SPECIFIC TRIAL NOTES
- Cavern of Transcendence Trial (lv 12-15, Eight Heroes Minimum, Estimated Time: Half an hour with invis/teleport, and never without)
[Transcendent badge]
I'm really not sure what the devs were thinking with this one. The first Trial that a player comes across is also the one they're least likely to succeed at (except for maybe the Sewer Trial). There's a lot of very specific things you'll need if you want to pull this off successfully. First you need to do every mission from all four of your Hollows contacts in order to be introduced to Karsis, who starts the Trial. Second you need access to both invisibility and Recall Friend on someone. This could be an Illusion Controller with both Superior Invisibility, a Dark Defender with Shadow Fall+Super Speed, or even a combination of two people - one with Grant Invisibility and the other with Recall Friend. Whatever works. Third you need a full team of eight heroes. Not only can you not start the trial without a full team of eight, but once you get inside you cannot proceed without eight people since you are required to simultaneously click on eight glowies at once. So if you lose a person for whatever reason prior to doing that, you might as well all quit and reform as you cannot succeed anymore. Fourth I highly recommend that whoever is doing the teleporting map out the Troll Tunnels in advance. They're a maze, and you don't want to have to figure out this maze while the clock is ticking.
As for why you need invisibility/teleport, it's because this trial was designed by the most sadistic person they had available (it seems). A ninety minute timer starts the moment you receive the Trial from Karsis. At that point you need to get your entire team of eight through the Troll Tunnels to the trial door in the middle. Fighting your way through is... not recommended. I've seen multiple team wipes just trying to get to the trial door. It's not pretty. Then once you enter the actual mission, there are lots of Igneous around. The difference here is that unlike in a normal mission, these Igneous actually respawn. That wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that you then need to split your team up so that each of the eight people is at a different glowie in a different hall. Oh, and did I mention that you don't get to see a map of the trial area and have to go through it all blind? Oh oh... and two of the glowies are guarded by mobs that can also potentially respawn. So basically this trial has one
optimal way to complete it (invis/recall friend) and hundreds of ways to fail it. In a bit more detail, you need to:
a) Get to the trial door - It's dead center in the Troll Tunnels, which are a nice little maze. I hope you have it mapped already. One option is to fight your way through. Avoiding bombs, taking out Troll bosses, etc. I don't recommend that. The second option is to send your invis/recall friend team member ahead to the trial door and have them teleport the rest of the team there.
b) Unlock the gateway - Now you're inside the trial itself, and no map will be available. You'll be looking down a ramp that heads into a large room with lots of lava, CoT, and Igneous. These all respawn too! There should be four tunnels on your left, four tunnels on your right, and another ramp dead ahead leading to the gateway (which you have not yet opened). Each of the eight tunnels to the left and right has an obelisk at the end of it. Your task now is to get all eight team members safely to an obelisk, so that all eight obelisks are covered.
Unfortunately for you, two of the obelisks are also guarded (it's random which ones). The invis/recall friend team member can obviously take one of those. If you have a second team member with invis, they should be able to take the second one. Or sometimes you're lucky and the obelisk is a small distance away from the mobs, so a team member with basic stealth can hide behind the obelisk. Otherwise, you'll need to find one of the guarded obelisks and teleport your team to it so that you can clear the mobs out first.
Once you've figured out how the two guarded obelisks will be taken care of, you need to start systematically teleporting team members to the other obelisks. Keep in mind here that many of the tunnels look alike and with eight of them... it can be quite confusing to remember which ones are occupied. So make sure to do them in some sort of order so that you'll know which obelisks still need someone to cover them. Even so, it can be difficult to remember which of the eight were the guarded obelisks. Once you're sure you have all eight obelisks covered, ask all team members to report in to make sure nobody is afk for the actual simultaneous clicking. If everybody is present, do some sort of countdown prior to clicking on them. If the simultaneous clicking is successful, the gateway will now be unlocked.
c) Rescue Sam Wincott - At this point you've got a full team of eight each standing by themselves at an obelisk, with an unlocked gateway somewhere. Have your invis/recall friend team member head back to the big room that all the tunnels were located off of. Go up the ramp that you ignored previously and you should see a stone door. Open this door, and behind it will be Koago (an Igneous archvillain) and the hostage Sam Wincott as well as some minor Igneous.
Find a safe place far enough away from Koago, and begin teleporting your team there. Make sure you don't leave anyone stuck staring at an obelisk...;-) At this point, your actual mission goal is to rescue Sam Wincott by defeating the two or three Igneous guarding him. Koago is NOT one of the guards and does NOT need to be killed to succeed here. Make sure your team knows this so that they will all gang up on the Igneous guarding Sam Wincott before paying too much attention to Koago. It's actually fairly likely that some teams will wipe at Koago, which is why this is important. AFTER you get that glorious mission completed message, then you should turn your attention to Koago. Or your exit buttons, depending on how badly Koago is beating you up. - Respec Trial (Lv 24-33, Four Heroes Minimum, Estimated Time: Two Hours)
[Transmogrified badge and Received the Stalwart Medallion accolade]
The first of the three respec trials, this one deals specifically with Sky Raiders. So your primary annoyances will be the portable force field generators everywhere. You'll have a couple of minor Sky Raider missions prior to the "real" trial mission, one a Defeat X in Terra Volta and the other just a regular indoor mission. After that comes the meat of the trial, saving the reactor.
There is one golden rule on all respec trials, which is to keep everyone on your team within a couple levels of each other. Use whatever combination of sidekicking and/or exemplaring that you need to accomplish this. The reason is because the level of mobs in the missions is determined by the highest level team member. If everyone on the team is all in the lv 24-26 range for instance, that's no problem. If everyone is lv 24-26 except one person who's lv 31, then well... you'll be in a world of hurt.
The final 'Save Terra Volta reactor' mission is where things will get interesting. There's a whole series of goals, some more difficult than others:
a) Rescue Guard - Basic hostage rescue just inside the mission entrance.
b) Save Scientists - Another basic hostage rescue inside the first door after the entry area. This puts you in the reactor control room.
c) Save Scientists & Get Key - This is in one of the side rooms. There are six doors, three on each side of the control room. The scientists you need to rescue (and who will give you the key) can be in any one of them. So pick a room, clear it, and repeat until you have the key. Once you have the key, you can ignore the rest of the side rooms. Be careful not to aggro all the mobs inside the control room proper at once though (there are quite a few), and also pay attention to the location of the bomb at the door in the back.
d) Destroy Bomb - There's a bomb at the door you need to go through. Have someone destroy the bomb at range (e.g. a Blaster).
e) Get to Reactor - At this point you're in a long hallway. There are bombs hidden throughout it, so don't just run ahead without looking for them. Some of the bombs are located with groups of mobs, while other bombs are just hidden behind pipes waiting for unsuspecting heroes. Again, have someone destroy the bombs at range before you engage any mobs near them. If you don't want to bother with fighting your way through this hallway, you can certainly send someone with invisibility and recall friend through to the end of the hall and regroup there. Defeating all the mobs and bombs is not required.
The room just prior to the reactor has a few more mobs in it, more hostages, and some rather important items. First, there is a radiation shield machine with a glowing red beam. Everyone on the team should go stand in that beam, giving themselves a radiation shield which appears as a red bubble. This is what allows you to stand in the reactor core area without taking damage. It is a timed buff that you will need to refresh periodically, so pay attention to where the machine is as you'll be returning to it frequently. If your shield drops while standing in the reactor core area, you'll begin taking a continuous stream of minor damage. Some may not notice this too much (e.g. Regeneration Scrappers) but others certainly will.
The other things you need from this room are the five glowing belts on the wall. These are coolant belts, which function as temporary powers allowing you to "heal" the reactor core. Each belt has twenty charges, and must be used at very close range to the core. Since there are only five of these, I'd recommend giving them to the more support oriented members of your team first as they'll usually be paying more attention to the health of the reactor core than damage types.
f) Protect Reactor - You're ready to save the Terra Volta reactor now! The whole team should enter the rom together, as a wave of attackers will appear almost immediately. Certain types of Controllers and Defenders are particularly useful here for defending the core (an object that all the mobs will be attacking). Bubbles can be put on the core. An ice slick can be put down around the core. Etc. Do whatever you can to lessen incoming damage to it, and use the coolant belts as you need.
Waves of attackers will spawn at the doors around the top catwalks and occasionally on the inner catwalks. They'll stand there briefly and then proceed to attack the reactor core. You can fight them near the reactor core or up on the catwalks, depending on what your team prefers. If you feel like you have a good handle on things, taking them out at the doors the moment they appear will obviously prevent any damage to the core. If things get sticky though, fall back to the core. You can only use the coolant belts when you're standing right next to the core anyway.
Each time you clear a wave of attackers, everyone on the team should (quickly!) go back into the previous room to refresh their radiation shield. Then go back to the core and get ready for the next wave. There are something like nine waves of attackers in all, so this will take awhile. When you've successfully defended the reactor core, you'll get a pop-up offering you your choice of rewards which will include a Respec option if you're eligible for one. - Respec Trial (Lv 34-43, Four Heroes Minimum, Estimated Time: Two Hours)
[Transmogrified badge and Earned the Statesman Star accolade]
The second respec trial. This time it's Freakshow. The first two missions are different from before, both being indoor missions in Founder's Falls. The final 'Save Terra Volta reactor' mission though is exactly the same, just with Freakshow attacking instead of Sky Raiders. Much like the Sister Psyche TF, this is a good way to pick up your Tank Buster badge as an afterthought because you'll be dealing with lots of Freakshow bosses. - Abandoned Sewers Trial (Lv 36-50, Estimated Time: One Hour Fifteen Minutes)
[Charmer badge]
This Trial is a bit odd, as far as levels and such go, because it does not operate like a task force. It's just a regular mission. The level requirement is only because it's located in the Abandoned Sewers, which are a lv 36+ hazard zone. Now the mission itself is designed for the lv 38-42 range. You'll need someone in that level range to actually get the mission, and once inside only people in that level range will be able to get the temporary powers needed to defeat the Hydra. However, temporarily exemplaring someone into the 38-42 range just to get the temporary power DOES work and when they unexemplar they can still use it just fine. So loading your team with 50s is certainly one way to ensure an easy time of it, as the Hydra will be grey to them. It is by no means required though.
Now if the person getting the mission has not done this before, they will have a preparatory mission to defeat 150 Rikti in the Abandoned Sewers prior to getting the actual trial. This can be annoying, but it's certainly not difficult. I believe the Atlas Park side of the Abandoned Sewers is good for lower level Rikti to massacre. Then comes the actual trial. I do recommend having at least one person on your team with invis and recall friend if possible, to get your team to the trial door which is right smack in the center of the Abandoned Sewers. Slogging your way through all the Rikti, Circle of Thorns, and such can be annoying and painful. This trial is timed and you will have 90 minutes to complete it, but the timer does not start until you actually enter the mission. The timer IS very much a factor in this trial, as many have come very close to succeeding with only seconds left on the timer. You don't need to rush through everything, but you must proceed quickly and simply cannot stop for any reason. Else you will probably run out of time and fail.
Once inside, take a right and you'll be at the top of a giant structure of catwalks and such. At the bottom is the Hydra (you really don't want to fall on top of him). Lots of Rikti are wandering the catwalks, as well as Hatched Kraken monsters. Stay away from those as much as you can - you don't actually need to kill anything on the catwalks. What you want are the glowies (again invis and recall friend is useful here). Each glowie contains one of two weapons (at random) as temporary powers - a Particle Cannon or a Thermite Cannon. Particle Cannons are what you absolutely need, and there are four of them. They need to go to four different people, so once someone has one they should not touch any more glowies. Scrappers, Tankers, and Blasters are the sorts of people who will probably want these if possible since the temporary power has a LONG activation time - something like fifteen seconds where you're doing nothing but firing that Particle Cannon. Again, you have to be in the lv 38-42 range to get the temporary powers but exemplars do count. The Thermite Cannons are fun to play with also on the Tentacles, but aren't really needed. So once you have all four Particle Cannons in hand, proceed to the bottom where the Hydra lurks.
You'll be clearing out all of the bottom area - in stages, starting at the outside and working your way in basically. There are four shield generators, guarded by Rikti. You want to wipe out all the Rikti but NOT DAMAGE THE GENERATORS. We'll be coming back to the generators later. Once the Rikti are cleared out, there are also four (I believe) Hatched Kraken monsters wandering around the bottom area. Terminate them. Support types should watch out for their foot stomp attacks, as they can be nasty. Now for a slightly trickier part - the Tentacles around the Hydra. Attacking the Tentacles will aggro the Hydra. Nonetheless, you need to take them out. Keep in mind that the Hydra does psionic damage, which can be a rude awakening for Invulnerability types. So clear out all the Tentacles, slowly but surely. Now it's down to just you and the Hydra. Plus the four shield generators, which are our next subject.
While clearing things out, you may have noticed a blue shield around the Hydra. As long as that shield is up, the Hydra cannot be damaged at all. Some old sewer trial guides will tell you to hold the Hydra through the shield and not worry about the generators. Ignore that, as it was a bug and has been fixed since those guid. What you need to do is send a couple people to each of the four generators. Knock the generators down to within a couple hits of being destroyed and wait for everyone else. You need to bring all four generators down as close to simultaneously as possible. Once everyone's ready, destroy them. When all four generators are down, the shield around the Hydra will drop and it will be vulnerable to the Particle Cannons (only!). Particle Cannons are the one and only thing that can damage the Hydra. So start using them the moment the shield drops, as it'll be down for only one minute. Whoever does not have Particle Cannons should concentrate on keeping those using them alive.
At this point (if you were lucky), the Hydra will be down to around half health when the shield goes back up. Now you'll have to bring all four shield generators down once again and have another go at it. It may take you two cycles of doing this, or it could take three or even more if you're unlucky. Rikti start porting in when the Hydra hits 50% health and then again at 25% health. If the shield is down while they start porting in, keep firing those Particle Cannons. Let those that don't have Particle Cannons handle the Rikti. Then when the shield goes back up, regroup and clear out all the Rikti that ported in. Once you're able to destroy the Hydra, make sure the whole bottom area is cleared of Rikti and hopefully you were able to do all this in the 90 minutes allotted! - Eden Trial (lv 39-41, Four Heroes Minimum, Estimated Time: Two Hours)
[Liberator badge]
Ah... the Eden Trial. It's a beautiful thing, with a gargantuan unique mission map and giant hordes of Devouring Earth to lay waste to. The mission map is so huge in fact that it's quite possible to run into the Recall Friend range limitation within it, if a team member disconnects during the trial and has to re-enter! I highly recommend that everyone experience this trial at least once. If you're running a team through this trial and would like to get a visual idea of what you'll be encountering beforehand (since I know it can be difficult to visualize otherwise), Cleat posted a very nice series of screenshots covering the whole trial here: http://www.themcglones.net/photosets...ial/index.html
At any rate, it all starts with the Woodsman (whom you may have rescued in the Numina TF previously). The first task is to simple: Go. Hunt. Devouring Earth. Two hundred of them. With a full team, this task will fly by. Now you can go back to the Woodsman for the real mission, through a giant concealed doorway near him. This mission has a four hour time limit, but that is not really a concern. Most seem to complete the trial in around two hours, so the timer is not something to be worried about. There are three goals to this mission, in turn:
a) Break through the rock wall - At the entry area, you need to drop down through a couple holes in the ground. Make absolutely sure that your team stays together while doing this. From the door, the hole at the one o'clock position seems easiest to use. You drop into a room which has one hole. You drop into another room which has one hole. And then you drop into your destination room. You can tell this by the bones in the background. Regardless of which holes you're dropping through, this is the room you're looking for.
You now need to find two wandering Quarry monsters. If you don't take them out prior to assaulting the Rock Wall, the Quarry monsters will be dropped on your head at some point. So take them out in advance. Nothing else in this room needs to be cleared. Now proceed to somewhere near the Rock Wall itself (it's giant, stationary, and archvillain class). The moment you begin assaulting the Rock Wall, it will begin summoning Boulder mobs to harrass you. They can also drop Cairn eminators, which would obviously interfere with taking out the Rock Wall. Basically you want however many people you need keeping all the summoned Boulder mobs occupied, while as many damage dealers as possible concentrate on taking out the Rock Wall ASAP. Slow effects on the Rock Wall apparently keep it from summoning mobs as often as it would otherwise. This includes your Crey pistols.
b) Break through the mold wall - Once the rock wall is down, proceed through the hallway to the room with bridges and a "lake". This is an important room that you cannot bypass if you want to fight the Crystal Titan at the end. First off, the "lake" is actually acid. Stay out of it. At the top of the room are Swarms that have incredibly long effects, so if you're a flier or super leaper then stay low. The bridges themselves are full of Devouring Earth, including Greater Devoured which will be your primary targets.
The Greater Devoured in this room drop a special type of inspiration called ambrosia. An ambrosia inspiration will give you one minute to fight the Crystal Titan without being one-shot like you would be normally. Every person on your team will need these inspirations, and it's a good idea to have 3-4 of them per person since you never know exactly how long the Crystal Titan fight will go. And if you run out of ambrosia, the fight is over. So make sure all team members clear room in their inspiration trays to receive ambrosia and clear the three bridges of Greater Devoured and such. Trade ambrosia inspirations among each other to keep things even. It's most important for melee types to have sufficient ambrosia.
Now you're finally ready for the Mold Wall. The room it's in is filled with Lichen Colonies, which spawn a continuous stream of Lichen (Devouring Earth snipers, believe it or not!). Clear the room of these before taking on the wall. Assaulting the wall itself will be very similar to the fight with the Rock Wall earlier. It's another archvillain class stationary giant mob. This one however will summon Fungi and Devoured, instead of Boulders, so it can be a tougher fight.
c) Bring down the Crystal Titan - Past the Mold Wall is a long hallway full of more Boulder mobs and such. Ignore them, and just go to the end where you drop down a hole into a giant room (and I do mean GIANT) where you'll see The Crystal Titan itself. This room is full of hundreds of Devouring Earth mobs, and you'll need to kill every last one of them. If you don't, they'll come to the Crystal Titan's aid when you attack it and the results could be rather messy. So methodically work your way around the room, clearing out everything that moves. You can go anywhere except on the Crystal Titan's podium. The water around the podium is fine.
In the back of the room are four prisons where the heroes you were sent to rescue are imprisoned. Clear the area, destroy the prisons, and you'll have saved the heroes. At this point they'll actually help you fight the Devouring Earth if you bring mobs near them. The heroes can even die fighting them. It's up to you whether you have them assist in the destruction or not. Once the whole room is clear, it's time to bring down the Crystal Titan finally. Again, the important things here are the ambrosia inspirations you picked up earlier. They last one minute. You need to take one immediately BEFORE confronting the Crystal Titan and you need to take the next one BEFORE your one minute is up. Use the mission timer for this. Basically you need ambrosia active the whole time you're fighting the Crystal Titan, since otherwise he can one-shot anyone. Apart from that it's a straightforward fight. Support types should watch out for the AE attacks. I hear that hovering and/or staying one tier below the top can help avoid those. - Respec Trial (Lv 44-50, Four Heroes Minimum, Estimated Time: Two Hours)
[Transmogrified badge and Awarded the Freedom Cross accolade]
The third and final respec trial. This time around it's Rikti. I haven't done this one yet, but it looks like the only difference is that there's a couple more preparatory missions dealing with the Rikti. The final 'Save Terra Volta reactor' mission of course is exactly the same as before, just with Rikti attacking.
-Gleep Wurp the Eyebiter
Per CuppaJo:
If you have CoV and CoH then I6 has in addition - Base entry, Base Building, Base Raids, The Cathedral of Pain Trial.
I'm assuming that the "Cathedral of Pain" Trial for CoH is the supergroup trial mentioned previously, for obtaining an Item of Power in the Shadow Shard.
/em bows down
Wonderful summary of them all.
(one edit that I noticed the Elite Boss in Positron is Cortex - not Coralax)
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
Awesome guide. It makes me want to exemp down for all of the TFs and Trials. Even Posi!
[ QUOTE ]
The final mission takes place within the Storm Palace fortress itself. Keep in mind that this is over two miles away from the entrance to the Storm Palace, so you likely will not be able to use Recall Friend directly from there.
[/ QUOTE ]
Something that I thought was particularily rude is that you can not use TP or RC friend within the Storm Palace fortress (presumably the force field prevents it.)
This makes landing on the entrance to it a challenge for TPers (there's a shallow lip that is outside the force field) and makes grant invis/group invis useful, since you will have to get past a fair number of lvl50+ mobs to get to the entrance to lunaru's chamber. Team wipes are extra irritating if you have nobody that can grant invis, since these lovely mobs respawn.
-- Edited to make sense.
I verified, last respec trial I was on, that the dance party bartender would talk to me and sell awakens.
Task Forces shouldn't need 8 people to start ... it's not fun.
Excellent Guide 
I am sure that many people will find it very useful.
Tygyr Tygyr Burning Bright
Another Issue 5 Update. In the Citadel TF, there is now an elite boss (whose name... I should have written down because I can't remember it now) in the second to last mission. He seemed a bit buggy though because his Info said that he was a Mech-Man, but... he had no body. He just looked kind of like lightning or something. Perhaps they put in the effects for him, but forgot to put in a body?
So, what's with the latest wacky rumor about clicking the glowies supposedly making the trial harder? I dropped off of one team because the leader insisted we shouldn't even click on the the coolant belts. Admittedly, that wasn't the only reason, but still . . .
There are all sorts of urban legends about what makes the respec trial harder or easier. Ignore them. It's the same no matter what glowies you click or how many of the side rooms you clear off of the control room (that's the other one I've heard). The only reason I can think of for not getting any coolant belts would be because you're bored of respec trials and want a bigger challenge.
Excellent work! This is a great place to point those questions about the various TFs or trials.
Skip
My Char. List and Market Transactions
HeroStats Developer
Legion of Valor
Iron Eagles
An excellent guide. There is almost nothing I could add, except a few little clarifications:
<ul type="square">[*] The Quarterfield TF can be done relatively quickly with a solid team that focuses on keeping up a consistently fast pace. I personally have completed the TF on teams of 6-8 in 4:15 and 4:30. It can be done![*] For the sewer trial, there are 3 level ranges that are important. In order to get the mission from the contact, a player must have a real level of 38-40. In order to reach the mission door, a player must have a real level of 36-50. In order to get a temp power from a crate, a player must have a combat level of 36-41.[*] The Cathedral of Pain trial does not appear to ever have been activated during CoV beta. We very little about it except that it apparently involves Rularuu and the reward is an item of power.[*] It is customary to do the Justin Augustine TF on invincible difficulty, as that increases the mission XP bonuses for the outdoor hunt/delivery missions without changing how hard the missions are (since they are in an open zone). However, I hope you like level 54 Death Mages.[*] In the Justin Augustine TF, any named boss whose name ends in "?" or begins with "Archmage" is basically an elite boss. They have more than normal HP and resistance, but only boss-level hold magnitude.[/list]
Anyone put together something similar to this for the CoV Strike Forces yet?
Skip
My Char. List and Market Transactions
HeroStats Developer
Legion of Valor
Iron Eagles
Very well done. The only advice I disagreed with was the respec trial levels you gave. Within 2 levels is dependant upon which AT's are 24 as opposed to 26. In my opinion, it would be better to have 28's and 24's for mentor/sidekick options than 24-26 without sidekick. Imagine a 24 blaster trying to hit a level 28 or 29 boss...even with fort, I'm thinking he'd be missing more than hitting. And with ED's impact on damage, you want your damage toons as high as possible.
But I do thank you for bringing up a very important point on individual difficulty settings. If the leader get's d/c, the diff level can very well change, and that tip can make a big difference.
Cuppa Jo, give that hero a free month!
"Most people that have no idea what they are doing have no idea that they don't know what they are doing." - John Cleese
@Ukase
Just as a note, Sister Psyche does have a few Council missions.
And yes, If you've got a stealth, or better yet a stealth porter, and know what you're doing, Sister Psyche gets a *lot* easier.
Very ncie guide, but there is one thing I'll point out. I located an exploit in the Sewer Trial that makes it VERY, VERY, VERY easy. Your guide is right without the exploit, but as it's very easy to perform, I'm sure I'm not the only to have discovered it. I'm not going to reveal the exploit publicly, but you may want to list that there is a known exploit regarding that Trial that makes it nigh-impossible to fail as long as you have one person that is the correct level range to get the missions.
- Ping (@iltat, @Pinghole)
Don't take it personally if you think I was mean to you. I'm an ******* to everyone.
It's a penguin thing. Pingu FTW.
What a fantastic guide, Gleep. Had I read this before running the 1st respec trial the other night, I would have saved 10s of thousands in debt, and actually completed it.
12. Justine Augustine
- Faathim should be called Mr Aggro. If the room is not totally clear, once freed, he will wander from groups to groups to debuff them then coming back to you, thus attracting unexpected guests to your current fight.
13. Faathim the Kind
- Faathim just got his phone hooked up and now accept phone calls from the TF leader.
- Elementals are not connected to Lanaru anymore, you can defeat them one by one (just like Hami's mitos).
- Lanaru wasn't that bad. In fact, I felt that Ruladak was more difficult than Lanaru. And I was teaming with almost the same people in the two TFs.
Question about the estimated times. When ever I have done the first 3 Task forces it seems the time it takes to complete is almost double your estimate. How do we speed them up? What is the trick to completing them in 3-4 hours instead of 8 like it seems to be taking us?
[ QUOTE ]
- Lanaru wasn't that bad. In fact, I felt that Ruladak was more difficult than Lanaru. And I was teaming with almost the same people in the two TFs.
[/ QUOTE ]
The two present very different challenges. Ruladak is all about the AoE nuke for 2100 energy damage followed by a constant supply of punches for 900 smashing damage, plus he has some kind of buff that can boost the damage of his minions. It takes quite a lot of resistance or defense / acc debuff to stand up to all that. Lanaruu is tough because he's a storm defender AV and can debuff anyone near him quite severely.
Overall I agree that Ruladak is harder - Lanaruu is easier to counter by just staying out of his hurricane and snow storm.
[ QUOTE ]
Question about the estimated times. When ever I have done the first 3 Task forces it seems the time it takes to complete is almost double your estimate. How do we speed them up? What is the trick to completing them in 3-4 hours instead of 8 like it seems to be taking us?
[/ QUOTE ]
This is most noticable first the first couple TFs... but the trick is to stealth or partial stealth them. Clearing out each and every individual mission will take you forever and a bit. Not really worthwhile unless you're really desperate for XP. But, imo, there are better ways to get XP.
For example, Positron's TF has something around 14 missions. Only 6 of these require heavy mob clearing (used to be 5, but one of the CoT missions has escorts now). Some of them can be partially stealthed, others require only one or two spawns be killed. Synapse is nearly the same. Sister Psyche's even worse - clearing a single on of the outdoor missions can add an hour onto the general completion time.
Oh, and a couple notes :
- Manticore's Task Force is probably the single most stealthable one in the game. Only the first two missions need to be cleared compeletely. Mission 3 requires you only clear a named Crey Protector (notable because he says somthing along the lines of "Countess Crey has left the building"). Mission 5 is a click the glowy, and six requires you to kill ONLY the mob named "Security Cheif Manning" and his spawn. 8 is a quick mish where you only have to kill a couple guards, with no escort portion, and for the final mission, I STRONGLY suggest stealthing through to Hopkins. He's got a bad habit of spawning on top of staircases over the entrance to a room, and enemy spawns are pretty ugly with a habit of going pear-shaped with even the best groups.
- The escort Amy Johson mission of Katie Hannon seems to not actually require an escort. Clearing the room she's in completed the mission for me.
- Katie Hannon's Soul will now randomly select a party member to follow. She likes blasters, for some reason, go figure. A trick to get through this mission quickly is to free her, find who she's selected to follow, and use Fly or Group Fly to get her to the flight cap and to the exit. You can actually beat this mission and only kill one or two spawns by doing this.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Question about the estimated times. When ever I have done the first 3 Task forces it seems the time it takes to complete is almost double your estimate. How do we speed them up? What is the trick to completing them in 3-4 hours instead of 8 like it seems to be taking us?
[/ QUOTE ]
This is most noticable first the first couple TFs... but the trick is to stealth or partial stealth them. Clearing out each and every individual mission will take you forever and a bit. Not really worthwhile unless you're really desperate for XP. But, imo, there are better ways to get XP.
[/ QUOTE ]
Managed to do Moonfire (Lv 23-28, Six Heroes Minimum, Estimated Time: Two Hours Fifteen Minutes)
[Honorary Peacebringer badge] in about 5 hours. Using stealth and still couldn't get it to 2 hours 15minutes.
Mostly we just want the badges as the xp reward isn't that great.
This is awesome! Been looking for something like this for a while. Thank you.
great information!
Thinking of running Citadel or Numina for the first time. This guide is invaluable. Thanks for doing it!
GLEEPWURP'S TASK FORCE AND TRIAL GUIDE (v1.2)
I... like task forces and trials. A lot. They're some of the game's best content, in my opinion. And they offer wonderful opportunities to bond with other people in-game, since you know you're going to be teamed with the same group of heroes for a decent amount of time. They can also be a fast track for leveling, especially in the early game. Not everyone enjoys task forces, as you do need to set aside a fairly large block of time for many of them but you'll be missing out on some awfully fun and unique missions if you do skip them. I've done every task force and trial there is in the game currently, and would like to share some of my experiences with them (both good and bad).
TASK FORCE BASICS
<ul type="square">[*]A TASK FORCE IS A SINGLE TEAM OF HEROES ENGAGED IN A SPECIFIC SERIES OF MISSIONS FROM ONE SPECIAL CONTACT. You cannot choose any other missions while on a task force. At the end of the task force, you will receive a badge as well as one single origin enhancement as a reward (provided you have room for it).[*]TASK FORCES HAVE A SPECIFIC LEVEL RANGE. If you are below the minimum level for a task force, the task force will not start with you on the team. Sidekicking into the level range for the task force does NOT work. If however you are above the maximum level of the task force, you will be automatically exemplared down to the highest level allowed for the entire duration of the task force. If you exceed the maximum level of the task force by leveling during it, you will also be automatically exemplared back to your previous level. Nobody on the team can ever play at a level higher than the maximum for the task force.[*]YOU CAN SIDEKICK AND EXEMPLAR WITHIN THE TASK FORCE LEVEL RANGE. For most task forces, you'll want all team members near the high end of the level range so sidekicking heroes up from the low end of the level range is certainly a good idea. Exemplaring works as well, though that is normally not used except on respec trials where you want everyone on the team to be within a couple levels of each other. If someone was auto-exemplared when the task force started, they can still be manually exemplared down further.[*]A TASK FORCE TEAM IS FIXED. Once you agree to form a task force, you cannot invite anyone else to join it. EVER. You may lose members of your task force if they decide to quit, but can never recruit new members to replace them. It is important that the heroes forming the task force be committed to it, and have a good idea of how long it will take.[*]TASK FORCES NEED A MINIMUM NUMBER OF TEAM MEMBERS. The specific number varies from three heroes (for Positron) all the way up to a full team of eight heroes (for the Shadow Shard task forces). Asking heroes to temporarily join your team just to start the task force does work though, and they can quit the task force immediately after you start it. If someone quitting the task force results in only a single person being left on the "team", the task force will be disbanded.[*]TASK FORCE CONTACTS START AS ACQUAINTANCES. Just like any other contact, you develop a relationship with your task force contact by completing missions for them. This is important to the task force, as it means that your team leader will need to regularly return to the task force contact and speak with them IN PERSON to advance the task force to their next mission. Eventually at some point during the task force (halfway through, probably) the team leader will be able to call them which speeds things up greatly.[*]YOU CANNOT SPEAK TO ANY OTHER CONTACTS DURING THE TASK FORCE. This means that you will not be able to buy inspirations, purchase enhancements from the level 30+ contact stores (like Ghost Falcon), or anything else that involves speaking to a contact other than your task force contact. You can use the freestanding stores in Steel Canyon, Skyway City, Talos Island, and Independence Port though. The inspiration store in the Dance Party may work also.[*]YOU STAY ON THE TASK FORCE EVEN AFTER LOGGING OUT OR DISCONNECTING. When you log back in, if the task force is still in progress, then you will be automatically rejoined to your team. This can be used to your advantage to split a particularly long task force over multiple days, if you are able to arrange with your team to all log back in at a specific time the following day to resume.[/list]TIPS FOR LEADING TASK FORCES
<ul type="square">[*]SET YOUR MISSION DIFFICULTY TO HEROIC. Unless you just really want a challenge that is. The difficulty of the task force as a whole is based on the mission difficulty setting of its leader. The only case where anybody else's setting matters is if the task force leader disconnects during the task force and the star gets passed to someone else. In that case, the new leader will also need to set their mission difficulty to Heroic.[*]HAVE A FAST TRAVEL POWER. If you're leading the task force, it'll be your sole responsibility to get to and from the task force contact for getting new missions and such. So a fast travel power is actually very helpful here, since the longer it takes you to get the next mission the more downtime there is. I personally use the Super Jump+Hurdle combination on almost all my characters, and the only people I've ever seen outpace me are skilled (and slotted) teleporters. If you have a particularly slow travel power (e.g. one-slot Fly) then you may want to pass the star to another team member. Remember, once the task force starts you cannot change the group leader by choice.[*]KNOW WHAT'S COMING. My favorite site for this is http://www.nofuture.org.uk/coh/story_arcs/. While running a task force I generally keep that web site open to the task force I'm working on so that I can keep track of how far we've gotten and what missions are coming up next. Everyone always appreciates knowing when they're in the home stretch of the task force.
And when the next mission is a Defeat X or a Delivery type mission, you can send people out to prepare for that before you even get the mission up. One important caveat here regarding use of the web site and such - don't pay too much attention to the zone it says specific indoor missions are in as quite often that zone is random and the site may not reflect that (yet).[*]STAY NEAR THE CONTACT IF YOU CAN. This applies only to Defeat X, Delivery, and Patrol type missions when you are not yet able to call in to the task force contact. You have a team of people. Only one of them (you) can talk to the task force contact and advance them to the next mission. Therefore you should send others on the team to run those missions while you wait at the contact, thus speeding things up for everyone.[*]KEEP THINGS MOVING. This is extremely important. Task forces are like marathons. Nobody notices how long they are as long as things keep moving along and everyone's having fun. If it starts to drag though... then the fun goes right out the window and people start looking at the clock. If everyone is at the mission except one person who's selling enhancements, training, afk, or whatever then start moving through the mission if at all possible. If an important team member (your only tanker, your only healer, etc.) has to go afk for awhile, then be a bit more careful certainly. But do keep moving if you can regardless. Mass afk bio breaks and such are excepted obviously.[*]BALANCE EVERYONE'S PRIORITIES. A task force is likely to be composed of both players in the actual level range and some exemplars. The exemplars want the task force to be over as quickly as humanly possible in general, and have no problem with stealthing every mission just to get it over with. Those in the level range probably want to xp though and don't necessarily appreciate cutting every single corner possible. So... split the difference. Some missions cry out for stealthing, such as when the mission goal is just "click on this glowie". Others like the "defeat this boss and his crew" type could be stealthed, but it might be more enjoyable to just fight your way there like normal. As a team. So keep control of things and don't feel bad for telling people that you just don't want to stealth every mission.[/list]TASK FORCE AND TRIAL REVIEWS
Let's face it - not all task forces are created equal. Some are spectacularly fun, while others are death marches with a team of heroes plodding onward only because they want to finish the thing. Here's where they each of the various task forces and trials fall, obviously all in my own personal opinion:
<ul type="square">[*]MUST SEE! - Ernesto Hess, Katie Hannon, Eden Trial.[*]VERY ENJOYABLE - Synapse, Faathim the Kind, Respec Trial, Abandoned Sewers Trial (with a good team!).[*]ENJOYABLE - Sister Psyche, Moonfire, Numina, Sara Moore.[*]MEDIOCRE - Citadel, Manticore, Justin Augustine.[*]AVOID! - Positron, Cavern of Transcendence Trial, Dr. Quarterfield.[/list]If you haven't done task forces previously because you don't like the time commitments and such, Katie Hannon is a good place for you to start as it is fun, interesting, and extremely short.
SPECIFIC TASK FORCE NOTES
[Positron's Ally badge]
This is well known as being a real bugger of a task force, and probably the rudest introduction to task forces in general that a hero could have at that level. It's long, it can be fairly tedious, there's a lot of travel involved, and due the level range not all heroes will even have travel powers at this point! For those that do have travel powers, it's a real test of patience waiting on others doing their level best to sprint to the mission through potentially unfriendly territories. For the best experience on this, make sure someone is coming who has both a travel power and Recall Friend to assist those who don't.
As far as mission specifics, you'll be dealing with the Vahzilok, Circle of Thorns, and Clockwork in various combinations. With all three factions in the final mission. Chances are quite good of picking up both the Gravedigger and Gearsmasher badges along the way. The Vahzilok missions in particular can be extremely rough on this task force. With a full team you can get multiple bosses in a single group and... they're just tough. The very first mission of the task force is in fact one of the more difficult Vahzilok missions. So don't feel bad if it seems like the task force isn't going that well at first - it does get a bit easier. Since there's no archvillain or anything on this task force though, the ending can be a bit anticlimactic. (ISSUE 5 UPDATE: Coralax is apparently a Vahzilok elite boss in the final mission now. They can cast confuse on players. I have not seen this yet.)
If you're actually in the level range of this task force while doing it, then chances are good of you capping out and being auto-exemplared back to level 15 sometime during the task force. Keep this in mind, as people can get annoyed when they're suddenly exemplared halfway through a long task force like this. Also, make absolutely sure that everyone on the team keeps a free enhancement slot or two toward the end so that they get their single origin enhancement reward. Those are precious, as they just don't exist otherwise at those levels.
[Synapse's Cohort and Clockstopper badges]
This is where I recommend that people actually start with their task forces, as both Positron and the Cavern of Transcedence Trial can easily just be exercises in frustration. You'll be fighting Clockwork, Clockwork, and some more Clockwork here. The Gearsmasher badge will just be a given for everyone on the task force, due to the plethora of Clockwork bosses. Most of the first half of the task force will all be in Steel Canyon, which is nice compared to all the traveling required by Positron.
The task force leader will receive four temporary powers during the task force - various incarnations of the Clockwork Immobilizer. Each of them has exactly one charge, and are a hold power. The Mk I and Mk II models you should use whenever you feel like it. Doesn't really matter. If you don't use them, they'll go away when you next speak to Synapse. The next two you should save for your big targets though.
The first of these is Babbage, a Giant Monster. Babbage is spawned as an ambush after the second to last indoor mission ("Stop Clockwork Lord, its guards"). So make sure everybody is prepared for this before you exit that mission. It's not actually required that you defeat Babbage to complete the task force, but it's fun and earns everyone the Clockstopper badge. Your next big target is The Clockwork King, an archvillain you must defeat in the final mission. The Clockwork King's lair is a beautiful unique mission map by the way, which you should definitely check out at least once. (ISSUE 5 UPDATE: Clockwork Lord is an elite boss now, in the mission just before Babbage. I didn't notice any special abilities from him, offhand.)
[Sister Psyche's Comrade badge]
Much like Synapse was all Clockwork, Sister Psyche is absolutely nothing but Freakshow. It may be possible to complete this task force without earning the Tank Buster badge (for Freakshow bosses), but it'd be pretty difficult. It's actually one of the better ways to get that requirement taken care of for the Freedom Phalanx Reserve accolade later on.
The main advice I can offer on this task force is regarding the outdoor train missions. There are two of these: "Defeat Devastation &amp; his crew" and "Defeat Punkadelic &amp; his crew". They're on huge outdoor maps with insane numbers of Freakshow. You don't want to fight them all, as you only have two goals in each of these missions. One is to find the sonic device, which is a glowie that looks like a barrel. People with stealth/invis are highly useful here for ferreting those out and clicking on them. The second goal is to find the named Freakshow boss and defeat him (and his crew). Again, stealth/invis are highly useful for finding these guys. The maps are just huge and you're basically looking for needles in haystacks there.
The two missions just prior to the finale ("Disable sonic devices" and "Disable the second device") also cry out for stealthing, if you're so inclined. As they're just pure click on this glowie missions, with nothing else involved. In the final mission you'll be fighting Clamor, a female Freakshow archvillain - one of the first female villains you encounter really other than the occasional female Vahzilok Eidolon boss.
[Honorary Peacebringer badge]
The first of the two Striga task forces, and the only one that can be done anytime (whether you've completed missions in Striga or not). Since it's Striga Isle, you'll be fighting Council all through this task force. Chances are good of picking up both The Silver Bullet and The Slayer badges along the way, both of which happen to be required for the Atlas Medallion accolade. One important thing the Striga task forces have going for them is the lack of travel time, since the entire task force is contained within that one zone. So it moves very quickly. Technically Moonfire does have one delivery mission in Skyway City, but that's it.
Take note that on the "Take flask to Stephanie Peebles" mission, whoever does the delivery will receive the persistent temporary power 'Nictus Fragment'. This may be important to some who like to collect temporary powers and such. In the final mission you'll be fighting Arakhn, a female Council archvillain. I've personally never had any issues with fighting Arakhn, but have heard about quite a few teams that have due to the fact that she apparently has Dark Regeneration and can heal herself back up to full. So make sure to have enough damage output to overcome this, and any holds or slows will certainly help to deal with the self-healing. (ISSUE 5 UPDATE: The "Rescue Dr. Todd" mission is now an escort mission, with waves of Council attacking you on the way out. It is actually possible to fail this mission now, but there do not seem to be any ill effects if you do other than the reduced mission complete bonus.)
[Burkholder's Bane badge]
Ah... now THIS is a task force. Probably the most fun and innovative task force out there (only Katie Hannon rivals it), with unique mission maps galore. Everyone should do this at least once. Unfortunately to do it, you need to be introduced to Ernesto Hess. That requires completing all of the missions offered by the two lv 25-29 contacts in Striga Isle, Tobias Hansen and Lars Hansen. The last mission Lars Hansen gives you will be the introduction to Ernesto Hess. Once again, you'll be fighting Council throughout this task force (Ernesto Hess himself is Council).
Don't spoil other people's surprises if you've done this task force before and others haven't. I normally just let people know in the first mission that it's important to stay together. And in the final mission I point out the exit door when we pass by it and let people know that they'll need to be able to find that door on their own later on.
There's a whole series of incredibly short "Eliminate this radar station" type missions. Let everyone know not to complete these missions until the whole team is inside, as you don't want people missing out on their mission complete bonuses because someone had an itchy trigger finger.
Two missions involve destroying generators. You should always do that last, as causing any sort of damage to the generators (even just a stray shot) will attract the attention of all Council in the area immediately. This can be bad news if it was a Blaster who mistargeted a generator by accident, and is now kissing the floor suddenly. For Tankers who want a challenge though, by all means go whack a generator and enjoy the carnage...:-)
In the final mission with Archon Burkholder (the Council archvillain), you'll want to emphasize that people stay together. Asking people not to move up a flight of stairs until everyone is ready is probably a good idea. When you get to the level with all the turrets, do take them out before moving up to the next level (go go gadget Blasters!) as they'll just keep harrassing you otherwise. Basically you want to move up slowly and methodically, to avoid aggroing Burkholder prematurely. If someone annoys him too early, it can easily lead to a team wipe there. So take it nice and easy, and hopefully your team will be together and ready when Burkholder does finally attack. If for some reason your team is low on damage and having issues with Burkholder, keep in mind that you can pull him down to the lava at the bottom of the room where he will slowly cook himself to death. Cheap, but it works.
[Citadel's Assistant badge]
Now back in the classic task forces, we have a task force devoted to... Council. Again. Ah well, at least it's not terribly long. Most of it will have to do with Mech Men. This is a pretty straightforward task force really, and in the final mission you'll be encountering Vandal - a Council archvillain.
[Cabalist badge and Ten times the Victor accolade]
The new Croatoa task force is along the same lines as the Striga task forces - short, unique, and fun. This is actually the only task force I've ever run where I found myself thinking it should be longer! At any rate, similar to Ernesto Hess, you need to be introduced to Katie Hannon in order to start this task force. Accomplish this by completing all missions for the two lv 30-34 Croatoa contacts, Kelly Nemmers and Buck Salinger. Now the task force itself consists of only four missions, all in Croatoa. You'll be fighting the Cabal and Redcaps. Probably not enough of them for the Spellbinding and Cap Buster badges if you haven't fought any before... but close. All task force members will also be awarded a persistent temporary power at the end, which summons an Empath witch named Amy to help you. You can only receive this temporary power once - repeating the task force will not give it to you again.
The first mission is to defeat Mary Macomber, a Cabal archvillain. You won't be able to find her on the map, so just wander around attacking random Cabal minions and such until she decides to ambush you. Now the key thing here to make sure you're awarded badge credit is to always kill the minions and lieutenants that appear with her FIRST. Only after they are cleared should you take down Mary Macomber herself. Also, you may want to be careful with pets. If a pet gets the killing blow on Mary Macomber, you may also not receive badge credit. This first kill will hopefully award you the One time the Victor badge though. Within fifteen seconds or so of her death, a new Mary Macomber ambush will spawn and attack you. This awards the Two times the Victor badge. Repeat all that eight more times and hopefully you end up with the Ten times the Victor accolade, access to the witch hat costume option at Icon, and a completed first mission. Take note that all heroes must be present and online for all ten defeats of Mary Macomber in order to receive the accolade. If they disconnect and are not back in time, missing just one defeat will keep them from it and they will have to repeat the task force. If there are "issues" with one or more team members receiving their accolades, restarting the task force is certainly an option here since you're only on the first mission.
Now you have your accolade, access to your witch hats, and have defeated the archvillain. You're not done though! There are three missions left in the task force. Next is a straightforward rescue the hostage mission with a possible escort requirement. After that is a defeat all Redcaps mission that takes place in a wonderful unique mission map. I've heard this mission described as "fighting the Keebler elves inside their home", which is a remarkably apt description of it.
The final mission is to rescue Katie Hannon's soul. Her soul happens to be contained within some large rocks called the "Redcap Stonehenge". Find them, break them, and Katie's soul will be released. She will fight alongside you and follow the team leader. You need to escort her safely out of the mission. You can buff her, heal her, bubble her, etc. to keep her from dying. She does seem a bit suicidal at times, single handedly attacking large groups of Redcaps on her own. Just move slowly and steadily toward the exit, wiping out all Redcaps in your way.
[Manticore's Associate badge]
This one's not too bad (for a classic task force). You'll be dealing entirely with the Crey. In particular, you're going to run into a whole lot of Paragon Protectors during this task force. Make sure to have a clear idea of how you're going to deal with these as a team, to avoid having too many of them use Moment of Glory or other such to go invincible just before dying. You probably won't pick up your Infiltrator badge just from this task force, but you'll make a solid dent into it. The final mission deals with Hopkins, a Crey archvillain and the personal bodyguard of Countess Crey.
[Numina's Compatriot badge]
The last of the classic task forces offers much more variety than most. As well as a shrunken level range. In the actual missions you'll be facing several many different villain groups starting with Freakshow, Crey, Nemesis, and Circle of Thorns. Then you get to embark on the "grand tour of villainy" before facing Devouring Earth in the final two missions.
The main difference between Numina and other task forces is the "grand tour of villainy" - a series of no less than SIXTEEN "Defeat X" type missions covering most every faction and zone available to you in this level range. It is extremely important that the task force leader have a plan for doing this, to get through it in a reasonable amount of time. What I did (on a full team of eight) was assign four duos.
The first mission of defeating Clockwork in Atlas Park was assigned to the first duo. While they were working on that, the second duo was heading to Steel Canyon to look for Outcasts so that they would be ready as soon as the first duo was finished. Meanwhile the third duo was in Galaxy City with some Hellions, and the fourth duo was in Kings Row with the Skulls. When the first duo finished their task, they were sent in advance to Skyway City to find Trolls. In order to organize this, you obviously need to be intimately familiar with the series of missions as shown at http://www.nofuture.org.uk/coh/story...etail.php?id=6. Print it out in advance if you need.
You don't necessarily need to have duos and could instead send individual people to various zones, but I had a full team of eight and wanted to split the workload a bit. But basically, have a plan and don't be afraid to split up your task force to accomplish it. While you could move as a full team from zone to zone defeating these villains, I don't even want to think about how long it'd take (soooo... much... travel). It's awfully nice receiving sixteen mission complete bonuses in such short order also.
In the final mission you'll be facing Jurassik, a Devouring Earth monster who wields a car on a stick (not kidding!). Note that it is not a Giant Monster, like the Jurassik who wanders Crey's Folly from time to time. Because of this, you do not receive The Solution badge unfortunately. Jurassik himself isn't too bad but you do need to make sure you have enough firepower to take down a Monster at the very end of the task force. I've heard of several Numina attempts that had to be called off at the very end because they simply could not defeat Jurassik with the members they had left. And obviously you'll want to clear out the regular Devouring Earth around you before taking on Jurassik, as Jurassik with some eminators buffing him would just be scary.
[Portal Smasher badge]
It's the task force that never ends. It just goes on and on, my friends... Well maybe not quite, but close. Dr. Quarterfield is the first of the four Shadow Shard task forces and, similar to Positron in the classic task forces, they chose to make the first one both the longest and the most tedious. You'll really want at least one team member with either Fly or Teleport plus Recall Friend to aid the team in traveling around Firebase Zulu. Travel in the Shard is always fairly difficult, and many people are not very well acquainted with the gravity geyser system. Additionally, at least four people must be present for the last few missions as several of them involve clicking on four glowies simultaneously. (UPDATE: I have a report that when someone did this task force with exactly four heroes, the simultaneous glowie missions actually "scaled down" to two simultaneous glowies. So if you run low on team members toward the end of this marathon, it may still be possible to complete it.)
The task force itself consists of no less than twenty two missions. Most of which are either defeat alls or are arranged so that you pretty much need to defeat all to get people to all the glowies you have to simultaneously click on. The missions tend to be fairly repetitive also, and at two points during the task force you actually receive four missions in a row with the same map and mission objective! Additionally, the second half of the task force involves frequent travel between Firebase Zulu and Paragon City. And the final mission is (get this) a defeat all... with no archvillain... in an Oranbega map. So the completion of the task force tends to involve the team madly scrambling around Oranbega trying to find which nook or cranny that last CoT or Rularuu mob is hiding in. Talk about anticlimactic! You'll be fighting Rularuu, Crey, Nemesis, and Circle of Thorns during this task force. Primarily the Rularuu and Crey.
I highly recommend splitting this task force up over two days if at all possible, as very few people will want to do this all in one sitting. If you do split it up, stopping after the first "Strike a Crey base in Paragon City" mission (actually the first mission in the task force outside of Firebase Zulu) seems to be a good halfway point timewise. One important thing to note regarding the simul-glowies is that some of the earlier missions have them present... and yet they are not mission objectives. So you can and should ignore them. It's not until you get to the "Strike the first of Crey's transfer points" mission that simul-glowies are an actual mission requirement.
[Destroyer of Strength badge]
If you're interested in the Shadow Shard task forces, this is where I recommend that you start. Dr. Quarterfield is an exercise in... something... that should almost certainly be skipped unless you're extremely dedicated to badges, task forces, and/or the Shadow Shard. The Sara Moore TF on the other hand is a very enjoyable task force with an extremely unique final mission and archvillain.
Sara Moore herself is located at the mole point in the Cascade Archipelago. There is a portal directly there from Firebase Zulu, but only if you have unlocked it by doing a few missions. If you're interested in running this task force, I highly recommend that you do so beforehand as it'll make it much easier to get back to Sara Moore for new missions and such when you don't have a phone. General Hammond is right in front as you enter Firebase Zulu, and will give you a couple introductory missions to practice using a gravity geyser and such. He introduces you to Dr. Boyd. Do a couple missions for Dr. Boyd, and he'll send you to the mole point in the Cascades (which you have to get to the long way the first time) where you'll meet Sara Moore among other things. Dr. Boyd also introduces you to Dr. Huxley, who you'll want to meet anyway for the lovely Kora fruit missions (which let you farm large acc/dmg/def/end/heal inspirations at will).
The task force itself is pretty straightforward apart from the final mission. You'll be fighting Nemesis, Circle of Thorns, and Rularuu. Most of the missions are in the Cascade Archipelago, but there are a couple of missions in Paragon City so there will be some travel back and forth between there and the Shard. Not quite as much as in Dr. Quarterfield naturally, but enough. I actually received a mission in Perez Park of all places... hidden way back under the canopy just for good measure. Doh! As with all Shard task forces, you'll almost certainly want at least one team member with Fly or Teleport plus Recall Friend to assist with travel. (ISSUE 5 UPDATE: Take note that the four "seal" objects in the missions where you're securing these seals are currently invisible glowies. We had to find them by sound only, looking for where the blue hand happened to appear. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.)
The final mission is to defeat Ruladak the Strong, and here is where it's all suddenly worth it. The mission is on a unique map that is extremely dark, where Rularuu eyeballs and such are constantly leaping out at you from the shadows. It's very easy to lose your teammates in the darkness, but fortunately there is a map for this place. You work your way gradually down a giant spiral and will eventually come to a large room with Ruladak the Strong. You will see him only by the red glow around him. Due to this (and the darkness) it can be very difficult to judge your distance, which can result in early aggro and team wipes. Ruladak is tough, no doubt about it. And he's surrounded by a whole bunch of Rularuu which you'll need to take out as quickly as you can while fending him off. Don't get too discouraged if you do wipe here, and try again...:-)
[Protector of Kindness badge]
The third Shadow Shard TF takes place primarily in the Chantry. It has more missions than any other task force (thirty three!), yet is in fact the shortest in the Shadow Shard. The majority of your time on the task force will actually be spent outdoors in both the Chantry and Firebase Zulu, not in missions. There is a pattern of "Defeat 50 Rularuu" followed by "Visit Monument" for each of eight named areas in the Chantry - all six Bastions plus the Path of Tears and the Path of Rage. This pattern will become exceedingly familiar to you during the task force, as you're collecting fragments of the Saga of Faathim.
There's also a whole series of nine "Record Monument" missions in Firebase Zulu, each of which just involves visiting a certain location and/or talking to Dr. Boyd. You're also asked to speak with Faathim the Kind himself a couple of times, inside the central Chantry fortress. So all in all, a majority of this task force involves visiting many specific locations and possibly defeating some Rularuu there. You'll almost certainly want at least one team member with Fly or Teleport plus Recall Friend. And the more team members you have with Fly or Teleport, the better. Also keep in mind that the Chantry is one of the largest zones in the game. It is close to four miles from the Cascade entrance to the Storm Palace exit. Recall Friend won't work over some of these distances, so you may have to do it in two parts at times. Or alternatively, team members can go back to Firebase Zulu, teleport to the Storm Palace, and go through the vine to get to the opposite side of the Chantry if that's closer.
When you finally do start getting indoor missions, they'll all be involving the Circle of Thorns. There will also be one CoT mission back in Paragon City (on an Oranbega map too, naturally). These missions are rather straightforward. In the final mission you will be encountering an archvillain, but rescuing rather than defeating him. Faathim the Kind is imprisoned by the CoT and will initially appear imprisoned within a giant crystal. Smash the crystal to release Faathim and he will fight with you for the rest of the mission, healing and bubbling. Be sure to take some obligatory group screenshots with the big guy after you're finished...:-) One important thing to note is that the badge is awarded from the "Defeat all Circle in Chantry" mission where you rescue Faathim. This is not technically the last mission in the task force, as you are asked to speak to Faathim in the Chantry afterwards. But the badge is awarded from the previous mission, so make sure everybody on your team is inside before you start it to ensure badge credit for all.
[Slayer of Madness and Demon Slayer badges]
The ultimate task force, both for the Shadow Shard and for task forces in general. And it's a doozy! No less than five archvillains, with one of the toughest archvillains in the game for your finale. The primary downside to this task force lies with your contact, Faathim the Kind. You may be familiar with him from the Justin Augustine task force previously. Faathim resides in the very center of the Chantry. And... he doesn't believe in letting heroes call him. That's right, you will NEVER be able to call Faathim throughout the entire task force. Therefore it is exceedingly important that your group leader be someone who can easily get to and from Faathim, which generally means someone with Fly or Teleport. Additionally, at least four people must be present for most of the missions as many of them involve clicking on four glowies simultaneously. (ISSUE 5 UPDATE: The simultaneous glowies in this task force are currently invisible. That's right... invisible simultaneous glowies. Fun, eh? We had to find them by sound only, looking for where the blue hand happened to appear. Along with the usual timing methods to get all four activated simultaneously. Hopefully this will be fixed soon.)
The task force itself takes place in the Chantry and the Storm Palace primarily, though there is a sequence of three missions that take place in Paragon City... complete with delivery tasks for good old Azuria in Atlas Park. Azuria really gets around, apparently. During the task force you will be fighting Rularuu, Nemesis, Rikti, Malta, Circle of Thorns, and even Praetorians. Lots of variety there. The archvillains you encounter prior to the final mission are Malaise, Mother Mayhem, Nemesis?, and Baphomet. Defeating Baphomet (required to complete the task force) will also award the Demon Slayer badge, for any team members who do not already have it. One thing to note is that after leaving the Shard to do the Paragon City missions, the first "Find Key" mission is actually a defeat all even though it does not tell you this. The next "Find Key" mission can however be stealthed, if you are so inclined.
After defeating Baphomet and activating your last set of simultaneous glowies, you will be asked to visit a series of locations throughout the Storm Palace. Spread your team out a bit here so that you can get to each of the locations in a reasonable amount of time if possible. You'll need to visit monuments on each of the various islands, and naturally they're not in order. The final mission takes place within the Storm Palace fortress itself. Keep in mind that this is over two miles away from the entrance to the Storm Palace, so you likely will not be able to use Recall Friend directly from there.
Inside the final mission is Lanaru the Mad. And he is NASTY! If you're not sure that you have enough heroes left to defeat a strong archvillain at the end of this task force, then you're probably right. Even if your team walked all over the previous archvillains, you'll likely be sorely tested by Lanaru. He is a Storm Controller who can also summon elementals. You'll have Hurricane, Snow Storm (or maybe Blizzard), Lightning Storm, and other assorted tricks to deal with from him. As well as endurance drains from the summoned elementals. The room Lanaru occupies is the same layout as the room where Faathim was imprisoned in the Justin Augustine TF. Around the whole outer edge are elementals, which I highly recommend you clear out before thinking about engaging Lanaru. If you wipe and have to come back (entirely possible, even for a strong team) keep in mind that the elementals Lanaru summons are somehow linked to him. Attacking a summoned elemental, even one on the opposite side of the room from him, will definitely get his attention. Good luck!