With the increase in the number of shadowers in the server, it could be useful for the shadowers to learn how to do the smokescreen-based shadower horntail run (example). This is NOT a guide for a normal horntail run for shadowers, one already exists here This IS a guide for a unique run that utilizes having 2 smokescreens available. Credits to Zeliek and Nomyai (these are their igns, I don't know their forum accounts) for inventing this type of horntail run. Credits to me Kloxz (in game-name again) @silv as well for teaching other shadowers + iterating and improving this method. (skip this is you just want the actual mechanical parts): Spoiler Back when I was one of the few shadowers in the server, I was super excited when smokescreen got buffed from lasting 60seconds to 90seconds. I was already actively running horntail regularly with my guild at the time, and they loved having that long smokescreen. It got me wondering what a full shadower horntail run would look like (9 minutes of straight smokescreens if you have 6 shadowers). I was then introduced to Nomyai (Bran) and thus my journey of all-shadower horntail runs began. We were a small, close-nit community of shadowers (being a a minority in the server). Our horntail runs started with bombing the tail (being the only real threat and annoyance since we have no ranged characters) and then proceeding to do the run normally. Back then, we always took a hero or a bishop to armor cancel whenever we needed it. We also experimented with swapping out a shadower with a bucc. Our normal compositions were 3 shadowers - 1 bucc - 1 hero - 1 bishop. At the time, we believed this was the best composition. It wasn't long before someone realized that mass-sed isn't a threat to shadowers. After all, we are normally the seduce targets anyways, and most of us never need a bishop to save us (when I ran with my guild, it was often bishop-less). So we switched to rushing the arms first after finishing off the tail and the legs. This allows shadowers to maximize their dps on the right side (being the strongest class to attack horntail on the right side, this dramatically sped up our runs). Shortly after, we incorporated rushing down the left arm as well, removing the need to bring someone for armor cancelling and allowing us to bring another shadower instead. That's when we decided to see how fast our run has become, which resulted in the speed run thread. The last change to our run so far outside of the speed run thread is that we no longer bomb the tail, we just attack it while in smokescreen. Our range has become good enough that it would be quicker (and easier) to just hit the tail right at the start instead of spending time dropping mesos. We have yet to try a full shadower run with mules (Sed mules and crash mules), but that might be coming soon. Now that you've read the backstory, enjoy the rest of this guide. Benefits of this method of slaying horntail: You aren't required to have ranged attackers You use VERY LITTLE hp pots It's fun and very engaging Shadowers find this run method addicting Rushing arms usually leads to faster runs If you have a team with good DPS (your team is stronk), at least 2 smokescreens (e.g. 1 shadower + 1 bucc). If you have a team with moderate DPS (most horntail teams), at least 3 smokescreens. If you are bringing mules - you need an active bishop (or a shadower with a bishop mule that can switch to active bishop when needed) Someone with timers for mass sed and smokescreens If you are bringing someone who doesn't have hero's will and is not a shadower - you need an active bishop with hero's will Shadowers should have at least 8k health, but more is DEFINITELY recommended, I personally have ~10k hp at the time of writing this guide. It is important to establish smokescreen order (just like how you coordinate crash order) Spoiler DP = Dispell/Debuff dps = damage per second will = hero's will BoT = Band of Thieves Boom step = Boomerang Step Nate = Assassinate SN = Smoke Next sed = seduce i-frames = invincibility frames ress = resurrect armor up = defense up armor crash = armor cancel/def cancel The start of the run: The cool thing about this method of running is you aren't required to bring any ranged attackers (though you can). You want to start the run by killing the tail as fast as you can. There are 3 ways to do this: If you have at least 2 ranged attackers: Spoiler You do the run the normal way, starting on the left side and letting the ranged attackers kill the leg + tail. Even if you have 2 ranged attackers, you can still use the other 2 methods. If you aren't confident about your DPS: Spoiler You want your shadowers to drop meso bags here. This spot allows the shadowers to hit the tail 100% of the time (even when it is going up) as well as the legs. In this screenshot, we were slightly too far to the right. It's safer to be a little further left than too far right. You should have the front of your head touching the red line at least. Try to line yourself up based on the background. You don't have to get the spot exactly right, like I said, dropping a little too far left is better than dropping a little too far right. The shadowers should drop bags for 2 minutes and 30 seconds (11-13k bags should work). At 2 minutes and 30 seconds, someone must start breaking the rock to spawn horntail (allows enough time for horntail to spawn and the bags of mesos won't time-out). When horntail flickers, you want to drop the first smokescreen (if you have ranged attackers, drop the smokescreen far enough right so that the ranged attackers can stand by the rope ). You MUST have someone start the 90 second smokescreen timer here. As soon as you can start damaging horntail (I usually try hitting it until it lets me before I start blowing up mesos) all shadowers start blowing up the mesos and the rest of the attackers should apple and start attacking the tail. If the tail isn't dead after 80 seconds on the smokescreen timer, you should get your 2nd smokescreen ready. You SHOULD LAYER your smokescreens by a few seconds that way there is NO CHANCE that your party members will get hit by the tail between smokescreens. I have not seen a party that hasn't been able to take down the tail within 2 smokescreens with this method (I have trio'd the tail with 2 shadowers and 1 pally in 2 smokescreens). After the tail is dead, you should focus on killing the legs (allowing mules to cross to the right side). If you kill the tail within 1 smokescreen, you can hold your 2nd smokescreen if your party can survive the legs. Also note that the seduce target should be aware of when they will be sed during this process and either sit in the smokescreen or will out. If you are confident about your DPS: Spoiler Someone should start hitting the rock and you should drop your first smokescreen here. Someone needs to start a 90 second smokescreen timer. Parties with really strong single target DPS can take down the tail in 1 smokescreen, otherwise, expect to use 2 smokescreens to be safe. When there is 5 seconds left in the smokescreen, drop your 2nd smokescreen and continue killing the tail. All attackers must apple here in order to down the tail in time. Down the right side of horntail: Shadowers EXCEL on the right side of horntail because they can hit 4 targets with boomerang step. Spoiler This makes them the best class for the right side of horntail Spoiler I hit 50-90k x2 per boomerange step per target, 50-110k x2 if I have SE, making maximum damage for 1 cast of boomerang step with SE = 110k*2 lines*4 targets = 8 lines of 110k = 880k max damage per cast of boomerang step. But, to take an average, It's usually 75k lines * 8 in damage per cast of boomerang step. I don't know many other classes able to do 8 lines of 75k damage in one cast. If you have any remaining smokescreens from killing the legs + tail, you can drop them here. The goal during this step of the run is to down the right arm and head c at the same time. There are a lot of reasons for this. Spoiler Firstly, shadowers want to be hitting 3-4 targets for as long as possible (maximize their dps, it's insane). If you kill 2 of the 4 targets too fast, you lose shadower dps (at 2 targets, shadowers should be using assassinate + boomerang step instead of boomerang step + band of thieves, you can read why in my shadower guide). Killing head C + wings too fast is really bad for shadowers because they can't nate the right arm 100% of the time (only when it extends out). Secondly, killing right arm + wings before head c is moderately bad because shadowers can no longer use assaulter to jump up the platforms (it takes a long time to climb up). Spoiler It's fine if you down 2 parts early, but you want to minimize the time you are hitting only 2 targets. That's why the goal is to down the head c and right arm at the same time, allowing you to move to the next step of the run. In order to accomplish this, single target based dps attackers should focus head C and multi target should focus the multi targets. If you have more single target than multi-target, or if you have really strong single target dps attackers, this works out really well. But in order to successfully rush down right arm when your single target dps is a lot of your damage, you need to know when to move your single target dps to wings. If you have crash mules, I recommend moving down your single target dps to down the wings when the first wave of dark wyverns spawn. If you don't have crash mules, move down to wings at the 3rd wave. The timing here will differ for every party because everyone's dps is different, but you want to kill the wings before the mass seds start happening so your single-target dps can help you down the right arm. If you have more multi-target dps, or if your multi-target dps attackers are really strong, you don't have to move your single target dps down until right arm warning. Your multi-target dps should be able to carry downing the right arm during mass seds. Right arm rush: While you are attacking the right side, you will get right arm warning. At this time, every attacker in your party should be focusing on killing the right arm. You must have everyone's Hero's Will off cooldown (or have a bishop with hero's will off cooldown) and 2 smokescreens (3 if you aren't confident about your dps) in order to safely rush down the right arm. There are a lot of different ways to do this part of the run, and it will differ based on your comp. I recommend you read all the methods since they build upon each other. If everyone has Hero's Will: Spoiler During the first mass sed, everyone who isn't a shadower MUST will out. It is dangerous to not will out because horntail's heads can 1/1 you, resulting in many casualties. Someone must grab the mass sed timer (1 minute) when the first mass sed is cast. To be safe, you can commit a smoke before the first mass sed to ensure everyone can use hero's will (15-20 seconds after right arm warning is when I usually drop it) After 50 seconds, you should drop your first smokescreen and tell everyone who isn't a shadower to get on a rope within the smokescreen. When you drop the first smokescreen, you should grab the smokescreen timer (90 seconds). Note that mass sed can sometimes be late (possible up to 1min late). Just be patient and keep those attackers on that rope until it happens. If mass sed is on time, you will have 80 seconds of smokescreen left and the next mass sed is expected to happen in 60 seconds. You don't have to drop a 2nd smokescreen and just tell your non-shadowers to rope again. Keep an eye on your timers, if the mass sed hasn't happened yet and there is 8 seconds left on the smokescreen, you should drop your 2nd smokescreen to keep everyone alive. If the first mass sed wasn't on time and was late, you must drop the 2nd smokescreen regardless. Strong parties will be able to down the right arm after those 3 mass seds, otherwise you will need a 3rd (and in some cases, such as a dc, a 4th) smokescreen in order to survive. Just repeat the steps for dropping the smokescreen, telling attackers to rope, and timing the mass seds until the right arm is dead. If someone doesn't have hero's will but your bishop does: Spoiler You will do everything similar to the previous method. The only difference is, during the first mass sed, the Bishop will Hero's Will out and heal all the attackers to keep them alive. If you have a bucc with TL off cooldown: Spoiler On top of the previous 2 methods, after all the hero's wills and smokescreens have been used, you can TL everything, allowing you to start the cycle back at hero's will and repeat the cycle. The order of surviving the mass seds should be will > smoke (all of them using the timing method) > (tl here) > will > smoke . If a bunch of people DC'd while you are doing this arm rush or if people who are needed to continue the arm rush die during mass sed, don't freak out. You can still save the run. When mass seds happen you can jump into any mobs on the bottom of the map to get i-frames from them, allowing you to not get hit by any 1/1's that horntail casts. This should be used as a LAST RESORT because there is still a chance you can die while doing this. Please note that if you have a bunch of DC's or casualties BEFORE the right arm rush, you can always abandon rushing the right arm and continue doing a normal horntail run. Left arm rush: If you don't have any crashes (either you can't ress them or didn't bring any mules) while you are on this part, it would be worth while to try to de-sync the weapon cancels of head A and head B. Spoiler This method does not work 100% of the time (we had about 80% success rate with it) and it is not also guaranteed to keep the heads de-synced the entire time (I'll explain why). Also, everything I explain here is just a theory that we follow (and could be wrong). If you have more information on this, I would love to learn. Theory: The heads have a cycle of what spells they cast (like a queue). That kind of explains why you don't get 2 weapon cancels in a row (there's always a magic cancel in between 2 weapon cancels). The queue only starts adding weapon and magic cancels once the heads have taken damage. We also don't know which of the two it will add to the queue first (either magic or weapon cancel). When the heads start taking damage, it might not cast a cancel right away (has to go through all the other spells in the queue before the cancel). Also, when a cancel is already cast, it won't cast another cancel to over-write it until the cancel is finished, instead it will cast the other spells in the queue until it can cast the next cancel. This explains why the cancels usually happen back to back (magic then weapon or vice versa). After the two cancels, there's always a brief period of time where there are no cancels. The means there are 2 different order of spells in a simplistic view: weapon cancel > magic cancel > no cancels OR magic cancel > magic cancel > no cancels So following this theory, when you start on the left side of horntail, head B should already be casting cancels (shadowers hit head B from the right side) and head A shouldn't be casting any. When Head B starts weapon cancelling, wait for Head A to cast anything and then start hitting head A. I drew a big logic puzzle on a whiteboard to work this out and it should work 80% of the time (not 100% but pretty good). I already erased the whiteboard and am too lazy to re-draw it right now but if you want to know the idea, you can pm me in game. Going back to the theory, there's a chance that the heads end up getting synced back up when they start spawning new colors of wyverns (adds a new spell to the queue which will delay the cancels by 1 spell cast, which is sometimes enough to sync the heads back up). When should you go desync the heads? If right arm dies before head C, one person should go desync the heads while everyone else is attacking head C. If right arm and head C are down (either head C died first or they died at the same time), everyone should avoid hitting head A until someone (or a group of people) desync it (boomerang stop on the left arm will hit head A when it dips down). After successfully rushing the right arm and finishing the right side of horntail (head c and right arms), you should move over the the left side and start downing the left arm. If you have timeleap still up, you should ress any mules now. They should have died during mass seds on the right side. If you have really strong dps (meaning you downed the right arm after only 2 mass seds, or 3 mass seds if you have a majority shadowers) you can wait to ress your mules. You want to kill left arm as fast as possible so put all your attackers on it. Left arm usually dies faster than right arm because the shadowers can hit it 100% of the time with nate. You need at least 1 smokescreen to survive left arm rush. After first warning, left arm will start debuffing you in 5min intervals. After 2nd warning, left arm will start debuffing you in 3min intervals on top of the 5 minute intervals. After 2nd warning, left arm will start mass seducing you in 1min intervals. During mass sed, you want to will out (even the shadowers) because there's a chance you will get debuffed while you are seduced. Roughly 10 seconds after 2nd warning, you should drop your first smokescreen and tell your attackers that don't have will, and your bishop, to get on the rope. After everyone wills out of the first mass sed and the mass sed is over, continue doing the arm rush the same way right arm rush was done (time the seds and the smokescreens). We've usually done this in 1-2 mass seds, and almost never had a 2nd wave of debuffs after the 5min and 3min timers start. If everyone has will, you can save the smokescreen for the 2nd mass sed. After left arm is dead, you should ress any mules/buyers. Finally: Once left arm is dead, you no longer have to worry about seduces for the rest of the run. You also don't have to worry about armor up (so there's no need to dispell/armor cancel any more). For the rest of the run, you can kill heads A and B like in any normal run (usually head B being the last thing to die). Shadowers should focus hitting head A, (since you are hitting 2 targets, nate + boom step should be used). This run is VERY INVOLVED and, in my opinion, lots of fun. This method is also very fast. With normal parties, we average 35-40minute horntail main bodies, assuming no casualties (meaning you only have to use 4 apples rather than 5-7). Please correct me if something is wrong on this guide, all feedback is much appreciated. (There's probably a lot of typos) Happy mapling!
I would like to add, other classes that benefit EXTREMELY from this method of HT. Corsair: The more smokescreens you are in, the more total dps you have. Shads+bucc gives you SI and Smokescreens, saving pots and saving your Battle Ship for MAXIMUM dps. Did you quit your Corsair because HT is hell? well, make some shadower friends because now you are a GOD in HT. Corsair can actually use Torpedo at (wing/arm/HeadsBC) and do more dps than using battleship cannon, especially if SE is in party. Paladin: Your Heaven's Hammer now has maximum effectiveness when paired with the overall mobbing of shad runs (more parts up for longer), and ACB (fire) on the right side is optimum dps when wings are still up. You're top tier single target dps assists in downing the arms that mass sed you, making up for lack of TL or smokescreens. Buccaneer: A lot of Buccs don't know this! Using snatch+dragon strike is optimum dps at 4 parts (wing/arm/HeadsBC) and your single target dps helps downing arms faster. SI+TL helps any warriors and doubling smokescreens. Drk/Hero: You're mobbers/melee. You now have the ability to hit both Legs and Tail while in smoke, giving you higher dps. And since this is a mobbing focused run, you're grouped with the party constantly maintaining max dps, and not alone trying to scrape by any damage you can do like a traditional ht run.
actually i found that drk+bucc+shad +nl+se+bs is the best possible combination at HT for a 6 man despite what ppl could think...
