Breaking the Voror (Dark)

Mythical guardian spirits of Norse mythological origins (source), the Vorors are worthy opponents to deal with on any battleground. In Dungeon Hunter 5, they come in 3 different elemental colours (Dark, Fire, Water).

In this post, we’ll look at the unarguably most dangerous and overused minion of this season, and see what we can do to stop them.

Be warned, due to my obsessive nature, this is going to be a very long post.
Accompanied by some colorful screenshots. 🙂

Also, if you want to read more on this minion, you can visit this forum thread.

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Voror Knight
Defender Type – Dark Element

Upkeep figures (Name) –
25 (T3: Dread Voror);
38 (T4: Obscure Voror Knight);
58 (T5: Grim Voror Knight)

 

Voror knights/ Dread Vorors are undisputed backbones of most strongholds with one of the best minions in terms of skill sets, behavioral AI and raw attack power. Possessing the highest Attack and Defence out of the 3 variants of Voror, they deflect ranged projectiles (spells and ranged attacks) while unleashing serious damage in melee radius. Moreover, their relatively low upkeep means that they’re usually exploited in groups, making them worthwhile in any field.

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Strengths and Weaknesses

Voror Knights are strong against ranged attacks and projectile spells, giving them an edge over crossbow or staff users as their ‘reflect shield’ ability is able to reflect any projectile that touches it, back to the same direction it came from (ie right back at ya!).

They can be made more dangerous by the high defence shields from Gelid Vorors and immunity status from the Valenthian Guardhouse towers as this will negate their weaknesses and make them near invulnerable (read on below).

Be sure to not only take down the rotating light towers, but also the minions around you.

Well…it’s without saying that they are exponentially dangerous in packs and it’s advisable to kite them away from one another before attempting to take each one down individually.

Ironically, as Defender-types, Voror Knights are highly susceptible to Melee attacks and status effects (eg. stun, knockdown, knockback, fear).

Even with their shield on, they can be attacked by a melee weapon user at any range. For example, the final greatsword/ glaive swing that produces a short ‘ranged’ attack is still recognised as a melee attack and can damage a Voror Knight even with shield on.

Voror Knights are vulnerable when inflicted with a status effect, making them drop their shield skill.

Status effects, on the other hand, cause the Voror Knight to lose its shield temporary, making it an easy target even for ranged users.

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Attacks/ Moves

Reflect Shield (defensive self-aura):
– Casting/ Animation Time: Immediate
– Constantly renews this spell most of the time if shield is absent
– Immune to all attacks (melee, ranged, spells) during casting animation
– Able to reflect all incoming projectiles (inclusive of ranged attacks and projectile based spells)
– Can cause AOE spells to miss
– Damage reflected depends on tier and level of minion as well as amount of damage the attack is supposed to deal
– Reflected damage is considered as raw attack (shows as maroon font color)
– Can be pierced by melee attacks of all forms/ range

Single Sword Slash (offensive melee attack):
– Casting/ Animation Time: Immediate; Continuous Strikes (up to 3 times in a row)
– Triggers when opponent is within melee striking range
– Deals low to moderate dark damage

Spectral Sword (offensive ranged attack):
– Casting/ Animation Time: 1 sec casting, 2-3 secs of damage
– Triggers when opponents is far away but within ‘visible’ range of the Voror Knight
– A small circle appears under the opponents for 1-2 seconds before sword emerges upwards from the ground with a large semi-spherical bulge from the ground
– Deals single hit moderate dark damage + High Chance of Slow

It’s a bit difficult to spot, but there will be a small circle under your character’s feet to indicate where the Spectral sword will appear.

Shockwave (offensive AoE attack):
– Casting/ Animation Time: 2 secs casting, 3-4 secs of damage
– Triggers nearly everytime a previously far away opponent approaches the voror
– Voror Knight raises his arms and an AOE attack gets initiated, with the area of damage gradually expanding outwards (ie the ‘danger zone’)
– Characters caught within the animation radius will get hit multiple times
– Deals multiple hits of moderate dark damage + High Chance of Slow (even w/o taking damage)
– Character ‘held’ in place if he/she is still within the radius of attack when it ends, ‘Held’ characters can dodge roll out of the hand
– Temporary removes reflect shield during duration of attack

If you stand within the ‘danger zone’ at the end of the attack, your character will get ‘held’ by a spectral hand for about 3 seconds or so.

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Strategy

When facing Voror Knights in combat, the general strategy to adopt would be ‘To kill fast, or To kill last‘.

(Actually, I realised that this applies to all minions when I was halfway through this post, but I’ll be specific to the Voror Knight here ;D )

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(1) Kill Fast

Simply put, if you are confident that your character is strong enough to take down a Voror Knight in a few hits, by all means, go for the kill. This will prevent unnecessary damage from being taken if the combat drags on or if you have bigger targets to deal with (eg. Etheras, Colossus-es, Mossback Dragons etc.) or have other Voror Knights on the field.

This strategy will work very well against most strongholds at the moment as most Master I/II would have one to two Voror Knights. Existing individually (or in low numbers), these Voror Knights can fall easily if you have a decent nature melee weapon (something like >3.4k raw attack will do nicely).

For this, you’ll need a strong melee weapon, preferably a maxed out T5 Nature Greatsword with high knock-back or stun (equals or more than 10%) trait.

Even with a Xinkashi edition Greatsword, this weapon does nicely against Vorors.

Despite their slower attack speeds, I find that Greatswords work well here due to their ability to hit hard and trigger a ‘knockback/ knockdown’ effect on most minions, Voror isn’t an exception. This is great for taking out his ‘reflect shield’ skill which dissipates when a status effect is triggered.

Step 1: Observe and Identify

If he is within view upon entering the stronghold, identify the elements around him before considering to attack. If hes’ surrounded by weaker minions or within a weak trap room, then by all means, go for the kill.

Probably rushed in too soon. Remember that its best to take him down when everyone else isn’t in the way.

However, should you spot a Gelid Voror, or notice that he’s has the immunity status (shiny ball on his head from Valenthian Guardhouse towers) or if he has stun/fear inducing minions surrounding him, it’ll be best to lure him away or opt to kill him later.

Step 2: Relentless Attack

Should the scenario be in your favor, immediately run towards him until you’re right in front of his face and pound away with your attacks. Haste would be your best ally here and cast a shield just to be safe.

The Lightning from the Light Shield can hurt a Voror even with this shield up. However, remember not to stand within the ‘danger zone’ of the shockwave attack.

Usually, his first move is to bring his reflect shield up and this gives you about 1-2 seconds of damage before he initiates his deadly AOE shockwave attack (if you’re right next to him on his second move). During this 1-2 seconds, you can disorientate him by knock-back or stun spells (eg. Fireball, Reaching Vines, Predatory Instinct), or rely on equips with high stun/ knock-back rate to bring him onto the ground.

Once stunned/knock-backed, you have about 3-4 seconds before he gets back up so continue to hammer away at his HP bar till there’s nothing left of it.

TL;DR: Observe first. If all’s good, use your nature melee weapon and hammer away!

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(2) Kill Last

On the contrary, if they come in swarms or if they are wrecking more havoc on you than you expect, then it’s best to pull out of the fray and take them down later, preferably picking one by one off from a distance.

Use this also when you spot T5 (Grim) Voror Knight(s) on the field as they dish out heavy damage via direct and indirect means. Moreover, if you realise that your character is unable to take out one easily with just a couple of hits (probably it’s a superfused one). Consider abandoning the first strategy as it is insanely reckless to go toe-to-toe as it’s cause more hurt than necessary.

A point to take note would be that Voror Knights do not actively seek your character out when you’re out of their range. More applicable in bigger strongholds (eg. no trap room; Ashkardian Forge; Xinkashi Spring), this means that if you cannot see them on your mini-map (top right corner of the screen), you’re most likely safe from possible assaults from them.

Read more about Trap Rooms in my previous post here!

Step 1: Clear the Way

In this instance, take down everything around them first before engaging them. You don’t want to get knock-downed by a lurker or stunned by a dark sentinel while you’re in the middle of the Voror’s shockwave attack.

Step 2A: Cautious Approach

This strategy involves ‘skirting’ around him (ie moving around his danger zone) and intentionally triggering his Shockwave attack. However, do note that this method is quite challenging and it took me quite a bit of practice and concentration to first initiate properly.

First, edge close to him and dodge roll away instantly to get ready. If he’s in the middle of anything, his next move will be the AoE attack.

Notice that the Voror Knight on the right removes his shield in the middle of his shockwave (dark circles under him) attack. That’s the time to strike.

Once he triggers it, this will give you about a second (or two) of opportunity to hit him as he will bring down his shield within that window period of time. Immediately hit him with your strongest or stun/knock-back skill (eg. Fireball, Reaching Vines etc.). This might need a bit of practice to get the timing right so the projectile doesn’t get deflected back.

Alternatively, you can opt for a strong stun/ knockdown/ fear inducing AoE skill (eg. Fire Cyclone, Avalanche, Nightmare Burst, Predatory Instinct etc.) that will also do the job nicely.

If the spell connects, then he’ll fall back with his shield down. Like the ‘kill fast‘ strategy, this gives you the chance to pelt him with continuous attacks/spells while he’s lying on the floor unguarded.

However, if it doesn’t, dodge roll aside to prevent yourself from getting hit by your own spell and try again.

*Useful Tip courtesy of Aviq Teig:
It is possible to ‘snipe’ a Voror Knight from far using Ray of Darkness or Frost Cone. As they are not recognised as ‘projectile’ attacks, these skills do not get reflected away and allow your character to damage the Voror from far away, even with their reflect shields on. This is also beneficial if they get feared as you wouldn’t have to chase them to finish them off.

TL;DR: Intentionally trigger his shockwave, stun/knock-back and whack! Repeat if necessary.

Step 2B: All-out Attack

This is more like the step 2 from the previous strategy. However, instead of rushing in for the kill, you can trigger his shockwave skill first (as mentioned in Step 2A) and dodge roll out of the ‘danger zone’, before closing the distance (preferably with a nature melee weapon equipped). This will cause the Voror to rely more on his melee attacks after one full round of the Shockwave AoE attack, which does significantly less damage to your character.

Think of the Voror Knight having to recharge this skill before he can use it again. Of course, if you leave the melee striking radius and enter it again, he might activate the shockwave attack. Be sure to be on guard and dodge roll away in time.

TL;DR: Trigger his shockwave, then close in the distance. Repeat if necessary.

Most importantly, NEVER EVER initiate a Chain Lightning spell if you spot a Voror Knight in the room even if he is a mile away. Chain Lightning is an auto-targeting projectile-based spell and should it ‘lock-on’ to the Voror, the Reflect shield skill can reflect the stray bolts entirely back upon your character (ie. all 20 hits).

Reflected Damages show in maroon color, meaning that they are non-elemental damage.

The higher levelled/tier the voror knight, the higher the ‘reflected damage’, with the damage being a non-elemental fixed damage (ie. deals a certain fixed damage regardless of your elemental armor). Consequently, this means a deflected chain lightning can severely injure or kill an unaware user (dealing about 230+ damage per bolt on a 3.8k raw armor value).

Okay, phew, that’s about it.

If you guys have any other strategies, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll update this post accordingly. Thank you and have fun breaking those Vorors!