User:MindState/dev1

Giganticus Lupicus

The Giganticus Lupicus is the boss at the midpoint of each explorable path. The fight takes place in a large circular area, and has three phases. Lupicus becomes briefly invulnerable during the transition between phases. Tailoring builds for each phase, equipping exotic gear, and nourishment, are essential for success.

Phase 1

In phase 1, Lupicus has the following attacks:

• High damage kick attack at melee range
• Spawns Locust Swarms
• Spawns Risen Grubs.

Lupicus does not move during this phase. Equip stun breakers to help deal with spawning Grubs.

Locust Swarms spawn regularly from Lupicus' location, and chase players. They are fairly fragile elite enemies, but have high melee damage and cause bleeding. No more than two Swarms should be allowed to accumulate at any time; they may down players quickly.

Priority must be given to destroying Risen Grubs. Every few seconds, Lupicus randomly targets a player with a green plague aura, telegraphing the attack with an elaborate flourish that raises his hand over his head. A few seconds after, the targeted player is knocked down and a Risen Grub appears at that player's position. Within seconds of spawning, the Grub moves quickly to Lupicus, who devours it. Each Grub devoured grants Lupicus stacks of armor and power; these stacks persist into the proceeding stages. Intercepting and killing Grubs is essential. Grubs are normal enemies with unremarkable health. Call out Grubs as targets.

Grub spawning may be prevented. Dodging when Lupicus' hand reaches the peak of its flourish will prevent the Grub from spawning. Learn to recognize the plague aura.

Range

Attacking from range is the safest, and slowest, method of defeating phase 1. Group stacking is most effective. Grubs spawn within the stack and in easy range of all players. The extra distance gives additional time to destroy incoming Swarms and escaping Grubs.

Melee

Attacking from melee range is much riskier but potentially faster. Grubs spawned at this range are immediate devoured by Lupicus; dodging to prevent spawning Grubs is critical. Melee attackers also must avoid the kick attack.

Phase 2

Phase 2 starts once Lupicus reaches 75% health. He has the following attacks:

• Shadow walks to, and knocks down, a player; counter by dodging
• Single-target projectile blast targeted at nearby players; counter using projectile area reflects and blocks
• Multiple AoE projectile barrage; counter using projectile area reflects and blocks
• Melee swipe with his right arm

The shadow walk attack occurs regularly and frequently. Lupicus turns translucent and fires a plague projectile. Once the projectile reaches the target, Lupicus teleports to the target and knocks the target down. Dodge to avoid the attack. Dodging is insufficient; Vitality and Toughness are necessary to survive these attacks since their frequency quickly drains Endurance,

The projectile blast is a single target attack that regularly targets nearby players. It is telegraphed but very quick. It is avoided by moving in a different direction; dodging is unnecessary. The attack has a minimum range; melee attackers are safe from it.

The multiple AoE projectile barrage is cast between shadow walks and is the most dangerous attack in phase 2. The attack is telegraphed by Lupicus gathering green death energy and releasing a swarm of projectiles from above his head; projectiles (and their red warning circles) appear in at least two waves. The projectiles have significant flight time, with the attack's effect "radiating" outwards from Lupicus over time. Each shot causes 8k+ damage. The red AoE warning circles are unreliable indicators; players outside circles may still be hit, although it is still likely safer to be outside of a circle than to be within one. Timing the dodge is critical to avoiding the attack; aim to be invulnerable when the projectile lands. Remember that being further away from Lupicus means waiting longer for the projectile to land. Players farther away from Lupicus should wait until after the second wave appears before dodging.

Particularly useful during this phase are: endurance regeneration (eg. Vigor), invulnerability, area projectile reflection and blocks. Reinforce low durability players with Nourishment.

After Lupicus' brief period of invulnerability, he spawns a Grub at a player and immediately attacks, making it difficult to kill the Grub. The Grub may be prevented from spawning by sending Ranger pets and Mesmer clones toward Lupicus as decoys before it becomes invulnerable. Lupicus tends to spawn the Grub at the closest target and will hopefully target a decoy. Once Lupicus becomes invulnerable, remove the decoy (eg. switch pets or shatter clones) to remove the spawn target and prevent the spawn. If no decoys are available, group stack and concentrate on killing the Grub and remaining Swarms. Use Stability, stun breakers, and area projectile reflection and blocks to buy time to kill the Grub.

Rallying and reviving players is risky, but necessary. Revivers must not be the target of Lupicus' shadow walk. If the party is being downed consistently, equip ranged revival skills, and use aids that increase downed life.

The easiest way to deal with phase 2 is to attack at melee range. The shadow walk attack is not used when all targets are close to Lupicus, and melee attackers are within the minimum range of the single-target projectile blast. The only attacks Lupicus can use are the melee swipe and the AoE barrage. Projectile blocking or reflection skills are invaluable against the barrage at this range; the Mesmer's Feedback deals massive damage to Lupicus, while the Guardian's Shield of the Avenger is useful for its long duration. A group with moderate DPS, a Guardian, and a Mesmer, can easily melee phase 2 before all projectile blocks are expended.

Phase 3

Once the boss goes down to about 50% health he will go into phase 3.

During phase 3 Giganticus Lupicus will start to attack players more directly and gains a lot of smaller spells listed below. Fortunately, this phase is much less difficult than the previous, though it can still be very dangerous if players draw too close.

• An AoE poison projectile from phase 2. As before, this is easily avoided simply by sticking close.
• A small poison AoE field that he places in front of him -- Lupicus will create a 'bubble' that traps its targets, knocks them down repeatedly and heavily damages them; with Stability and/or a stun break, this will basically be a guaranteed kill on most players caught in it. Note that this attack CANNOT be dodged or blocked. It is also worth noting that Lupicus ONLY does this attack on moving targets.
• A small missile barrage that he casts in front of him.
• A conal life-drain attack with a "sucking" animation. Hits multiple times over a long duration, making it difficult to dodge, but it can be avoided by dodging twice with a small delay in between. The easiest way to avoid this move is to stay close to Lupicus and roll through him when he starts it.
• A huge point blank AoE life steal spell, healing him 2000-3000 per second per player.

Again, the easiest way to deal with Lupicus in this phase is, contrary to common sense, to melee him. Of his attacks, the most difficult to avoid are the projectile and the conal lifesteal, both of which are easily avoided at melee range simply by rolling through him (or in the case of the projectile, simply by not moving). Similarly, if the party remains stationary, Lupicus will never do his bubble attack, meaning that the only attacks you really need to worry about is the projectile barrage and the AOE lifesteal. The former can be reflected or rolled through, while the latter can be avoided by turning and running during the long startup and rolling to get out of the area of effect once the red circle appears.

Lupicus tends to lock on to one player specifically during this phase; who he targets is mostly random, but he will remain focused on one target for a fairly long time once locked on, which you can use to your advantage. If party members are downed, the player being targeted by Lupicus can pull him away, allowing others time to revived downed teammates. It is recommended that said player either turns and runs (as opposed to backing away), which will make it easier to avoid being caught by Lupicus' AOEs, or in the case of more confident and experienced players, to solo him using the method described above.