Dark Chamber V
Mauismom
Posts: 1 ✭✭
I have a question for Aurors riding the Knight bus to team up in DCV. When you transfer focus to a Professor, how would you prefer the Professor to use that focus - to hex your death eaters and dark wizards, or charm you?
I start every challenge with 4 focus, so my typical strategy is to charm myself first, then start hexing the toughest foes as the focus adds up. But I’m wondering if the same 3 focus might be better used charming aurors early on?
thanks!
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Comments
@Mauismom I am not an auror (I am a professor and magizoologist), but I do know the opinion of the aurors in my team. If they passed you focus and you did that, they would black list you and hop out of any lobby they saw you in!
Det hex is a last resort when the professor has extra focus, as a rule.
There are two main schools of thought - proficiency first or shields first. The aurors in my team prefer shields first, or it puts too much strain on the magizoologist to revive them. Generally, this is how we play:
AAAMP
1. All aurors send 2 focus to professor.
2. Professor shields 3 aurors.
3. High erklings are confused, spiders weakened.
4. Focus is gathered and passed to professor and magi. Proficiency and bravery go up.
5. Professor shields themselves.
6. Professor shields the magizoologist.
7. Professor hexes anything with extta focus.
This can change if it is a beast or curiosity heavy board, and we might do the other two shields before proficiency. Also, things might be delayed because it is essential that the magizoologist stays above 5 focus.
AAPPM
1. Auror A sends 2 focus to Professor A. Professor A shields both aurors (not themselves).
2. Auror B sends 3 focus to Professor B. Professor B casts proficiency.
3. Next, Professors shield themselves when they have enough focus.
4. Det hex only after all players are shielded.
All of this requires aurors to pass focus, of course. But if one of our aurors passed focus and you didn't either shield them or cast proficiency, you would be ignored for the rest of the battle. Our primary magizoologist (not me, though I would be tempted) would put you in the naughty corner and not bother reviving you, if you didn't play for the team.
I am sure one of our aurors will weigh in shortly on this!
Can I ask you a question, @Mauismom? Why have you used the det hex strategy so far? Also, how much do you know about the different professions? I am just wondering if there is anything we can teach you or help you understand a little better. That might help you think about the battle in a different way.
Also, thank you for reaching out and asking these questions. I know that my group actually does like seeing people asking questions and trying to learn.
🤔
thats a typical solo game play. i think
once got a team of AAAPM and the professor never give proficiency charm nor shield. how sad
The hex is only 40 dmg, pretty low amount for a dark V, it's kinda a waste of focus if you can cast other spells. Unless you need to tank a difficult foe and need hex to trigger your passives, but this is very situational.
Proficiency first or shield first... Imo it depends on the enemies you face and the group composition. But when in doubt... Use shields. Shields are always safe.
I usually shield first Aurors and myself 1st. Especially if in Dark V, Professors and Aurors don't last long vs hight * enemies. My strategy changes, depending on the quality of the other players in the Bus. If no focus is being sent my way, I shield myself first. If there are more targets for a certain profession spawning, that profession gets the shield first. There are so many factors to adapt to... but hexing is ALWAYS the last thing that you do, in higher level challenges.
If you can't adapt to the playstyle of others, there is a higher chance of failure in the Bus, especially since there is no form of communication, unless you are with a group that you know and have an external chat set up with.
Auror 15 and Prof 14 here.
Imo Proficiency first always, but the shields should come not much later,
As auror I start with 4 focus, and pass 3 to the first Prof on the left, then I cast confussion on the dude im going to fight to survive that fight. I usually get the shield after 1 or 2 battles this way.
I keep giving focus to that same prof until I got my shield and then give focus to the magy to get anti elites and start fighting those.
in a 20 mob chamber Im usually defeating 6-7 of them.
@Flacoman when you say you confuse the dude you’re about to fight after passing initial focus, are you confusing death eaters? If so, confusion doesn’t do anything for DEs. You may already know this, but too many times in D5, I’m seeing confusion on DEs. I thought it was worth commenting.
Oh sorry, I was talking about Weakening hex (I said I use it to survive), Got those mixed because my game is in spanish and my english is not very good.
@Flacoman fair enough! I know there are some things that don't always translate well from other languages. Makes sense now.
When AAAMP happens (I'm P). Is it better to try shielding all 3 As prior to proficiency? I have difficulty with this, especially when I'm not being passed focus. I'll get shields on everyone eventually, but if a single A is passing, and the other 2 aren't, I've no way of telling who's the team player, and therefore no idea who to throw that initial shield to first.
@Grumkin it can be really hard to tell. The only thing I can sometimes tell is if one or two aurors jump into a foe right away while someone is still passing me focus. Helps me narrow down who passed and who didn't. And I shield appropriately based on that info. But that's just in the initial seconds of the battle. Sometimes between foes, I might see myself getting focus and again will look to see who's engaged, and who isn't to know who is passing.
Auror with a magic wife speaking. Proficiency first! Then shield yourself, after that the magis. Aurors last. And when that is done, use your hex for your enemies, not ours. We're fine. ;)
Proficiency really speeds up the all battles, so I want it early.
The shield on yourself is double effective, as it also enhances your passive. With shield and enough passives active (Aurors just need to confuse werewolves and Pixies) you take no damage anymore.
The magi also takes no damage when shielded. No need for the Aurors to weaken any spiders. (No need anyway because the magi has bonus defense versus spiders.)
This reduces the magis need to heal/revive to the Aurors.
Aurors are advised to weaken DEs and DWs and to confuse DWs, Pixies, Werewolves and most importantly Erklings!
Yes, this tactics imply that Aurors are revived in the early game. That's fine, Aurors just should give back that single focus to the Magic.
P.S.: the Det Hey is 80, not 40 damage because it also occurs when the enemy is attacking. Nevertheless IMHO it's not worth 3 focus without the bonus from the professors passives
@ValdarX It is always interesting to see different people's playing styles. I must say, as a professor and a magi, there is no point casting proficiency to gain focus faster if the magi is spending it all trying to revive aurors who have been knocked out every five seconds. That is why I prioritise auror shields above my own as well - aurors go down quicker.
As for confusing pixies, please don't. Not unless:
A) It is a non professor taking the pixie
B) The professor needs their passives to kick in
C) There is nothing else to spend your focus on.
Pixies don't dodge professors, not high level ones, at least. Confusion is essential for 5 star erklings (even as a Level 14 magi, they dodge me), and is great for breaking down the defence breach on fierce werewolves. But for a maxed professor, confusion on a pixie is a waste of focus.
I need my 4 star erkling also get a confuse hex.
Pretty pleaseee
@Magpie31 proficiency is not only for gaining focus faster, but it also saves some spell energy and speeds up the battle on general - which is good when riding the knight bus with people of unknown Teamplay skill.
Elite buff is not that important to be early on, I prefer just taking a different enemy and let the elites wait. Oh, and I also prefer an AAMMP Team - one Magi can revive Aurors and the other one can build up focus for the elite buff. Aaaaaand the two Magis can revive each other :D
Yes, Aurors go down quite quick in DCV - at least compared to the other professions. But it's not that bad. Usually I can knout out two foes before the third one knocks me out right at the start. That's usually okay and even not being revived does not fail the fight. A second revival is mostly not needed or at a very late stage of the battle when enough focus is available.
Thanks for the hint not to confuse Pixies :)
@ValdarX You are welcome. And I am sure there are professors out there who like a confusion on their pixies (probably helps with fierce pixies who can punch quite hard!), but for a lot of us, when considering priorities, pixies are pretty low.
Good point on proficiency, but the aurors I know (and we are talking maxed aurors) tend to go down during the first foe with no shield. I try to take my lead from the aurors in the group where possible. The ones I play with regularly prefer shields first.
2 magis is really nice, and I find it is a lot less pressure because the two of you are catching people at different times. I don't like playing with less than 2 aurors because not enough focus gets passed around.
Different things for different people, though. As long as people are thinking about the team play as a whole, rather than jumping in and just det hexing their own foes, it is all good!
@Magpie31 after some testing, I think you're right with shielding the Aurors first. At least before the Magis. Depending on how fast the Magi with the elite buff is and whether there are enough foes for the Prof, maybe even Aurors before Professors. Need to max my professor first to test this from a professor's point of view.
And sure are we talking about maxed professions ;)
Btw: for the first battle, I prefer DEs over DWs because they only need the weakening hex. As I usually pass three focus to a professor, I can't attack DWs efficiently.
And I never go down on my first 5* DE. But I do actually towards the end of the second one, depending on crit hits. So my above comment seems to be too optimistic.
Thanks for this strategy discussion. I'm a max Professor but until the Knight Bus didn't have anyone to battle with so hadn't learned the strategies for battling in a group. Since reading this I've taken on 2 Dark Vs with teams and beat them with ease.
Hey I am a maxed out professor who has been hexing, and I didn’t realize that this might have frustrated people. Thanks for this wonderful guide analysis. I will be shielding from now on.
Thank you for all the responses to this post. I’m a maxed magi and I play solo, so the bus changed things for me. I now understand a lot more about the strategies I’m seeing after reading this. So thank you again for the posts, and keep them coming!
i always drink a buff, cast my elite spell, then keel a few spiders and look for who to revive or heal. I never knew how the shielding worked, so that makes sense now.
proficiency -> shield aurors -> shield magi if 1 otherwise prof if more -> finish shielding every1 then start det hexing everything.
aurors pass focus to prof(s) and hex what's needed (confusion for 5* erkls/dw's/ww's, weakeness for 4-5* de's, 5* spiders if 1 magi etc) then after all the things left in the board are det hexed 5/23 etc) double hex everything so that prof(s) become immortal and they can help with deficient stuff. Meanwhile auror(s) 1st strike everything and leave, yeah person getting in proficient thing after will get 'slapped' but we've saved 1 SE for them per foe. Aurors stay outside and throw bbh at everything. With everything det hexed bbh does 43 plus another 40 everytime foe hits teammate= 83 damage per turn. (if there's no proficient stuff left for auror(s)).
Magi does brav at 11-12 focus unless the board starts w 4-5/5 foes elite, then if you have 2 or more aurors 1/# passes 3 focus to magi for quick brv. otherwise the potionless run is broken and magi takes a strong invig.
That's the strategy my group and I are using and we've not lost a rune yet, sometimes we even finish with 5-6 mins on the clock.
Thanks for the insight to you all! I’m a professor (aaalmost maxed) and mostly solo fortresses, but DCV is just too rough alone. Since I’ve never played with friends, I’ve never known amything about the other professions, so I didn’t know how to be a good team mate. I have started shielding and will do better from now on :-)
When you charm yourself first I automatically think you are selfish af and won't share anymore focus with you. I give 3 focus for prof before engaging the first foe because they need 7 for proficiency, and best profs wait that i give them the 3 and cast proficiency before they engage their first foe. Then I'll try to down many enemies as fast as I can so they get shields up for everyone and magi could do bravery and i hex as many enemies as I can, firstly erks and wolves with confusion and spiders with weakening, and the one I'm battling myself with whatever it needs. Det hex comes last in my opinion and dark wizards and pixies don't need them at all, except maybe elites.
I am a professor. The only times I ever failed DCV is when I experimented with "shields first" or when I got stuck with. 2 freeloaders. Time is the biggest enemy; DPS is your greatest ally.
Never do DCV without at least 1 member of each profession (and preferably 2 aurors) and you should never need to use a potion to win it. AMMMP is hard, but do-able. AMMP is easier. AMPPP is also a pain, AMPP is easier. AAAMP may actually be easier than a "more balanced" AMMPP. Any team of 5 is still better than a team of 3. I've done DCV wihout a magi once, but it cost me quite a few potions; it was during an event that required a lot of potions to be used, so I didn't mind.
When aurors give me focus to start, I usually finish DCV with 3 minutes or more to spare. If they are stingy and I need to wait for 3 enemies to be defeated, (usually about 1-2 minutes) it will be a lot closer and I may end up needing to use a potion or two. Aurors are less likely to get shields at all if I never get focus from them.
I usually shield myself before magis since I get an attack boost and magis can usually handle themselves for a while. They have a lot of bulk to and can heal themselves when they need to. I'll shield a magi before myself if they are not maxed and struggling.
I'll shield aurors before myself if there is only 1 magi. If there are 2 magi, I'll shield myself first for the attack bonus; 2 magi will have plenty of focus between them to keep everyone healthy until I can give shields out.
Det. hex is only cast after everyone is shielded. Once in a while I'll get to a point with only a couple of opponents left, everyone is at high health and not everyone has shields (it can happen with stingy aurors and multiple magis.) I may use det. hex on the final opponent(s) instead of shielding the last magi.
As a prof, I like to get 3 focus from aurors early so I can cast proficiency as early as possible. I hate seeing aurors give another prof. focus at the start for them to squander it on themselves; it gives all profs. a bad rap. Also aurors, PLEASE cast confusion on wolves; a 5 star wolf at the start will take me out if I have nothing but proffiency. Pixies can't dodge maxed professors; they go down fast. And aurors, don't forget to keep bat-bogggie hexing the last opponent. If they have det. hex on them you do 40+ damage every 6 seconds which will save some time and save your teammate an energy or three.
If there is only 1 magi, I expect them to save their focus for revive and bravery and to heal themselves not to heal me. I also don't expect to get bravery until an elite appears or enough foes have gone down that the magi has focus to spare.
BTW, calling yourself a "healing specialist" as an excuse to never spend any energy is just another name for "freeloader". You can jump out of battles after 3-5 hits to check if anyone needs a revive. Actually, everyone can jump in for 3-5 hits to weaken something you are weak against and jump out to check if a better foe showed up. Everyone needs to spend energy from start to end. That also means that you also aren't done just because you took out 5 pixies from 25 foes, you are done when the team is done, not before.
There's the general plea from Magizoologists too for people not to be despondent about not being healed straight away- it's much cheaper to revive you (1 focus for 70-100% health) than to heal (2 focus for what is it 25-35% ?)
It's not uncommon to see someone sitting almost dead seeming to be waiting to be healed (or almost as bad, quaffing potions to stay alive) when we're there and able to help out but just wanting something to knock you out first to make it cheaper and easier.
Always think about the Team. All of you.
1. 3 focus to Prof, Prof casts Proficiency
2. If possible, 1-3 focus to Magi
3. Rule of the thumb: shield the lonely one first or he/she will wait in combat (or faint fast).
4. Faint
As said many times. It is more efficient then waiting for the healing. Waiting loses time, healing loses more focus, and gives less stamina.
5. Don't wait too long.
If there's no foe for your proficiency, engage one for a few hits. (Especially aurors with first strike)
6. If fighting a long combat, consider to step out, have a look, hex/heal what you can (afford), let the team rearrange who fights which foe.
7. Endgame is when less foes remained than team members.
In the endgame, all foes should have all hexes. Redistribute the focus to profs and magis (if they are fighting) if needed. Aurors keep damage the foes in fight. And every foe should be fought by a profession with proficiency against them (except extreme scenarios, e.g. 4 spiders remaining)
Bonus: I use damage/heal skill between my moves (hex, charm, battle). It costs 0 focus, it takes 1 second to do it, 5 seconds to reload, it deals/heals minimal amount but can be helpful.
@Xenomer Good summary, but I think a couple of your Magizoologist points are a touch off - an upgraded Magizoologist starts on 5 focus , which is where the major boost comes in (something like +40 power I think) and there's a +10 from being over 50%, so it's not that they're useless when dropping below half health.
The proficiency helps but doesn't change effectiveness against spiders - with a shield charm Magizoologists are invulnerable as long as their focus is at least 5 and when fully upgraded the defence against spiders is good so that might have been an aside comment.
There's a lot of immediate demand on the aurors for focus, and it is handy if early healing is needed, but I'd rather the aurors spent those 1-3 on confusing werewolves (which will shred a professor with high defence penetrating attacks) and erklings (which dodge like politicians) - they can be careful to not confuse things that don't need it, ie never confuse spiders, and don't do the weakening hex (can't remember the name) to reduce the attack of erklings early on as the key is to stop them dodging.
1 focus to revive someone (if not the lone Magizoologist) is probably cheaper than hexing enemies to keep them alive
Great advice here!
I am a maxed Auror. It does bug me a bit when I see other Aurors wasting their hexes on foes that can't use them.
It doesn't take too long to learn.
Here is a chart...
...But only do pixies if non-professor is battling and only do dark wizards if non-auror is battling.