Boatman wrote on Jan 30
th, 2011 at 6:08am:
I've run the Shroud a few times now, enough to know what I'm supposed to be doing as a DPS player, but with all the Pally button mashing, I've never really had time to pay attention to what the casters are doing. I don't really want to waste eleven other people's time by being unprepared, and most of the guides I can find tend to be chaotic, old or sarcastic enough that I'm not sure how right they are. So, this is a rather long and wordy post, and maybe you'll think I'm an idiot for having to ask. That's fine: I'd rather be an idiot here and know the answers than the idiot who just screwed up a Shroud run.
Start: Buffs. Resist Fire, Haste, Rage, GH. Others on request?
Part 1: Roam around killing trash with WoB to prevent portal keeper spawning. Kill portal keepers on appearance.
Part 2: Disco ball in the south centre, WoB trash. Help prep bosses, get to the centre and break the crystal when the shield drops. (Firewall plus a polar ray / disintegrate?)
Part 3: Solve puzzles. Knock locks if anybody needs help. Carry water if not.
Part 4: Disco Ball on trash. Throw damage at Harry. Kill gnolls if they appear.
Part 5: Re buff, kill lieutenants, help kill Harry.
Also, I'm not really specced for single-target nuking. Being a mostly solo'd build, I went for Ench/Necro Archmage, and my Polar Rays aren't going to impress anybody at the moment. I've maxed out the Fire/Ice enhancement lines, but I don't have a damage-boosting item better than a Sup Pot VI sceptre. Do Freeze VIII clickies exist?
TL;DR - Casting n00b. What's expected of me in the Shroud?
First things first, get flagged, very important step. I cannot explain how significant this step is, it is just that monumental.
Only buffs you need, haste and rage. You CAN use fire resist if there are no paladins or rangers. I mean really, what the hell are they doing with the blue bars, right? Also, GH? WTF, comes on a belt and a necklace. Tell em to use the charge. If they dont have one, tell them when they get one, they will appreciate it all the more.
What you have for PT 1 is almost correct. If portalkeepers spawn, throw dd's everywhere then telly out.
PT 2 was said, but I will clarify. Think of it when you were on your paladin, what would of made all that trash in a big pile faster to kill? That's right, mass hold. Just throw 3 firewalls on the crystal after the first name goes down. It will die almost instantly.
PT 3 your job is to learn how to do all the puzzles quickly in your head. At a glance and you should be able to do them, maybe 2 glances if you are just above retarded, like 75~90 on the IQ scale. Always run your own water before helping noobs that refuse to learn how to a simple fucking 3x3, and the even easier 4x4. Almost all noobs pull up a solver for the 5x5, so dont worry about it so much. After doing peoples puzzles for them, mock and ridicule them. Also, for those that CAN do their own puzzles, go in and fuck em up. Just cuz you can. Also, grease people, grease their puzzles, grease them when they run near a rune and trigger it while healing yourself. The goal is to kill them. The trick, you cannot use any kind of item or spell that would make you immune to grease or sleetstorm.
PT 4 is wrong. Never use disco ball, in fact, get rid of the stupid spell. Mass hold the trash then grease it. If it goes for 2 rounds then throw a dd up on the melee and say I am out of here, fuck you gimp retards, then telly out.
For part 5, haste and rage, then GO! Fuck any other buff. If they need a fire, hit up the ranger or paladin. If there are no rangers or paladins, or the ones in their are to fucking retarded to have resist loaded, relieve the burden from the clerics and fire resist everyone. Only under those 2 circumstances though. Just throw a fresh haste and rage for harry and then polar ray the shit out of him. Noone knows you dont have potency so dont worry about it. When you do get potency then you can think to yourself, "nice, I do more dmg". Also, superior freeze 8 comes on a belt in ToD and Bastion of power called Telvi's Sash.
Remember, save the last 100 sp or so to grease the fuck out of everyone when harry gets down to 10%.
This is the official be an ass and yet useful strategy guide for casters in the shroud.
PS- whenever I say grease I mean either grease or sleet storm or whatever you use to annoy the shit out of people.