I’ve run Honor of the Waves p1 a lot over the years, at least 50 times. It’s pretty quick, doesn’t have a lot of places for PUGs to get tripped up, has some interesting mechanics to deal with, and it’s right next door to Fireheart Rise, which means you can get two easy dungeons done with one WP fee (which makes me irrationally happy). It’s easy enough so that it can be routine while still being tricky enough that it doesn’t feel like a grind. A good path all around.
Something interesting occurred to me about HotW p1, though: none of its mechanics strictly require a full team, or even more than 1 player. I decided to try to solo it with my Necro yesterday and ended up having a lot of fun, so I figured you guys might as well.
My proposal is pretty simple: try to solo HotW p1 on your Necro and post here about how well you did. You can mention your time (from picking p1 to the final cutscene) if you want but I’m suggesting this mostly as a fun thing to do rather than as a competition. I’m specifically suggesting it on the Necromancer forum because Axe and Scepter are two of the only weapons in the game that can easily get around Ginva’s projectile reflection phase, making us uniquely well-suited to dealing with his shenanigans.
As an obvious disclaimer, this is not a lucrative way to run the dungeon. With only 20% of the intended number of players, it’s going to take you at least 5 times as long as usual to complete the dungeon path, disregarding any wipes, the loss of party buffs, and the damage loss from speccing for defense. It’s also not a tricky-enough dungeon path that you could realistically find anyone willing to pay to skip to the end. Like climbing a mountain (or a nice-sized hill, anyway), this is something to conquer simply because it’s there.
For those of you not familiar with HotW p1, here’s how it breaks down (and how I dealt with it):
I constantly switched up my build to deal with each section. I ran everything from Power Reaper to minion master to base condi. That said, Condi Necros probably have the advantage overall thanks to a few specific fights that are way harder for Power builds so if you have to pick ahead of time, go with Condi. And before you jump in, don’t forget to bring some Potions of Sons of Svanir and Ice Brood Slaying. Your Food (if any) is up to you, but I’d suggest bringing at least one or two Mango/Peach Pies for the last boss to help offset the Retaliation damage.
It should go without saying that this is just how I did it. If you have any tips or suggestions for improvement, feel free to offer them! Now, on to the fights.
1. Some trash mobs. You have a few NPC allies for this bit so it’s pretty easy. Like with a standard group, it pays to draw the mobs through the door and down the staircase.
2. Take out two pillars while being attacked by mobs. You don’t care about the mobs so just focus on the pillars, then rush through the door, up the stairs, and across the bridge. The mobs on the other side of the door apply a lot of cripple effects, so it pays to bring Consume Conditions to speed your way through. Don’t use it until you reach the stairs, though, or you’ll just be crippled again.
3. Now you’ll need to kill a group of ice puppies, and they hurt. I strongly recommend at least one blind field and some AoE Weakness. The Flesh Golem is also great for tanking. They tend to leap together as a unit, particularly at the start, so missing one dodge can really screw you over.
4. Next, the ice troll. It is possible to fight him while standing on the roof directly above him, but I’ve always found this to be pretty glitchy. In any case, I recommend using S/D for this fight as well as multiple minions to distract him. He throws out a lot of interrupts, which makes using the Greatsword’s slow attacks difficult (I ended up using D/W+A/F and it was doable but really, really tough. In retrospect, S/D would’ve been easier). Also, Foot in the Grave is a lifesaver. Don’t be discouraged if you wipe here; this guy is extremely difficult to fight 1v1 and you really have to learn how to anticipate his attacks since they’ll all either hit you for extreme damage or Daze/Fear you.
5. In the next room, you fight Aldus Stormbringer, a big loud jerk with lots of angry friends. You’ll probably want minions again for this to distract the mobs he spawns. Power builds will have an advantage against Aldus since he’ll periodically put on a shield that will only go away after being struck like 40 times, which is way easier with Axe 2, Dagger 2, and Warhorn 5 at the ready. He also cleanses all conditions when he enters this state, making condi builds sad.
6. Remove your minions and get ready to run: the next stage will take you into the bowels of the ship and down a gauntlet of invisible, undodgeable knockbacks. Drop a CPC to block the ballistic shots as you run forward, then dodge the mob attacks while you wait for the red circles on the floor of the tunnel to toggle off briefly. Hug the left wall of the tunnel as you proceed, taking special care not to touch the red circles (Stability does nothing), then kill the trash mob at the end and pull the chain.
7. Two more trash mobs. Really easy, doesn’t really matter what build you use.
8. Finally, Ginva the Butcher. This guy is a jerk. The three pillars around the room each grant him pulsing boons: one grants protection, another grants Retaliation, and the third grants Regeneration. He also throws axes in a tri-split pattern that will pull you into melee range if they hit, and finally he has a mega-move where he spins around dealing insane damage to anyone near him while also reflecting projectiles; if he starts it and you don’t immediately pop into DS and dodge out, you’re almost certainly going to die. I strongly recommend running 2-3 minions (so at least one can survive the reflect attack) and S/D condi as your weapon set. Axe is ok against him with a bunch of teammembers around you to help draw his focus but taking out the pillars is quite difficult so you’ll spend most of the match killing yourself from the Retaliation alone. Scepter, conversely, doesn’t care very much about his Retaliation but can still keep up the pressure for the whole fight. Then it’s just a matter of dodging his axe throw attack (though constantly strafing to the side can also work as long as he’s far enough away) and you should be good to go.
Good luck!
How to Condi Reaper on a budget
Everything I say is only in reference to PvE and WvW.
