Shadow Wizard Hard Solo: A Case Study on Massively Multi Aggro Handling

[Syrphid]

The difficulty of combat in Mabinogi can be roughly gauged by how many monsters will attack a player at once. A newbie learns to handle single aggro with fewer mistakes. Competent players will handle single aggro perfectly, whether their target has 1k hp or 50k hp, by relying on foolproof tactics such as icecounter and firemill; in chess we call it a solved game. As the aggro gets heavier, combat becomes less comfortable, as more variables come into play and worse case scenarios become increasingly dreary. Double aggro is decently handled with swipemilling. Triple aggro becomes more difficult, when it becomes possible for the player to be simultaneously rushed by three enemies. Quad aggro is where I think luck becomes a strong factor, where I begin to pray that the enemies stagger themselves so that I am not forced to swipe four enemies at once.

Handling anything above quad aggro by haphazardly swipemilling whatever gets close is already very hard. Throwing in ranged and magic attacks to pressure turtling and heavy stander to trip up pets makes it heroic suicide. Whether you’re soloing for your own pleasure or last man standing among the fallen, it’s a shame to die, so let’s not.

The key to juggling massively multi aggro lies in pet play. You can draw tons of aggro with your pet, and by unsummoning it, you scramble all that aggro, thus keeping most of them from ever aggroing yourself. In that way a 10x aggro situation might be reduced to quad aggro, a far easier game to win. Knowing what to swipe and how to move requires knowledge and planning. In this guide I’ll use shadow wizard hard as a case study.


Know your enemy

Check wiki, it’s great.
Defeat the Shadow Wizard

There are,
* Archers, multi
* Lancers, single
* Warriors, double
* Wizards, multi
* Horses, multi
* Grumbills, finicky single

> Grumbill (Orange) x8
> Shadow Warrior x4 + Shadow Wizard (F) x3
> Shadow Shire x2 + Shadow Archer (Average) x3 + Shadow Warrior x3
> Shadow Lancer (Heavy Armor) x3 + Shadow Archer (Average) x2 + Shadow Warrior x2
> Shadow Lancer (Heavy Armor) x3 + Shadow Archer (Average) x3 + Shadow Wizard (F) x3

Notice that grumbills spawn in their own wave. As single aggro they’re easily solved. The other monsters spawn together though, leading to massively multi aggro.

I’d say it takes about 4 seconds for any monster to acquire aggro. Horses run fast. Archers use ranged attack, and take 3~4 seconds to aim from across the field, but they are capable of sub-second zero shots (don’t approach an archer aiming at you!). Wizards have r5+ fb and heavy stander. All other targets are soft.


Hatch the master plan

I play a low hp build, and honestly I have no idea how much damage any of these monsters really do. Any one hit takes off all my hp. I can fire enchant myself so that wizard firebolts do nothing. Archers are really dangerous, yet so vulnerable because they lack melee/counter/wm, so I’ll prioritize swiping them. Horses are also dangerous because, running at the speed of thoroughbreds, they are not wm spammable with my glads. Warriors and lancers will 100% wound me if they hit me, but are otherwise not very dangerous. Wizards have heavy stander, which can trip up my pet. Their firebolt might actually help me survive though (by knocking me away from enemies after I get out of wm), so I’m not too worried about preventing that. If I eat a hit, I would prefer them in this order: wizard’s fb, horse, warrior/lancer/wizard melee, and lastly and worst, archer.


Swipe priority, it seems that I should swipe enemies in this order:

1. Archers done aiming
2. Horses with melee
3. Horses with smash
4. Warriors/lancers with melee
5. Warriors/lancers with smash
6. Wizards with melee
7. Archers not done aiming
8. Wizards with firebolt

I will also need to keep track of which enemies are targeting me, and which are targeting my pet. Having a pet swipe its own pursuers is a good way to chop off your third hand. Since lancers are single but warriors are double, I should prioritize swiping warriors over lancers.


Swipe numbers

Archers react no differently to one swipe or two swipe. One swipe will suffice.

Wizards should be swiped sparingly, as they can ping against any strike.

If I need space, I should only one swipe warriors, lancers and horses, which has a decent chance of causing them to skill instead of immediately pursuing my pet. Two swipe will be useful to lure close quarters.


Equipment, which stats to emphasize?

I will be doing nothing but wm’ing. I can slip in random smashes but only when the going is easy, so smash damage isn't important. I should gear up to wm. Flat 30% crit and max dmg. Full fire enchants.


Execute

Here’s what my attempts look like so far. I didn’t fire enchant when I recorded these clips so wizard firebolts were killer. I also died a lot; my play is far from perfect. Hopefully I'll be able to get better vids up, but til then, enjoy. :)

[Zid]

Nice. I think you're right; just practice until you get it perfect. Not every combat situation in Mabinogi will be perfected the first time.

There was a Chinese player (with like... 9000+ total lvl) who soloed "Defeat the Shadow Wizard" Hard difficulty without death in 37 minutes.






Of course, he has high ranking Ice Spear, Blaze, and Awakening of Light, but still...

[Syrphid]

Nice. I think you're right; just practice until you get it perfect. Not every combat situation in Mabinogi will be perfected the first time.

There was a Chinese player (with like... 9000+ total lvl) who soloed "Defeat the Shadow Wizard" Hard difficulty without death in 37 minutes.

YouTube - Mabinogi Shadow Mission - Defeat the Shadow Wizard HARD Solo in 37 minutes - Part 1

Of course, he has high ranking Ice Spear, Blaze, and Awakening of Light, but still...

I think any real attempt at soloing shadow wiz hard would rely on hybrid play. Ice Spear is really powerful at controlling aggro. Impressive vid. :)

[Yogurticecream]

lol I was thinking about bringing your guides yesterday but I was too tired after transferring a couple of guides over.
Feeling a bit embarassed for not checking ><

[Syrphid]

lol I was thinking about bringing your guides yesterday but I was too tired after transferring a couple of guides over.
Feeling a bit embarassed for not checking ><

I know I took a while getting my guides over; I was going to edit them but didn't have time, and I was afraid someone would move them for me. Didn't really surprise me that you didn't notice.

It's all good. :)

[Ninjam]

I think i already had one of your guides up in my guide comp, but im not sure with how fast ive been needing to update. Ill add this one and others a bit later, gota eat and stuff first.

[Zid]

I forgot to add in the other 3 parts of the video. >.> Fixed now.