Solo Trapper build for faction farming in Zaishen Challenge
Or, how to slaughter mesmers for fun and profit.
[EDITED 4/25 to correct errors]
This is a method I’ve developed for quickly and easily earning 1000 faction every day in the Zaishen Challenge area, all by yourself (with henchies). All it requires is an open PvP slot and a few thousand faction if you haven't already unlocked the requisite skills. If you don’t have the faction needed, you can earn it quickly by creating the prebuild IVEX trapper and joining along with trapper groups in Zaishen Challenge. Remember that your faction maxes out at 1k per day, so playing beyond this earns no further faction. Once you have 1k faction buy your Dust trap, and then the other stuff as you’re able to afford it. I’m also happy to team up with you and show you how it’s done – if you see either Eva Alexandria or Marquessa Adraea online, those are my solo-farm trappers.
Attributes –
Max out both Expertise and Wilderness Survival, and put the extra into Beast Mastery. You won't be using a bow, so you need no marksmanship.
Traps –
You only really need three traps - Dust trap, plus the two you start out with when creating an IVEX trapper (Barbed, Flame). You could also bring Spike if you have it, but crippling the mesmers mean they don't run back into your traps as frequently.
I bring and use healing spring to ensure the mesmers don't miraculously manage to whack me or my henchies.
Spirits –
You have to have Energizing Wind, Quickening Zephyr and Frozen Soil. Three shall be the number of your spirits – no more, no less.
Other Skills – Take Serpent’s Quickness. Don’t bother with a res sig, or any attack skills.
Equipment –
Use a staff which provides the largest energy bonus possible. +15 energy is ideal, but even +10 should work just fine. If you’re creating a PvP character, be careful to select a staff instead of the bow! You need the energy and won’t have the marksmanship for a bow anyway. It doesn’t matter what else the staff does beyond and energy bonus, so it can be for any profession.
Strategy –
You will take all henchies except the healer. Click to enter the mission but don’t accept the defaults! For the arena, choose D'Alessio Arena (think it’s the 2nd or 3rd on the list), which ensures that your opponents will all arrive (and hit your traps) at the same time. Your opponent must be the illusionary weapon group (mesmers).
You will be in constant motion once you enter the arena, because you have to do all the trapping and spirits yourself. If you’re ever standing there doing nothing for more than 2 seconds from the beginning to the end, you’re doing something wrong. Be careful to do the following exactly as I’ve laid out:
1 – Immediately activate EW and then QZ spirits.
2 – Run straight forward to the door. Hit your Serpent’s Quickness, and then immediately drop all three of your traps – I drop the two inexpensive ones first, and Dust Trap last. Then hit your FS spirit.
3 – FS takes a long time to cast, so your inexpensive traps will now be fully recharged. Hit them again, and after they cast you’ll be able to hit Dust Trap a second time, followed by yet another barbed and flame. Then throw the healing spring up if you want (not 100% necessary, I think).
4 – As soon as the mesmers first hit your traps, call target on any mesmer, doesn’t matter which. This signals your henchies to attack that target and finish him off. Once that mesmer dies, target another one. Make sure there is always a mesmer targeted until they’re all dead. Let the henchies do all the running and chasing. Just keep calling targets and dropping more traps, because the fleeing mesmers will always turn back around and run right back into your traps again and again. The only rare exception is when a single surviving mesmer will sometimes flee and climb up the bluff. This is the ONLY case where you’ll ever have to leave the door and hunt a mesmer down.
I’ve never done a web search to see if there is a quicker or better way to farm than I’ve outlined above, but I can guarantee this as a foolproof method for quick daily faction-earning.
Paul
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