the wall and go into the space on the right of the boss without aggro, and from there I was able to snipe one of the two remaining mini-spiders. The final one, I just dealt with while fending off the boss.

The boss himself is relatively easy. I hugged the walls, avoiding his cocoon attack. The reason why I used the walls is so when his poison pools are shot, they clustered into the corners, so I had a clear space to work with. Fortunately, the poison pools don't hit that hard and do clear eventually, but they debuff your attacks, so try to avoid them if you can.

An interesting note, by the way, at the starting point, the spiders in the room straight ahead hit like elite spiders, but have the armor and HP of regular spiders. For this reason alone, I suggest you take the opportunity to clear them out. It will save you about 5-6 kills needed to spawn the boss.

I wish I wasn't such a dunce, and had the screenie, because I don't think I will solo this again for a while.