Tanker Tuesday #78 -The Incarnates-

Is it a coincidence that all important events seem to happen on a Tuesday? I think not!
Yet again the Devs have tried to secure success for their latest update by dropping it on the day of the mother of all events.

Thus, The TT night of Total Tanker Teamage keeps on truckin' on it's way to #78, and right through i20,


Word is Siege, Nightstar and Marauder are looking for a smashing opening night, sounds like fun!

So bring your 50's and we'll plan on running an all Tanker Lambda and BAF Incarnate Trial,
and of course there will be the normal tank teamage for other level ranges and delights.


(note:To do these Incarnate Trials, you do not need the Alpha Slot to be UNLOCKED. In fact, doing these Trials is a way to unlock the Alpha Slot.)


If you haven't run either ITrial yet, here are the official guides Lambda & BAF.

See you there!



Tuesday April 5th
9pm EDT, 8pm CDT
IP Gate in Kings Row
Champion Server



--A few highlights from last months TT--


opening events

all tanker apex



all tanker itf

Lambda -compiled by Garent from many other contributors, w/ some editing-

Phase 1

• Defeat 60 enemies. -Clear streets 1st, then courtyard, then the turrets, will make phase 3 easier-

Phase 2

• Defeat the security bot and enter elevators

Strategy

• Make sure your team knows not to enter the elevators until further instructions are given. Team leader should rearrange the two teams to make them balanced for phase 3.

Phase 3

• Gather temp powers
• Time limit is five minutes

Strategy

• Each team goes to a different area.
• Front elevators lead to the Lab, and the Back elevators lead to the warehouse.
• Lab team needs to look for containment chambers.
• Warehouse team needs to look for weapons cache.
• Move quickly and only defeat the two objectives----MACRO to help w/ targeting--- /macro Lam "targetcustomnear containment chamber$$targetcustomnear weapons cache$$targetcustomnear marauder" -courtesy of zombie man.

This is the phase that determines victory or defeat

• Five minutes is not much time, but there is a time bonus as both teams destroy the two objectives, weapon crates & containment tubes. Move Fast.

Phase 4

• Defeat Marauder
• Fifteen minute time limit

Steps
Before taking on Marauder:

• Give ALL Molecular Acids to one person, and Give ALL Pacification Grenades to one person, League leaders #1 & #2 usually work. This helps manage the temp powers and their usage.

• First priority is to destroy all the portals with acid grenades. Do NOT engage Marauder until all portals are removed.
• If you don't have enough Molecular Acids to destroy them all, direct the teams to gather more from the resupply areas.

• Now that all portals are removed, engage Marauder's mobs first before focusing on the AV himself.

• After his mobs are defeated, focus all fire on Marauder while the one selected to hold the Pacifying Grenades should toss one at the AV EVERY time he enrages.
• Follow him when he jumps, keep pounding till he's defeated.

Overview
The BAF Trial is a lot simpler in premise than the Lambda Trial - requiring no collection of Temporary Powers to achieve its goals. It consists of three AV-fights (one with 2 AV's simultaneously) and (what the community have dubbed) a "Tower Defence" section.

Map of Key Points


Stage One: Defeat WarWorks
This stage is non-timed and allows you to go around and take on some Praetorian WarWorks. The spawns are solid, but easy enough with the critical mass of PBAoE Buffs, etc. a League can pack. You will need to defeat a total of 40 units.

Special Mechanics: None

Failure: Impossible at this stage as there is no timer in action.

Tactics: Spawns are far enough apart that you can stay as a single massed unit, and plow through the spawns. Ideally (IMO) you should head to the right and clear a path towards and around the Tennis Courts (so you're in position for a safe zone for the next stage, or at least heading towards the bivouacs where Nightstar spawns).

Stage Two: Defeat Nightstar
In this stage, all the WarWorks from the previous stage despawn, sentry turrets become active and Nightstar spawns at the eastern Bivouacs and in range of several turrets. She calls for reinforcements (Mark VI Victorias) every 15 seconds and they come running in (not just appear next to her).

Special Mechanics: Nightstar (and later Siege) will use an attack called "Sequestration". If this stacks on you three times, you and any allies around you will be automatically held (regardless of protections). If you get a "Second Warning", you should move away from your allies.

Failure: This section can be failed due to the introduction of a timer - a common failure cause is due to a critical mass of reinforcements.

Tactic #1 (Safe Zone): As soon as the first stage is over, the League heads straight for the tennis court, while one designated puller goes and brings Nightstar over (preferrably a Mastermind Henchman). This tactic means that no player is in range of the tower lasers at any stage during this part and defeating Nightstar should be relatively painless. Take note of where Nightstar's "corpse" is as you will need to return to it.

Tactic #2 (Spawn Point): With sufficient Destiny/Judgement powers you will be able to rush Nightstar at her spawn point and ignore the bulk of the attacks by the turrets, relying on Barrier and Rebirth to keep the team standing and Judgement to clear the MkVI Victorias. Take note of where Nightstar's "corpse" is as you will need to return to it.

Stage Three: Stop the Mind-washed Escapees
After a brief delay, from all over the map the mind-washed Resistance spawns will appear and begin to head for the exit(s). These are all marked on the ingame map as waypoints. This has been termed a "Tower Defence" section, as the League acts as the towers, stopping the Mind-washed from escaping the base.

Special Mechanics: The Resistance Commandos are fully immune to all forms of controls - from holds and immobilises to cages and sleep. They are literally immune to everything except damage.

Failure: This section is subject to a failure condition of allowing 20 escapees of any class.

Tactics: As Commandos can not be mezzed, but everything else can, heavy hitters (like Scrappers/Brutes/Stalkers/Blasters) should go after the Commandos, while other characters with control abilities lock down the regular minions. Positioning is important, making sure all the spawn points are controlled, while the main pathways are patrolled.

Those patrolling/looking for commandos may find it useful to create a bind/macro using the /target_custom_next command (e.g. /macro Com target_custom_next alive Commando or /bind x target_custom_next alive Commando)

The escape routes are as follows (thanks to Zombie Man for seeking permission to reproduce & Arkyaeon for the original image)


Stage Four: Defeat Siege
In this stage, the sentry turrets become active again and Siege spawns at the western building entrance and in range of several turrets. He calls for reinforcements (9CU WarWorks) every 15 seconds and they come running in (not just appear next to him).

Special Mechanics: Siege will use an attack called "Sequestration". If this stacks on you three times, you and any allies around you will be automatically held (regardless of protections). If you get a "Second Warning", you should move away from your allies.

Failure: This section can be failed due to the timer - a common failure cause is due to a critical mass of reinforcements.

Tactic #1 (Safe Zone): As soon as the tower defense stage is over, the League heads straight for the tennis court, while one designated puller goes and brings Siege over (preferrably a Mastermind Henchman). This tactic means that no player is in range of the tower lasers for long during this part and defeating Siege should be relatively painless. Take note of where Siege's "corpse" is as you will need to return to it.

Tactic #2 (Spawn Point): With sufficient Destiny/Judgement powers you will be able to rush Siege at his spawn point and ignore the bulk of the attacks by the turrets, relying on Barrier and Rebirth to keep the team standing and Judgement to clear the 9CU's. Take note of where Siege's "corpse" is as you will need to return to it.

Stage Five: Defeat Nightstar and Siege Simultaneously
In this stage, the sentry turrets remain active and both Nightstar and Siege will respawn at the location of their corpses (you noted where they were before, right?). Both call for reinforcements (Victorias and 9CU's as appropriate) every 15 seconds and they come running in (not just appear next to them).

Special Mechanics: Both will use an attack called "Sequestration". If this stacks on you three times, you and any allies around you will be automatically held (regardless of protections). If you get a "Second Warning", you should move away from your allies. Additionally, once you defeat either of them a ten second timer will begin - if you do not defeat the second within that timeframe then the one you did defeat will respawn with full health.

Failure: This section can be failed due to the timer - a common failure cause is due to a critical mass of reinforcements or inability to get the simultaneous defeat timing correct.

Tactics: This is possibly the most difficult stage of the Trial, not in terms of the mechanics employed but in terms of the timing of the defeats needing to be dead on. There is sufficient time for a couple of attempts within the timer given if you mistime and a AV respawns but with sufficient practice this should be very doable.

The League should split into two teams which each fight an AV each. Keep any eye on the Objective Health bars and switch to attacking the reinforcements if one team falls behind on damage.

Once one AV is dropped, the entire League should ruch to drop the other AV as quickly as possible - if this fails, then the League should switch fully to the freshly rez'd AV until the health bars are even again.