Any advice for how to free a cassette the wont budge off the freehub body.

Its an XT cassette and an old style ProII hub with a steel freehub body.

Lockring removed (obviously) can get the first sprocket off but the main cassette carrier and the the other loose sprockets just refuse to move.

Any ideas?

Remove lockring, drop a washer or small coin behind it and screw lockring back in till it locks out. Should start to pull cassette off slowly. Keep adding washers/coins till it breaks free

on mine the smaller steel sprockets had bound a little. the carrier mounted sprockets are probably fine. I used a claw hammer and a big screwdriver between the sprockets to gently lever them off one at a time.

Have they bit into the alloy freehub?

put the wheel back into the frame. loop chain around largest cog and rotate the smallest cog anti clockwise with the chainwhip, using the pedal arm to hold the cassette tight. Of course i'm assuming you don't have two chainwhips 😀

steve its a steel freehub

**** it with a hammer. Could've dug into the steel freehub body slightly, Steve's advice would still be my first port of call.

probably the splines are damaged under the 2nd/3rd sprockets
I'd try and lever the smaller sprockets off with a screwdriver and then tidy up the splines with a file before getting the carriered sprockets off

Cheers guys,

It was the 2nd sprocket that was binding. I gently persuaded it to come off with a hammer and blunt chisel! Popped off with the second tap.

Tidied up the splines and cleaned out the sticky freehub, job done.