Eastern Dock Pylons - I can't get past them

[Snowwhite]

As per the title.  Playing as a shaper and there was a comment about finding another way to get there but I can't find that either.

 

Thank you in advance.

[googoogjoob]

As a Shaper, the best way to deal with pylons is to use Airshock to kill them from outside their attack range (since Airshock has AoE that can stretch beyond their range). You can try to kill them with Creations- pylons are weak to simple physical damage- but they do a lot of damage, and explode when they die, so this isn't really optimal.

 

Note, though, that you're not obligated to visit every zone on the map, and Mutagen makes it harder to see and do everything in one playthrough than it was in the original. Pylons in Mutagen are designed to be a huge pain (or at least a tedious problem) unless you're focusing on Stealth.

[Snowwhite]

Thank you googoogjoob.  I thought that I have to go through to get to the dead Sholia who has the key.  and I can't find another way to get to the beach.  Can you suggest one?

[BenS]

36 minutes ago, Snowwhite said:

Thank you googoogjoob.  I thought that I have to go through to get to the dead Sholia who has the key.  and I can't find another way to get to the beach.  Can you suggest one?

There's an eastern exit in the Refugee cave that takes you south of where you entered from the north. The pylon area, like many maps, is the "non-combat" area (w/ a few exceptions), while the southern part of the map is the combat route to the body. There are some interesting NPCs in a building, too.

[Snowwhite]

Thank you.  I had missed it.

[BenS]

8 hours ago, Snowwhite said:

Thank you.  I had missed it.

I'm glad you found it, b/c I screwed up my explanation. The eastern exit from the Refugee Cave takes you to the northern (pylon) part of the Eastern Docks, while the southern (SE to me) exit takes you to the Dock Ruins, which is a way to get to the southern part of the Eastern Docks map.

[Snowwhite]

I did find it.  I also tried the Airshock crystals and made not much dent in the pylons.  If there is a spell i don't have it as I have not invested in them as a shaper.  so I don't know why others could kill the pylons with Airshock.

[Randomizer]

Airshock has the advantage that you can use it at extreme range and be outside the pylon attack range. Pylons have 50% energy resistance so you need a large bonus to kill the, quickly.

 

Shapers using range attack creations have the same problem that those attacks do less penetrating damage because of resistances. So you need to attack with lots of creations that may die, use unstable creations that will cheerfully die to take out the pylon, or slowly whittle them down.

[Magenta]

I did this as a shaper, and I'm pretty sure I did not attack any pylons. I did have some stealth, but probably not a lot. I don't remember the exact details, but it went something like this: 

 

First of all, I went in solo, because creations would just get in harm's way. Since we are encouraged to make and remake creations for different situations, I figure it is also ok for a shaper to go without them for certain situations. In combat mode, sneak or run past the first few pylons. If you get hit, make the best use of your AP by moving seven spaces and then heal. When you get to the big room, there is a place you can hide and reach a control panel. Here you open three doors, which releases some rogues. While the pylons attack the rogues, hightail it to the NW, hiding behind obstacles when you can.  Find the power spiral and use it to disable the pylons. Then you can bring back your creations and explore the building safely. 

 

I hope I remembered this right. Good luck!

[BenS]

3 hours ago, Snowwhite said:

I did find it.  I also tried the Airshock crystals and made not much dent in the pylons.  If there is a spell i don't have it as I have not invested in them as a shaper.  so I don't know why others could kill the pylons with Airshock.

Airshock the spell will become more and more powerful based on the caster; whereas those crystals are capped at modest damage (but can still be good to stun members of a group). That said, if you stay (mostly) in combat mode, and certainly if you have Essence Shield, you can bypass or survive a few blasts in your way through the N, to get to the power spiral that shuts down the pylons. The big room w/ the pylons has a nice middle section that's shielded from their "view". Once in there, next get through the door to the SE and then head N. Healing + Essence Shield will get you through just fine once you figure out the route through a little experimentation.

[Noman]

On 3/16/2021 at 1:14 AM, googoogjoob said:

As a Shaper, the best way to deal with pylons is to use Airshock to kill them from outside their attack range (since Airshock has AoE that can stretch beyond their range). You can try to kill them with Creations- pylons are weak to simple physical damage- but they do a lot of damage, and explode when they die, so this isn't really optimal.

 

Note, though, that you're not obligated to visit every zone on the map, and Mutagen makes it harder to see and do everything in one playthrough than it was in the original. Pylons in Mutagen are designed to be a huge pain (or at least a tedious problem) unless you're focusing on Stealth.

I don't have the airshock spell yet so I have been using 4 creations with lots of healing to destroy the pylons. That is really boring. Where is that airshock spell?

[TriRodent]

4 minutes ago, Noman said:

Where is that airshock spell?

Three spots north of the river.  You'll be 2/3+ of the way through the game before finding a canister.

 

But once you do...