Apex Task Force: Tips? Guides?

I'll be running my first Apex Task Force this weekend, but this will also be the first time I've actually done it.

I've read all of the Paragon Wiki page but there is a lot of +++ Missing Information +++

I've looked through the Player Guides here but didn't find anything yet.

I've seen a few threads with some good advice, but I thought I would post a thread to ask specifically:

What advice or tips do you have for a first time leader/team on this TF?

And if there is a good guide somewhere that I've missed, let me know.

Thanks!

I've lead many Apex TFs with a 100% success rate. Every single time, it's been with a PuG. I do not seek out specific ATs or powerset, when I advertise, I do first come, first serve. My fastest time was 37 minutes with 3 buffers/debuffers, my slowest was 1 hour and 13 minutes when we had absolutely no debuffs, only a bubbler and an empath. My team compositions have run the gamut, from 3 Tankers to no Tankers to 3 Masterminds. From 6 melees, to a single debuffer.

Before I start the TF, I tell my teams to stock their inspiration tray with nothing but oranges. The reason for this is because I bumrush the pylons. With this strategy, anyone who refuses to get oranges will die in the sewers. Anyways, before opening the third door leading to the first room, I tell my teams to eat 7-8 oranges (depending on their AT) and to ignore everything, focus down the first Pylon, ignore the Rikti that stay alive and destroy the second Pylon. At this point, I tell them we'll be clearing the first two groups of Hydras, ignoring the third in order to focus down the last Pylon.

For the War Walker part, it depends on whether I have someone who wants the badges or not. They must tell me at the beginning, otherwise I tell my team to click on the boxes and we'll be activating the drones. If we activate them, everyone stays above the stairs on the penny. If we go after the badges, I tell everyone to stay below the stairs and I'll guide the War Walkers down (stupid AI can't handle stairs).

For the Battle Maiden fight, I explain it before accepting the mission so people don't rush in. If I have people who have never done it before, which still happens with some regularity, this is the explanation I use (which I really should macro/bind):

Battle Maiden has 3 Phases. All phases have one thing in common, Nanite Halberds, ie, blue patches of doom. When she targets you with a Nanite Halberd, a blue fog will appear under your feet (not on the ground if you're flying!), at which point you have 8 seconds to move out of the way. After 8 seconds, it turns into a bright blue light and that it means it is activated, you'll start taking an impressive amount of damage. Flyers, I prefer that you fly low; just high enough to ignore the Animated Swords' melee attacks but low enough that those of us stuck on the ground can see the Nanite Halberds that have targeted you.

Phase 1 is straightforward, bring Battle Maiden to 50% health and she retreats. During Phase 1, she spawns a single Nanite Halberd at the person with the highest aggro on her, usually a meleer. This patch does 100 autohit, unresistable damage a second. If you have high HPs, have a self heal, and are NOT being harassed by adds, you can stand in it.

During Phase 2, she spawns waves of enemies, but only the human champions count towards advancing the fight. She also starts using 3 Nanite Halberds, randomly targeting people in the team. No one can afford to stand in them anymore as they'll be doing 200 damage a second. Once we finish off three waves of human champions, Battle Maiden returns to the fight, still at 50%.

During Phase 3, we have waves of enemies, Battle Maiden herself, and *4* nanite halberds now dealing 400 damage a second. Focus down Battle Maiden and stay alive. The key to this fight is not movement nor speed. It's awareness. It doesn't matter how far you jump, if you land in someone else's blue area of doom. It doesn't matter how fast you run away, if you trip over 3 areas of doom. You don't need to continuously move, you only need to move to avoid a nanite halberd. You do not get targeted for not moving, you get targeted because the RNG chose you.

Some of my characters

Great sumup, Rikis. This is one of the most fun TFs in the game imo, and I recommend it highly. Once I get all my guys the Alpha slot enhancer, it's probably going to be my go-to TF.

That's exactly the kind of tips I was looking for, thanks!

Rikis covered it pretty well. The only thing I'd add is to make sure everyone has thier alpha boost slotted, you will get people who ignore that requirement. Easiest way to check is to expand the buff bar, if they have a boost slotted it will appear there.

Another important thing to keep in mind; DON'T GIVE UP! Did Battle Maiden regen back to 100% during phase 3? So what?! I've had teams defeat her anyways, it may be demoralizing but it's not a sign that you won't beat her. You have to give people time to get used to the mechanics (and they have to give themselves time too!). Are you down one man? It's STILL doable! Both of those occasions have occurred to me but I didn't let it stop me or my team, we kept going and still got her.

P.S. There's only one AT that can complain about the Nanite Halberds, and that is Stalkers who take Mace Mastery's snipe. It's the only power in the game that has an activation/rooting time as long as the warning fog of the nanite halberds.

Some of my characters

I recently failed the Apex TF the other night, and there was never any indication that the blue fields were coming. After the near instantaneous death (they appear to have -travel debuffs), I could see them--but there was no way to anticipate them. "Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, DEATH, oh...a blue thing."

Bugged? A bad graphics issue?

Empathy.

I'll wager my mother there was no eight second countdown till the blue popped, not for me.

Just to follow up we had a successful run in about 1:54 with... 159 defeats. But we had a blast. most of the deaths were on the second and final stage of the BM fight.

Thanks for all the advice!

I was on my first ATF last night, our group failed but I am excited to try it again now that I know what is going on. These tips are huge as our group had no clue what to do in phase 2.
Thx
Iggy