User:Ventaurion/ProjectProbalt
Overview[edit]
We are a group of players who are interested in pushing player skill and coordination to the limit. We challenge conventional wisdom about what it takes to finish hardcore content.
Goals[edit]
We are here to:
- have fun.
- showcase knowledge and skill.
- encourage discussion and collaboration.
- build community.
- show ArenaNet that there is a passionate group of players who love Guild Wars 2 and are eager to see more challenging content.
We are not[edit]
- a guild. Correspondingly, there is no rep or active policy. Likewise, we recognize each player has their own opinions and represents only themselves. Disagreement is not frowned upon.
- here for profit. We love to explore, learn, and do challenging activities for the sake of it.
Membership[edit]
Due to the unique nature of these collaborations, it is expected that members come and go of their own accord. There is no strict roster. If you are interested in joining, contact one of us. (We're on NA)
Collaborations[edit]
Stage 0: Minimal Cobalt Wurm[edit]
“...suicide mission
— an invitee who declined to join
This was intended as a proof of concept to demonstrate the bare minimum it takes to finish phase 1 of Cobalt. We questioned some fundamental assumptions about what it takes to do this event, and managed to decap Cobalt with 10 players. We made discoveries and refined our knowledge about:
- the potential of a single ele
- spit blocking
- Cobalt wurm attack patterns
- event scaling (Cobalt wurm, veteran jungle wurms, husks)
- veteran jungle wurm behavior
- veteran jungle wurm spawning schedule
- player behavior, both organized and "pugs"
- megaserver behavior
The hardest mechanical struggle was how sensitive the event was to extra players who showed up. Though they probably had the best of intentions, additional players who do not contribute ultimately make the event harder.
Stage 0.3: Minimal Cobalt Wurm, Redux[edit]
We refined the run from Stage 0. The biggest change was blocking the majority of spit attacks so keg runners had less distractions. (See below for examples.)
Stage 1: Minimal Cobalt Wurm, Hard Mode[edit]
“The only reason that worked, is because there was a reflector abusing, what many communities who kill wurm, believe to be an exploit.
— TTS council member, on low-player attempts
We finished phase 1 of Cobalt with 14 players while letting husks spawn. Contrary to popular belief, a large zerg is not required to successfully complete this content, even when forced to handle husks with conventional methods. Ultimately, we were able to compensate for low player numbers with player quality, mechanics knowledge, and crisp coordination.
Through the failures that led up to this achievement, we also:
- honed in on the minimum requirement needed to sufficiently deal with husks
- gained a deeper understanding of how husks interact with kegs
- discovered a few unconventional techniques for maximizing damage output
| Participant | Role |
| Levi | Keg Driver |
|---|---|
| Gekk Exl | Husk Killer |
| Hamato | Husk Killer |
| Nik | Husk Killer |
| Aailish | Keg Runner |
| Cele | Keg Runner |
| Eilus | Keg Runner |
| Evers | Keg Runner |
| Minerva | Keg Runner |
| Sadraal | Keg Runner |
| Sicarine | Keg Runner |
| Ventaurion | Keg Runner |
| Veron | Keg Runner |
| Cass | Reflector |
Stage 2: Crimson Wurm[edit]
“So we're not gonna have a commander?
I don't see why that's needed.
— last minute question during setup
With essentially no initial planning, we decapped the Crimson wurm with 19 players in 3 burn phases. While many mistakes were made, at no point were we at risk of failing the event. This decap confirms a few suspicions many of us have had about this section of the Triple Trouble event:
- It possible to finish this event with even less players.
- There is little coordination needed to decap this wurm head, especially when compared to Cobalt and Amber.
| Participant | Role |
| Jared | Husk Killer |
| Kazu | Husk Killer |
| Masaplata | Husk Killer |
| Cass | Cloud Runner |
| Cele | Cloud Runner |
| Cheese | Cloud Runner |
| Diviner | Cloud Runner |
| Eilus | Cloud Runner |
| Eury | Cloud Runner |
| Exothermic | Cloud Runner |
| Levi | Cloud Runner |
| Gambito | Cloud Runner |
| Jack | Cloud Runner |
| Kyriellis | Cloud Runner |
| Narokh | Cloud Runner |
| Niyoth | Cloud Runner |
| Rhavs | Cloud Runner |
| Veron | Cloud Runner |
| Sicarine | Reflector |
Stage 2.5: Crimson Wurm, Refined[edit]
We decapped Crimson with 14 players. Having a reflect during the burn phase was critical, because we are highly susceptible to wiping from veteran wurm spits.
| Participant | Role |
| Gekk | Husk Killer (top) |
| Hamato | Husk Killer (bottom) |
| Kazu | Husk Killer (mid) |
| Ventaurion | Reflector |
| Narokh | Burn Phase Reflector Cloud Runner |
| Cele | Cloud Runner |
| Cheese | Cloud Runner |
| Eilus | Cloud Runner |
| Eury | Cloud Runner |
| Inari | Cloud Runner |
| Nik | Cloud Runner |
| Pengu | Cloud Runner |
| Levi | Cloud Runner |
| Veron | Cloud Runner |
Stage 3: Minimal Amber Wurm[edit]
“And when you look at group-based challenging content, we really wanna see a bunch of people get together, coordinate, overcome a challenge, fail a bunch of times, before they succeed.
— Isaiah Cartwright, WoodenPotatoes Heart of Thorns interview, March 2015
The initial concept for this raid was a decap of Amber wurm with a minimal number of players. After formulating an aggressive plan with 20 players, we quickly realized we didn't have the technical expertise to reliably pull it off. We settled on a more realistic plan involving a little over 20 players. A few iterations later, we achieved a successful decap with 25 players. However, many of us agree that the same accomplishment is possible with fewer players.
We strategized and planned out every detail of this attempt. Anyone with a sufficient understanding of the Amber wurm mechanics should be able to appreciate what we executed. The main strategic insight we used was the realization that all condi players can contribute to the harpoon mechanic since the husk attack cooldown was so long. Taking advantage of this fact meant we needed properly geared condi players who are able to coordinate down to the second. However, it should be emphasized that successful execution of the entire plan is dependent upon every single player having complete understanding of what to do. Previous attempts have made us painfully aware of the fine line between success and failure when it comes to the mechanics of the Amber wurm.
| Participant | Role |
| Veron | Scheduler, Harpoon |
|---|---|
| Gekk Exl | Husk Killer (north), Harpoon |
| Masaplata | Husk Killer (north), Harpoon |
| Kazu | Husk Killer (mid), Harpoon |
| Nik | Husk Killer (mid), Harpoon |
| Chiorydax | Husk Killer (south), Harpoon |
| Hamato | Husk Killer (south), Harpoon |
| Levi | Abom Prep, Critical Harpoon [1] |
| Narokh | Abom Prep, Critical Harpoon |
| Exothermic | Critical Harpoon |
| Lois | Critical Harpoon |
| Etybolik | Critical Harpoon |
| Gree | Critical Harpoon |
| Cele | Harpoon |
| Cheese | Harpoon |
| Evers | Harpoon |
| Eury | Harpoon, Backup Reflector |
| Inari | Harpoon |
| Kasen | Harpoon |
| Kyriellis | Harpoon |
| Minerva | Harpoon |
| Niyoth | Harpoon |
| Ray | Harpoon |
| Sicarine | Harpoon |
| Cass | Reflector |
The success of this stage, along with the previous ones, is solid evidence that completely finishing phase 1 of the Triple Trouble event can be done with less than 60 players. While it is doubtful an organization can successfully handle the logistics of such an endeavor given the open nature of the Triple Trouble event, we have provided a template for what that ordeal would look like.
Stage T: Initial Phase of Tequatl[edit]
We demonstrate how to enter the battery defense phase of Teq with just 15 players. More details here.
Stage TF: Low-player Tequatl Speedkill[edit]
In a collaboration with Attuned, we fully kill Tequatl with 47 players at 13:15 into the event. Given that the devs tuned this event for 80 players, 47 players should be considered an extremely low number. More details here.
Epilogue[edit]
Raids are released. (11/17/15)
Anet declares blocking husks to be an acceptable strategy. (12/3/15)
Much of the hopes and wishes that drove this group has finally been realized. Thus, after more than a year, this chapter of Project Probalt has come to an end.
Hall of Glory[edit]
Where we record our most glorious battles.
| Date/Video | Boss | Keg Driver /Scheduler |
Players [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] | Pugs [11] | 
|
|
Finish | Burn Phases | Last relevant PvE update |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/9/14 | Cobalt | Levi |   
|
|
1
|
0
|
0:01 | 4 | 4/15/14: Ferocity is introduced. Stat downscaling in Bloodtide Coast made critical damage stronger. |
| 11/13/14 | Cobalt | Cassper |
|
0
|
0
|
1:47 | 4 | N/A | |
| 12/6/14 | Cobalt | Hamato |
|
|
1
|
0
|
0:55 | 4 | N/A |
| 1/24/15 2nd PoV |
Cobalt | Levi |  
|
|
1
|
1
|
3:35 | 3 | N/A |
| 3/28/15 | Crimson |    
|
1
|
1
|
3:56 | 3 | 1/27/15: The power/condition stat increase from might is reduced from 35 to 30 per stack. 3/16/15: [12] | ||
| 4/4/15 2nd PoV |
Amber | Veron |  
|
0
|
1
|
5:25 | 3 | N/A | |
| 6/21/15 Condi PoV |
Crimson |
|
1
|
0
|
3:00 | 3 | Issues introduced on 3/16/15 are fixed. 2 days before the Specializations/Condi patch. | ||
| June 23rd 2015: Condi/Specialization Update | |||||||||
| 7/29/15 | Tequatl | Vent | 47 players; Collaboration with Attuned | 0
|
1
|
13:15 | 4 | 6/27/15: World bosses have had their health doubled and can now be critically hit. | |
- ^ Critical Harpoon: In the event we missed a burn phase by a few harpoon shots, these players were responsible for entering Amber and firing the last few shots. They would then exit to character select and return to the map, thereby removing upset stomach. In theory this sequence saves a bit of time, but in practice is hard to pull off. In this attempt, we did not need to resort to this maneuver.
- ^ Keg Driver
- ^ Scheduler
- ^ Condi Engi
- ^ Keg Runner
- ^ Projectile Blocker
- ^ Reflector
- ^ Condi Warrior
- ^
Cloud Runners
- ^ Harpoons
- ^ uncoordinated players; contribution ranged from minimal to crucial; mostly minimal
- ^ General buggy behavior everywhere. This includes, but isn't limited to: missing textures, attack animations out of sync, wurm animations played at wrong times, wurm burn phases ending earlier/later than usual, and Cobalt keg spawns changing at x:30 with x being an odd minute.
