Pre-boss Enemies (Trash)
Outlined below are the smaller mobs you will encounter in this trial. These are found within each of the boss arenas and need to be killed in order to spawn the respective boss. They will also emerge from the portals that are spawned throughout each boss figh.
- Yaghra Strider - A small melee add that performs only a single melee, light attack (Lacerate) on whoever has aggro.
- Yaghra Spewer - A small ranged add that does have both a melee (Chop) and ranged light attack (Purge), depending on the range of the person with aggro.
- Nocturnal Creeper - Targets a random player (indicated by a red circle which sticks to that players feet) with Razorthorns that burrow towards them, upon reaching the player it will root them in place and silence them if they don't escape the thorns quickly enough.
- Yaghra Monstrosity - The only elite enemy before the bosses themselves. There are a couple of key attacks that you need to look out for:
- Baneful Barb - The monstrositys mandibles will glow purple for a brief period before it lunges at whoever has aggro. If it successfully hits it will bring that player down to 40% health and put a heftly healing debuff (up to 80% on veteran) on the player.
- Corpulence - This is the monstrositys heavy attack, indicated by the usual glowing yellow sparks.
- Lunging Slash - The monstrosities light attack.
The Nocturnal Creepers can cause big issues for healers and tanks if they become silenced so it is a good idea to take these out first. With two tanks, one can take the Monstrosity and the other focus on pulling in the smaller enemies onto whichever Creeper is being focussed.
The Monstrosity will require some attention as it hits too hard to not have a tank taunt it. The tank will need to maintain aggro, block the Corpulence (heavy) attack and dodge roll the Baneful Barb; this has a very short animation but dodge rolling when you notice the mandibles glow purple should avoid it. If the tank is hit with Baneful Barb they will drop to low health and be harder to heal. To remove the debuff they need to be healed back to full health and so healers should focus them quickly.
Gryphons (Shade of Falarielle, Belanaril & Silaeda)
Each of the first three bosses is accompanied by a Gryphon (this is a shade of the riders mount just as the bosses are a shade of the rider themselves), all of which have exactly the same attacks except for one main mechanic which is unique for each boss (described in that bosses section). When the Gryphon is killed before the rider several Nocturnal Creepers will begin to spawn until the rider is killed as well.
There are a few key mechanics to be aware of from the Gryphon itself:
Ground Phase
- Dark Bond - If the Gryphon or the rider get too close together they will both enrage causing all of their attacks to do a lot more damage.
- Talon Slice - The Gryphons light attack is the same regardless of which claw you get swiped by. Each time a player is hit they receive a stacking bleed effect.
- Riposte - A frontal cone attack indicated by a large AoE which does a large amount of damage.
- Sudden Gust - A large, spreading AoE directly underneath the Gryphon that will cause damage and knockback anyone it hits when it reaches its full size. This AoE occurs when the Gryphon takes flight.
Flight Phase
- Birds Eye View - This occurs repeatedly while the boss is flying and causes several small AoEs to spread across the room. If these hit a player they will get stunned and get a DoT on them: Dark Drain.
- Cyclone - A large AoE spawns on the ground under the Gryphons position and shoots towards the player who has aggro of the Gryphon. This knocks back anyone it hits, does a lot of damage and persists for a while in its final position.
- Talon Slice - If the player with aggro is in range of the Gryphon it can still do its light attack on them and still apply the stacking bleed.
The tank should grab the Gryphon, turn it away from the group and keep it close to where it spawns. Where possible, its light attacks should be dodge rolled (sets to aid with this can be utilised here if needed) to avoid the bleed altogether but as long as the tank isn't hit by too many of them it can be healed through. During the flight phase the tank should keep taunt on the Gryphon and try to position away from the group (who would typically move towards the rider at this time) to kite the Cyclone AoEs. It's easy to sidestep the conal AoE and during this attack and when the Gryphon screeches is a great oppurtunity to heavy attack to regain reasources.
The group should remain behind the Gryphon to avoid the conal AoE and everyone should step out of the spreading AoE (Sudden Gust) to avoid getting knocked down. During the flight phase it's best to try and avoid the small AoEs but not to stray too far from the group (remain in heals). The large AoEs should be avoided where possible as they do a lot of damage.
Portals
If you are wanting to do the "Feeding Pit" achievement then visit the small cave towards the back left of the room and grab some meat. Continue up the ramp behind where the boss spawned (to the right) and into the next room. Each encounter from here on will consist of the same selection of elite enemies (explained below). Once the room is clear you can head out and down the stairs towards the bridge killing the group on enemies that runs in. Make your way across the bridge, killing everything that spawns in and being very careful of the broken areas leaving large holes that you can fall down.
- Overcharger - Ranged enemies that will cause random members of the group to become "Overcharged"; inflicting them with a large red AoE under their feet which moves with them and causes a lot of damage to anyone standing in it. They also target group members with a continuous lightning attack which will spawn smaller, spreading red circles under the players feet and damage inflict damage if the player does not move out when they reach full size.
- Troll - Melee enemies that will throw rocks at random players, pound the ground dealing damage to anyone caught in the circle around them and throw poison on multiple players at a time. The poison shows as a green glow and an AoE around the players feet which will spread to any other player it touches.
- Serpent Fang - An archer with a frontal cone ability and an interruptible, charged-up shot that deals a lot of damage.
- War Priest - Barely notable but the last of the bannered enemies here. They are melee enemies with a snare and knockdown ability but do little damage.
The group should spread out a little to avoid stacking the poison and "Overcharged". Anyone affected by "Overcharged" should remain still and block cast while everyone else steps away from them and out of their AoE. Healers may need to focus some heals on these players. Any player with the smaller red lightning circles under their feet should kite (keep moving) to avoid the damage, both of these attacks can target the same player at the same time.
Prioritise the Overchargers always, then the Trolls and finally the Archers and the War Priests. The Archers should be interrupted when they charge up their "Taking Aim" attack and the group should remain still for a few seconds after the enemies are all dead to let the poison dissipate (don't expect this to happen in most groups, however, as the poison is quickly re-applied and it can be healed through).
If you can heal through the Trolls ground slam then maintain your positions and keep up the damage. Otherwise, make sure you organise well to be able to get out of the AoEs where needed.
Boss Two - Stonebreaker
This boss is incredibly challenging with some of the changes it has seen and is considered to be a bit "broken" to many (as of the time of writing). It can, however, be dealt with when you understand what is happening although any deaths in this fight will hurt the group a lot and this can quickly cause a domino effect which likely results in a wipe. There is also a Shaman, War Priest and Serpent Fang with the boss.
- Spreading Poison - As with the Trolls you have already faced, members of the group will be afflicted with a small poison circle that will do damage to anyone inside and spread to anyone it touches. It is likely the whole group will have this on them for the majority of the fight.
- Poison Blast - When a player dies with poison they will cause a poison explosion on anyone nearby. This is the major cause of issues as it can quickly cause a chain reaction of deaths spreading through the group. This has been greatly nerfed since the Waking Flame Update (7.1.7)
- Ground Slam - The boss will violently pound the ground causing shockwaves to travel out and cause huge damage to anyone they hit. Typically, these travel forwards but they can travel backwards and are very hard to see.
- Leaping Crush - The boss will jump to anyone too far away causing large amounts of damage to anyone where he lands (this has a huge area of effect). This no longer appears to be in the game as of the Waking Flame Update (7.1.7)
- Destructive Aura - The boss stands tall and beats his chest forming a large spreading AoE from under the his feet which will do a lot of damage to all players inside when it reaches its full size and the boss punches the floor.
- Overchargers - At 75%, 50% and 25% health Overchargers will join the fight. These will always spawn at the end of the bridge and increase in number by one each time (one at 75%, two at 50% and three at 25%). Thy have the exact same mechanics as the ones you have faced previously.
- Enrage - At ~20% health the boss will enrage and everything hits a fair bit harder.
Have your healers and damage dealers organise themselves into two even groups. One group will stay on the left and one on the right of the troll. You can spread out to avoid stacking too much poison and to easily escape the AoE from the Overchargers but your group will need to remain quite still during the fight. Your main tank can position the troll at the end of the bridge, where the Overchargers spawn, and turn it away from the bridge (towards the exit). Your off tank can grab the War Priest, Serpent Fang and Shaman and play with them over where they spawned; these do not need to be killed if they don't cause issues for you. The off tank remains in this position to bait the jump from the boss as this can be unpredictable otherwise.
Your group should stack as much mitigation here as possible: use barriers and novas on rotation if you have them, circles of protection, bone shields, frost cloak etc are all great, the more the better.
When the Overchargers spawn these should be focussed down as quickly as possible. They will be taking damage due to the AoE abilities on their spawn position but they should also be tab targeted to ensure they die quickly. The damage from these as well as the boss is huge so these need to die very quickly.
Everyone should block cast during the "Ground Slam" ability, block the hit from "Destructive Aura" and if the boss does do his "Leaping Crush" towards the group after jumping to the off tank then this should be blocked.
Tip: Many groups will try to avoid the Overchargers altogether by having their main tank grab the boss and bring him to the other end of the bridge. Pulling the boss too far, however, will reset it.
Rooms & Levers
Continuing on you will enter a large room with a pillar on each side, infront of each pillar will be a lever. These need to be pulled at the same time to open the doors on the sides of the room and this is a common mechanic for opening all of the doors from this point in the trial. You will meet no new enemies during the rest of the trial but there are several more packs to deal with along the way. Be careful of all the massive holes in the floor as you progress as it can be a long run back.
You can split the your team into two even groups (one tank, one healer and four damage dealers in each) to deal with to rooms simultaneously if this is preferred. It does speed things up a little but all rooms can be managed one by one otherwise. For the first two doors, however, all enemies are aggro'd when you enter either room so be prepared from them coming in behind your group if you choose to tackle this as one group. You should prioritise the enemies as before, don't be afraid to use ultimates on cooldown as the trash is particularly challenging in this trial.
Boss Three - Ozara
Shortly after entering the boss room you will see multiple enemies spawn in (all of which you have faced before) along with Ozara, a large Lamia. The additional enemies here cause more of an issue than the boss herself typically as they will respawn ~15s after dying. Immediately after Ozara dies the left door will open and three Trolls will come to congratulate you on your victory.
- Trapping Bolts - The boss throws her arms up into the air and pins three group members to the floor. These bolts can only be removed by another group member standing over them and using the provided synergy "Remove Bolt".
- Venemous Bite - The boss rears up and viciously bites whoever has aggro, this will knock the player back if they do not block.
- Adds - The boss has a War Priest, Serpent Fang, Shaman, Troll and Overcharger all join the fight shortly after it starts. Each one of these enemies will respawn shortly after being killed. The Shaman summons a totem of protection that can lure enemies towards it if it is left alive.
As you enter the room head towards to door around the corner on the right; this is where the Overcharger spawns. Have your off tank taunt all of the enemies apart from the Overcharger and run towards the back of the room where there is a little area to pull the enemies in with line of sight. Moving the adds over here avoids having to kill them repeatedly throughout the fight and will make things a lot easier if your off tank is able to stay alive. One damage dealer should, however, kill the totem that the Shaman summons immediately on the left as you enter the room as this will cause the Overcharger to run away when it spawns. A healer can move back after the "Trapping Bolts" mechanic to throw the off tank some heals and synergies if necessary.
The main tank can take the boss towards the door around the corner on the right and keep her there, making sure to block the heavy to avoid getting knocked back. Don't put your back to the door as if you do miss the heavy you can get knocked through it.
The rest of the group can form a tight semi-circle around the boss, focus the Overcharger when it respawns and make sure to quickly unpin any enemies hit with the "Trapping Bolts". It helps to have one player (raid leader usually) call when the bolts are coming and keep the chat clear to allow your tank and healers to call that they are pinned if not released immediately.
Feeding Pit
An optional battle is available in the room on the right hand side on the way to the final boss (after dealing with the final trash pack). The group member that picked up the meat after defeating the first boss will need to place it in the centre of the feeding pit and the group should brace for impact. Survive the onslaught of Trolls to get the achievement.
Final Boss - The Serpent
This is mostly a stack and burn fight with a couple of unique mechanics that can cause some issues. Catering to your group is key here as you may find you need to swap some skills or perform additional steps depending on the group you are in.
- Poison Mist - The boss fades into the floor and re-appears in the centre of the circle where he spawned and kneel down. During this attack everyone in the group will take a lot of poison damage.
- Totems - Totems will continuously spawn throughout the fight at random locations around the room. There are three types of totem and each has a different effect:
- Cursed Totem - A blue totem that places a "Magicka Bomb" on a random group member. They will see a blue glow to their screen and if they do not deplete their magicka within a few seconds they will explode and die.
- Wrest Totem - A green totem that yanks a random member of the group to it and snares them close to the totem if they don't manage to get away quickly.
- Empower Totem - Another green totem but this one forms a green beam from itself to the boss. Increases the damage done from the boss' "Poison Mist" mechanic and spawns small poison circles in the group.
- Mantikora - These spawn at ~60% and again at ~40% from one of the two blood pools on the edge of the room. They are similar to the first boss and perform the same "Enraged Slam" ability which will do a lot of damage if it is not blocked and apply a bleed to everyone in it.
- Lamia Howlers - These spawn behind the boss on the left of the room and have a front, conal attack (a scream) which will stun anyone caught inside it that isn't blocking. When these die they explode causing a "Sonic Boom" which does large amounts of damage to anyone nearby.
- Run to Stone - The boss remains kneeling with his sword in the ground after the "Poison Mist" mechanic and small pink orbs appears around the room. These provide a pink shield to any player that picks one up and will protect them from the "Repulse" explosion that the boss does shortly after they spawn. This will kill anything that is not protected, including any remaining Lamias.
- Celestial Spray - A frontal, cleave attack which will likely kill anyone but the tank.
Hardmode
Activated by burning a banner at the end of each corridor found on the left and right before entering the boss room. This adds one additional mechanic to the mix but also makes the boss put out a bit more damage during the fight.
- World Shaper - The boss holds a hand up and channels a green ball of energy for a few seconds before releasing it onto a random group member in range. This forms a large AoE on the ground where that player was standing and will kill anyone who is in it when the energy strikes. This can target the main tank also.
Non-Hardmode
Your main tank should taunt and turn the boss away from the group, holding it in place. Your off tank can position themselves behind the group over to the left and be ready to pick up any Lamias that spawn as if these are allowed to run into the group they can easily die to the AoE damage and explode everyone. The rest of the group can stack behind the boss and keep all damage and healing in one place.
Depending on your groups capabilities you may not need to kill the totems. If you don't kill them then make sure you have a high costing magicka ability to use if you get the "Magicka Bomb" and stay stacked with as much healing/mitigation as possible from your supports. If you get pulled by the Wrest Totem then try to dodge roll back to the group as soon as possible to avoid getting snared away from everybody else. If you do want to kill the totems then have your main tank move the boss onto the Totems so that they die to your AoE damage and reposition as a group when the next "Poison Mist" phase begins and the boss moves back to its starting location.
When the Mantikora spawns in get ready to dodge roll if it targets you as it will take the tank a second to taunt it. The main tank should peek around the boss without turning him in order to taunt the Mantikora and this should be focused by the group.
After the second Mantikora is dead the boss will usually perform a "Poison Mist" phase and then stay kneeling for the "Run to Stone" mechanic. Everyone needs to split up and grab one orb each here. It helps to have a left and right group so that people know where to go and your tanks should be selfish and just grab the closest orb to them in order to stay alive
The boss will perform one more "Poison Mist" and "Run to Stone" mechanic when he is on 0% health so keep fighting until this is over. The last "Repulse" attack typically never happens so grabbing an orb may not be essential but I'd still advise you do just in case!
Hardmode Changes
The fight positioning remains exactly the same but you will need to pay attention to the "World Shaper" mechanic and move to avoid this at the right time. You will see the boss raise his hand and start forming a green ball of energy which will pulse and fire smaller energy balls into the group while it is forming. When it is fully formed and the boss moves his arm to throw it into the group it is time to get the hell out of there; turn and run away from the stack until the big red AoE has hit then promptly get back into position. If you move too early and the attack is targeting you then you will drop the AoE outside of the stack and potentially kill anyone running in the same direction so keep a close eye on when to move or have someone calling it out. The main tank will need to pay attention to this also.