Ashengate or Frostcrypt raids

[Vanidor]

My guild is close to being done Demiplane and we likely will only farm Deathknell for a bit, so I'm curious on people's experiences with breaking into Ashengate and Frostcrypt. I'm thinking we'll go Ashengate first, but would like feedback.

We tried Nurtha last night once with 24 to see what the zone was like and that went fairly well. Got the gnome down and rat to 50% roughly before wiping. We normally raid with 40-54 players though, it was just a non-dkp pickup after Kellak/Kangur.

Was wondering which side did various people do first and how tough they found the other side when they tried that. Thanks for all replies. Hopefully others will find the thread useful too.

[daw4888]

AG entry mobs are Pretty simple... getting all the lazy fuggers in your guild to get their faction up... is 1000000x harder...

FC entry mobs are slightly harder then AG... but FC faction is a joke to get to ally..

If you could kill any of the 3 nurtha mobs with 24 people, then you can fly threw the Verg instance... and mostlikly all of the FC stuff also... Tell newbs to start working on faction ASAP... if your a dkp guild offer a bonus to people that get faction done by X date... to make them accually get off there fat arses and do it.

[Mendler]

daw is correct. The faction point was the issue for us so we went FC first.

I would skip Dethknell all together since the gear from TSS is far better.

Questions that I would ask would be how good is your dps, healing and stats on your tanks?

More than likely your tanks are in great shape if they went the GM cultural avenue. Your dps and healing might be the only issue. We were light on healing often but our dps made up for a lot.

[Vanidor]

Lately we're strong on healing again. Likely dps is the lowest point. As for Deathknell, we're mainly doing it to say we've done it. It's maybe 1/4 of our time atm. I think our two best tanks are around 19.5k 3.4k atm. Currently we're working on Mayong (got him to 43% saturday), Deathknell #2.

Faction isn't a big worry for me. Since we only raid 3 nights a week people have lots of time to work on it and most of the faction can be farmed in mini raids fairly effectively since its solo tasks updated by group/raid kills.

Mostly concerned by a) how tough the raids are to get access, b) which is easier once you actually get in.

[daw4888]

They are both pretty much a joke.. With the exception of Lethar2... and maybe stitch depending on your class makeup.. the rest of the events are just stupid lame easy these days.

[crystilla]

Each flagging side has its own challenges. Frostcrypt has it’s long event and lag for Odeen (which also has some silly timers in the event). Ashengate has Vergalid’s mechanics and very long factioning needed (goes faster if you do it raid style though).

Frostcrypt #1 is mostly augs with 2 loot mobs thrown in but the mechanics of the events are fairly simple and easy to learn/win/repeat. But given that there are few augs in Solteris and no more raid augs after that, get what you can while you’re in TSS.

Frostcrypt #2 is similar in that there are 1 aug mob and 4 loot mobs, but other than a few mechanics, the fights are fairly easy as well. And it’s a great way to gear up for Ashengate side.

Basically Frostcrypt does NOT use the corruption dot/cure mechanic, while it is used in several events on the Ashengate side (so extra gearing makes your Ashengate fights easier).

Ashengate east/west are what you have to encounter when you beat Vergalid – and this includes somewhat heavy hp dots and good priests/curers.

Ashengate north (accessible once east/west go down) is another loot fest but does have 2 fights that have AE damage going on.

May be one reason guilds choose to go Frostcrypt side first as more access to augs and easier gearing up for the harsher Ashengate side. But overall TSS raids other than the wretched Lethar 2.0 (not affectionately called 3.0 these days) is easier to learn/repeat/farm than prior raid end zones.

Another thing to keep in mind is the overall factioning. Ashengate is much more difficult and longer to get the raid flagged for than Frostcrypt side is.

[LordAnfi]

From the point you are at now, it took us approximately one month tops to finish Demi, start and complete Deathknell, and start AG/FC progression. We started with AG, and again it took us under a month to complete AG East/West, FC 1 and take an opening shot at Lethar 3.0.

Our main tanks ran with similar hp, and maybe 100 ac tops more than yours when we start in AG. I'd strongly recommend you follow Daw's advice: offer a DKP bonus for those with faction complete by X day, and start in on the preliminary Verg etc events as prep.

[opfor]

FC = Free Cake. Really more than 1 FC mob should just hand you loot when you zone in they are that easy (Herol, Wulfnor, Friedlief, Harang), Grenwald, Beltron aren't *hard* but can give ppl a bit of trouble but really not much. Really the worst part is Odeen and Undergar.

AG, raids are much more difficult, Sothgar can be buggy, and ppl need to 1) not sue DoT weapons, and 2) Assist. Stitch as long as ppl get off named to the swarms you are golden. NAG my guild skips Lethar 2.0, for the difficulty we prefer to go hit AG West/East after North 1-4.

GL with weapons we have had crap luck, same with shields.

[Mendler]

I agree with others here that Odeen and Undegar are far harder than any thing in FC out side of the initial Overseer aug mob event. Although it wasn't that bad just a pain in the ass initially. The rest is really quite simple.

[daw4888]

If you execute Undegar is a total joke also =I.

[Vanidor]

We went this weekend and got Vergalid to 8% on the second try. The first try went down to around 40% but somehow he got pushed up 100 feet up a wall. We positioned better on the second try, but had lost a few and someone managed to train repops down to us. Should be cake next time.

[Vanidor]

Finished Vergalid on our second night there, its not so bad though the plow down to his room is annoying if you don't use the necro/mage method (we didn't). We should have faction and a second kill or third by early June.

Udengar was absolutely nothing like what I expected. Anyone else go in there expecting the giants to be actually charmed pets that follow you around? A few surprises but I'm sure we'll get it done.

[Tanise]

What exactly is needed for FC progression? Originally I was told just ally to both WG and WGL. However last night someone said everyone has to do the entire Fergarin Bardon I arc.

We had our first attempt on Udengar last night got him to 46% before the hammers owned us. I expect him to die Wednesday. Then we get to start dinking with the king.

[daw4888]

For FC you need the 3 Raids(Spider/Udengar/King) the 3 Single group tasks(Collect letter, collect another letter, kill mob in Direwind) and Ally with WGL(do the click crystal quest a few times.. or do all 3 of the raids, and the 3 single group tasks.. and you will mostlikly be ally)..

Udengar isnt to bad... The pets get charmed, and walk home, but when king goes active they will charge king. As long as you have 2+ charmed pets it will buy you enough time to kill the 2 zek guards, then rush king. Make sure NO ONE uses ae shit around the king. If somone vortex, or ae ramp ect the pet will start kicking your arse. Make sure a chanter is rdy with mem blur coz you know some retard will ae aggro it.

[Swansong]

Originally Posted by daw4888

For FC you need the 3 Raids(Spider/Udengar/King) the 3 Single group tasks(Collect letter, collect another letter, kill mob in Direwind) and Ally with WGL(do the click crystal quest a few times.. or do all 3 of the raids, and the 3 single group tasks.. and you will mostlikly be ally)..

Udengar isnt to bad... The pets get charmed, and walk home, but when king goes active they will charge king. As long as you have 2+ charmed pets it will buy you enough time to kill the 2 zek guards, then rush king. Make sure NO ONE uses ae shit around the king. If somone vortex, or ae ramp ect the pet will start kicking your arse. Make sure a chanter is rdy with mem blur coz you know some retard will ae aggro it.

We kite guards and burn king, then kill guards.