Master Mode Trandos
Master Mode Mutant Trandoshans is a fight similar in complexity to Dread Council in terms of moving parts and the many "jobs" this encounter presents your team. Strong clear communication and group coordination are the major progression points for this fight and can be the real challenge. DPS will need to effectively tank two of the bosses and execute their mechanics. Teams that have flexible members that can fit into the roles below will be able to start off into normal progression with this encounter. Should your team lean toward non DPS w/ Taunt roles your group may be looking at additional class prog as players may need to learn new roles for this fight.
As you enter the arena, your team will already note a major change from story and veteran mode. Titax is standing in the middle of the room, instead of Hissy and Greus.
As soon as Titax is pulled, the other Three Trandos enter the fight. Like Council, we split our raid team up to handle each of the bosses.
Recommended Composition
2 Tanks - Both Shadows (Best Utility)
2 DwTs - We used 2 Vanguards
1 Ranged - We used Engineering
1 Anything - We use a Watchman (The best Utility)
2 Healers - Sage + Commando
Disposition of Forces
Kron - Shadow Tank
Titax - 2 DwTs + Ranged DPS
Greus - Anything (Watchman)
Hisspy - Shadow Tank
Both Healers will need to be cleansing the Hissy Tank (Much Like the Tank on Tu'Chuk in Warlords)
The Layout of the room is exactly like that of the Story and Veteran modes. Your team should already be familiar with where everything is located. Note that the order for which canisters to burst is likely different from Veteran Mode Strategies.
The other major change to the room is that now when the console is clicked and the train is called, the rails become electrified, dealing ~30k damage a tick to DPS and Healers, ~18k a tick to tanks. The back railing that is safe to stand in as the train goes by in veteran mode is safe from this damage.
Alternate Compositions - If your raid team is unable to fit into the roles above, I would recommend running with three tanks. This will undoubtably change the pacing of the fight and strategy below, though the base strategy will likely remain similar.
One Tank would need to handle Titax, while one handles Kron with the final tank taking both Greus and Hissy. This will effectively keep three DPS on Titax for phase one, but has the potential to push him faster with the addition of a Tank's DPS. Your DPS will likely need to split much more of their focus onto the other three bosses, then refocus Titax for the Push.
In Phase 2, the third tank can then split off Greus from the Hissy tank and proceed as normal, although DPS in phase 2 will be lower from this composition, meaning a longer push through Phase 2.
There are multiple strategies for this fight. Each team is unique, as such I am certain that your team will likely take the information information here and develop its own way of handling this encounter.
Titax - "Phase 1"
Eliminating Titax is Phase 1 for the Encounter. The number of canisters around the room put a hard limit on how long your DwTs can survive without extreme measures. The other trandoshans do not have these push or die mechanics, so are handled after Titax is eliminated. While it may be possible to develop other strategies to push a second Trandoshan with Titax on the first call, or to "Kite" Titax to prevent strikes, we found the strategy here to be the most reliable way to clear this fight. Phase 1 ends when Titax is defeated by the train. Mechanics remain the same for the other 3 Trandoshans after Titax is defeated, although the available floor space is reduced as the goo from the canisters fills more than two thirds of the room.
In Memory of Titax - After Titax is defeated, the other three Trandoshans will gain this buff. It will delay the buff "The Path to Transcendence" from activating for 80", but will now stack the buff every 80" there after, effectively setting a soft enrage to phase 2. The longer you take to deal with phase 2, the harder the remaining bosses will hit.
The Path to Transcendence - Increases all damage taken by 5%/10%/25% and all damage dealt by 35%/100%/1,000%. This with the buff above mean that from 0-80" after Titax is killed, all is normal. 80-160" they put out an additional 35% damage. 160-240" twice as much damage output. Anything over 320" is pretty much them one shotting players. Frankly I cannot imaging an instance of taking more than 2 minutes to deal with phase 2.
When I asked my DwT's on Titax to share what they did with Titax to help with this project, this is what I got as a "Live action" shot from our gameplay. It seems appropriate....
The two DwT's on Titax are essentially taking turns getting knocked into the canisters around the room. In veteran mode, this job is usually taken on by a tank, as a DwT normally takes Hissy to the tracks to be killed shortly after Titax and Kron enter the fight 1 minute in. In Master Mode, we have to make other plans to deal with Titax as all bosses are active a few seconds into the encounter. Defeating Titax ends Phase 1 of the encounter. The DwT's on Titax will be taking around 10k DTPS, and whoever the active DwT is on Titax will need extra support from the healers. Both DwT's and the Free DPS (Ranged) will be focusing their efforts on burning Titax down and interrupting his channel of Inspiration. IF inspiration is allowed to go off, Kron will immediately Endothermic Blast, Greus will immediately Dive Bomb and Hissy will immediately Caustic Plume. IF this channel is not interrupted, the folks on Titax need to alert the raid immediately, as the other 3 players handling those bosses will need to be ready to deal with the repercussions. Make every effort to ensure that this channel is stopped.
As the Hissy tank, keep a watch-out for Titax coming past you. Hissy can be buffed by Presence of Titax and will hit you much harder. Get in a flow with your DwTs to avoid getting your boss buffed.
Titax is a bit of the DPS check for the fight, but just as much of a coordination check. Like in Veteran Mode, Titax will use Titax Strike to knock his target across the room. Hitting a canister significantly decreases the damage you take (meaning that it is not instant death). Breaking canisters causes the Goo inside to start pooling onto the arena. This goo will both damage and buff the damage and healing out put of those that gain stacks from it. I do not recommend standing in it on purpose, but going into the goo for a few moments is not fatal (assuming a good HP).
The general strategy here is for the 2 DwTs to take turns tanking Titax, as one gets a bit beat up, the other steps in. The free DPS (Ranged player), will be starting off on Titax as well. Our Free DPS found it helpful to start the encounter at half their HP to bait the "Crush the Weak" attacks from Titax to keep him close to the DwTs and to prevent Titax from running across the room buffing the other bosses. (Your free DPS can unequip their gear, then reequip it to start the fight at half HP).
As the active target of Titax, always have a canister at your back and know which ones have been hit. It is very common for the game graphics not to update and show a broken canister. If you think you hit it, you did. Use your imagination.
Keep interrupting Inspiration. It will come out every 25". Crush the weak will be about every 40", and cannot be interrupted.
Once Presence of Titax is successfully channeled by Titax he will not attempt to channel it again, it will be active until he is killed.
Two Different Patterns: (shout out to Sambaggins and Keïo for the notes from the trenches!)
The base pattern for dealing with Titax largely remains the same, but some abnormalities do pop up from RNG. As your team starts their pull, the first abnormality that can appear is a change to Titax's opening sequence. Titax seems to normally cast Presence of Titax, then do his first Titax Strike. This is the base pattern and leads to a "six can" strategy, meaning that all six canisters will be used before Titax is pushed.
An abnormality seems to pop up every so often and can be quite persistent once it occurs. Titaxc can attempt to channel a second Presence of Titax after the first is interrupted, when this happens, we swap to the "five can" strategy. The basic change here is DPS uptime during the opener, moving the clock just a couple seconds ahead of normal. My DwTs also advise waiting to do the initial taunt when the Presence of Titax channel is broken to ensure that Titax Strike goes on the intended DwT.
When to Call the Train:
The five can strategy - The call for the train to be called should be made as Greus does his second Dive Bomb.
The six can strategy - make the call for the train as Titax throws you into the 4th canister.
This lines up the voice line for "train will arrive in 3 minutes" with the Titax Strike into the final canister in the sequence.
After that final canister break, get Titax to the tracks and remember that the tracks are electrified. Titax should be just under 20% when he begins his journey to the tracks. DPS should continue to chisel away at him getting him safely to 17% then put a hard hold on DPS. Your ranged DPS should have already peeled off and started burning down Hissy or Kron at this point. They should swap back to Titax at Error Minutes and be sure Titax pushes before the DwT is killed.
Once the "Error Minutes" voice line plays, Titax should be pushed and take a knee (Torpor) immediately. This part is all about timing, and your team/DPS rate will need to adjust off of this base plan.
Troubleshooting:
Titax was ready for the DPS push, but did one more Titax Strike and killed my DwT before Error Minutes - Call the Train "X" GCDs sooner.
The Train came too soon, we keep missing it and our DwT is dying - Deal more DPS to Titax
Titax is pushing before Error Minutes - Hold DPS, sacrifice your DwT if you need to, but make sure he does not enter Torpor until Error Minutes. Greus and his Fires of Greus AoE will damage Titax if he is close. It is very common for Greus to Dive Bomb the DwTs during the Titax push. All other players should be sure to take the dive bomb clear of Titax (healers in particular), to felicitate a consistent Titax push.
The "button pusher" needs to be consistant with how much time it takes them to hit the button. Early pulls will likely end in wipes as your DwTs coordinate timing of the Titax push. If your button pusher is bouncing between taking 4" to hit the button in one pull, then 15" the next...well you might see where that would be an issue.
Torpor - At 15% the Trandoshans enter Torpor. In Veteran Mode, Torpor last for 35". In Master Mode, Titax will only be in Torpor for 5". The Trandoshans can only be killed by the train if they are in a state of Torpor. If Titax gets up before the train comes, it is a wipe. The other 3 Trandoshans have their normal 35" Torpor and should be pushed after the "Train will be arriving in 3 minutes" voice call out.
The Role of the "Free" DPS
Free sounds good at first, but this role is critical. You are the force multiplier and help determine the flow of the fight. You will need to put DPS into the right boss at the right time and have good situational awareness as well as knowledge of your class to survive this battle. You are likely the only ranged player on the team, you are even more invaluable as you will be the main source of DPS for Ultimate Hunter and the final phase of the battle. I strongly recommend a sniper for this role. Engineering being my favorite gets a top recommendation from me here. It is easy to pull threat on Titax during the opener. Use your threat drop and consider delaying damage on Titax or DPSing another boss being taked (i.e. Not Greus) until the 2 DwTs have control of him.
Your main functions:
Bait crush the weak - If your HP is the lowest of the raid, you will get crush the weak every time. We utilize our free DPS and bait crush the weak purposefully to this player through HP manipulation. To start the fight, unequip your gear (I find it helpful to create a loadout with only 4-5 pieces of gear equipped and swap to it, then back), the reequip your gear. This should set you around ~50-60% HP. Adjust the number of pieces of gear to get your HP to this level.
Be aware of any self heals you have (healing from balance, sniper's self heals if in cover with the skill point ect.). Spec out of them, or plan to take damage, which can be easily done by either stepping in the green goo, or in the fires of Greus. Try to keep at that 50-60% HP range for phase 1 while Titax is up. Raid leaders, make sure your bait DPS is not in the same frame as any watchman DPS on your team. Those Zen heals are nice most of the time, this is not one of those times.
Surviving the impact of crush the weak: I've seen and done this role as an Engineering sniper, so I can speak to specific cool downs there. Picking the utility point for your countermeasure's defensive is helpful (see the sniper guide) here. The speed boost is nice to get you to the console to push the button and the mitigation can keep the "goo" from taking you out if you are too low.
Crush the week comes from Titax and will display itself as a solid orange circle around you. You are likely targeting the boss and can see this channel. Activate Entrench as you see this attack channeling. This attack hits for a fair amount, with entrench active, the damage will be minor. I like to go ahead and use my Countermeasures, Shield Probe then Meticulous Preparation here too. Meticulous Preparation adds another 15% DR (assuming the skill point is chosen) and resets all of these defensives as well. I find it better to get Meticulous Preparation cycling due to its longer cool down.
Immediately after crush the weak, Greus will likely (99%) jump on you with his dive bomb. A common mistake I made was trying to move right after Titax finished hitting me. Your team may be calling for you to hit the button for the train during a crush the weak/dive bomb sequence. Do not leave cover until that is over.
A Note for Healers: Healers will need to watch healing the bait DPS with this strategy. I advise not putting shells/probes on the free dps until Titax is gone. You will need to keep the bait DPS healthy enough to survive, but weak enough that crush the weak goes to them. As soon as Titax is pushed out, heal up your bait DPS to full. Listen for the call outs and know when they can be patched up.
The designated button pusher - You have the honor of calling the train. You need to be extremely consistent with how long it takes you to make the call. Taking 4" on one pull and 15" on the next will make it difficult on the DwTs calling for it, when exactly they need to call for it. This also means navigating through the Green Goo and not dying to it. You will need a defensive use strategy for getting in and out again.
Split fire - You will need to multi attack the bosses. Putting all of your DPS into Titax will not work, he will likely push to fast. Your goal is to find just how much you need to help the Titax team and direct your remaining DPS at either Kron or Hissy (probably Hissy in my experience) to keep the fight moving. I typically focus on Kron after pushing the button, as I am already on that side of the room and can likely get both Kron and Greus in my AoE attacks (plasma probes, orbitals ect).
You are the main source of DPS for final phase - Ultimate Hunter is a jerk and will fry melee. They will have minimal uptime on the boss. You are going to be the one carrying DPS here. You must be careful not to start too soon. Your tank will have trouble building threat as they cannot remain in melee range of Ultimate Hunter for long. Wait until they have built threat and hammer into him. Use threat drops on cool down to help your tanks. If the boss does target you, you need to react quickly or you will likely kill the stacked group. An expendable DwT, can react quickly here and help taunt the boss off of you and mimic what the tank is doing to help you.
Kronissus Tanking
The three listed talents in our skill tree make the shadow the perfect fit for tanking this fight. With this build, you will be able to break or resist the movement slows from sublimation, allowing us to dodge out of the way of his endothermic blast.
Sublimation - Getting hit with Kron's basic attack, Frigid Claws places a stack of Sublimation on us. This debuff stacks up to 3 times and will refresh each time Kron attacks us. At 3 stacks, our movement speed is reduced by 70%.
If we fail to dodge out of the way of the Endothermic blast, we will gain a stack of blistering cold. We will be frozen in place, have reduced Alacrity, and have increased threat generation toward Kron. If we reach 3 stacks of this, we are frozen for 6" and unable to take any action. "IF" we fail to dodge and get caught in the conal, it is not the end of the world. We are a shadow, after all. Wait for the stack of Blistering cold to be applied (it does not apply immediately), as soon as you see it apply, use resilience/shroud to clean it off and resume your dance with Kron. Using a Cloak/taunt to break the channel of Endothermic blast is not advised. Kron will likely use "No Escape" next and pull one of the other raid members over toward him. This can lead to an easy wipe.
Kronissus is the last of the 4 bosses to enter the arena. We have our DwT starting on Titax pull the fight. I cloak and get behind the boss and stand near the tracks as the pull begins. Take caution is crossing the imaginary line behind the boss. Generally walking anywhere behind the boss between the breaks in the stanchions will start the fight.
As soon as Kron is targetable, Force Pull, then immediately taunt Kron, do not do other damaging abilities or Kron will immediately Endothermic blast. This will keep him from putting his first Endothermic blast forward and into the group, likely freezing the DwT on Titax or another unsuspecting player, and likely wiping the group. Wait for him to come to you, then start your attacks as you position him.
Kron will fire his first Endothermic Blast as soon as he closes to you, or you attack him. I begin strafing, circling Kron to dodge of out of the first Endothermic blast. Be careful not to spin him 180 degrees around, or point the blast toward another party member as you attempt to evade this. You should not be crowded by other players. The DPS on Greus will be your closest friendly player and the main person you want to keep from hitting with an Endothermic Blast.
I walk into the fires of Greus (AoE), pulling Kron in after me. As he comes into the fire, I spin him around to the effect that he is in the fire and I am out of it. As you get him positioned, it should be time for another Endothermic blast, we now use force speed to dodge it and move to the other side of the fires of Greus AoE as we do a mini kite to avoid a hit or two from frigid claws. In effect, we will be using the back quarter of the battlefield by the fence.
So long as any part of Kron's "red" targeting circle is in the fire, he will take damage.
Our little corner of the battlefield
Kron tanking does not take up near as much real estate as tanking the other 3 bosses. In phase one, my goal is to keep Kron in the fires of Greus AoE, as this will also damage Kron, helping to "dps" the boss. It is fairly common for me to have Kron pushed to 60% or lower by phase 2 by keeping him in the fires of Greus as well as the supporting DPS of the ranged player and Greus "tank". My goal is to keep Kron in the fire while not being in the fire myself. Kron will pull us back to him if we get farther than 15 meters from the boss. As Kron channels an endothermic blast, I use this time to move as close to 15 meters from Kron as I can get. This forces Kron to travel to me and prevents a few hits from his frigid claws, further lowering DTPS (Frigid claws will be our primary damage source from Kron, reducing even one hit per "rotation" from Kron reduces overall DTPS for the fight significantly).
Endothermic Blast channels, we move less than 15 meters away, mini kitting Kron, preferably through the fires of Greus, while staying out of the fire ourselves. It is important for us to pay close attention to what the Greus DPS is doing/pointing their boss. Their goal should be to keep things pointed away from us, while keeping Greus stationary so that we can position Kron in the fire.
Greus will leap away, doing a Dive Bomb to players across the room, and will at times fire a beam attack across the room. This beam is MUCH larger than it appears, and I recommend standing well clear of the telegraph (it lies!). Getting knocked back by this beam attack will likely stun you long enough to get hit by the next Endothermic Blast and, leading to a chain of painful events. It is better to evade damage than keep Kron in the Greus fires.
Kron Tank PoV
The general sequence for shadow dodging Endothermic blast is to alternate Force speed with one of the other 2 root breaks. Force speeds cool down is very close to endothermic blast's cool down. Depending on how early you use force speed, you may be able to fire it again for the next. If you have a sentinel in the group, transcendence can also be used to clean this. Watch for transcendence going out. It will likely rarely time out with when you need it to clean your sublimation stacks, but it does happen and can save you a root break. If your sentinel is on Greus, they are likely using transcendence for a DCD or to avoid damage. Calling for transcendence solely for your purposes is not the best use of it for this fight.
"Kron" tanking is all about cycling your movement impair breaks and being quick to react.
The Kinetic Combat shadow has by far the best utility here to keep DTPS its lowest.
Endothermic blast will be Kron's first attack and has a 12" cool down and will channel for 2". You will be gaining stacks of Sublimation, getting to 3 stacks reduces your movement speed to 30%. Using any of the following will cleanse sublimation:
Force Speed (with utility point)
Shadow stride (stalkers swiftness @ 73)
Force of Will (CC Breaker)
Finally, Deflection will prevent the blistering cold debuff from being applied to you, Deflection with the utility point into Sturdiness will give you full movement while deflection is active. Deflection also prevents Kron from putting stacks of Sublimation on you while it is active.
The complete sequence I have found best is:
Dodge out of the first one
Force Speed
Shadow Stride
Force Speed
Force of Will
Force Speed
Shadow Stride
Force Speed
Deflection
Force Speed
Shadow Stride (Ends Phase 1)
Force Speed
Force of Will
Force Speed
Shadow Stride
Force Speed
Dodge out of this one (Stay close to the boss and keep strafing to dodge the conal)
Force Speed
Deflection (should be at the push for Three minutes, boss goes down)
Force Speed can be used a GCD or so before Endothermic Blast channels and will prevent further stacks of sublimation being applied to you while egress is on your buff bar, this will allow you to dodge endothermic blast when it is channeled. Shadow stride and force of will allow further stacks of sublimation to be applied to you, so time their use closer to the channel of endothermic blast, at half a second or so before he cast it. Shadow Stride cannot be used if you are using another ability, so make sure you keep the GCD free the second and a half before Endothermic blast hits to time it.
An example of a Parse with good evasion of Endothermic blast and Frigid Claws. - Overall DTPS - 11988 (Phase 1 and 2)
An example of a Parse before I started "mini kiting" Kron after Endothermic Blast - Overall DTPS - 14635 (Phase 1 and 2)
Changes to our plan during Phase 1 to Phase 2 Transition and in Phase 2
As Titax comes over for his date with a subway train, keep Kron closer to the back corner and deprioritize "mini kiting" until Titax is pushed. If you get Kron close to Titax, he will become buffed by the presence of Titax and will deal much higher damage to you. Once Titax is gone, I begin heading to my spot on the Tracks, it can be a slow process. Continue to time your Endothermic blast, dodging it and prioritize getting into position instead of "mini kiting" at this stage in the game. Phase 2 will not allow for us to move too far away from Kron.
It may take a couple rounds of Endothermic Blast, but we want to end up against the middle of the back wall, keeping Kron's endothermic blast pointed into the wall and not at the group. The DPS on Greus will likely be coming in behind you, as will the other tank on Hissy (eventually). Quarters will get close. As the Endothermic blasts comes out, dodge over to the other side of the wall. Keep going back and forth until your boss is in Torpor. Be careful and aware of the call-outs on the train. When all bosses are at 30%, the button pusher will call the train. Stay off the tracks as they will now deal electrical overload damage to you. I typically have deflection back up for this push and use it to stand still and eat Endothermic blast. If you become frozen, call for a pull off the tracks (assuming that Kron is in Torpor). If you are on the tracks when the train comes, you will die. The side is not safe in Master Mode.
If you are taking Ultimate Hunter first, you must have Resilience up, so be sure not to use it here. I also recommend having battle readiness available. I typically use battle readiness to shore up the healing during the phase 1 > phase 2 transition, as that seems to be a heal heavy check and will result in battle readiness being back up for Ultimate Hunter.
Tanking Kron on the other tank specs
The Guardian tank has several utilities that can purge a movement root. Threatening focus, Enure, Blade Blitz, your CC break and perhaps even well executed guardian leaps (though this might get really interesting).
The Vanguard has its hold the line and its CC Break.
Both tanks will likely fair better with kiting Kron more than face tanking him like the shadow can. Using the ramp one could leap kron up the ramp, then jump off to prevent being pulled back with no escape, and greatly reducing hits from frigid claws (and thus sublimation).
If I ever hate myself enough to play one of these two classes for Kron, I will post some notes.
Greus
DPS on Greus PoV
Greus works much the same as in Veteran mode, but with an extra quark. Greus will target a player and Dive bomb to them. The target with dive bomb will see a solid orange circle (that looks very similar to crush the weak) on them. Greus will leap to them, knocking them down and detonating a mini nuke where he landed. The visual of the ability looks far worse than it actually is. Getting hit by damage from Dive bomb's blast builds high threat. As such, if you are on a dps class without taunt, it is essential for you to run over to the blast from Dive Bomb and take some damage from it to maintain aggro. If you are targeted with Dive Bomb, Greus will clear threat against you, you are unlikely to be able to easily recapture him unless you can taunt. If Titax is already defeated, there should be 2 spare DwTs to take over Greus detail. If Titax is still up, it is going to be messy. Warn your group!
With Greus you will be taking heavy damage, more than 10k DTPS. Use everything in your arsenal to survive. If you are on ranged, Kite the boss and stay out of the fire as much as possible. If you are on melee, avoid the conal and beam attacks, being sure not to point them toward the group. Aim telegraphs away as much as possible. The beam attack from Greus seems to come out shortly after dive bombs, watch for this if you have jumped in to take damage from dive bomb and are attempting to move Greus back into position.
Greus does not have the "No Escape" ability and will not pull you to him if you get out of his range.
The Kron and or Hissy tanks will be attempting to hold their bosses in the fires of Greus. You should try to keep Greus as fixed as possible (assuming you are not on ranged and kiting). At every opportunity, you should DPS either Kron or Hissy. Greus has much lower HP and will likely be ready to push ahead of the other 2 in phase 2.
When Titax is dead and your group is in Phase 2. Greus can go on the tracks at any time. Coordinate with your healers and tanks. Our team brought Greus on the tracks several seconds after Kron. Dive bombs MUST be taken close to or on the Tracks after the train has been called for the final kill. Your other raid members must be aware of this. Help call it out. (Calling out the dive bombs is also helpful and will make you sound like a submarine commander).
Hissyphis
Hissy is largely the same bear as he is in Veteran Mode. The critical difference is that we do not have the luxury of killing him first. Most strategies in Veteran difficulty remove him from play shortly after the other two bosses come down.
We have to deal with his mechanics for the 4–5 minutes it takes to complete phase 1 and phase 2. Hissy has several debuffs from his abilities, and wonderfully many of them look exactly the same. I will review their relationship first.
Caustic Plume - This ability puts a 20" buff on Hissy in which he will radiate damage to any player within 100 meters. Players within that aura (everyone) will receive the brittle effect. Caustic Plume has a high ability priority and will come out every 30 seconds unless delayed by a higher priority ability.
Brittle - The status effect debuff applied to all players with in 100 meters of Hissy. Any player hit by Kinetic/Energy damage that is afflicted by Brittle will gain a stack of Damaged Defenses.
Damaged Defenses - Taking Kinetic/Energy damage from any source decreases Melee and Ranged defense by 3% per stack to a maximum of 30% (10 stacks max). This debuff is going to slowly decrease your tank's defenses against the Trandoshan's basic attacks. Once Caustic Plume goes out, for the next 20 seconds the Hissy and Kron (more so the kron tank) will have decreasing damage reduction. Watch for these burst windows where additional healing may be needed.
Venom Synthesis - Buff on Hissy (tank will want to keep track of to predict envenomed strikes/puddle drops) - Hissy will be building stacks of Venom. At 5 stacks, his Envenomed Strike becomes usable against his target. He can build up to a maximum of 20 charges. Each Envenomed strike will reduce his stacks of venom by 5 stacks. Hissy seems to build about 2 stacks every GCD. The patterns we commonly see are 0-2-4-6 → Envenomed Strike, and 1-3-5 ⇾ Envenomed Strike. The speed at which he gains stacks will be delayed by Caustic Plume (a 4-second channel) and your proximity to the boss (you must be within 4 meters to be hit with an envenomed strike).
Envenomed Strike - Hissy can use this after he has built up at least 5 stacks of venom synthesis. When Hissy uses Envenomed Strike against his active target he will place Tx-1Ch E. Gas puddle under his target and put the Venom of Hissyphis debuff on the target as well. Using Envenomed Strike bleeds Hissy's stacks of venom synthesis by 5.
Venom of Hissyphis - Debuff on you (Healers need to keep track of) - an 18" cleansable debuff that will tick every 3" on the afflicted target. This Debuff will nuke your tank. Healers need to cleanse it immediately (preferably before it ticks the first time). Venom of Hissyphis will come out very frequently requiring your healers to alternate who cleanses this debuff. We found it very helpful to have a shadow tank on Hissy to help with cleansing. Venom of Hissy will apply after an Envenomed Strike (Hissy's basic attack that has a 2" cool down and is his highest priority).
Nih'm's (My cotank) Strategy for Hissy:
"General strategy is:
Tanks (and maybe healer to a lesser degree): Get a feel for the pacing of the stacks
Tank: Anticipate Envenomed Strike and start moving right before it goes out, so that you are already moving when the puddle lands
Healer: Anticipate/watch closely for the DOT so you can cleanse it instantaneously. In our case, I have been anticipating all of that and calling for specific healers to cleanse.
Kiting pattern doesn't really matter here - you just need to (1) go along with the larger group strategy for kiting and (2) try not to drop on other players. Puddle one seems to clear just as puddle 3 is coming out, so you can move in pretty tight patterns if you want to be incredibly bored."
If you have done the Final form of Hissyphis achievement, you already know how much of a headache his green TX-1Ch E. Gas puddles can be. As stated above, it does not really matter where your team decides to have the Hissy tank go, but generally try to pick your route and be consistent with it. Teaching other players (especially your healers) where you are going to be is huge. DPS/Healers will die very easily if they stay in a TX-1Ch E. Gas puddle for more than a few ticks (about 125k a tick).
Our team pulled hissy and started by the canisters along the side wall. No rhyme or reason for this, the goal is to not be in the way. If your group can handle a bit of extra damage and chaos, try keeping Hissy in the Fires of Greus (similar to Kron above) for a bit of extra free DPS against Hissy.
Hissy gets 5+ stacks of venom and paints the tank, the tank moves out of the puddle and continues watching venom stacks.
Keep moving out of Puddles and watching stacks. Healers must cleanse venom off of you quickly.
Depending on the area you are tanking, you may need to make room for Titax as he comes over. Remember that your boss can be buffed if presence of Titax is up (red orbs circling Titax)
Hissy is the first one we want to take a knee once the bosses are ready to push (30%), but he is the last one we work onto the tracks. The most difficult part of the transition here was our Hissy tank, LOSing the healers. Working out positions here was critical.
The Hissy tank starts down the tracks by the fence first. As soon as all bosses are at 30%, the train is called. This seemed to line up pretty good with our Hissy tank getting close to 30 meters from our healers and starting the return trip back along the opposite wall (safe to be on for the moment any ways).
We recommend making every effort to push Hissy as a priority. The DPS on Greus will likely push Greus without support. With luck, Kron is low and will not need much more work, and your tank should be running some good cool downs now to deal with endothermic blast. Your Hissy tank, however, still needs constant cleanses and focus. Prioritize being finished with cleansing first. Your team needs to be super aware of the damage from electrical overload, use DcDs here generously (unless you are the tank taking Ultimate Hunter first, I recommend the Kron tank take him first).
NO one can be on the tracks when the train comes. There is no safe zone, the back wall will also be instant death as the train crashes.
Be 100% certain not to push any of the bosses before Train Arriving in 3 minutes, and heal your ass off here. Do not be afraid to burn out. Healers have a good 10 seconds to recover before Ultimate Hunter jumps in.
I highly recommend using everything and having as much up here for this push as your team can.
DPS/Healers using Tank shield adrenals is helpful here.
This ends phase 2...now time for Ultimate Hunter....
Ultimate Hunter
Ultimate Hunter is a new phase/boss added just for the Master Mode version of the fight. It is a fairly straight forward boss to deal with, once the group gets the base pattern down. It is critical to allow the tank(s) enough time to build threat on the boss before DPS engage him (ranged in particular). If the boss peals off onto a DPS, it can lead to an easy wipe. First off, the tracks and really anywhere close to them (even getting too close to the fence) is now instant death. So stay well clear of the train wreck.
The Raid stacks up near the center of the room and heals up. We have several seconds before Ultimate Hunter enters the fight. As the tank taking him first, once patched up, I stand where he comes down, ready to begin building threat.
Ultimate Hunter will fire up his Hypergolic Regeneration, which will damage him as he damages everything in the Massively Large AoE around him. Stay close to him and keep building threat. As soon as you see fire and Ice channel, pop resilience (I use shroud of a shadow for this fight). Stay in close and keep enduring his attacks with resilience. He will fire and ice a second time, as soon as that happens, run!
Ultimate Hunter can do a few things after his second channel of Fire and Ice. I have found that staying close to him after this second channel more often than not results in Irradiated Fire Blast, being next. We do not want this, so run and pray dive bomb comes first. If it is a dive bomb, your raid team needs to react and take circles out of the stacked group. If it is Irradiated Fire blast, you're probably dead, and it's up to your cotank, or pray you have battle revives. It is a hard attack to dodge. My advice, keep strafing until you see what's coming.
Assuming luck was on your side, Ultimate Hunter dive bombs your friends, as he starts back toward you (blue tank), your cotank should taunt before he is allowed to get back into melee range with you (preventing fire and ice, or an irradiated fire blast to nuke you. Your CoTank should be up the ramp. As Ultimate Hunter gets about 3/4s of the way up the ramp, taunt back. This should turn the Fire and Ice and Irradiated Fire Blast toward you and harmlessly above your head. Your cotank should jump off the upper platform, just to be on the safe side.
As soon as we taunt, run to the other side of the room, dive bombs will be next, and we want to LOS him as long as possible to prevent fire and ice from destroying us. If your cotank jumped down earlier, they should get back up to the top of the ramp. As soon as dive bombs finish, repeat the same process as above.
Your Ranged DPS is your primary source of damage against him. Healers should prioritize them and the tank(s). If one tank goes down, no biggie, this very much is solo tankable. Skip running to the wall and go straight up the ramp yourself, jump down when he gets to the top after you.
When the boss hits 1%, he will begin channeling Dying Lights. Stay out of the AoE circle around him to survive that channel. Be ready, he may break the dying light channel and do another set of dive bombs before he goes. Players with dive bombs should stay on the bottom and not head up the ramp if this happens.