Strat 45

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Introduction

 

Hi, my name is Mandragalas, I am a level 60 mage and you can find me on the European server Turalyon

Since the release of patch 1.10 I have spent weeks and weeks attempting to complete the Strat UD run within 45 minutes, during this time I have really learned Strat UD inside out, learned different routes and strategies, and improved my own skills.


After several dozen attempts I finally completed it with a PUG group consisting of a Warrior, Priest, Pally and Hunter, myself as the Mage of course. All level 60 - all experienced, although not at this run. Warrior did have some epic equipment. (I have done this run with a lot of epic equiped characters and still failed - equipment is not everything - without skill you're just a noob in fancy gear )

Planning

  • Chat. I advise to switch off all chat channels except group/say/yell - you don't want to miss a vital group message coz your guild chat is spamming you.

  • Potions. All characters should have a stock of potions, everyone should have major health pots - this will help the healer a great deal. Major mana pots for casters. Then class specific pots to boost your particular character - i.e. greater firepower, mongoose, trolls blood, shadow protection etc. Everyone should quaff a trolls blood regeneration potion.

  • Weapons should be treated appropriately - poison applied, sharpened, wizard oil etc.

  • Drinking. Most casters are used to getting ample drinking time - well that aint gonna happen here. You will run out of mana, but don't bother shouting OOM coz no one is going to do anything about it - there is NO time to stop. So just grab a slurp of crystal water (please use this and not anything less), whenever and whereever you can. You will go through 5x as many bottles as you'd expect, I carried about 50 on me. Since they don't get fully used, you go through a large number of them.

    Do not be frightened to sit and have a long drink with combat going on around you. There are times when you need to be full of mana - minibosses, the mass skelly attack after you kill the bilespitters etc. Take the time to drink fully and trust that your DPS masters are doing their job well.
     

  • Looting - this is secondary to the 45 minutes. Do not go out your way to loot but if you do, just use the need/greed button for EVERYTHING. Don't care is God's own crossbow that drops, there is no time for ML, for debate, or for rolling.

 

Every little thing will help your chances - you should expect to spend some gold on a bag of pots. This is not a cheap or easy Q to complete.

 

The route

The route is laid out in The Map. As you can see the map details not only the route but which mob groups to avoid, and which groups to hit in what order. Pulling extra mob groups will just slow you down. Whoever is the designated puller for your group should know this route inside out.

 

The run

  • ONE person should be leading/directing the run - calling for pulls etc. I usually end up continually shouting pull, pull, pull. Its like the cox of a row crew, chanting out the pace for the race.
     

  • Pulling is extremely important, or should I say, CHAIN pulling. As the last mob is dying the next group should have already been pulled. No resting between groups - the pace is and should be RELENTLESS. If you pull too many - shackle is a great way to control those extra mobs, as well as sheeping and freeze traps.

    This takes a LOT of getting used to. People are not experienced with chain pulling, the sheer relentless nature of combat. But this has to be done. If it takes 20 seconds between groups then over 20 groups you've lost almost 7 minutes doing nothing but waiting.
     

  • Right at the begining there's a lot of mobs and bat patrols, pull them all into the recess where the gate is. Don't fight out in the open as you will get feared, which can then lead of pulling other groups that you are trying to avoid ;-(

    Even the baroness, get the group to stay by the gate and send 1 to go pull her over to the gate. This gives the casters valuable time to drink.

  • So you have killed one of the mini bosses at a Zig, send in the mage and priest to kill the mobs inside. The priest should shield the mage, the priest then waits at the door. Mage goes in and drags out the mobs. Mage then spams AOE to nuke them while the priest heals the mage like crazy.

    Meanwhile the other 3 in the team should have moved on to the next mob group and be well their way through slaughtering them

    This approach saves a lot of time compared to the usual stampede of 5 bodies piling into the Zig. It is overkill and not needed. You will save 3-4 minutes over the 3 zigs by doing this. I have even seen 1 good rogue clear the Zig on their own.

     

Summary

There is a video (several actually) online that shows a complete run - http://files.filefront.com/45minfullavi/;4970587;;/fileinfo.html

This particular video shows the group using the "suicide trick"
This involves a different route - spider boss first followed by the baroness then down the narrow street to Pallid.

Once Pallid is dead, shield/buff the tank, and get him/her to run like the clappers to the main gates pulling all the mobs behind him. The group follows close behind. Stop inside the main gates where you WILL get slaughtered by the 300 adds BUT if the Pally has used Divine Intervention on the priest, the priest can rez everyone safely once the mobs have cleared off to their original positions. This cuts out a lot of mobs and cuts several minutes of your time.

Personally I never tried this as I never got a group willing to take the risk

I can honestly say that this is the first time the game has REALLY challenged me, pushed me beyond what I thought was possible. It was depressing, frustrating, wipe after wipe after wipe. I even started dreaming about the damned run. But, the buzz I got when a completed it - oh boy, the best I've ever had from WOW. And at the end I am a far better player for it.

Feel free to contact me at info@strat45.freeservers.com

 

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