Asura.Snapster said: »
I've done every T4 HELM using Rangers/Corsairs except for Erinys. Trueflight, Leaden Salute, and Wildfire perform much better than Coronach or Last Stand. You need to understand elemental affinity and plan your Ranger/Corsair composition accordingly depending on which HELM it is. There are a few general things to say before going into each mob specifically.
The first thing I have to say is that Rune Fencer is essential for almost all of these fights because of Rayke. If you can't raise the mob's affinity to at least 60% for the weaponskill you're using then it's not viable. You will get half resisted, at best, but will often get 1/4 or 1/8 resists. You will most likely die before you're able to zerg the mob. Rayke can move the mob's affinity up 3 tiers, which means the minimum affinity for a viable magic WS zerg is 30%. The affinity will move from 30% to 60%.
Rayke doesn't last a terribly long time so you'll want to have your RUN stock up on a Super Revitalizer for each fight so that you can apply two of them. You can find the affinities for these mobs on bg-wiki unless otherwise noted.
These are zerg fights that go very fast. You can use temp items to prebuff for each fight although it's not necessary. Oracle's Drink adds 50 Magic Attack Bonus. Assassin's Drink adds some unknown amount of Magic Accuracy. There's another one that adds to all of your attributes although I forgot the name of it.
For support, you'll usually want a Bard for your ranged party. This is because they're great at capping ranged accuracy while also providing threnodies. 2x Prelude + 2x AGI Etudes should be good for any mob. If you're doing 5 songs I would say use Scherzo or a Carol to reduce the odds of dying to any rogue ***. You will need Idris Bolster Malaise to zerg most of these. We generally used two GEOs (Malaise/AGI/Focus/Acumen) although it's sometimes possible to just use one. You will sometimes want Fade and/or Wilt.
You will want at least one Corsair, or sometimes all Corsairs depending on what weaponskill you're doing. Samurai Roll and Wizard's Roll are the best rolls. You can add in Tactician's Roll and Warlock's Roll if you have another set of rolls.
We don't bring a scholar and generally only use storms I and have the GEO come /SCH, although if you want to you can use storms II if you feel it's worth the alliance slot.
You can also use Impact for most of these fights. Elemental Seal + Impact will add a significant amount of damage to any weaponskill you use.
Your ranged DPS will want to bring a Super Revitalizer too as it's nice to keep Double Shot or Triple Shot up for the entire fight.
Kirin/Kouryu
There are different affinities for each form (not listed on bg-wiki)
Kirin
Kouryu
Leaden Salute is not viable on either form. You can use Wildfire or Trueflight. I recommend Trueflight.
This fight is one of the more complicated fights because there is a transition in the middle from Kirin -> Kouryu. You will need to use Rayke on Kirin and Kouryu to deal good damage, so your Rune Fencer will need to use a Super Revitalizer after using Rayke on Kirin. You probably want to replace AGI with Wilt for this fight as Spike Flail can one shot you.
Typical rules for positioning Kouryu apply to this fight. You need to huddle so you don't drag it around due to hate loss from roar. Your GEOs need to cure your tank after they get hate on Kouryu so that their bubbles are applied, and everyone needs to use a Steadfast Tonic so you don't get hit with Terror. Don't rush things during the transition as you'll end up causing a TP move before you're ready and probably wiping.
Warder of Courage
Trueflight is not viable here. You can use Wildfire or Leaden Salute. I recommend Leaden Salute.
This fight is fairly straightforward. Just stand at a distance and shoot it until it's dead. Something stupid like Soul Voice might kill you, but that's the nature of this fight. The fight takes a bit longer than Kouryu because of the DT mechanic.
Zerde
This is the easiest fight because Zerde takes increased magic damage. You can use Trueflight, Leaden Salute, or Wildfire here although you will need to use Rayke to get Leaden to deal full damage. Make sure you stun the opening Just Desserts and the second Just Desserts. Otherwise it's a fairly straightforward. We've killed this after failing the second stun because it melts so fast.
Vinipata
Trueflight and Wildfire can be used for this fight. Your BRD will need to sleep the adds and this fight will last longer than Zerde or Kouryu. You want to force it into Yaksha stance. Others have recommend Impact for this although I find that because it's dark based that it doesn't last long enough for this to occur reliably.
You want to take advantage of terrain to avoid getting hit by its autos and AoEs. If all goes well this fight should be over in a few minutes.
Teles
Leaden Salute or Wildfire work for this fight although I highly recommend Leaden Salute. This fight is also kind of annoying because there is a large component of luck involved. Your tank will constantly lose hate and Teles might wander around, so you should consider huddling. If you get hit with an Invincible you can try temp items to power through it or you might just die. It might be better to use Coronach here for these reasons and take it slower although I've never tried this.
Schah
I don't know the affinities for this exactly although Wildfire or Trueflight work for this fight. You won't be able to zerg it as fast as summoners so you will need to kill the adds. They die very quickly to Wildfire/Trueflight though. We don't even use terrain anymore because of this. You can use Rayke on the stronger ones and on Schah. You can usually do a BoG + EA Malaise up for the entire adds phase as long as your GEO has a good Luopan set. After the adds are dead, you can kill Schah. We do kill the Matri because it simplifies things although it's not necessary.
Onychophora
I have not tried this with elemental weaponskills yet because the mechanics make it difficult to zerg, although I imagine it's possible if you bring a SMN and using Mewing Lullaby. You can't use Wildfire here because it will skillchain with itself although Trueflight and Leaden Salute will both work with Rayke. I think you would want to start mewing at 50% to make sure you have enough time to zerg it down although I won't say too much as I haven't done it this way.
If you don't zerg it, you just need to time your weaponskill usage with the windows where it can take damage. Be careful not to skillchain. You can also opt to use Last Stand (no Fomalhaut) if you don't want to use magic weaponskills.
Albumen
This fight is the most difficult fight because it has a lot of HP and a lot of things can go wrong. You can use Wildfire, Leaden Salute, or Trueflight although I recommend Leaden Salute because Corsair gear is better than Ranger gear and this is usually a tight fight. You can do the zombie method if you want although it is not necessary. We have killed it in under 4 minutes with an entire alliance and only 3 Corsairs. You will want to bring 2 Rune Fencers for 4x Rayke and for another tank if Petalback Spin goes off (which will hate reset you.) You can stun this move if you use auto stun addons. Otherwise you need to do all of the same things for any other Albumen fight. Your BRD will need to sleep the adds as they come although being able to stand at a distance and not get hit with status effects makes the WHM's role much easier.
Good luck with your helm zerging. We carried an entire alliance (including 8 buyers) using just 4 ranged DPS changing between some combination of RNG/COR although I do not recommend carrying so many people. It makes the fights very difficult.
The first thing I have to say is that Rune Fencer is essential for almost all of these fights because of Rayke. If you can't raise the mob's affinity to at least 60% for the weaponskill you're using then it's not viable. You will get half resisted, at best, but will often get 1/4 or 1/8 resists. You will most likely die before you're able to zerg the mob. Rayke can move the mob's affinity up 3 tiers, which means the minimum affinity for a viable magic WS zerg is 30%. The affinity will move from 30% to 60%.
Rayke doesn't last a terribly long time so you'll want to have your RUN stock up on a Super Revitalizer for each fight so that you can apply two of them. You can find the affinities for these mobs on bg-wiki unless otherwise noted.
These are zerg fights that go very fast. You can use temp items to prebuff for each fight although it's not necessary. Oracle's Drink adds 50 Magic Attack Bonus. Assassin's Drink adds some unknown amount of Magic Accuracy. There's another one that adds to all of your attributes although I forgot the name of it.
For support, you'll usually want a Bard for your ranged party. This is because they're great at capping ranged accuracy while also providing threnodies. 2x Prelude + 2x AGI Etudes should be good for any mob. If you're doing 5 songs I would say use Scherzo or a Carol to reduce the odds of dying to any rogue ***. You will need Idris Bolster Malaise to zerg most of these. We generally used two GEOs (Malaise/AGI/Focus/Acumen) although it's sometimes possible to just use one. You will sometimes want Fade and/or Wilt.
You will want at least one Corsair, or sometimes all Corsairs depending on what weaponskill you're doing. Samurai Roll and Wizard's Roll are the best rolls. You can add in Tactician's Roll and Warlock's Roll if you have another set of rolls.
We don't bring a scholar and generally only use storms I and have the GEO come /SCH, although if you want to you can use storms II if you feel it's worth the alliance slot.
You can also use Impact for most of these fights. Elemental Seal + Impact will add a significant amount of damage to any weaponskill you use.
Your ranged DPS will want to bring a Super Revitalizer too as it's nice to keep Double Shot or Triple Shot up for the entire fight.
Kirin/Kouryu
There are different affinities for each form (not listed on bg-wiki)
Kirin
Code
Fire 50% Wind 100% Thunder 10% Light 50% Ice 50% Earth 10% Water 50% Dark 50%
Kouryu
Code
Fire 30% Wind 70% Thunder 5% Light 30% Ice 30% Earth 5% Water 30% Dark 5%
Leaden Salute is not viable on either form. You can use Wildfire or Trueflight. I recommend Trueflight.
This fight is one of the more complicated fights because there is a transition in the middle from Kirin -> Kouryu. You will need to use Rayke on Kirin and Kouryu to deal good damage, so your Rune Fencer will need to use a Super Revitalizer after using Rayke on Kirin. You probably want to replace AGI with Wilt for this fight as Spike Flail can one shot you.
Typical rules for positioning Kouryu apply to this fight. You need to huddle so you don't drag it around due to hate loss from roar. Your GEOs need to cure your tank after they get hate on Kouryu so that their bubbles are applied, and everyone needs to use a Steadfast Tonic so you don't get hit with Terror. Don't rush things during the transition as you'll end up causing a TP move before you're ready and probably wiping.
Warder of Courage
Code
Fire 60% Wind 60% Thunder 60% Light 25% Ice 60% Earth 60% Water 60% Dark 115%
Trueflight is not viable here. You can use Wildfire or Leaden Salute. I recommend Leaden Salute.
This fight is fairly straightforward. Just stand at a distance and shoot it until it's dead. Something stupid like Soul Voice might kill you, but that's the nature of this fight. The fight takes a bit longer than Kouryu because of the DT mechanic.
Zerde
This is the easiest fight because Zerde takes increased magic damage. You can use Trueflight, Leaden Salute, or Wildfire here although you will need to use Rayke to get Leaden to deal full damage. Make sure you stun the opening Just Desserts and the second Just Desserts. Otherwise it's a fairly straightforward. We've killed this after failing the second stun because it melts so fast.
Vinipata
Code
Fire 60% Wind 40% Thunder 40% Light 60% Ice 40% Earth 40% Water 40% Dark 5%
Trueflight and Wildfire can be used for this fight. Your BRD will need to sleep the adds and this fight will last longer than Zerde or Kouryu. You want to force it into Yaksha stance. Others have recommend Impact for this although I find that because it's dark based that it doesn't last long enough for this to occur reliably.
You want to take advantage of terrain to avoid getting hit by its autos and AoEs. If all goes well this fight should be over in a few minutes.
Teles
Leaden Salute or Wildfire work for this fight although I highly recommend Leaden Salute. This fight is also kind of annoying because there is a large component of luck involved. Your tank will constantly lose hate and Teles might wander around, so you should consider huddling. If you get hit with an Invincible you can try temp items to power through it or you might just die. It might be better to use Coronach here for these reasons and take it slower although I've never tried this.
Schah
I don't know the affinities for this exactly although Wildfire or Trueflight work for this fight. You won't be able to zerg it as fast as summoners so you will need to kill the adds. They die very quickly to Wildfire/Trueflight though. We don't even use terrain anymore because of this. You can use Rayke on the stronger ones and on Schah. You can usually do a BoG + EA Malaise up for the entire adds phase as long as your GEO has a good Luopan set. After the adds are dead, you can kill Schah. We do kill the Matri because it simplifies things although it's not necessary.
Onychophora
I have not tried this with elemental weaponskills yet because the mechanics make it difficult to zerg, although I imagine it's possible if you bring a SMN and using Mewing Lullaby. You can't use Wildfire here because it will skillchain with itself although Trueflight and Leaden Salute will both work with Rayke. I think you would want to start mewing at 50% to make sure you have enough time to zerg it down although I won't say too much as I haven't done it this way.
If you don't zerg it, you just need to time your weaponskill usage with the windows where it can take damage. Be careful not to skillchain. You can also opt to use Last Stand (no Fomalhaut) if you don't want to use magic weaponskills.
Albumen
This fight is the most difficult fight because it has a lot of HP and a lot of things can go wrong. You can use Wildfire, Leaden Salute, or Trueflight although I recommend Leaden Salute because Corsair gear is better than Ranger gear and this is usually a tight fight. You can do the zombie method if you want although it is not necessary. We have killed it in under 4 minutes with an entire alliance and only 3 Corsairs. You will want to bring 2 Rune Fencers for 4x Rayke and for another tank if Petalback Spin goes off (which will hate reset you.) You can stun this move if you use auto stun addons. Otherwise you need to do all of the same things for any other Albumen fight. Your BRD will need to sleep the adds as they come although being able to stand at a distance and not get hit with status effects makes the WHM's role much easier.
Good luck with your helm zerging. We carried an entire alliance (including 8 buyers) using just 4 ranged DPS changing between some combination of RNG/COR although I do not recommend carrying so many people. It makes the fights very difficult.