Great guide!
Very nice wish I had read it the other day,still going to do it again better prepared this time tho 
Prof Radburn controller,Celtic Ice Maiden,blaster,Miss Knockout scrapper,Mistress Davina controller,Stone Hart,tank Split Personality PB.Queen Lostris controller,Fridgid Mary blaster,Shocking Fire blaster Future Elfling defender, Little Weed controller,Capo Angelo MM, Commander Buzzsaw MM, Justice Tank tank all 50,s
in my opinion tactics should be kept to a minimum for anything like this. The make up of each team is different so they will naturally use different tactics. A lot of the problems with only certain ATs being wanted on some TFs are down to tactics being set in stone and people being unwilling to experiment.
Thats why I've not been specific on AT's and included tactics that any team makeup can use
Exception for stalkers getting a mention as I've read a lot of posts about stalkers being shunned, where here they can provide the team with excellent healer elimination!!!
In-game and now on Twitter @Tsumiju Zero "The Nightmare of Dra'Gon"
"The flow of battle can only be influenced, not by realtime tactics, but by strategy."
Proud resident of the Union EU Server.
B.A.F. Trial Guide
Great guide, to the point and you miss nothing. It is a tough TF, for which the devs should be proud of!
I'm quite chuffed with the positive responses here guys
thankyou!
In-game and now on Twitter @Tsumiju Zero "The Nightmare of Dra'Gon"
"The flow of battle can only be influenced, not by realtime tactics, but by strategy."
Proud resident of the Union EU Server.
B.A.F. Trial Guide
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Thats why I've not been specific on AT's and included tactics that any team makeup can use
Exception for stalkers getting a mention as I've read a lot of posts about stalkers being shunned, where here they can provide the team with excellent healer elimination!!!
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Good guide. Personally Id still shun a stalker. the healers can be held, and holds recharge a lot quiker than AS. Stalkers are still the lodestone around any teams neck, and in a tough TF like this teams get can quite picky.
Fortunately, looks like stalkers are in for a major buff soon. Will put them at scrapper levels of desirability (i.e. not looked for, but not shunned), which is a good thing.
From my experience in the TF, Id say it hinges on high damage, high debuff, and at least one good "hold" class (Dominator or Controller) for those Imperious surgeons. 2 Tanks has helped quite a bit, and I would hesitate to do it without one.
[Note: "Shun" seems a bit strong but is the wording im qouting. BUt its a hard TF, and there isnt room for more than one or two less desirable ATs unless you are have a lot of time and tolerance for debt. Nevertheless, good people/players 1st etc etc]
The main thing I've learned from the final mission, is that you actually need to wack the nictus with gauntlet to pull them away. Tanks/Brutes, bruisers or any thing else with a taunt effect, actually needs to hit them. Taunt on its own does nothing to pull them away.
As for dealing with the surgeons: a nice bind to help;
/bind key "target_custom_next Surgeon" means you can find the surgeons in the mob and eliminate them quickly.
because of the way the Cimeroran's defence's are worked out high damage is a must! Especially with those Surgeons backing them up!
Just thought I'd add some points for this TF while im posting here though!
Mission 1
<ul type="square">[*]When rescuing Sister Solaris - get a stalker to take her to the alter, she can make it across the centre without raising aggro and doesnt seem to be able to be targeted by NPC's upon reaching the waypoint[/list]
Mission 2
<ul type="square">[*]nothing additional[/list]
Mission 3
<ul type="square">[*]Both Requiem and Romulus can be sniped down to the area where the Romulus Phalanx are, if the Anti personell guns in this area are confused before doing this, you get free extra damage on them![/list]
Mission 4
<ul type="square">[*]teams can go left or right at the first bridge, left is shorter but the mobs are closer together - going right takes longer but actually seems to be a safer path.[*]If you want to stealth to the AV - the team can land on the building behind Romulus without drawing much attention to themselves, however this is a difficult area to attack from![/list]
In-game and now on Twitter @Tsumiju Zero "The Nightmare of Dra'Gon"
"The flow of battle can only be influenced, not by realtime tactics, but by strategy."
Proud resident of the Union EU Server.
B.A.F. Trial Guide
Nice write up.
Trying this with the Dom Team (hopefully) tonight. I know a team that did went from 8 to 6 during the TF and no tank/brute, the final fight took around 90minutes, but was still a success. Will see what we do, we'll have pets ahoy!
@Drakmarth & @Drakmarth2
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Great guide, to the point and you miss nothing. It is a tough TF, for which the devs should be proud of!
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Oh i so agree !
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The main thing I've learned from the final mission, is that you actually need to wack the nictus with gauntlet to pull them away. Tanks/Brutes, bruisers or any thing else with a taunt effect, actually needs to hit them. Taunt on its own does nothing to pull them away.
As for dealing with the surgeons: a nice bind to help;
/bind key "target_custom_next Surgeon" means you can find the surgeons in the mob and eliminate them quickly.
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When I ran through it I was one hitting the surgeons with my BS/SR (so not just a stalker thing) I didn't bother with a bind though as they look just like the engineers that were also detrimental to our team so was just working through them first
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
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The main thing I've learned from the final mission, is that you actually need to wack the nictus with gauntlet to pull them away. Tanks/Brutes, bruisers or any thing else with a taunt effect, actually needs to hit them. Taunt on its own does nothing to pull them away.
As for dealing with the surgeons: a nice bind to help;
/bind key "target_custom_next Surgeon" means you can find the surgeons in the mob and eliminate them quickly.
[/ QUOTE ]
When I ran through it I was one hitting the surgeons with my BS/SR (so not just a stalker thing) I didn't bother with a bind though as they look just like the engineers that were also detrimental to our team so was just working through them first
[/ QUOTE ]Yep, hit the foes with long red caps first....!!
Main 50 & Badger Nine Claws Claws/Regen/Body
Other 50's Ph10x Brute Unjust Law Tanker Samantha Urai Scrapper Codename 1250 Scrapper
Cepheus Defender Nilus Scrapper Electro Field Blaster S.PONGE Tanker
Having done this 5 times now, one comment I shall make is: I will not do it again without at least one Tank/Brute/Scrapper with taunt. Ideally two.
In each of the runs I did we only successfully separated the Healing Nictus from Rom via taunting. On 4 runs we had 2 taunters and that was hard enough. On last run we had only one and suffice to say I reached debt cap and we only just managed it.
I have heard people have succeeded with a "Rush" manuever, but none of the five teams I was on was able to do that. I imagine it requires a very high standard of PvE build toons with excellent buffage and debuffage.
i had a team that did it with a straight out brawl, it was 3 scrappers, 3 blasters, 1 troller and one defender.
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Having done this 5 times now, one comment I shall make is: I will not do it again without at least one Tank/Brute/Scrapper with taunt. Ideally two.
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Hoping to get more information on what each of the Nictus Essence actually does and some more precise information on how to take Romulus down, he does require huge damage and again the exact method of seperating the nictus from him needs refinement too!
( any and all verified info posted here would be aweseome for other people to refer to guys! )
In-game and now on Twitter @Tsumiju Zero "The Nightmare of Dra'Gon"
"The flow of battle can only be influenced, not by realtime tactics, but by strategy."
Proud resident of the Union EU Server.
B.A.F. Trial Guide
nice guide will just add 1 thing the final battle the teams I've been have all rushed in with buffs and heals. Only 1 team wipe and that was the 1st one we did. The trick seams to be find the nictus that heals take it down and the other 2 become alot easier.
I love this task force apart from the lag monster going up the hill.
Done this TF a few times, and have noticed a few things that I'le share here.
The Nitctus essense to the left of him as you look at him is the healing one, not sure about the other two. Get a tank/brute to stand on the left ready to taunt. The rest of the team prepares on the right hand side of the platform. You then pull Romulus to the right hand side. At this point, the tank/brute rushes in and womps the healing nictus. Taunt on its own does pretty much nothing to keep them occupied, you have to use gauntlet. You then pile on Romulus and let him take out one of the essences. Rinse and Repeat. The hardest part often comes when the spawning essence goes nuts and spawns lots of them. Try and get the tank/brute to grab this one too, if not all 3, and keep them away from Romulus, but still in Line of Sight. This part is important, as some teams have taken out Romulus out of LoS from the Nictus, and then been unable to overcome the Healing one.
Other tactics I've heard about are to confuse Romulus so he attacks the nictus.
But yeh, its the one on the left as you look at him that you need to get away ASAP, and remember to womp it, not just call it a big girl's blouse.
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I so need to do this TF - it sounds so cool 
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Well just reading it means bang goes my chance of getting Lord Khorak on it. There's not going to be room in a relatively difficult TF for a scranker. And I don't do it by halves, he hasn't got Taunt or near enough Smash/Lethal resistance to really do any tanking at all.
Never gonna get the bloody Roman armour.
Chairman of the Charity of Pain; accepting donations of blood and guts.
Prophet of the Creamy Truth; "If it's empty, fill it with cream."
Done this TF recently, very good TF Good guide too, basically followed the strategy we used.
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I so need to do this TF - it sounds so cool
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Well just reading it means bang goes my chance of getting Lord Khorak on it. There's not going to be room in a relatively difficult TF for a scranker. And I don't do it by halves, he hasn't got Taunt or near enough Smash/Lethal resistance to really do any tanking at all.
Never gonna get the bloody Roman armour.
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Wouldnt say that. Punchvoke works okish.
This TF has *some* slack in it, but not as lot. One or two "pity" slots is reasonable, so dont despair. BUt ultimately if you want to get on it and for it to run smoothly you stand a much better chance with a standard build (not min/maxed) than with an inefficient one like a scranker.
Anyway, I wish you luck! sounds like Roman Armour would suit you well!
Despite the original guide being AT-agnostic I would seriously recommend two tanks, with one capable of keeping Rommy and the majority of the AV-fluffies busy whilst the rest of the team and the other tank curbstomp a seperated AV-fluffy.
That and loading up with a good mix of high damage ranged and melee toons. I agree that two pity slots is the max you can really do on this TF.
I cant see what all the fuss about tanks and taunting is, we done this half a dozen times with and without tanks, you just need to kill that healing nictus, get a few shivans if your struggling.
CONTAINS SPOILERS
Imperious's TF is relatively short in the total number of missions ( 4 ) but is actually quite difficult in terms of opponents and tasks. Whilst this guide might not be 100% accurate, I have outlined a few tactics and key points for each of the missions that I hope will be useful for others.
The Taskforce is very open in levels, 35-50 if memory serves but in all seriousness, bring 50's, lots of them!
Mission 1 - Consult the Orcale
This mission consists of hostages with guard mobs that have to be defeated, there are no escort hostages until right at the end so don't worry too much about having to escort hostages back to mission start.
The Cimeroran Traitors are difficult opponents for some teams as their attacks are quite potent and the "Surgeon" class opponents have very powerful single target and AoE heals. My advice is to either defeat these guys first, or if you have a stalker on the team, assign the stalker to eliminating these targets first, then going for any remaining targets of opportunity!
So, back to mission one, rescue the hostages and clear until the team is satisfied, then head to the room top left of the map where a final Sybil is stood, you MUST click her for the key to proceed through the door behind her.
When you get outside, head up the pass continuing to defeat targets until you reach the summit. At this point your team will face an elite boss ( Minotaur ) who if you have managed to get this far shouldn't be too difficult - bar mass healing from Surgeons from secondary mobs.
When the final hostage is freed, simply escort her to the alter across the room to complete the mission.
Summary
<ul type="square">[*]Enter the underground area[*]Rescue the hostages[*]Retrieve the key from the door guardian[*]Free the last hostage[*]Escort her to the alter[/list]
Mission 2 - Destroy the Shadow Cysts
Now the difficulty gets ramped up a notch as the team faces off against both Cimeroran Traitors AND nictus, including Nova and Dwarf forms.
The mission itself is very formulaic, with the main objective being the Shadow Cyats and ONLY the Shadow Cysts which brings me to an interesting tactic.
The Cyst mobs themselves, MUST be cleared of all Dwarf and Nova form opponents before taking the Cyst itself. This is because the explosion from the Cyst is not guaranteed to kill off anything except the unbound nictus that spawn from them ( standard like most Cysts ) however defeating each Cyst spawns ambush waves of Cimeroran Traitors, including one elite boss ( either Minotaur or Cyclops ) for each Crystal.
As you can see, you can end up with both Nictus enemies and an ambush to deal with, as well as taking damage from the Cyst itself exploding, which can cause a lot of teamwipes!
Once the Cyst is clear, you can execute one of two strategies. Either destroy the Cyst ( deliver the last attacks at range to preserve team HP ) then defeat the incoming ambush ( I'd recommend fighting the ambush from the first Cyst to guage team performance agains the ambushes ) or if you want to be sneaky...
Leave the Cysts alone for the time being. The reason for this is that its possible to either clear the mission of all enemies, then get the HP of the cysts to low HP, then leave one teammate per cyst ( you have to suffer minimum of two ambushes for this mission as there are 10 Cysts ) who, with some decent timing finishes off their chosen Cyst, then clicks mission exit before getting stomped on by several angry Romans....
I tend to favor a medium approach and save this tactic for the last room, unless your team is steamrollering through the mobs with ease.
Summary
<ul type="square">[*]Enter the underground tunnels[*]Eliminate the Nova's and Dwarf form Nictus[*]Destroy the 10 Shadow Cyst Crystals[*]Survive the ambushes[/list]
Mission 3 - Defeat Romulus
This mission succeeds in having the most outlandish plot in ANY TF in the game! Time travelling 5th Column Soldiers, working with Romans to build giant golden robots, powered by Incarnates, with the help of Aliens...
Madness!!!
ok, this mission is officially a complete swine! As well as having to eliminate a certain number of opponents ( which takes care of itself really considering the spawns ) there are several Generals who HAVE to be defeated, which means systematicially clearing from the beach landing ( beware the ambush on the beach ) all the way across the bridge, up the ravine and into the construction site. There are several ambushes and patrols along the way consisiting of Cimeroran Traitors, with the odd Minotaur and Cyclops along the way.
When you reach the end of the ravine, there are two paths, each leading to the upper construction ring of the Giant Mek Man constructions. Between them lie the Romulus Phalanx droids and their control terminal.
Defeating the Romulus Phalanx isnt too bad, my advice would be to attack the terminal until the first wave of robots activate, then stop attacking the terminal and defeat the robots.
Once these are down, go back to attacking the terminal and use the same tactic on the second wave ( more robots than before )
When you get to the third wave, you can clear the robots, or alternatively, for a quick win continue to defeat the termincal, once the terminal explodes, the robots cease to function and the objective is complete!
The final battle of this mission is the last general ( requiem ) and then Romulus himself. They are pretty standard AV's, use standard pull tactics to bring these guys into range and give them the ganking they so rightfully deserve ( Especially Romulus for having such awesome armor )
Summary
<ul type="square"> repel the ambush on the beach landing[*]defeat mobs and patrols as the team heads towards the ravine[*]make sure that all generals along the way are defeated ( there is one at the end )[*]Attack and destroy the Romulus Phalanx terminal, surviving the assault waves as you do so[*]Defeat Requiem[*]Defeat Romulus[/list]
Mission 4 - Retake Cimerora
Stick your Spartan helmets on and get ready for some carnage! This is a huge mission featuring a whacking great defeat counter of opponents!
Mainly Cimeroran Traitors again with a few 5th column spawns towards the end, nothing serious.
As you enter the fortress, be aware that you WILL be ambushed several times until you make it across the first bridge. This is normally the point where unprepared teams get wiped, if you have Masterminds on your team, make sure they go in only when the rest of the team have secured somewhere for the MM to setup pets!
Proceeding left at the end of the first bridge and through the ravine takes a huge chuck off that defeat counter as you fight through the mobs towards Romulus.
As you reach the end of the ravine, you reach a ceremonial area with plenty of 5th Column troops and Cimeroran traitors, I would heavily advise clearing the centre stage area and the spawns on the grass south of this in order to give your team room for the next fight.
As you entered this area, the cutscene shows Romulus getting a little alien help, which makes this fight a lot harder.
Romulus has 3 Nictus Essence pets, which can heal Romulus, Spawn Lesser Nictus and if Romulus is defeated with pets still active they will Resurrect him at the cost of their own HP.
There are varying tactics for this fight, such as concentrating on Romulus and having the Nictus defeat themselves by Rezzing him, but the tried and tested tactic of tanking Romulus while the team pull the nictus away from him, cutting off his support. The team then defeats the Nictus Essence BEFORE taking down Romulus!
Once the fights over, enjoy your new Roman Costume options / badge / recipe as applicable ( unless is pacing of the turtle AGAIN!!!! )
Summary
<ul type="square">[*]Survive the ambush as you enter the fort[*]Defeat 300 Cimeroran Traitors[*]Clear the Ceremonial Area[*]Tank Romulus and pull his Nictus Essence away from him[*]Gank Romulus[/list]
I dont tend to write guides very often, and as I'm posting from a different PC to my CoX installation, some of the numbers may be a tad off as its all from memory. But I hope this serves as a useful guide for teams taking on this Taskforce!
In-game and now on Twitter @Tsumiju Zero "The Nightmare of Dra'Gon"
"The flow of battle can only be influenced, not by realtime tactics, but by strategy."
Proud resident of the Union EU Server.
B.A.F. Trial Guide