Spellcasters vs Kyllikki's mobs

Here's a few things that I have observed which makes the life of a spellcaster (necromancer in particular) a little easier while going against Kyllikki's mobs. First a few general things about each separate mob, in the order that they are usually taken out.


Guards (minion)

These are the little fellas that can become quite a nuisance if they're not killed soon after the pull, since they tend to follow and attack the guardians whose job it is to "kite" (kiting means getting the attention of a mob, and making the mob follow the kiter away from the rest of the raid team) the Spellguard and the Honourguard. The Guards are minions, so they can be instanly killed with a minion-killing spell or ability; preferably preceeded by a stunning spell or effect to make them stand still, since the instant-kill spells have a short range and the Guards tend to keep running away from the spells range, even if you get close enough to start casting. Doing this shouldn't interfere the "kiting" of the other, more dangerous mobs, so this action can and should be undertaken right after the fight starts. For the Necromancer, casting "Freeze" first, then "Draw Forth the Heart" does the trick nicely. I believe the Demonologist has a similar spell that can be used to stun the victim first.


Priest

Though I don't know why, it is a common habit to kill the Priest first of the actual mobs. Spellcasters in particular, and I believe other damage-dealing classes as well, need to take real care NOT to attack the Priest (nor any other of the mobs, except the Guard minions) until the Guardian assigned to "tank" the Priest has settled down to the agreed location, away from the Spellguard and the Honourguard, and starts attacking the Priest himself. After waiting for the Guardian to get a few hits at the Priest first (3-5), you can start attacking the Priest. As long as the Guardian assigned to "tank" the Priest stays alive and there are no interruptions from the Spellguard teleportation (more on this later, see below), the Priest should stay in place right up to his demise and be a fast kill.


Spellguard

This is the most dangerous mob of the three, and the most common cause for all the raid team to get killed is his AoE (area of effect) spell which deals a lot of damage and tends to kill the softer classes fast, unless they get out of the range of the spell. After the Priest has been killed, the Spellguard can be (hopefully) found chasing the Guardian who was assigned to "kite" him away from the Priest. Ventrilo is commonly used to tell the Guardian that the Priest has been dealt with, so that he/she knows that most of the raid is heading for the Spellguard. Attacking the Spellguard can commence once the Guardian settles in place and starts to attack the Spellguard himself. The tricky part comes when the Spellguard starts to do his AoE spell. You can tell when he does that by looking at his gestures - he will start to "punch" his fist towards the ceiling and emit thin purple "waves" that expand outward from him. Again, Ventrilo is used to call out a warning when he does that. With Ordo S. Michaelis raids this is usually "Spell - Run Away!". At this point everyone should run away from the Spellguard as fast as they can to a safe distance (which experience will tell), and wait until the Spellguard finishes with his gestures before attacking again (he usually casts about 6-8 of these AoE spells in succession). It is also good to remember that the Spellguard usually does his series of AoE spells two times in a row, separated only by 1 or 2 other spells, so it might be advisable not to attack him again until he has finished his second set. The Spellguard can also teleport himself around the crypt, and he will always start to do his AoE spell immediately after teleporting. This ability becomes a real hazard when he happens to teleport near the Priest while most of the raid is still attacking him. Once again, Ventrilo is used to call out warnings when this happens (this can be "Teleport!", for example), and everyone should run away to a safe distance away from the Spellguard and let him finish with his AoE spell, before attacking and finishing the Priest again. Sometimes things go wrong, and the Spellguard does not follow the Guardian who was assigned to "kite" him, but starts to run around the crypt freely. This can become dangerous, if he happens to come close to the Priest while all the damage-dealing classes are focused on killing the Priest. Should it happen, a call "Spellguard is close" or "Spellguard is close to the Priest" is used on Ventrilo to let everyone know and prepare to sprint away from the Spellguard's AoE spell.


Honourguard

The Honourguard is usually killed last of the mob trio, and alone he offers little threat as long as the raid hasn't had too many casualties. The best way seems to be for every single one of the raid to get as close around him as possible (including healers), surrounding him completely and denying him the space to move. The Honourguard's "aggro" is quite unpredictable ("aggro" means having a mob's attention on you - "getting aggro" means you're being attacked - Guardians often use the term "to get aggro", when they try to make the mobs, or a boss, attack themselves), though he seems to easily target characters who are standing alone, away from other players' characters. Therefore, the closer you stand to the Honourguard, and the other players' characters, the less he is likely to target you. Stay apart from the others, and you're more likely to get "aggro".


A few additional notes

It cannot be emphasized enough how important it is NOT to attack any of the mobs (except the Guard minions with the instant-kill spells) before the Guardians assigned to "kite" each of the trio have them separated a bit, and the one assigned to whoever the raid has decided to kill first has settled down and started attacking himself. Especially casting an AoE spell of your own can easily put you on the "aggro-list" of the Honourguard, if he happens to be in the area of the spell, and make him come after you. I have heard that even healing can do that. Let the Guardians, the "tanks", do their job first, to separate the trio from each other before attacking.

It seems that staying as close as possible to everyone else helps you evade the "aggro" of the Honourguard at all times, and not just when he alone remains of the trio. So even though as a caster you can deal damage from afar, try to keep an eye for the Honourguard - if he's closing in, or is close by, move to where there are a lot of other characters and you're less likely to get his "aggro" (last time I was in Kyllikki's crypt, I didn't die once against the trio mobs while doing this). If you happen to get the Honourguard's "aggro" regardless, turn towards him and press the active parry button, usually 'x', use a healing potion and hope for the best. This seems to be the best way to lose his "aggro" and stay alive. Running away rarely helps, since he's a fast runner, will eventually catch you, and can take you down with 2-3 hits. I've experienced it

And lastly, try to get some crafted equipment with negative hate-mod gems in them. Once you amass them to more than 10 in total (-10% hate) they will start to pay off. You will get less "aggro".



I hope these guidelines will help someone, and I will gladly receive any corrections or additions.

Very nice guidelines thnx ! I just want to add a few thoughts about Necros and 'hate' here, I'm by no means an expert on the subject but I quickly noticed on the few raids I did with BLC prior to joining Ordo' that a Necro can really easily generate too much hate and then take the aggro away from those who should have it.

Experience shows that minions in most raid/group situations are a no no, they generate far too much hate, while they contribute to DPS the adverse effect of laying dead on the ground or just simply lengthening the process of the kill because hate gets diverted and more kiting and aggro control has to ensue the DPS they create doesn't make up for the time lost nor the loss of direct DPS the Necro can do. The sad thing is the re-animation tree is pretty much worthless as it stands and a necro is best suited to pure DPS from the Nightfall tree, it's sad because it makes us a one dimensional class but it does mean our DPS can top the DPS chart if played well in a raid.

-hate gems are crucial, personally I only have 4 or 5 BUT I also have feats invested in the general tree with Mind Phase maxed and Misdirection unlocked. What that means is I generate far less hate and have a skill ready should I decide to combo SW and GoD. Without Misdirection I can still use Tome of Erlik and GoD with little fear of generating enough aggro to attract the mobs.

The Vistrix trip with 2 other Necros on the team bore this theory out quite nicely, early on both Necros with minions got hit by the mobs while I was left completely alone to carry on channeling GoD, in fact whenever I was doing DPS I never got the attention of anything (lag permitting). Talking of lag and another reason why I keep minions purely for solo, lagspikes occur far more frequently when minions start laying into a mob, the info being generated from all those minions hitting aswell as the team really doesn't help those of us prone to lagspikes.

When to start laying on the DPS - as mentioned you have to make sure the tank has generated enough hate to have the full attention of the mob, I watch the mobs health bar, once it hits 97-96% I know it's pretty safe to start laying on the DPS.

In my experience, a specific combination of both Re-animation and Nightfall feat trees provides the best (sustainable) DPS, at least without more than 1 purple item. I have a suspicion that once you start getting enough of those purples, the increased magic-rating eventually makes it more worthwhile to use purely Nightfall and Despoil the Soul, when it comes to DPS.

A pet-using necro just has to be more careful when to commit the pets, and when to pull them out, and he will avoid aggro nicely. For instance, the trick against the Chill Crawler Champion, whose aggro I won a couple of times the last time we were in Vistrix, was to get close enough to get the fear when everyone else did, and pull the pets out immediately.