Best approach on Slasher

[Obsidian]

Navrey is being camped like no tomorrow and my experience with Slasher is that the drop rate is high. So I would like to do some Slashers. Whenever I scout him out (with my necro-mage) I keep finding Slasher alone. I can't do anything to him with that char as he dispels my EVs instantly. So I would like to use a dexxer on him instead. It seems to me that Folks usually join in once someone has started him (on Atlantic during the weekend/prime-time). What is the best way to solo-start (or even solo complete) Slasher with a Sampire? Should I be using Honor, EOO, CW, Feint, LS, LS, LS, Feint, LS, LS, Feint... etc? Or will that get me quickly killed and should instead be using jousting like Lord God discussed in his Stygian Dragon solo thread?

Or would an ABC Archer be a better choice? That keeps me away from most of his blows, but I fear I would quickly perish when he freezes me with his howl.

Just looking for ideas to make my first dexxer "dance" with Slasher better than otherwise. It's a long way out for repeated rezes.

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

No EoO, no Consecrate. Just Feint and Counter Attack/LS. Also a good idea to keep an eye on your buff/debuff bar, for when to Remove Curse, it does the one that drops your resists to 60's.

You'll still need to back off sometimes as it can be hard to hit unless its Discorded.

If you're human and have the Spellweaving quest done you can use Attunement to absorb the rock fall damage, and Renewal for extra healing. Though unless you have some means of healing while frozen (Bandages/pots/Healing Stone) it will be hard not to die to the howl attack.

If you're using Daisho have a 1h weapon on EquipLastWeapon so you can chug when frozen.

Have a live mount and a macro for it, preferably a swamp dragon, theres no remount timer after its Dismount.

From what I've seen meleers die less there than ranged characters.

The ideal character would probably be a bandage and pots Ninja using Feint and images.

 

[Obsidian]

I went after Slasher last night. He had a sliver of his health removed from some prior attempt so I was not able to honor. I used EOO and CW throughout. It was rough going and I got killed twice. I did find that I was able to stay in there and "dance" with him longer than I thought. My sampire is a macer and I didn't use a feint weapon (Bronze Diamond Mace, 40 DI, 30 SSI, 44 HSL, 49 HML, Demon Slayer), but used evasion a lot. The howl and the rocks were a non-issue overall. I was able to survive that and immediately retreat to heal once unfrozen.

There were three things I need to figure out how to counter:

1) Dismount attack - I lost my pet twice. Once was when I died, but the other time was when Slasher dismounted me and targeted my pet. Poor ole Puff didn't stand a chance. This significantly reduced my ability to sustain damage. I will figure out how to make a remount macro in UOAssist.

2) Debuffs - At one time I looked at my buff bar and I had 6 red icons at the same time (including curse). Made me wonder whether I need to try this with resist instead of anatomy. Either that or systematically remove curse more often. I am running Connor's standard template with parry.

3) Massive Attack - I haven't figured out what the attack is or how to spot it before it happens, but he has one attack that knocks about 60-80 hit points off you instantly. Does he do anything to give you prior warning?

As expected, once underway a group joined in. That helped me with my rezes. After the fight, someone said that Slasher is easier if we keep him in the center circle room. Any truth to that? Thanks all!

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[Connor_Graham]

The ideal character would probably be a bandage and pots Ninja using Feint and images.

I've been toying with putting 120 Ninjitsu on my char in place of the Parry. Isn't it 90% chance for the monster to hit a mirror image instead of me?

 

[[JD]]

^That's what I've read (ie not tested), if you have max images (5, each take a control slot and last 30 sec)...it may not depend on 120 skill though and have more to do with the # of images

I ran into an enemy stealther in DSP and had a one on one with him.. he started using images so I did as well. We fought for about 3-5 min and the closest I got him to dying was 20%. It ended up in a draw.

I need to remember to use images more often, there are tons of PVPers which are melees and use archery or fencing for bleed/dismount/disarm/para..

 

[Connor_Graham]

I'd be interested to see what the actual number is. It would be interesting to compare the % chance of being hit on a 120 wep skill/45 DCI char with either 120 Parry or 120 Ninjitsu using Mirror Images (4) while riding a swampy.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

There were three things I need to figure out how to counter:

1) Dismount attack - I lost my pet twice. Once was when I died, but the other time was when Slasher dismounted me and targeted my pet. Poor ole Puff didn't stand a chance. This significantly reduced my ability to sustain damage. I will figure out how to make a remount macro in UOAssist.

2) Debuffs - At one time I looked at my buff bar and I had 6 red icons at the same time (including curse). Made me wonder whether I need to try this with resist instead of anatomy. Either that or systematically remove curse more often. I am running Connor's standard template with parry.

3) Massive Attack - I haven't figured out what the attack is or how to spot it before it happens, but he has one attack that knocks about 60-80 hit points off you instantly. Does he do anything to give you prior warning?

As expected, once underway a group joined in. That helped me with my rezes. After the fight, someone said that Slasher is easier if we keep him in the center circle room. Any truth to that? Thanks all!

-OBSIDIAN-

The only way to counter the Dismount is to be really quick on remounting. To make the macro be off your mount and out of war mode, start recording, say all stop, all follow me, and double click your mount, stop recording, then assign it a key on the keys tab. The stop and follow parts aren't vital but I use mine for my lesser hiryu as well.

When you see spells above its head, its usually applied something, same for Stygian. Even with resist it happens just have to back off and Remove Curse.

Its massive attack is just the Dismount attack. Theres a whooshing sound effect and an animation of lots of Magic Arrows rushing towards you when it happens. (That and you're suddenly on foot with your swampys name flash up on the screen.)

Fighting it in the CoV is supposed to 'weaken it' but I can't say I've seen any difference. (I still try and fight it in there though.)

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

Ninjitsu skill - 30 is the chance to divert an attack to an image.

The number of images doesn't matter but its just handy to have extra ones out for when delayed hit spells or whatever reflag it quicker.

You can hop off a swampy get images up and get back on but the Slasher does tend to retarget quickly so it might result in a dead swampy. Plus as its a fast targeting, counter attacking boss you're likely to need to spam images constantly.

 

[Stupid Miner]

The ideal character would probably be a bandage and pots Ninja using Feint and images.

Hm, the only consistently deadly part for me has been the hailstorm attack, so Images wouldnt help much there. Doesnt block spells either, so would it block the firebreath either?
Can't see images doing much good.

 

[Obsidian]

Ok, thanks for the tips. I'll try this again tonight and see how it goes. I will setup the remount macro and remove curse more often. I just need to be careful with the swampy as I found my effectiveness seriously reduced once he died. I'll carry a Charger just in case. I was mountless last night once Puff died.

At what number of hit points do you run from Slasher to heal? I may be hanging in there too long.

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[Stupid Miner]

Ok, thanks for the tips. I'll try this again tonight and see how it goes. I will setup the remount macro and remove curse more often. I just need to be careful with the swampy as I found my effectiveness seriously reduced once he died. I'll carry a Charger just in case. I was mountless last night once Puff died.

At what number of hit points do you run from Slasher to heal? I may be hanging in there too long.

-OBSIDIAN-

It's nice to have a backup swampy for these situations. Can have 4 pets in stable.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

Hm, the only consistently deadly part for me has been the hailstorm attack, so Images wouldnt help much there. Doesnt block spells either, so would it block the firebreath either?
Can't see images doing much good.

No but the bandages and pots would, the images are just to make it lose target, as if you'd invised and it had to reflag but while you keep swinging, the rate you can spam images with the right setup means you could *probably* avoid the majority of its melee attacks. When it loses you as a target it stops casting, though as spells are auto qued from monsters delayed ones going off will reflag it faster, plus it targets kinda quick anyway.

The firebreath is the Dismount attack and is a counter attack move. The only way to avoid that is to wait until you see it happen to someone else before you attack.

All the other fire stuff it does would kill them kinda quick also, so maybe not, I just thought I'd throw it out there because for certain situations using images could allow you to handle more than a sampire could.

 

[Stupid Miner]

All the other fire stuff it does would kill them kinda quick also, so maybe not, I just thought I'd throw it out there because for certain situations using images could allow you to handle more than a sampire could.

It could help, just doesn't seem to me to be enough good to justify the hassle. Can't cast mirror images while mounted... could make a macro to dismount and then cast images and remount, but again, may be more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Thunderz]

You could always carry elixior of rebith [easy enough to get from medusa and make] then you can instantly res ya swampy. I love carrying a few of them especially when you die in a pereless, oh and there isurable

Thunderz

 

[SashaSeeks]

We've killed slasher numerous times now with just two archers. We ride ethys or charger, lure him to the SW from his gazebo into the ruined town next to the pool. We simply keep him on one side of pool while we "dance" around the other side. It helps tremendously when he does the freeze attack, generally the attack is over before he can make it to the other side of the pool. You can use your bandies, enchanted apples and petals while under the freeze attack, so I find it a good time to make sure I'm recharged up. We're both paladin archers, so we do use enemy of one and the consecrate weapons, in fact I lay on the CW every few seconds, so long as I have the mana for it, which really makes him mad, so I need to be ready to dash off quickly to heal if needed. Inbetween all the CW's we will also use our weapon's primary attack, and the occasional divine fury.

We now rarely have a death, (can't say we didn't die a few times when we first started playing with him) in fact last time we were there, I did not die at all, and husband only died one time. So our technique has improved. If I'm down to half life, that is the time I step aside till my bandie kicks in, just a matter of a second or so. Getting dismounted usually not too big of a prob, just make sure you have a bandie kicking in and double click ethy/charger, being ready to rock and roll again or run like heck.

Most times it is just the two of us, although if anyone else is around we like to welcome them in if they want to join.

As far as solo'ing the slasher, we have not tried that, but we like to play as a team, so haven't bothered to try it. I would imagine an archer could do it, with an awful lot of dancing and dodging to heal. At least the Slasher does not seem to regain his life back quickly.

 

[Vertex]

We've killed slasher numerous times now with just two archers. We ride ethys or charger, lure him to the SW from his gazebo into the ruined town next to the pool. We simply keep him on one side of pool while we "dance" around the other side. It helps tremendously when he does the freeze attack, generally the attack is over before he can make it to the other side of the pool. You can use your bandies, enchanted apples and petals while under the freeze attack, so I find it a good time to make sure I'm recharged up. We're both paladin archers, so we do use enemy of one and the consecrate weapons, in fact I lay on the CW every few seconds, so long as I have the mana for it, which really makes him mad, so I need to be ready to dash off quickly to heal if needed. Inbetween all the CW's we will also use our weapon's primary attack, and the occasional divine fury.

We now rarely have a death, (can't say we didn't die a few times when we first started playing with him) in fact last time we were there, I did not die at all, and husband only died one time. So our technique has improved. If I'm down to half life, that is the time I step aside till my bandie kicks in, just a matter of a second or so. Getting dismounted usually not too big of a prob, just make sure you have a bandie kicking in and double click ethy/charger, being ready to rock and roll again or run like heck.

Most times it is just the two of us, although if anyone else is around we like to welcome them in if they want to join.

As far as solo'ing the slasher, we have not tried that, but we like to play as a team, so haven't bothered to try it. I would imagine an archer could do it, with an awful lot of dancing and dodging to heal. At least the Slasher does not seem to regain his life back quickly.

Sounds interesting!

How long does it take you to take down Slasher using this method?

 

[SashaSeeks]

Around 30-45 minutes, closer to the 30 minutes nowadays.
For me the trick seems to be NEVER take your eye off your life bar.
Sounds pretty basic I know, but it only takes him a moment to hit you with a double whammy attack, especially after you use a special attack like CW or primary weapon shot. So looking away from your life bar for one moment is enough for him to have you down and out.

In my opinion two archers can rock in the abyss. We were able to do three Stygian Dragons and one Slasher early this morning before server down and still walked out Glorious after those four rounds. Medusa and Navery are also not a problem. We don't do Navery so often anymore because of the wait time for the new one to come up. She used to respawn within seconds of dieing, now we're falling alseep waiting for the new one to come up.

 

[Vertex]

Around 30-45 minutes, closer to the 30 minutes nowadays.
For me the trick seems to be NEVER take your eye off your life bar.
Sounds pretty basic I know, but it only takes him a moment to hit you with a double whammy attack, especially after you use a special attack like CW or primary weapon shot. So looking away from your life bar for one moment is enough for him to have you down and out.

In my opinion two archers can rock in the abyss. We were able to do three Stygian Dragons and one Slasher early this morning before server down and still walked out Glorious after those four rounds. Medusa and Navery are also not a problem. We don't do Navery so often anymore because of the wait time for the new one to come up. She used to respawn within seconds of dieing, now we're falling alseep waiting for the new one to come up.

Thanks for the tips!

I've done all the bosses except Slasher (just haven't gotten around to trying it at all).

I haven't researched too much info yet, but you mention using CW or a primary weapon ability will cause Slasher to.... go berserk or something?

I guess I'll have to experience it and find out what he does!

 

[SashaSeeks]

Hee hee, well he doesn't really go beserk, it's more like:
You slapped him harder - so he's gonna slap you back harder.

Another thing that I have not seen mentioned anywhere, is when he does his special attack, freeze ya and drop rocks on you, there are also little blue stones that will often drop at this time..... Those stones if you put your mouse over them will say something to the effect of "stone fused with magic" You can pick these stones up, and throw them at the Slasher. Not sure how much damage they do to him, but it can be rather fun, and it also tends to get him mad. I'm always ready for the bandie after hitting him with one of these stones too. The stones don't last long on the ground or in your back pack, after about 30 seconds or so, they "poof" and they're gone. So you need to grab and toss the stones quickly if you're gonna try to use them.

Another thing we have noticed, is it seems that the more people fighting him the more he will use his special freeze attack AND throw out lines of fire. With just the two of us its not so bad. If 2 or 3 more people join in then he seems to use the freeze attack and lines of fire more often and to a larger affect. For example, with two peeps, he may throw out 2-3 lines of fire. When there were around 5 people he threw out a whole starburst pattern of fire on the ground. It looked pretty awsome, but you didn't want to get froze in it, or run across the flames when your health was low.
I consider him one of the most FUN bosses to kill.

 

[Obsidian]

Hmmm... the more I read this thread the more I think I should stop trying to use my sampire on Slasher and should instead be using my ABC Archer. I can adjust his jewelry to boost his resisting spells from 90 to 120. That might give the added survivability I need.

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[Stupid Miner]

Another thing we have noticed, is it seems that the more people fighting him the more he will use his special freeze attack AND throw out lines of fire.

Oh yea, can definitely verify this. *huge* increase based on number of people fighting.

 

[SashaSeeks]

Adjusting resist spells could help, my resist spells is not too high around 70ish I believe, and he will frequently paralyze me, but being an archer its not so bad, because I am able to keep my distance to begin with. Now I will end up with PLENTY of curses, so we keep lots of enchanted apples on hand. Having chiv I could use the remove curse, but prefer to keep the mana to keep up the cw's and and primary weapon attacks. Apples are nice too for the simple reason, that as soon as I get rid of all the curses he, just turns around and curses me again. Lot of times I don't even bother to remove them anymore, unless there is over 4 of them stacked up. LOL..