Hi folks, I sat out the game from the point when NIM TFB came out till a couple of months ago, so I didn't get much experience in DF/ DP when i came back to the game since everyone was running Rav / TOS.

 

My guild is trying to get wings before the content gets boosted to 65, and we've been stuck on Brontes for a week or two. Probably spent a good 10 hours on her at this point. Part of the problem has been a rotating cast of players, but the core group has spent at least 4-5 hours together in there.

 

Every guide we've read is either vague or inconsistent on what exactly the tanks need to do. At this point we've tried a couple variations on a theme. Obviously we need to pick up the hands and smack the orbs, but the question is what to do when the first shield goes up.

 

Tank 1 (that has his shield go up first) can do a couple of things... a. swap with tank 2, (so tank 2 can clear stacks) b. tank Brontes on the wall, or c. run around like a mad man trying to eat orbs. (For some reason, all the tanks in the guild that are active at the moment are running PTs, which I think may suffer from crummy cd's as far as eating orbs.)

 

The GM initially had us doing c; then we tried a (which is what our only guildy to have completed it prior said to do, but he's dps and admittedly wasnt paying too much attention to the tanks.) I watched a video where they did b.

 

Our last pull tonight we got her to 10% (and we didn't have a sniper or mara to heal debuff her) we had tank 1 swap with tank 2 (me) after the shield went down, and they asked me to clear orbs. With 15 stacks I got 1 shot. So I'm guessing that the proper mechanic is probably to either swap while the first shield is up (which would let some orbs get into the middle untouched) or to get the 2nd shield popped sooner (I was telling them I thought it needed to go up when I was at 12 stacks or I was going to be toast.)

 

If anyone, particularly a PT tank, could give me a fairly detailed walk through of the final phase of the fight, it would be really appreciated.

It's a shame you're both pt tanks, IMO assassin tanks are the kings of that fight due to shroud and phase walk.

 

My group does the strategy you designated "a," the tank on the hand that pops the first shield runs to the far hand, and the tank that was on that hand runs in to clear stacks. At this point, the tank that was on the far hand should do their best to manage orbs that the other tank can't get, by using stuns, knockbacks, and taunting/popping those that won't kill him/her.

 

After the second shield comes up, everyone clears stacks once again, and then both tanks cc/pop orbs while the dps gets brontes down that last bit.

I have done this fight as all 3 tanks, and I will say powertech tanks can be slightly more difficult when it comes to dealing with orbs due to the type of CDs they have. However, ideally no matter the tank classes, you definitely need to have the tank on the far hand clear their stacks and switch with the other tank when the first shield goes up, that is a must. You should be doing A, B and C all together, not just one of them.

 

I have done both roles (as the free tank and the one slamming orbs with the remaining hand). If I am the free tank, I will normally taunt Brontes up against the red wall so DPS can rip her apart. But as I do this, I am keeping my eye on that 1 corner that the other tank cannot slam (corner to the front right with your back to the red wall) since the raid is near. If I see an orb appear from that "dirty corner" I will stop taunting the boss and go deal with that. At the same time, its a group effort. If I am in the middle of taunting brontes while that orb is coming, I will call for a sniper to leg shot it for me, or depending on which DPS it is on, they will eat that orb with a proper CD (like a marauder with Undying Rage, Sniper with Evasion/roll, Assassin with Shroud, Concealment Op with roll, Jugg with saber reflect, etc). The other tank should be slamming the remaining 3 corners until it comes time to push for a shield again.

 

After the last hand goes down, tanks are pretty much just holding orbs away from the raid as long as possible and eating them until the DPS kill the boss, using whatever you have to stun, slow, (carbonize, electro dart) and taunt to eat the orbs at decent stacks until you can no longer do so.

 

You should really get either a Sniper or Marauder in the group to make things easier, or even an Assassin tank. All 3 of them can apply the Trauma (heal debuff) to the boss, and each can give a bit of raid utility (Sniper shield, Bloodthirst and Predation, and excellent CDs for eating orbs). Powertech tanks apply Trauma with Flame Burst but it does not work while she is in the shield. But an Assassin tanks Thrash can apply it while she is shielded. Assassin's also make swapping on the hands easy with Phase Walk.

Treat that fight like Revanite Commanders when you get the the burn phase. You generally won't die to the boss, but to the orbs. So DPS and Healers still need to be aware of who has orbs on them. It's also important for everyone to be on their toes and stun knockback or eat an orb. Our tank strat is that the tank on the first shield hand goes and tanks the other hand as well by leaving the shield early. When you're in the shield if there are any orbs out try to pull them in to you, and have the party standing to the far edges of the shield. Keep pushing! My group got our first Brontes clear last night, and i feel your pain since we've had our share of problems with that burn phase as well. It's all about orb management.

Thanks for the swift responses!

 

I'll pass along the info hopefully we get to down her this week.

Come on Lea update us already! How'd Brontes go? Edited October 14, 2015 by Shwarzchild

2 pt tanks is fine. Get the PT tank closest to entrance to pop hydraulics and taunt at start of burn phase to eat the knockback(use stun break asap). Both PT tanks can also throw oil slick where the orb spawns closest to them so if the slam doesn't align, you have plenty of time to keep the orb fairly stationary. Entrance PT tank then swaps after you push first hand. This tank should pop defensives and hydraulics while dealing with hands, and the "free" tank can taunt boss and also stun(jolt + carbonize) to delay any orbs on the entrance corner.

 

Just ensure you slam the orb that spawned first/closest to group and hit at least 1 orb for every slam. Do that and you get the kill.

I'd have to agree with a couple of the posts made. You sort of need to do all the above from the tanking spot.

 

Start of Burn phase everyone should be dotting boss and popping all Raid buffs / Adren when she is out of cast and starting the fight. (Grenades if you got them are handy here as well for extra DPS - 6 peeps 6k+ each)

 

First - You have everyone hitting the door hand first around 7-8 stacks. Tank swap happens to clear stacks. Most all the DPS should have backs to red wall (Exit when over) to not get smacked across room.

Second - If orbs are getting lose from tanks "Slapping" then have sorcs (freeze in place utility) help knock back and/or worst case some DPS can handle like they did in previous phases (if tanks miss one). Hardest seems to always be the FIRST by the door gets thru. (Lead the orb a tad) Healer wise we have one in the middle of the room dropping agro and keeping far tank alive and dropping AOE heals on group by red wall.

Third - everyone is stacked on door hand until broken (PULL any orbs into the shielded area) to get rid of them

Fourth - everyone make way to far hand with backs against that far wall - get ready to repeat

Fifth - Once the hand is hit and shield up - repeat the pull orbs in (DOT up the boss big time here)

Sixth - Seen folks goto back wall and folks goto middle after that. Sniper shields (Orb control is now key)

Seventh - Orb control during final.. have tanks divy up room.. get what they can nearest group

Eighth - knock backs by sorcs again to help delay orbs into group

Nineth - communicate (move out one loose) type issues

 

Good luck.. these are just off the top of my head from multiple different guild runs I've been doing the last couple weeks.

Edited October 14, 2015 by dscount

Come on Lea update us already! How'd Brontes go?

 

The group ran first 4 bosses without me tonight, will be going back in sometime between Friday and Monday, probably more than once if needed. I'll update with the (hopefully) good news.

First of all, DPS shape a lot of this phase. I know people with incredibly good numbers who can ignore pushing hands altogether and just burn Brontes in this phase ending up with few people dead as group is at 11-12 stacks and Bront is dead. I haven't seen it myself tho so no 100% guarantee.

 

We ourselves were killing her couple of stacks after 1st shield is gone, so numbers do matter. I've done it in pug countless times over the past few months and how good can people avoid unnecessary damage (e.g. flying into slams), keep handling orbs as they have to and keep dps up defines most of the success for said pugs.

 

As for your specific role, here are few tips:

1) Cleansing is required for everyone. Dead player is not much of further help anyway. Hence better swap so to control hand & dmg to the group. Tank and healer can start running to far hand a bit in advance after cleansing, same goes for running under shields. Make sure you coordinate this well, tank is the one responsible for pushing hands generally. You should keep track of purple circle and estimate how long everyone else would survive, it's better to push hand at 5 stacks with the whole group alive than to push at 8 and lose 1 person of any role. Best time for pushing is right after slam, that way you'll have less orbs to deal with while hiding under shield.

2) Manage aggro for Fire and Forget mechanic carefully. Everyone but sintanks have it hard, if you have an operative healer let him cloak before last phase and somewhen during it so to have better time healing, since healers typically are separated uptime on heals nets you more damage on boss in the end of the day thanks to later pushes.

3) For powertech tanks, it's easiest to start with swapping and heeping bront on you. Good practice is starting moving Bront towards the hand position in 6 finger (with group going to the wall) and tank taking over, popping hydraulics and facing her to the hand which is still up. That will both provide tank on far hand an opportunity to slam all 3 corners and an ability to reposition for cleansing quickly. Don't make this phase last long, 4-5 stacks are enough and they tick pretty fast. If lucky, you can grab a couple of orbs while taking Bront Fire and Forget in your face.

 

And ofc - reroll to sin ;-) Much easier, feels really potent on this very fight.

We got Brontes tonight. Had to switch around some people, but we got it done. Thanks again guys, the advice really helped cement for me what I needed to be doing to give my team a chance to down it.

We got Brontes tonight. Had to switch around some people, but we got it done. Thanks again guys, the advice really helped cement for me what I needed to be doing to give my team a chance to down it.

 

Gratz on that!

Pity you won't really have time to grind all those wings it seems...