I've heard many things going on everywhere, in game and in these forums that Lost Island is a very challenging and insane Flashpoint.

 

I've even heard that it'd be better off calling this Flashpoint a 4-main Operation. I want to try it, but what would I need to gear up for in order to run it? Currently, I'm a Deception Assassin with mostly Columi/Rakata/BM gear and I've beaten HM Battle of Ilum, HM False Emperor, those high end flashpoints that was considered pretty tough.

 

Just wanted to know if Lost Island really is what everyone says it is...

I don't think it's that hard. Difficultly, however, is very much a relative thing, and very dependent (in a game like this) upon your fellow group members at that.

 

Aside from the mechanics (which are, on the whole, less forgiving than the tier 1 flashpoints) there's somewhat of a gear-check going on, and the second boss will push your healer.

 

I will say this: if HM Battle for Ilum/Directive 7/etc don't feel like an absolute faceroll, then LI will likely seem very challenging.

Edited June 7, 2012 by Aurojiin

I've heard many things going on everywhere, in game and in these forums that Lost Island is a very challenging and insane Flashpoint.

 

I've even heard that it'd be better off calling this Flashpoint a 4-main Operation. I want to try it, but what would I need to gear up for in order to run it? Currently, I'm a Deception Assassin with mostly Columi/Rakata/BM gear and I've beaten HM Battle of Ilum, HM False Emperor, those high end flashpoints that was considered pretty tough.

 

Just wanted to know if Lost Island really is what everyone says it is...

 

My 4 man group of friends utilise vent but no longer raid as we did a few years ago, so we are all familiar with raid boss mechanics. Having said that we are all Columi geared from the other flashpoints which are relatively easy in comparison. In 3.5 hours we managed to get to Project Sav-Rak but failed to down him.

 

If you enjoy a challenge, if you are looking for a flashpoint that will take days or weeks (depending on your time) to complete you will enjoy it. I have heard of very experienced raiders in full Rakatta taking upto 4 hrs and numerous wipes to complete this flashpoint for the first time.

 

As other have said this flashpoint is most certainly a gear check, and although as we have proven it can be done in Columi gear dont expect to do it in 1 night. There will be many wipes and lots of improvement & different strategies applied to each fight before being successfull.

 

In a nutshell HM Lost island is a mini raid where the effort does not equal the reward.

How hard is hard? is it really rough? is it unbeatable? differing definitions vary.Took me 2.5 hours to clear the first time, we have it down to 35 mins now.

 

That being said, HM LI is alot of fun and can be a challenge for those unprepared for it. I recently healed it on my full columi smuggler and found it a challenging instance but not a hard one.Yes the Sav -Rak was a bugger to heal but after a few attempts was dead.

 

Like any new content it will take abit of getting used too and it doesn't suit the ADHD crowd that demands their epics and bail at the first sign of trouble.

 

Take it slow, take it patiently and if it takes 2-3 hours to clear or to get as far as you can don't worry about it.

If you don't clear it don't be embarassed, It could be a gear issue it could be a learning curve issue.These obstacles are easily circumvented with PRACTISE.

The first time I did it, it was me (an assassin tank in a mix of rakata/black hole, modded to suit my ideal stats), a dps maruader, dps merc and heal operative. The others were all rakata+ too.

 

We one-shot the thing, and I hadn't even done it before... That wasn't normal though, as I found out when I tried it with a different group.

 

--

 

The next time, we had me, a different heal sorc that hadn't done it before (with columi), a dps jugg with rakata/black hole and a dps sorc with tionese gear (lol),

 

The droid boss took a couple of tries since they didn't know the mechanics, but we ended up getting to the last boss after a few hours. We had to let the tionese-geared sorc go at the end, though, since we didn't have enough dps for the doctor. Got a columi/rakata sorc instead for dps, and we destroyed him.

 

---

 

In terms of difficulty, yeah, I would say it's like a 4 man operation. The fight's mechanics aren't very forgiving, but if you read up on them and are prepared, and have some people with gear (I'd say everyone have at least half columi and half rakata), you won't have an issue.

Edited June 7, 2012 by RiseOfDeath

I've heard many things going on everywhere, in game and in these forums that Lost Island is a very challenging and insane Flashpoint.

 

I've even heard that it'd be better off calling this Flashpoint a 4-main Operation. I want to try it, but what would I need to gear up for in order to run it? Currently, I'm a Deception Assassin with mostly Columi/Rakata/BM gear and I've beaten HM Battle of Ilum, HM False Emperor, those high end flashpoints that was considered pretty tough.

 

Just wanted to know if Lost Island really is what everyone says it is...

 

The other flashpoints really have nothing in common with LI in terms of difficulty. If Lost Island is a 10, Kaon and directive 7 would be 4s and the rest would be 2s or 1s. That you can clear FE without a wipe doesn't necessarily mean you have a shot even at boss #1.

 

To complete this flashpoint, you need to learn the mechanics of the bosses (which isn't going to be as insubstantial a thing to do as it is with the others--the first and last boss are quite complicated to get right for the first time, after that, you'll know them and, as long as you bring that specific group next time, should be able to clear with few to no wipes after the first time).

 

But more substantial is that it's not only complicated, but the third boss (who's not particularly hard, mechanic-wise, but does require you counter two specific things) is a stone-cold gear check. If your DPS and tank are not full columi (and I mean FULL columi, not mostly columi) or better, you're going to flunk his enrage timer no matter how many relics and adrenals you pop (possible a piece or two of battlemaster or war hero might fly). You either output columi-level damage or you don't.

 

I would advise making sure everyone in the FP is full columi before even attempting, since even if you're a few pieces per person shy, sort out the complicated mechanics of boss #1 and burn through his soft enrage (which is doable), you will wipe on Sav-rak if your DPS is too low. Maybe even have everyone in the group having cleared HM Eternity Vault at least once or twice before trying.

The difficulty of Lost Island hardmode really comes down to the group makeup and how experienced you are and whether or not you are using a voice chat program such as vent/mumble. I run this predominantly with the same 3 guildies using mumble and can clear it in 45 minutes, however our earlier runs did take us alot longer. My take on the instance is as follows:

 

Average time investment: 1-2 hours deepening on group experience and whether or not you are going for bonus boss (extra trash and time taken to kill him etc.)

Average gear req: I would recommend all group members have on average columi or better gear. Obviously, the better your groups gear the easier the fights will be.

Group makeup: In a PuG group the first boss can be pretty punishing if using 2 melee or 2 ranged however most of the other bosses don't really favour a specific dps set up.

 

Sentinel droid: really tests your groups coordination and communication. Can be very movement and healer intensive. I prefer to do this with 1 ranged to deal with adds and try and drop lightning fields away from the rest of the group and 1 melee dps to interrupt incinerate which leaves tank to interrupt his other dmg attacks.

 

Sav-rak: healer check as the dmg during his 'air' phase can get pretty nuts. Make sure to have a medpack or a defensive cd handy.

 

Lorrick: The tank dodging the grenades reduces stress on early in the early phases of the fight. The first 2 phases are all about positioning and the proper execution of mechanics. The final phase is just a dps race before the dmg overwhelms your group.

 

TL:DR May seem difficult at first but if suitably geared practice, and coordination can remove most of the difficulty. Well worth doing if you can for chance at rakata chest piece and the Black Hole comms from the rakghoul weekly.

 

Here is a guide a few friends and I put together for our guildies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24QFIUp0c0A

I've done Nightmare KP and Nightmare Pilgrim (Pilgrim was harder than KP) and HM LI.

 

I'd say that HM LI is actually harder than Story EV and as hard as HM EV.

 

So in terms of difficulty HM LI = 4 man version of HM EV.

 

Keep in mind, that's merely my opinion, not a fact.

 

Gear requirements? My group did it with 5/5 Columi, Rakata Implants and the tank and healer (I was healer) had Champion mainhands (both dps had columi mainhands and offhands).

 

If you do it with melee dps instead of ranged dps the difficulty jumps up.

 

I still haven't beaten it in a melee dps group, and I did it in a 3/5 Rakata meele dps group. Basically LR-5 Droid (I think it's LR-5) eats melee dps for breakast, lunch and dinner. I'd strongly recommend 1 operative healer, 2 snipers and 1 Juggernaut or Powertech tank.

 

Hope this helps.

Oh boy, I can tell this flashpoint won't be done by any of our guildies for a while. I took what you guys said and checked out some videos.

 

It looks ridiculous. The 'trash' mobs actually have mechanics to them and the only thing I need from this flashpoint is the Columi Mainhand at the end. I hope it's worth the reward. Unless of course, some Black Hole comms can get me the mainhand before we actually set foot on Lost Island.

 

I'm almost (and I mean VERY CLOSE) to full Columi/Rakata (Rakata Relic, Implants and Earpiece) and I hope I will be ready for this mini-raid. I have heard of some guys on my server saying it was as tough as it sounds and some said it was impossible. I wanted a challenge, so I'm really looking forward to this flashpoint.

It's mechanic heavy. Know the mechanics and coordinate with the team well and Lost Island will be moderately challenging at worst.

 

Go in ignorant of the mechanics and not coordinating the team and you will be lucky to get past the first real boss.

The fp can be done with less than full columi geared group. My group me(sin tank 3/5 columi) powertech (dps 2/5 columi) sniper (4/5 columi) sorc (4/5 columi) managed to complete it. All it takes is the ability to learn the fights and a group that functions well together. We now go through it for the weekly bh coms in around 30 minutes. This fp is challenging and that is the point. The gear that it gives is supposed to be worth it because you're not supposed to have all of your columi pieces to do it.

 

Trust me, the first time we downed the last boss was extremely gratifying since we knew it was taking all of us everything we had to beat it.

HM LI is considerably harder than any of the previous HM FP.

 

there's multiple parts to the question you asked. the easier one to answer is gear.

 

the instance has 2 straight up gear check that you can't outskill.

 

Project Sav-Rak (2nd real boss) is a very very simple / straightforward fight, you dps, you clump, you click, you dps, you clump, you click - there's absolutely no skill involved. but, it's tuned to be pretty tight on dps and healing. if you're not geared for it, you will not pass.

 

same thing for the final boss. The final phase is a straight up dps burn. there's no out-skilling it. the poison dot stacks can not be dispelled, so your dps has to be able to beat the soft enrage, or you will not win.

 

the skill check happens on the first boss, and interestingly, the fight most people complain about. You can be in tionese gear and win this fight, if people execute correctly. The adds do little to no dmg, the boss doesn't hit that hard IF you interrupt all his incinerates. if your group / tank can move the boss around outside of the electric dome, there's no damage. the fire from below does next to no damage - basically, if you can execute the fight correctly, there's very little to worry about - but the curve is pretty steep. if you don't interrupt the incinerate, it's a very quick wipe. This is probably why people talk about ranged dps being preferred, because they don't get hit by the incinerate and have better dps uptime due to not having to move as much. However, I've only ever done the instance with melee dps, so i can tell you that it's 100% doable, and pretty easy too.

 

so, in summary, the instance is challenging in the same way an operation is challenging. you certainly won't be face rolling through it, unless you outgear it, and even then, you may fail the skill check on the first boss.

 

best advice is to simply go and try it. if you can get past the first boss, but get stuck on the 2nd boss, at least you know you've got the skills necessary.

Oh boy, I can tell this flashpoint won't be done by any of our guildies for a while. I took what you guys said and checked out some videos.

 

It looks ridiculous. The 'trash' mobs actually have mechanics to them and the only thing I need from this flashpoint is the Columi Mainhand at the end. I hope it's worth the reward. Unless of course, some Black Hole comms can get me the mainhand before we actually set foot on Lost Island.

 

I'm almost (and I mean VERY CLOSE) to full Columi/Rakata (Rakata Relic, Implants and Earpiece) and I hope I will be ready for this mini-raid. I have heard of some guys on my server saying it was as tough as it sounds and some said it was impossible. I wanted a challenge, so I'm really looking forward to this flashpoint.

 

While the trash is more substantial than in, idk, battle of ilum, it's not what will cause problems (as long as you don't use aoe in the short section before the droid boss). The trash is less dangerous than the trash in Kaon.

 

If you and your HM group can't benefit from the drops, that's actually the ideal gear level to attempt it (as illogical as that sounds).

While the trash is more substantial than in, idk, battle of ilum, it's not what will cause problems (as long as you don't use aoe in the short section before the droid boss). The trash is less dangerous than the trash in Kaon.

 

If you and your HM group can't benefit from the drops, that's actually the ideal gear level to attempt it (as illogical as that sounds).

 

The only drops that would benefit an appropriately geared group in HM LI should come from the final boss - Dr. Lorrik. Since he drops a Columi Mainhand and a Rakata Chestpiece he's a good loot source (with no lockout).

 

I've been looking at the forums and the least geared group to do it (AND post proof) had 2/5 Columi per member. I was pretty impressed by this (I had 5/5). Doing this without nearly full Columi is an arduous task.

Its like trying to kill knock out mike tyson with a pillow, its like trying to count straws of hay in a wind storm, its like trying to knock down a building with a teddy bear, its like trying to drink an olympic sized pool of beer in one gulp, its like trying to catch lighting with your bear hands......

 

It is very hard, not for the weak. Be prepared to die a bunch for the sake of challenging yourself.

 

I have attempt this fp many many many times, died around 100 times. Each session (several hours) we managed to get further and further, working out strats for last boss atm.

 

Its good fun, worth the challenge for BH comms and rakata chest, specially if u dont raid.

Its like trying to kill knock out mike tyson with a pillow, its like trying to count straws of hay in a wind storm, its like trying to knock down a building with a teddy bear, its like trying to drink an olympic sized pool of beer in one gulp, its like trying to catch lighting with your bear hands......

 

It is very hard, not for the weak. Be prepared to die a bunch for the sake of challenging yourself.

 

I have attempt this fp many many many times, died around 100 times. Each session (several hours) we managed to get further and further, working out strats for last boss atm.

 

Its good fun, worth the challenge for BH comms and rakata chest, specially if u dont raid.

haha.. i wouldn't say it was THAT hard, though it definitely IS challenging.

 

don't get discouraged just because people say it's hard. at least go and experience it for yourself. like i posted earlier, the first (real) boss fight is a test of skill. you can definitely beat it with less-than-stellar gear, if you have great execution.. and execution comes with practice.

The others have covered most of the points so I won't repeat them I'll just add: I wouldn't want to pug this, or do it without voice. Honestly, without being able to give verbal prompts it will be a complete pain unless everyone is 100% on top of every mechanic.

 

I've cleared it twice now. It's definitely easier with 2x Ranged but doable with any mix of dps just so long as you can still interrupt (so if you have melee dps then one shadow for the extended interrupt range is a huge boon.)

It looks ridiculous. The 'trash' mobs actually have mechanics to them and the only thing I need from this flashpoint is the Columi Mainhand at the end. I hope it's worth the reward. Unless of course, some Black Hole comms can get me the mainhand before we actually set foot on Lost Island.

 

This flashpoint was made in the tradition of older MMOs that didn't care whether or not most people ever completed content: if you wanted the stuff from the instance, you figured it out. If not, oh well. The only problem, as you mention, is that the reward isn't *quite* on par with the time investment required; if one or two more bosses had Rakata tokens, I'd call it good.

 

This game desperately needs more instances like this, IMO. It gives people something to work on.

Its harder than Nightmare KP/EV and easier than HM Denova. Its probably the second hardest instance in the game. This is mainly due to the first boss which has some mechanics with little room for error. The second boss is pretty much faceroll and the final boss isn't too tough as well. If you have at least columi gear, it is doable. I'd recommend bringing at least one ranged dps and a tank who has tanked it before. As long as the tank moves about the room quickly (I usually leave after I interrupt an incinerate) and plans his path about the room in advance so the healer knows where to go, it is pretty easy. The first fight is pretty much depended upon the experience of the tank and ability for the healer and dps to avoid the blue shields of death, and the tank or dps interrupting all of the incinerates as quickly as possible.

it'll test your mechanics awareness more than the entirety of tier 1 operations for the most part, except for maybe the fabricator droid on KP for a team that's slow on the tower of hanoi.

 

I ran this with rakata geared people, our biggest issue was 1) the tank was very slow on reacting to lightning ball drops and 2) the healer kept getting into bad positions where he'd drop a lightning ball that cut off our kiting path.

While discussing and reading this topic, I have done HM LI multiple times with multiple people and classes. I've tanked it, which is probably the easiest imo, i've done dps. and i've tried healing.

 

all my toons have 100% full rakata and a few Black Hole pieces.

 

My healer is an operative, and on the second boss idk if its just over power for ops heals or what because i can never heal threw that, and ive healed solo EV, and healed KP and HM EV and HMKP and REALLY TOUGH WZ's. One thing i've notice which i believe is unfair is that seems like the only one's who can heal threw the second boss are sage's or sorc. They have their bubbles and their AoE heal is ALOT better. My HoTs (heals over times) and great just not that great for that boss.

 

If YOU are an operative or a smug healer that has healed threw that boss a few times, PLEASE let me know how you did it.

Guided Speedkill Vid of HM LI with 2 Sentinel DDs, a Sage Healer and a Vanguard Tank.

 

http://swtormovies.com/movieview.php?id=3681

My healer is an operative, and on the second boss idk if its just over power for ops heals or what because i can never heal threw that, and ive healed solo EV, and healed KP and HM EV and HMKP and REALLY TOUGH WZ's. One thing i've notice which i believe is unfair is that seems like the only one's who can heal threw the second boss are sage's or sorc. They have their bubbles and their AoE heal is ALOT better. My HoTs (heals over times) and great just not that great for that boss.

 

If YOU are an operative or a smug healer that has healed threw that boss a few times, PLEASE let me know how you did it.

 

Which boss do you mean? LR-5 is the second boss if you count the mini-bosses (like the Putrid Shaclaw) or Sav-rak is if you don't count them. Of the two, Sav-rak is considered the hardest for the healer while I have more issues with the first (depending on the group.)

 

In general, though, I'd say that we actually have an easier time on Sav-rak than Sages as we can apply Kolto Cloud after the smashes and then everyone can run back and still benefit. I mostly use the pretty standard approach of UWM-EMP while double stacking SRMP on the boss and then saving KC for after the smashes. I'll also throw out SRMPs onto other people if I'm moving and don't have spare UHs, while using diagnostic scan on the tank to rebuild energy as needed.

 

LR-5 is trickier but very group dependent. The main issue is making sure everyone avoids as much damage as possible, keeping double SRMP on the tank, catching as many people as you can with KC whenever it is available and then the good old UWM-EMP whenever you get a chance to stay still (combined with cleanses and SRMP whenever you are on the move.)

Ok so I've recently pushed my Marauder to 50.

Was in 50 blues/purples, other DPS was a Merc in half Columi and half Rakata.

Tank was a Jugg with Rakata, Had a Sorc-heal with re-modded Rakata.

 

I've also breezed through this with my Sorc-DPS.

 

The only problem with this should be your tank if he's not situationally aware enough and for example keeps the droid between the starting platform and the outer ring after the initial pull so I'd have to stand either in the fire, stop damage for a long amount of time or eat incinerate and possibly die.

If YOU are an operative or a smug healer that has healed threw that boss a few times, PLEASE let me know how you did it.

 

I completed LI as tank (rakata/black hole), sniper (columni/rakata) and operative (tionese/columni). With my tank and sniper I've successfully pugged it (with my sniper for the first time yesterday, we spent 2 + 4 hours in there. It was difficult as the group had never gone past the first boss before).

 

It's really nice to find the people with the same mindset at problem solving and willing to go through endless wipes to learn the correct positionning and how to deal with each mechanics. What a sense of accomplishment when doctor Lorik finally went down, or even after each boss went down we were all "yahhooo yeah baby". And the tank was so proud being able to finally figure out how to avoid Lorik's sticky bombs.

 

As an operative healer, I completed LI HM with my guild. The juggernaut tank was mostly rakata, and we had a sorcerer and a marauder in a mix of columni/rakata. Since we did not have our usual guild healers online, I went in with my operative (who has the 2 piece set bonus)

 

it is true that sav-rak is very intensive healing wise, but the group positioning will help reduce the damage intake.

- every one should be spread out to avoid the rot debuff to spread.

- when packing for the smash, the group should try to be in the boss hitbox, but still opposite to the tank, so that the bump will split the tank away from the group. The reason is that when you land everyone is stunned for half a second and during that time, the boss can cleave everyone near the tank. So ideally, you should make it so that the bump sends you flying away from your tank to avoid the cleave. Every damage avoided will help the healer.

 

Now specifically as an operative healer:

- I only used the aoe heal when we regrouped for the smash, as we were mostly spread out

- I kept the probes (hot) on the tank

- what I found intensive was the pipe phase, and tried to regen during the ground phase (using the scan on the tank)

- the combat ended with everyone at 50% or less and me almost out of energy, my feeling is that if the combat had gone through one more pipe phase we would have wiped.

 

It is possible also that with a skilled group, the combat went faster, making it easier for the healer too. I do not claim to be a very good operative healer, but I just wanted to tell you that yes, it possible to heal through the second boss as an operative. Your group must help you minimize the damage.

Edited June 11, 2012 by Oggthebase