The TPN Campus Incarnate Trial

So, here is a quick and dirty guide for the new TPN trial. Please add any info you got, I’ll update this. Wanna try and make this a proper guide. I'll format and edit it later.

Phase 1: Getting Noticed:
Lore Pets: No
AoEs: No

This stage is probably the easiest and it starts once you have defeated 5 IDF. After that, a camera will spawn. Just keep hitting the IDF with all your single targets. If you use an AoE or accidentally destroy a camera, you will lose some kills making this stage take longer.

Once that is done, the main building will open.

Phase 2: Public Opinion:
Lore Pets: Yes
AoEs: Yes

Enter the main building and ignore any enemies in the corridor. Just like Lambada, you can just fly past them to the main room. In the terminal room is a big horde of IDF around 4 terminals and a technician at each. There are too many to pull at this stage, so just burn them down. The technician is unaffected by any attacks until there are no IDF around him. Once they are all defeated, use the terminals to go into the next stage.

Phase 3: Maelstrom forming:
Lore pets: Yes
AoEs: Yes

Maelstrom will spawn and there is a small cutscene. Then you all start trying to kill each other. In this form, Maelstrom has no tricks up his sleeve, just a tank and spank.

Phase 4: Pose as a Team, this trial just got real!
Lore Pets: No
AoE: Only Inside

This requires you to start splinting up. You need 4-5 high damage ST with a fair bit of survivability to stay. These people have the simple task of killing Telepaths when they spawn as quickly as possible to stop them draining your public opinion and turning the citizen agaisnt you. They also have a nasty debuff that will affect everyone in the AoE radius (150 yards, more than enough to affect everyone no matter where they are) that gives -5% defence and stacks, so more reason to kill them.

The other teams need to go and clear terminals. You want brute, tankers, anyone who can to pull the IDF away from the terminals as fast as possible and controllers/doms hold them while everyone else burns them down, then have stalkers/scrappers beat the technicians down while they are attackable. You want to activate 3 terminals as fast as possible then move on to keep the PO coming in.

The other 2 teams need to also protect a giant TV called HD. If he dies, he will teleport to the next building, leaving you behind which will seriously slow you down and might even end it.

Phase 5: Maelstrom's One Shot, One Kill:
AoE: Yes
Lore Pets: Yes, but not suggested

Maelstromm will return. He is a tank and spank with adds who will mark people for death. Get out of LoS or AoE radius if marked for death or you will be one shotted when he AoEs. After this you earn 60 threads.

Phase 6: Pose slightly better as a team! This just got realer!
AoE: Only Inside
Lore Pets: No

You need to split your teams up even more, the same people on the telepaths, but you also need a good group on Maelstromm who will appear every 30 seconds and stay there, draining your PO like a git until you chase him away by burning him down to 90-80%. The good group, if they don't AoE, can also help with telepaths.

Phase 7: Storm Break
Lore Pets: Yes
AoE: Yes

Another Maelstrom tank and spank who has a bit of a knockback and teleport kicks for high damage. Burn him down with all that anger you've built up over this trial! Well done!

Notes on Incarnate Powers: Clarion and Incandescence won't do very much on this trial. Barrier will help deal with the debuff, but any of the other destinies are good to.

Lore pets should only be used for phases 1-2. If they defeat citizens, they will cause you to lose public opinion.

More to come.

Phase 7: Repeat phase 5 and you are done

Reached it just once but I think that fight is identical to one in phase 5, just after it he is gone for good.

This was by far the most frustrating and unfun trial of the lot.

If the devs are going to make every new trial a heavily scripted gimmickfest then I will just stick to running the less gimmick infested trials like the BAF and LAM.

I love this trial. And I love that you get the 60-thread bonus for making it through the first round of telepaths, even if you eventually fail to complete the trial.

We ran it several times tonight, based primarily on this guide. I've tried to capture our experiences on the Paragon Wiki, so you'll have to look over there for my notes. (And while you're there, fix up anything I left out or messed up; I don't claim to be perfect in the least; I'm usually the one running around lost on these things!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fulmens The plural of anecdote is not data.

I agree with you Darth. Basically nothing in TPN is a 'challenge.' It just becomes a series of damage fests on single mobs, dispersed with an AV. Of course..you can say this to a degree about anything in the game, but to have to do the clear terminals/click terminal part five or six times..is just plain lazy writing I think. Surely we could get some other tasks? Maybe blow up some portable IDF generators or something?

Did the trial 4 times today, failing each time, and on the 5th we finished very easily. Note what I said..it was easy AFTER we all knew what to do. Which again, can be said about the other trials. The difference is the others dont required the same thing over and over. Think of a BAF where after killing siege and nightstar as a pair..the objectives suddenly changed to have to stop another 5 mins of escapees.

Another complaint I have with it (similar to keyes pre update) is that I ran it on an MM, and found it very unfriendly. At the start, defeating mobs around the outside, I basically couldnt use ANY powers but my heal, for fear of tagging a camera. Then later on, when you have to run between the buildings tagging terminals over and over...I had to kill and resummon pets each time, because they were getting aggro in the buildings, that every else, including me, just ran through.

After people get badges for this..wondering how often we will see it done. UG gives a stack more xp, even failing. Baf and Lam are obviously better. Keyes is easier.
Seems to have so many areas where a league can fail just due to a few people being new/clueless/flat out dumb. I just dont see how a more challenging trial just comes down to..harder to co-ordinate with 23 people over the net.

Oh and the door to the TPN visual building thingy is WAY to obscure. How about a sign?

I actually enjoy TPN when I ran it, even though we failed. It felt like BAF v2.0. Relatively easy challenge, but only if you know how, and better rewards.

And @Cat, I'll look into that and update this with your infomation, and credit you

And do you guys consider each Maelstromm fight to be a new phase?

Update...just was on a 3x failing league of 24 people. Then we cut it back to 16.

This REALLY helped for the telepath part outside, and we got teh MO badge for that too. It did seem to shrink teh inside mobs, but not a huge deal

I prefer the challenge of the iTrials as they are endgame content

TPN reminded me a lot of the original Keyes. A lot of repeating the same task over and over. We tried it three times last night and failed on the final stage. I don't necessarily think it is too difficult, just way too tedious. After I get the badges on my main toon, I don't see myself running this very often.

MoM, on the other hand was fantastic. The fights were interesting without being too gimicky. I'll have to run it more to make a final decision, but it may be my favorite iTrial so far.

I agree too that the iTrials need to be difficult, but I don't see repeating the same task over and over again as difficult, it's just tedious. The original iteration of Keyes had the same problem.

Because you asked (thank you for that!) here is the badge information for the trial:

Trial Badges.

Section 1: TPN Trial Badges.
Master of TPN Campus.

• Hint text - Achieve the following special achievements during the TPN Campus Incarnate Trial: Spin Doctor, News Flash, Fair & Balanced, Television Addict and Tonight's Top Story.
• Completion text - You have mastered the Incarnate Trial: TPN Campus.

• Spin Doctor
  • Hint text - None.
  • Completion text - You have completed the Incarnate Trial: TPN Campus.
• News Flash
  • Hint text - Complete all three 500-point Public Opinion challenges, taking no more than 8 minutes per challenge, and then finish the trial.
  • Completion text - You managed to successfully complete each major broadcast to the people of Praetoria within a few minutes, establishing to the world that Tyrant's Imperial forces are no obstacle to the Incarnates and their mission to deliver the truth to the people during the raid on TPN Campus.
• Fair & Balanced
  • Hint text - Do not allow a single Telepathist to convert 4 or more citizens for the duration of TPN Campus, and then finish the trial.
  • Completion text - The Imperial forces threw some of Mother Mayhems' mindwashing Telepathists at the populace in an effort to turn them against you, and you stepped up to shut them down. No Telepathist managed to convert four citizens during the raid on TPN Campus.
• Television Addict
  • Hint text - Complete all four terminals in all three buildings during each 500-point Public Opinion challenge, while also keeping H.D. above 80% health at all times, and then finish the trial.
  • Completion text - During the raid on TPN Campus, H.D. offered you his assistance in delivering the truth to the world, with only his protection as his price. You accepted his bargain and delivered far better than would be expected with the IDF swarming the facility, thus ensuring that H.D. had the greatest chance to deliver your message with no interference.
• Tonight's Top Story
  • Hint text - Defeat Maelstrom within four minutes during each of his three encounters.
  • Completion text - Maelstrom arrived during the raid on TPN Campus to send a message of his own: that he would not allow the Incarnates to spread their 'lies'. Not only did his efforts fail, but you also managed to defeat him handily, adding his humiliating defeats to your message to the people of Praetoria.

Triumph: White Succubus: 50 Ill/Emp/PF Snow Globe: 50 Ice/FF/Ice Strobe: 50 PB Shi Otomi: 50 Ninja/Ninjistu/GW Stalker My other characters

Most of the badges you can get without really trying specifically. News Flash is by far the most difficult.

This trial isn't impossible. You hardly need a whole team doing telepaths, just four single target people with high DPS and maybe one empath for support if they get in trouble. I had two successes on Virtue last night by modifying Trillby's guide a little.

It's fantastic and really exhilarating when it goes right!

The easy way a group of us on Pinnacle has done so far is to ignore all the side "jobs". Even when mael is out, telepaths, etc... Have a tank or 2 in the buildings with the entire group taunt the enemies away from the terminals and ST attack the Technician's asap. Rinse, repeat in the other buildings.

You'll overcome the loss of Public Opinion by following that. It's repetitive yes but it's very doable in terms of completing TPN.

We did the Mo badge by first taking two terminals (usually C and D) and then clicking the other two (A and B) simultaneously. Seems like you can finish a building with only three terminals.
As Generic_Past and Ineffable_Bob already said, pulling the Mobs away from the terminals is more effective. The according group disappears when taking the terminal.

One (full) inside group doing terminals, 2 (smaller) groups on the telepaths and one small group to drive Maelstrom off during the telepath/terminal phase.

Did this tonight with 15.

Kept 5 ST folks outside on Telepaths while the rest did terminals. Taunting to middle and nuking them.

During P2 we pulled Mael behind a building and had the tank babysit him while 4 killed telepaths and rest did terminals.

So, we did a run today and managed to get the Master of TPN badge. Around 16 people who knew each other knew each other to be of quality, at least and 8 PUGers who joined with me. We got every badge in one run.

Now I've got a good grip on this map and trial, gonna redo the guide. Does anyone have any good maps of the trial?

OK, updated it again for a proper version.

So long as you have the taunts and outside DPS, I found the trial to be pretty easy, actually. It is my new BAF.

Those Telepathist debuffs still apply inside? Interesting, I should check that next time I do one of those (which is rare, my schedule doesn't synch up often).