Iron Coldfeather; or Yet another Solo IronMan challenge

  • So, if you follow a little bit the GW subReddit, you may have stumble upon my posts about my character Queen Saliente whom I recorded the entire run GWAMM process in 404 videos of absolute pleasure.

    Today I’m back for more.

    Since Queen Saliente won’t be diving in GW Beyond for now (although it may be a thing in the future), I wanted to tackle a challenge that has been on my mind for quite a while now: Solo IronMan.

    The rules are simple:

    — Everything must be done solo. No H/H.

    — No storage. You want money or mats? Farm them!

    — No buying from rune/dye/material/scroll traders. Selling is fine.

    — However you may play the campaign in any order you want. That is because the routing is my favorite part of this kind of challenge and there is nothing funny in being roadblocked when you could explore somewhere else.

    Of course, for that purpose I created a new character. Enter Iron Coldfeather. She’s an elementalist I created in Prophecies. I didn’t put much thought in this character. After my previous challenge as a Warrior, I wanted to play a caster for a change. Mesmer being “Easy Mode” (JK) and my main being a Necro, I quickly settled on an Elementalist.

    Of course, since we’re here for a long run anyway, there is no need to rush Pre-Searing. I took my time to get trophies, upgraded my armor, got a Small Equipment Pack, farmed Charrs a lot, got my Charr bags and then farmed some more. And of course I went for LdoA, because why the hell not.

    Not all runs are bad.

    As a quick side note, I didn’t use the /bonus weapons and the fire Imp. Simply because I don’t have access to them… Needless to say, it is way harder to kill Charr Bosses like that.

    So far my drops have been… not exactly good… I mean the staff is fine, but the wand is quite lackluster.

    I will keep this thread up as a war journal and only record a few points of interest. The whole recording process was already tedious on Queen Saliente’s Journey and I know the grind on this challenge will be SO INSANE that it probably wouldn’t be a pleasant viewer experience…

    So here I am: at level 20 and ready to leave Ascalon! Next step is the Searing and an awful lot of Charr trouble!

    Stay tuned friends!

  • I knew getting out of pre-searing would open the game in a big way but I didn't think it would be that much. Nevertheless, I kept my focus and immediately grabbed the first skill quests available.

    (Little side note: I know some people consider TB+ as cheating. I kept using it by force of habit and got rid of it after a few hours of gameplay. In fact, this post will be the last one with it.)

    Anyway, I farmed for my armor a bit. I don't really want to rely on armor crafters for now, especially since it's so easy to farm trophies at this stage of the game. After I got to Piken Square I completed the Siege there, then took all three quests Duke's Daughter, Fires in the North and Garfazz Bloodfang. Then I walked a long journey to Diessa.

    RIP

    I reached Grendich Courthouse and turned back to Flame Temple Corridor in order to farm Hydras. Then I helped a father mourn his daughter.

    WTB

    So far my level 20 alone made me able to stomp on most threat. However, as you noticed, I'm still farming items for better gear and I will compleat every skill quests possible.

    I know there is a long road ahead and I will encounter issus soon enough.

    Next Stop: 2 missions - Stay tuned!


  • Well... to say the first four missions were easy would be an understatement. I simply destroyed every chars I saw and completed the bonuses in uncontested manners. Before tackling to Surmia I farmed to improve my gear a little bit.

    Then, In Nolani I forgot how stupid Rurik was, so I killed every chars then backtracked all the way to do the bonus when I was sure he was safe.

    Not much to say about those honestly. Now that I'm in Yak's Bend I know there will be a lot of farm and Skill Quests

    Good luck on your Journey. :)

    My Iron Ele made it solo all the way to Sanctum Cay, though I never really planned that out as a Challenge.

    After that it will be getting a lot more difficult.

    Lot of Rupts and Ench removal in the Dessert. X(

    Heya, I don't really know what will be my take on those... Once in LA, I might go to Cantha or Elona, just so I can grab an Elite or two.

  • Heya, I don't really know what will be my take on those... Once in LA, I might go to Cantha or Elona, just so I can grab an Elite or two.

    Going to canthan would make max Armor available for you, just need to do some Farming. :)

    On the other Hand, from LA it is a Short path fighting your way to Sanctum Cay to get 51AR Armor outside the outpost there.

    Please make a Video If you do Vizunah Square solo (also no henchs on the local Team :P).

    Which Elite would you want to get? SF? Obsidian Flesh? Mind Burn?

  • I was thinking: improve my armor there then try my luck in EotN. Better armor and weapons there (although difficult path) and PVE skills are appealing...

    I think the most importants Elites will be Obsidian Flesh and Ether Renewal. But I should be able to capture Double Dragon pretty fast (although it's quite lackluster).

    EDIT: Oh, and I definitely want to have some AoE action, like Savannah Heat or Shockwave.

  • I took my sweet time in Yak's Bend. I grabbed all quests I could (especially skill quests), and went to explore.

    Helping those poor refugees

    I especially focused on the quest Minaar's Trouble since the shield you get there as a reward will be useful against the dwarves you encounter throughout the game .

    About the skills unlock, I have a few rules:

    — If a skill can be unlocked through a quest it must be done so.

    — You may purchase skills from a Skill Trainer, but only if this skill can't be unlocked from a quest.

    — I will follow this list to know what I can buy, since I obviously already have everything unlocked on this account...

  • Borlis pass was the first roadblock. It took me a few tries to beat the last few groups of foes but I got there.

    Also I got my first gold drops with this character on this mission

    :

    Sadly nothing useful...

    Before attacking Frost Gate, I took the time to travel to Ice Tooth Cave and got a better armor.

    I don't see why Frost Gate would be that much of a problem, right?

  • Okay, Frost Gate was fine. I just took my time and got rewarded by some more gold drops:

    Meh...

    I even completed the long and tedious Frost Gate bonus! (JK it's just back tracking).

    So far we completed every single bonuses.

    So, we reached Beacon's Perch, and now we completed Northern Shiverpeaks.

    Next stop: Kryta!

    Stay tuned guys!

  • SO! Big update today!

    We beat Gates of Kryta! As you can see it was rather easy, I just said hi to Oink and went on my merry way. I will of course complete the bonus later.

    But now guys, I need your help. What should I do next?

    Since we reached Lion's Arch, the game expanded a tremendous way.

    — Elona, the quest to get there is rather difficult though.

    — Cantha, would be final armor right away.

    — EotN, also final armor, but pretty difficult to keep going after that with little skills I have.

    — Prophecies. Keep going in Kryta. I already know I have a bunch of quest to do here, but maybe I should push to Magumma?

    I'll keep playing of course but I'd like some input from you guys. Where do you think I should go?

  • My suggestion is to finish proph first so you can say you beat it on ele with proph and core skills only (also proph weapons, collectors, etc.) :)

    I loved the challenge when I did it and so I can only recommend it to others trying to true solo proph.

    IGN: Heavens Temptation | Purple Crystas, Zodicas, Tall Shields

  • If you want you can go capture Mark of Rodgort from Hops Flameinator. Can be a powerful dps spell together with a fire wand or martial weapon when you have to run a very defensive build, are low on energy or together with flare spam/fire storm against high armor bosses.

    IGN: Heavens Temptation | Purple Crystas, Zodicas, Tall Shields

  • Heya,

    my solo Ele is kinda stuck at Crystal Desert Missions, since foes tend to get a bit tough there.

    You maybe made it there and got some builds to share for me?

    Also, still on Survivor,, so they need to be reliable. :D

    Hey, I was the second (unknowingly) ele to do true solo proph and still have the char, I can send you some great builds, especially for the strong build transfer from Jungle to Desert. :)

    Feel free to pm me in game or on here

    IGN: Heavens Temptation | Purple Crystas, Zodicas, Tall Shields

  • Welp I'm necroing this thread! Sorry, I was trapped in a blackhole called Pokémon! But now I'm back for some more solo Ironman shenanigans with Iron Coldfeather.

    ---
    Ok, so I completed Gates of Kryta bonus and then walked to Temple of Age. Mainly because the armors traders in Kryta are in the Western part of it.

    I dropped several golds out of it, but mainly this one:

    Sorry I didn't think about changing my game to English, just see that the staff has a +5 Armor that I'll be able to salvage. Pretty sure it will be extremely useful for the upcoming challenges!

    Stay tuned guys!

  • No pictures today, but we painfully ran to Riverside Province (mostly to get to the Armor collector there, I probably won't do the mission for now). It was especially difficult because of the Bog Skale Blighter with Chilblains. We then farmed a little bit for better gear.

    I briefly thought about doing Sanctum Cay right Away, but I quickly considered it was a bad idea. So, next step I will slowly make my away to Maguuma and farm for better gear/armor and do the quests there. I have my eyes on Blood and Smoke right now.

    Next stop: Divinity Coast!

  • Hey aedemiel,

    I've done solo elementalist proph and Faction. If you need some tipps, watch my twitch videos. (

    External Content www.twitch.tv
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.
    )

    also here is our solo wiki. (http://gwsolo.wikidot.com/start)

    Feel free to join our solo Discord server https://discord.gg/Cbzx7HV6

  • Hey aedemiel,

    I've done solo elementalist proph and Faction. If you need some tipps, watch my twitch videos.

    also here is our solo wiki. (http://gwsolo.wikidot.com/start)

    Feel free to join our solo Discord server https://discord.gg/Cbzx7HV6

    Hey thank you very much for the invite! I just joined the Discord server.

    On the latest update: We beat Divinity Coast.

    External Content youtu.be
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.

    As you can see, even though Janthir's KD was really helpful, it was quite imperfect since I missed the bonus. Oh well, I will probably get back there for a Z-quest anyway.

  • Alright! Two videos today!

    First we traveled to The Wilds:

    External Content youtu.be
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.

    At this point I have a full note about what trophies I want to keep for my armors. I fully intent to get the 51 armor before leaving Maguuma.

    Then I have to find news tactics and change my build for something weird to beat those pesky Wind Riders:

    External Content youtu.be
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.

    Seeya next time!