Hello all! I am back with another raid idea, this one will be called the Trials of the Source. The Multiverses of the All-Powerful Gods are sinking, and in order to keep the multiverse in balance you will need to tackle the trials of the source. It will consist of a series of hallways and platforms in amongst an astral plain, and at the end you will need to face Perpetua in the ultimate test. NOTE: This raid will be of EXTREME difficulty, you will need very competent players, a well-co-ordinated group, and voice chat will be essential. Bosses will follow.
First boss: Chimera of Heroes This boss has a combination of attacks from various All-Powerful Heroes. Notes: 1. All players will receive 2 consumables, both of which should ideally be equipped to that player. The first is a device that you can throw on the platform to activate a teleport* which will be active for a limited time or for as long as a player is inside. The second is a shield to defend from a powerful attack by the boss (like Zeus in Olympus). This should be used only during this attack otherwise you will take heavy damage, and it has a heavy cool down which will end in time for another of those attacks. 2. *The teleport will activate a room with different layouts of the platforms in which your group is facing the boss. One of the players (ideally a DPS or Controller) should be in this room for at least half of the fight, using it to change the layout of the platforms in order to either access or damage the boss, or evade one shot attacks (kinda similar to the maze in Assault and Battery but MUCH more advanced). The platforms can be raised or lowered, or change position. You will have a large radar to detect where players are so you should communicate where players should position at specific times so they don't fall off the platform. If a player falls off they will fall to their death and be out for the remainder of the fight. This player may need to re-enter the main fight at certain points in order to fulfil certain mechanics. Some mechanics affecting the player should be visible on the radar 3. Some of the platforms will flash depending on the situation: - If a platform flashes orange three times, it will automatically move slightly upwards. Beware of any mechanics above, but this can also be used to players advantage to be out of line of sight for certain attacks. - If a platform flashes purple three times, it will automatically move slightly downwards. Beware of any mechanics below, but this can also be used to players advantage to be out of line of sight for certain attacks. - If a platform flashes brown three times, it will rotate 90 degrees anti-clockwise and you won't be able to stand on it, but you may be able to use it as defence and be out of line of sight. - If a platform flashes green, a healer will need to stand on it until it turns off or the group will take moderate damage and be more vulnerable to other attacks by the boss. - If a platform flashes yellow, a tank will need to stand on it until it turns off or the group will take moderate damage and be more vulnerable to other attacks by the boss. - If a platform flashes red, a DPS will need to stand on it until it turns off or the group will take moderate damage and be more vulnerable to other attacks by the boss. - If a platform flashes blue, a Controller will need to stand on it until it turns off or the group will take moderate damage and be more vulnerable to other attacks by the boss. The platform vulnerabilities will stack so it is best that everyone positions at the right times, otherwise the group will take heavy damage and it may lead to a wipe. Bare in mind also that more than one platform at a time may flash a certain colour so a 2-2-2-2 role setup is recommended for this fight. In terms of the actual boss mechanics: 1. One player will get a sun symbol over their head. This will be a damage stack mechanic, so players will need to stack to split damage. There may be a number next to the stack requiring the minimum amount of players required to stack the damage. Sometimes the number will be green, blue, red or yellow. You will need specific support roles in order to make the stack valid and the group doesn't take lots of damage. It may be required later in the fight to have more than one of each support role in order to fulfil this mechanic. 2. One player will get a moon symbol over their head. This player should look away from the group as the boss will do a mirror reflection attack on the targeted player. The targeted player won't be affected but if they are looking at any players at the time they will all take heavy damage. As the fight goes on more players may get this at the same time. 3. Giant meteor: This is a big one shot attack that will destroy a platform and KO anyone in line of sight. The player in the control room should arrange the platforms so there is a shield and communicate with the group where to stand so that they are out of line of sight of this attack. Later in the fight these may become more frequent so specific communications/positions/timings will be required to pass this. 4. All-Powerful Beam - Red skull by the boss. One player will get a white arrow and be targeted for this attack. They should stand away from the group, and have enough room with the platform layout in order to evade the attack. If a platform is vertical and the player is using it as a defence, bare in mind that if the beam is on the platform for too long then it will be destroyed. This attack will do moderate damage to the targeted player, but heavy damage to anyone else who gets hit. 5. Lava floor - The floor underneath the platforms will have a heavy damage over time AOE. This won't be an issue unless platforms get lowered. 6. Electric ceiling - Above the platforms there will be a heavy damage over time AOE, this may also cause lightning strikes (similar to last boss False Idols) at certain places so players should move where appropriate and not stand on elevated platforms. 7. Infinite Shockwave - There will be tethers allocated around the map, not necessarily including the current platform layout. Players should stand on a tether, blocking source energy from reaching the boss. The boss will then do an Almighty shockwave attack. If 5 or less tethers have been blocked then this attack will likely wipe the group. This attack will also ignore line of sight. 8. Infinite Mastery - The boss will charge up another shockwave. The only way to survive this is to stand on a platform that flashes white and use the shield consumable supplied to you before the fight. Only use the shield consumable here. Again being out of line of sight won't save you. 9. Source Prison - The boss will imprison one of each support role in a cage, and players will need to damage the cage in order to free that player. Bare in mind that when the prison breaks it will do 50% of all players health, so don't break them all at once as this will cause a group wipe. 10. Add phase - the boss will spawn adds, including a Source Oppressor, which will damage debuff the DPS in group, a Source Punisher (like the Shade Punisher), a Source Jailer, which will hard-stun a random player, and a Source Executioner, which will hard stun a random player, and if it gets close to that player it will KO them. 11. Knockback attack, similar to Crown of Thorns currents. Position accordingly and don't fall off as you will be KO'd and out for the remainder of the fight. 12. Blue arrows (only later in fight) - 1-3 players will have 15 seconds to get out of line of sight of the rest of the group, the only way to do this is to arrange the platform accordingly and co-ordinate the group. If you are in line of sight of a blue arrow player when a shockwave goes off you will be KO'd. Many of these mechanics may overlap and increasingly so as the fight goes on. The communication between the player going in/out of the control room and the rest of the group will need to be top notch, and more basic mechanics like the sun/moon mechs will need to be learnt fast by the group fast, as well as usage of any consumables. Do not misclick these consumables as the cool down is long and you may get KO'd. Infinite Mastery should be used after Infinite Shockwave, these will not overlap. Due to complex platform mechanics, midrange DPS is not recommended here. You shouldn't be affected by boss mechanics if you are in the control room, but there will be adds that will try to attack you. Some may skull and slow your movement down, so it is best to KO these (they have little health) before continuing to use the monitors to re-arrange platform layouts. Once the boss fight is over there will be a brief cutscene and then the group will automatically be teleported to a hallway area.
You approach a hallway and fight some adds, these will include an add that will lower defence of players, an add similar to bow masters, and an add that will throw a powerful bomb on the floor. To evade the bomb, players can move out of line of sight by standing behind a rock on another side of the room, otherwise this will do heavy damage. Depending on how much defence has been reduced by the first add, this may also KO players if they stay in line of sight. You then teleport into a dark platform (16 squares) to fight the Chimera of Villains. Second boss: Chimera of Villains Notes: 1. All players will receive a Darkness Cookie consumable. This should be consumed only when the boss does a powerful dark shockwave attack, otherwise they will be KO'd. It has a long cool down and should only be used for this particular skull. It will typically be done at the end of the first phase, and 1+ times in the last phase. 2. One player will receive a faint white arrow. This player should continue to move across the map, as if it stands on a square for too long the square will become invisible and the player will fall to their death and be out for the remainder of the fight. As the fight goes on more players are likely to get this at the same time, and some will get a shining white arrow. In this case, that player MUST keep moving or they will fall through the floor and be KO'd. Furthermore, if a player gets a shining white arrow they will also do heavy damage over time to any players close to them. This may overlap with the second phase but it is less likely to be as extreme (ie. multiple players at same time) as with other phases. 3. Every so often the boss will do a damage check, and white spirits will travel to the boss at the same time. The controller should stun any spirits and activate their cog so they stay stationary for a time. At the same time, a Spirit of Darkness will spawn. The group should take down the Spirit of Darkness as soon as possible while preventing white spirits from reaching the boss. Both the Spirit of Darkness and the boss are preparing a one shot attack at the same time, so it is important during this phase that the group focuses on the right targets at the right time and has the necessary damage to do so. The controller will also need a certain stat of dominance in order to stun the white spirits properly. If all goes well the boss' attack should do moderate to large damage to the group, so the heals will still need to be ready to heal the group when necessary. This shouldn't happen during the second phase. First phase: Boss health 100-70% health The boss will summon smaller versions of himself as adds in battle (you won't be able to do damage to these). They may do a variety of different charge attacks and melee attacks, so stay far away from them as they will do large damage to anyone close to them. Every so often they will mark a direction to another player, who will be tagged with a green arrow. These players should go far away but make sure the group isn't in line of sight as they will take damage and be knocked back. This will overlap with the invisible platforms so the group will need to co-ordinate so players aren't charged and knocked back off the platform. The boss may also sometimes do a 360 type attack but in each direction, first clockwise then anti-clockwise. It is important that the group sees the skull and walk around him accordingly so they don't get KO'd by this attack. You can still damage the boss during this, while being mindful of other mechanics. The boss may also leave markers on the ground, which will have 1-4 purple dots. Depending on the amount of dots, players should stand accordingly on these markers, otherwise the whole group will take heavy damage. Later in the fight this will appear and disappear faster, so players will need to co-ordinate fast. For example, if a square has 4 purple dots, then 4 players will need to stand on it. If 1 square has 3 dots and another square has 2 dots, then players will need to organise accordingly. At the end of the phase the boss will do an Almighty shockwave, the only way for players to survive this is to eat a Darkness Cookie consumable at the right time (during the cast). This will give that player immunity to that attack. Otherwise it will KO. Second phase: Nightmare Matrix 70-50% health 4 players will be sent to sleep and transformed into Night Spirits, and wonder around the map. Like Forge Spirits in Halls of Hades, do NOT stand near these as they will summon Shades that will stun you and do moderate damage to you. The 4 players still in the boss fight will still have to evade these while dodging white projectiles moving around the map. If you are hit by these you will take heavy damage, be stunned, and if you breakout you will do damage to nearby players. The players sent to sleep will be sent to a dream world. In order to escape, they must die in the dream world in order to wake up in the fight, either via an add or fall off a platform. There will be eyes patrolling in the dream world, if they see you and gaze on you you will be woken up slowly but be hard stunned for a time (sleep paralysis mechanic). Once the player is awake and back in the boss fight, the Night Spirit for that respective player should disappear. The boss will do a knock back periodically, players should move close to him (but away from Night Spirits) as if they are far away they risk being knocked off the platform to their death and being out for the rest of the fight. Bare in mind also that some squares during this phase will have a grey arrow, and then turn into a grey square with magical energy. If a player walks onto this or gets knocked back they will become drowsy, slowing their movement, doing damage over time, and putting them into Nightmare Matrix. It is best that they don't do this as having more than 4 players in NM at the same time will further complicate the fight for those still in the fight. The boss may take control of all players and move them ten steps forward in the direction they are facing. This will be a skull attack and players must position so they aren't likely to walk into a grey square, off the platform, or into a Night Spirit. Third phase: Similar to first phase but some noticeable differences. Also consider notes section will still apply here. The grey squares will remain a thing here, so players may still enter the Nightmare Matrix if they continue to stand on them. The knockbacks and ten step mechanic will also remain possibilities. There will be more grey squares so these may prove tricky here, especially overlapping with the invisible platform mechanic. Safe areas will become increasingly limited as the fight continues here. The boss may do a dark tornado attack (skull) indicated by a cast bar. All players should keep moving around during this time and not stand near each other, as the dark orb will be only placed underneath three random players midway through the cast. If all players are away from those dark orbs by the time the cast bar ends they will take minimal damage, however if they are stood on or close by to a dark orb the dark tornado will KO any nearby players. This will likely be one of the trickiest mechanics of the fight, and may continue on and off for the remainder of the fight alongside other mechanics. The boss may give all players purple circles, in this case players should spread out so their purple circle doesn't do large damage to nearby players. Swirling Determination: The boss will alternate between spinning attacks, this will be indicated by red areas. One spinning attack will affect all parts of the platform besides the area where the boss is standing, so the group should stand next to the boss. The other attack affects melee/mid-range parts so players should move far away from the boss. At around 20% health the boss will do another Almighty Shockwave, so this is the time to eat another Darkness Cookie consumable. Mechanics will repeat until the boss is dead, then there will be a brief cutscene followed by the group getting automatically teleported to another hallway.
You enter a small hallway in another dimension before you are greeted with Perpetua on another platform. Last boss: Perpetua. Easily the hardest boss in the raid and likely one of the hardest bosses of any MMO if this became a thing. Every player in the group will need to bring their absolute A* game to this fight, including exceptional skill in each role, knowledge of mechanics, communication and co-ordination, and more. With that said, if you got past the other two bosses here, you might be OK. Notes: 1. Perpetua is a large enemy, like Trigon, Mordru or Typhon. She will have similar behaviours too, like punching the ground or throwing fireballs at group members. 2. Perpetua's mechanics will be introduced one by one at the start of the fight, becoming more advanced and chaotic as the fight goes on. 3. Perpetua may do a similar tornado attack to second boss in casting an attack that will target up to three random players. Players must keep moving as the orb will only appear midway through the cast. The tornadoes have a fairly large range so anyone hit by these will be one-shot. Unlike the second boss however, the tornadoes will fire again 3 more times, tracking the targeted player. The group must act accordingly and not be hit by any tornadoes, moving around the map and maintaining distance from other players. 4. Perpetua will mark a location on the ground where she is about to strike down her fists. All members of the group must move to that location immediately and be positioned and faced far away from the edge of the platform. If a player falls off they will be KO'd and out for the remainder of the fight. 5. Fireball Missile - One player will receive a Sun symbol above their head, similar to first boss. Group members should stand close to that player and split damage. 6. Perpetua will summon rock adds on the ground while she prepares a massive skull attack. Players should KO rock adds then place rocks at certain locations and then hide behind those rocks in order to be out of line of sight, otherwise they will be one-shot. 7. Perpetua will allocate timers on squares and a certain direction. A large energy column will be summoned and move in the direction messaged here. The large energy column may be red, green, blue or yellow. If the red column hits a DPS, they will take no damage, however if it hits another role they will be KO'd. Depending on what directions are given and the group makeup, it is best to act accordingly. This may also overlap with the tornado mechanic, allowing for very tricky and challenging timings and positions. Phase 1: 80%-60% health Perpetua will copy 3 versions of herself around each side of the platform, becoming 4 Illusions of Perpetua. You will need to take three of these down, and bare in mind any mechanics in the note section may be 4x the trouble. For instance, with 4 illusions active, all players may get tracking tornadoes at the same time. More columns activated, and more knockbacks to watch out for. This will probably be the hardest phase of the fight. The rock phase however should be rotated between the 4 Perpetuas, so you should have enough time to destroy the rock adds, place the rocks, then be out of line of sight (bare in mind once the attack has been cast the rocks will be destroyed). Also bare in mind that the timings can overlap so you will need to act fast and not use up too many rocks too soon to block the skull from a respective Perpetua. Bare in mind also that the one shots will be coming from different directions so you will need to position around the rocks accordingly. Furthermore, there will be one shot Meteors that will slowly land on certain squares around the map - the timing should not overlap with the exact cast of Illusion of Perpetua's skull but you should block these via a rock as well as they will also KO anyone in line of sight. You will need to position at specific locations and time KOing rock adds fast enough so the group can be prepared for this. This will take practice to get right as timing, damage and positioning checks are incredibly steep here. Once 3 Illusions of Perpetuas are knocked out the next phase will commence. Phase 2: 60% health Perpetua will disappear and then the group will be greeted with an add phase, consisting of a Shade of Darkseid, a Shade of Anti-Monitor, a Shade of Trigon, a Shade of Brainiac, a Shade of Paradox Tyrant and a Shade of Zeus. This isn't a complicated adds phase but depending on which add you leave last depends on what happens next. If Shade of Darkseid is left last: Shade of Darkseid will emerge as a sub boss, similar to the DWF last boss. Adds will spawn, the breakout mechanic will be present, and Darkseid may mark a player for an Omega Beam. If players keep passing the arrows on the Omega Beam won't happen, however if someone has the arrow for too long they will be KO'd by the Omega Beam. Shade of Darkseid may also be assisted by a Shade of Granny Goodness, a Shade of Kalibak, a Shade of Mantis, a Shade of Lashina, a Shade of Stompa, a shade of Steppenwolf, or a shade of Mad Harriet. These will all have mechanics similar to previous encounters. If Shade of Anti-Monitor is left last: Similar to the second phase of the anniversary event. You must stop Shadow Demons from reaching Anti-Monitor. If too many reach him he will wipe the group. If Shade of Trigon is left last: Similar to your encounter with him in Survival Mode. Dodge any AOEs and fireballs where necessary and burn the boss and any demons he may spawn. He may also summon a Shade of Avatar of Sin as well. If Shade of Brainiac is left last: Similar mechanics to Flash to the Future. Watch out for exploding adds. If Shade of Paradox Tyrant is left last: Similar mechanics to Paradox Wave, he may also summon mini-subboss versions of Warrior, Sentry, Ravager and Oppressor as well. He doesn't have jail phase or pillar phase however. If Shade of Zeus is left last: Similar to last phase FGSe. In this case you will have Shades of Wonder Woman that will debuff his defence. Once the Shade sub boss is down Perpetua prepares a powerful magic attack that does moderate damage over time to the group, so heal and shield as necessary. Phase 3: 60-40% health Similar to before Phase 1 (see notes section above), except the Nightmare Matrix mechanic (pretty much the entire second phase of second boss) from second boss will return as well. (see above). Phase 4: 40-20% health Phase 1 repeated again. Phase 5: Remainder of health Perpetua will prepare a massive Ko attack, this is one big damage check. There will be adds that will try to stun players or damage debuff, which the controller or tank should stun. The damage focus should primarily single target on Perpetua, as the damage check is steep and if you don't KO her by the time the cast bar happens she will wipe the group. There will also be adds that will do moderate damage over time to the group, so this is also a heal check. Once Perpetua is down the fight is over and your group has cleared an incredibly complex and difficult raid.
Feats: (As this is an extreme difficulty raid, all feats will be 0 point feats. Also any rewards will include base items or companion pets, similar to original Survival Mode). Source Survivor - Complete the Trials of the Source raid without allowing any group members to be knocked out Superhero Fast - Defeat Chimera of Heroes in 6 minutes or less Category 5 Hurricane Forecaster - Defeat both the Chimera of Villains and Perpetua in a single run of the raid without allowing a single group member to be knocked out by any tornadoes No Time For Sleeping - Defeat the Chimera of Villains without allowing any group members to hit a grey square on the floor and become drowsy No Room for Error - Defeat the Chimera of Villains after allowing at least 5 platforms to be invisible at the same time Illusions of the Same Fate - Defeat Perpetua after defeating her illusions at the same time during each of her illusion phases Shades of the Past - Over multiple runs, defeat Perpetua after defeating each of her shades and completing their respective phases
