Sayuri

Journey Between Two Bosses Part 1

The Caves

Moving through the caves you will encounter a Champion Ugnaut looking guy with several silvers and then a Drouk Champion. I always recommend CCing the Drouk and even the other champion if need be, but my go to strat for these pulls is to CC the Drouk, Tank 1 jumps at the others, AOE taunts them away, then have DPS make it rain on them. For the Drouk, chain stun it to death so that he doesn't scream.

• Drouk Champion: Can be CC'd, has a scream AOE stun.
• Champion Ugnaut: Has a buff that empowers the silvers, can be CC'd
• Silvers: Nothing notable about them, can be CC'd

Path to the Bridge

On this path outside the cave you will run into a mix of Drouk Champions and NPC's from the previous trash moving to the first boss. As always, I recommend CCing the champions and burning things down one at a time.

There is one notable Champion Drouk that can't be CC'd right at the log bridge. Pull him away to DPS him down as he comes with some vicious knock backs that can send you off the cliff.

Once over the bridge you will run into stealthed snipers that will appear when close. Just have the ranged focus on the one up top while the tanks and melee keep the ones on the ground busy.

Finally you will run into a familair set of adds from the first section of this guide at the door to the next boss. CC them and burn one at a time just like before.

*Note* With Gear and Experience most of these adds can be powered through. I always air on the side of caution though!

Toth & Zorn

*Note*

In 4.0 they have made changes to SM which removed MANY mechanics only leaving them in play for HM.

I have updated this fight and removed mechanics known to be removed and updated strategy.

I am still uncertain as to what is meant with "Removed linked enrage" that I have now read from multiple sources as this could characterize the "Close Proximity" mechanic that will cause them to soft enrage while close doing increased damage, but could also describe the link mechanic that causes one to enrage when the other is defeated which is why they are brought down together. For this, I will still be recommending strategy to defeat both of those mechanics just in case, but will also be good for progressing through this fight.

          Mechanics

First and foremost you will want to separate the group into two with Melee DPS being assigned to Toth and ranged DPS to Zorn. Now let me explain the percentages and what mechanics will trigger and note that whatever boss gets to the percentage first will trigger the mechanic, does not require both to hit the percentage:
 

Tanks
You will want to separate the bosses to the sides they are on, just move them to the walls, Zorn left and Toth Right wall. Be sure to avoid the red circles when they come and be sure to guard any Melee DPS while on Toth for Berserk. When both Toth and Zorn are defeated, (Toth should drop first ideally) Toth Tank will await the Handler to drop down. Be sure that both Tanks rotate their interrupts on the Handler, if one is missed you can side step sweeping fire and just avoid the red circle.

DPS
Zorn DPS- You should remain AT 29 – 30 Meters from Zorn at all times. This will ensure that you do not receive the stacking debuff and be good practice for when you have to deal with Leap and Fearful in HM. Do not stress this on SM however as the debuff can be cleansed by yourself plus the healers will be looking for it. If for some reason your debuff isn't cleansed, give a little call out to your healers for a cleanse  

Toth DPS- I recommend that Melee DPS save their defensive cooldowns for when Toth goes berserk so that you can continue to DPS and take less damage for your healer to heal.

Avoid the Red Circles and should be good to go! When both reach the final 10% Leap you will want be sure that Toth drops first (personal preference) then finish off Zorn then get on the handler. Be sure to stay behind the handler at all times to avoid sweeping fire and avoid the red circles.

Healers
Zorn Healer – You will not be able to heal your tank and avoid the stacking debuff. Do not worry as you should never be attacking for  the reduced DPS debuff to matter. That said, you will still want to cleanse it when you can. Priority will be any DPS that has it, your tank, then you.

Toth Healer- You will have heavy healing during berserk and then relative small amounts in between. Keep strong eyes on those Melee DPS during Toth’s Berserk phase! I find it best to prepare for it by keeping smaller, rolling heals on the melee with the stronger single target heals on the tank for the berserk phase.

Make sure to avoid the red circles and stay behind the handler when he drops down.
 

         Additional Mechanics

Damage output is significantly increased and missing mechanics such as red circles or fearful will ensure a wipe! We also have some new heavy hitting mechanics that come into play. Below is an update on percentages and mechanics. Remember, these will happen based on whoever gets to that percentage first!

Tanks
Just like in SM you will want to separate the bosses to the sides they are on, just move them to the walls, Zorn left and Toth Right wall. Every time there is a leap, Zorn tank will target and Taunt Toth and begin taking him back to the right side ASAP while Toth Tank will Taunt Zorn and keep Zorn to the left. Avoid the red circles when they come and be sure to guard any Melee DPS while on Toth for Berserk. When both Toth and Zorn are defeated, (Toth should drop first ideally) Toth Tank will await the Handler to drop down. Be sure that both Tanks rotate their interrupts on the Handler, if one is missed you can side step sweeping fire and just avoid the red circle.

Zorn Tank: If you get the yellow circle from Rock Toss during Berserk, do not worry about walking away from Zorn to bring the circle to Toth's feet. Until Toth is knocked out of berserk by the Rock Toss, Zorn will be stationary and not follow you.

DPS
Zorn DPS- You MUST remain AT 29 – 30 Meters from Zorn at ALL times. This will ensure that you do not receive the stacking debuff or the fearful debuff from Toth’s Leap. I HIGHLY recommend that you stop attacking at EVERY leap, check your debuff bar for fearful then continue. IF you get fearful, then just switch to Toth until it falls off.

Toth DPS- I recommend that Melee DPS save their defensive cooldowns for when Toth goes berserk so that you can continue to DPS and take less damage for your healer to heal.

Avoid the Red Circles and should be good to go! When both reach the final 10% Leap you will want be sure that Toth drops first (personal preference) then finish off Zorn then get on the handler. Be sure to stay behind the handler at all times to avoid sweeping fire and avoid the red circles. The tanks will be focused on interrupting these but it's always best to air on caution! Plus in NiM you will have no choice but to avoid!

During Berserk if you get the yellow rock toss circle, be sure to bring it to Toth's feet until it turns purple. Then exit the circle and return to business as usual!

Healers
Nothing will really change for you in this fight other than the damage out put will be a lot higher making the healing more intense, especially in Berserk phases.

Zorn healer- If you were throwing damage out in between heals, stop doing it now. you WILL get fearful and something as simple as a DOT you applied that is still running can kill you. Just focus on those heals and cleanses!

If you happen to get the Yellow circle from rock throw, be sure to bring it to Toth's feet until it turns purple and then return to business as usual!


*Pro Tip Strategy: With the new Rock Toss/ Berserk mechanic you can actually make this fight simpler and less mechanic heavy by keeping Toth in Berserk mode. While he is in berserk he will never leap (no fearful debuff, red circles will never come, Zorn will not place stacking debuffs. This will mean more raid wide damage from rock throw but it is easily healed through since the group can remain relatively stacked.

Here is how this works: You will engage the fight as normal, ranged DPS on Zorn, Melee DPS on Toth. After the first leap you will tank swap like normal and continue. When you hit 80% and Toth Berserks, you will no longer need a tank on Zorn as he will not move. At this point it is best to send any Melee DPS to Zorn and stick the ranged on Toth. When you get the yellow circle, rather then bring it to Toth you keep it away from him and just keep it away from your group too. If the Toth Tank gets targeted by the yellow circle, the tank that was tanking Zorn will Taunt Toth so that the tank can move the yellow circle away. Burn both bosses down to a few percent, then finish Toth off first, then Zorn. Handler is dealt with the same as in SM. Very easy way of clearing this boss on HM. You can have all 4 DPS stay together but if anything goes wrong and the mechanics resume you could be faced with a wipe vs just resuming the mechanics as normal.

The only changes to the strategy from HM for NiM is that you must make sure EVERYONE has a medpack handy for the start of the fight. Within the first second or two of combat initiated a DOT will make it on everyone and they must use their medpack to get rid of it or they WILL die. After this, it’s business as usual but with a whole mess of more damage coming out. Be sure to hit your mechanics.

*NOTE* The Pro Tip Strategy from HM will NOT work in NiM because the damage reduction debuff is too strong and the enrage timer too short to pull off in NiM.

Road to the First Boss

On your way to the first boss you will encounter Champion adds, Golds, and Gold Stealthers. All adds are able to be CC'd.

• Champions: The Champions come equipped with a channeled AOE signified by a red circle on the ground. This can be interrupted and should be.
• Champion Droid: These are Pathers and come with a missile salvo that can hit hard. Should be interrupted.
• Golds: These will be visible and nothing real special about them.
• Stealth Golds: there will be usually 2 stealthed golds per pull. These guys will also stealth out periodically which serves as a threat drop and will emerge on a random target.

Dealing with these guys are rather simple. For the less geared or experienced crowd I recommend CCing as many as you can that are visible with priority on the champions then burning down the stealthers and ones you were unable to CC. Groups that are well geared/experienced, you can just AOE them to death and get healed through rather easily. I'm always one for caution, especially in HM and NiM content. If you are in doubt, be sure to CC and focus targets down for easy mode!

Here is a guide detailing loot, mechanics, and a working strategy for any who are running a raid and wish to link/use it! Important to note that they have removed many things from SM operations in 4.0 as far as mechanics. I have updated this guide to reflect most all of those changes and strategies. If you encounter any ones I missed, let me know!.

Please note that Loot will be changing in January 2017 and I will update these tables once this happens!

                                   Loot Table

Suggested Gear

• SM: Level 50-70 - Gear isn't a issue! You will be bolstered to the correct level and stats to complete!
• Veteran: Level 70 - 236 Gear is recommended with most set bonus items.
• Master: Level 70 - 242 Gear level with full set bonus gear.

Karagga The Unyielding

This fight is most likely the easiest fight in the operation, but also a lot of fun.

          Mechanics

          Strategy

Alright! The tank in this fight will want to face the boss parallel to the outside of the area. The tank will then take him around the room as the oil slick puddles are dropped.

DPS and healers will remain to the inside of the room (Side of the boss) to avoid the Fire Fart from behind.

When the mouse droids spawn, tank will want to fire a aoe taunt so the DPS can AOE them down fast. Do not let them run crazy.

The Gravity Zone should be called out by that player so a healer can cleanse it, but escape should be top priority as the damage is relatively low.

As far as the drill goes, healers, keep people topped off as best you can and when someone gets hit by it (usually the healer to be honest) heal that person back up.

Do all of that and this fight will go nice and easy!
 

          Mechanics

• No new abilities
• HP and DMG is increased
• Enrage timer reduced.
  
  Strategy
  
  Strategy doesn’t change much, but mistakes are far more punished. Also, get the cleanse on the gravity zone as it’s dmg has been increased and it actually hurts now.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alright!! Now that it's posted, the floor is open for anyone that has any suggestions or changes I should make!

Keep in mind I write guides under the assumption a group of players is the Minimum required LVL/Gear/Understanding for the content.

That said, you'll notice I do put things like "*Pro Tip*" or "Alternate Strategy" throughout my guides so please share any you have for this encounter!

Ps. Eventually I will be attaching videos of these strategies in action when I get around to recording/uploading. I may use people like @Aravail who already have many fights recorded/usually records to link their videos here from their perspective. The idea is to eventually have a video of each perspective: Healer/DPS/Tank so that people can see someone performing their specific roll and how they specifically defeat the mechanics within that role!

Road to the Final Boss!! YAY!

Alright!! So first up, BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL MOVING ON!!! The very next room will be another Hunter Creeper situation and will get you if you aren't together and ready for it!

Aside from that you will have new sets of adds to deal with beyond that room. These are:

• Turret: This will hit hard and should be killed first.
• Champion Humanoid: This guy comes with a knockback and should be controlled by the tank while the turret and other adds are dealt with. Watch your position as you can be knocked off the platform you'll be traveling on!
• Gold Humanoids: Nothing special, just kill'em. They can be CC'd if your group is having trouble dealing with all of the adds at once.

G4-B3 Heavy Fabricator Droid

This Puzzle boss can be very tricky but let me first explain how it will roughly go regardless of what mode you are in. Down at the boss, directly above you will notice like a exhaust type pipe and then two others to the left of the boss (if you are facing him). Each pipe does something different and each pipe requires a puzzle to be complete to execute.

The right pipe, the one the boss is under, will burn him and increase the damage he takes and for the purpose of the guide, will be the only one we use. To solve the puzzle you will notice 3 clickable terminals with a 4th on the right that engages the pipes once the puzzle has been completed successfully. The symbols for the puzzle are I, II, III and have to be stacked like:

          Mechanics

          Strategy

For this fight you will want to assign either a ranged DPS or a healer up top to click the fire button. No Puzzle needed! The screens will light up when they are able to press it with the green symbols. 

To sum up the puzzle (or lack there of in this case) you will be only utilizing the right pipe that increases the damage the boss takes. Whoever is on that right terminal will have to fire it and will want to give a countdown so the DPS know when to burn DPS cooldowns and also to ensure none of them are under the pipe. The pipe burn will one shot anyone caught under it.

Down below with the boss you will want your Tanks swapping boss agro every 5-6 stacks of the armor debuff to make the heals less intense. The DPS and healer will position away caddy-corner to the tanks.

Everyone will have to watch for a sticky grenade like ability that will get hit to a random party member. If you get it, move away from anyone in the group until it explodes, then move back.


 

          Additional Mechanics

          Strategy

For this fight, you will want 2 or 3 people up top to manage the puzzle, 1 healer, 2 ranged DPS preferred. With the remaining people on the bottom with the boss.

To sum up the puzzle you will be only utilizing the right pipe that increases the damage the boss takes. Whoever is on that right terminal will have to fire it and will want to give a countdown so the DPS know when to burn DPS cooldowns and also to ensure none of them are under the pipe. The pipe burn will one shot anyone caught under it.

The people up top will have to utilize knock backs to position the proximity mines away from the consoles and their path to minimize damage they take and to ensure a speedy puzzle completion. During the burn, the ranged DPS will want to move to the middle platform corner to help DPS the boss. Then return to the puzzle. The Healer can help but should get back on the puzzle ASAP.

Down below with the boss you will want your Tanks swapping boss agro every 5-6 stacks of the armor debuff to make the heals less intense. The DPS and healer will position away caddy-corner to the tanks.

When the stun droids spawn, DPS will need to kill the one closes to the group. The other two should not agro nor be a problem but if they do, then burn those too.

Everyone will have to watch for a sticky grenade like ability that will get hit to a random party member. If you get it, move away from anyone in the group until it explodes, then move back.
It is important to note for the puzzle that to continue to reuse the right pipe, you need to remove all items from that right puzzle pillar and then back for it to work again.

This puzzle boss can be very difficult. I do recommend you try only using two for the puzzle and the rest on the ground for this to make it easier, but it is still possible to complete using 3 on the puzzle. You just might see a enrage if you use 3 on the puzzle is all.

Due to the enrage timer being shorter, DPS on the ground should be hitting the boss at all times, other when killing a stun droid, as even the damage is reduced outside of the burn phases, the damage still done will be needed to beat the enrage timer.

ALT Strat by @RaVem:

One alternate strat that I tend to use now for Fabricator places 2 ranged DPS on Fabricator, just outside of the fire zone, and have 3 people (2 other DPS (melee) and a healer) man the puzzle. The people on the puzzle will simply chain complete the puzzle continuously to keep the debuff on the fabricator continuously. Because the ranged DPS are outside of the firing zone, you don't have to countdown, just keep firing. The fastest I have been able to complete Fabricator, prior to 4.0 was in under 3 minutes using this technique.

RaVem

Journey Between Two Bosses Part 4

Alright! Now we find ourselves moving through some adds that really do wipe many groups! So lets look at the adds:

• Hunter Creeper Driod: This little bugger cannot be interrupted or Stunned and from the point you start the fight will begin a channel that if it gets off will start to spawn Murder droids that HURT! The idea is to kill this one FAST to avoid the murder driods!
• Assault Droid: just a damage droid nothing special!
• Gold NPC's Humanoids: These guys will spam heal the droids! The good news is that they can be CC'd and should be! Open the fight by CCing them!
• Murder Droids: These golds only show up if you do not kill the hunter creeper droid fast enough. They HURT so drop that Hunter Creeper FAST!

Moving through to the next boss you will encounter these adds a few times. Use caution!

Foreman Crusher

First and foremost: approaching this boss, you will notice what appears to be a door you pass through….it is one. Be sure everyone is beyond it before engage the boss or they will be locked out.

          Mechanics

          Strategy

This fight is pretty simple but very heal intense. First you will want your tank to grab the boss and turn him around so that your tank’s back is against the wall. This isn’t because of a cleave but instead so that your tank doesn’t get knocked around and out of range which could cause him to lose agro on the boss which can be devastating.

At the start, the DPS will want to take out the 4 adds he comes with that were holding him down, then get on the boss.

Be sure to watch the ground for a red circle and move out of it in time. Otherwise you will take a boulder to the dome and it will hurt.

When the boss frenzies, will be announced, healers will want to focus heals on the tank. Tank, pop a cooldown and rotate them for the frenzies to help out your healers. Healers, don’t be afraid to over heal, as that is exactly what you’ll want to do just to be safe. The frenzy lasts for 10 seconds and HURTS! If any of your DPS have accuracy/damage reducing abilities like Marauders, this would be a good time to use them to help out suggesting they work on Operations bosses (Some of these come with a disclaimer stating they don't work on operation bosses). Second tank should taunt AFTER frenzy to keep boss on tanks. Also helps with rotating defensive cooldowns.

Adds will spawn through out the fight, off tank should try and gather them up and bring them to the boss so they can be AOE’d down. Regardless, DPS kill the adds then get back on the boss even if you do not have a off tank or the go nuts running around.

Do all of this and you will taste victory!

          Mechanics

• No new abilities
• HP and DMG increased
• Enrage timer reduced

          Strategy

Strategy will remain the same for this fight. Just be SURE to power heal that frenzy, it really does hurt and now it’s far worse!

Journey Between Two Bosses Part 3

After finishing up Jarg & Sorno you will have another room full of adds. There will be one champion that if you DPS down first will kill the remaining adds. I'm drawing a blank on his name....

Moving beyond this point you will find yourself wondering outside where there will be a array of adds and 3 Turrets you have to disable to continue on to the next boss. It is important to note that the gnarly looking beasties hurt and there will be yellow circles to avoid or die. The first group you come up on is in a puddle of water that hides the circles. Try to move the adds out of the water so you can see the puddles.

Beyond these there will be NPC Creature handlers and such that you should focus and kill first as they do some pretty annoying things.

Aside from that, following the golden rules of "Don't stand in stupid" and "Try to stay behind the NPC's unless the tank" are great rules to follow in this next set of trash.

Jarg & Sorno

          Mechanics

         Strategy

Alright, in Story Mode you CAN tank these guys together with one tank; HOWEVER, I recommend you get use to tanking them separately and calling out percentages. For this reason, the strat goes like this:

Assign 1 tank, 2 DPS, and a healer to each Jarg and Sorno. Try and keep ranged on Jarg, Melee on Sorno as that will pretty much negate his flame thrower AOE.

To avoid one of them enraging, you want them to die together, with Sorno Dropping just before Jarg.

Remember that Sorno, while on the ground, CAN be interrupted which will cut his dmg greatly. I recommend having your Tank and DPS on a interrupt rotation for both his heal and damage ability. This wont be a huge issue on SM but will become one on HM.

When Sorno jumps up to begin firing missiles, Jarg will remain on the ground. A Stun droid will drop and stun one of the tanks. The other, free tank should go ahead and pick Jarg during this while the DPS burn the Droid down to free the tank. Usually only two droids will spawn during this, one at a time.

When Sorno returns to the ground, split back up and continue the killing. Rinse and repeat and be sure to listen to Jarg and Sorno, seriously funny.
 

• Bosses will need to be tanked separate
• Sorno: Will have a heal cast and DPS cast ability. Still interruptible
• HP and DMG increased
• Enrage timer reduced

          Strategy

Strategy will remain roughly the same, suggesting you tanked them separately on Story Mode, if not, well now you have to so DO EET!

This time around you will want to assign interrupts on Sorno. We usually do the Tank gets the heal he casts while one DPS gets the DMG ability, with the second DPS just being a back up.

You will want to interrupt the damage ability to reduce stress on the healer as it hurts in Hard Mode and if you don’t interrupt the heal, you will hit the enrage timer.

Aside from that, rinse and repeat from Story Mode

Journey Between Two Bosses Part 2

Moving between the next two bosses will put you against a few different types of mobs.

First few sets are creatures. The only thing notable about these are that the rats will place Debuffs on the raid that can be cleansed. Also the Gold Creatures have some Cone attacks/knockbacks. Nothing fancy!

The next set will be Champions within a cantina. Most commonly the strategy people use is to have the group stay out of the room while the tank grabs the NPC's and brings them all out to the group so they can be AOE'd down with ease.

Bonethrasher
 

This big ole Rancor is possibly the toughest boss in the entire operation. There will be 4 large cats at the beginning of the fight that will need to be killed before Bonethrasher will join the party. That cats do nothing notable and are tank & Spank.

 

Story Mode

Tank Video

          Mechanics

Veteran Mode

Tank Video

          Mechanics

• No additional abilities
• Damage taken while having the pound debuff significantly increased (Pretty much one shot)
• Boss HP and DMG increased
• Tight enrage timer.

          Strategy

The strategy doesn’t change a whole from Story Mode. Just be sure that if you get pounded, you keep away from the boss as any hit will pretty much end in a one shot death. I think the only thing you can survive is the little smash the boss does, but that’s only if you have full health.

Also, due to the enrage timer, when the Cats spawn at 50% I recommend CCing at least one of them so that DPS can stay on the boss for more time to ensure the boss doesn’t enrage. They will do more damage in HM and you will want all heals focusing on the dmg the boss is doing so I don’t recommend just tanking them without at least CCing one. Might put too much stress on the heals.

Since 4.0 I still haven't seen much need for groups to CC or ignore adds but if you find your group running into that problem, you know how to get around it!

Journey to the First Boss!

You will encounter a few groups of Champion level adds on the way to your first boss. None of these adds do anything of notable importance on any mode; however, if you are having trouble with them it is important to note that they CAN be CC'd so you can tone down each group of adds considerably.

Most groups of run with since 4.0 have had NO real issues with just grouping them up and AOEing them down. Just know you have options if you need them!  

Here is a guide detailing loot, mechanics, and a working strategy for any who are running a raid and wish to link/use it! Important to note that they have removed many things from SM operations in 4.0 as far as mechanics. Considering most of my experience since 4.0 is HM some of these may not apply anymore and will be updated when I find that out; however, the below strategies will work regardless!                            

                         Loot Table

Suggested Gear

• SM: Level 50-70 - Gear isn't a issue! You will be bolstered to the correct level and stats to complete!
• Veteran: Level 70 - 230 Gear is recommended. Any MK will be fine.

Soa the Infernal One

This is the final Boss in the Eternity Vault and in my personal opinion, a extremely fun fight. This boss comes in 3 phases with a transitional phase between them that requires smart jumping and timing.

          Mechanics

          Strategy

Phase 1

It is first to note the outer ring of where you enter (west) will be exactly where you want to go for the Transition Phase as it will be the only safe spot.

Next notice the power supplies around the entire platform. They are harmless until the erupt in green smoke. Then you will want to avoid them.

With all that in mind, tank and spank Soa until about 75%. At this time, start heading back to the west of the platform, outer ring, with your ranged DPS still hitting Soa until the transition phase begins. You will know that you need to run when Soa shields himself. That is your queue that those platforms are getting ready to drop.

Transition Phase

Soa will begin destroying the plat forms starting with the entire middle falling down. You will then want to jump to the platform in front of you, then keep looking to right and back of the current platform and jump to the closest one. It is best to have one person direct traffic here so that everyone hopefully survives.

You will notice power supplies that are attackable on the plat forms as you jump down. Kill these as you descend as they will reduce the Dmg output of Soa in the next phase.

Remember you are taking fall dmg as you drop so you will want to pause every know and then so the healers can heal you up. Great opp for some AOE heals.

Try to always stay below/ahead of Soa as you go down as if he catches up, your platform may soon drop from your feet. This is probably the phase that kills most groups.

Phase 2

So you’ve made to the next stable, full room platform. YAY! Now again, note the west outer ring because you will need to retreat here again. When Soa arrives and his shield drops, start attacking.

In this phase you will begin to be mind trapped. Make sure you call out mind traps, then have your ranged DPS take out the mind traps ASAP to get that player back in the fight. It is the only way for them to get out.

Soa will also begin to send out a Lightening ball. If your name appears in red text, move away from the group, find your ball, lead it away from the group, not through it. Once it is safely away, run into your ball to clear it. You will take damage, not much, and a sage/sorc shield will easily absorb it.

Do this until the boss is about 30% health. At that point, again move to the west outer ring and repeat the transition phase to the bottom. You will know you need to run ASAP when Soa Shields himself again.

Phase 3

Alright, you’re on the bottom, Soa caught up, but his shield no longer comes down!

Don’t sweat it, and more importantly, don’t bother DPSing him at all while that shield is up. The phase 2 mechanics, mind trap/lightening ball, will still be in effect here so mind those, but additionally your primary tank needs to be keeping Soa’s attention while looking to the roof for pyramids turning upside down and ready to fall.

To break the shield, the tank must take Soa directly under the pyramid before it falls. When if falls on Soa, his shield will be down and EVERYONE needs to burn him before it comes back up. Use the circle on the ground to find the spot!

You will rinse and repeat this until he is dead. You must be quick though, after about the 4th pyramid, Soa will enrage, not to mention in this phase damage will be thrown out faster along with mind traps and lightening balls.

IF your tank gets stuck in a mind trap, your secondary needs to handle the pyramid or if you opted to only come in here with one tank, whoever has the boss’s agro. If you miss even one pyramid, you risk hitting the enrage timer.

Mechanics

• Boss HP and Dmg output increased
• Lightening Ball will spawn two and target two players instead of one
• Blue circle marking where the Pyramid will fall is gone.
• Enrage Timer Reduced

         Strategy
The strategy will remain the same in Hard Mode as it is in Story Mode. Just be sure to watch those lightening balls and get those mind traps. Also tank(s), there will no longer be a circle marking where the pyramid will be falling. you will have to use the shadow/looking up at it and making sure the boss is under it when it falls.

The Infernal Council

This is a dual of fates style boss encounter that is really quite easy and oddly fun. Be sure the terminal in the room does not get hit until everyone is ready!!!

          Mechanics

          Strategy

Ok, inside you will notice that there are 8 unique NPC’s all of which have different names by their archetype is listed under their name: Assassin, Marauder, Juggernaut. There will be two of each archetype.

Assassins have the lowest health (Higher dmg output) and your healers should be assigned to these two, one each. Healers, try to keep them interrupted as best you can so you can avoid some of the heavy hits. You will be wanting to kill it as fast as possible and any healing you have to do to yourself is less damage you are doing to your NPC.

The Juggernauts have the highest health (Lowest dmg output) and your DPS should be assigned to these two, one each.

The Marauders are the middle ground NPC’s having moderate health, moderate dmg output and you should have your primary and secondary tanks take out these guys, one each.

Once everyone is paired up, the person closest to the terminal can hit and it’s time to fight your assigned NPC.

Now as people finish, if it appears one my not finish their NPC in time, each member can attack it with ONE shot (hopefully their highest hitting one) to help that player out. After that you will receive the debuff reducing your dmg/heal output to nothing.

Once all are dead, the fight is over, chest unlocks, and the door opens to confront the final boss.
 

          Mechanics

• No additional abilities or debuffs
• NPC DMG and HP increased
• Timer to complete reduced.
  
  Strategy
  
  The strategy remains the same in Hard Mode. Just be sure to be sure to burn your NPC down as fast as possible and save those pop shots for as close to the end as possible.

Ancient Pylons Puzzle

This fight doesn’t contain a boss to fight, but instead a puzzle on a timer that must be completed to advance. It contains two pylons that must be solved at the same time ASAP, a Northern and Southern.

          Mechanics

          Strategy

For this fight, you will want to split your group into two.
Group1: Primary Tank, 2 DPS, Healer
Group2: Secondary Tank, 2 DPS, Healer

After your group is divided, have one go to the northern pylon and the other go to the southern.

I personally recommend using a FREE pylon puzzle solver via smart phone app or over the internet that will give you the quickest combination possible to ensure it is done in time; however, it really won’t be a big deal in Story Mode.

Now if you are using a puzzle solver, take the time to input the puzzle and solve it so that you know exactly what terminals to click and when. If you choose not to, then I recommend you pay attention but just pick a direction and stick with it until it matches.

Now that you see the puzzle on your pylon, lets look at the terminals. You will notice a total of 3. 1 left, 1 middle, 1 right. The left and right will spin the middle column that corresponding direction. The middle is used to input that sequence and move onto the next row. You will solve from bottom to top, and once all three in the row you have are the same, you will hit the middle terminal to lock it in and start the next row.

Once both groups are ready, you may engage the fight by clicking your first terminal. There is a cooldown between terminal clicks so you can’t spam the together and must wait for them to be clickable again. The only terminal that can be activated after rotating the pylon is the middle one to lock it in. Be warned, you lock in the wrong sequence and a Gold Acklay will spawn that does some nice damage and packs some extra HP. Normally, you wont see a Acklay until you are near the end of the puzzle.

Once the puzzle is complete, the door will unlock and your chest of loot will be lootable!

Personally I recommend having your Healer run the puzzle while the other 3 focus on the 3 adds that spawn so they can keep them interrupted and they die super fast.

Mechanics

• A debuff will be placed on anyone that clicks either the left or right terminal preventing them from clicking the next one in succession.
• Puzzle timer (enrage) is decreased.
• NPC Adds hit for more damage

          Strategy

The strategy doesn’t change in hard mode with the exception that you will want to assign two-three members of the group to handle solving the puzzle. They must rotate clicks to manage the debuff. Personally I prefer just using two members since you only gain about 1-2 extra seconds per click by using 3. I like to use Healer and 1 DPS as clickers for this.

I also recommend you use a puzzle solver to ensure you solve your puzzles as fast as possible.

The Journey Between Two Bosses Part 2

You will encounter several different silver elite creatures with nothing notably important to them. The only creature worth noting are the Gold Acklays as they do have a pretty powerful punch to them. I recommend sticking to at least a classic group of 4 (1 tank, 2 DPS, 1 healer) while traveling around the Pylon area before starting the next fight. Clear out as many of the creatures as you need to prior to starting. Also worth mentioning they like to drop Stronghold Decorations!

Gharj

This next Boss fight will happen in a Lava Pit. It is important to note that you do not want to be in the lava   The lava will apply a stacking DOT that will kill you pretty quickly. That said it is important to look in the pit and see where the lava falls are as there is a knock back in this fight. If you get knocked into a lava fall, it is a insta-death.

          Mechanics

          Strategy

For this fight, you will want to have your Primary tank take the boss to the edge of the platform, facing him away from the group. As the primary tank, make sure that you keep in mind the lava falls so that you don’t set your party members up in a situation where being behind the boss means they might get knocked into the lava fall.

Have all of your ranged members stand near the middle of the platform, just outside of the Melee AOE leap. This will keep them safe from the AOE damage and when the knockback occurs, they may miss the lava completely or have a minimal distance to return to the platform. This also creates a great AOE healing spot for your healers to keep everyone topped off. Personally as a Healer, I stand at the far end, furthest from the boss and creep inward slowly until I notice I start taking damage. Also important to note that the damage you receive from the AOE jump is more than the damage you'll take from running back in from the lava.

Any Melee DPS may want to step back out of melee range during the leaps if the heals become too stressful (especially true on harder difficulties) but using any defensive cooldowns as melee DPS will do fine.

When the boss does his giant leap and the platform begins shaking. All members need look for the next platform and move to it. The longer you stay, you will continue to take damage from the boss being on the platform he is smashing plus lose the platform shortly after. Ignore the adds while moving to the next platform. Once on the next platform, have your primary or  secondary tank pull the adds together and just aoe them down. Once done, back on the boss.

Rinse and repeat until boss is dead.

*Pro Tip* Gunslingers and all variations of Troopers/Bounty Hunters can use abilities like Hunker down (Slinger/Sniper) and Hydraulic Overrides (Trooper/BH) to negate all the knock backs within this fight! This will NOT negate the damage from being too close but avoiding that knock back alone will do wonders for your DPS and survival!
 

          Mechanics

• No additional Abilities
• Boss HP and damage output increased
• Enrage timer reduced

          Strategy

Fight remains the same for this mode and you will use the same strategy for Story Mode. You may want to have your secondary Tank Taunt the adds during transition to a new platform vs after just to keep the healing focused. Gauge this based on your group and what you happen to be struggling with.

The Journey Between Two Bosses Part 1

On your path to the next boss you will come across 3 different types of adds:

• Probe Droid Looking Champions: These buggers come equipped with a pull and also a AOE knockback. There are ledges so be sure that your back is never to a ledge!
• Silver Elite Lizard People?: Nothing fancy about these buggers.
• Champion Creatures: Nothing fancy about these other then they come with a nice sized health pool

Annihilation Droid XRR-3

Upon landing at the Vault and approaching the vault doors, prior to the boss spawning you will have to take out two turrets, one on each side. You will want to split up your DPS onto the turrets to burn them down ASAP.  Healers, this will be a intense healing part as progress through the modes (SM & HM) and depending on what lvl gear you decided to enter in with. Outside of the health and damage, nothing changes here between the modes.

After both turrets are down and the adds cleaned up, XRR-3 will be deployed and land directly in front of the door.

           Mechanics

          Strategy

This boss will only require one tank, but have the off tank ready just in case. You will want your Primary Tank to turn the boss around to face the door to ensure only the tank eats the knockback and cleave. Tank will remain with boss 100% of the fight.

The rest of the group will want to remain behind the boss and fairly spread out (Not too Far) so that anyone with Missile Burst will be able to see it and react in time as to only take the damage. I recommend healers and range stay just within range of the tank/boss to avoid the Proximity Violation.

Missile Salvo can be LOS’d behind the destroyed turrets to avoid ALL damage from it.

Missile Blast (Red Circles) damage can be mitigated and avoided by moving around. Recommend shielding party as healer while moving around, have a AOE heal ready for when it ends and everyone stacks back up.

*Power Through Strategy* On story mode, much of the damage can be healed through with strong enough AOE heals, including Missile Salvo. A very working strategy on Story Mode is to have your group stack up on the back foot of the boss, behind him to avoid the knockback and cleave, and just heal through Missile Salvo, and even Missile Burst, then spread when the red circles begin spawning. Once red circles are gone, you stack back up. If at any time you are eating too much damage, revert to beating the mechanics vs powering through them.
 

          Mechanics

• No additional Abilities
• Boss HP and damage output increased
• Enrage Timer reduced
  
  Strategy
  
  Strategy remains the same as in Story Mode. Important to note that the Power Through method still works in Hard Mode but again, revert to the full strategy if needed.

Here is a guide detailing loot, mechanics, and a working strategy for any who are running a raid and wish to link/use it!                              

                               Loot Table

Suggested Gear

• SM: Level 50-70 - Gear isn't a issue! You will be bolstered to the correct level and stats to complete!
• Veteran: Level 70 - 230 Gear is recommended. Any MK will be fine.

Scions of Destiny

The Time of Transcendence

Light seems to dim and fade around you. Your senses heightened you begin looking around. A voice is heard

(Your name)

The voice seemed to be coming from behind you. You turn quickly around to see a darkly cloaked woman standing facing you, her hands in front of her grasping each other under her sleeves. Her face difficult to make out under the cloak. You ignite your lightsaber/draw your weapon and take aim.

Who are you?

I have been known by many names throughout time... Who I am you will learn in time. "What" is a far better question to ask.

You feel cold while staring at this shadowy figure. It feels as if the very air around you has become dense and heavy creating a sense of pressure from all around you

What do you want?

I want you my child.

The figure lifts her head. You can now see piercing yellow eyes that begin to glow and shift to a purple like hue as if flames are coming out from around the eyes. This lights up the face of the woman and you see a smirk across her face.

(choose)

Attack

Don’t attack

You return to your stronghold, a bit shaken from the encounter. Questions swirling around inside of you as if a storm has been awakened from within. You recall the power you felt and how it made you feel. You can feel the desire for that power grow the more you think on it.

Remembering the figures words, “Quiet your mind and listen. May the Force guide you to me.”

You close your eyes and try to calm the storm inside. To quiet your mind, but the chaos of the storm swirling inside you is too strong…

But wait… what was that? You notice a spot of serenity from within the chaos and as if it were a voice speaking to you, you feel drawn to it as if you are being guided to this place of serenity.

You feel yourself rushing to this spot among the waves of the storm within until you reach it.

Your eyes snap open.

Vestige of Despair’s Flagship.

You quickly gather your gear and make your way to your Flagship.

As you approach the Flagship you send the docking clearance codes.

An Imperial operator comes across your coms.

This is VoD Flagship Ascension to known vessel. Your clearance has been accepted. Welcome home.

You dock and begin making your way to a secluded deck, as if you are being drawn to it. As you enter the room you see 7 others in the room waiting. You see the Overlord Avalee at the head of the room pacing back and forth. To the left side of the room you see a woman you haven’t met before. She is crimson in color of Sith decent. Her arms crossed as she leans against the wall wearing what seems to be unique armor of cloth and metal.

As you approach Avalee you once again feel the presence you felt before. You look back to the entrance of the room to see the cloaked woman from before enter and slowly walk to the head of the room where Avalee is standing. She gets to Avalee’s side and turns around to face everyone.

  Welcome my children. I know you all have many questions and by making it this far you have earned the right to know my name. I have been known by many names throughout time, but to you I am the Divine Empress Miko-kiri.

Your Overlord Avalee sought me out and we struck a deal. You all have been chosen to transcend beyond your mortal coils into something more. Today I gift you with immortality and but a small sample of the power you can obtain, but remember…What is given can also be taken away…

The Empress takes her arms, palms up, and reaches them out in front of her. Swirling power begins to emanate from her hands and expands out as she raises them above her head.

You feel cold and as if the weight of the galaxy is on your shoulders forcing you down to your knees. You can’t breathe. You feel as if you are dying. Panic begins but once again almost as if a voice is guiding you, you feel that serenity once again. Power begins to surge through you. You engulf in purple flames as if they are coming off of you.

You hear the Empress speak…

Embrace the power my children. From the ashes of your former existence you must rise!!

Become Harbingers of Death!

Saviors of the Galaxy!

Allow yourself to become one with Destiny!

Now RISE my Scions of Destiny!!!

As her final words are spoken you feel empowered like nothing else before. The weight you once felt has become so light you feel as if you could float. The power in the room dissipates as the Empress lowers her hands and you stand once more.

As you look around it is like you are seeing for the first time. Everything appears the same yet so different. You can’t make sense of it.

The Empress begins to speak once more but in a more calming tone

Welcome my Scions to your first step into something more. We spoke of a price before, that you were that price. You have been chosen to be tasked as the firm hand of Destiny to maintain balance in the Galaxy.

You are charged and will be called upon to take down the greatest of powers when they become unchecked.

The Empress motions her hand over to the unknown woman you noticed in the room

This is Mistress Azumi Yuki. She is tasked with leading you along side your Overlord into battle. Mind her power as she carries my will with her…

Now go my Scions. Your training will continue through time, but for now go have fun and explore your new found power and await my call to arms. Your Overlord will continue to guide you as you await. My attention is needed elsewhere.

With that, Empress Miko-kiri exits the room and disappears

Congratulations and a big THANK YOU for all of you stepping up to make this group a reality! Stay tuned for your first assignment as Scions of Destiny!

Current Roster

Tank: @Sayuri

Tank:  OPEN

Healer: @Aravail

Healer: @KageSennen

DPS: @Katalaw

DPS: @AidenRhen

DPS:  @Vorn

DPS: @Owyn

PRIORITY

Tank:

DPS: 

Heal: 

 This thread will remain as the Scion list. As people come and go from the group, this list is what will be updated via pulling those interested in more permanent spots as indicated here:

Scions of Destiny

Harbingers of death…Saviors of the Galaxy…The threads of Fate sown throughout the Tapestry of time. You, my dear Scions are an extension of my will tasked with ensuring balance is maintained throughout the galaxy. You have transcended beyond your mortal coils into something far greater than any Empire could comprehend.

– Divine Empress Miko-kiri

_________________________________________________________________________________

    Welcome to the Vestige of Despair Scions of Destiny Progression group Launching Station! In here you will find everything you need to know about the Scions of Destiny Operations group including how to participate!

What do I need to know?

Well if you are already on the roster then you should start with this link:

Scions Operation Spreadsheet

In this spreadsheet you will want to:

• Log your availability as far out in the future as you can! This will give myself and Katalaw advanced time to set up back fills on events

Group Details

• This group will raid consistently on Saturdays starting at 10 PM EST through 12:30 AM EST or later based on group vote for that night. We will then meet together on Sunday night at 9:00 PM EST for an extra shot on our progression boss!
• Raid Leader will be your one and only Empress Miko-kiri (Sayuri)
• This group will consist of a set group of 8 that will be consistently scheduled with open sign-ups to those who wish to fill in! (More to come on this later)
• The operation we will be conducting will be posted weekly as a calendar event located here to which members will comment for back up and Scions will RSVP to confirm attendance.
• While progression will be the goal, this group will be a relaxed group with the goal of learning and growing together in the content. Fun is our top priority!
• Fights will be recorded for my guides!
• This group will be RP themed if you couldn’t tell already with the header 
  You will be a Scion of Destiny!
  In a nutshell, Miko-kiri is an ancient Empress of the Sith(species) who was tasked with keeping the knowledge of the force, both dark and light. Through this path she was confronted with something far greater than her alone and transcended into something more. No longer bound by mortal coils, she found herself now tasked with keeping balance in the force throughout all time. She was gifted with knowledge, immortality, and unlimited power but at a price. This group will be her Scions. Those chosen by her, trained and groomed to intervene within galactic affairs as needed to maintain the balance. Similar to her, she has extended the gift of transcending at the price of becoming an extension of her will. You are the greatest power base the universe will never know! MUAHAHAHA! The leader of Vestige of Despair has secured a power unlike no other. For what reason? For what price? We may never know! *gasp*
   

Group Rules

• Members will be required to remain in the role they enter the group with: Tank, Healer, or DPS. This doesn’t mean you have to bring the same character EVERY time, only that whatever class/character you bring must be the same ROLE you play in this specific group. The reason for this is to develop and preserve group synergy. While mechanics are mechanics, the strategy/what mechanics apply to you the player change based on the role you are playing. To keep forward momentum we need our Tanks to always be tanking, healers always healing, and DPS always DPSing!
• Members must be able to handle both making mistakes and their fellow group members making mistakes. Handle beating their head against a wall with minimal frustration (common in progression). Always be constructive and not destructive. Wipes and lots of them! The point is that this is meant to be fun. If you can’t fail a lot and still have fun then you need to keep this in mind. I will never gate, berate, or segregate a member for making mistakes or causing wipes.
• During Boss fights members must keep TS Com channel open and free of chatter for important fight related calls. During trash fights we can go crazy!
• When Fights are being explained, keep coms open and do not interrupt. If you have a suggestion/better way of handling a fight either whisper the raid lead or say it in ops chat for the raid lead to then open the floor to you to explain. Don’t be talking over people! WUUUDE!
• Starparse will be required. This won’t be used to judge worthiness or as a gate to the group but instead so that when we hit a wall, we can see where we need to improve specifically. I will HIGHLY encourage the members to use it each week to personally figure out how to improve/up their game!
• If a member from the group is unable to attend the raid they must RSVP as not going on the event date post so that a replacement can be found.
• If a member misses more than 2 raids in a row (2 weeks) or 3 total inside a one month period (31 days), then their spot in the group will be opened to someone who has the gear lvl and consistent schedule required for the group. I know this may seem harsh, but the purpose of this group is consistency. Real life happens, but if you are missing 3 raids out of a possible 4-5 week month then you are consistently unavailable rather than available which is more in line with signing up vs consistently being scheduled. NOTHING to be ashamed of/feel guilty about either!!
• Each week when the raid is posted, ANY member is allowed to sign-up as a back-up on a first come first serve basis based on ROLE and Gear lvl for the operation we are on. This group will not be going back in time to fit a back-up in. That is counter-productive to progression!
  
  So for example let’s say a DPS can’t make it and 3 people signed up as back-ups: 1^st sign-up was tank back-up, 2^nd DPS or Healer, 3^rd DPS. We will skip over the tank as a tank isn’t needed to the 2^nd back-up. Then we will check the spreadsheet to ensure gear score is at minimum recommended. For this example, let’s say that their healer meets the minimum gear but not their DPS. So we will finally go to the 3^rd back-up. 3^rd back-up is a perfect fit! For the sake of argument, let’s say NO sign-ups meet the gear needed well then unfortunately we will attempt to PUG outside the guild L
  
  For this reason, I highly encourage those signing up as back-up each week to ensure they have the gear score required for the operation we are doing. I know in my example I covered having to skip a DPS over for not having the correct gear score, but realistically we should only have to skip over sign-ups because they aren’t the role we need to fill in like the tank being skipped over in my example.
• Most important for last: This group is meant to be for the Imperial side and especially so for those more Imperial focused with their SWTOR goals. If you currently hold down a guild structure position and are instrumental to the Republic side, then THAT takes priority over this group. Your guild structure duties and duties to our republic guild come FIRST! (as it relates to the Division, obviously RL comes first :p). It is extremely important that if we wish to see the Imperial Faction of our Division grow, then it can’t be done by pulling people away from our Republic interests. No robbing Peter to pay Paul here!

If you are interested in being a part of this group:

• Let me know and what role! Post in this thread which role you would like or roles if you like doing them all, that you can meet the above expectations.
• Understand that at this stage I have already selected people to fill the slots of 8 out of a group of primarily Imperial players within RoH.
• When a position opens up on the roster I will be referring to this thread in order of those who post they wish to join the group based on role needed and if they meet the required gear score for the content we are currently working on. 

May the Force guide you to me...