[Liar] Raid Progression15 Jul22 Jul

Starting at 03:00 PM EDT

@Lucky leads us to take down each raid boss one at a time. New raiders welcome, but please talk to Lucky to help get set up.
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[Liar] Raid Breakdown

INTRODUCTION

Our groups are open to players with any level of raiding experience, however I will be looking for people with the mindset to learn and improve. Raiding is the hardest content in the game, so players with a "mess around and get free rewards" attitude will be disappointed. It is expected that everyone will be playing on a class they are comfortable with, and will have researched the meta raiding builds for their class. A proper gear setup and skill usage is crucial to raid completion. As a baseline, exotic armour will be accepted, but weapons and trinkets should be ascended. If you have any questions about your build or how to acquire the appropriate gear, don't hesitate to ask. Communication is key, and will be expected from all party members. I'm looking for full focus and commitment from my raiders during raid times, which means plan to be there on time and for the full duration of the raid, without having background tasks going on (TV, other games, other voice chat, other responsibilities, etc). Call of the Mists (CotM) is a buff that doubles your gold and exp rewards, and is applied both to the newest raid wing as well as a rotating wing every 2 weeks. Since our raid time is limited, our eventual goal is to focus on the wing that currently has this buff.

PREPARATION

  • Rotations: This means the order in which you use your skills in order to maximize damage and effectiveness. Practice getting comfortable with the benchmark rotations (links at the bottom of this post)
  • Stat combinations: In general, Berserker (sometimes with assassin's) stats are recommended for power damage dealers, and Viper's for condition users. Harrier (sometimes with a Magi's or Minstrel's mix) for healers.
  • Sigils and Runes: Damage dealers generally use Runes of the Scholar and a Sigil of Force + Impact. Healers will be using Sigils of Transference + Water with Runes of the Monk. Condition users and support classes vary.
  • Boss Guides: Watch videos and read guides on the bosses we plan to do. Mechanics will be taught, but I still expect you to have done some initial research.

Your main focus should be on learning your individual role in the group. I can help give some advice, but I'm not an expert on all classes personally, so I expect you to have done at least some research. New raiders can start with the Castle Siege/Escort event in Stronghold of the Faithful, which is the easiest raid encounter with full rewards. There is no time limit, nor a difficult boss to fight, so it will help you get accustomed to the raid environment and your fellow raiders, and serves as a good starting point for newer raiders. Or if you are a little bit more accustomed to the game and want to get right into the real fights, you can start out with one of the easier bosses the group is currently working on. You should research the raids we are currently doing (as seen below) so you have a bit of perspective when you run with us.

I strongly encourage all raiders to work on learning and personal progression outside of scheduled raid times. Every single person should be testing their rotations on the DPS golem in the Special Forces Training Area. Even if you are not playing a DPS class, it's important that you are able to maintain your buffs while doing as much damage as you can. If you need to learn the mechanics of a fight, please speak to me at any time and/or show up to raid night 30+ minutes early, as I will not be teaching specific boss mechanics unless the boss is new to the group, or there are a lot of people who need a review of the information. This is mainly to save time and allow for more actual hands-on practice. Raiders who have become comfortable with certain bosses should look towards gearing up additional classes and learning a variety of roles within those fights. This is both to make our team composition more flexible, and so that people learn to appreciate different aspects of the fights (other than just what their one class does). New raid members will be held to looser standards, but are still expected to make progress.

POINTS OF INTEREST

  • Punctuality: If possible, please plan to show up to the raids 10-15 minutes early. If you are new and need to learn the mechanics to a fight, or need an introduction to raiding with the guild, don't just show up to a raid at the last minute expecting to jump right into it.
  • Practice: Think of the raids as tests, and practice as your homework. Every single person should be watching videos on how to rotate skills properly, and practicing those rotations on the DPS golem. I would like people to report their results to me. Let me know what kind of DPS you are doing, and if you are maintaining the buffs that you need to be. If you aren't sure on how to rotate, or what your role in the group is, please come to me and we can talk about it. Full guides are available on the Quantify website for reference.
  • Flexibility: Raiders should be able to fill multiple different roles. The more flexible we are, the more bosses we will be eligible to attempt, and the more room there will be for a greater variety of people to join. I don't want to have to exclude people from a guild group simply because we can't fill a certain role.
  • Communication: Key both inside and outside of raids. During the raid, tell us when you need help or healing, call out mechanics, ask questions. During off hours, talk to your fellow raiders, ask questions, offer suggestions. Tell me what kind of progress you are making, and what you plan to learn next. If you only show up on raid nights and otherwise pay no mind to raiding, you will not improve. Raiding is serious stuff, and we don't just group up to complete the content for the rewards like we would for guild missions. We need to work together as a group, and need to constantly be in communication about it throughout the week.

ADVANCED MECHANICS

  • Weapon Stowing: This is a custom hotkey that you should keybind to something easy to access. This is the quickest and most reliable way to cancel any animation. If you are stuck channeling a long ability like Meteor Shower or Hundred Blades, or reviving someone, this will instantly break it and allow you to move/dodge. Also can be used to cancel "aftercast animation" that happens after a skill has already gone off, and when used properly, can result in an increase in DPS (very advanced technique).
  • Max Melee Range: You don't need to be standing directly on top of a boss to hit it with a melee attack. There are many benefits to staying at max melee range. To list a few: you won't take the time bombs on Sabetha, you can damage Gorseval while he covers his immediate area in black goo, you will take less damage from KC's "clock" attack. Also, A few bosses act strangely or get stuck if you stand directly on top of them.
  • Break Bar Rotation: In addition to your standard damage rotation, you will want to be familiar with the most efficient way to break bars. This will often involve swapping to your alternate weapon set/attunements and using abilities in ways that you otherwise wouldn't. Some abilities apply forms of cc that you may overlook if the ability is used for other purposes normally. Also when you know a break bar is coming up, start preparing longer cast time cc's ahead of time. Most classes have 4 or 5 abilities they can use to break, even though they are usually known for having one large cc. Never overlook cripples, chills, immobilizes, and other soft cc.
  • Buff Coverage: Often overlooked or hard to notice is the timing and duration of buff application. Beyond the standard quickness and 25 stacks of might (which you should be looking out for), pay attention to the status of other party buffs like Fury and Grace of the Land, as well as personal buffs like Harmonious Conduit, Berserker's Power, and Sigil of Concentration. Using your hard hitting abilities while under the effects of powerful buffs like these will greatly increase your effectiveness. Also if you have access to things like Distortion, Aegis, and Stability, sharing these with allies at key moments can save lives. Do not overlook any part of your build/kit, no matter how small or passive it may seem.
  • Time Optimization: Ability rotations are all about the optimal use of your attacks and getting as many in in a short period of time as you can. Pay attention to your skill cooldowns, and only weapon/stance/attunement/kit/shroud swap once you've gotten off all your hard hitting abilities. If you are forced to move somewhere (or get teleported), use this time to get in your ranged and/or movement abilities in order to minimize downtime. If you are forced to pause to deal with a fight mechanic, try and do it at a time that doesn't interrupt your damage rotation. Pay attention to what's going on, and think of what abilities you can use at which times.
  • "Add" Control: Additional small enemies of different sorts will spawn in all the fights. It's important to know what they do and how to manage them. Abilities that pull them in or do AoE dmg should be positioned to kill as many of them as you can. Some fights have adds that are not to be killed, but to be pushed around. Be aware of what skills you have that can do this, and how your manipulation of the adds will affect the group. Other adds will knock you back, so be aware of your positioning and where you will get knocked. Above all, do not ever ignore the adds in raid encounters. Everything in these encounters is designed to be a threat, and must be treated as so.
  • Positioning: Your position is very important in raid encounters. Most party buffs are dependant on you being within a certain area (banners and spirits) or standing within the effect of an ability (wells and druid heals). Additionally, we stand in certain places to better control boss behaviour and attacks. Always pay attention to where you are standing. Try not to wander away from the group, don't stand in enemy attack AoE's, and be aware of how your different abilities will move you. Sometimes a simple sidestep will put you completely out of harm's way, but it may also get you killed.
  • Benchmarks: The [SC] dps benchmarks are not as clear-cut as they seem. It's important to understand that most bosses have mechanics/behaviours that either weaken or strengthen certain builds. For instance, bosses that move around a lot will take more damage from builds heavy on torment, but less from builds that rely on stationary AoE damage fields. Additionally, a high dps number is not always a justification for filling your team with a certain class/build. You need to take into account the weaknesses of these builds as well (low vulnerability application, lack of cc, etc). Finally, armour values vary on different bosses, meaning sometimes conditions will be stronger or weaker, depending on the encounter.

FULL BOSS GUIDES

SPECIFIC MECHANIC GUIDES

OTHER RAID RESOURCES

  • [SC] Snowcrows website for build guides and DPS benchmarks
  • Metabattle raid builds
  • Boss health totals and defense values
  • GW2 Tactical Overlay (aka TacO) - useful 3rd party addon for timers and positioning icons for some bosses
  • arc dps - popular 3rd party dps meter addon which includes build templates

Please direct any inquiries to me in game: Lucky.9421 or on discord @Lucky.