Vanquished! Canthan Day 12

Areas Completed:

• Silent Surf

Silent Surf
Party: W, Razah (MM), Sousuke, Dunkoro, Illusion Hench, Interrupt Hench, Protector Hench, Earth Hench
Foes: 268
Time: 1 hr 8min

And that's all for Cantha! I am now a Canthan Vanquisher!

Vanquished! Canthan Day 11

Areas Completed:

• Shenzun Tunnels
  
• Raisu Palace
• Rhea's Crater
  

Shenzun Tunnels
Party: W, E, Razah (MM), Sousuke, Jin, Master of Whispers (SS), Tahlkora, Tahlkora
Foes: 253
Time: 1 hr 18min

Same as Sunjiang District.

The Ritualists are a pain with Flesh of My Flesh, the Elementalist do a lot of damage and the Mesmers can really aggravate casters. Take your time and don't throw caution to the wind and you should be fine given your monks can handle the extreme amount of damage these guys can dish out.

Raisu Palace
Party: W, E, R, Rt, Razah (MM), Olias (blood), Tahlkora, Tahlkora
Foes: 261
Time: 1hr 24 min

Not as bad as we thought it would be but it definitely deserves caution. The major thing to remember is if you do happen upon multiple groups... run! Unlike some other areas if you aggro multiple groups here, it is much safer to run and reposition once one group breaks off or just break aggro all together.

Rhea's Crater

Party: W, E, R, Rt, Razah (MM), Master of Whispers (SS), Tahlkora, Tahlkora
Foes: 264
Time: 1hr 34 min

Wavecrest Stonebreak (Water Ele boss) = evil! Unfortunately his group is a patrol and we didn't fight it until last so we couldn't drop DP with other groups. Prot Spirit (Mo), Shelter (Rt), etc would be extremely useful... but we didn't have them. I think we all got a bit worried that we'd DP out. Still don't know how we pulled it off but we finally beat him.

Vanquished! Canthan Day 10

Areas Completed:

• Sunjiang District
• Unwaking Waters
  

Sunjiang District
Party: W, R, E, Rt, Razah (MM), Master of Whispers (SS), Tahlkora, Tahlkora
Foes: 210
Time: 1 hr 20min

Lots of Afflicted. The Ritualists are a pain with Flesh of My Flesh, the Elementalist do a lot of damage and the Mesmers can really aggravate casters. Take your time and don't throw caution to the wind and you should be fine given your monks can handle the extreme amount of damage these guys can dish out.

Unwaking Waters
Party: W, R, E, N (MM), Master of Whispers (SS), Jin, Tahlkora, Tahlkora
Foes: 153
Time: 51 min

We did well in this area which was worrisome for a fear of us before we entered. The biggest issue is the amount of patrols. Pull far so you don't encounter multiple groups. A protector monk helps a lot too due to the Ride the Lightning elementalist.

Vanquished! Canthan Day 9

Areas Completed:

• Archipelagos
• Gyala Hatchery
• Boreas Seabed

Archipelagos
Party: W, Razah (MM), Sousuke, Dunkoro, Interrupt Hench, Illusion Hench, Earth Hench, Protection Hench
Foes: 174
Time: 1 hr

Gyala Hatchery
Party: W, Razah (MM), Sousuke, Dunkoro, Interrupt Hench, Illusion Hench, Earth Hench, Protection Hench
Foes: 191
Time: 57 min

Boreas Seabed
Party: W, R, Razah (MM), Sousuke, Sousuke, Tahlkora, Dunkoro, Jin
Foes: 220
Time: 56min

These three areas are comprised of mostly the same enemy types and there are a lot of groups that will fight each other making your job much easier. For example, in Boreas Seabed there are a lot of patrols that will patrol right into hostile groups if you stand far enough away and just enjoy the show. The Naga Ritualists can be a pain if you let them live for too long but make sure to kill any melee first unless you have a live, human tank.

The areas aren't too bad and as you can see I did 2 of the 3 with just heroes and henchmen. I have tried to do Sunjiang District a few times with heroes and hench and the Afflicted area of effect is too much for the AI. It looks like I will need to get the gang together to finish off Cantha.

Vanquished! Grenth's Footprint

Party: W, W, Mo, N (MM), Jin, Sousuke, Tahlkora, Master of Whispers (SS)

This area has a lot of groups bunched close to other groups so you will want to make long pulls to avoid extra aggro. Corners should be used when you can but with an MM it's more important for bunching enemies than for protecting casters from melee. The warriors were usually only 1 per group maybe 2 and that's if the group had a warrior at all. Corners will also help with groups consisting of a lot of rangers. They can do a lot of damage quickly if they decide to spike a target. As usual, the Gnashers (necromancers) are a pain and as such should be targeted after any warriors are dealt with. The groups consisting of Ice Imps and Ice Golems, be sure to spread out to avoid AoE spells.

Vanquished! Maishang Hills

Party: W, R, Razah (MM), Sousuke, Sousuke, Tahlkora, Dunkoro, Jin
Foes: 189
Time: 51

Before I go too far, remember to pull the Assassin boss and the Elementalist Island Guardian boss groups together. Then, you can sit back and watch the fireworks and kill the remaining 2-3 creatures after. Thanks to Donut for that tip!

More Naga, Wallows, and Kappa here. Naga have channeling ritualist who's AoE can be deadly if you don't spread out. Wallows can spike a single target if you aggro a large enough group and they all target the same person. Kappa at this level are pure annoyance here.

Vanquished! Canthan Day 8

Areas Completed:

• Mount Qinkai
  
• Tahnnakai Temple
• Xaquang Skyway
  

Mount Qinkai
Party: W, Razah (MM), Sousuke, Dunkoro, Heal Hench, Interrupt Hench, Earth Hench, Fire Hench
Foes: 144
Time: 43 min

This is becoming a recurring theme here in Cantha but beware of the channeling ritualists. Their area of effect damage is deadly on a party full of heroes and hench. Just target them first and make far pulls in case of patrols and you should do fine.

Tahnnakai Temple
Party: W, R, E, Rt, Tahlkora, Tahlkora, Master of Whispers (SS), Zhed
Foes: 125
Time: 52 minutes

This area is full of Dragon Stomp and Double Dragon mages, channeling ritualists, and Energy Surge mesmers. There is a lot of area of effect and I was not able to complete this area with a full hero-hench party because of it. Even with the friends I normally vanquish with, this area was still a bit tough due to the amount of damage the Jade can do. If you can keep the Knights (warriors) away from the backline by using a corner, the groups are exponentially easier. Unfortunately, the Knights are highly sensitive to AoE and break aggro often so keep your backline at as hard of an angle as possible so the warrior will be able to hold aggro. If even one Knight breaks aggro and you have only 1 warrior in your party, I suggest breaking aggro and setting up again. Minions help but they will not last long here as even the Knights have AoE with Cyclone Axe and Triple Chop.

Xaquang Skyway
Party: W, R, E, Rt, Tahlkora, Tahlkora, Razah (MM), Zhed
Foes: 169
Time: 49 minutes

The Jade are a bit of a pain again just like in Tahnnakai Temple but the corners here are a lot better. Use those corners and you shouldn't have too many groups give you trouble in this area. Watch out for the patrolling groups and make far pulls for the large groups since they sometimes are multiple groups that can be separated.

Vanquished! Canthan Day 7

Areas Completed:

• Arborstone
• Pongmei Valley
  

Arborstone
Party: W, R, E, Tahlkora, Tahlkora, Razah (MM), Master of Whispers (SS), Acolyte Jin

If you see columns, let someone run in to trigger the stone creatures. They are the creatures to watch out for here. With good pulls and use of corners, the rest of the groups are pretty straight forward but the stone creatures can be deadly. Make sure your warrior picks up any warrior stone monsters as one in the backline can be extremely deadly. Also, use corners for casters to hide from the stone dagger spammers in these groups. The hardest kill was the Shield of Regeneration stone monster monk boss.

Oh and I can't forget to thank Donut! He gave me a max 15^50 req 10 Gothic Sword and didn't want to take anything in return!

Pongmei Valley
Party: W, R, E, Tahlkora, Tahlkora, Razah (MM), Acolyte Sousuke, Acolyte Jin
Foes: 155
Time: 36 minutes

We goofed off a lot in this area. There was only one group (Ritualist boss' group) that gave us trouble and I think our overconfidence made it worse than it was.

Vanquished! Tyrian Day 2

Areas Completed:

• Tasca's Demise
• Mineral Springs
• Perdition Rock
• Talus Chute

Tasca's Demise, Mineral Springs
Party: W, W, W, R, E, E, Mo, Mo

Lots of hexes and lots of degeneration make this area fun for monks.

Crippling Anguish, Conjure Phantasm, Life Siphon, Poison, and Bleeding are all used by the Stone Summit. And remember that doesn't cover their direct damage skills that are also extremely potent. Warriors watch out for Ineptitude on the Stone Summit Mesmers.

The Avicara are incredibly deadly now. Their archers use Ignite Arrows, Dual Shot, and Penetrating Shot. Use corners as much as possible so that your casters can have something to hide behind. The good news is, if there is a monk (Ardents) in the party, it will use Healing Touch so you can attack the warrior aggro until the monk steps forward.

As for the ice imp cave in Mineral Spring, pull them out of the cave if you can and string them out. Be careful here as it is extremely easy to get too many Imps to handle especially since their snare makes it hard to pull. You may have to get the tanks to hold a few Mountain Trolls first though. There will be a lot of snares and Maelstroms so again be careful.

Perdition Rock
Foes: 230

The bad news is that quick patrols can easily get you into trouble here so make your pulls far. The good news is that most parties can be handled with two good monks and some good damage. The ones to watch out for is the Hydra's since if you are playing with heroes and/or hench one well placed meteor shower can and will take out all of them.

Talus Chute
Party: W, W, N (MM), E, Rt, R, Mo, Mo

Long. Arduous. This vast area boast around 400 enemies ranging. The Trolls and the Grawl are pretty easy to deal with as usual but the Avicara and the Ice Imps make this area pretty slow going. (See the above Mineral Springs write up for more on the Avicara and Ice Imps)

Vanquished! Canthan Day 6

Areas Completed:

• Zen Daijun
• Melandru's Hope

Zen Daijun
Party: W, R, E, Tahlkora, Tahlkora, Razah (MM)
Foes: 162
Time: 54min

This area houses a lots of Afflicted but the good news is you've seen these monster levels in Factions normal mode game play. Even with a 6-man party this area was quite comparable to normal mode game play. Be careful not to get overwhelmed and you shouldn't have problems.

Melandru's Hope
Foes: 120
Time: 50min

Not to sound repetitive but:
Just like the other Forest areas, watch out for the Warden Ritualist, Mesmers, and Wardens of the Earth and keep in mind that the spirits will increase the bleeding degeneration to 5. Let groups fight it out if they will and pull far to avoid getting multiple groups. This area does have some patrols that have long patrol patterns so watch out for these walking into your fight at anytime.