a serious discussion of Haku missions

after failing yet another, and still being unable to get Haku into town (have all the rest at level 3-5), I think this is beyond me being bad.

Haku missions remind me of a certain Uber Zone in the Median mod for D2. those who played it will know what I'm talking about: "Kingdom Of Shadow".
for those who haven't, it's a zone with invincible (non-targetable) fast zombies that swarm and eat your char in seconds, plus some totems shooting deadly spikes called "punishers".
your goal is to run as fast as you can, get to the boss, kill the boss, and get the fuck out before you're zombie-chow.

and yet, even though "Kingdom Of Shadow" was a definite "RIP zone" for those stupid enough to try it, it still feels fair compared to Haku's missions, for a couple reasons:

1) you are allowed - heck, encouraged - to use teleportation/movement skills. no one expects you to just run through swarms of immortal zombies.
well Haku does. right through his invincible totems of OP elemental doom, spawning monsters you have no time to stop and kill without risking death, and occasional falling rocks you pray won't hit you.
did I mention this is *after* you actually killed the boss? you're basically running through no-man's-land twice.

2) there's no time limit. you obviously should run like hell in KoS, but no one is going to say "you failed!" if it takes you a bit longer to complete the level.

3) the KoS boss is badass, but not too tricky given what you went through to get to him. Haku's totem bosses don't give you that privilege. most of them are just insane.

I'll stop here, to keep this wall-of-text moderately short.

I'd like to know what you guys think about Haku's missions.
I think they are unfair and should be nerfed the fuck down. especially if we compare them to other masters' missions. heck, even to Zana's timed pillar missions.

two nerf suggestions right off the bat, are allowing the player to actually kill those totems, and removing the time limit.

It really depends on your spec in my opinion. Some specs can and some specs can't.

A max block Aegis character can easily shit on any Haku mission whereas a "glass-cannon" gets shit on.

Sorry, but I can not relate to this.

Maybe if you are not on maxresist in merc. Haku are one of the easiest quests imho after elreon and vagan.

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Chundadragon wrote:

It really depends on your spec in my opinion. Some specs can and some specs can't.

A max block Aegis character can easily shit on any Haku mission whereas a "glass-cannon" gets shit on.

can't say my main characters encountering him in maps and late-Merciless areas, are "glass cannons" - but I'm no where near as "uber-geared" as the Aegis Aurora characters you're talking about.
still, my gear and builds are enough to do the map itself - rather quickly in most cases - and almost any other Master Quest spawning in it.

and yet I haven't managed to complete a single Haku mission. I either die a couple of times and decide it's just not worth it, or take too much time to kill the boss and return with the spirit.
guess I should just do a couple of his missions on Normal, just to get him in town and Hideout.
but I have a feeling they would still be insanely more difficult than a character at that level is supposed to handle.

Do you have maxed resists (75%) and a decent movement speed? If not you should try to fix that.

I have no problems running past Haku's totems and the monsters on the way. I play a 2H groundslammer so I do not carry a shield but did spec Unwavering Stance (can't be stunned). I have 5.1k life, 25% movement boots, and decent life regeneration.

The bosses are very easy for me and I only have 4 socketed gear, with single target damage below 10k and AoE below 7k.

My gear is not exceptional in any way and is way past due for an upgrade. I just run past all the totems, kill the one guarding the spirit, pick up the spirit and run back. I don't kill anything else since that slows you down and there is a good chance all corpses will revive when you carry the spirit near them.

I guess the problem is either a bad build or lack of decent gear. Any item that isn't a unique should have life on it (unless you use Energy Shield.) That and max resists and fast boots should get you through without any trouble.

Haku missions do not seem to hard to me. Decent Dps and respectable survivability and cakewalk. I tried haku with a less tanky character and it was much harder. Haku seems to be a glass cannon check. High Dps does not do a whole lot for you in his missions.

There are builds that struggle with each master. He'll, I have one character that struggled with Elreon. Solid single target, weaker aoe. Happens.

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Chundadragon wrote:

It really depends on your spec in my opinion. Some specs can and some specs can't.

A max block Aegis character can easily shit on any Haku mission whereas a "glass-cannon" gets shit on.

You're speaking on two completely opposite sides of the spectrum. What about every build in between? Personally I think Haku is a little imbalanced. My standard character, who is max block mjolner with 6k life, sometimes comes close to dying in those missions so I can just imagine what it would be like for a beyond league who doesn't have the crazy gear.

welcome back John

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Sprongley wrote:

You're speaking on two completely opposite sides of the spectrum. What about every build in between? Personally I think Haku is a little imbalanced. My standard character, who is max block mjolner with 6k life, sometimes comes close to dying in those missions so I can just imagine what it would be like for a beyond league who doesn't have the crazy gear.

honestly, if I ever see the bastard standing next to his "cave of wonders" in a HC league - I'll just run past him.
there's no chance in hell I'll ever attempt a Haku mission in HC alone.

@Nubatron, I consider my higher chars a good balance between survivability and DPS. they don't excel in either, but are pretty good overall.
my Puncture Ranger for example, was able to take a couple of EKs from the Jungle Valley spider and live to tell about it. you won't believe me when I tell you how much HP she has - but the build is solid enough to do that, and the gear is good too.

Haku's "rip missions" just seem out of touch with the rest of the Master missions, to me.

@Worldbreaker, thanks man.

if u are tank with capped block and spell block and 4k + hp u wont have any problems,the problem with haku is that only tanks can do his missions.