Post by squirrelloid on Aug 27, 2011 5:44:27 GMT -5
So, Aftershock has some potentially interesting items which, with elite enhancement, can not only be better than your standard fare for other APs, but also come from a rather limited set of items (and thus are more predictable). Unfortunately, they're also unique, so you can only use one of each name =P
Anyway, if you want to actively farm Aftershock items, #5 is the fastest by far. As an added bonus, you get a chance at the viper collar every run.
The minimum necessary to get access to the throne room is to save or fail the last captured soldier. As such, we'll be bypassing all the other soldiers and fighting as few mobs as possible. By my guestimate, you'll spend more time watching cutscenes than playing =P
To get through this you'll need at least one travel power. Ha ha. Ok, one travel power that you can realistically use indoors (sorry swinging). I've done it with R2 flight, R2 acrobatics, superspeed, teleport (the easy way), etc... However, Some method of flying (incl. teleport) will make things easier in the last room for most group sizes.
CUTSCENE STOP POINTS (>1 player only)
Ok, lets talk about cutscenes first. I'm sure you all know this, but if you're running AS#5 with more than one person there's some important things to keep in mind.
The green circles are recommended waiting points to make sure everyone is that far. The first one comes before the second cutscene, which starts the Kings of Edom on your trail - don't want to kill someone because they weren't paying attention!
More importantly, the second green circle is before the cutscene between two active rooms. If you just run into this cutscene without stopping, other people following you are likely going to emerge from the cutscene totally surrounded and thus dead. DONT DO THAT. Stop here and wait for everyone to clear the first room ffs. (If you're running solo, by all means keep running).
THE ROOMS
In the first room, the door is almost directly opposite, i prefer running just next to the platform and then cutting up.
All the other rooms (except the last one) you're going to want to hug the right wall. If you don't you will (1) aggro more mobs than necessary (this is pretty disastrous with more than 1 player), (2) likely get confused, end up in a corner somewhere far from the next passage, and surrounded. No fun. If you keep really tight to the right wall for the 2 rooms before the last room in a one person run, you might avoid drawing any aggro whatsoever.
Hugging the right wall in the second room is important for another reason. There's a nightmare devourer on the left side, and if you aggro him he has a pull-toward move which will ruin your day. Don't tempt fate with the nightmare devourer - we're trying to do this fast remember.
Keep moving. Don't stop (once the last cutscene is past) for anything (except the last room).
THE LAST ROOM
DO stop right before you enter the last room.
Ok, we need to rescue the last soldier (because failing means waiting for the Kings of Edom to catch up to us, and losing stars, and at that point you might as well just fight your way through and get your UNTIL soldier). The ideal is to kill no more than you have to. How much you have to depends entirely on how many people you have with you.
I've conveniently labeled all the mobs with letters, and will refer to them as such.
Group A is completely avoidable. They're facing into the wall and you have to actively try to aggro them. Don't.
Group B is avoidable if you can fly. However, it requires rather precise maneuvering, but it will ideally be bypassed by almost all group sizes. You'll note i've drawn this line in green rather than red on the map, that's because we're doing something different. Activate your flight power just inside the room, fly straight up to the ceiling. Now, aim at the corner that's between you and the door and fly straight towards it while hugging the ceiling. If you come down at all you will aggro group B. Once you've passed the corner, you can descend (and will want to, group D is always on the to be killed list).
Ok, so that's how you avoid group B, lets talk about which groups you need to kill.
1 person: Groups D - C - E - F (single master villain) in that order. (C and E are swappable), which is 9 henchmen + the master villain = 10 precisely. (Since you're going to *have* to fight F, there really isn't a better way to do that). This is the green route drawn on the map following the move to D.
2 people: Groups B-D-F in that order - just fight your way straight through, hug the wall away from E so you don't aggro them. That should give one person 10+CE.
3 people: I'm reasonably sure Groups D-F is sufficient. Hug wall away from E like for 2 people while fighting D. Make sure you clear the corner before joining the engagement against D.
4-5 people: D-F definitely sufficient
Of course, if not everyone can fly you're going to have to kill B anyway. (A-B-D-E solo is enough to free the guy if you find it easier to kill villain + henchman than 3 henchmen and have to kill B anyway, but you'll probably have to kill the Knight of the Void at F anyway).
ASCEND THE TOWER
Ok, we freed the last guy, go up stairs, now the throne room door is blinking and we can go fight the supreme serpent. That wasn't so hard, was it?
Anyway, if you want to actively farm Aftershock items, #5 is the fastest by far. As an added bonus, you get a chance at the viper collar every run.
The minimum necessary to get access to the throne room is to save or fail the last captured soldier. As such, we'll be bypassing all the other soldiers and fighting as few mobs as possible. By my guestimate, you'll spend more time watching cutscenes than playing =P
To get through this you'll need at least one travel power. Ha ha. Ok, one travel power that you can realistically use indoors (sorry swinging). I've done it with R2 flight, R2 acrobatics, superspeed, teleport (the easy way), etc... However, Some method of flying (incl. teleport) will make things easier in the last room for most group sizes.
CUTSCENE STOP POINTS (>1 player only)
Ok, lets talk about cutscenes first. I'm sure you all know this, but if you're running AS#5 with more than one person there's some important things to keep in mind.
The green circles are recommended waiting points to make sure everyone is that far. The first one comes before the second cutscene, which starts the Kings of Edom on your trail - don't want to kill someone because they weren't paying attention!
More importantly, the second green circle is before the cutscene between two active rooms. If you just run into this cutscene without stopping, other people following you are likely going to emerge from the cutscene totally surrounded and thus dead. DONT DO THAT. Stop here and wait for everyone to clear the first room ffs. (If you're running solo, by all means keep running).
THE ROOMS
In the first room, the door is almost directly opposite, i prefer running just next to the platform and then cutting up.
All the other rooms (except the last one) you're going to want to hug the right wall. If you don't you will (1) aggro more mobs than necessary (this is pretty disastrous with more than 1 player), (2) likely get confused, end up in a corner somewhere far from the next passage, and surrounded. No fun. If you keep really tight to the right wall for the 2 rooms before the last room in a one person run, you might avoid drawing any aggro whatsoever.
Hugging the right wall in the second room is important for another reason. There's a nightmare devourer on the left side, and if you aggro him he has a pull-toward move which will ruin your day. Don't tempt fate with the nightmare devourer - we're trying to do this fast remember.
Keep moving. Don't stop (once the last cutscene is past) for anything (except the last room).
THE LAST ROOM
DO stop right before you enter the last room.
Ok, we need to rescue the last soldier (because failing means waiting for the Kings of Edom to catch up to us, and losing stars, and at that point you might as well just fight your way through and get your UNTIL soldier). The ideal is to kill no more than you have to. How much you have to depends entirely on how many people you have with you.
I've conveniently labeled all the mobs with letters, and will refer to them as such.
Group A is completely avoidable. They're facing into the wall and you have to actively try to aggro them. Don't.
Group B is avoidable if you can fly. However, it requires rather precise maneuvering, but it will ideally be bypassed by almost all group sizes. You'll note i've drawn this line in green rather than red on the map, that's because we're doing something different. Activate your flight power just inside the room, fly straight up to the ceiling. Now, aim at the corner that's between you and the door and fly straight towards it while hugging the ceiling. If you come down at all you will aggro group B. Once you've passed the corner, you can descend (and will want to, group D is always on the to be killed list).
Ok, so that's how you avoid group B, lets talk about which groups you need to kill.
1 person: Groups D - C - E - F (single master villain) in that order. (C and E are swappable), which is 9 henchmen + the master villain = 10 precisely. (Since you're going to *have* to fight F, there really isn't a better way to do that). This is the green route drawn on the map following the move to D.
2 people: Groups B-D-F in that order - just fight your way straight through, hug the wall away from E so you don't aggro them. That should give one person 10+CE.
3 people: I'm reasonably sure Groups D-F is sufficient. Hug wall away from E like for 2 people while fighting D. Make sure you clear the corner before joining the engagement against D.
4-5 people: D-F definitely sufficient
Of course, if not everyone can fly you're going to have to kill B anyway. (A-B-D-E solo is enough to free the guy if you find it easier to kill villain + henchman than 3 henchmen and have to kill B anyway, but you'll probably have to kill the Knight of the Void at F anyway).
ASCEND THE TOWER
Ok, we freed the last guy, go up stairs, now the throne room door is blinking and we can go fight the supreme serpent. That wasn't so hard, was it?