As of the patch on 16.3.2015 the swirlers hitbox has been changed and no way to destroy it has yet been found.
Old post hidden below.
As you may or may not know, the pink stuff atop the elemental source in Snowblind Fractal (from here on called the swirler) can be destroyed without destroying the source itself. As this can be done quite fast and the aoe swirls (therefore the name) will stop to appear, the fractal gets much easier.
Because most people do not know how this can be done, most pugs do not do this. On the right class I do this myself but I do not know a way to do this with every class. I hope you, the people frequently viewing and posting on the dungeon forum, can instruct me and every uninformed player viewing this thread on how to achieve a fast swirler death with any class.
So far I know some aoes placed on the ground around the source give 2 damage numbers, these aoes deal damage to the swirler:
edit: Thanks to Taku and the work of Immortal Kingdom [King] we know that the swirlers hitbox is somewhat less than 240 units below ground and therefore aoes with at least 240 radius should hit it. I listed appropriate skills below, not all traits were considered, if certain aoes get a radius increase they could also hit it. Skills marked “unsure” do have the appropiate radius but because of their nature might not deal damage in a sphere. Also some of these skill were not tested so trust this list at your own risk
Warrior:
Longbow: Combustive Shot
Longbow: Arcing Arrow
Hammer: Earthshaker
Elementalist:
Staff (water): Ice Spike
Staff (earth): Eruption
Scepter (fire): Phoenix
Dagger (fire): Ring of Fire (“unsure”)
Dagger (water): Frozen Burst
Dagger (earth): Earthquake
Dagger (earth): Churning Earh
Heal: Arcane Brilliance
Utility: Arcane Wave
Utility: Conjure Flame Axe -> Explosive Lava Axe
Utility: Conjure Flame Axe -> Ring of Fire (“unsure”)
Utility: Glyph of Storms (“unsure”)
Trait (Earth 3): Earthen Blast
Guardian:
all symbols if traited for increased radius
Focus: Shield of Wrath (the explosion when it ends)
Elite: Tome of Wrath -> Conflagrate
Elite: Tome of Wrath -> Judgement
Engineer:
Bomb Kit Bombs (if traited for increased radius)
Rifle: Jump Shot
Utlity: Grenade Kit -> Freeze Grenade (“unsure”)
Elite: Mortar -> Launch Ice Mortar
Ranger:
Lonbow: Barrage
Utility: Storm Spirit -> Call Lightning (“unsure”)
Utility: All Traps (if traited for increased radius and must be triggered by an elemental)
Thief:
Shortbow: Cluster Bomb
Shortbow: Choking Gas
Mesmer:
Shatter: Mind Wrack
Shatter: Cry of Frustration
Greatsword: Mind Stab
Staff: Chaos Storm
Utility: Mantra of Pain -> Power Spike
Necromancer:
Death Shroud: Life Transfer (“unsure”)
Staff: All Marks (do not trigger unless an elemental runs over them)
Scepter: Grasping Dead (“unsure”)
Dagger: Enfeebling Blood (“unsure”)
Utility: All Wells (only 2 deal damage if untraited)
Utility: Summon Bone Minions -> Putrid Explosion
Elite: Plague
If you find something missing or tested something which does not work, just add a reply I might check this thread again from time to time.
Thanks again to Taku and Immortal Kingdom.
Further Thanks to Spoj.
(edited by Bohantopa.5729)
