Guild Wars 2

My team – Ranger, Elementalist (or Guardian), Warrior x2, Mesner handles every part of every fractal but is having a very hard time with the last boss in the Thaumanova Reactor Fractal. We free the researchers for the buff, know to move when the platform hexes turn purple, stay away from each other, etc. I read about strategies such as having one person run around on the far side from everybody else, or everybody melees and anyone targeted runs to the outer ring.
Is there some strategy that would make this easier? Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Replace a warrior with an ele.

jump out of disappearing hexes, deal damage

It’s mostly practice. Nearly everyone new to the fractal (in my groups — your mileage might vary) struggles the first time and often for some time and then… something clicks and they can stay alive indefinitely, which is fine: as long as someone can dish damage, the boss dies eventually.

Some things that you can do to help:

• Ranger sends a tanky pet in first. The Anomaly usually stays focused on the pet, who can’t fall.
• Similarly, summons are great: elementals, illusions, turrets, etc. The mistwolf is effective here while you are learning (of course, not a good long term solution).
• Blocks are good to avoid some of the ‘bomb’ effects.
• At the start, have everyone spread out evenly on the rim. Send the pet in (if avail) or someone to do melee. Everyone else: come just close enough to range and stay put. Only move to avoid hexed hexes.

tl;dr it’s just practice; you’ll get it eventually

Thank you so much for your considered advice, and encouragement.

I read somewhere that if you don’t eliminate the portals on the bridge level below, they can pull you down when a platform disappears, before you can jump. Is that possible?

I’ve read that if one player stands on one side and aggros the boss, the others won’t be targeted. Then that one player can just run around. Possible?

Is the targeting random or does the boss target whomever is furthest away, or the one that hits the hardest?

Are you successfully completing the lab event for destabilized?

Do you have a tactic which way you run in order to avoid getting your team in jeopardy with the laser?

Do you know the attack intervalls and indicators? (Like the ‘bomb’ over your head meaning you better get ready to dodge)

Do you use spirit of nature? It can be extremely helpful to pulse stability if the ‘random conditions’ instability is in effect. Ofc every source of stability and emergency stunbreaks help. Fear and immobilize should be cleansed asap.

Do you ress your team from dead state? You can ress them from just outside the knockback area. It is extremely helpful if some1 gets killed by some bullkitten in the early phases. Works especially well with low aggro or stealth ofc.

Always call out transitions and make sure everybody is prepared at the 75,50,25 thresholds. (Full health, no downed, at least one movement skill off cd)

-You can make sure and destroy the portals, but Ive never seen this cause trouble.
-The aggro probably works like with any other enemy: a mix of ‘first seen’, defense value, closeness, damage dealt…
Kinda hard to purposely make one player get the aggro, and some attacks target the entire plateau anyways. In most fights Ive seen him switching the targets once in a while.

Notsobig.2815:

I read somewhere that if you don’t eliminate the portals on the bridge level below, they can pull you down when a platform disappears, before you can jump. Is that possible?

I’ve never seen it happen. People do get stunned right as a hex is disappearing, which feels a bit like getting portal-pulled.

Notsobig.2815:

I’ve read that if one player stands on one side and aggros the boss, the others won’t be targeted. Then that one player can just run around. Possible?

The boss holds aggro with one target for a while. So it’s possible for one player to head in, take aggro, and then let everyone else melee. I’ve duo’d using that technique.

However, the boss will change targets, so be prepared to swap roles.

Even better, you said your team includes a ranger, so send in the pet first. As long as you keep it alive, it will hold aggro for a long time.

Notsobig.2815:

Is the targeting random or does the boss target whomever is furthest away, or the one that hits the hardest?

Aggro in the game is more nuanced then people seem to believe. It’s a variety of things and the AI has a set of priorities, but no guarantees. Toughness matters, first-to-attack matters, low-health matters, high DPS (in a certain period) matters. And I suspect (but can’t prove) that there are foe-specific variations and foe-specific randomizations that happen, too.

However, as another poster suggested, it’s less important that you know how to hold aggro than it is to recognize the mechanics. People need to notice when the boss changes targets, when they have “the bomb” (and therefore, should avoid their allies), when the boss is about to break hexagons, etc. And all that’s easier with practice.

the fight is mostly about being aware of your surroundings:

• pay attention to the ground youre standing on and make sure it isnt blinking.
• when the anomaly does his ~5 sec lightning to one person, make sure that person knows not to panic and just keep moving somewhat slowly to fresh ground.
• when you get him to 50%, he starts doing 2 extra attack cycles. one is a reflect. one is a full platform lightning attack that targets single hexes for a strong hit and hex destruction.
• bring a mobility skill and or swiftness to help avoid being trapped on a blinking hex with nowhere to walk.

most importantly, dont panic.