Request for white paper

[LochnarITB]

I would greatly appreciate a writeup of "Kiting for fun and profit" by one of our resident pros, be they mage or hunter or ? I would tend to trust the info from authors here more, but if you have a really good link for such a guide, that would also be appreciated.

Some of us just failed the king/tribute portion of a DM north run. When we got to the final battle, I found out I was supposed to kite the observer. I had never kited before, at least not to the best of my knowledge (maybe I actually have but didn't know that was what it was). I had always taken it to mean to slow the baddie and then move around to keep him at a distance, letting dots do damage without them touching the player. Actually, in the observer's case it was to not kill him but keep him out of the battle with the king. However, as soon as he was at distance he blasted me with fireballs and up close he pounded on me. Specifics for this would be good too but would mostly appreciate a general how-to guide.

[Alram]

With my level 55 frost mage I kite all the time when playing solo. I will not state that my way is the absolute best; this is how I do it, and it works. I can kite and kill single mobs 2 levels above me.

Ice armor should be active.
1. Open with frostbolt.
2. Continue with multiple frostbolts until the mob is too close for me to get off another. This number will vary depending on several factors. If a mob freezes in place (frostbite talent) I might never need to do anything else.
3. When the mob is too close for me to get off another frostbolt, frost nova.
4. Move sideways a bit. This is faster than moving backwards, and you will still be able to hit the mob with any spell that requires you to be facing the mob.
5. Fire off another frostbolt.
6. Fireblast as you move away from the mob now heading towards you.
7. The next steps depend on how much life the mob has and how much mana you want to expend vs how many hits you want to take.
7a. IAE while staying just out of melee range, cone of cold, more IAE.
7b. Arcane misiles while you hold your ground.
7c. Cone of cold. Keep moving away. When cooldown for frost nova is over, frost nova again. Lather, rinse, repeat.
8. At any point during the cycle if the mob freezes in place, hit it with another frost nova. This will slow the mob after the nova wears off, and also the chance to crit when a mob is frozen is very good due to the talent build.

I cannot speak to how hunters do it, and you do not state what class your character is, so I hope this helped.

[Skandranon]

Some of us just failed the king/tribute portion of a DM north run.  When we got to the final battle, I found out I was supposed to kite the observer.  I had never kited before, at least not to the best of my knowledge (maybe I actually have but didn't know that was what it was).  I had always taken it to mean to slow the baddie and then move around to keep him at a distance, letting dots do damage without them touching the player.  Actually, in the observer's case it was to not kill him but keep him out of the battle with the king.  However, as soon as he was at distance he blasted me with fireballs and up close he pounded on me.  Specifics for this would be good too but would mostly appreciate a general how-to guide.
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Alram has provided a good overview of the basics of standard kiting-to-kill as a general and applicable tactic. Kiting Cho'rush is quite another thing, however, and requires different tactics. It's also quite a bit more difficult.

In any case, even a general guide to kiting wouldn't really help you with Cho'rush, because kiting him is a tactic I devised in about two minutes when I found myself in a tribute run with a pally MT and no offtanks. I can't claim to be the only one who does it, but I can say that I've never heard anyone else call for it or mention it as something to do. In any case, it's less obvious than other tactics and you shouldn't be "expected" to pull it off.

At the beginning of the King fight, throw your highest damage spell at Cho'rush and immediately start running away. Once you reach flat ground, blink away. If you've been designated to kite, your party won't be attacking Cho'rush, so you don't need to wait to find out if you have aggro - you do. Start running. His first spell is going to go off and hit the main tank, but your objective is to be 40+ yards away from Cho'rush before that spell goes off. That way, he'll either start casting and interrupt it to chase you, or just chase you. It's an instance, so he won't break off. Keep running.

Cho'rush is slightly faster than you, as are most mobs, so soon he'll close to about thirty yards and start casting. When he does, counterspell him, then blink and run again. If he ever gets to melee range, mana shield until your blink cooldown is up, then blink out again. Don't stop running.

If you run out of space, you may have to end up kiting him back the other way. If you do, wait for your counterspell cooldown, then turn and run towards him. About a second and a half into his casting, counterspell him, then get very close and blink past him to continue the kite. Kite him back and forth in this manner until the King goes down. Don't worry if you die, unless you only have a druid healer. The point is to keep Cho'rush tied up.

[LochnarITB]

Alram: Thanks. That is basically how my fights go (I am an ice mage as well). I generally haven't done the move to the side thing though. It seems that, more often than not, I'm in an area with other baddies and I pick them up easier off to the sides. I tend to want to pull the baddie straight back out the way I came in since I have just cleared that area.

Skan: Interesting. Mishian had said that you kited the observer but didn't have any more details. It now makes more sense on how to make it work. One question though. When you start running, are you running back out the hallway we come in, running in the area where the large dog pack was or running around the flat ground outside the king battle circle? If the latter, are there other baddies there to keep an eye out for and do the ones standing around the far outside ring ever become close enough to aggro?

[Skandranon]

One question though.  When you start running, are you running back out the hallway we come in, running in the area where the large dog pack was or running around the flat ground outside the king battle circle?

Straight back all the way to the door that was opened by way of rogue, seaforium, truesilver key, or Inner Door Key. You need about 80-100+ yards of straightaway running space in order to make this work, since if you're anywhere within fifteen yards Cho'rush *will* constantly hit you with spells and melee attacks. Running around in circles in an area as small as the place where the dogs were simply does not give you enough clearance to kite him successfully.

[Quark]

Just a warning: I'm not sure of the distance for looting, so this may cause lost credit on the King. Unless he drops mage loot I'm not remembering, that shouldn't be a big concern. You want the tribute chest :)

[Skandranon]

Just a warning: I'm not sure of the distance for looting, so this may cause lost credit on the King.  Unless he drops mage loot I'm not remembering, that shouldn't be a big concern.  You want the tribute chest :)
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If you're all the way at the end of the hall, it's possible, but you'll probably have looped back at least once by the time the King dies.

[LochnarITB]

If you're all the way at the end of the hall, it's possible, but you'll probably have looped back at least once by the time the King dies.
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And, since this doesn't seem to me to be the preferred way to do it, I would hope to not even have to find out if credit would be lost. However, it is good to have the tactic in mind if the need presents itself due to lack of a hunter.

[Skandranon]

And, since this doesn't seem to me to be the preferred way to do it, I would hope to not even have to find out if credit would be lost.  However, it is good to have the tactic in mind if the need presents itself due to lack of a hunter.
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Yeah, it's definitely at the bottom of the list of options to deal with Cho'rush. A hunter, a pally offtank, a druid offtank if you have a priest, even a warlock pet are all better, easier, and less messy ways to do it.

[oldmandennis]

The real question is "Why?" Why would anyone ask the mage to handle the observer? Is there any class other then a priest less capable of doing this? At a minimum, the described tactic is unreliable and requires doing extra pulls to give him room to work.

I am stunned that anyone has done this enough to figure it out.

[Treesh]

The real question is "Why?"  Why would anyone ask the mage to handle the observer?  Is there any class other then a priest less capable of doing this?  At a minimum, the described tactic is unreliable and requires doing extra pulls to give him room to work.

I am stunned that anyone has done this enough to figure it out.
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Because you don't always have the optimal group for it. Or whoever was supposed to be handling the other guy goes linkdead right after the fight starts.

[oldmandennis]

Because you don't always have the optimal group for it.  Or whoever was supposed to be handling the other guy goes linkdead right after the fight starts.
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Well, the link dead excuse doesn't work. The stratagy involves running past groups that most Tribute runs bypass, so you need notice for it to work.

And as far as optimal groups go, you need to put the main tank and healer on the King. There is a mage in the group. That leaves two more spots. Unless they are both priests or mages (possible I guess, but unlikely), you will have someone better equipped then a mage to deal with Cho'rush. Infact I'd go so far as to say for anybody BUT a priest or mage, Cho'rush should be cake.

[Treesh]

Well, the link dead excuse doesn't work. 
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It does work. We had a hunter on the monkey. We start the fight, hunter goes linkdead. Monkey free. Mage stepped up. I simply do not remember the other class in the group though. We had mage, warrior, priest, hunter and maybe it was another mage? I just can't remember.

[oldmandennis]

It does work.  We had a hunter on the monkey.  We start the fight, hunter goes linkdead.  Monkey free.  Mage stepped up.  I simply do not remember the other class in the group though.  We had mage, warrior, priest, hunter and maybe it was another mage?  I just can't remember.
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Were you guys clearing all of the ogres? My tribute runs usually skip as many as possible.

[Quark]

Were you guys clearing all of the ogres?  My tribute runs usually skip as many as possible.
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What does this have to do with someone going linkdead during a boss fight? Anything?

[oldmandennis]

What does this have to do with someone going linkdead during a boss fight?  Anything?
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Because the only person who posted a strat for this, Skandranon, specifically says to run back into the hallway. If I recall correctly, there are some Ogre groups we typically leave standing around there. Maybe I don't recall correctly, maybe you guys just clear more ogres then we do, maybe there is room to kite past all the ogres still standing, I don't know, thats why I asked.

[Olon97]

I've found the mage kite to work especially well. The Observer is a random class type, so the mage type is probably one of the hardest to kite (due to range). The point of the tactic, if done well, is that the mage need not take damage, and therefore also doesn't need heals - tying up one player instead of two in the case of offtanking.

Hunter pet with the hunter healing the pet works well too.

It seems like the observer often returns to the King at the end of the fight regardless of how well the kiter is doing. That allows you to be in kill range and also to switch over to DPS for a final nuke (counterspelling any observer heals on the King).

[Skandranon]

Because the only person who posted a strat for this, Skandranon, specifically says to run back into the hallway.  If I recall correctly, there are some Ogre groups we typically leave standing around there.  Maybe I don't recall correctly, maybe you guys just clear more ogres then we do, maybe there is room to kite past all the ogres still standing, I don't know, thats why I asked.
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You can kite through the middle of them if you're careful. I do agree that it creates an additional degree of difficulty, if you aren't prepared to handle it. Clearing a side group makes it safer, but longer.