Fighting Iceworms

[Aribohs]

So I'm trying to farm the ice cave. I dont have the time usually for breeding so getting a flock of vultures going will take a while. I have a 186% Pump shotgun so I can kill the male worms in 3 shots so pretty easy and fast but they still get the 1st hit and maybe another in on me. I bring a good number of crafted flak with me but even with 1100 armour the damage mounts up. I'm using health pots but with how quick the worms tend to respawn I might have to start fighting again before at full health and if my gear gets broken at low health I'm a goner. Anyone have any tips on mitigating damage I take or avoiding worms in the first place?

[AnAncientOrder]

Practicing timing for their attacks can get you through without any damage to your armor. You need a good quality shield (or multiple lower quality), and the shotgun. Have shield ready, walk until it pops up, block first hit while backing up, shoot, toggle shotgun again to get the shield back out. 

I've been able to get through without getting hit at all (besides shield). If you can do the above, you can get three shots off with it hitting your shield once and, at a maximum, armor once. That's how I soloed it until I got better gear to comfortably run through. 

[Z0mbie]

Bring several "medical brew" with you to recover your health faster.

[dslick]

You're doing it right, except:

Block the first hit with a shield. use a 220%+ shotgun so you TWO hit the worms. Essentially, you will only tank only the initial hit when it pops up. Then it is dead. Except for when the server pop is low and server ping is low, the iceworm will sometimes get a second hit just before it dies.

 

[ManGorilla]

I farm Solo all the time.
First off, don't use a gun, Use a sword and Shield.

You want to block their attacks and slice and dice when they rear back. I pumped melee damage and wear an amazing fur chest piece. No Freezing damage, no medical pots needed.  Once again, the goal is to not take damage and block all the attacks. Bring one set of back up gear, mistakes happen. Getting the best sword and shield you have and go to town.

Bring multiple shields and have fun.

[bronxxx]

Best thing I could suggest is to craft several Flak armor pieces and switch them when the old one is going to be destroyed. take like 50 hp potions and you should be fine.

[wasser510]

I`ve breed a bear inside the cave and got no problems slaying the worms. Just make sure you dont just down towards the queen, otherwise your bear is lost.

(You have to put the Mom outside the part where you need to crawl under, then let the baby follow you in.)

Works with Thylas better than with bears!

[Frogspoison]

As mentioned, Iceworms have a REAL slow attack speed. Its pretty easy to block a hit, get a hit in, and then block the next.

 

A primitive wooden shield can take 1 hit from a Iceworm before breaking. A primitive metal can take 5 hits, and a primitive riot shield can take ~13-14 hits. (Tek is the same as Riot).

 

Shields scale really well with rarity though. A common Apprentice wooden shield can take 4 hits, and the rare ascendent wooden shield can take up to 20 hits. An ascendent Riot shield can tank ALL the hits for a run, including mama iceworm. Just note that when it breaks, it'll be a bitch to repair, I just hope I get lucky on the red crates to grab me some more good Riot shields. Metal shields are in the middle - More expensive to repair then the wooden, but lasts longer, and isn't a bitch.

 

Or, you can forget all this poop, get a good Hyeanadon meatpack (I use a ~40 armor one myself), and just go and tame wild high lvl hyeana (130-150). They will eat the iceworm before it can get out 3 hits, and you can heal them all to full with the meat from the iceworm, just practice the Move-to and Attack-this-target commands. Even a 150 only takes 30 minutes to tame, and you can tame an entire group at once.