Guild Wars 2

PHASE 2- Arena style fight. It’s the more difficult of the two phases. Your lane will get the chance to enter phase two in sequential order(i.e. Lane 1 first, Lane 5 last). Once its your lanes turn a 30 second timer will begin, ones times up the gate/portal will turn green then you may enter. Mobs will despawn so ignore them. Once the timer is at 5 seconds everyone should be at gate. Don’t let any champions in while you are waiting for the timer to end,they do count against you!

Arena Explained- Your lane will be split up into 5 separate groups in a circular arena.Since your lane should have 20-25 people that allows for 4-5 people in each arena which is also highly recommended. You will have 2 minutes to complete you objective(Its starts immediately after the 30 second timer).You are to kill your champion and once it is dead destroy the power node. There are 5 different champions.Each champion has different tactics to fight which i will explain later.Each lane will fight they’re own version of the champion, if the lane fails the champion will carry over to next lane. Always communicate and inform the next lane which champion they are up against if you fail.

Champions Explained-

Twisted Marionette will do special attacks defined by the champion you are fighting.ALWAYS avoid her attacks as they do high damage. They will show AoE markers and most attacks will always be in the same spot!

Champion 1- This champion can only be damaged from behind and summons twisted reavers. There will be a marker on the floor pointing which direction it is facing. This is easy as whoever he is after to just kite/evade him while others take him down from behind. Twisted Marionette will use a stomp attack.

Champion 2- This champion is a typical kiting fight. It will do a spinning attack which will knockback and do high damage.It is invulnerable while spinning to damage and conditions.While it is spinning it will drop mines which you have to kite it into to stun him, its vulnerability will drop for approx. 7-10 seconds which then your group should DPS him like crazy! Twisted marionette will do a high kick attack.

Champion 3- This champion is a evasion fight as it will drop bombs which you have to be quick to evade, the bombs can 1 shot a player. Twisted Marionette will use a lightning attack which will add more AoE for you to dodge. Beware its stomp attack.Vigor will help!

Champion 4- This champion is a confusion fight. It will shriek which you should evade. If you get hit by shriek stop attacking ( beware auto attack) and wait for confusion to clear. Confusion will burn you down! It also shoots homing missles which should be evaded when possible, shriek is priority evade though. Twisted Marionette will use a sword attack.

Champion 5- This champion is a DPS race. It splits into two of itself when killed,it will split multiple times. It is best to ball them up and AoE them down quick. Twisted Marionette will use a scream attack.

Phase 2 Conclusion- All 5 groups must kill their champion and destroy power node to sever the chain. Assuming that not one mobs makes it through gate in phase 1 you are allowed 5 failed attempts to sever the chain. From personal experience it is typically around 3 allowed failures. If the lane before you fails you will face its champion. Keep track of which champion you are on. Once you exit phase 2 you will have a 6 minute debuff blocking you from entering another portal. Each lane takes approx. 3 minutes which means you can enter a portal that is two lanes infornt of you to help out(i.e. Land 1 can enter Lane 4). You still must defend the portal after you have exited Phase 2.

TIPS & TRICKS-
- People from 2 lanes previous can go 2 lanes forward and help with Phase 2.This way sickness will be up to enter your own lane.(i.e. Lane 4 can help Lane 1 and the debuff will be gone in time to enter their own portal)

-Elementalists Ice Bow is great for this

-Slot a revive skill to revive a downed ally in Phase 2 safely.

-High DPS build is reccomended

-Do not completly ditch survivability for DPS-

-If a mob makes it to gate in phase one you still have approx. 3-5 seconds to kill it before it enters

-Lower graphics settings to help/prevent lag

-Pay attention to chat!!

-If pre event stacking on a commander in your lane allows them to easily keep track of how many are each lane

- Dont be stubborn, go to lanes if the need people

- When assisting other lanes be sure to not abandon your own lane.No more than 5 should leave

-Before you enter Phase 2 stack might.WvW’ers should know exactly how to do this!

I will periodically update this guide.Any problems or new information please let me know.Trying to get this out quick,please inform me of any errors!!I will do my best to answer any questions!

Thanks! Very useful information!

@Frostfang Your welcome!

Great guide! Gonna post this on my servers site.

One question:

Is it possible, that people stack up right before enetering the portal, to stack might etc., or do you lose buffs when you enter?

@Bubi Yes it is possible to stack might before you enter,forgot to mention that! I will add that now!Thanks!

Nice work GenocideOPS.

GenocideOPS.8319:

-Lower graphics settings to help/prevent lag

If you don’t want to crash just lower your graphics – GW2 is substantially less stable with higher graphics even if you always get good framerates.

Would it work to have 5 defend the gate and 10 kill the champs I each lane, then split the rest between 2 float teams? Float 1 starts at lane 1 then shifts to 3 after their chain is severed, then on to 5, Float 2, start at 2 then 4. 2 would go back to 1 if it happens to fail and so on. So with a hard capped map aprox 125-150 players right? 15 in each lane makes 75. So two teams of 25-35ish floating. Everyone in the lane would go which would put phase 2 with 40-50 so 8-10 on each champ. Maybe making them easier to go down.

Just a thought.

GenocideOPS.8319:

The only condition to slow them down is chill.They are immune to the rest.STACK THE HELL OUT OF CHILL!!!

That’s not quite true. I cripple, immobilize and knockback the Twisted mobs all the time, so you can safely assume the other CC works as well.
What you have probably experienced are the Twisted Champions. While they are at the start of the lane they’re vulnerable to slows and immobilizes, but after a certain time they speed up and become immune to it. Haven’t paid attention to see if chill affects them, but you might be right here. Also not sure what triggers the sudden sprint, but I assume they have a timer for it since I’ve seen Champions with different health percentages rush through.

The guide is nice…..still people who can’t kittening dodge will still fail it for all of us.

Can guardians use Line of warding or Ring of warding to prevent passage to twisted foes?
Is it possible?

Truthbearer.9708:

Haven’t paid attention to see if chill affects them, but you might be right here. Also not sure what triggers the sudden sprint

I don’t think chill affects them. I threw loads of ice ‘nades and it made no difference. Here’s the thing though, I have lead/commanded about 7-10 lanes by this point and it has boiled down to me saying (and this strategy is nearly always a perfect defense):

• “Nobody stand at the portal – I want everyone at the bottom in attack range of where they spawn”
• “Static fields on the clockwork champions when they spawn. Do not use static fields for anything else.”
• “Kill clockwork champs → clockwork trash → other alliances”
• “If clockwork mobs spawn drop what you are doing and deal with them first”
• “Only chase clockwork mobs up the lane, stay at the bottom if the lane is clear of clockwork mobs”
• “AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE AOE”
• “When a clockwork champ starts running use single-target damage on it”
• “Here is a tray of omnomberry bread, eat”

The reasoning is very simple: I seems as though the champ starts running at 50% HP – you cannot use any form of slowing ability on the champ while it’s running. If you do maximum damage to it when it spawns it has further to run and therefore you have more time to damage it in the running state. If done correctly the champs won’t make it to where the first barricades are.

I have only had one attempt where a single champ got through; and that’s because a few players decided that having backup at the portal works better. It really doesn’t – the simplest and most obvious tactic is best in this case. In my opinion

Just want to add in a couple things. First, I found it best to designate a person in your lane to be the only one to pickup and use the hammer – don’t drop until going into portal and keep npcs off that person while they build/repair (you will not get ciphers off mobs as you won’t be attacking, so if this bothers you don’t do it).

Secondly, as for the applying CC to the Twisted Champions, they seem to be vulnerable up until around the 40-50% hp mark where they start to make a dash for the portal – I tell my lane to put a nice stack of chill, immob, cripple right before that point as it helps a lot (you can’t apply after that point, but the previous stacks remain in effect). Also, it’s best to just attack one at a time when two are up, so make it a point beforehand that if two are up at once you are attacking either the left or right one first.

Lastly, have fun and encourage people. Don’t be a negative Nancy each time a lane fails. My first time downing her was on SBI yesterday when we were only had 3/5 chains done and 85% of the bar filled (no more failures possible), and the lane before mine did the 4rth and we did the 5th where my platform was the last to down the generator with 2 seconds left. Was pretty cool. Lesson = stay positive.

3 lanes forward, not 2. i.e. lane 4 can go to lane 2 to help.

Edit: I’d recommend adding 2 groups of 5 roamers.
Group A: Lane 1,4,2
Group B: Lane 2,5,3 (prolly never get to 3)

Those groups should have high dps, high root/immob or knockback (for Champ 5), and some good group vigor/cleanse for Champ 3/4.

Ran into champ 4 today, found that there will be the new orange kind of AOE marker, as well as a black kind of AOE marker. Apparently the black on is “ok” to stand in for a bit.

Honestly tho, the major issue i have with the plaforms is the camera. It bumps into the barrier, filling your view with your character and obscuring AOE circles and things like bombs.

Its as if ANet didn’t learn a thing from the pavilion cage matches…

I only skimmed the rest of the posts, but here are some tips from my own experiences:

- Siege weapon CAN be repaired using repair hammers but CANNOT be replaced. It’s crucial to keep your siege at high health. Usually 2-3 people in the lane running around with repair hammers can keep everything at full. (The exception is golems, which us the player’s health. If you’re dying just jump out of them and let someone else take over).

- Barricades that are destroyed can be rebuilt after a time. Look for the yellow “Barricade build site” to reappear.

- Champ clockworks are immune to CC after 50% health, but any CC already on them will stay. Try to proc immobilize right before it drops below 50% and it will stay immobilized while you burn it down.

digiowl.9620:

Ran into champ 4 today, found that there will be the new orange kind of AOE marker, as well as a black kind of AOE marker. Apparently the black on is “ok” to stand in for a bit.

Honestly tho, the major issue i have with the plaforms is the camera. It bumps into the barrier, filling your view with your character and obscuring AOE circles and things like bombs.

Its as if ANet didn’t learn a thing from the pavilion cage matches…

The orange AoE marker is the actual AoE marker for that boss. His AoE is to create a zone that persists afterwards. That’s the black field you’re seeing. It causes torment if you stand in it.

You should add use and defend your siege in the lane during phase 1. The siege is VERY effective in dropping what spawns near the portal as well as anything trying to come up the lane. As an assist to those fighting it is invaluable.

The several times I have done the lanes, not everyone hops on the siege and those who do often get taken down because no one defends them when they come under attack. The successful lanes I have been on have been the ones where the siege was also defended.

I think it’s important to add— using AoEs you can assist players on neighboring platforms during Phase 2. This counts for damage AND healing/buffs. If you are having difficulty in Phase 2, knock the champ up against the wall so players on the other platform can help you. This makes a difference when time is ticking down at the end of Phase 2.

Not thing came to mind, have anyone else noticed mass mob spawns on the 4 spots near the gates?

Sometimes i have seen something like 3-4 mobs pr point spawning.

I believe it is the Clockwork mobs you want to prevent getting through the gate. The other mobs that spawn up by the gates don’t go through – they come at the defenders from behind so it is good to have some folk up at the top of the gate to protect siege and the backs of those keeping the clockworks from getting near the gate.

meklin.4530:

Would it work to have 5 defend the gate and 10 kill the champs I each lane, then split the rest between 2 float teams? Float 1 starts at lane 1 then shifts to 3 after their chain is severed, then on to 5, Float 2, start at 2 then 4. 2 would go back to 1 if it happens to fail and so on. So with a hard capped map aprox 125-150 players right? 15 in each lane makes 75. So two teams of 25-35ish floating. Everyone in the lane would go which would put phase 2 with 40-50 so 8-10 on each champ. Maybe making them easier to go down.

Just a thought.

That all depends on the builds/skill of the players. I’ve had 10 people in each lane in overflow, 2 people by gate, 8 buy spawn portal and we severed 3 chains. We had a hell of a time defending though.I know you said 15 people,with the extra 25 people total floating around it seems highly possible but i couldn’t say for sure.It really depends on the players.

Thanks everyone for all the help/info!I have updated the guide!Sorry for the wait,i have just came home.

It wont let me edit my second portion of the guide,not sure why,i am working on it!

From part one, where you say all five lanes must succeed, is not quite accurate. All five parts of Phase 2 must succeed, but if one lane fails, that part of phase 2 passes to the next lane. So lanes 1, 2, 3, 5, and 1 can succeed, 4 having failed.

Brilliant guide though, I hope lots of folks read it.

Vince Ste Marie.2081:

Nicely done! It’s always awesome to see such detailed guides go up.

Thank you! Never thought a developer would comment! It’s kinda really awesome!

kaat.8237:

From part one, where you say all five lanes must succeed, is not quite accurate. All five parts of Phase 2 must succeed, but if one lane fails, that part of phase 2 passes to the next lane. So lanes 1, 2, 3, 5, and 1 can succeed, 4 having failed.

Brilliant guide though, I hope lots of folks read it.

Very true! Thank you! I will be sure to add that in!

The only problem with the Marionette is that uneven amounts of players spawn into the pods! I was fighting it just 10 mins ago, and the thing spawned us with 6 people in 4 pods, and 2 in one! And I am not the ONLY person that finds this really annoying! It completely ruins peoples chances of winning against the kitten thing! And adding an NPC in the thing, like Rox or Kasmeer, doesn’t help because the NPC’s are, in fact, useless.

like I said, I am not the only one that feels like this. People -do not- like Living World content that they cannot complete.

Instead of filling each pod up with 6 people, have it fill up to 4, or 5. That way the people are all spaced out evenly. And even though I recommend it, its not needed: Try lowering the HP of the kitten things, so that they are suitable for 3-4 people to fight them, not 5+.

Or another idea, have the Wardens power, HP, defense, and AI scale off of the number of players IN THE POD. Or maybe, when one team destroys the generator to their pod, let them help the pods next to them.

So, Anet, listen to the feedback of your players here. This content is neither fun nor engaging when the only way you can win is pure luck-of-the-draw.

Mathew Littlepaw.1435:

The only problem with the Marionette is that uneven amounts of players spawn into the pods! I was fighting it just 10 mins ago, and the thing spawned us with 6 people in 4 pods, and 2 in one! And I am not the ONLY person that finds this really annoying! It completely ruins peoples chances of winning against the kitten thing! And adding an NPC in the thing, like Rox or Kasmeer, doesn’t help because the NPC’s are, in fact, useless.

like I said, I am not the only one that feels like this. People -do not- like Living World content that they cannot complete.

Instead of filling each pod up with 6 people, have it fill up to 4, or 5. That way the people are all spaced out evenly. And even though I recommend it, its not needed: Try lowering the HP of the kitten things, so that they are suitable for 3-4 people to fight them, not 5+.

Or another idea, have the Wardens power, HP, defense, and AI scale off of the number of players IN THE POD. Or maybe, when one team destroys the generator to their pod, let them help the pods next to them.

So, Anet, listen to the feedback of your players here. This content is neither fun nor engaging when the only way you can win is pure luck-of-the-draw.

I’ve had the same issue, it sucks but its only happened once. I don’t know why they split us unevenly sometimes. Hopefully that will be fixed! The event is made to draw a lot of players to be able to complete it so ill doubt they will make it scale. They just need to figure out why it does that and fix it. I’m sure they will soon.

digiowl.9620:

Honestly tho, the major issue i have with the plaforms is the camera. It bumps into the barrier, filling your view with your character and obscuring AOE circles and things like bombs.

Its as if ANet didn’t learn a thing from the pavilion cage matches…

I agree, the platform camera is the one thing I dislike about this event. I prefer to play zoomed out as far as the game will let me at all times, and here, it won’t let me go very far at all. It bothers me especially at the huge 3rd champion.

I would like to add that Golem seige hp is equal to your personal hp. So if your hp is low, use the 5 skill to jump out, pop a heal and re-enter it. Alternatively, anyone else can enter it with full hp and it’ll prevent the golem from being destroyed.

Also for clarification’s sake, the champions you face are based on the chain you are trying to destroy. Each chain’s champions will be on all 5 platforms and the lane entering must destroy all 5 of them (and the power source) to sever the chain. It is NOT that the lane itself will face 5 different champions, they WILL all be facing the same 5 champions, depending on which chain they are attempting to sever.

Vince Ste Marie.2081:

Nicely done! It’s always awesome to see such detailed guides go up.

A way to measure an encounter is with the complexity of the accompanying guide. Encounter builders can be more dynamic with their sandcastles if players can get better at building guides. Guide building is also a great way for players to practice working together on the forums and towards emerging encounters.

Enough about guide building in general, to this guide.

I think it needs less emphasis on swapping lanes. I think swapping lanes with 100 players is in the 80% range for mastery and is being used too much. The time gate to success is the weapon charging when foes enter the portal and a greater emphasis should be made to keeping that bar empty. (Would be interesting to see a way to remove charge from the weapon; maybe something triggers at near max to keep it exciting). The lower the bar, the calmer the team, the more chances for the rotation to find a team to sever that chain.

Perhaps a map with the lanes numbered or a description to standardize lane labeling in game.

A guide to lane defense describing the specifics of each lanes fortifications; for instance, lane 4 is without barricades.

A guide to barricade duty could help, could even be profession specific strategies. At least something about good utility skills to bring.

Manasa Devi.7958:

digiowl.9620:

Honestly tho, the major issue i have with the plaforms is the camera. It bumps into the barrier, filling your view with your character and obscuring AOE circles and things like bombs.

Its as if ANet didn’t learn a thing from the pavilion cage matches…

I agree, the platform camera is the one thing I dislike about this event. I prefer to play zoomed out as far as the game will let me at all times, and here, it won’t let me go very far at all. It bothers me especially at the huge 3rd champion.

The camera box for pad is much smaller then normal and it effects success rate, but I think the only encounter where it is rude is with the mad bomber.

fictitiousacct.1782:

Also for clarification’s sake, the champions you face are based on the chain you are trying to destroy. Each chain’s champions will be on all 5 platforms and the lane entering must destroy all 5 of them (and the power source) to sever the chain. It is NOT that the lane itself will face 5 different champions, they WILL all be facing the same 5 champions, depending on which chain they are attempting to sever.

Well that explains why i could not quite get the champs to gel with my experiences doing the various lanes. But i had it written of as me getting the lanes confused.

Sorry everyone! Been very busy latley! Thanks for the tips, I will update the guide ASAP!!

Not sure if it has been mentioned (did’t read all the post). But someone on my server suggested that a dedicated group of 5 players in each lane shold form parties, so when a lane needs asisstance, thoughs specific people can go help that lane. We had it too many times where when a lane needs help, more than 5 people (or almost all) run off leaving the mobs to run free to the portal.

An idea about the switching lanes issue is to form a “flying company” of relatively high DPS (and preferably skilled players) that can shift to help with platforms when needed.

newbie here, sorry for silly question: is pre-80 (40ish) player able to join the event?

I guess you can, but if you do, try to join a lane that has more people than it needs and please do not go into the energy fields to sever the chains. There’s a very risky chance that you probably can’t take or deal enough damage to help out with the champs.

Then again, if there’s not enough people, you can’t make it worse. So, yeah, but hopefully you get my point. If you’re going to do it, try to learn everything you can about the event from here on the forum and dulfy’s before going in.

Sir Isaac The Great.5341:

The guide is nice…..still people who can’t kittening dodge will still fail it for all of us.

u need a tone of people who don’t know cause u got to fail 3-4 times

I’m trying to figure out if the clockwork mobs add equally to the charge of the weapon if they make it through the gate. I know you said “Every mob that makes it through gate powers the Aethercannon a little at a time!” but do the champions charge it more than the smaller mobs?

I feel there’s a significant focus on stopping the champions, and maybe people are letting smaller mobs bleed through too much (especially if they actually charge the cannon the same).

“All 5 lanes must succeed to win event.” >> 5 lanes must succeed to win the event. Doesn’t have to be 1-5, it could be 1-4 and 1 again.