About a month ago I hosted a monster hunt event for my VG (Fallen Legion - Victory Server) and I wrote a short guide. I've been posting pieces of it in response to questions about COV monsters and I decided to finally get off my but and post the whole thing. Here we go:
Giant Monster 101 COV
What is a Giant Monster?
There are three GMs (Giant Monsters) in COV; Caleb, the Ghost of the Scrapyard, and Deathsurge. They really arent giants (at least not compared to COH GMs) Caleb and Deathsurge are about 20ft. and the Ghost is 9 or 10ft. In terms of power they're like an Archvillain that roams the zone (and only zones, they dont appear in missions); decent attacks, thousands of hit points, and massive regeneration.
What level are GMs?
GMs dont have a level, they scale to the player. What this means is when I attack with my lvl 40 Brute, the GM is a lvl 40 target to me and he hits me like a lvl 40 enemy but for the lvl 22 Stalker standing next to me hes a lvl 22 enemy, at the same time. The developers set this up so everybody could get a piece of GMs, even lvl 1s.
How much damage do I have to do to get credit for killing a GM?
The team youre on has to do at least 25% of the damage to get credit for the GM. You would get XP and the badge.
Caleb
Bio:
Caleb is the Circle of Thorns GM. He looks a lot like a Spectral Daemon Lord. Hes found in the Nerva Archipelago near Thorn Isle. You recieve the Hellbane badge for defeating him.
The legendary Caleb. Youd thought he was just a rumor a tale told to frighten children by cruel parents. Yet here he is brimming with infernal power and reeking of brimstone from the darkest depths of Hell.
Summoning:
To summon Caleb you have to kill 100 Nerva Spectral Daemons before dusk and Caleb should spawn by dawn. It was once thought the Daemons had to be killed on Thorn Isle but now it appears that its anywhere in Nerva. One thing is certain, only NSD (Nerva Spectral Daemons) & NSD Lts sumon Caleb, nothing else. So there is no reason to fight any of the other CoT in Nerva if youre after Caleb. We killed 100 NSD on Thorn Isle and Primeva and he spawned at dawn.
Spawn Points:
Caleb spawns near Thorn Isle but not over land. He can spawn several hundred yards away from Thorn Isle over water. He also spawns very high up, so high hes difficult to see. The last two times Ive fought him he was about 400 yds south of Thorn Isle and way up high. Ive also seen him about 300 yds west and high up twice. Swarms of lvl 25 NSD will normally be around him. If you see a swarm you can follow it to Caleb. His eyes can also help you find him. You can see his glowing eyes long before you see his body. They look like white-blue stars in the sky. Finding him can be the hardest part of the whole thing. When we spawned him for the hunt he was not only high in the air over water, he was moving away from us at full speed.
Tactics:
This is one tough fight. Hes got all those wonderful negative attacks the other NSD have plus more. Hes got Fearsome Stare and uses it constantly to terrorize you (bring lots of break frees.) Hes also got Blackstar (negative energy Nova) that really hurts . Another factor is distance; Thorn Isle is well over a mile from the hospital or the VG base teleport location. That makes it important to have awakens or a rezzer (preferably both.) How high he spawns can also cause problems if everyone cant fly. The best tactic seems to be to set up a kill zone underneath him. Then either a Brute will fly up and Air Superiority him down (works every time Ive done it) or someone will have to be the bait and aggro him down. After that it's the normal dogpile until dead.
The Ghost of the Scrapyard
Bio:
The Ghost of the Scrapyard is a giant monster from Sharkhead Isle. He looks like a 9 ft tall, glowing, blue Scarpyarder. You receive the Hammer Down badge for defeating him.
Now this is disturbing. Captain Mako tore this guy to pieces years ago, yet there he stands, smashing everything in his way with his spectral hammer. You really hope every cape that had felt your wrath doesnt pull this poltergeist routine. Itll be a busy year if they do.
Summoning:
It has been speculated that the Ghost is summoned when 100 Scrapyarders have been killed in Sharkhead rather then spawning on a timer like COH giant monsters. This would explain why hes seen so often. Sharkhead is crawling with Scarpyarders and one of the first missions given there is kill X Scrapyarders. For the hunt we killed over 100 Scarpyarders and he spawned. I "believe" this is the way he can be spawned BUT I'm not going to claim that this is definately the way to do it. Having it happen once could have been coincidence, it would take multiple summons to prove this theory beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Spawn Points:
The normal place the Ghost is found is in the large open area between the ferry and the Arbiter in Port Recluse. Other spawn points include the road running west out of that open area, the S, SW, and W parts of Hellforge, and the NW part of Potters Field. The Ghost is always surrounded by an army of Scarpyarders with more joining him all the time. If you see a group of Scarpyarders marching, the Ghost is out and they're heading to him.
Tactics:
If the Ghost can be summoned the best way to do it would be to kill every Scarpyarder you see while searching the spawn areas for the Ghost. After hes found its a standard dogpile to kill him (again.)
Deathsurge
Bio:
Deathsurge is a GM from Cap Au Diable. He looks like a 20 ft tall, humanoid outline made of red and blue lightning. You receive the Surging badge for defeating him.
This electrical horror has sprung forth from Dr. Aeons Power Transference System! Could this be a side-effect of tapping into Mount Diable?
Summoning:
Several people say that they have summoned Deathsurge by killing 100 Gremlins in CAD. Gremlins are found in only 6 spots in CAD, 6 power stations. 3 of the power stations are found along the huge PTS pipeline that runs West to East through Haven into The Devils Coat Tails. Another two power stations are found on another PTS pipeline that runs along the North edge of New Haven. The last power station is on the East-Central side of Vagabond hills. He was already out for the hunt so we didn't get to test the theory.
Spawn Points:
He spawns through out New Haven. The place I've seen him the most is a small plaza in the SE corner of New Haven near the bridge to Aeon City.
Tactics:
No special tactics, just dogpile him. Dont get to close before youre ready though, hes got a very large aggro range.
Caleb 1
Caleb 2
Ghost of the Scrapyard
Deathsurge with two Gremlins 1
Deathsurge with two Gremlins 2
