Bowmasters + Horntail?

So you were just a SE mule and never attacked, but received a HT pendant + egg?

So you were just a SE mule and never attacked, but received a HT pendant + egg?

They just "SE mule" because they're too dang low-leveled to be HTing, but they have connections and the HP to survive, so they get to go. If you get to the appropriate level (160+), you'll be one of the main attackers, too.

So let's say that I never HP washed but wear HP equipment, enough to HT for the heads, not the whole body. Can I just stay at the heads area and continue to cast SE for the party while they attack and I eventually get a Pendant + Egg? Let's say in that situation I didn't have any connections, is it likely?

So let's say that I never HP washed but wear HP equipment, enough to HT for the heads, not the whole body. Can I just stay at the heads area and continue to cast SE for the party while they attack and I eventually get a Pendant + Egg? Let's say in that situation I didn't have any connections, is it likely?

You're in Bera, right?

Not only is the situation you described unlikely, it's impossible. What good would you be if you could only SE for the prelim heads? No group would be that desperate for someone. And either I misread what you said or you don't fully understand how HT works. The prelim head maps are two different maps, both separate from the main room (where HT itself spawns). You can't stay in them and still SE your parties. Once you enter the main room, there's no going back to the prelim head maps.

Regardless, even if you partially washed + HP gear, it's very unlikely you'd find a group in Bera desperate enough to take you (assuming you have no connections that'll give you easy access or something). The only way you're gonna get in is if your character has good HP, you're reliable, skilled at surviving the battle and very patient for a group to even take you once. It can be hard to get established in a group, but if your character is high leveled and good at surviving, you'll get in eventually.

Don't expect to be like those stupid bowman who uber wash and then ride on their connections to get into groups. Groups don't need weak "SE mules" all that often, especially in the main servers.

A side question: If I were to HT, what would be more beneficial for me in terms of survival: a Zhelm or a level 90 Pirate Hat?

A zhelm of course.

I dunno about that. The HP would offset the lack of Defence. Pirate hats are fairly high defence to begin with.

The Pirate hat has a level 90 req, while the zhelm, 50. Maple has that freaky damage formula in which you take more damage if you wear low level equips.

Maple has that freaky damage formula in which you take more damage if you wear low level equips.

It really doesn't, I've tested this. Defense works the exact same regardless of item level. On the other hand, the more STR you have, the better defense is (minor effect, but it is there). So yeah, Zakum helm is doubly better.

I used a 150 HP Bosshunter Helm, which put me at 4970 HP and got 1HKO'd at HT (I had no pendant at the time). I switched back to my Zakum Helm on a later run, which put me at 4820 and lived. I realize that the amount of defense on a Bosshunter Helm is slightly less, but I would use the Zakum Helm just to be safe.

I dunno about that. The HP would offset the lack of Defence. Pirate hats are fairly high defence to begin with.

nope. each m.def for archers seems to reduce magic by 2~4 damage. there's a 60? point difference in m.def, so 120~240 extra damage taken. subtract the 90 hp, and that's 30~150hp you're screwing yourself over. that, the zhelm's extra 10 stats and 3 extra slots kinda wins out... and you can scroll multiple zhelms...

I don't see why HT groups have a problem bringing new members in. Let's be honest, it's maplestory. Once you survive the first 2 minutes of a boss fight, it's not hard to survive the rest (unless something goes wrong). It's the same thing with zak, for some reason back in the day, no one wanted to bring new runners along, yet it only takes 30 seconds at zak to get adjusted to his attack timing and damage.

I don't see why HT groups have a problem bringing new members in. Let's be honest, it's maplestory. Once you survive the first 2 minutes of a boss fight, it's not hard to survive the rest (unless something goes wrong). It's the same thing with zak, for some reason back in the day, no one wanted to bring new runners along, yet it only takes 30 seconds at zak to get adjusted to his attack timing and damage.

Uhm...what? Have you ever HTed before?

HT is a much tenser boss battle than any other, and it actually requires doing a few full runs before you get the hang of it. The first 5-10 mins of the main HT battle almost always claims a life or two on every run. And it almost certainly claims the life of first timers. HT is the kind of battle that changes throughout, rather than staying boring the entire time (like Zakum). There's different phases and each requires different knowledge of the situation.

Let's take, for example, this 14x BM we've brought on a few runs. The first run he actually didn't disconnect in, he ended up dying a TON (seriously, lost count) of times in nearly every stage of the battle. That's just a hindrance to the group - hardly a help. It's a hassle having to break new members in when you can just keep experienced members.

Another problem is that the demand isn't very high for Bowmasters. Not only that, but with an increasing number of players in all servers there is competition to getting into a Squad not to mention that Squads already have regular runners. The best way now is with really good connections with a Host or a Guild.

For new runners, they just need to get a feel for the boss I think. That can do much more than any HornTail Guide. Their deaths should also be expected. I was lucky and didn't die on my first run, although I did make a Resurrection goofup haha.

My Bowmaster isn't sufficient for HT so I can't say for sure from a Bowmaster's perspective.

would one of those things be to not attack the legs / tail during a specific animation? i heard of warriors killing off complete ranged teams cause he rushed (to get closer, stance failed) and it set off a 5 digit attack.

would one of those things be to not attack the legs / tail during a specific animation? i heard of warriors killing off complete ranged teams cause he rushed (to get closer, stance failed) and it set off a 5 digit attack.

The thing is, the legs are angry things. When the leg stomps on the right, you either get stunned, or you get hit for 10k. Warriors are always attacking the legs, so when one goes right the legs immediately want to stomp on the right to kill it.

What this means for an Archer (or any ranged person) is that you CAN aggro the legs and get them to attack you over the warriors if you're unlucky. The only times you can hit the legs (assuming the tail is alive, since that's prolly what you're shooting at) is when the tail is raised from the giant tail ground-pound thing. When the tail is up like that, you'll hit and possibly aggro the legs. It should also be noted that for about a second after the tail hits the ground you still shoot through it to the legs. When you're actually there, you'll see what I mean.

For those of you who like to summon Phoenixes during the HT run (our runs allows non-bahamut summons for the most part), I advise doing so until the legs are dead. After the tail dies and you're attacking the wings while the warriors are doing the legs, Phoenix and Freezer hit both the arm and the wings but not the legs. However, if you ever fall off the platform (it happens to the best of us), Phoenix/Freezer WILL hit the legs and you have a chance of killing half the people on your side.

If for any reason you see the right leg lift up, second-guess when it's about to stomp and jump for your life. If you're on the middle platform, jump off of it and try to jump on the rope when the leg is about to stomp. Some of the very (very very) washed bowmen start on the left with the warrior party, so they don't need to worry about it. I forget exactly how much the legs do; ask Truemark about it if you're curious.

i both am and am not curious. i mean, of course i wanna be prepared, but as felix said (or implied, can't remember), experience can do more than any guide will.

meaning i still have to get into a run in the first place. since no one in windia knows who i am, that makes it more than a bit hard.

edit: techno, no one wants to die at that level. even if it's only 1% loss at 160, that's still like 2.5m exp. multiple deaths would just compound that if you kill your teammates a lot, and no one likes losing exp.

@below - too bad there's no real point in SE'ing the melee party now. SI improves melee damage more than SE does, iirc.

You need 6250 base hp as a ranged character to be in melee party. Fighting feet

ask Truemark about it if you're curious.

You rang? I've survived with 5900 base w/ pendant & helm. So around 9450 will do with hb.

@below - too bad there's no real point in SE'ing the melee party now. SI improves melee damage more than SE does, iirc.

Having SE in both our warrior parties helps temendously. With 3 archers and 6 warriors split between our 2 leg parties, it's almost like adding an extra warrior to the leg attack. And the quicker they go down the better. Having a marksman and SI in the melee party makes the benefit even better.

some reason i thought there was only one leg party lol (i'm pretty sure there's 3? ranged teams though). and other than you i didn't know there were archers with close to 6k hp o.0