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Weekly Strike Mission: Boneskinner

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Weekly Strike Mission: Boneskinner

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Weekly Strike Mission- Boneskinner.jpg

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One of Havroun Weibe's shamans, Hallveig, has reported that the Raven Sanctum has recently been taken over by the boneskinner. Raven Shaman Hallveig is looking for volunteers to enter the sanctum and cleanse it of this menace.
or
The fearsome boneskinner has taken over Raven Sanctum. Cleanse it of this menace.

— In-game description

Weekly Strike Mission: Boneskinner is the fourth strike mission introduced into the game, taking place in Sanctum Arena.

Getting there[edit]

After selecting one of the modes, either Public or Squad, players will be put into a new instance with up to 10 players. If a Public mission engages the boss with fewer than 10 players, it will be locked down and no more players will be able to join.

  • Portal in the middle of Bjora Marches.
    • Only available during its appropriate weekly rotation.
  • Strike Mission portal in Eye of the North.
    • Available at any time, no matter the weekly rotation.

Objectives[edit]

  • Speak to the Raven shaman to begin the Strike Mission.
  • Players in Strike Mission: x (if public)
  • Draw Out the Boneskinner
  • Defeat the boneskinner
    • Boneskinner
    • Event bar.jpgEvent boss (tango icon).png
    • Strike Mission ends in: 10:00
    • Silver rewards disappear in: 5:00
    • Gold rewards disappear in: 3:00
  • Strike Mission complete!
    • Mission closes in 2:00
    • Bonus rewards obtained: x/2

Rewards[edit]

Walkthrough[edit]

This strike mission is the next progression after players complete the Shiverpeaks Pass, Voice of the Fallen and Claw of the Fallen and Fraenir of Jormag strike missions, which are collectively referred to by the community as the "IBS EZ3" strike missions. As with the Whisper of Jormag strike mission, this fight is significantly more difficult. These two encounters along with the EZ3 strike missions are collectively referred to as the "IBS Fast 5" strike missions due to their relatively quick completion speed compared to the Cold War and the Forging Steel strike missions.

General[edit]

Health: 20,979,420
Enrage Timer: 10 minutes
Enrage Effect: Defeats all players

This encounter has a lot more healing pressure and heavily punishes players that get hit by mechanics. It is thus recommended to have at least two dedicated healers and skills that help reposition downed players, such as  "Search and Rescue!".png "Search and Rescue!". Players with the respective essence manipulation mastery can attack the nearby Pylon of Resilience to collect orbs for the Power of Resilience.png Power of Resilience effect.

The arena contains six torches outside the circular pattern in the center, which the Boneskinner will periodically extinguish. Players can interact with an unlit torch to relight it. Furthermore, two auras will apply consistent damage throughout the fight:

  • Unnatural Aura: Pulses low damage every three seconds.
  • Tormenting Aura: Pulses every second if a torch is unlit, with damage increasing per stacks of the aura. This starts out as a small AoE around the boss, before expanding in size for each extinguished torch and covering the entire arena.
    • If at least one torch is extinguished, players will alternate between 2 and 4 stacks of the aura.
    • If at least three torches are extinguished, players will alternate 3 and 6 stacks.
    • If at least five torches are extinguished, players will alternate 4 and 8 stacks. This is generally the breaking point and will require at least two dedicated healers to outheal the pulsing damage.

Although the intended strategy is to have designated players relight the extinguished torches, the most common strategy is to have all players stacked together near the boss and outheal the damage with dedicated healers. However, the general process is the same for both strategies aside from how the torches are dealt with.

Players attempting the Hold onto the Light achievement will find it easier with the second strategy. Because the group will allow all torches to be eventually extinguished by the Boneskinner, the wisps will be unable to extinguish them. Players should allow all torches to be extinguished by the boss before reaching 85% health, then continue the fight as normal.

Boneskinner[edit]

The boss begins by extinguishing a torch and will periodically continue to do so in a clockwise manner. Due to the damaging auras present during this fight, it is imperative for players to avoid getting hit by the Boneskinner's attacks.

Skill Notes
Death Wind The boneskinner spews a noxious cloud that can extinguish torches, and Knockdown.png knocks down and applies Weakness.png Weakness to enemies. The boss will alternate between using this skill or Cascade.
Cascade The boneskinner launches a cascade of darkness that rapidly deals medium damage per hit. Players standing near the boss cannot be hit by this attack. The boss will alternate between using this skill or Death Wind.
Grasp The boneskinner raises its right leg and spawns shadowy claws underneath all alive players that rapidly pulse low damage and weakness (the initial hit applies Torment.png Torment). The AoEs will persist for a while and deal much more damage per hit if stacked. Players downed within these fields will more than likely be defeated, so the group should ideally stack together tightly to have these AoEs cover a smaller area. After the AoE has been dropped, players can move slightly clockwise or counterclockwise to drop the next set of AoEs.
Charge and
Crushing Cruelty
The boneskinner charges towards a torch and permanently destroys it. Afterwards, it leaps to the center after a delay and deals heavy damage.
Douse in Darkness The boneskinner jumps out of the arena and Pull.png Pulls all players into the center, extinguishing all torches in the process. It will then smash the center after a delay and deal heavy damage.

The standard attack pattern for the Boneskinner is: Death WindGraspCascadeGrasp

At 90% health and every 10% health after, it will stand on two feet, unlock its defiance bar, and start summoning Veteran Aberrant Wisps. Breaking the bar will apply Stun.png Stun and Exposed.png Exposed to the boss; failing it has no effect. The wisps should ideally be pulled into the group. Players can also use projectile destruction and reflect skills to mitigate their attacks.

Players will also gain access to the  Spirit Nova.png Spirit Nova special action skill that can be used to deal large damage and assist with breaking the bar. Although the skill does not reliably appear during this mechanic, hitting the wisps will also generally unlock this skill as well, allowing players to massively inflate their damage if taken advantage of.

At 75% and every 25% health, the boss will will perform its Douse in Darkness attack. Afterwards, it will now periodically use its Charge and Crushing Cruelty attacks.

NPCs[edit]

Allies[edit]

Foes[edit]

Objects[edit]

Dialogue[edit]

Raven Shaman Hallveig: Thanks for the assistance, Commander. Is your squad ready to go?
If public:
(Advancing will lock your party and prevent any other players from joining the Strike Mission.)
Talk ready option.png Let's do this.
Talk end option tango.png We're still waiting for more people to show up.
If fewer than 10 players
Raven Shaman Hallveig: Could still use more bodies. You sure you're ready?
(You have fewer players than recommended for this Strike Mission. Choose to go forward anyway, or wait for more help.)
Talk ready option.png We're ready.
Your party has been locked.
No new players will be able to join the Strike Mission. Work with your party to complete the goal!
Talk end option tango.png We'll wait for more help.
Interacting with the gate
Raven Shaman Hallveig: Do you want to return to Bjora Marches?
Talk more option tango.png Yes.
Talk end option tango.png No.

Related achievements[edit]

Trivia[edit]