Virtues Hamidon Raiding Guide (Hero-side) i9
(credit to Sandolphan, Nucess, Ara, Iakona, Kegan, Eisregen and others I may have forgotten)
Organizing
A good place to ask and receive information about scheduled raids (and any other in-game information) is to join the global channel VirtueUnited. The channel is public and joining is not restricted in any way. The command to use from the desired chat window is /joinchan VirtueUnited. The MotD (Message of the Day) will have details about the next scheduled raid, if there is one.
The i9 Hamidon experience comes with a hard cap of 50 heroes, after which Hive2 will spawn. No other heroes will be able to enter Hive1, unless someone leaves. Because of this a key ingredient to success of public raids will depend on people NOT camping the zone prior to leaders organizing and assigning responsibilities. 50 scrappers may sound awesome, but would result in a failed raid, max debt and sadness.
It is quite possible that the zone cap will be reached, limiting the chance for some to participate in the raiding. That is an unfortunate side-effect of the i9 Hamidon event. The hope is that through this guide, and experiencing the actual raid, more people will have the experience and desire to become raid leaders in their own right. Given the quantity of participants in pre-i9 raids, it should be very easy to spawn and fill Hive1, 2 and 3.
Reward Schedule
Upon defeating Hamidon, a reward menu will appear giving the player a choice of a Hamidon Origin enhancement, a Rare Recipe, or various Single Origin enhancements.
There is a 24 hour timer per character (not account) for choosing any one type of reward. For example, if you choose the Hamidon Origin enhancement, that particular character cannot select another HO reward from a raid for 24 hours. You can, however, have the same character go to another Hive instance, participate in a raid and select the Rare Recipe.
Pre-Raid Essence of Earth (EoE) Farming
Essence of Earth is a special inspiration drop from Devouring Earth giant monsters. They provide capped resistance to the untyped, special damage that come from the blasts of Yellow Mitochondria Antibodies and Hamidon (similar to Ambrosia from the Eden Trial).
The EoE inspirations can be farmed on Monster Island in Peregrine, or in the Hive during monster clearing. It is recommended that Monster Island is used to stock up on them as it is not predictable the right people will get them during monster clearing or that those that do get EoE drops will give them up. A single team can go farming on Monster Island and fill up on EoEs in about an hour or so. You should always have at least 2 inspiration slots open for EoE drops.
The number of EoE inspirations required is something we are still tweaking in the raid process, but for now it is better to be safe than sorry. Approximately 80 is the current number for Tanks and 50 for Scrappers, for now.
Setting Up or Staging in the Hive
Whether the raid is public or private, the key factor is getting the core groups in the Hive and assignments made clear. If this does not or can not occur there is no point to raiding, unless the goal is working on debt badges. That is why it is important for people not to camp the zone (that sounds familiar). Another side-effect of not being able form the raid is sadness and drama
well more drama than usual.
Overview to i9 Hamidon
The new Hamidon is spawned by defeating Devouring Earth giant monsters in the Hive. The number of giant monsters to be defeated appears random and by no means consists of clearing the entire zone. The monster clearing will also result in more drops to pad the number of EoEs gained through farming. Remember to have at least 2 inspiration slots open for EoE drops (monsters will drop a normal inspiration along with the EoE).
Once Hamidon spawns all monsters vanish from the zone. This means no more pulling monsters into the goo and it allows everyone to run away screaming like little girls when we have to (more on that later).
The new Hamidon layout consists of 3 rings of 6 mitos each, from outside to in colored: yellow, blue and green. Each color mito performs a different function, and they all overlap to make Hamidon more of a challenge and less like the snooze-fest from the past.
Mito Stats
Each Mito has a PBAoE auto power and a targeted power, in addition to their standard Resistance and Fly powers.
[u]Yellow mitos[u] have a 45 foot PBAoE damage/stun that activates every 4 seconds. Their targeted power is a 45 foot AoE damage/stun with 600 ft range. Each blast does approximately 500 points of untyped damage and the stun has enough mag to break through Scrapper toggles, hence the need for Clear Mind or Clarity casters tending to the scrapper teams. Yellows need to be meleed due to high resistance to ranged attacks.
[u]Blue mitos[u] have a 15 foot PBAoE fear/debuff power that activates every 2 seconds. Their targeted power is a single-target damage/mez with 300 ft range, 1.87 second cast time and 6 second recharge. Blues have a fear and endurance drain attack. They are also the source of the chain lightning you will see shooting from player to player. The chain lightning is little more than a tickle, but you will see orange numbers floating up from your fellow heroes. The Blue mitos make Dark Defenders with Shadowfall running very valuable to the assault teams for fear resistance. Blues must be attacked at range as they will drain the endurance or anyone in melee range.
[u]Green mitos[u] have a 150 foot PBAoE damage/debuff power that activates every 6 seconds, but can only affect one target per activation; they also have a 70 foot PBAoE heal power that activates every 7 seconds, healing all allies within the radius for 321 HP. Their targeted power is a single-target heal for 1205 HP with a 300 ft range, 1.0 second cast time, and 5 second recharge. They have an additional self-affecting auto-power called Regenerative Aura that activates every 10 seconds and appears to grant capped regeneration (500% HP/ minute) and high resistance to damage; the effects of this power seem to have conditional statement attached to deactivate the effects while held. The base Held attribute protection for Boss_Mito class entities is -100. Greens have a -heal attack which will practically cancel out all healing in a few hits. This is the reason Tanks can not be kept alive by healing, they must be teleported out to recover while another Tank steps in. Greens also have a powerful force field that must be dropped by holding them prior to all out attacks. The weakness of the greens is they heal the closest damaged target first, so by assaulting the greens directly, they will focus on healing each other rather than healing yellows.
Hamidons AoE attack also has a heal or regen effect, which further complicates the Tanks job.
Mito Blooms/Spawns occur when Hamidon reaches 75%, 50% and 25% health. Each bloom only happens once at the specific percentages, so there are a total of 4 mito phases. When a bloom occurs the entire raid must make a speedy strategic withdrawal (run away screaming like little girls). A little tip on getting away faster, the goo provides all within it with Super Jump.
A quick checklist of the raid mechanics would go:
1. Spawn Hamidon
2. Clear initial mitos (1st mito phase)
3. Fight Hamidon to 75% health
4. 1st mito bloom
5. Clear mitos (2nd mito phase)
6. Fight Hamidon to 50% health
7. 2nd mito bloom
8. Clear mitos (3rd mito phase)
9. Fight Hamidon to 25%
10. 3rd mito bloom
11. Clear mitos (4th and last mito phase)
12. Defeat Hamidon
Mitos must be cleared 4 times total. This is by design; the devs have stated the mito blooms are designed to pace the encounter out to their liking.
Teams and Roles
There are 3 primary roles that teams will play in the raid.
The Tanker/Empath Team controls Hamidon aggro.
Two Scrapper/Empath Teams control aggro from and attack yellow mitos.
The remaining raiders form a large Assault Force to directly attack green, then blue mitos.
Tanker Team
1 Kinetic
1-2 Empaths
5-6 Tanks One of the non-tanks needs Recall Friend. Any tank type will suffice. Tanks will need about 4 EoEs each per Mito bloom (about 16).
Scrapper Teams
3-4 Empaths
3-4 Scrappers Two teams consisting of at least 3 flying scrappers and 3 empaths (flying preferred), Initially we gave scrappers about 2 EoEs per bloom, but a recent tweak in strategy has scrappers not using any EoEs. Some breakfrees are a very good idea for all members of the scrapper teams.
Assault Teams
The rest of the raiders should form teams as balanced as possible, damagers and support to keep everyone going. A perfect scenario is to have someone with Recall Friend on every team. Holders play an important role since green mitos must be held before they can be defeated. No EoEs are required for the assault force.
The Strategy
Tanker Team sets up in a safe area outside of Hami aggro, out of line of sight of the Hamidon. Typically, Tanker Team will form at North Saferock (away from the rest of the raid). Here, the empaths and kin will buff the tanks with every buff they have. Status resists are paramount, as the blasts will overcome the status protection for an unbuffed tank. Empaths AoE auras are saved for the signal from the raid leader doing the countdown in the request channel. The tanks must communicate and coordinate closely to transfer Hamidon aggro as the current target tank nears death. The damaged tank will be ported out and patched up by the empathy, with the assistance of a kin (speed boost).
Scrapper/Empath Teams each empath should be assigned a specific scrapper to look after. Each scrapper must be assigned a different yellow mito as their target. As with tanks, the scrappers must have all the buffs the empaths can provide, especially Clear Mind. CM should be spammed on the scrappers as much as possible, and the empaths should CM each other occasionally. The scrapper/empathy teams form up on saferock with the assault force.
Coordination between scrapper/empathy teams is essential for precise targeting of the yellow mitos. The team leader will assign the scrappers their target and coordinate with the other team leader to verify the targeting. After the assignments, the team leaders report ready to the raid leader. This step is vital, as one missed assignment can wipe the assault team, cascading into a full wipe. In practice, it is best for the raid leader to identify the center mito for each scrapper/empathy team leader, and the team leader then assign left/center/right to their scrappers.
On the start signal, scrappers (with empaths following) will fly to their assigned yellow mito and attempt to kill it. Their primary goal is to stay alive and keep the mitos attention, but they should try to kill it as well. Once the green mitos attentions are drawn away from the yellows, most scrappers have a good chance at defeating their yellow solo. If the scrapper kills their mito, immediately move to the next closest yellow mito on the team and assist in killing it (empaths follow your scrapper). This will allow a cascade of damage as the scrappers double and triple team the yellows.
To assist in keeping the empaths alive, scrappers should approach and attack yellows from the outside edge of the goo. This is a little tricky as scrappers are all coming from saferock, essentially the empaths must stay at max range for CM and Heal Other to avoid splash from the AoE blasts. The scrappers should remain stationary once engaged with a mito. Too much movement may cause the empath to come closer to remain in range and get hit, stunned or worse.
Assault teams Much like old Hamidon raids, have a designated targeter that everyone targets off of (either friend them or make a macro/bind). Someone on each team with Group Fly is also helpful. After giving the Tankers and Scrappers a few seconds to acquire aggro, the assault force plunges in en mass to take down green mitos first. Holders must spam holds on the green mito to drop the shield, then the assault force kills the green mito as fast as possible. The assault force will range around Hamidon killing all of the green mitos, then start on the blues. Range attacks are best for the blue mitos as they have a powerful PBAoE endurance drain. Any AoE mez resists are helpful (especially fear resist from Dark Defenders Shadowfall). All members of the assault force must be mindful of the yellow mito and Hamidon AoE blasts (meaning tanker and scrapper locations), simply putting the targeter on follow and blasting away without a care can get you stunned or worse real fast.
Countdown to Start:
It is highly recommended that the raid leader keep everyone informed as to the expectations of each person and their role by team assignment (lots of binds). The scrapper/empathy and tanker teams, hopefully, will have several experienced people and know what is expected and what to expect. Try to pick team leaders for these teams that will teach newcomers what is needed and give advice. Delegation and communication is paramount amongst team leaders, some form of voice communication is highly recommended (TS, Vent or Skype).
When ready to begin, the raid leader should use the request channel to announce the countdown messages as follows:
MITO ATTACK BEGINNING IN 1 MINUTE
BEGIN BUFFING YOUR TEAMS!
(Clear Mind, Clarity, Fortitude and Speed Boost buffs at this stage)
30 SECONDS
USE RAS NOW
OIL SLICK FOR FULCRUM SHIFT
TANKERS GET READY!
(Regeneration and Recovery Auras, Oil Slick for Fulcrum Shift buffs at this stage)
20 SECONDS
TANKERS GO!!
10 SECONDS
SCRAPPERS GO!!
0
ASSAULT TEAMS FOLLOW THE TARGETER IN
GO!!!
The timing on this has worked on well and gives everyone a heads up as to what is expected.
Results of past Mito Phases:
Past experience has varied, but typically the greens fall first, followed by a yellow or two. Some of our mito clearing phases have come in under 4 minutes, but 4 seems to be an average (assuming the core groups have had some practice). As in the old raid, the initial contact is the most intense until some mitos are taken out. The last few mito phases have seen the last of the yellows taken out while the assault force was working on the blues. It is important to remember that one stray yellow mito can wreak havoc on the assault force, bringing about an epic wipe. If you are allergic to debt, this raid isnt for you.
After Mito Clearing:
Once all the mitos are down, the raid needs to gather around the Hamidon while the tankers back up so the AoE blast doesnt catch anyone in the splash. It is essential that only tanks have active taunt auras on at this point (glares at scrappers). For the time being we are not using Phantom Army as they have a strong taunt and can cause the tankers to lose Hami aggro.
As Hamidon approaches each of the mito bloom health levels (75%, 50% and 25%), have each team send a non-damager with Recall Friend back to saferock, to pull rezzers and recover bodies after the bloom. Do not allow the damagers to become gun-shy at this point or Hamidon will start to gain health. Damage is needed until the bloom occurs; the tpers and rezzers are going to saferock to speed the recovery for the next mito phase.
When the mitos spawn, the recaller should try to grab as many people to safety as possible, starting with the rezzers. Everyone should RUN FASTER to safety. Safety in this case is over 600yds from Hamidon and behind a rock out of line of sight. Do NOT run to saferock, it is where triage, rescue and rezzing will be taking place. Running straight there may draw Hami-blasts, killing everyone there. Run to the East, West or North and get behind spires to wait for a port or work your way around to saferock.
Note: RUN FASTER is a bit of a misnomer, the goo slows run speed, but provides all within it with Super Jump. The fastest way out of the goo is to jump away.
Practice the Hard part:
It is recommended that the core aggro control groups recon and practice before a full raid. Since timing and requirements for controlling the aggro are crucial, having tanks, scrappers and buffers experience their roles and work together is vital. Practice runs also allow the raid leader and team leaders to gain experience with each other and their teams. Multiple mito practice runs can be made without a full raid sitting around, waiting. Once a core group is trained, more people can be shown the ropes and soon there will be a large number of people that can draw from raid experience to lead on their own if desired.
Issues and other Strategies:
Spiking down the yellows is an area that needs more attention. Having a separate roaming team of scrappers with a buffer/healer, to directly attack a yellow to kill it faster and move on to the next, would be a good addition. We have also tried adding 2 extra scrappers to the yellow mito teams to assist in taking yellows down faster. Either way, the additional scrappers would need buffs and support (especially CM).
Some other strategies posted list tankers on the yellow mitos instead of scrappers. There are 2 good reasons to go with scrappers though; scrappers can withstand the assault of the yellow mitos fine with empathy support, and scrapper can more easily kill their yellow. Also, scrappers are usually more abundant than tankers, who will most likely be needed on the Hami team.
A problem with the existing strategy is reliance on specific ATs and powersets: 6 flying scrappers, 7 empaths (strong preference for flying), and 4+ tanks to achor the raid. Without this core group, this strategy cant be implemented (you can substitute some tanks or Kheldians for scrappers, but they are usually more rare than scrappers). There really isnt a good substitute for empaths. In a setting where, ideally, any AT powerset should be sufficient to swap in, it seems empaths are still singularly required.
Strategy Tweaks:
We have recently tweaked the strategy to eliminate the need for scrappers to use any EoEs. The scrapper/empathy teams form up on saferock with the rest of the assault force. That gives them the benefit of 7 RAs minimum before they charge into the goo. 7 regeneration auras allow the scrappers to handle the alpha nicely without the use of EoEs. In addition, 7 RAs on the entire assault force turns all of them into the equivalent of a regen scrapper with Instant Healing for the initial plunge into the goo. This has worked very nicely in the last raid, which was the 1st public raid on Virtue.
Other tweaks we have not explored are additional buffs from Warburg nukes. It is a tactic that can only improve the damage output of the scrapper and assault teams, so it seems to be a no-brainer.
Leadership toggles should be on.
Taunt Auras should only be active on Tanks after yellow mitos are cleared.
Everyone must hit Hamidon at least once to get the reward upon his final defeat.
Many thanks to Sandolphan for writing the bulk of this guide. I only made some minor changes.
