| Name | Shroud Raid: Know Your Role |
| Category | General |
The Thirteenth Eclipse is the name of the raid which was the crowning glory of the Module 6. It is better known as The Shroud. It is a very long raid as it consists of 5 parts. Failure to complete a part means you can't proceed to the next and you cannot redo the part that you failed. You will need to do the raid all over again.
Given the mechanics of the raid, it will require a good leader who can effectively communicate with the group. The success of the raid is dependent on many factors including the party make up, the tactics and strategy, the coordination, the ability to bounce back after a near group wipe, and skills in puzzle solving.
It's quite difficult to get a group that will rate high in all those factors, mainly because some players are not well informed about the raid. These players sometimes do more harm than good because they don't know their roles in the raid. A group is better off missing one or two spots rather than have a full group and half are clueless on what needs to be done.
This article will point out the general and specific roles of different classes so that the Shroud raid experience could be as smooth as possible. This might come across as forcing people to play their toons in the way that they may not actually like it, but keep in mind this is only specific to the Shroud raid. Whether the players do their part or not, this list will give valuable information that will help make players contribute more to the success of the raid.
IF YOU ARE A TANK...
Tank Types
Tanks are the melee-types that deal massive damage by using weapons or in the case of a monk, their fists. Tanks can be Fighters, Barbarians, Paladins, and Monks. However, there are toons that are built in a way that they can deal decent damage even if their classes are known mainly for other roles. You can put the following builts in this list: Battle Clerics, Battle Bards, Battle Casters, and other battle-specced classes.
Tanks that can deal massive damage are very welcome to the group, but those that can take all the beating without dropping down fast are even more desired. This is because the named bosses and the final boss have insanely high hitpoints and can dish out unbelievable damage. The longer these bosses stay alive, the faster the "squishy tanks" fall down.
The tough tanks who will take the role of "main tanks" will be those that have 400 or more hitpoints and more than 50 Armor Class (AC). Those with lower stats are not useless. They will play the vital role of back up tanks, in any event things have gotten bad in the main tankage department. It is wise for the less than 400 hitpoint tanks to not engage any named boss and the final boss. One fire attack from the final boss can deal as much as 250 damage, so it's easy to die when you have less than 400 hitpoints.
Weapons To Bring/Use
The creatures and monsters in the raid have quite high DR (Damage Reduction), so weapons that are able to bypass DR are very useful. Transmuting weapon is a tank favorite because it bypasses DR. If you don't have Transmuting weapon, you can use a Good/Holy and Silver combination. It can be dual wielding where pure good and holy is on one hand and a silver on the other.
Why this combination? Because the Pit Fiend Arraetikos has DR of 15/good + silver. The higher the base damage, the better. Now, there have been many discussions and debates as to which weapon is better, a transmuting weapon or the good/holy silver combination. They are both very useful and if one is better than the other, the difference in the total average damage will not be too far off. So, use the one which you think deal the more damage. But if DR is high, the transmuting will be a better choice.
Also, don't forget the importance and usefulness of the Vorpal. On a confirmed Crit, creatures disappear quickly. This saves a lot of time and resources, but then again, sometimes you are not too lucky on your rolls. Another popular combination is the wounding/puncturing weapon. Hitting the monsters where they are most vulnerable (Constitution) is always a good thing. But sometimes it takes a while to take them down, I suggest using this type of weapon if there is a coordinated effort on the part of the entire melee group.
Items To Bring
The usual supply of buffs in the form of potions should always be in your inventory. Though there are many shrines in the raid, don't expect the Clerics or any one who buffs to give you everything you need. They also need to conserve spell points and other resources to keep people alive during critical times (e.g. boss fights). Poison immunty and Disease immunity potions are very important to have.
Poison affects constitution, hence, you can die when your Constitution reaches zero. On the other hand, disease can cause strength damage. If your strength level goes way down, you are going to be pretty much useless in the raid. Avoid these damages by bringing the said potions. They are life savers.
IF YOU ARE A CASTER...
Caster Types
There are the Wizards and the Sorcerers. Sure, the Bards are considered casters but they are too versatile to be limited to just being casters. It's a given that Wizards are far more useful because they know all the arcane spells in the game. They might have fewer spell points but they bring very useful and appropriate spells on every occasion.
Sorcerers, on the other hand, have limited number of spells but that doesn't mean they do not have a large contribution in the raid. Let's face it, Wizards and Sorcerers may have varying lower level spells, but they will surely have Finger of Death and Phantasmal Killer. These are two of the insta-death spells that make annoying creatures go away fast.
If you are concerned about crowd control and buffs, it's best to get a Wizard. In you want a nuker with massive spell points, get a sorcerer. Of course having both in the raid is a good thing.
As a caster, you are expected to buff the party with resists, Greater Heroism, Blur, True Seeing and the most important, Haste. You are also expected to take care of debuffing the monsters and the end boss. Waves of Fatigue, Waves of Exhaustion, Crushing Despair and Bestow Curse should be readily available. As for Crowd Control, you will need to have Web, Symbol of Stunning, Solid Fog, and Acid Fog.
Otto's Sphere of Dancing is very useful, but don't overdo it because it causes lag. For super damages, get ready to use Scorching Ray, Firewall, Cone of Cold, Polar Ray, Disintegrate and Force Missle. For the non-named creatures, use Finger of Death and Phantasmal Killer. Casters should also be ready to rebuff players when the need arises.
It's a given that most casters have low hit points. This means that you, as a caster, shouldn't go aggroing creatures and monsters, prematurely or not. If you are using area of effect damaging spells, stay away from the targeted creature. Better yet, use a tank as wall between you and the creature.
In Part 2 of the quest, you will need to go to the center of the maze and be ready to break the crystal when all the other named creatures are slain. The fastest way is to use a maximized Disintegrate. It is better than scorching ray.
IF YOU ARE A RANGER...
Rangers are usually treated as off-tank. In general, they are known to use bows and arrows or any ranged weapons. However, it's very seldom that you'll see rangers using ranged weapons. A lot of them are built to dual-wield. Two-weapon fighting is what they are most famous for. They have high dexterity and they take advantage of the benefits by getting the weapon finesse feat.
While rangers are very effective when it comes to two-weapon fighting, they have to use ranged weapons in Shroud. First of all, rangers don't have high hitpoints so they can not go face to face with the end boss.
There's really nothing to be worried about because as a ranger, you can still do two-weapon fighting in Parts 1 to 2. It's in parts 4 and 5 that you need to switch to bows and arrows. It is the best option to avoid quick death. Besides, if you are dealing decent damge from afar, you are helping the tanks a big favor because it makes taking the boss down faster.
Actually, sometimes, the rangers make the main tanks look good because the tanks get the final kill while the rangers work on taking down the boss in a rather subtle way.
Now, you can only deal decent damage if you have the right weapons. Here is a list of the highly priced and most sought after bows for rangers:
Silver Bow (base damage 1d10, crits on 19-20)
Holy Bow (base damage 2d6)
Holy Burst (base damage 1d8)
Silver bow is very useful in taking down the Pit Fiend. A combination of Silver and Holy will give a pretty high damage numbers.
Since you are not face to face with the creatures, you can still contribute to the success of the run by doing other stuff such as buffing, raising the dead using the Ring of Ancestors if you have it, and heal fellow players. There's really no need to be out there with the big boys, your contribution will be very much appreciated even if you are few feet away from the fight.
This ends part one of this article. Bards, Clerics, and Rogues will be given some love in part 2. 'Till then, happy Shroud raiding!
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