Full credit goes to Ayona of <Addiction>, she wrote up this guide on her own and allowed me to post it verbatim onto here. I did not write this guide nor will I maintain this guide post-nerfs, so if someone wishes to do so…go ahead and do it, although if you have questions I can probably answer them in the comments.
Introduction
I will be going in depth describing all of the mechanics ranging from the long and tedius first phase all the way to the exciting and intensive grand finale of this amazing encounter. Each mini-boss will have a phase 1 and phase 2 section in this guide, explaining each of their mechanics per phase. Additionally, there will be a seperate section for Planebreaker Abominus’ mechanics as well.
List of Mechanics for Zor’zyx, Tor’krik, and Ix’ior (phase 1 and 2)
Lithic Ablation: An uninterruptable spell casted by Zor’zyx. He casts this spell in both phase 1 and phase 2. This mechanic will chain 10 times if your range tank is too close to the raid. Each member that gets hit can only get hit once per cast. In order to prevent chaining, your range tank must stay a safe distance away from the raid. In turn, your raid members must also keep themselves away from the range tank.
Deafening Blast: An interruptable spell casted by Zor’zyx. He will cast this spell in both phase 1 and phase 2. However, in phase 1 he will cast this spell once every 6 seconds, whereas in phase 2 he will cast this spell once every 12 seconds. In phase 1, you must have at least 2 people rotating their interrupts. Failure to perform the mechanic will result in a raid-wide damage and silence that lasts for 3 seconds.
Cascade Reaction: An uninterruptable spell casted by Zor’zyx. He will only cast this spell in phase 1. He will place pulsing bubbles across the entire raid that lasts 3 seconds. Standing in each other’s bubbles when the mechanic explodes will more than likely kill you. You must spread out in order to prevent deaths. Successfully performing this mechanic will result in a raid-wide burst of damage that is easily healable.
Waves: This is an uncasted spell performed by Zor’zyx in both phase 1 and phase 2. He will say “Zor’zyx Summons the power of an earthquake at %t’s location!” In phase 1, he will only perform this mechanic at his sub 70% health mark and sub 40% health mark until he dies. In phase 2, will he will perform this mechanic from 100% until he dies. However, in phase 2 he will throw out two sets of waves instead of just 1. This mechanic is avoidable, but failure to perform it will result in damage taken and a knockback. It is possible to get knocked off your platform and you will not be able to get ressurected! *Known issue: Your range tank, if standing perfectly still when the mechanic goes out, can avoid getting knocked back but it is inconsistent.
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Summoning: An uninterruptable spell casted by Tor’krik. He will only cast this spell in phase 1. At the end of his cast, a portal will spawn at a random location on the edge of the platform. In order to meet the tight enrage, it is highly suggested that you do not kill the add but instead slow it while kiting Tor’krik away from it as needed. It is important to note that any type of snare will affect the add, but it is immune to other forms of crowd control (e.g. stuns. If the add reaches Tor’krik, he will cast Shatter which is an uninterruptable raid-wipe mechanic. It is important to note that any other mechanic he does he stands still while casting, so it is crucial to maintain the add snared and as far away from him as possible.
Growing Calamity: This infamous FPS dropping mechanic is performed by Tor’krik. It is uninterruptable and will occur at sub 70% and sub 40% in phase 1 and throughout all of phase 2 when he spawns. Growing Calamity is a raid-wide mechanic where each player will spawn 3 crystals at their feet one at a time. The crystals will then explode in succession, damaging the raid. If any player stands in a crystal when it explodes, it will kill them. It is important to stagger the crystal spawns or try to somewhat cluster them on one part of the platform in order to prevent them from covering the whole platform.
Hammerfist Blow: This is the tank-swap mechanic performed by both Tor’krik and Ix’ior throughout phase 1. In phase 2, only Tor’krik will perform this mechanic. It’s a single-target blow to the tank, which can stack up to 5 times. Each stack reduces your movement speed and healing taken by 15%. At 5 stacks, the tank is stunned and his toughness is reduced to 0 for 7 seconds. The tank cannot be cleansed or break free out of the stun. It is possible to survive while stunned, but it isn’t guarenteed. Any crit done to the tank will one-shot them.
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Sand: A nick-name for the uncasted spell performed by Ix’ior only performed in phase 1. This is a ground AOE mechanic targeted at one player that will do a small amount of damage and knock you back after a short time.
Luminous Blast: An reflectable spell casted by Ix’ior in both phase 1 and phase 2. He will cry out “Ix’ior prepares to hurl a blast of magical energy at %t.” It’s a single target mechanic that must be reflected in order to meet the tight enrage and prevent deaths. If it is not reflected, it will one-shot the target.
Sandstorm: Ix’ior will cry out “Ix’ior chants an incantation while gazing upon %t!” The targeted player must run out, away from the raid, to prevent deaths. At the end of his cast, he will breathe in the direction of the targeted player. The targeted player must also get out of the breath mechanic. This mechanic is only performed in phase 1.
Gravitation Bomb: When Ix’ior casts this spell, two things happen. A bomb begins to drop slowly to the ground, and a pillar that debuffs and pulses damage across the raid spawns. You must use the pillar to LOS the bomb while also killing the pillar before the damage output becomes unhealable. This mechanic occurs in phase 1 at sub 70% and sub 40% and all throughout phase 2 while he is active. It is important to note that while in phase 1, the bomb and pillar will despawn if you push his phase or kill him so you do not need to LOS each time depending on your DPS.
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Gravity: A nick-name for the mechanic performed by all three mini-bosses. This mechanic only happens in phase 1. Each mini-boss will shout “___ forces gravity near %t to greatly increase!” During this time, the raid must stack together in order to split the damage. If the targeted player is alone or only a few players are with him, they will die to too much damage taken. This mechanic starts as a large circle then gradually gets smaller. It’s important to make a hardstack for this mechanic so those in the middle don’t die to not enough people near them.
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Additional Notes
– Zor’zyx is stationary and cannot be moved unless he is LOS of the active tank in phase 2.
– Zor’zyx will only cast his wave mechanic at the highest threat target.
– Zor’zyx wave pattern is the same every time in both phase 1 and phase 2.
– None of the mini-bosses cleave.
– During the final phase, after killing a ghost of a mini-boss, they will explode and disappear once their energy reaches 100 dealing a small amount of damage to the raid. After a short while, they will appear again as a ‘Manifestation of the Hive’ with the same mechanics as their ghost.
– Manifestations of the Hive take reduced incoming damage.
List of Mechanics for Abominus’ Drones (phase 2 only)
Dissipation Field: After a 3 second channel and yellow cone warning indication, the Drone will cast this spell. The warning indication will turn red and tick damage on anyone who stands inside it. It is important that the tank responsible for Drones makes sure they are facing away from the raid. *Known issue: Sometimes players cannot see the warning indication, so it is important to make sure you’re not in the Drone’s LOS in order to avoid it.
Bubble/Crystal: A nick-name for the mechanic that happens when a Drone is killed. This bubble/crystal lasts 1 minute and is used to protect the raid from Abominus’ Barrage attack. The bubble/crystal will only protect against 5 blasts, so it is beneficial to stack Drone bubbles and make sure that people are standing in at least 2 of them to ensure they won’t die. *Known issue: Sometimes players cannot see the bubble, only the crystal. And sometimes the crystal is in the ground, where only the tip is showing.
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Additional Notes
– Drones do not have auto-attacks.
– Drones spawn one at a time on a timer with the mini-bosses spawning and continue to spawn after all 3 mini-bosses are out.
List of Mechanics for Planebreaker Abominus (phase 2 only)
Neutronic Blast: This is Abominus’ “auto-swing.” Since he doesn’t have a threat table, he will target a random player and hit them for about 10k.
Obliteration Cannon: Also known as “Eyes” or “Eye Beams.” The beams will home in on one player and deal percentage based damage if they don’t kite them. It is important to make sure the player targeted by this mechanic doesn’t drag the beams through the raid for it will damage everything in it’s bubble.
Ocular Blast: Abominus will say “The Planebreaker Abominus charges up for a barrage!” This is your queue to get inside the Drone bubbles so you can protect yourself from this mechanic. If any player fails the mechanic, they will die.
Dire Reckoning: This mechanic will only appear after you kill a 2nd mini-boss ghost. Abominus will target 1 player at random and place an electric ring on the ground. Any player who steps in the ring will take damage and cause the ring to expand. It is important to note that this ring can expand infinitely, covering the whole platform! Abominus adds this ability to his queue, so you may end up with several rings at the end of the encounter.
Reactor Meltdown: After all 3 mini-boss ghosts are killed, Abominus will begin to pulse damage across the entire raid which increases in intensity each tick.
Doomsday: After all 3 mini-boss ghosts are killed, Abominus will target 1 random player and throw a meteor at them. There will be a red AOE warning indication. This is an AOE attack that kills anyone in the blast radius, including the targeted player. It is dodgable.
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Additional Notes
– Planebreaker Abominus’ health pins at 5% unless all 3 mini-boss ghosts are killed.
– Planebreaker Abominus’ hard enrages at 12 minutes.
– Planebreaker Abominus is immune to AOE abilities (e.g. glacial torrent, lucent slash, etc.).
Raid Composition
In order to meet the tight enrage, your raid composition should be comprised of:
– 2 tanks
– 1 bard and 1 pyrochon
– 1 warden
– 2 chloromancers
– 1 purifier
– 12 DPS
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Your Tanks
Each raid composition should include at least 1 cleric tank in order to range tank Zor’zyx for both phase 1 and phase 2. The cleric tank also provides some passive healing and snap threat for the constant spawning of drones and adds. It is imperative that your cleric tank stays a healthy distance away from the rest of the raid in order to prevent Lithic Ablation from chaining. It is equally imperative that your cleric tank dodges mechanics “on their own” in order to prevent Lithic Ablation from chaining.
Your 2nd tank can be any class, it shouldn’t matter too much. I suggest using a rogue tank because they have a large amount of cooldowns and higher health pool. If you decide to use a warrior tank, make sure they are in a spec that yields high physical mitigation, health, and cooldowns. Your 2nd tank will be taking, on average, more damage (physical especially) than your ranged cleric tank during the 2nd phase.
Both tanks must alternate tanking Tor’krik and Ix’ior in phase 1, and only alternate tanking Tor’kirk in phase 2 in order to prevent the 5-stack stun from happening. Only Tor’krik will use Hammerfist Blow in phase 2, Ix’ior will not.
Your Support
It is very important to maintain debuffs on all targets in order to meet the tight enrage and your pyrochon should be using Flaring Power on cooldown.
Your Warden
The Warden’s main job is to heal through Growing Calamity, otherwise they should be maintaining maximium DPS. Spot healing will be needed at times, but spamming heals is a huge waste of mana and DPS.
Your Chloromancers
Each chloromancer should be in an Arresting Presence spec to help with interrupts on the final platform. During phase 1, both chloromancers should be in Lifegiving Veil and during phase 2 one of them should have Synthesis on your Ix’ior tank. Your chloromancers are responsible for reflecting Luminous Blast. It is important to note that during the Gravitation Bomb mechanic in phase 2, Deafening Blast will occur. Your chloromancer should maintain a fresh Arresting Presence on Zor’zyx during this mechanic.
Your Purifier
Your Purifier should be primarily healing your range tank during the 2nd phase while also maining Sign of Faith on the other tank. Flame of Life should be used during Growing Calamity. It is also important to maintain Latent Blaze on both tanks at all times.
Your Defiler (counts as DPS, technically)
Your Defiler should have his 20% link on the range tank, and his 30% link on the other tank. Depending on where you decide to allocate more DPS, your defiler can link the melee attacking Abominus full-time or he can link the melee on the mini-bosses/drones. Your defiler should spot heal as needed, but is primarily DPSing in order to meet the tight enrage. It is likely that you’ll end up using Unstable Transformation on the 30% link tank more often than the ranged tank.
Your DPS
This encounter, during phase 2, is a big balancing act. You need to have enough single target and AOE DPS. Too much single target, you won’t be able to cleave off of the mini-bosses to kill Drones. Too much AOE, you won’t meet the enrage. Your DPS also needs to be split so when the 3rd mini-boss dies, Abominus’ health is at 5% and no higher. If his health is too high when the 3rd mini-boss dies, you will likely die to the harsh ticks of Reactor Meltdown.
Basic Strategy
The easiest way to start off this encounter is to begin with Zor’zyx’s platform. Reason being, this will cause him to be the first ghost to spawn in phase 2. His mechanics are the easiest to deal with over a long duration. Also, it’s a DPS increase because dealing with more than necessary Growing Calamities and Gravitation Bombs is too much of a DPS loss. However, it is important to note that is it random which 2nd ghost spawns. It could be Tor’krik or Ix’ior, you never know. You just need to be prepared to handle their mechanics.
During phase 1, you should be able to fit in 2 Flaring Powers. Also, you should use banners on each platform. You also want to use crit pots as much as possible. His enrage is very tight and phase 1 shouldn’t take longer than 6 minutes and 30 seconds. If you’re taking too long, you won’t meet enrage. Any amount of DPS you can squeeze in is worth it.
During phase 2, Obliteration Cannon (“Eyes” or “Eye Beams”) will occur “in between” major ghost mechanics and his own mechanics. For example, right after Ocular Blast is complete be prepared for Obliteration Cannon! Right after Growing Calamity, be prepared for Obliteration Cannon! Right after the Gravitation Bomb hits the ground, be prepared for Obliteration Cannon! The list goes on and on. Obliteration Cannon will never occur at the same time as a major mechanic, always right after.
Lithic Ablation and Deafening Blast are a different story though. These mechanics can and will happen during other major mechanics. Your interrupters and your range tank must be watching carefully while multitasking mechanics. For example, during Growing Calamity Zor’zyx may cast Lithic Ablation. If your range tank is grouped up with the rest of the raid, he may kill people with the chain!
If any deaths occur during phase 1, the dead bodies will travel with the raid as you jump from platform to platform. It is possible to soul walk after being ported from a platform, too. It is important to note, however, that as you transition from phase 1 to 2, dead bodies will not follow you. Also, if someone accepts a rez as the final mini-boss dies in phase 1, he will not be able to jump to the final platform!
Videos
Cleric healer POV:
Mage DPS POV:
Warrior DPS POV:
