Oolacile Township (+Chasm of The Abyss) strategyFirst, I don't hate gankers. People must play as they want as long as they don't hack.
What I hate are hypochrites.
The ones that will send you hate mails when they loose their 3v1 (Or if they win after a 30minutes game, calling you a looser)
The ones that will insult you because I refuse to take the elevator when I know 3 SL500+ are waiting at the top with TWOP and firestorms in full giant ninjas.
The other one are totally fine (Even if they use the same strats)
Oolacile Township is my favorite place to fight gankers (as an invader):
- Huge area connecting to Chasm of the Abyss
- A lot of nasty mobs
- A lot of gank squads (I'm primarily looking for duels, so if I run into a lonely host that's fine. )
Here is my strategy :
1) Never ever invade at the bonefire, most gankers are waiting there
Instead, invade just at the bottom of the elevator (don't forget to send it back for after your next death (yeah there will be a next)).
(After you died) From the bonefire, you can run directly to the elevator without being caught by the mobs (even if you're gravelorded, but beware of running the closest possible to the left for the BP dark mage to be out of reach). If you sent the elevator back before you died, mission accomplished. Once you're at the bottom, send the elevator back, recover and invade again. It should take something like 15-20s from the bonefire to using your orb again.
If you forgot to send the elevator back, you can still call it, tank the aggroed mobs and take it... It's just more risky
2) You will now spawn beside the 2 dark mages just before the large room with the chained prisoner.
If the mobs here are alive, you're safe and may procede to step 3)
If they are not, you might be in a quester's world. If it's the case, the host/team must be pretty close because Chasm of the Abyss is near, he/they can't be to far in it or you wouldn't have been able to invade in this area.
- If he/they are near, he/they most likely are just behind you when you spawn.
- If they are not explicitely near, check the elevator to Chasm of the Abyss First. If it's up, they most likely are still in the township and they most likely are gankers too.
Check Chasm of the Abyss first to see If there are still mobs here.
Check the first elevator of the level them. And check the large room (left when you come from the bottom of the elevator) for mobs too.
If there are no mobs anymore, you're probably screwed, try to engage them the way you want, or just BC out.
3) So you spawned beside the dark mages.
Check the first elevator to see if it's activated.
If it is, you will most likely be facing a host waiting for duels or gankers.
If it's not anything is possible.
Next step is up to you. You can take the elevator and risk to be waited by a squad at the top. If you're lucky enough, you may be able to retake the elevator and lure them to follow you and (hopefully) fail and fall.
Or, you can send the elevator alone and listen if any spell/attack is triggered as it reach the top.
After that you can choose to wait eternaly (and maybe browse the forum in the meantime while keeping an eye on the screen) for the squad to have the balls to go down.
4) Use the enemies as much as possible
When the squad finaly decided to take the elevator, wait for them with a bow or someting with range to possibly get free shots when they land.
then you can go either for the large room, or fall back toward chasm of the abyss. Use the mobs to fight a little and make then use there estus as much as possible.
If you took the large room option, climb up the stairs when the mobs are about to die, up to the roof (area with the mimic with the crest key). Normaly the team followed you, and you will be able to jump and go toward Chasm of the Abyss anyway.
Still use the mobs and retreat when they are about to die. When they start engaging the chained prisoner, go check the elevator first(it might be at the bottom. If it is, call it and return to fight).
When the prisoner is about to die or if they managed to sneak past it, take the elevator. Wait at the bottom with a bow etc...
Use the mobs guarding dark bead if you're courageous and you think you will be able to escape when they die.
Go to the large room with the humanity sprites. If you don't kill them here, it will be very hard. I suggest you try to sneak and fall toward the zone you save sif, maybe make a loop back to the large room with the (now dead) sprites if the squad follow you. Take the elevator alone and BC out.
Alternatively to step 3), You can take the long road without the elevator and meet them on the way or at the top. Use the mobs :p
With this strat, you won't win everything. Fighting people with 300-400SL more than you is still pretty hard and the mobs are sometimes just useless.
The idea here if you can't get them, is to make them loose as much time/estus as possible, hopefully get the chance to kill them or, in last resort, BC out.
My record with this strat is killing a team of SL712+707+705
The host resummoned each phantom twice. In the end I killed him at the bonefire while he was trying to resummon them again. It lasted more than an hour, with a lot of hide and seek and waving in the distance or from a roof while waiting them to make a move, but it was the best feeling I ever had in the game so far. (This story could have been told in an other Tolvo thread
)
When I get hatemails (not that often. That's why I still think gankers are people too
), I just answer "hypochrite!!"