Harvesters and how much you hate them

Hilgara · June 2014

Irgin wrote: »

Hilgara wrote: »

If you keep circling you are never in the dead zone because it stops tracking to cast and you keep moving. Also be aware that the healing ball things will heal you if you get in the way of them.

Well, if you do this Harvester will still fire the frontal into the crowd while doing a dolmen.
What bugs me the most is the fact, that the distance from where you get hit with the frontal is irrelevant. Usually aoes are way more lethal the closer you are - this game should take this common mechanic into consideration.

The cone of the attack is about a 45% arc. If you are circling close then as soon at it stops tracking you for the half second cast you are automatically out of the dead zone if you keep moving. No need to block or pre-empt anything just keep circling. You only need to cover a 45% arc of the circle to be safe and in effect its even less than that the closer you are. This is one of the very few fights I found easier on my NB than I did on my sorc.

Woolenthreads · June 2014

PBpsy wrote: »

Impulse or any aoe works great for the blobs. Going in circles to their sides is also helphull.

One more thing though since you are in VR5 you must be an EP in DC and you do not really have to kill any of them from what I remember. You can just avoid them. Harvesters and Gargoyles are the mobs that I don't see any reason in fighting more than once to see if you can do it.To much trouble for a nonexistent reward.

The Royal Graveyard Quest in Bangkorai has a harvester as the end boss

darthrahneb17_ESO1 · June 2014

Woolenthreads wrote: »

PBpsy wrote: »

Impulse or any aoe works great for the blobs. Going in circles to their sides is also helphull.

One more thing though since you are in VR5 you must be an EP in DC and you do not really have to kill any of them from what I remember. You can just avoid them. Harvesters and Gargoyles are the mobs that I don't see any reason in fighting more than once to see if you can do it.To much trouble for a nonexistent reward.

The Royal Graveyard Quest in Bangkorai has a harvester as the end boss

I remember this quest. Was stuck in that "church" for about 15 minutes, going upstairs, going close to altar. Best place to kill orbs is the center of room, between pillars, then you have 5-6 seconds to bow them.

On topic Harvesters are easy as pie. I usualy farm them for profit near Cloud Ruler Temple in Cyrodiil.

Gargoyles are the real problem!

Merlin13KAGL · June 2014

Obscure wrote: »

Step 2: Hit It In The Balls

First amused...then slightly bewildered...

*Wonders with extreme consideration if there might be a Lore book out there on Harvester Anatomy that might help one locate where exactly a Harvester's balls would be located...

(Good advice, @Obscure‌, and with just the right amount of sarcasm...)

On a different note, I find it interesting that ESO wanted to discourage min-maxing, yet the general consensus after L49 involves sinking all/most points into Health. You'd think they'd take note of that...

Dagoth_Rac · June 2014

jesterstear wrote: »

I'm a tank/healer Templar with sword and shield as main weapon and restoration staff backup. The problem I have with these things is taking out the balls. Sword and Shield has neither AoE nor Ranged attacks and is low DPS overall, in addition to the disadvantage of putting you very close to the opponent so you have little or no time to dodge Black Winter.

Yeah, S+B and Resto Staff are awful for handling the healing orbs. But, as a Templar, you can use Spear Shards to AoE the healing balls from a distance. You'll probably have to back up out of melee range briefly to get some perspective and make sure you are dropping the AoE circle in the correct place. I am not sure if they heal you this way or if you have to kill the orbs up close to get the heal. You could also consider something like Explosive Charge, which does damage to all enemies near the point of attack. But it does not work at melee range, only charging in from a distance. Another possibility is Blazing Shield, which does significant AoE once the shield is depleted (which will happen fast in VR). Crescent Sweep ultimate can also do PBAoE but, despite refilling quickly, you can't be guaranteed of having that available at any given time.

Templar does not have easy, spammable AoE like some other classes and weapon lines, but we do have some unorthodox AoE that you can use in a pinch. A 1H+S Templar is never going to have it easy in VR, but there are ways to make the battle really painful instead of really, really, really painful.

ebondeath · June 2014

After my first encounter with Doshia (pre-nerf) at level 9 and much rage and somewhere upwards of 20 deaths, I've had a lot less trouble with harvesters, even at vr6. As long as I keep moving like the greased up deaf guy, keep Blood Craze up, get off one and maybe two ultimate, and conserve stamina for stuns, breaking out of stuns, and whirling blades, I can usually take them down without help.

sCouraGeFire · June 2014

melee + harvester is certain death

Woolenthreads · June 2014

sCouraGeFire wrote: »

melee + harvester is certain death

No, "Whirling Death" kills the Orbs in close combat as long as the timing is good, so a Dual Wielder can do it but I'd agree that a character with no "AoE Melee" is looking to be splattered all over the place

Hypertionb14_ESO · June 2014

One harvester is only a problem if you get sloppy IMO... its the times when you get 2 or more at a time(namely at anchors) that these things become a serious problem to me generally...

Nothing worse than getting Grabbed by one, Wintered by the other and while still knocked by the first winter hit by a ranged or another winter from the one that grabbed... Even breaking out of the grab you are generally dead if this happens to you.

Cody · June 2014

im a NB archer, the way I fight them, is I stay back, shoot em, TRY to dodge their dang spells, when those annoying health orbs come, I use impale to destroy them, it gives me health, and is quick. I try to knock them down/interrupt them as much as possible, and when their health gets low, I spam impale like crazy.also, you don't need 2K health to do VR content, I soloed 3 vet zones, grouping only for dolmens, world bosses, and public dungeons, and I had somewhere between 1,300-1,600 health. Just try to dodge their attacks, interrupt them if possible, and DO NOT LET THOSE ORBS HEAL THEM.

poodlemasterb16_ESO · June 2014

Getting used to running a Vampire. It is very satisfying to beat them down to about half, then Drain Essence right in their stupid single eye. They stun nicely, then it's pretty quick from a quarter health to none.

Sallakat · June 2014

Woolenthreads wrote: »

sCouraGeFire wrote: »

melee + harvester is certain death

No, "Whirling Death" kills the Orbs in close combat as long as the timing is good, so a Dual Wielder can do it but I'd agree that a character with no "AoE Melee" is looking to be splattered all over the place

In beta I encountered Doshia also on my nightblade that I was trying out. It ended up being a really long fight but I was melee range almost all the time and just used the self heal + dmg skill to keep myself alive and it worked fine. It was a bit of tricky with the orbs and Doshia got full health a couple of times but long grind and managed to get it done in the end.

flintstone · June 2014

My Dragon Knight drops them in seconds (Standard of Might) and two handed sword. My mage.........not so easy.

DeLindsay · June 2014

Just curious how do you ONLY have 1400 Health at VR6? You do understand the way DR works right? The more of a stat you put into it the less and less you gain from it. Meaning the more Magicka you pump onto your gear the more worthless the stat is until you literally won't gain any more. And I have to disagree that +300 Magicka will make the difference in saving a life when your DEAD lol.

At VR7 I have 2400-2600 Health depending on the food I eat while also having ~2100 Magicka (soft cap is 1987 or something to that end at VR7) and enough Stamina to do what I need with it, usually ~1600. TBH, your Health is the single problem you are having, and it's wise like others have said to get it at or higher than 2K, but to each their own I guess.

killedbyping · June 2014

I HATE THEM SO MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCH !!!!!!!!!!!

GwaynLoki · June 2014

flintstone wrote: »

My Dragon Knight drops them in seconds (Standard of Might) and two handed sword. My mage.........not so easy.

Killed her with my NB but I needed several tries and it was quite narrow.
Went to her with my Dk, killed her almost instantly and was like "what?".

Tannakaobi · June 2014

eh?

I can't think of another target that heals you. I could fight them all day!

Bhakura · June 2014

harvesters is quite simple, stay close, hug it, stand on her head if need be and keep circling around. her cone attack is very long range and the further out the more widespread it is, the charge however is slow and she is nailed to the ground while channeling, so if you stand close while moving around her all the time you can get out of that attack extremely easy. Next the hold attack, be ready for it, trick is to immidiatly break the CC and keep moving but usually she casts the 4 necrotic orbs instead of the cone attack, when she does get aoe ready, those orbs will heal the damage you took from the CC instead of heal her. Since youre close to her, not one orb will hit her. Rince and repeat and kill harvesters by the dozens without ever be in mortal danger.

AKSb16_ESO2 · June 2014

Doshia now is so much nerfed, she gets down before even calling the 4 bubbles...
Same for Balreth, he dies so fast you only have to stun him once...

No challenge any more.

_subjectnamehere_ · June 2014

Magdalina wrote: »

I'm trying to restrain myself from joining the "NERF IT!" screaming crowd so I'll welcome your opinions and strategies:) Especially those of fellow sorcs.

My biggest problem is I get oneshot by them. I have 1400 health as vet 6, they do 1500+ damage as vet 5, I have like 0.5 second to dodge their Black Winter attack(often can't dodge because casting a spell or smth and don't move fast enough) and I just get oneshot. They also have rather high health and those **** fulheals so I have to put out high dps(ideally aoe to get rid of orbs), during which I inevitably miss a hit sooner or later.

The only way I found so far is to summon a SA on them and try to nuke them from the back - Black Winter doesn't reach there. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't as it'll knock my SA down and turn to nuke me/last more than SA. But I don't think I've managed to defeat a single vet Harvester without an ultimate so far.

EDIT: Oh, and not to forget the stun. Stun+Black Winter is an exceptionally good combo.

As I am a fan of swapping out skills for different situations, let me offer you some insight.

Before I say anything, I hate harvesters as well, with a passion. They are, without argument, some of the toughest mobs to fight against in the game, even at non-vet levels.

I swap out one or two AOE skills (as a sorcerer) onto my bar while fighting these guys. I have a lot of magicka (like you) so they do decent damage. I use Lightning Flood (greater AOE area) and Volcanic Rune usually because I do not want to get too close for Pulsar, although I am sure you could make that work too.

AOE the orbs down. When they die, YOU get the health back, NOT the harvester. So, it is important that those orbs die.

Second, the other posters here are right...if your health is that low, you are going to die rather fast by these mobs. So...either do your best to dodge and be patient using whatever single-target skills you have (with a combination of light/heavy attacks) or equip a skill to help with spell defense/armor, like Boundless Storm or Thundering Presence. That will help wtih some protection.

Hope this helps. And...FYI, I try to avoid them as much as I can unless I have help. Sometimes, you just can't, and I understand that.

Wait until you see what the Vet. 8 Gargoyles are like....14K+ HP, no CC, and they hit like a freight train. Have fun...

murklor007neb18_ESO · June 2014

Harvesters are really, really easy compared to gargoyles, trolls, storm atronachs etc...

After I learned how to handle them as a Nightblade, I could plow through them about as easy as 3 mob groups, assuming veil of blades is up. Just sneak attack, veil of blades and then spam surprise attack and stealth until your fingers go numb, finishing her with killer blade. Harvester dead right about the time veil of blades is done and the first orbs spawn, you shouldnt have lost any HP at all. Rince and repeat.

The problem with the other veteran monsters is that they got so much regen, you fail to bring them down within the veil of blades uptime. That make it very hard to take them down the remaining HP. The trick for them is to hold veil of blades until the last moment, but for some that's incredibly difficult (storm atronach in particular do so much damage you have to pop it fairly soon, often resulting in failure).

Oevaag_Bur · June 2014

murklor007neb18_ESO wrote: »

Harvesters are really, really easy compared to gargoyles, trolls, storm atronachs etc...

100% agree. As a templar "tank" I have no problems at all these days with harvesters. Trolls are manageable. Gargoyles and storm atronachs on the other hand just wipe the floor with me. Had to skip one of the delves in shadowfen as the first mob was a gargoyle ^^

CaptainSilverbrow · June 2014

They're easy when you realize they're essentially dual-phase. I whittle away at them with muh bow until they use that soul attack, then go in with Biting Jabs (or just about any AoE, I think) to eat the bubbles. This is the simplest explanation I can offer.

Magdalina · June 2014

murklor007neb18_ESO wrote: »

Harvesters are really, really easy compared to gargoyles, trolls, storm atronachs etc...

After I learned how to handle them as a Nightblade, I could plow through them about as easy as 3 mob groups, assuming veil of blades is up. Just sneak attack, veil of blades and then spam surprise attack and stealth until your fingers go numb, finishing her with killer blade. Harvester dead right about the time veil of blades is done and the first orbs spawn, you shouldnt have lost any HP at all. Rince and repeat.

The problem with the other veteran monsters is that they got so much regen, you fail to bring them down within the veil of blades uptime. That make it very hard to take them down the remaining HP. The trick for them is to hold veil of blades until the last moment, but for some that's incredibly difficult (storm atronach in particular do so much damage you have to pop it fairly soon, often resulting in failure).

Well, trolls are rather easy for a mage, seeing as they're not immune to stuff. Storm Atronachs...well, they're doable for me if I have my own Storm Atronach up, but they're a rather rare monster so I haven't had much practice with them.
Gargoyles are annoying, just depends on luck for me. Well, and aforementioned Atronach helps.
Harvesters I just don't like because unlike everybody else they can oneshot me>.< I understand I'm supposed to avoid Black Winter and I have gotten a bit better with it, but in the end it's one tiny mistake, a little bit of lag and ta dah! Get to start over. Fun fun.

I also have a new subject of personal hatred, that being Wispmother=P

Esha76 · June 2014

I'm not thrilled with the notion that if one or two spheres gets to them, they can go from like 10% back to almost full, if not actually full. I would like to see their heal be toned down a little, but if it doesn't happen I'm not complaining either.

The one only Harvester I do have issue with is the one in Bangkorai inside that church. The space is just way too small, and those spheres spawn nearly right on top of her. Without a nuclear AOE, you will never get her down. I tried this VR10 as a NB, and just couldn't do it. In regular, my sorc got past it without any memory of significant issue. She does drop lightning (thundering and liquid) across all creation, so that's probably why.

However, it was told to me that Bombard will stop those spheres from moving, so a combo of bombard and scorched earth should do it, even with them spawning so close to her. But I had gone with the other bombard morph, and not willing to spend that massive respec just yet to take down one boss that did not count toward any kind of zone completion or titles.

rusila22 · June 2014

your Hp is too low ! you need tu put all your points in Health 49points( ! then you need to enchant all your armor with magicka

Fyrakin · July 2014

As a sorcerer I call SA and cycle between volcanic rune and impulse (destro staff), sometimes I'm able to kill one before I'm out of health/magicka. As DK I find them alot easier to kill, but still have to do it very fast timing is important, when balls return to harvester I do impulse when there are no balls I do lava whip. As templar I used different approaches, but figured that as a melee build they are pretty much undoable, so I use similar tactics to aoe when balls fly back. Also I allways have best crafted magicka+health healing potions for these encounters.

leandro.800ub17_ESO · July 2014

Looks like the best way is to block and spam aoe damage as much as you can
This is why all use impulse
I am trying to stick with stamina but even with 2.6k hp and 2k stam i have trouble

Nidwin · July 2014

When I've some time I'll investigate the Harvesters.
Got whooped by those nasty creatures so revenge needed.

There has to be some way, easier and or different ways. There always is.

Sandmanninja · July 2014

Not sure why, but I read that as "Hamsters and how much you hate them"