13 replies to this topic

[Mend to the End]

I have done arah a lot.  I have earned over 20k tokens and have soloed lupi with my set up.  Whether you are new to Arah or a vet, this guide should help you.  You can really carry a group and this would be a great set up to have if you lead a guild group.  I usually take 1-4 first timers and rarely ever wipe at lupi even if the rest of the party dies.

Outside of the lupi fight I run Strife025's build.  
http://www.guildwars...guardian-build/

Here is my guide

Updated given the dungeon changes and my new set up is a lot better

Build
http://gw2skills.net...mlLLZWLCGEs/Y B
0
10 II
30 VI  IX  XI
30 II  V  VIII
0
Must have skills -  "Stand Your Ground!",  Renewed Focus
Other good skills to bring - "Retreat!", "Save Yourselves!", Wall of Reflection

Equipment

Before lupi to get precision stacks
Any weapon + Sigil of Perception

For Lupi

Scepter - Soldier or Knights + Sigil of Accuracy
Focus - Soldier or Knights + Sigil of Energy

Scepter or Sword - Soldier or Knights + Sigil of Accuracy
Shield - Soldier or Knights + Sigil of Energy

Armor/Trinket
Soldier or Knights + Soldier Runes x6
You can go with more offensive gear as you get comfortable but it is key that you have the highest toughness for aggro purposes

Consumables
Mixed Berry Pie
50% Chance to steal life on critical
+60 precision

Potent Potion of Undead Slaying
9% damage vs undead, -8% damage from undead, +10 Experience from kills

These aren’t the best but they are cheap and what I use.  You can get the best of each kind if you want.  I used to go with blood + accuracy + endurance food but the food doesn't stack with vigor.  I used the food since I revive and run away a lot so i had vigor up half the time but this new set up is far better regardless.

Skills and uses
Signet of Resolve - Use at 50% hp
"Stand Your Ground!" -  For kd at phase 1&2, dodge out of bubbles at phase 3
"Retreat!" - If you need a block
Renewed Focus - Panic button for phase 2.  Walk out of bubble at phase 3
"Save Yourselves!" - If you need endurance or protection/heals
Wall of Reflection - Help kill grubs during transition, help revive while aoe is not up, for damage at aoe in phase 2 & 3 (some can go over the wall so you will still need to dodge behind it still)
Focus 5 - Use during red circles for phase 2.  Use at phase 3 if you are trapped in a bubble and stand your ground and renewed focus are recharging
Shield 5 - Use during red circles for phase 2.  Use outside of the red circle at phase 3.

The Fight

Phase 1

• Stack
  
• Use sword/sheild set to attack grubs and locusts
  
• If you are kd by a grub use stand your ground or save yourselves to get up fast
  
• Once he starts phase 2 spread out, call target on grubs, use scepter 2 and 3 on grub

Phase 2

• Kill grubs first than range lupi
  
• If he is not following you focus on reviving people since you are the best equipped and get a shield to block sparks.  If the shield is still on recharge or he is in mid shadow walk to the downed person use retreat or virtue of courage to revive safely.  If you are the one being targeted by shadow walk lead him away from the downed/dead players and do not try to revive.  Only revive people downed next to lupi if he has used his aoe recently or if you have shield 5 available to protect the both of you from his aoe.
  
• Swap weapon sets between aoe attacks when you have used up 2 dodges and need another or when the red circles are about to appear and you need skill 5 on the other set
  
• Attacks and counters
  
  • Single spark - Dodge. If no endurance use Retreat or virtue of courage, Wall of Reflection, strafe and hope it misses as a last resort
    
  • Shadow walk - Dodge. If no endurance or need to revive someone being targeted by it use Retreat or virtue of courage.  If you are knocked down use Stand Your Ground and get away before he swipes at you.
    
  • Red circles - Use shield 5 immediately and stand there.  If shield 5 is used up use focus 5 and run away from the cirlces.  You can use Reteat or virtue of courage if both are recharging and feel like you won't need it for reviving or an extra block.  You can use Renewed focus but not when he is near 1/3 hp since you will need it for the bubbles and it will be on recharge.  You can use Wall of Reflection but some sparks can still fly over it and hit you so dodge once at least behind it when they are about to hit the ground.

Phase 3

• Lupi usually follows the highest toughness person this phase and does bubbles and a big red circles with sparks directly in front of him.  If you have multiple guardians or warrirors in the group stick with your shield unless you really need focus 5 for the bubble.  This will help keep aggro on you since the shield will add a lot of toughness given the stats on it and the trait.
  
• Do not revive during this phase if he is following you. Lead him away from the dead/down people and keep him busy while your team revives others.
  
• If you have full aggro which would be life steal and bubbles on you then stay in melee range so you don't have to deal with the single sparks since they miss in melee range
  
• Attacks and counters
  
  • Bubble – Quickly use stand your ground and dodge out or walk out with renewed focus and use virtues if not spent before it runs out.  If both are used up use focus 5 and retreat or virtue of courage and stand there.  If you don't have full aggro utilize focus 3 and keep your distance so you don't get as many bubbles
    
  • Red circle of sparks – Dodge once out.  Get away from the circle since it hits slightly past the circle too.  You can use shield 5 outside of the circle if close to block it all.  Use Wall of Reflection before you dodge out if you can do it fast or think he is about to use it soon if you are not fast
    
  • Big red circle of life stealing – Dodge once or twice if you are in melee range and swap weapons if you have full aggro
    
  • Single spark - You should be in melee range if this is on you but if not then dodge, retreat, virtue of courage, Wall of Reflection, strafe and hope it misses as a last resort
    
  • Life suck – Dodge twice.  Swap weapons mid attack if you have 1 dodge left or after to replenish a dodge

Videos

Tutorial


Melee only group


Solo fights with my setup

Giganticus Lupicus Guardian Melee Solo


Giganticus Lupicus Solo as Guardian with Scepter


I removed my old videos since they were using my older set up and were prior to the wp change patch.

Edited by Mend to the End, 31 March 2013 - 08:36 AM.

[HederaHelix]

Nice Guide.  I really want the Arah set of gear.  As a inexperienced player however it is terribly hard to find a group.  I hope one day I can find someone cool like you to teach me how to properly do this dungeon so I don't look like a chump.  I run a support Guardian but feel not as good at it as my Tanky Elementalist and Ranger that I normally bring to Arah.  This guide makes me want to try it though =)

[Mend to the End]

HederaHelix, on 04 January 2013 - 10:57 PM, said:

Nice Guide.  I really want the Arah set of gear.  As a inexperienced player however it is terribly hard to find a group.  I hope one day I can find someone cool like you to teach me how to properly do this dungeon so I don't look like a chump.  I run a support Guardian but feel not as good at it as my Tanky Elementalist and Ranger that I normally bring to Arah.  This guide makes me want to try it though =)

I go within 15min of daily reset and around reset + 5 hours most days.  If you are on a NA server you can pm  around then and I'll take you if I need another. My ign is Captain Tenneel.

[Geralt Romalion]

Pretty much the exact weapons, gear and tactics I use when doing Arah on my guardian.
Good guide.
I am surprised if guardians have trouble however, we just have such a huge amount of 'OSHT' buttons..

[lmaonade]

wall of reflection man! even if you don't trait for it, it's 10 seconds of reflect and not just block on a 40 second cooldown, perfect for taking lupi down even faster

Edited by lmaonade, 05 January 2013 - 06:04 AM.

[HederaHelix]

Hey sure that'd be great.  I love to learn =)  I'll PM ya soon.  Mine is Gwendolynne Wolfe. =)

[Goojilla]

lmaonade, on 05 January 2013 - 06:02 AM, said:

wall of reflection man! even if you don't trait for it, it's 10 seconds of reflect and not just block on a 40 second cooldown, perfect for taking lupi down even faster

Hey can you teach my wall of reflect is good against lupi? I can't figure out when to use it

[Mend to the End]

lmaonade, on 05 January 2013 - 06:02 AM, said:

wall of reflection man! even if you don't trait for it, it's 10 seconds of reflect and not just block on a 40 second cooldown, perfect for taking lupi down even faster

I tried wall before but didn't find it as useful as retreat.  Retreat blocks everything, let's me revive people targeted by shadow walk, let's party members survive longer as I give them a block if they are low if I don't need it badly at the time, gives me another panic button, and let's me stay mobile which is important for reviving and such.  Wall just blocks sparks, you have to stand there, and offers nothing to the team since you want to stay spread for this fight.  If I had a 4th utility slot I'd probably go with it since it is a good skill especially on phase 3 if you have full aggro. Retreat just suits my play style of helping the party out as best as possible.

[lmaonade]

Goojilla, on 05 January 2013 - 02:50 PM, said:

Hey can you teach my wall of reflect is good against lupi? I can't figure out when to use it

in the 2nd stage when Lupi hugs himself then releases his arms he's charging up his AoE bombard attack (where a bunch of red circles appear), just set your wall then and move back a bit, all 8 ish projectiles will reflect back at him.

Also in the 3rd stage, he'll occasionally use a move where he shuffles his hands back and forth and shoots a ton of projectiles in a medium sized circle (he'll aim the person who has the "aggro" so to speak), wall of reflection also reflects these and they also do a ton of damage back to him

Mend to the End, on 05 January 2013 - 06:35 PM, said:

I tried wall before but didn't find it as useful as retreat.  Retreat blocks everything, let's me revive people targeted by shadow walk, let's party members survive longer as I give them a block if they are low if I don't need it badly at the time, gives me another panic button, and let's me stay mobile which is important for reviving and such.  Wall just blocks sparks, you have to stand there, and offers nothing to the team since you want to stay spread for this fight.  If I had a 4th utility slot I'd probably go with it since it is a good skill especially on phase 3 if you have full aggro. Retreat just suits my play style of helping the party out as best as possible.

If retreat works better for you then that's good I'm just saying you can add that in as an option for other people, since this is a guide

and my team dynamic is a bit different from yours, I run with a regular guild team so they know I take wall of reflection and hide behind me whenever I use it haha

Edited by lmaonade, 05 January 2013 - 09:27 PM.

[Mend to the End]

lmaonade, on 05 January 2013 - 09:25 PM, said:

in the 2nd stage when Lupi hugs himself then releases his arms he's charging up his AoE bombard attack (where a bunch of red circles appear), just set your wall then and move back a bit, all 8 ish projectiles will reflect back at him.

Also in the 3rd stage, he'll occasionally use a move where he shuffles his hands back and forth and shoots a ton of projectiles in a medium sized circle (he'll aim the person who has the "aggro" so to speak), wall of reflection also reflects these and they also do a ton of damage back to him


If retreat works better for you then that's good I'm just saying you can add that in as an option for other people, since this is a guide

and my team dynamic is a bit different from yours, I run with a regular guild team so they know I take wall of reflection and hide behind me whenever I use it haha

Good point.  Originally when I used wall people would drop like flies since I only pug so I preferred retreat to keep lupi from resetting since I was often the last one in there.  I now only thankfully have 1-2 regulars that rarely go down and then fill the group up with Arah noobs since they are more pleasant and fun to play with so retreat is better for me.  My guide was mostly focused towards people that pug or want to start runs with their guilds.  I had a feeling you had a full consistent good group in which retreat would just be overkill.  I added your suggestion to my guide.  Thanks.

[zacharias]

Thanks so much for posting this!  I've been wondering about your build. You were nice enough to allow me to come along (on my war) even though I wasn't a noob and it was the fastest, easiest run I've done even compared to the 'elite', 'experienced only' groups.  And without the attitude that is prevalent in dungeons (especially Arah) so it was by far the most enjoyable too.  

Now I'm off to do this run with my guardian.

[Gwaine_Balinor]

Your build is exactly the same as mine.  My 7-9 are just arranged differently.  I've actually been using it for the last couple of weeks.  However, I don't have the same gear as you.  Need to save up for some superior runes and accessories.

Did my first runs in Arah today, actually did pretty good.   It's very easy to stay alive if you have good timing and know how to dodge.

[Mend to the End]

I'm offering some Arah noob runs at the main forum.  If you want a friendly run for your first go, failed a lot with pugs, or a guild that wants to get into arah go ahead and leave a post there.

https://forum-en.gui...rst#post1194453

[Perm Shadow Form]

I honestly Have no idea why people find this hard.
I remember doing this for the first time month or two ago with Greatsword and Staff.
My team didn't fail even once.