Episode 9.5 is here

• RebeccaBlack wrote on 2012-03-24 21:29
  That... is really unusual. Some people are getting very unlucky. Every party I've been in has done it with time to spare. Individually, there's not much you can do about it because it's a 24 player map, other than giving suggestions I guess.
• foreignreign wrote on 2012-03-24 22:06
  Tried it with spear Lann on accident (meant to use swords).
  
  ... honestly was not nearly as bad as I thought. Flamebreath is pretty easy to dodge unless the person it's focused on is running in the same direction you're in, but that only matters at close range. Farther away, it takes longer to get to you which gives time to get out of the way. Tail swipe is free hits, and as long as you see his charges coming, they're easy to dodge since you can just run to his sides, or if you're daring, you can run under him towards his tail and behind his back legs.
  
  LR -> Glide is pretty much key though, since it keeps you moving and more alert. Never did any spinning except when I was running to him, or when he was tail swiping (spun to get to a better position), and then glid ASAP to get out of spins.
  
  The hardest move to dodge is his fly backwards -> tackle attack, which you can dodge with distance. Sprint smash gets you out of the way from what I noticed, unless you don't see it coming until late. Sometimes you just don't make it though.
  
  Ended up at 3rd with... 8% something. Ended up doing ballista for like, the last 1/4th of the match though, since I ran out of pots, sadly. Died a total of 5-ish times, 7 tops.
• Oizen wrote on 2012-03-25 05:03
  I'm getting 5th a lot as Sword lann.
  
  all I can really say is aim for the front of the back legs. Never approach from behind, and good luck :|
• Aryiane wrote on 2012-03-25 13:12

  Quote from MareneCorp;818795:

  Don't worry, you're not missing out on much. Nobody can get in :|

  
  
  This... >:l
  
  

  Tried it with staff Evie. Didn't really like it. Firebolts can miss at close ranges, his firebreath (not fireball) pierces through Mana Amber and can still do damage even after breaking Mana Shields, no one else ever seems to get SP for Gravity (was sitting at four bars for a full like, 10 minutes at least) so I only get to use Regen, Blind Arrow is bleh unless he's down, so I really only get to cast Magic Arrow and... Ice Blast, and I have to pretty much Mana Amber everything

  
  
  And definitely this. I did it with staff the first try and I could hardly get any damage in so I was mainly just going around using corona, spamming magic arrow, and whenever he was down if I wasn't on the opposite side of the map(which I usually was...) I would throw in a few smashes like ice spear, firebolt and blind arrow. I tried scythe the second time by mistake because I was informed we were doing spiders but the party leader was like hey let's try getting into dragon(without telling me xD) but that was the best mistake I made all day. Scythe was definitely more fun than staff, I mean it sucks not having the luxury of setting up a corona whenever needed, and I died a few times in the beginning but I think I'll get the hang of it eventually.
• foreignreign wrote on 2012-03-25 22:46
  Yeah, Scythe Evie is nice in comparison to staff Evie since you can dodge everything Dragon throws at you, and the buff from the shelter makes it a lot easier to get attacks that aren't Hell Quake off. Only problem is making good use of Insane Reaper over Regen. Also it feels really easy to build up SP as scythe in there.
  
  Got to try it on sword Lann today. It was pretty fun, and not too bad at all. Only died 3 times, and Slip Dash works on all of his moves, provided you slip in the right direction. Best part about sword Lann is being able to dodge his freaking stupid rocks consistently, as well as his flying fireballs, which is great since it makes it easier to land ballista shots without having to worry as much. My only option to dodge the stones on Fiona is either run to a shelter or hope the stones don't go for me (when he does it on land). Trying to sprint smash or roll dodge the rocks is real tricky, although I haven't played as Fiona since Friday.
  
  The party I was in was terrible though... I ended up with 3rd place... with 11360 ATT on my swords. Ugh.
  
  So far, as far as fighting Dragon goes and which classes have it best out of the ones I've tried, I would say... Cestus Karok > Sword Lann/small shield Fiona > Large shield Fiona > Evie. Sadly can't try pillar Karok since I don't have a pillar.
• RebeccaBlack wrote on 2012-03-25 22:53
  Bunny hopping to the side at the right time always allowed me to dodge his rocks on Evie. They can't curve nearly fast enough to keep up before hitting the ground.
• Invertex wrote on 2012-03-25 23:21
  Oh, foreignreign. Just curious since I want to try Small Shield + Sword once the runs refresh. How do you tell his one hit normal charge apart from his two hit smash charge?
  
  (And I hate those rocks too... ;-;)
• foreignreign wrote on 2012-03-26 01:39
  Two hit smash charge is when he moves his head towards his far right. It's the one where he rams with his head. The normal is the claw swipe. If you're directly in front of him, the easiest way to tell the difference is if you see a lot of his neck.
  
  He can swipe with either front arm, but the tell is basically the same in both cases.
  
  Also, I'm starting to think sword Lann is top tier stuff in there, if only because Double Crescent easily reaches his arms during some attacks. Which is more than I can see for basically any other character. Finally got an Elchulus Spine after 12 runs.
• Invertex wrote on 2012-03-26 01:54
  Alright, thanks!
  
  And I just managed to only die once on my Lv. 40 Evie. Wooo ballistae~
  Really makes me wish more runs had more low levels. They can be really helpful.
• MareneCorp wrote on 2012-03-26 01:58

  Quote from Invertex;820765:

  Alright, thanks!
  
  And I just managed to only die once on my Lv. 40 Evie. Wooo ballistae~
  Really makes me wish more runs had more low levels. They can be really helpful.

  
  
  Low levels never really have the time for this kind of stuff.
  
  After almost every single run failing on all 4 of my characters, I threw the towel at Nexon. About 8+ hours of sitting there waiting and failing. Done with this game, the update is so disappointing.
• 0chocolachao0 wrote on 2012-03-26 02:09
  I'll have to admit that getting in is hard. But you're a shoe-in if you go in with a party. I've dont that a bunch, and I like, always get in!
  
  The Dragon is seriously fun to fight! I've got time a few things and memorize his patterns and such, but it's the most fun for me to do!
  
  Even though I'm not level 40 anymore, I still love being the one manning the ballistaes, repairing the forts when I can, and filling the ditches with water. Although, sometimes I get scolded for not using my DPS to my potential ;_;
• foreignreign wrote on 2012-03-26 03:15
  imo manning the ballista is just as important as doing break. Realistically, at best 1 person is going to get a dragon tear in the run.
  
  But if you get the breaks, especially the front claw breaks... that's anywhere from 10 to 20m. At least, for now. No idea where the prices are gonna go from here.
• Sora wrote on 2012-03-26 03:51
  So I just came back to try vindictus because they actually have PvP stuff and the dragon, except I can't seem to connect to the Dragon Server, and no one does the PvP stuff.
  
  I am disappoint.
• RebeccaBlack wrote on 2012-03-26 04:20
  So far I'm 5 for 5. The run on my Lann where I was on the ballista the whole time was a bit rough. We had like 5 minutes left.
  
  By the way, both Invertex and I took the ballista the whole run and didn't get much damage. I got .97% and she got something like .75%. So, ballista damage is awful.
• Invertex wrote on 2012-03-26 04:31

  Quote from RebeccaBlack;820914:

  So far I'm 5 for 5. The run on my Lann where I was on the ballista the whole time was a bit rough. We had like 5 minutes left.
  
  By the way, both Invertex and I took the ballista the whole run and didn't get much damage. I got .97% and she got something like .75%. So, ballista damage is awful.

  
  
  There was actually 10 minutes left. Which is pretty good by my standards (I'm 5/8).
  Still, that damage makes me think that.
  
  1. Shooting Elchulus out of the sky does NOT actually cause any damage directly.
  
  2. Shooting Elchulus does pretty pathetic damage.
  
  3. Perhaps the large damage numbers are from getting the breakoffs? Perhaps breaking off a part of his body causes him to sustain a large amount of damage.
  
  Also some Spear Lann got 32% that run (my excuse was that I was using a Lv. 40 Evie). Makes me wonder if Elchulus has some funny damage things like Lionotus.