Guild Wars 2

Does anyone else feel that 50+ Thaumanova Fractal end boss is a bit too hard in relation to the rest of this fractal for random parties?

Every single one of my random parties for this fractal have their share of difficulties through the entire dungeon but always manage to reach the end boss. There, it is total catastrophe though, hopeless …

Is it possible that this end boss is a bit too difficult for random parties?

Welcome to Press-1-Wars 2!

The encounter is fine – it’s the random ppl being annoying and the real challenge here.

In good pug groups you will have 0 wipes and kill it the first try especially with the debuff from the room in the east.
Many players don’t know which 2 of the 4 doors have to be opened fast or first to get a good amount of help afterwards during the boss fight by the npcs. Everytime I pug this there are players entering this room alone before the group can actually react to that.
It’s just the usual Pug life.

Too difficult for random parties? No, because if you adapt correctly (build & trait change) you will be able to solo the boss.

It’s really not that hard, in fact, I think it’s probably one of the better bosses. Sure, it can take a while, but it’s not exactly hard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFTOQ7LU3qA

Vince, I think your skill level has put you a bit out of touch with the ability of the average fractal player. Thaumanova has encounters that are harder than many fractals’ end bosses.

The boss is definitely one of the more challenging fractal encounters. I’ve never pugged this one without at least two party members dying halfway through. The main issue is that when you’re downed, you usually fall from the platform and that’s it. No one can save you, and if the rest of the team isn’t skilled and dedicated enough they’ve got to wipe and start over. Not so much hopeless as infuriating, imo.

I am not that skillful than many others here in this forum, trust me. In my opinion it’s more the experience you need to gain through playing this fractal several times on higher levels because some things aren’t working in unorganized groups or they just don’t work due to the scale + instability.

The biggest issue on that boss is the amount of missing platforms. The first rule I call out (it’s my personal assessment) is to not run around like a chicken and try to delete as many platforms you can. Players have time until a flashing platform will be gone. I think if you simply follow that hint you’ll have an easier time asap.

Some more things I would advise:

- Watch your steps and split properly to not kill your mates (sure thing for everybody, ok ^^)

- Take a step aside from your usual dps build. For example, as a warrior you don’t have to throw both banners because your group won’t be in range for the buff most of the time
Bring some rly helpful rescue skills like “Shake It Off” for condi cleanse and cc-break, “Endure Pain” for a little dmg break on yourself and cc-break. “Signet of Stamina” is also fine for more dodges and condi cleanse.
I don’t mind taking “Dolyak Either” for decreased dmg income over time + cc-break/stability.
Just an example for the warri, other classes can bring their own sustain as well. Players should be able to use helpful skills while playing on their main char. The dmg output is enough because it’s not about bursting the boss down, it’s more like a survival race.

- Use lifesteal bufffood; this is very very helpful because the anomaly doesn’t have a burst skill, it’s more like it is sucking dry players hp. Lifesteal is working great against that.

- Clear the room in the east together as a team and focus on the fire and poison room (the red indicators, I think).
With a 5 man group you should be able to be in time so the npc will give you a buff when fighting the endboss.
You will experience a definite simplification.

These are only my favourite ones I bet there are many more.

To refer to domness’ video: Having 1-2 reapers is a very nice thing. Try it out some time, it’s an excellent hint too.

Thauanova anomaly is actually my favorite fotm boss, and I don’t think it’s so much that that fight is difficult so much as it is that most of the other bosses are just really easy lol. That said, although I personally like having a difficult fotm boss here and there, I would agree that the thaumanova anomaly in its current form is probably too difficult for t2/t3. T4 is supposed to be difficult (especially at 97), so I don’t see it any reason to tone down the difficulty. It would be fair if the boss fight had its mechanics scaled up based on what level fractal you are doing. For example, players are only downed instead of defeated outside of t4, floor tiles are not removed as frequently and/or take longer to disappear, etc.

Honestly I would like to see mechanics added to all of the t4 fights to make them more in line with the difficulty of the anomaly (but I’m not holding my breath lol). Elite specs, new stat combos, and better player knowledge have increased the general power level by a decent bit, but fotm bosses have mostly stayed the same and now many of them are very easy even at t4.

Best advice I can give for current thaumanova anomaly is:

• Don’t panic and delete too many platforms
• Have everyone run the same direction
• Bring a ranged DPS option

Vinceman.4572:

Many players don’t know which 2 of the 4 doors have to be opened fast or first to get a good amount of help afterwards during the boss fight by the npcs. Everytime I pug this there are players entering this room alone before the group can actually react to that.
It’s just the usual Pug life.

So, have cleared this boss quite a few times, and just re-read Dulfy, but didn’t know about the room sequence to get NPC help or a buff?

Please can you be a bit more specific?

Zortok.8153:

So, have cleared this boss quite a few times, and just re-read Dulfy, but didn’t know about the room sequence to get NPC help or a buff?

Please can you be a bit more specific?

Just be fast enough and don’t let any of the prisoners die. At the end boss you will experience a debuff (purple colored).

From Dulfy:
“After you have completed this room, a console opens up that allow you to disable a collider and last boss (Thaumanova Anomaly) receives a debuff that allow you to do more damage to him.”

Source:
http://dulfy.net/2013/11/27/gw2-thaumanova-reactor-fractal-guide/

It’s a bit tedious because you can’t see kitten, they should rework the visibility of the platforms, the effects on it and the boss itself. Difficulty-wise he’s fine.

Jahroots.6791:

Vince, I think your skill level has put you a bit out of touch with the ability of the average fractal player. Thaumanova has encounters that are harder than many fractals’ end bosses.

The boss is definitely one of the more challenging fractal encounters. I’ve never pugged this one without at least two party members dying halfway through. The main issue is that when you’re downed, you usually fall from the platform and that’s it. No one can save you, and if the rest of the team isn’t skilled and dedicated enough they’ve got to wipe and start over. Not so much hopeless as infuriating, imo.

Well, there IS a way, but most people are too biased against it to try it: revive them (while there are still extra people alive).

It’s a great tactic that works almost every time, but is employed by only a small percentage of players.

Vinceman.4572:

The first rule I call out (it’s my personal assessment) is to not run around like a chicken and try to delete as many platforms you can.

EXCELLENT rule!

I swear, people believe they will automatically die if they stop moving.

Move when you MUST move, and at no other time. Kiting doesn’t need to be done except when you are the target of the ray gun or bubble machine.

NOTE: The opposite is true of the final boss in Volcanic. This illustrates another point mentioned by someone else: practice and adapt.

NovaanVerdiano.6174:

It’s a bit tedious because you can’t see kitten, they should rework the visibility of the platforms, the effects on it and the boss itself. Difficulty-wise he’s fine.

There’s another vision problem: many times you will not experience all three fades of the platform before it disappears. I think this is a graphics problem, but LOTS of people have reported it. So, I think they need to rework the pads such that it can only disappear when it has flashed 3 times FOR YOU, not 3 times as the server counts them.

I don´t like the whole fractal, too many annyoing (not hard, just annoying) mechanics and puzzles to solve.

All the people that think that this boss is OK for pugs at 50+ please add me in-game and lets have a run. I’d love to succeed at least once. Thank you (and for your replies).

I’ve done numerous t3 dailies in thauma with few issues. Biggest problem I see is that people are generally too stupid to understand the tile mechanics and regularly kill themselves and teammates.

It’s honestly a fight that gets significantly easier as more people die because you don’t have to worry about them killing you because of their own stupidity.

T4 , I rarely have issues as most know what they are doing.
T3 and down due to higher chance of less experienced players, I do tend to run into more issues, but nothing out of the ordinary for a pug.

I think ice ele on snowblind is annoying :<

Bloonis.9528:

All the people that think that this boss is OK for pugs at 50+ please add me in-game and lets have a run. I’d love to succeed at least once. Thank you (and for your replies).

What’s the difference between PUGs at <50 and 50+? Seems to me that people either learn how to stay alive on the platform (biggest trick: don’t move unless you have to and don’t run towards your allies) or they don’t. Aside from that, the boss is mostly just an HP sponge.

T3 Thaumanova Fractal is actually more difficult(by a lot) than the T4 version because of the instability. Kinda funny.

I personally think this fractal should be split into two because it’s over double the length of any other fractal, yet gives the same reward. A bit silly.

Bloonis.9528:

All the people that think that this boss is OK for pugs at 50+ please add me in-game and lets have a run. I’d love to succeed at least once. Thank you (and for your replies).

The key is reviving your allies while they are still downed. Obviously, that doesn’t apply during cannons, but at all other times, the only higher priority is survival. DPS is basically meaningless against her. But, once you’re down to four characters, it becomes a seriously uphill battle.

So, don’t let that happen. And it’s OK to take risks to revive others. It’s NOT OK to keep shooting unless she has very few HP left.

Why are people still complaining about pugging experiences when there’s a really simple solution ?

TexZero.7910:

Why are people still complaining about pugging experiences when there’s a really simple solution ?

Soloing!

SlyDevil.3952:

TexZero.7910:

Why are people still complaining about pugging experiences when there’s a really simple solution ?

Soloing!

I mean if they were good enough for that, they likely wouldn’t complain about pugs.

But sure, aim for improvement if that’s your thing.