Ix'Aern (DRG) Vice of Aspersion Solo

[Sumiko]

Hiii~!

I've been after this stupid Vice of Aspersion... ever since it came out. Obviously I haven't been going after it everyday, but I have the most horrible luck. When I drag a manaburn party out there, it pops literally 1/10 times -_-; And the one time my friend actually helped me kill it so I could leech the drop, the Vice dropped and then something screwed up with the alliances and it went to him. Argh!! I hate this NM so much. And all my friends that used to solo it quit the game. Sigh

My friends like to come and help me a lot with it, but now I have RDM and SCH at 75, I think I can start taking it solo so I don't have to bug people all the time.

I'm not sure which job is better. :/ I'm guessing SCH/RDM would be faster, RDM/NIN safer but slower? I realize that soloing things do require patience but I wonder if my current strategy can be faster.

My understanding...

Killing Aerns: Just sleep nuke them in the NW and NE rooms and hope Ix will pop.

Killing Ix: Drag it to the porter with Bio, enter portal. Wait for it to come around. Poison it on the other side. Enter portal, wait for it. Nuke? Enter portal again, nuke, or throw on Debuffs if worn?

What happens when the debuffs just end up wearing while he's in-between rooms? Just gotta hope it doesn't and try to catch him again on the other side? :/

Sorry this is such a n00b question! Thank you for answering if you do.

[Thorny]

he deaggros and unclaims when you take portal, just warp back and forth and DoT when they wear.. use a big nuke for killshot at 1-2%.. if you have comp he'll get stolen

[TybudX]

Yeah, this one is definitely easier solo than with a group. Some of the Aerns you'll have to fight to pop it are tougher than it is, but if things looks rough, you can always do the same as with the ix... apply DoT and zone.

As far as which job to do it on, whichever one you can more efficiently kill Aerns with is going to be the biggest factor. If it takes you 5 less minutes to clear a room with one job as compared to another, in the long run that is going to be your winner.

[Seraph]

he deaggros and unclaims when you take portal, just warp back and forth and DoT when they wear.. use a big nuke for killshot at 1-2%.. if you have comp he'll get stolen

What do you use to keep claim then? Something silly and low cost like Dia? Is the claim loss very quick? I guess that would mean trying this would be optimal at some oddball time with less people up there. Would it be possible to keep solid claim with 2-3 people there? I have only killed this previously with groups of 6+, but was always curious about a lowman/solo attempt.

[Thorny]

What do you use to keep claim then? Something silly and low cost like Dia?

Nothing, you just keep DoT on until it's low hp.

Is the claim loss very quick?

Normal length.

I guess that would mean trying this would be optimal at some oddball time with less people up there.

yep.

Would it be possible to keep solid claim with 2-3 people there?

Not very well. Either have enough people to handle wynavs(3-4 depending on skill should be fine) or just settle for DoT zoning and deal with the fact that some jerk could show up and gank it at 5%.

[Seraph]

Nothing, you just keep DoT on until it's low hp.

Normal length.

yep.

Not very well. Either have enough people to handle wynavs(3-4 depending on skill should be fine) or just settle for DoT zoning and deal with the fact that some jerk could show up and gank it at 5%.

Fair enough. That seems to reflect my experience in the larger size groups.

[Byrthnoth]

If you have Gaiters, SCH/RDM is definitely the way to go. I don't know if zoning through the porters would kill Sublimation (I doubt it would, as it doesn't kill Composure) but it's definitely the best for this. There is a guide out there for how to solo Ix'Drg (Enedin's blog?), but I do things a little differently and I think it helps out a lot.

First of all, kill speed is essential. That's the primary reason SCH/RDM is a million times better than RDM/NIN. As you've noticed, Ix'Drg appears to be a pure lotto with a low pop rate off Aerns on their final kill (no reraise.) This means that you have to be prepared to deal with Reraises and can't run away from them. As far as the rooms go, if memory serves it is:
SE - MNK, SAM, BRD
NE - PLD, SMN, THF (This room is the worst. Resist Sleep, Resist Gravity, Shell 3, and the possibility of a Dark Elemental - doubled if it reraises.)
NW - NIN, DRG, DRK
SW - BST, RNG, BLM (This is the room I'm least sure of. The BLM may be a RDM.)

I would recommend primarily using one of the southern rooms, and SE preferentially as the monsters there are easier. You can jog to NW (through the porter to lose Ghrah agro) if you get 3 non-RRs or something. Aern Dragoons are nice xp (go Wyvern -> Aern) and 2/3 of the mobs in the NW room are Aspirable in some way.

So, ideally you'll pop Ix'Drg in the SE room and he'll shit out some Wyverns. When this happens, you may or may not instantly agro. If you instantly agro, forget about DoTs and just run to the porter in the North. Warp out, back, and follow him back to the first Ghrah, then stick Bio II on him and zone. When you zone back, follow him (Sleep/Aspir the Ghrah as necessary) and Bio II him again when it wears. Make sure you wait a little bit for him to catch up at the porter before you zone. When you get the timing down so that you're generally just chasing him past the first Ghrah and don't have to agro the second to reapply Bio II, it's time for advanced techniques!
As a Scholar just casting Bio II, Sleep II, and Aspir, I'd imagine you'd have pretty much full MP all the time, especially when one figures in Sublimation. If this is the case, you can pull Ix'Drg with a nuke instead before Bio II has worn, then reapply Bio II when you run down the stairs. The Wyverns will waste time on the initial pull and he'll outdistance them, so there will be a window for you to cast Bio II in. You can do a similar thing with the set of stairs right before the portal, where you could Focalization Poison II for some additional damage. In the event of Depuration, that is where you should be reapplying Bio II.

This strategy is pure attrition, with nukes thrown in where possible. I used it on BLM/RDM, but SCH/RDM is probably better at it. The one major weakness is Depuration. If he uses that at a bad time, he could regen 20%. Just remember to watch for his TP moves and reapply Bio II on the final stairs if you see Depuration. It'll mess up the rhythm for a little while, but shouldn't really set you back if your timing is good. Oh yeah, and remember Alacrity Stoneskin and Reraise when you need it. Getting hit shouldn't be that much of an issue though if you have Gaiters.

Finally, use a Manifestation nuke to take out the last 2% so he doesn't die unclaimed.


On BLM/RDM, this strategy only changes in that you won't be getting MP back quickly enough to regularly pull him with T4 nukes. In that case, I just pull with Drain and mix in ES Poison IIs.

[Sumiko]

Thanks so much everyone!! Really detailed and helpful posts, I really appreciate it.

And gosh... I completely forgot that Scholar could use gaiters. ... Time to borrow some. XD

[Bregor]

belkinator - September 5th, 2008