Blaster

An important thing to note that if you facepull the boss by accident and then exit the arena to reset it, the enrage timer will keep on going. If you pull it by accident, you’ll have to wipe in order to properly reset the instance. Also, whichever tank pulls Blaster can keep it for the whole fight without swapping, but the magic vulnerability stacks gained throughout the fight mean that the next boss (Brawler) has to be pulled by the other tank.

The first fight against Blaster is divided into three phases based on Blaster’s HP. In the first phase Blaster’s main mechanics are mines, dashing Blaster Mirages, and Mind Blast. Mind Blast needs to be silenced, so save a silence for that. There are 17 different locations in which a mine can pop:


There will be two blue, and two red mines. The blue mines are reminiscent of the mines in Turn 8; they will appear shortly, after which they disappear from view. They must be detonated by walking into their area before they time out and detonate by themselves (about 10 seconds), wiping the raid. The red mines will remain visible on the field, but they should be avoided. Mines are considered magical damage, meaning that the tank tanking Blaster can’t pick any mines up with the magic vulnerability stacks Blaster gives.
When the mines are about to come, it’s best to drag the boss to the middle, see where the mines land, and then drag the boss to the side where there’s plenty of room to move around. Example mine pattern:


Having plenty of room to work with makes dealing with the Blaster Mirage much easier. The way they work is that random players will receive a blue marker on their heads, and after a short while, a Blaster Mirage will drop on them. The Mirages will select random players to dash to, and after a few seconds, they will do a linear dash AOE from their position to the players they selected. Anyone caught in their path will receive massive damage, usually oneshotting them, and a Damage Down debuff if they survive.

Landing Mirages will also do an AOE around the person they drop on, and stacking two Mirages will cause enough damage to kill players. This also makes it important to have enough room, so that they’re not stacked too close to each other. Players should also avoid being too close to any mines, hidden or visible. Sometimes the tank picking up the mines can ricochet into another mine, and nearby players may be caught in the explosion from that mine.

Dealing with the dashes can be simplified greatly by baiting them, since the Mirages choose their target players after they’ve landed. So first, drop them slightly outside of the edge, and then move towards the edge to bait them to dash out of the arena. Just be aware that they can also target the tank picking up the mines with their dash, and dash towards the middle!


Rough timing information for the first phase (the actual timing can change depending on how fast you silence Mind Blast):

00:00 Pull
00:09 Mind Blast (silence)
00:15 Mines appear
00:20 Mines are armed
00:21 Blue markers on players (Blaster Mirages)
00:26 Blaster Mirages land
00:31 Blaster Mirages dash

The first phase ends when Blaster’s HP falls below 50 %. Blaster jumps to the air, and five Blaster Mirages will spawn in the middle. This is a light DPS check; all Mirages must die before they can finish their cast. You have about 20 seconds to burn them all down. After they all go down, a blue marker will appear on whoever has aggro on Blaster (main tank), and after a few seconds, Blaster will drop on them and start the third and last phase.

There will immediately be a Mind Blast so have a silence ready. After the mines appear, there will be new Blaster Mirages, but they work a bit differently this time. Mirages will be tethered to random players, and depending on the Mirages’ poses, you’ll have to either look at them, or face away from them. If the Mirage’s hands are up, the tethered player must look away from it. If the Mirage is crouching, the tethered player must face it. Untethered players don’t have to worry about this mechanic at all.

After that, there will another Mind Blast to silence, and a set of mines, and then you will get the dashing Blaster Mirages again. Rough timing information for the last phase:

00:00 Blaster lands on whoever has aggro
00:03 Mind Blast (silence)
00:11 Mines appear
00:15 Mines are armed
00:16 Blue markers on players (Blaster Mirages with tethers)
00:22 Blaster Mirages (tethers) land
00:27 Blaster Mirages (tethers) act
00:36 Mind Blast (silence)
00:39 Mines appear
00:45 Blaster Mirages (dashing) land; Blaster should be dying around this time
00:50 Blaster Mirages (dashing) dash

Brawler

You’ll want to pull the boss as soon as possible, since the enrage timer is ticking away even between fights. The magic vulnerability stacks are likely to be still up, so the other tank without stacks (who was eating all the mines) needs to pull this boss. Brawler has two phases, based on its HP. In the first phase, Brawler has four distinct attack modes, and it periodically switches to a random attack mode with its Attachment ability. Looking at the hands of the boss while it’s doing its transformation animation will let you easily identify the attack mode it’s on. The modes are:

Single buster: Linear AOE tank buster
Double buster: Linear AOE shared damage
Single drill: Single target damage based on distance from boss
Double drill: Two big AOEs; one on the player closest to the boss, and one on the player farthest from the boss. This information can be used to bait the hits on specific players. The range of the AOE is quite huge, and anyone caught in it except the actual target will be knocked away and stunned for several seconds.

Brawler will also pop a maximum of three Steam Chakrams, which will slowly rotate around the battlefield in a clockwise manner. These Chakrams also persist to the second phase, and with enough DPS it’s possible to skip the third Chakram, which is preferable to reduce the amount of obstacles on the second phase. Rough timing information:

00:00 Pull
00:10 Attachment (mode change)
00:20 First Steam Chakram pops
00:24 Attachment (mode change)
00:37 Attachment (mode change)
00:47 Second Steam Chakram pops
00:50 Attachment (mode change)
01:03 Attachment (mode change); Brawler should phase change around here
01:13 Third Steam Chakram pops

When Brawler runs out of HP, the fight enters its second phase. Brawler becomes untargettable, and stays in the middle for the rest of the fight.

The second phase is an add phase. Different kinds of orbs will spawn on the outer edge of the arena, and they will start travelling towards the middle. If they reach the middle, they will explode for massive damage. The trickiest part here is the 2x Power Plasma Beta pop; it’s important to pick one of the Beta orbs and slow and stun it, to create a window in which there’s time to heal all mechanics. If they’d both hit at the same time, or one of them would hit at the same time as Double Buster, that could easily be a wipe.

Power Plasma Alpha: Small orbs which need to be killed before they reach the middle. Can be stunned and slowed to make it easier.
Power Plasma Beta: Large orbs which can’t be killed or prevented from reaching the center. The key to dealing with these is just healing, mitigation, and stun/slow to make them hit the center at different times. Damage can also be reduced by Storm’s Path etc.
Power Plasma Gamma: A green orb which causes huge AOE damage on contact, needs to picked up by a tank alone and no one else should be close to the orb.

During this phase awareness, communication and coordination are crucial to success. It’s a good idea to assign someone to call out which attack mode Brawler switches to, and to stay away from north (for example) on tank busters, where to stack for double buster, etc. Brawler’s attack modes alternate on this phase though, instead of being random. First it will change to either Drill, and then alternate between Drill and Buster. However, it will still be random whether the mode appears in Single or Double variety. It’s an especially good idea to bait the Double Drill on specific people during this phase; the caster can stand in the middle, for example, to always bait one hit.

The tank picking up the green orbs should also communicate if players need to yield and give space, and everyone should pay attention to stray Alpha orbs and call them out if they’re going unattended and in danger of reaching the middle. The second phase - and the fight - ends when the last orb wave has been dealt with. Timing information for the second phase:

00:00 Brawler enters the middle
00:03 2x Power Plasma Alpha, 2x Power Plasma Gamma
00:08 Attachment (mode change to Single or Double Drill)
00:16 1x Power Plasma Alpha, 2x Power Plasma Beta, 1x Power Plasma Gamma
00:29 2x Power Plasma Alpha
00:33 Attachment (mode change to Single or Double Buster)
00:47 3x Power Plasma Alpha
00:51 Attachment (mode change to Single or Double Drill)
01:00 Attachment (mode change to Single or Double Buster)

Swindler

Swindler has two main mechanics; first, Height makes the platforms change elevation, and gives players a status effect that requires them to be on a certain elevation to not to die. The trigger at the start of this document will tell you what elevation you need to be on when Swindler uses Height. Second, there will be stacking circles. These appear as bright white circles, one on tanks and one on healers, and require a set number of players (two to four) to be in each circle. The number of people required is designated by the number of small orbs rotating over the circle when it appears.

There will also be add pops; the first add pops will try to swarm the boss and buff it up, since it has a status effect that will increase its stats based on the number of mobs in its proximity. Swindler will also periodically release a green AOE that will buff any adds in it. To deal with these adds very easily, have the main tank pop Living Dead/Hallowed Ground, and caster LB2/LB3 everything. It’s also possible to just tank the adds and drag the boss away. On the second add set, four Midan Gunners will pop. These adds don’t move at all, but they must burned down quickly by the dps; they do a shooting attack every 10 seconds, and with each one they gain a Physical Attack Up stack. Even 2-3 stacks is already dangerous.

Due to Height and the stacking circles, it’s advisable to split into two groups, melee and ranged, and stay close to each other and near the seams between platforms, to make switching elevation and stacking easier.

00:00:00 Pull
00:00:15 Height and stacking circles
00:00:26 Bio-arithmeticks
00:00:31 Adds pop (3x Midan Soldier in northwest, 3x Midan Soldier in northeast, 3x Midan Soldier in north, 1x Midan Hardhelm and 1x Midan Hardhelm close to the middle)
00:00:45 Height
00:00:55 Stacking circles
00:01:05 Bio-arithmeticks
00:01:11 Adds pop (4x Midan Gunner, one each in north, east, south, and west)
00:01:20 Height
00:01:29 Height and stacking circles
00:01:37 Bio-arithmeticks
00:01:44 Bio-arithmeticks; Swindler should be dying around this time

Vortexer

There are several strategies to deal with Vortexer; while this strategy might not be the most optimal DPS strategy, it should be safe and easy to execute. The fight works on a set rotation which repeats until enrage.

Vortexer has a tank swap mechanic - it will periodically do Brute Force, which will place a stacking debuff on the tank and hit for massive damage. Two stacks is the maximum one tank can withstand, so tank swaps are necessary.

Compressed Lightning and Compressed Water are the main mechanics in the fight, and they’re both hot potatoes that need to be traded among players. They run a 21 second timer, and when the timers expire, they will explode with AOE and transfer the debuff to whoever is nearby. Both debuffs start at the same time, and as such are traded at the same time. The difference in trading is that with Compressed Lightning, only one person in addition to the player with the debuff can stack for it (and therefore pick it up), and for Compressed Water, three people in addition to the person with the debuff need to stack up (one of the three will get the new debuff). If the mechanics are not dealt with properly, not enough people to stack or the transfer target is killed by the AOE, the debuff explodes causing an instant wipe.

Passing the debuff to another player leaves the source player with a Resistance Down for that element, meaning that player will not be able to participate in the exchange of that debuff anymore. Trying to do so with Resistance Down would immediately kill that player. A good rule of thumb is that the person with the previous Compressed Water is next in line for the Compressed Lightning.

Additional element to Compressed Water is that when it expires, it will transfer but also leave a waterspout on the spot where the source player was standing on. A noticeable difference to normal mode waterspout is that in Savage, getting too close to the waterspout will get a Drainage tether on you, which will hit you for massive damage and knock you back.

There will be a total of three debuff exchanges during a cycle of the rotation, which means there will also be three waterspouts. The first must be frozen, in order to create a shield for the otherwise raid-wiping Ultra Flash, and the second and third waterspouts need to be destroyed with other mechanics explained later.
Specific stacking points should be pre-designated for debuff exchange. Waymark A (red) is for freezing the waterspout; the player with ice should stand on it. Waymark B (yellow) is for lightning; the player with the lightning debuff should be somewhere in its proximity. Waymark C (blue) is for the first Compressed Water, and also marks the position of the waterspout that needs to be frozen. Note that the ice pool grows; while it’s not big enough to freeze the waterspout right away when it lands at A, it will grow to cover C in a few seconds. This is also how you avoid getting hit by the waterspout’s tether.


Ranged should stack somewhere nearby that doesn’t interfere with tanks or the melee. Melee should agree to stack their fire pools at some specific location, while ranged can stack their fire pools right where they are stacking in the beginning. Vortexer begins with Elemental Jammer, which distributes the Compressed Lightning and Compressed Water to random non-tank players. The boss will the use Fire Beam, which is a linear AOE towards random players. It’s important not to stack these beams, so discuss beforehand which directions everyone will point their Fire Beam at. After the Fire Beam, you would then go to your groups for the first debuff exchange:


After the first debuff exchange, the boss is pulled to the middle. Two random non-maintank people will be selected for dropping the ice pool with a blue marker; if the person with the next water debuff has the ice marker, that player should have priority for dropping the ice pool at A. The player who had the Compressed Water debuff is next in line for picking up the Compressed Lightning debuff. All ranged can already go to the next water debuff exchange point to wait.

Everyone needs to get away from C fast though due to the waterspout; being too close to it will proc the Drainage tether, which is massive damage and a knockback.


After the next debuff exchange, players should stack up for the next set of fire pools. The fire pools will be followed by Fire Beams again like previously, spread out and avoid stacking the Beams.

This time it’s also important that one of the Fire Beams is pointed at the second waterspout to destroy it. Placing the second waterspout on the spoke has the benefit that it’s easy for melee to hit the waterspout with a Fire Beam without too much aiming. It’s also possible that none of the melee get a Fire Beam; in this case one of the ranged will have to cover, but it’s important to be very careful. Hitting the first, frozen waterspout with a Fire Beam must be avoided at all costs, as it will also be destroyed if hit.


After the Fire Beams, Vortexer will use Super Cyclone and knock everyone back. The problem is that the debuff is running really low on time, 2-3 seconds remaining after knockback. This means that you’ll either have to be where you need to stack for the next exchange beforehand, or use the Super Cyclone knockback to get to where you need to stack. The third water exchange should be done where the second one was done, to drop the waterspout away from the ice block.

Dropping the waterspout too close to the ice block can cause a wipe due to the waterspout’s Drainage tether, so be careful about the placement.


After that debuff exchange, everyone should get behind the frozen waterspout, or be ready to get behind it at a moment’s notice. The next move the boss will do is Ultra Flash, and the only thing that can protect you from it is the frozen waterspout. Ultra Flash will also mark the restart of the rotation, and it will also wipe the slate completely clean; all elemental Resistance Down effects, all waterspouts, all Compressed Lightning/Water debuffs, and the frozen waterspout will be removed by Ultra Flash.


After Ultra Flash, everyone returns to their starting positions and does the dance again and again until Vortexer dies. One rotation takes less than two minutes, and you should have around 3:30 - 4:00 to kill Vortexer.

Timing information for Vortexer’s rotation:

00:00 Pull
00:06 Brute Force
00:13 Elemental Jammer (distributes Compressed Water and Lightning)
00:17 Compressed Water and Lightning appear
00:23 Fire Beam
00:24 Fire pools (ground AOE)
00:31 Brute Force
00:38 Compressed Water and Lightning exchange
00:40 Ice markers appear
00:46 Ice pools land
00:53 Brute Force
01:00 Compressed Water and Lightning exchange
01:07 Fire Beam
01:09 Fire pools (ground AOE)
01:13 Super Cyclone
01:22 Compressed Water and Lightning exchange
01:23 Brute Force
01:29 Ultra Flash
01:35 Ultra Flash resolves, rotation restarts
01:37 Brute Force
01:45 Elemental Jammer (distributes Compressed Water and Lightning)