Defeating Primal Duray...

Seems he has some unfair advantages - particularly:

1) He can teleport THROUGH the bridge (unlike players)
2) He can summon jump bot pets after all the Sky Raiders are defeated
3) He moves faster than any lvl 20 player ever could...
4) He never tires (versus the players who tire just chasing after him following mega fighting for 2+hrs)
5) He can summon an airstrike UNDER the bridge which seems wrong somehow.
6) I like a little cheese with my whine - and Duray clearly doesn't. That's a problem when trying to keep the team's spirit lighthearted and fun.


Don't get me wrong, its a really good but extremely long TF that's very draining. By the time it came down to defeating Primal Duray, and that took 2hrs on top of the 2 hrs it took us to GET to that point, the never-ending boss fight was extremely tedious. So how do people defeat Primal Duray at the end of the Admiral Sutter TF? And is it possible he's a boss that needs to be toned down just a tad? Personally I felt like this would've been GREAT end game Incarnate content - not sure why its only available for lvl 20 - 40 though. I'm not even sure how a team of lvl 20 toons *could* be suitably equipped enough to succeed at this TF. Is it really possible?


We were four players (All lvl 50 exemped to 40) and we just couldn't beat him (although we cleared out the sky raiders and the other duray, no problem). Eventually our folks just dropped out from frustration and anger (one of whom sweared he'd kill his account because no game was worth so much frustration after fighting as long as we did - and we put in quite a lot of effort as a 4-man team which is why everyone was ticked that we failed a 3hr+ TF because of one virtually unstoppable boss. That said, I'm still trying to talk our buddy out of cancelling, lol).

So any guidance or advice for a small team of 4 to defeat this would be appreciated before we ever attempt this again.

Thanks.

Holds, and more holds.

I've done this TF several times and that fight can range from easy to frustrating depending on what you have in the group. My Demon/Dark MM with Petrifying gaze and Soul Storm each with full sets of Lockdown slotted has had the easiest time taking him down in groups. 2 holds (up to 4 with Procs) and any that others pile on and he was dropped like a bad habit without ever getting a single call for an air-strike.

Otherwise, Tenacity, thinning out the adds, And *not* standing on the air-strike markers helps.

Holds do help yes, but also debuffs. Anything that can get him taking more damage *since his personal damage output is really not that bad, its the adds/airstrikes etc).
That said..I agree with you that the tf being 20-40 really does make it sound easier than it is. I have done it with 50 ex'd down, and even then, the idf mobs are stiff pretty tough. Tougher than most other mobs you might have fought till then.

My advice is..take something with -regen. Any task force you should assume an AV and bring something to work on that. If you only took 4 people on a new tf and didnt have any debuffs..well..hate to say it, but that's your fault. That said, you can kill him with damage in much less than 2 hours..the key is..

Theres a combat medic just outside the respawn point, on the map. Load up your tray with half lucks, hald reds. Then, using 3 lucks and 3 reds at a time, bash his head in. With the lucks, most of those air strikes WILL miss you, even if your in the zone

I was on one of these with 2 controllers and my Trick Arrow/Ice defender (with 2 ST holds and 1 AoE hold) and we couldn't take him down either. I've been on both sides of this - when it's a good team, it's super easy, but on certain teams it's downright impossible. Which I agree is bad form for a level 20 TF allowed to start with 4 members.

I've been on a team that couldn't take him down as well. Very frustrating end to a long TF. I think the problem was either too few players or we were too low level - my character was only 21, for example, so didn't even have SOs.

I've only done this TF a few times (less than half a dozen) and I must admit, I still don't know how the rest of the team takes him down. Usually, the team is in full disarray during first the few minutes because half the team is getting killed constantly. So there's only the other half of the team working on him at any moment in time. But suddenly, usually while I'm schlepping back from the in-mission hospital, Primal Duray's health suddenly drops fast. I really don't know what they're doing to make this happen that they weren't doing for the last 15 minutes before.

only ran it once, but we beat him very easily, we did have a good number of debuffers (i had my sonic cold defender) though, and a full team, i was unaware you could run it with a smaller group, but my rule of thumbe is, if you run the minimum number, i try to run with maximum level.

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

I have done this TF twice.

The first attempt ended in failure at the Durays...a team of 4 with two gravity controllers on board.....and after an hour of frustration and failure......we gave up.

The the second attempt was a success....again a team of 4....I think just one Fire/Kin controller.....again the last section was well over an hour of frustration, failure.....and SCREAMING at my monitor as I went the the hospital ....AGAIN.....and....AGAIN.......and.....AGAIN.... ...you get the picture....but we did FINALLY defeat the Durays.


This is a pretty interesting and fun TF......up until that last double EB battle. The last battle is purely frustration......there is no other way for me to see it......I absolutely detest it....nothing fun about it.

This is a potentially awesome TF.....that I have sworn NEVER.....NEVER.....EVER.....to do again......entirely because of the disgusting Durays. Great content lost....very sad.

My advice is, you shouldnt have gone after Praetorian Duray first.

Yep, another TF on the list of TFs I won't run until a fix Primal Duray.

Ran this TF 3 times and failed once since 4 players, while allowed wasn't enough to beat this TF.

Other 2 times it was a full team of 50s. He went down pretty quickly. For the range 20-40 with a min of 4, its not well balanced.

The one time I did this TF the Durays went down in 10 min tops was a AV fight just like any other.

Ran this on a Fire/Rad team. So we had holds AND debuffs covered. STILL couldn't kill them.

Got REALLY sick of Primal Duray teleporting even through holds. And yes, he was teleporting through holds. He's show up at the new location still using the "choking" animation.

Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.

I've never had any problems with Sutter at all. Duray usually goes down in the first attempt and very quickly too. I don't think I've ever been killed by his airstrikes even (as opposed to his reinforcements or Praetorian Duray's missile swarm thingie...)

There seems to be a general consensus to hit Primal Duray first, though.

And Sutter is a short TF. Usually takes about an hour. Compared to Synapse, Dr Q., Justin Augustine, Sara Moore, Faathim the Cellphoneless that's nothing, and it's arguably quicker even than Moonfire, Manticore or Citadel. (Moonfire mainly because it has a lot of kill-alls)

The only TF that are actually shorter I can think of is Atlas/Tin Mage, Mortimer Kal and Katie Hannon. ITF and LGTF are about the same length though.

Primal Duray's TP recharges in 2 minutes. I can see if a team is busy with adds and not focused on following him and keeping up the attack that they'll never overcome his regen.

But, given that his TP is only ever 2 minutes, a focused team should be able to beat him.

Back in the day, TF team size and level requirements were designed to be restrictive enough that only teams that were almost certainly strong enough to complete the TF could start it.

Players complained that the requirements kept them from starting the TF with a team that was strong enough to finish it, and that they should be allowed to decide for themselves whether they have enough firepower to complete a TF.

The developers now have created a TF whose team size and level requirements are quite lax, and let the players decide for themselves whether they have enough firepower to complete the TF.

Now players are complaining that it is possible to start the TF with a team incapable of finishing it, and the developers should tighten the requirements so that only teams that are almost certainly strong enough to complete the TF can start it.

The developers cannot simultaneously be and not be responsible for ensuring the players' good judgment.

(Personally, I wouldn't start Sutter with four level 20 characters, and for the sake of new players I'd probably attach a warning to Sutter to the effect that the strict minimal team will have a hard row to hoe. But if some loons want to make the attempt anyway, I won't say that their freedom to try difficult things is less important than protecting players from challenges.)