Strike Mission: Old Lion's Court
Strike Mission: Old Lion's Court
- Levels
- 80
- Type
- Strike Mission
- Zone
- Lion's Arch
(Kryta) - API
- 1485
Loading screen
| Image(s) |
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Click to enlarge. |
Strike Mission: Old Lion's Court is a strike mission set in the old Lion's Court in Lion's Arch during its invasion by Scarlet Briar. No story or expansion is required to enter the mission.
Getting there[edit]
Players must be in a raid-mode (10 player) squad to join.
- Interact with the
scrying stone at the 
Lion's Court — in Lion's Arch (south of 
Trader's Forum Waypoint — ). - Interact with the scrying stone or Lyra in Arborstone (south-west of Arborstone Waypoint — ).
- Enter or be within Arborstone [verification requested] when the strike mission instance is opened.
Objectives[edit]
- Enter the circle to begin the Strike Mission.
- Defeat the Watchknight Triumvirate.
- Watchknight Triumvirate
- Strike Mission complete!
Rewards[edit]
- One Grand Strike Chest (once per day)
- One bouncy chest (once per week)
Assault Knights' Coffer
Blue Prophet Shard (8-9)- 2
- 5,000
- 66,675
- Blue Prophet Shard (8-9)
- Challenge Mode
- One additional Challenge Mode bouncy chest (once per week)
- One random Exotic weapon or armor piece
Assault Knights' Magnificent Coffer (Challenge Mode)
Antique Summoning Stone (Challenge Mode)- Blue Prophet Shard (8-9)
- 2
- 10,000
- 133,350
The Lost Art of Armor Crafting (Challenge Mode) (drops if the Envoy Armor I: Experimental Armor collection hasn't yet been unlocked)[verification requested]- Possible rare rewards:
Walkthrough[edit]
Recurring Mechanics[edit]
- Enrage Timer: None (13 minutes if the Challenge Mote is active)
- Enrage Effect: Defeats all players
- Fixation Mechanic: Nearest player
- Arena control (CC)
The Watchknight Triumvirate descend one at a time. Upon landing, they channel their unique, unavoidable AoE attack that instantly defeat players:
| Skill | Notes |
|---|---|
| Dysapoptosis (Prototype Arsenite) |
Covers the entire half of the arena. Breaking its defiance bar inverts the AoE to cover the other half. |
| Spaghettification (Prototype Vermilion) |
Covers the entire arena except for the area around itself. Breaking its defiance bar inverts the AoE to cover the area around itself. |
| Thundering Ultimatum (Prototype Indigo) |
Covers the area in front of it in a 240 degree angle. Breaking its defiance bar inverts the AoE to cover the area behind itself. |
Unavoidable attacks cannot be negated with blocks and evades. Unlike most other unavoidable attacks, these AoEs also cannot be mitigated with invulnerability or healed from skills such as "Rebound!".
Players can either move to the initial safe zone, or break the defiance bar on the boss to invert the AoE and thus the safe zone. Breaking the bar also damages their 
Ley-Woven Shielding, converting it into a 
Malfunctioning Ley-Woven Shielding and inflicting 
Stun and 
Exposed to them the next time they become targetable.
During specific parts of the fight, all three bosses descend at once and channel their lethal AoE attacks at the same time. The order to break their defiance bars is fixed for the normal mode (Green → Red → Blue), but random for the challenge mode (see Challenge Mode section).
- Arena control (movement)
Each boss fixates on the player closest to them the moment they become targetable, indicated by a clicking sound and an icon above the player's head (
Fixated). The color of the icon (blue/green/red) denotes which boss is fixated on them. A new fixate is chosen whenever the original target is downed.
The fixate will always be 
Revealed, negating the effects of stealth. Furthermore, the bosses gain 
Swiftness (2s) and 
Superspeed (2s) whenever the fixate has the respective boon, preventing players from outrunning them.
Each boss additionally has a special mechanic that casts the below skill:
| Skill | Notes |
|---|---|
| Boiling Aether (Pool) |
Expanding AoE dropped from specific boss attacks, pulsing low damage. Fully expands after 10 seconds and persists for 1 minute, pulsing heavy damage. |
Poor placement of these AoEs combined with the arena-wide AoEs from each boss increases the difficulty with moving within the arena. Players targeted by these specific boss attacks should thus ideally drop the resulting pools on the edges of the arena, or within an existing pool.
Phase 1 (100% – 80%)[edit]
Prototype Vermilion (Red)[edit]
- Health: 14,156,640 (23,594,400 if the Challenge Mote is active)
Prototype Vermilion will be the first to descend. Players must first avoid its lethal AoE before they can damage it.
| Skill | Notes |
|---|---|
| Dual Horizon | Spawn 3 zones around the boss for players to stand within:
Failure to stand in the correct zone applies |
| Gravitational Wave | Unavoidable shockwave inflicting heavy damage and 1 Exposed.
|
| Mass Driver → Kinetic Impact → Gravity Hammer |
Auto-attack chain with the final attack telegraphed with an orange circle. Completing the first and every other attack chain spawns a Pool under the boss. |
If its defiance bar was broken prior to landing, players can stack on top of the boss quickly damage them. Afterwards, the fixated player can lure the boss to the edge of the arena. This allows Pools to be dropped at the arena edge, minimizing the area it can obstruct.
Following the first Pool, the fixated player should immediately move out and lure the boss away from it; otherwise, the AoE completely covers the inner zone during the Dual Horizon attack.
Prototype Vermilion retreats upon reaching 80% health.
Prototype Arsenite (Green)[edit]
- Health: 14,156,640 (23,594,400 if the Challenge Mote is active)
Prototype Arsenite will be the next to descend. As before, players must first avoid its lethal AoE before they can damage it.
| Skill | Notes |
|---|---|
| Noxious Vapor Blade → Noxious Return |
Targets the furthest non-fixated player with a spinning blade, indicated by a green tether. The blade spawns a Pool below the target upon impact then return to the boss, damaging all players in its path. |
| Pernicious Vortex (Pull) |
Continuously  Pulls all players towards it, dealing increasingly more damage as players get closer to it. The inner AoE inflicts 1 Exposed.
|
| Toxic Slice → Relapse → Rupture |
Auto-attack chain. Completing the first and every other attack chain activates Noxious Vapor Blade. |
Boss positioning is not as important for this phase, especially if there are players intentionally baiting the Noxious Vapor Blade attack by being the furthest player away. This allows for controlled placement of the resulting Pools.
Prototype Arsenite retreats upon reaching 80% health.
Prototype Indigo (Blue)[edit]
- Health: 14,156,640 (23,594,400 if the Challenge Mote is active)
Prototype Indigo will be the last to descend. Players must first avoid its lethal AoE before they can damage it.
| Skill | Notes |
|---|---|
| Crackling Wind (Push) |
Continuously pushes all players away from it, dealing increasingly more damage as players get further away from it. The outer AoE inflicts 1 Exposed.
|
| Tri-Bolt (Spread) → Tribocharge |
Targets 3 random non-fixated players with an orange circle that explodes after a delay. Completing the first and every other attack chain targets one of the three targets with a blue tether connecting them to a pylon at their original location, an orange circle below them, and a timer above them. Upon activation, spawns a Pool below them then teleports them to tethered pylon. |
| Volatile Static | Targets the fixated player with an auto-attack. Arcs onto nearby players, dealing increased damage the further it arcs. |
Unlike the previous two bosses, Prototype Indigo does not move. The only benefit of obtaining fixate is to not be targeted by its special attacks.
Player positioning is more important given how Tribocharge not only drops a Pool below the target, but also teleports them to their original position. This can be problematic if the player is teleported to the edge of the arena right when Crackling Wind activates.
Prototype Indigo retreats upon reaching 80% health.
Triple-Threat 1 (Combo Attack)[edit]
All three watchknights will now descend and charge their lethal AoEs at the same time. The intended safe zone will be currently covered by a single AoE, which must be inverted by breaking the defiance bar of the associated boss. However, breaking the bar of one boss will lock the bars of the other bosses. Players will thus have only one attempt to break the bar of the correct boss.
The defiance bar break for these phases are the same during the normal mode: Players must break the defiance bar of Prototype Arsenite (green) to open up the safe zone near Prototype Vermilion (red).
Phase 2 (80% – 40%)[edit]
This phase is identical to Phase 1, except one watchknight will periodically descend to perform its charge attack. Boss and player positioning therefore become more important in avoiding instant defeat. Players standing below the impact point will be instantly defeated. Furthermore, each boss is phased upon reaching 40% health. The following boss pairings are listed below:
- Red boss with Green charge attacks (half AoE coverage)
- Green boss with Blue charge attacks (270 degree AoE coverage)
- Blue boss with Red charge attacks (circular AoE coverage)
Positioning for players targeted by Tri-Bolt is especially important and is dependent on how the squad handles breaking the defiance bars. If the bar can be consistently broken, players targeted by this attack should stand in the initial death zone to set this location as their original location if they are then targeted by Tribocharge. Otherwise, they should stand in the initial safe zone if the bar is expected not to be broken.
Triple-Threat 2[edit]
After Prototype Indigo retreats, all three watchknights return to perform another Triple-Threat attack. Players should break the defiance bar of Prototype Vermilion (red) to open up the safe zone behind Prototype Indigo (blue).
Phase 3 (40% – 10%)[edit]
This phase is similar to the previous phase, however two watchknights will descend at a time, with a third one periodically descending to perform its charge attack. Furthermore, one of the two watchknights present will be invulnerable due to Ley-Woven Shielding until the other vulnerable watchknight has been phased.
Both bosses gain the 
Power Transfer effect when nearby, indicated by a yellow tether. This allows the tethered bosses to perform its special attack (Dual Horizon, Pernicious Vortex, Crackling Wind). The watchknight that only descends to perform its lethal AoE does not get tethered.
Prototype Vermilion[edit]
Prototype Vermilion (red) should ideally be lured to the arena edge to drop the Boiling Aethers there. Meanwhile, Prototype Arsenite (green) should be lured away from the group to avoid the boss tethering effect and prevent players from taking unnecessarily high damage from its special pull attack. Players targeted by a green tether should move away from the group to drop the Boiling Aether near the edge as well.
Prototype Indigo (blue) will periodically descend and charge its charge attack (270 degree AoE coverage).
Prototype Arsenite[edit]
Prototype Arsenite (green) should ideally be lured close to Prototype Indigo (blue), but not too close for the boss tethering to occur. Meanwhile, Prototype Indigo does not move and will not use its special push attack unless tethered. Players targeted by a blue or green tether should move away from the group to drop the Boiling Aether near the edge.
Prototype Vermilion (red) will periodically descend and charge its charge attack (circular AoE coverage).
Prototype Indigo[edit]
Prototype Indigo (blue) should be defeated as quickly as possible to prevent it from using its special push attack. This is especially dangerous for the player fixated by Prototype Vermilion (red), who is ideally keeping them near the arena edge for the majority of this phase to drop the Boiling Aethers and avoiding the boss tethering.
Prototype Arsenite (green) will periodically descend and charge its charge attack (half AoE coverage).
Triple-Threat 3[edit]
After Prototype Indigo retreats, all three watchknights return to perform another Triple-Threat attack. Players should break the defiance bar of Prototype Indigo (blue) to open up the safe zone behind Prototype Vermilion (red).
Phase 4 (10% – 0%)[edit]
All three watchknights will now descend at the same time, with only one of them being vulnerable at a time in the following order:
Prototype Vermilion (red) → Prototype Arsenite (green) → Prototype Indigo (blue)
Players fixated by a watchknight should lure them away from each other. The watchknight triumvirate is defeated once the final watchknight reaches 0% health.
Challenge Mode[edit]
- Monster Buffs
- All bosses have increased health and more punishing mechanics
- Mechanical Changes
- Players have 13 minutes to complete the encounter.
- Each boss now gains a stack of
Empowered for each player that fails their respective special attack (Dual Horizon, Pernicious Vortex, Crackling Wind). This effect grants the affected boss with a 5% damage increase per stack. - The order for breaking the defiance bar during the triple-threat phases are now random. The following patterns can be used to deduce which watchknight to focus on:
- Bosses in an equilateral triangle: CC Green → Go to Red
- Green boss in middle: CC Red → Go to Blue
- Green AoE cuts Red AoE in half: CC Blue → Go to Red
- The bosses will phase at 60% and 20% and phase 1 of normal mode will be skipped. The encounter starts with a triple-threat (combo attack).
NPCs[edit]
Foes[edit]
Stats of encounter relevant enemies[edit]
| Enemy | Health | Health (CM) | Defiance Bar | Defiance Bar (CM) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype Arsenite | 14,156,640 | 23,594,400 | ? | 3,600 |
| Prototype Indigo | 14,156,640 | 23,594,400 | ? | 3,600 |
| Prototype Vermilion | 14,156,640 | 23,594,400 | ? | 3,600 |
Related achievements[edit]
End of Dragons: Old Lion's Court — Complete the Old Lion's Court Strike Mission. (5
)
Daily Strike Mission: Priority Strike: Old Lion's Court — Complete the Old Lion's Court Strike Mission. (0
)
The Battle for Lion's Arch: Seeking Scarlet: Old Lion's Court — Complete the Assault Knight Prototypes Strike Mission, which can be accessed from Lion's Arch after completing the episode "The Battle for Lion's Arch." (3)- End of Dragons: Weekly Cantha Strikes — Complete 4 unique Canthan strike within a week. (0)
- End of Dragons: Aether Aversion — Defeat the Triumvirate without dying or taking any damage from Boiling Aether. (5)
- Requires challenge mode
- End of Dragons: Legendary Old Lion's Court — Complete Old Lion's Court with challenge mode active. (5)
- End of Dragons: Fear Not This Knight — During each ground combat phase, prevent any prototypes from completing an aerial support attack. Defeat the Triumvirate without any squad members dying to Spaghettification, Dysapoptosis, or Thundering Ultimatum. (5
) - End of Dragons: Static-Dynamic Synergy — Do not trigger any Gravitational Waves during Dual Horizon attacks. Do not take maximum damage from either Pernicious Vortex or Crackling Wind. Then, defeat the Triumvirate without dying. (5)
Notes[edit]
- This Strike Mission is partially on the day and night cycle. The time of day is set and locked to the current Tyrian time of day upon the creation of the instance. The time of day inside of the instance does not advance once created.
- Counts as a strike for the Weekly Cantha Strikes achievement despite not requiring Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons.
Version history[edit]
| Patch | Changes |
|---|---|
| August 22, 2023 | Secrets of the Obscure release:
|
| December 13, 2022 |
|
| December 02, 2022 |
|
| November 30, 2022 |
|
| November 29, 2022 |
|
| November 10, 2022 |
|
| November 08, 2022 |
|
