Guide to the Imperious Strike/Task Force
By
Alexandria2000,
Posted on: 2008-05-15 24:15 in Player Guides
I just wanted to note that romulus seems very easy to immob. My ice controller could keep him isolated with a single cast.
Interesting to read the bit about Rom offering rewards but the nictus aren't. May be a clue as to how the devs -want- us to approach this encounter.
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I just wanted to note that romulus seems very easy to immob. My ice controller could keep him from isolated with a single cast.
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All AVs are like that unless they are specifically immune to it. Purple Triangles does not protect against Immobilize. However Romulus does seem to have almost no protection to knockdown effects since my sleet and oil slick easily kept him on his back the entire time.
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Interesting to read the bit about Rom offering rewards but the nictus aren't. May be a clue as to how the devs -want- us to approach this encounter.
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I think the fact that he has a rez that eats one of the nictus should have been more than enough proof...
- I was able to Black Hole Rommie!
- As a Dark Defender, tanking the Spawning Essence was easy. The AoE -ACC, Tentacle, Nightfall, Fear, Fluffy, etc... kept the spawns under control. (So, I'm tanking the Spawning Essence, debuffing the spawn, throwing -Regens on Rommie, and intercepting the Cimeroran spawns with Tar Patch and Black Hole... tons of fun!)
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Ran this TF 10 times this weekend, all wins. 9 of the 10 were the "take down Romulus 4 times" method. Overall this method is more efficient then taking down the Nictus one by one.
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I think the fact that he has a rez that eats one of the nictus should have been more than enough proof...
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Well, you still kill 4 enemies whether he rezzes or not. It's the fact that 3 of the enemies don't offer rewards that seals it.
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Interesting to read the bit about Rom offering rewards but the nictus aren't. May be a clue as to how the devs -want- us to approach this encounter.
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I think the fact that he has a rez that eats one of the nictus should have been more than enough proof...
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Also that the essences can't be debuffed but of course Romulus can should have pointed out who should be taken down...
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Interesting to read the bit about Rom offering rewards but the nictus aren't. May be a clue as to how the devs -want- us to approach this encounter.
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I think the fact that he has a rez that eats one of the nictus should have been more than enough proof...
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Also that the Essences supposedly can't be debuffed but Romulus can....
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-recharge, -heal, -spd, and -res immunity is all I could throughly test and prove in open beta. There are far too many factors with ToHit and Def debuffs to accurately measure without a Bane Spider using Surveillance (which is one of the reasons why I'm leveling a Bane). I still stand by that Romulus should be given Quasar and the essences tweaked down slightly and given names.
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Interesting to read the bit about Rom offering rewards but the nictus aren't. May be a clue as to how the devs -want- us to approach this encounter.
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I think the fact that he has a rez that eats one of the nictus should have been more than enough proof...
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Also that the essences can't be debuffed but of course Romulus can should have pointed out who should be taken down...
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- 100% immune to debuffs so don't even bother trying to -heal debuff it.
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Have you tried?
Yesterday I had the /cold corr on our team use benumb on it, and it was doing 100 ish heals instead of 200ish. I'd say that means debuffs are working.
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Also, I laid down a Tar Patch and was doing more damage to the Essences. So, -RESIST is working.
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Quick question...
How long is this TF?
How fast CAN it be done, and how long is your average run?
Keep in mind that it would be my first time running it...
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Fastest is 47min 17sec
Average is about 50min
Ran it 3 times on test, and 3 times on live. I suspect we'll get a sub 40min run now that some of the issues have been fixed w/ the 3rd mission map.
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Also want to point out the fastest time of 47 minutes was an 8 man team, I suspect we could go slightly faster with a 6 man team.
The first time I did the TF we tried to go straight for Rom, couldn't even DMG him and we all died. How's that method supose to work if he can't be DMGed?
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The first time I did the TF we tried to go straight for Rom, couldn't even DMG him and we all died. How's that method supose to work if he can't be DMGed?
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preferable with 2 people w/taunt. you want to separate the healing nictus and the other nictus's away from rom. rom is a squishy compared to the nictus
Team Cheaty-Face 35:41
Video and guide to come Sunday night.
8-man lowest difficulty.
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The first time I did the TF we tried to go straight for Rom, couldn't even DMG him and we all died. How's that method supose to work if he can't be DMGed?
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preferable with 2 people w/taunt. you want to separate the healing nictus and the other nictus's away from rom. rom is a squishy compared to the nictus
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Ah, now I get it. Most of the teams I been on who try to seperate them end up attacking the Nictus first not Rom. I'll have to try that next time I do the TF or at least sugest the idea and hope the team will try it. Some people don't wanna go for the whole "Kill him multiple times" thing but that does sound easier and more rewarding than Killing Nictus.
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The Healer Essence targets anyone within 80 ft. and has a targeted heal off of them. So, send one Scrapper into to attack the Essence. If the Scrapper can't do more damage then what is healed off of the Scrapper, then that Scrapper isn't helping to defeat the Essence, but hurting that effort. Similarly for any other melee type that can't outdamage the heal. They need to back off and stay out of range.
Anyone with a ranged attack that is longer than 80 ft can stay outside the range of the heal and slowly whittle away the hp of the Essence. Most ranged attacks are exactly 80 ft., so, unless there is slotting for range, not many ranged attacks will work here.
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My team tonight/this morning tried both methods to kill the healing nictus. We were able to defeat the other two nictus and finally Romulus without having him rez but couldn't overcome the healing nictus.
We could damage it but it's regen stayed ahead of our damage output. Our problem may have been we only had one blaster on the team but we were doing well up to that point so it was a little disheartening to stall at the end.
We had:
1 x Tank (Me)
2 x Defender (both emp)
1 x Stalker
1 x Scrapper (SK'd up to 50)
1 x Blaster
The best result we had on the healing nictus is when we decided against a plan and just rushed the sucker but just couldn't overcome the regen. It ended up feeling like we needed to have somebody with -regen or a damage heavey team and that left several members with a bad taste about this TF.
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I had the same problem when Romulus didnt eat the last essense (the healing one). We couldn't bring its health down. I told everyone to back off, so that the stone melee brute and my dual blades brute could beat it down.
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The Healer Essence targets anyone within 80 ft. and has a targeted heal off of them. So, send one Scrapper into to attack the Essence. If the Scrapper can't do more damage then what is healed off of the Scrapper, then that Scrapper isn't helping to defeat the Essence, but hurting that effort. Similarly for any other melee type that can't outdamage the heal. They need to back off and stay out of range.
Anyone with a ranged attack that is longer than 80 ft can stay outside the range of the heal and slowly whittle away the hp of the Essence. Most ranged attacks are exactly 80 ft., so, unless there is slotting for range, not many ranged attacks will work here.
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My team tonight/this morning tried both methods to kill the healing nictus. We were able to defeat the other two nictus and finally Romulus without having him rez but couldn't overcome the healing nictus.
We could damage it but it's regen stayed ahead of our damage output. Our problem may have been we only had one blaster on the team but we were doing well up to that point so it was a little disheartening to stall at the end.
We had:
1 x Tank (Me)
2 x Defender (both emp)
1 x Stalker
1 x Scrapper (SK'd up to 50)
1 x Blaster
The best result we had on the healing nictus is when we decided against a plan and just rushed the sucker but just couldn't overcome the regen. It ended up feeling like we needed to have somebody with -regen or a damage heavey team and that left several members with a bad taste about this TF.
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I had the same problem when Romulus didnt eat the last essense (the healing one). We couldn't bring its health down. I told everyone to back off, so that the stone melee brute and my dual blades brute could beat it down.
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Did you drag the nictus essence too far out of range or did you break line of sight between it and romulus?
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The first time I did the TF we tried to go straight for Rom, couldn't even DMG him and we all died. How's that method supose to work if he can't be DMGed?
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preferable with 2 people w/taunt. you want to separate the healing nictus and the other nictus's away from rom. rom is a squishy compared to the nictus
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Ah, now I get it. Most of the teams I been on who try to seperate them end up attacking the Nictus first not Rom. I'll have to try that next time I do the TF or at least sugest the idea and hope the team will try it. Some people don't wanna go for the whole "Kill him multiple times" thing but that does sound easier and more rewarding than Killing Nictus.
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Don't forget that you don't necessarily need two taunters. Immobilize rom and taunt the nictus away from him works too.
And if you are patient, ganking the heal nictus from 80 feet may be more time effective for your group.
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The first time I did the TF we tried to go straight for Rom, couldn't even DMG him and we all died. How's that method supose to work if he can't be DMGed?
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preferable with 2 people w/taunt. you want to separate the healing nictus and the other nictus's away from rom. rom is a squishy compared to the nictus
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Ah, now I get it. Most of the teams I been on who try to seperate them end up attacking the Nictus first not Rom. I'll have to try that next time I do the TF or at least sugest the idea and hope the team will try it. Some people don't wanna go for the whole "Kill him multiple times" thing but that does sound easier and more rewarding than Killing Nictus.
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Don't forget that you don't necessarily need two taunters. Immobilize rom and taunt the nictus away from him works too.
And if you are patient, ganking the heal nictus from 80 feet may be more time effective for your group.
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you can also keep Nictus -jumped with Entangling Arrow and/or Web Grenade. I still find the pull to the top left tower to work out the best without any of this separating nonsense.
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The Healer Essence targets anyone within 80 ft. and has a targeted heal off of them. So, send one Scrapper into to attack the Essence. If the Scrapper can't do more damage then what is healed off of the Scrapper, then that Scrapper isn't helping to defeat the Essence, but hurting that effort. Similarly for any other melee type that can't outdamage the heal. They need to back off and stay out of range.
Anyone with a ranged attack that is longer than 80 ft can stay outside the range of the heal and slowly whittle away the hp of the Essence. Most ranged attacks are exactly 80 ft., so, unless there is slotting for range, not many ranged attacks will work here.
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My team tonight/this morning tried both methods to kill the healing nictus. We were able to defeat the other two nictus and finally Romulus without having him rez but couldn't overcome the healing nictus.
We could damage it but it's regen stayed ahead of our damage output. Our problem may have been we only had one blaster on the team but we were doing well up to that point so it was a little disheartening to stall at the end.
We had:
1 x Tank (Me)
2 x Defender (both emp)
1 x Stalker
1 x Scrapper (SK'd up to 50)
1 x Blaster
The best result we had on the healing nictus is when we decided against a plan and just rushed the sucker but just couldn't overcome the regen. It ended up feeling like we needed to have somebody with -regen or a damage heavey team and that left several members with a bad taste about this TF.
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I had the same problem when Romulus didnt eat the last essense (the healing one). We couldn't bring its health down. I told everyone to back off, so that the stone melee brute and my dual blades brute could beat it down.
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Did you drag the nictus essence too far out of range or did you break line of sight between it and romulus?
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The essence was out of sight, it was on the left side of the stairs, while Rom died in the center. I just assumed he auto absorbed them. It turned out okay though, it was fun to beat it down while everyone watched 
I assume its possible to kill Rom and not have him rez if the essences are out of sight.
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I assume its possible to kill Rom and not have him rez if the essences are out of sight.
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Quite correct. if any nictus is out of line of sight of Rom he can't use it to rez, which can be bad if your team can't do enough damage to wear down the healer.
OK I just tried the "Kill Rom 4 times" method but there was a problem. We killed him once and he fell back into a wall when he died so was unable to rez.
We ended up killing the Nictus anyway and completed the TF so I now have my armor for Lord Vestereo. For a while there my main characters lost their matching costumes.
(Got a Blue and White costume on my hero while my villain wears Black and Red versions of the same costumes. Not completly the same but verry simular. I even put the spiked roman crest on my villain while my hero has no crest.)
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OK I just tried the "Kill Rom 4 times" method but there was a problem. We killed him once and he fell back into a wall when he died so was unable to rez.
We ended up killing the Nictus anyway and completed the TF so I now have my armor for Lord Vestereo. For a while there my main characters lost their matching costumes.
(Got a Blue and White costume on my hero while my villain wears Black and Red versions of the same costumes. Not completly the same but verry simular. I even put the spiked roman crest on my villain while my hero has no crest.)
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Yes the line of sight thing is critical to the kill Rom 4 times strategy. I tend to pull the Healer so that its about 10 ft from Rom and tell the team to not pull Rom away and to not let him run as that will break the pull I have on the healer. The healer is still hitting my toon and likely some of the team but it's heals aren't hitting Romulus
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OK I just tried the "Kill Rom 4 times" method but there was a problem. We killed him once and he fell back into a wall when he died so was unable to rez.
We ended up killing the Nictus anyway and completed the TF so I now have my armor for Lord Vestereo. For a while there my main characters lost their matching costumes.
(Got a Blue and White costume on my hero while my villain wears Black and Red versions of the same costumes. Not completly the same but verry simular. I even put the spiked roman crest on my villain while my hero has no crest.)
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Yes the line of sight thing is critical to the kill Rom 4 times strategy. I tend to pull the Healer so that its about 10 ft from Rom and tell the team to not pull Rom away and to not let him run as that will break the pull I have on the healer. The healer is still hitting my toon and likely some of the team but it's heals aren't hitting Romulus
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see we just ignore the healer entirely. As long as the majority of your team stays out of sight of the healer nictus and keeps all the nictus relatively close to romulus, you should be fine. This is why I highly recommend pulling him to the top of the left tower since it has sharp corners that makes this strategy easy.
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Team Cheaty-Face 35:41
Video and guide to come Sunday night.
8-man lowest difficulty.
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Good freakin' work!!
In mission 2 we discovered a way to mitigate most of the ambushes. A guy named Emperon on Champion server came up with the idea of clearing the mission of everything but cysts then take out enough cysts that you have a ratio of one per team member. split up between the remaining cysts and beat them down to a sliver of life and when everyone is ready simultaneously start your attacks. if done right the cysts should all be dead at relatively the same time and you can just mission complete exit to avoid the ambush.
Master Gabriel
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Also make sure you have a Kin on the team beacuse the Nictus have slows in their attacks and therefore lowering the team DPS
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Colds and Thermals also give Slow resist to the entire team (Artic Fog and Thaw).