A taste of Veteran Modes

[Raille]

So I didn't go deeply into veterans in beta, because quite frankly I didn't want to spend a lot of time on the things we'll be grinding daily.

I did however pug Stormtalon Legion's veteran mode for an hour. We never downed the first boss, but I can give a few examples of how Veteran mode steps it up.

Group:
Warrior (Tank)
Stalker X 2 (Yay me and another one of us)
Medic (Healer)
Esper (DPS)

The trash is about the same it seems, but you want to pull a ways back and not get any adds. In general you want to get Moments Of Opportunity whenever you can to help heals as well as kill things faster(duh).

So there are some variations and some new mechanics when you get to the first boss:

Cross beam telegraph - This occurs through all phases of the fight and is the most damaging ability that occurs.

(new) Circular Pulse blast - The 4 Pell surrounding the boss now pulse large circular telegraphs during phase 1. This stops once phase 2 starts and do about 25% of your health if you are caught in it. It's very easy to dodge from the cross beam and get caught in these.

Phase 2 disarm - This is the same as before

PBAOE storm blasts - These work the same as before, but now are required to remove an absorb shield on the Pell surrounding the boss. It was already a good idea to drop the storm blasts on the Pell before, but now you will be unable to hurt them unless you do. If hit by a storm blast you are knocked down for a couple seconds which can be fatal.

Pell Guardians - They do the above Pulse blast in phase 1 and gain a huge absorb shield in Phase 2 that can only be removed from the storm blast. When they die a static orb spawns and rotates around the room. The first one is on the outermost ring, but subsequent Pell place the rings closer and closer to the middle resulting in weaving in and out of the orb's way while attacking the Pell and dropping the storm blasts on them. Add in the cross beam telegraph and you have a lot to dodge by the end of phase 2. If hit by an orb you will be stunned for a few seconds and will most likely be hit by a cross beam or storm blast which can result in the chain reaction that kills you.

Phase 3 Large room blast - Once the last Pell dies you will be introduced to phase 3 almost immediately by the room wide blast with a few safe spots scattered. This is repeated 2 more times(new) rotating clockwise slightly each time. During this the orbs are rotating, but if hit by an orb before the last room blast you will likely get hit. A single hit is survivable, but more than one will kill you.

Orbs, the room blast, and the storm blasts are all that there is in phase 3, but often times one or more people have died during the early phases and eventually the group slowly dies. Interupting the boss helps immensely with beating him down, but as people die it gets harder to pull off.

[Nyogtha]

Yikes!

[Killam]

Sounds like a good challenge. Can't wait!