Zhen Guide

[Natsuki]

This is copied from the official forums - original poster 'Rule' of Heavens Tear
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Zhen is where MP charms are converted to XP very quickly. Its an inefficient trade in most cases but the XP climbs fast. If you've got the $$ this is the way to go.

A Zhen party consists of 6 people usually.
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2 Lurers
2 Clerics
2 Direct Dmg

This is not a static build and can easily incorporate Archers or more DD and less clerics. More on that later.

Basic requirements and suggestions
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1. All members of the party be at a minimum level 59 and strongly suggested 60 (for TT wep)

2. The closer in level you are the lower XP loss due to level difference.

3. Every member in AOE have a HP charm. (You'll understand this if you pull aggro..and unless your VERY underpowered YOU WILL PULL) No matter how good the cleric this really is a life saver. If your a Lurer and have good hp and def you can get along with pots and stops in the BB (don't stay too long)

4. Every member using AOE MUST MUST MUST have a MP charm. No exceptions. This is what Zhen is about. Clerics and DD both, it doesn't hurt for the lurers to have one but is in no way essential.

5. Archers must have many arrows...a good starting figure is 10k. Quality is not that important.


Where to do it?
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west of Dreamweaver port amongst the wolves (lev 78 Earth res\Phys dmg)
In Dreamweaver, board a ship and your off to a nice sunny locale known as NightScream Island Over across from the ship(lev 78 Fire res\Phys dmg)
NightScream Island just past the bridge on your left. (lev 79 Water res\phy dmg) Expert Lurers mix BM\Barb req due to prevalent ranged attackers.
Just East of Sanctuary (lev 72 no details) 673 568
Outside Immolation camp Rockenwolves (lev 84)
Spiders lvl 89 at 229 812
Feel free to list out other great spots.


How to do it.
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This varies on makeup of the party but the basics are simple.

The 2 Wizards and 2 clerics all huddle up together as close as possible so that thier spheres will overlap. The Clerics kick off BB (Blue Ball is AOE healing, not sure of actual name) The Lurers run off and bring back mobs. When the mobs are close the Wizards start thier Dragon's Breath. The lurers run through the flames and the mobs follow, are aggro'd towards the damage and stay to die. The lurers run off to get more mobs. (THIS IS BEST WHEN YOUR NOT FAMILIAR WITH YOUR PARTY IF SOMEONE IS WEAK OR TOO STRONG)

When you KNOW your party:
A modification to this that I find helps save HP charms is to setup in a diamond or triangle. This will be explained later.
..................Cleric............|............C leric
..........Wiz..............Wiz....|...Wiz......... .....Wiz
......................................|........... Cleric

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Alright, so how do archers fit in here? Simple answer, Barrage of Arrows.
More complex, a method is exploited to allow Barrage of Arrows to go on for an indefinant amount of time.
This part is important so pay attention:

The glitch has been reported to PWI and is an approved ussage of barrage of arrows. There is an 18 page thread regarding it on the main forums.

First thing, make sure that the Archer has enough MP. The number we've come up with for a stable barrage is 1600mp for barrage lev 1. With less than this the barrage tends to break during the zhen. Sometimes quickly, sometimes after 10 mins.

The archer should target another player, start a duel, the player should not in any way defend themselves. Wait until the target is around 1/2-1/4 hp, and start barrage of arrows as a finisher. The opponent will die and lose the duel. The barrage of arrows will continue.

To take best advantage of this the clerics should arrange BB at the very edge of the archers damage, so that the archer is covered in BB and that the edge of thier damage goes just past the clerics to draw aggro away. Archers do thier best damage at the edge of the barrage. As you get too close to the archer the damage is halved.

Setup your Wizards spheres to both be covered by BB and to have the archer in the very edge of the AOE.

This will tend to create a diamond shape or a triangle, or a straight line...which is really a squished diamond.

.....Cleric ..........|..............Cleric............|...... .....Cleric
wiz.........wiz......|......Archer.....Archer..... |...Archer.....Archer
....Archer..........|................Wiz.......... .....|..........Cleric

.....Archer........|...........Wiz................ ....|.............Archer
.....Cleric.........|........Cleric............... .....|.......Wizard..Cleric
Wiz........Wiz....|...Archer....Archer...........| ............Archer

COOL AWESOME TRICK, IF YOU ARE NOT ON NIGHTSCREAM ISLAND, THEN HAVE YOUR CLERIC FLY WHILE DOING BB!!

In a perfect world, the DD's will draw aggro from the lurer when the mobs wander in. If they go for the mages, they will be pulled by the cleric or the archer because of thier increased damage. If the mob goes to the cleric it reaches the outside range of the archer and is pulled towards. When it gets close to the archer the damage lowers and the mob pulls towards the mages who now have higher damage. As it approaches them it then is pulled back by the archer who now has increased damage. Playing pingpong with the mobs.
Normally, the archer or cleric will draw aggro and keep it depending on which is stronger.


Lurers
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Lurers need to bring the mobs into the center of the Zhen party, to be caught by a wizards AOE, which it heads towards and is then bounced by the varying aggro pulls of the cleric and archer. This will dramatically reduce damage for the party.

If the mobs are brought into the clerics or the archers field first they will aggro to them and hit them at least once or possibly several times depending on the pulls before being dragged elsewhere. This can get painful!

If the mobs are brought into the sides of the party usually the mage's sphere will get them first, but the cleric and archer will draw the mobs away, giving several ticks of damage before the mobs get to hit someone.

When you've gone out and brought back a large party of pulls, you might need to stay and stun the mobs when they arrive, to reduce damage and to lower the chance of HP charms going off. This can also keep a cleric or archer alive in case of too large a pull or an offside pull.

Next, after a pull, hang around for a few seconds and pickup drops. After too many drops things will start to dissappear, so its important to clean up. This also gives a chance for you to get a heal in from the clerics BB.

When there are two lurers, get one of them a mount! You'll travel much faster and be more efficient!.Have the mounted party member stay CLOSE and get all the local mobs to keep up a steady stream. Have the barbarian or AOE BM pull long range. Every few seconds getting thier attention to bring in those long distance pulls. GO GET EM! Bring in the hordes.

Keep in mind most mobs will only follow for 15 seconds without additional irritation.

Finally, DO NOT TAKE THE PARTY'S ABUSE SERIOUSLY. DO PAY ATTENTION. DO AS THEY ASK. THEY ARE PAYING YOU TO BE HERE!!
Keep in mind, they are possibly VERY stressed over DMG,XP gain, or $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. This is serious business for them!

The mages/clerics/archers are paying a hell of alot of coins\cash for thier MP charms, XP scrolls, arrows and repair bills. They are also betting thier lives on the Lurer to keep track of what is going on! The lurers are doing the work of pulling mobs but aren't really in danger or particularly invested financially outside of thier one XP scroll.
You are responsible for the Zhen working or not. Whether its profitable or a complete wipe. PAY ATTENTION. You get a free ride on this one, if you do a great job at it you'll have many many more opportunities for free XP and drops.


Important things to remember
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If the party is unbalanced with a weak member or someone too strong...someone is going to take a hell of a beating as they pull the aggro from the weakling...or the party will get little XP due to the higher lev...OR Party Wipe.


I've done 50+ Zhen parties so far, just a few hours in the nature of things. This is not the be all end all of guides! This is a compilation of information I've picked up in forums from observation and from helpful players. If you know something I don't then throw down with the knowledge! If something is inaccurate say so! I'll adjust accordingly.

Finally, if you don't like my syntax, word usage, run on sentences or spelling...(FOAD) keep your opinions to yourself. Flamers will be roasted, nit pickers will be pulled.

[FallenMoon]

A few of my own additions:
-Most groups tend to use 3 DD rather than 2 clerics, this tends to spread the damage around a little better.
-Some wizards take off their rings If they are getting too much attention. For wizards who zhen regularly, I'd reccomend a light armor build or at least heavy investment in physical resistance gear/soulstones.
-I generally dont use the diamond/triangle, usually I'd set the wizard(s) and cleric(s) in a ball in the middle, then have the archer a little outside the group, if theres 2 archers -- I set up one on each side. I think keeping the cleric more in the center of the formation looks after them a bit better.


I.e.

(CLER/WIZ) ========= (ARCHER)

(ARCHER) ========= (CLER/WIZ) ========= (ARCHER)