Guild Wars 2

(Topic was in Player helping Players earlier, but I guess it’s more appropriate here)
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA-6rOx0354

For those interested, the following is an annotated guide and video to meleeing Lupicus. It is not for the faint of heart if you have an affinity for Charrs, there is a sequence in the video that will shock you if so!

Armor: Berserker with Rune of the Scholar
Weapon: Greatsword & Axe/Sword with a Superior Sigil of Energy.
Trinkets: Berserker stats

Traits: 30/25/0/0/15 Focusing on GS & Axe damage.
- Strength: V, X, XI
- Arms: V, X
- Discipline: VI
Note: Strength 15, “Building Momentum”, is important when learning, it’ll give you more dodge when using a burst skill (F1)

Utilities Set 1 (DPS):
Healing Signet, For Great Justice, Signet of Fury, Banner of Discipline, Signet of Rage

Utilities Set 2 (Survival):
Healing Signet, Signet of Stamina, Dolyak Signet, Balanced Stance, Signet of Rage

Recommended Life Steal food buffs (ordered from cheap to expensive):
Slices of Candied Dragon Roll
Omnomberry Pie
Omnomberry Ghost

Recommended Nourishment:
Powerful Potion of Undead Slaying

Recommended Consumable:
Fire Elemental Powder

Fighting Giganticus Lupicus:
——————————————

Phase 1:
Lupicus has 4 main attacks during this phase.

1) Howl
2) Kick
3) Hand Raise
4) Kick

You must evade the Hand Raise just before his right hand reaches the top, failing that, he will attach locusts to your character; when he follows up with the Howl, a grub will spawn and cause a knockdown.

He will sometimes skip the Kick, but always expect it in order to be safe. Use Sword 5 to block, Greatsword 3 to evade, or dodge to evade the kick.

The Howl itself will not cause any damage, so if you’ve evaded the Locust Mark during the Hand Raise, feel free to deal full damage during his Howl.

In order to make soloing easier, manipulate Lupicus’s movements so that he will edge back against the wall. There are 2 windows of opportunity during Phase 1 to move him: after the Howl, and after the Hand Raise. Stand in front of Lupicus and keep moving forward in the direction you want him to move during this window.

Practice using GS3, Sword5, and Dodge to evade/block only when necessary. Conservation of these resources are very important throughout the fight. Feel free to slot Stamina Signet, Dolyak Signet, and Balanced Stance in order to stun break out of Lupicus’s knockbacks.

Lupicus will enter Phase 2 when he reaches 75% HP (if you look in the top right hand corner, he will transition when the bar reaches the 2nd ‘e’ in “temple”.
While transitioning, he will spawn a grub on your character which is normally unavoidable. However, if you spawn a pet, such as the Fire elemental, the grub will attach to the pet instead, saving you from being knocked down.

Phase 2:
Lupicus has 2 main attacks during this phase:

1) Lupine Blast
2) Swipe (Mighty Blow)

As shown, during the Lupine Blast, you must perform 2 evades. Dodge out of the initial blast emanating from within Lupicus, then move back into Lupicus’s character model using an evade or block to stay safe. Try to save either GS3 or Sword5 in order to move back into the wall position after Lupine Blast.

The Swipe is 2 damaging attack in one and it’ll also give a few stacks of bleed. You must evade this in order to avoid being downed/bled to death.

Lupicus will enter Phase 3 when he reaches 50% HP (if you look in the top right hand corner, he will transition when the bar reaches the ‘s’ in “Lupicus”.
While transitioning, try to stay out of AoE circles, and have Sword5 block up if it’s available.

Phase 3:
Lupicus has 4 main attacks during this phase:
1) Life Drain
2) Life Drink
3) Lupine Blast
4) Necrid Trap

If meleeing against the wall correctly, you’ll only have to worry about 2 attacks:
Life Drain: Lupicus rises in the air and causes damage within the AoE circle
Life Drink: Horizontal motion with his right hand and steals life.

Methods to avoid Life Drain:
1) Dodge away from Lupicus and use Sword 5.
2) Dodge away from Lupicus and GS3 outside the AoE.
3) Dodge twice away from Lupicus and move out of AoE.

Re-entry after Life Drain:
Lupicus will perform a knockback when he touches the ground, wait outside in ~450 range until he finishes the knockback, then rush to stay inside his character model and continue DPS.

Methods to avoid Life Drink:
1) Dodge twice to avoid Life Drink. Use the Burst skill (F1) to regain a dodge or swap to a weapon with Sigil of Energy. You need to prepare for a possible Life Drain AoE that might follow.
2) Dodge once and use GS3 into the wall to avoid the Life Drink. Prepare for a possible Life Drain AoE that might follow.

Remember to conserve your dodges/evades. If you stay inside Lupicus’s character model up and not make sudden movements during Phase 3, he will be harmless and predictable.

Main problem for me is the sword #5 dosent always works. Sometimes it blocks multiple times and sometimes it dosent do anything which is extremly frustrating in phase 2. Next time I try lupicus I will just autoattack with GS and whirlwind to escape until they fix this skill for those who have a bad computer. I havent succeded yet , only duo :S

a t s e.9614:

Main problem for me is the sword #5 dosent always works. Sometimes it blocks multiple times and sometimes it dosent do anything which is extremly frustrating in phase 2. Next time I try lupicus I will just autoattack with GS and whirlwind to escape until they fix this skill for those who have a bad computer. I havent succeded yet , only duo :S

Try to hold the 5 button until it activates and don’t stay too close to him while activating or it will block just 1 hit. Ideally you want to dodge away+sword 5 while running towards him again. Good thing about the sword block is that it will be available for 90% of the AOEs, making P2 quite easy on a warrior.

I tryed that aswell .. also pressing multiple times but this skill dosent works properly if you hold it for too long or press multiple times. It’s the same thing with sword #4 . You have to press twice to trigger the second skill .

I was thinking of using a shield next time but I won’t get the 5% dmg bonus from the trait …

You have to backpeddle away from him when he hugs himself then use sword 5 so you are out of range of him. If your right next to him with it then it will go off but immediately end and you will be dead. Sword is a lot better than sheild.

I tend to just dodge backwards, pause for ~0.5 seconds, and then sword block. Sword block lasts long enough (a little longer) for you to get back to lupicus, at which point you can start your rotations again. It’s also nice to use a dodge, to make use of your stick and move!

Good job, that reminds me that I should renew my own lupi solo guide soon. I do, however, not really enjoy the phase 3 wall use for the guide, I would say i only justify this use for specific record runs, and think that an initial solo would need to be for challenge, which it undermines. Though I am aware that many just want to do this to sell paths ,instead of challenge themselves.

Sanderinoa.8065:

Good job, that reminds me that I should renew my own lupi solo guide soon. I do, however, not really enjoy the phase 3 wall use for the guide, I would say i only justify this use for specific record runs, and think that an initial solo would need to be for challenge, which it undermines. Though I am aware that many just want to do this to sell paths ,instead of challenge themselves.

I would say reflects trivialize the fight even more. I believe that if your primary profession wasn’t one that used reflects, you would quickly concede and fight on the wall just to save time. That said, I seldom put him on the wall when I am just solo’ing without trying to achieve a fast time.

Nice guide btw, but the phase 2 aoe is actually called frenzied blast. The single target bolts are called Lupine Blast. You should make a note about the single target bolts since even though they are easy to avoid by staying in melee range, they do exist and can occasionally be a pain. Also, you listed kick twice and the grub infection doesn’t actually attach locusts to you, I think it’s just a sign of infection. Either way using the term “locust” can be confusing since there are actually enemies during the fight called locusts. The grub will spawn on you regardless of if he howls next as well. Using rush to get back in after an aoe life steal is actually not ideal since it will bug if you aren’t already inside his character model. To be safe you can use Furious Speed (II) in the arms trait line for perma swiftness, that way you can always get back to him quick enough after aoe life steals. Dropping Rending Strikes (V) isn’t detrimental to your dps. It’s also good to save rush if you have him on the wall since it’s high dps. Lastly, the transition grub will infect whoever is closest to lupicus about 3 seconds after he goes invuln, it would be nice to make a note of that.

See the thing with not putting him against the wall. It makes it very hard for classes with poor sustain. You are always going to get hit by a tick or two when he barrages. If you are on warrior its np because healing signet is op. However on a necro it will almost certainly lead to your death (unless you play absolutely perfectly) because necro heals are on high cooldowns and you usually end up having to lose lifeforce on the aoe lifedrain aswell.

Classes with reflects have an unfair advantage when it comes to surviving the barrage. Which is why it think the wall should always be allowed for certain classes. I feel for warrior its ok to expect them to fight away from the wall when proving skill simply because of the amount of evades, blocks and sustain warriors have. But for classes with less options its just giving yourself a headache for no justifiable reason.

Anyway I learnt to solo lupi before i learnt how to push him properly and I think thats the same for many people. If they are able to position him then they obviously have decent knowledge on the encounter.

a t s e.9614:

Main problem for me is the sword #5 dosent always works. Sometimes it blocks multiple times and sometimes it dosent do anything which is extremly frustrating in phase

The Sword5 block is meant to block one melee attack and riposte with a bleeding attack. If you’re at range it’ll block projectiles for the duration of the skill, but since you’re not in melee range for the riposte, it doesn’t trigger and will last longer. The melee riposte is usually good against the Phase 1 Kick & Phase 2 Swipe attacks.

Syn Sity.5826:

Also, you listed kick twice and the grub infection doesn’t actually attach locusts to you, I think it’s just a sign of infection. Either way using the term “locust” can be confusing since there are actually enemies during the fight called locusts. The grub will spawn on you regardless of if he howls next as well. Using rush to get back in after an aoe life steal is actually not ideal since it will bug if you aren’t already inside his character model. To be safe you can use Furious Speed (II) in the arms trait line for perma swiftness, that way you can always get back to him quick enough after aoe life steals. Dropping Rending Strikes (V) isn’t detrimental to your dps. It’s also good to save rush if you have him on the wall since it’s high dps. Lastly, the transition grub will infect whoever is closest to lupicus about 3 seconds after he goes invuln, it would be nice to make a note of that.

Great clarifications, I mainly wanted to make the guide to demystify Lupicus for less hardcore players.
I mentioned the Phase 1 Kick attack twice because he usually follows up with it after the Howl & Hand Raise semi-regularly. I think it’s amusing when you’re backing up to clear some locusts and he’s staring intently at you because he’s waiting to kick when you go back in melee.

spoj.9672:

Anyway I learnt to solo lupi before i learnt how to push him properly and I think thats the same for many people. If they are able to position him then they obviously have decent knowledge on the encounter.

It took me a while to notice when I would be able to move him in Phase 1. Peculiarly, he’s a great dance partner because you can either make him shuffle backwards or forward if you know how/when to initiate it.

I think there is no reason to call this guide “Solo GL” while it´s focused to only 1 class. And i have to say, the most easiest too.

Get a kick? np, get a few hits by locust swarms? np, get a few ticks by lifeleech attack? np….AoE? np Block always rdy…need to get fast back after big AoE before he bubbles? Np i´ have enough gapclosers…escape big AoE by using 2 well timed dogde rolls? Lol no im a warrior!

It´s only a guide to “solo GL the easiest way”.

Norjena.5172:

I think there is no reason to call this guide “Solo GL” while it´s focused to only 1 class. And i have to say, the most easiest too.

Get a kick? np, get a few hits by locust swarms? np, get a few ticks by lifeleech attack? np….AoE? np Block always rdy…need to get fast back after big AoE before he bubbles? Np i´ have enough gapclosers…escape big AoE by using 2 well timed dogde rolls? Lol no im a warrior!

It´s only a guide to “solo GL the easiest way”.

so much hate what the hell.

Just so things don’t get taken the wrong way, I would like to clarify my last post a bit.

I am in no means against using lupi’s attack pattern to generate or avoid attacks ,such as pushing to the wall in P3. Showing this in the guide is naturally useful for those trying to get past. What I meant, was that I would have enjoyed seeing another phase 3 demonstration where this isn’t used. This could be fun for those looking at your guide and either don’t want to use it, or are unable to.

and no, I will not be making a non reflect solo, the whole comparison still sounds ridiculous to me, and that opinion is not open for change.

You put a lot of work in this guide, and its very well excecuted. I’m sure many warriors will learn from this. That alone deserves a “well done”.

Sanderinoa.8065:

Just so things don’t get taken the wrong way, I would like to clarify my last post a bit.

I am in no means against using lupi’s attack pattern to generate or avoid attacks ,such as pushing to the wall in P3. Showing this in the guide is naturally useful for those trying to get past. What I meant, was that I would have enjoyed seeing another phase 3 demonstration where this isn’t used. This could be fun for those looking at your guide and either don’t want to use it, or are unable to.

and no, I will not be making a non reflect solo, the whole comparison still sounds ridiculous to me, and that opinion is not open for change.

You put a lot of work in this guide, and its very well excecuted. I’m sure many warriors will learn from this. That alone deserves a “well done”.

I didn’t mean it as an insult, it’s just taking advantage of the options you have to maximize efficiency and speed. Usually making things more difficult and slower would be laughed at, but in this case I do agree that you have a point. Lupicus is a fun encounter and you should always learn it each way so that you’re prepared no matter what situation you’re put in.

Sanderinoa.8065:

You put a lot of work in this guide, and its very well excecuted. I’m sure many warriors will learn from this. That alone deserves a “well done”.

This.

Regardless of method used, this fellow took the time out of his day to make a video for other people to learn Lupicus. We can see that a lot of people are intimidated by Lupi and Arah in general so this is the one of the steps in educating newcomers about a fun boss and dungeon.

Well done, indeed!

Syn Sity.5826:

Sanderinoa.8065:

Good job, that reminds me that I should renew my own lupi solo guide soon. I do, however, not really enjoy the phase 3 wall use for the guide, I would say i only justify this use for specific record runs, and think that an initial solo would need to be for challenge, which it undermines. Though I am aware that many just want to do this to sell paths ,instead of challenge themselves.

I would say reflects trivialize the fight even more. I believe that if your primary profession wasn’t one that used reflects, you would quickly concede and fight on the wall just to save time. That said, I seldom put him on the wall when I am just solo’ing without trying to achieve a fast time.

Agreed. I’d say wearing armor trivializes the fight as well.

Norjena.5172:

I think there is no reason to call this guide “Solo GL” while it´s focused to only 1 class. And i have to say, the most easiest too.

Get a kick? np, get a few hits by locust swarms? np, get a few ticks by lifeleech attack? np….AoE? np Block always rdy…need to get fast back after big AoE before he bubbles? Np i´ have enough gapclosers…escape big AoE by using 2 well timed dogde rolls? Lol no im a warrior!

It´s only a guide to “solo GL the easiest way”.

If it’s so easy do it naked. Alot of things in this game are easy if you keep doing the same stuff over and over. And im pretty sure warrior is not THE easiest. It still takes skill at some point . Mesmers only have to press 1 button randomly without any positioning > blurred frenzy to evade everything. And guardians can avoid the hardest attack by just putting down a wall of reflect. And this guide is not for warriors its from a warrior poV. Dodging is not only for warriors and lupicus wont change his attacks against other classes….

Where’s the video btw , I wanna see how easy it was . you didnt take any damage and beat the record which is 4 min ?

Sure pressing Sword 2 randomly will help alot!
Warriors need skill and others not? That´s why most lupicus solo are done with guardians and mesmers?

The entire part of the guide is just for warriors only. Traits/slotskills and so on. So it´s not just a warrior PoV it´s a guide for warriors.

Norjena.5172:

Sure pressing Sword 2 randomly will help alot!
Warriors need skill and others not? That´s why most lupicus solo are done with guardians and mesmers?

The entire part of the guide is just for warriors only. Traits/slotskills and so on. So it´s not just a warrior PoV it´s a guide for warriors.

This was just an informative guide to familiarize people that haven’t had a lot of experience with Lupicus. I’ve help plenty of pick-up groups through Arah, and one of the main stopping point in an Arah run was Lupicus. If my guide can help just one person be able to dodge his next attack, then it’s a successful guide.

Lupicus’s skillsets are the same regardless of whether or not a warrior or a necromancer decides to take him on. Personally, I’m pretty terrible at playing a necromancer, so it’d be quite a lackluster guide if I were to inject my lack of knowledge about what a necromancer should take to this fight. I’m sure Spoj or Sanderinoa can make a better solo Lupicus guide featuring Necro & Mesmer.

If you’re able, you should showcase your guide too and provide your opinions on what classes other than Warriors should do to fight Lupicus.

Theres not much to advice to give with necro other than practise and use energy sigils. And dark path to get back to lupi after aoe life drain. xD

I just finished my alphard guide, will upload that tomorrow, and as I said, Ill be uploading a guide for mesmers at lupicus too, but this will have to wait for later. Spoj is likely right though, I feel like half the things I end up telling people about is unnecessary or obvious xD.

Those 3 classes is the same level of skill , it just depends on the phase. I never said your press sword 2 randomly on a mesmer but it still one button with no positioning required because it evades for a full duration regardless of your position .. Try to evade in a random direction with a warrior and see what happens. It’s just a fact. And I think most solo are done on warrior because warrior needs no group buff to achieve decent damage thats it. If a mesmer had perma fury and 25 stacks of might perma , we would see mesmers doing this stuff instead of wars.

a t s e.9614:

Norjena.5172:

I think there is no reason to call this guide “Solo GL” while it´s focused to only 1 class. And i have to say, the most easiest too.

Get a kick? np, get a few hits by locust swarms? np, get a few ticks by lifeleech attack? np….AoE? np Block always rdy…need to get fast back after big AoE before he bubbles? Np i´ have enough gapclosers…escape big AoE by using 2 well timed dogde rolls? Lol no im a warrior!

It´s only a guide to “solo GL the easiest way”.

If it’s so easy do it naked. Alot of things in this game are easy if you keep doing the same stuff over and over. And im pretty sure warrior is not THE easiest. It still takes skill at some point . Mesmers only have to press 1 button randomly without any positioning > blurred frenzy to evade everything. And guardians can avoid the hardest attack by just putting down a wall of reflect. And this guide is not for warriors its from a warrior poV. Dodging is not only for warriors and lupicus wont change his attacks against other classes….

Where’s the video btw , I wanna see how easy it was . you didnt take any damage and beat the record which is 4 min ?

go and ask people who have done lupi solo with multiple professions. im pretty sure they will tell you warrior was the easiest. + warrior probably has the most room for error.

NoTrigger.8396:

go and ask people who have done lupi solo with multiple professions. im pretty sure they will tell you warrior was the easiest. + warrior probably has the most room for error.

Everyone knows that bowbear is definitely the easiest. Bear is too OP.

i agree. bearbow op!

NoTrigger.8396:

go and ask people who have done lupi solo with multiple professions. im pretty sure they will tell you warrior was the easiest. + warrior probably has the most room for error.

I would say that guardian felt easier than warrior for me.

But warrior has a larger room for error than other professions, that’s true.

Warrior definately feels easier. You have no trouble cleaving locusts in phase 1. Plenty of evades and blocks for all attacks in all phases. High base hp and very good sustain for when you slip up. The biggest challenge for some of the other classes is phase 1. Necro and mesmer have a huge issue dealing with the locusts while also trying to maintain good dps. I also tend to find guardian slightly awkward on phase 1 but thats probably because im not perfect at the locust walk and guard has such a low hp pool.

Once you have the basics on positioning and how to deal with the attacks its just kind of obvious for each class.

The tricky stuff comes when trying to go for a fast time. I was doing some practise attempts on necro last night and the biggest issue I had was that I had to maintain dagger dps on lupi at all times and avoid getting locusts in the way of my auto. At times i had 8 locusts following me around lupi.

So one of the hardest bosses of the game is soloable, nice….

rhodoc.2381:

So one of the hardest bosses of the game is soloable, nice….

Guys! I found a slowpoke! Catch it before it gets away, I’m out of masterballs, and this seems to be the slowest slowpoke yet!

TKiller.6829:

NoTrigger.8396:

go and ask people who have done lupi solo with multiple professions. im pretty sure they will tell you warrior was the easiest. + warrior probably has the most room for error.

I would say that guardian felt easier than warrior for me.

But warrior has a larger room for error than other professions, that’s true.

I personally find guardian easier as well. I’ve yet to complete a full warrior solo. Guardian has fallback skills in case of mess ups (which I tend to do…) in the form of focus 5 and renewed focus. Plus keeping aegis on is nice. I find on warrior I need to play much cleaner, but I also didn’t put him on the wall. Maybe I’ll do that eventually if I can’t kill him on the floor.

rhodoc.2381:

So one of the hardest bosses of the game is soloable, nice….

Once you know him he’s not hard at all. He’s the most dynamic boss in the game. The shining example where skill and knowing the encounter will raise you much higher than those less skilled. There are plenty of harder bosses. Take Ginva in hotw p1 for example. He’s harder in my opinion, but he’s not dynamic, just an hp sponge that hits hard. A truly skilled group doesn’t raise as far above the rest in the Ginva encounter, because it requires little finesse.

Sanderinoa.8065:

rhodoc.2381:

So one of the hardest bosses of the game is soloable, nice….

Guys! I found a slowpoke! Catch it before it gets away, I’m out of masterballs, and this seems to be the slowest slowpoke yet!

Oh no I’m out of masterballs too guess we’re all too fast and forgot to pick some up! But don’t worry have no fear this slowpoke is so slow he won’t be able to get away!

Rather keep this civil, the point of the guide is to let people know it can be done and one of the way to do it.

Norjena.5172:

The entire part of the guide is just for warriors only. Traits/slotskills and so on. So it´s not just a warrior PoV it´s a guide for warriors.

If you re read it you’ll see an explanation of Lupicus’ attacks, quick it’s still there!
This alone is worthy of the “solo Lupi guide” title, the Warrior specifics is an added bonus and also the most helpful seeing as it’s the easiest class to learn him on. Also anyone with the slightest understanding of their class should be able to figure out their most viable evade/block equivalents.

I don’t understand hating on a guide for using “easy” tactics which
A ) really isn’t that easy compared to 90% of GW2 content and
B ) is clearly aimed at new/inexperienced players.

Also a step by step guide for every single class would be a crazy long thread, but your best bet would be watching the videos in the Compilation of Lupicus Speedclears thread.