A dummy's guide to kill a Demogorgon (intelligent people excluded)

Before the server shut down for a 3 hr maintenance earlier on, I decided to use my sole lesser demonic key. The only catch? I never used it. Why? Because I was running normal Demogorgon and I was one of the very few intelligent bastards running around trying to keep things in order.

Before that...

It seems that server non-response may have been... well, compromised. Not so much on the frequency, but rather where you'll end up next. In the past, seeing that message in red means you're really screwed. The next time you logged in, you're most likely dead. The reason why is that the AI will keep hitting you while in stasis. Which is not fair at all. If you get yourself into a stasis for the correct reason, there's no need to complain. If it's for the wrong reason, then you'll have every right to make noise.

Another problem previously was that you'd have to redo any lair quest. Say for example I'm in the middle of whacking the real Zulkir of Illusion in his Phantasmal Fortress. Server non-response>have to relog>end up at the lair entrance. For the woefully idiotic, it means I'd have to redo the whole damn quest all over again. Period.

While the server non-response problem is still alive, at least your quest(s) won't hit reset mode. So long you're in the process of killing stuff (so as to speak), the server non-response won't affect your journey beyond the need to relog.

Case in point: Cyrea Durothil was done in by a server non-response last night during a Demonic Slaughter heroic encounter. Initial fears of restarting proved to be unfounded. Despite having to relog when that nefarious nalfeshnee was nearing death, the heroic encounter was deemed as successfully completed.

As for any potential unwanted death in the name of unnecessary stasis, I've yet to get any. Be noted though: You may still get screwed if you get that red message in the middle of a private instance run.

Note: So far so good, I've yet to experience a server non-response during a dungeon/skirmish run.

And now onto the titular topic...

I find it quite hilarious. Someone once mentioned a bunch of "Jews". Guess what? My party also got an Einstein. The only catch? I never truly professed to be one (if I've ever done so, it's down to jest). That fellow was like "ty and crap dps". If we never had a bunch of Einsteins running about in phase 1, I doubt he/she would have said that. I don't profess to be a top tier dps (in fact, my boons are focused on defense and critical), but at least I tried my best taking down the boss. I knew what I was doing (read: doing a super mass hemorrhage via a Gushing Wound-Aimed Strike one-two), I chose to take the risk by triggering the soulforged effect despite knowing that there's a 50-50 chance of failure.

With insults finally done, let me just say that you can never get a gold ranking unless you get a gold for all three phases.

The thing with the gigantic goristro this time round lies in an upgrade in defense and HP. Which means it's now harder to kill it without baiting it into a golden pit (more specifically impossible). As every Neverwinner may know by now, the devs will always review the difficulty of specific aspects of the content every now and then. And that includes Demogorgon, both normal and epic. Unless you manage to get gold for phase 1, you're gonna have a tough time dealing with that minotaur.

In fact, your score in any phase will have an immense bearing on how the next phase will turn out. When Underdark first came out, it's actually possible for the party to get an overall gold ranking via 1 silver and 2 gold. Not this time round. Unless the silver ranking is really damn close to the gold threshold, you're not gonna get an overall gold score this way. While this nearly-rule applies to the skirmishes, it may not be the case for Demogorgon.

Tip for dummies 1: Open only the purple portals

Even at this point of time, there are still people who don't understand how important this rule is. The moment any joker starts opening a green/blue portal, you can kiss goodbye to your gold medal. If we're talking about first timers, then I can cut them some slack. And we should as well. Otherwise... well, a fellow member of my guild alliance actually said that expecting gamers to be intelligent is a case of misplaced expectations. Willy was definitely right on this one.

Note: Above rule applies for both normal and epic.

Tip for dummies 2: Goristro is secretly a Singaporean

No offense to my fellow S'poreans because we all can never forget Sun Xu. No offense to the Hindus as well because we all know where the phrase "sacred cow" comes from. I swear that fellow has upgraded himself/itself. Higher defense and more HP, it's now harder to kill. Personal experience, however, seemed to indicate that nothing changed much. Maybe a higher frequency of paranoid delusions spawning, but that's most likely it (then again, these unreal holograms form the bulk of challenge in any epic Demogorgon run). Definitely, you'll need to do more in baiting it to headbutt the golden pits.

The problem with tanking that animal lies in the what-if scenario where the headbutt will go straight into a black pit instead of a golden one. If this happens, good luck. If in normal mode, you're most likely not gonna get gold. If epic... well, epic good luck to you. The most straightforward way is to know which direction to taunt once the red arrow pops up. To do so means having 2 tanks instead of 1. One tank to constant aggro grab, the other to direct where the headbutt should be going. An interesting tactic lies having 1-2 ranged dps as tactical markers just behind the tank in charge of main aggro grab. The moment they start moving upon the red arrow showing, it means where they're going indicates where the headbutt should go. This is particularly useful in epic Demogorgon due to the hologram spawning.

Note: I've yet to try this out because Arylos is my main, not Bhaasmond Taran. However, it must also be stated that the proof of quality in any strategy lies in using it.

Tips for dummies 3: Only epic Demogorgon needs to apply

This time round, the epic version of Demogorgon has gotten very annoying. The normal version is still quite easy to kill (only that it's harder to get an overall gold). The problem the devs were facing not so long ago is that epic difficulty is looking not-so-epic right now. There's a need to raise the bar and they really did so. However, Neverwinter (like so many MMOs, WoW or no WoW) is extremely reliant on sound strategy and efficient tactics. Not so much in normal difficulty, but sometimes in epic mode. Demogorgon happens to be one of the elite few.

The difference between normal and epic phase 3 lies in the Death Star.

I know part of the language sounds like a Teutonic knight errant who happened to graduate from some ah-beng ah-lian school (never mind whether it's Gan Eng Seng or It's The End). If my future girlfriend's BFF sees this, let's hope she;doesn't understand German. Ah well, at least Der Diktator never died until the climatic end.

Let's talk about Demogorgon's epic laser beams. Unlike phase 2 where it's relatively easy to get away (so long that minotaur is close enough to the sanity wells nearer to the entrance), the current upgraded version entails a double fatality shot. What it means is very simple: You get shot once=you get shot twice. To those with no means of auto-rez, it's no big deal. All you need is a costume in red.

Wonder if my future girlfriend likes the color red...

For those with any means of auto-rez, be careful. While I don't know whether using a scroll of life would circumvent the death ray effect, what I do know is that soulforged armor won't bail you out like what the EU has done so far for the Greeks, Romans, and Iberians. You'd just waste your get-out-of-jail-for-free card. If you're a tank, it's only natural for you to run a straight line down to the other end like what a certain Steven used to do in his prime (not this Steven, but the other Steven).. I assure you that death is never an option because it never will be (unless you're dumb enough to run the fight on a rank 5 dark enchantment for every utility slot). For the dps and healers, the tricky part lies in following the leader. People tend to make fun of us S'poreans because of our lemming mentality. No. A big fat no. A bloody Dr No. Don't follow the leader in the same direction. Grow some brains, I assure you that being persecuted like a Jew (like yours truly in the past) won't be on cards. See the blue zones at the edge? Yes, that's your intended sanity wells. Just do a detour. The reason why being that your movement will always suffer a consistent debuff status, if not on a stacking basis. What this means is that everyone will be moving slower than usual. At the same time, the damaging effect (very literally) of the terrain will open you up for a Demogorgon Super Tentacle Slap across the face. Once you get it, you're pretty much deadpool.

What you should do is to run along the edge, so that the sanity wells can minimize whatever damaging debuff caused by a hostile terrain. Listen to me, I know it works. I tried it after realizing what the devs have done to the difficulty level. Like your favorite Korean dramas, it's tried and tested. Not to mention successful as well.

Whatever you do, do not try engaging Demogorgon in the middle. The moment his Death Star starts aiming left, right, and center, you're a dead man walking. And I don't mean this type of dead man walking below.

Unlike the normal version, the epic Death Star rays will cause a severe movement slowdown. Therefore, it's imperative to have a sanity well less than like... maybe 10-20 ft away. At the same time, it also seems that fleeing into a sanity well just 1-2 seconds before Demogorgon fires his assault rifle merely means the trigger will be pulled. To make things worse, the sanity well will go "poof" upon you getting shot this way. In other words, no way out where  a second death is concerned.

Conclusion

Epic Demogorgon isn't really that hard per se. The difficulty is more about whether you're able to get an overall gold score. At the same time, it also seems that finishing off an epic Demogorgon would have a high chance to drop any +1 ring. Which really sucks (to set the record straight, I've yet to get anything beyond a +2 ring ever since the devs opted for an upgrade). At the same time, using a solo-heal strategy no longer works wonders like last time round if you're gunning for gold. It's highly recommended to have a devoted cleric capable of doing mass heal and Hallowed Ground at any possible moment. Just don't ask me when Cyrea will be ready for this one. She's yet to finish her Dread Ring campaign.

P.S: Kymil Nimesin is still alive apparently. Because he's an elitist traitor, I'm pretty sure Arylos will try to do something about this living problem. After all, he's Cyrea's lover despite House Durothil still remaining as a house of elitist jerks. If only I can be given the right (from Ed "not Miliband" Greenwood himself) to justify Lolth's (far greater) role in the grand scheme of things. *shrugs*

Add P.S: Elaith Craulnober should have buried a knife between Kymil's shoulder blades, with style or no style.

Risk taking gone right...

Just now, I realized that the world is never fair. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It's like taking a life to save another. It really sucks. The worst thing about condoning rape is not just about the victim suffering. Do you think the rapist would care if an innocent life is murdered as a result? Do you think he would care about the value of an unborn life? Making lemonade out of lemons? Don't talk as if you've been through it, that's my message to all you moral crusaders no different from a bloodthirsty Saracen.

The Japs better do humanity a favor by not filing a copyright claim to YouTube.
Also, this vid lasts nearly an hour. Period.

Okay, rant over

Recently, I decided to play around with the moveset where Sheallyn Melarn is concerned. Initially, I opted for Shield based strategy (read: spell mastery). The good thing is that she'd most likely survive 9 tries out of 10. The downside is not enough dps to go around. The control wizard is basically all abt control and destroy. More specifically the thaumaturgy spec (oppressor spec is all abt CC while renegade is basically a dps-buff tree. Which sorta explains why it's so easy for a renegade to out-dps a thaum spec).

While I have no issues with surviving, getting pecked down in the damage/body count ranking kept taunting me like how Cyric would have tried goading Kelemvor over his previous failure. Ultimately, I was like "screw it, let's try a Jeff Hardy". One thing worthy of note is that I decided having an uncommon Rimefire Golem companion isn't good enough. For 20K+ astral diamonds, I bought a rare Rimefire Golem. Considering the crappy level 30 ability (lifesteal? You're kidding me, bro!), 20K+ seemed reasonable to me. After all, Iceflame only has one job. And that is tanking without a tennis racquet.

Suffice to say, the gamble seemed to have paid off. Currently, this is what Sheallyn's moveset looks like:

Encounter powers: Chill Strike [spell mastery], Sudden Storm, Icy Terrain (switching to Conduit of Ice in party instances), Shard of the Endless Avalanche.

At-will: Magic Missile, Storm Pillar

Daily: Maelstrom of Chaos (subject to possible changes due to Oppressive Force being too damn good), Ice Dagger.

Class features: Eye of the Storm, Chilling Presence

Credit goes to my guild leader Vrae for telling me to go for CP. While Storm Spell can deal extensive damage upon proc, it's only a case of 30% chance per critical hit (which is most likely why SS and EotS are certified BFFs). CP deals damage on a more consistent basis unlike SS where it's more of a probability game. Of course this is not to say EotS and CP goes well together like a pair of BFFs by default. You'll need to have an effective ice damage game (something which the CW has in plenty) and an effective alternative (i.e. fire, lightning, and arcane). The latter factor is particularly important for thaum spec. Which is what Sheallyn truly is.

While there's nothing wrong in slotting Shield in either a normal or spell mastery encounter slot, such a choice can be seen as detrimental to the thaumaturgy players. Because CW doesn't have an effective AoE game, you'll have to hold the mob into a cluster before letting fly (as always, the devoted cleric has the best AoE game followed by the hunter ranger). If you're using oppressor then Shield may be useful due to lower dps and better CC. If you're going renegade, then most likely you'll really need that due to Reaper's Touch being your staple dps.

Thaumaturgy relies a lot on actual attacks to make the dps count. In other words, it's the stereotypical wizard (possibly Elminster Aumar and Gromph Baenre as famous examples). It's not a CC tree because there's basically nothing for you to choose from. In terms of dps, it works differently from the renegade tree (more of a dps leader build).

With a blue Iceflame lumbering about (together with 3 *insert gear here* of the Loyal Defender), there's not much for Sheallyn to worry about. Even with a leader companion, it's not a thaum spec's role to play out a prolonged fight. Period.

Note: Lightning enchantment can be absurdly effective due to the chaining effect. Just make sure you get it at greater rank at least.

Add note: Maelstrom of Chaos has been quite a controversial daily power, it seems. Some think it's nothing next to crap, others find it decent. Then there are those who believed this to be a very underappreciated move. Long cast time, but you get control immunity and take less damage as the SOP. Despite having one of, if not the longest casting time in-game, MoC is absurdly effective as a jailbreak tactic. The hard part lies in aiming. Which actually says a lot on why plenty (?) of people call this a crap move. That plus a small AoE compared to other AoE daily powers. If you want to use it, please use it as a jailbreak tactic up close and personal. There's no way you can aim it at the enemy furthest away from you if the rest of the mob decide to close in.

P.S: Getting very late right now. More specifically 2 am now. Will be going onto Arylos and Cyrea next. That plus I now know how to fix that damn non-server lag bs.

Biopsy gone wrong...

This week, I realized that a certain room in the DDR dept has been closed off. Basically, it's used for breast biopsy. Because I know there will be those too ignorant to see any sense, I'm not about to explain in depth what is a breast biopsy. However, I can try simplifying the ramification should you decide to act smart like a certain Heather Chua. You enter (the room), SPF comes out (from Cantonment).

Note: While I'm very sure my beautiful legal housebreaker is a radiographer, I'm also equally sure she doesn't belong to the relevant dept of the DDR.

Bryn Shander knee-deep in brine?

There's a problem with Mod 10. From Bryn Shander to Lonelywood, from Lonelywood to the Cold Run, something doesn't seem right. Players are now getting very damn salty. It's like some angry CEO from S.A.L.T Entertainment out to hire Drew & Napier to sue yours truly just because I decided to use Park "not the 대통령" Shin-hye as the real-life blueprint for Korey (from the Neverwinter Six) and Alestrial Eliaden (of A Requiem from Winter Past fame).

The area of (dis)contention lies in the new level 145 gear. Namely the epic relic gear. Let me get the bad and ugly out of the way first. I hate this retarded decision. Not what I've said about me getting sued, but rather the absurdity behind getting a set of level 145 gear cursed with a shelf life of Taylor "gone (swiftly) in 60 secs" Swift's BGR (read: Boy Girl Relationship, not whatever RGB color model). Quite obviously, the relic gear is only worth it in the sense that you can't run the FBI without them (FBI as in Fangbreaker Island, not the feds who are now trying to figure out whether Cyric's dogma is that power at work). I really hate it. The devs better do something to modify the relic gear, so that at least we'll be comfortable with stashing our relic gear like that guy in Jay "not Mr Chow" Chou's latest MV.

And yes, I know my beautiful legal housebreaker is a Chouder, tyvm.

You don't have to be Heather Chua to be called badass...

Yes, I know I've said so before. The difficulty level in the new campaign zones is now a notch higher. The enemy AI is most likely the same as Icewind Dale, but the terrain needs to be tamed. From the snowy terrain to within the confines of Bryn Shander, from the forest in Lonelywood (most likely preserved by the patron deity of Drizzt and his Cat) to taking down the troll(ing) mob instigated by the frost giants. Arylos has yet to hit Cold Run like how Yoomes Bond made his long-awaited comeback, but there are certain things meant to be learnt if you're daring enough to take on a few of Thrym's chosen ones while at Lonelywood.

1. Runes. Just don't step onto any of them. They're like the minefields surrounding the city of Fallujah. I've yet to do so, but I'm not interested to know the impact.

2. Getting stoned to death. This is Faerûn, not the world of Harry Pothead and the philosophers stoned. (hopefully, imam Zul won't see this post).

3. I can't say about Cold Run, but the frost giants in Lonelywood come as a couple. Doesn't matter if it's two men, two women, or one of each. Point is, we're talking about making war, not love.

4. The beastmaster. I really hate that fellow at times. Whatever you do, don't try to get yourself cornered. Unless you belong to the class of Lancer.

Links: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Note: Ironically, you'll see Cat's ex in Lonelywood instead of her current beau since Drizzt needs to recuperate after his super badass feat of taking down two demon lords. As for Orcus, we still have Arylos.

Inspired by Arylos' ex (?)

It's been a long time since I've heard James "not Sharp" Blunt. Then I heard his famous song earlier this morning on radio.

Scarily(?) enough, the angmohs from Singapore's ex-boss seemed to see him as their ideal dirge singer last time round.

While I'm not willing to disclose my stance on whether Sheallyn and Arylos do have a thing for each other, tweaking with her moveset gave me some food for thought when it comes to whether I should be more daring. No one should say I must emulate Pep "El Genio" Guardiola, but at least I may be able to emulate Eddie "the once and future knight" Howe.

Thankfully, I've laid the groundwork for Arylos boons-wise upon doing a free respec (i.e. from trapper to combat spec). It's like the late Willie Maddren setting the groundwork for Bruce "the Incredible Hulk 1986" Rioch. As a result of this (and a recent gear tweak), I may have found a way to bypass the need for Oak Skin. More on that in a future post of mine (note: I've yet to test the current build for epic Demogorgon and Temple of Tiamat).

Dealing with Orcus

I now hate this fellow. I really do. The thing with certain epic dungeons/trials is the fact that some of them are strategically favorable to the melee dps while others are more towards range-friendly. Tiamat belongs to the former, Castle Never belongs to the latter.

The first time I ran CN with Arylos, I never knew this. As a result, Orcus swung his mega weapon and Arylos got pwned. And it doesn't help that my team was known as the PPP (read: the Pew Pew Party of the AkaHoshi guild, not the People's Power Party of Singapore).

Second time round, my team got a tank. I thought I could have a decent pop at Orcus with impunity. Wrong. Again, Orcus got me again with his mega weapon.

So what did I learn as a result?

1. It's possible for a tank to get himself killed against Orcus.

2. I shouldn't have emulated Heather Chua. It's like friending Matou Shinji on FB instead of Emiya Shirou. A dumb call on a major hindsight.

One of my guildies once asked this interesting question: How do I create a guardian fighter build capable of tanking Orcus?

My view on the GF is that this is a so-called risk class. Unlike the oathbound paladin which you can pretty much spam Sanctuary (that is so long you're fast enough to pull it off since there's a brief startup animation), the GF relies more on external sources of healing (and buffing). With a good (read: decent) healer, a GF can last the distance. Just make sure of a few things.

1. Into the Fray. It's so spammable, it should be your BFF every day, not just today.

2. Dump every single damn boon point into defense>recovery>critical in this order. This is due to the GF in this current mod being more of a choice class (read: either half-dps or pure tank).

3. If you want to do a tactician spec, go iron vanguard. Swordmaster is suicide unless you're going conqueror.

4. Don't be a coward, be a knight. Knight's Challenge and Knight's Valor should be your BFFs against single boss fights (or if you're good/crazy enough, then every boss fight).

5. SOS. I'm not talking abt Save Our Souls or even sos cili roti john. I'm talking abt Supremacy of Steel.

If you're a melee dps like Arylos and Myrreas, it's not really the end of the world. However...

1. You must have a healer (preferably a virtuous devoted cleric like Cyrea Durothil).

2. You must have a tank.

3. Pls read my tips below.

If you're using trickster rogue, it's arguably easier due to equal ease in using melee and ranged dps. Even though pretty much 70% of the moves are melee so as to speak, usage of ranged powers won't really affect your damage game (read: Cloud of Steel).

If you're using great weapon fighter (either instigator or destroyer spec), just run once the monster turns to face you.

If you're using a melee hunter ranger like Arylos, just fight smart. You'll be on a constant tactical backfoot. If your tank can hold Orcus without dying, good. It means you can do what you always do best. If the tank dies, just fall back on your longbow for the rest of the fight. Be smart, don't be like Heather Chua. He's just like that arrogant and useless elitist Archibotak.

Seems that YouTube was forced to take down the English sub ver of Kiritusugu's fight against Archibotak. Little wonder why Angry Joe had a problem with the Japs last time round. Go YouTube search if you dunno what I'm talking abt. Also, Arylos and Kiritsugu think alike in the same way awesome minds think alike.

Unlike the great weapon fighter, you can't whack an Orcus once he turns around to face you. The great weapon fighter can just dash away (even for a TR, the dodge fps should be good enough to jailbreak). As for the HR, the dodge fps will NOT be good enough to jailbreak. In addition, the mega weapon swing is most likely made of anti-dodge material. In other words, you'll still get that one shot fatality even if Orcus' thing hit you the middle of the dodge/dash animation. In other words, just run away. If there's a tank, just pull Orcus' attention back to where it rightfully belongs. Period.

Let's see...

There seemed to be some unwanted consequences behind taking down the Gateway. While the game is now running smoothly (or at least far better), the whole damn thing does have the tendency to freeze upon the game starting up. It takes like 5 mins or so for my character to start moving around. Which is frustrating. To make things worse, server non-response is fast becoming a common fixture no different from certain individuals asking me "when are you getting a girlfriend?"

If there's no server non-response, I'm very sure there would be a Matrix moment where everything just froze on the spot like how those Thayan red wizards/illusionists pull off their mass area freeze. No, make that far worse. At least you'll know you're still able to move. Thankfully, I've developed the ability to make decisions under adversity. I'll have to thank my sister for streaming shows like this one below on her mobile devices daily.

And speaking of decision making while in a literal bind...

P.S: Incidentally, 諏訪部 順一 is still my ideal CV for Arylos. Coincidence? Think not lol.

Tesla Girl

Been a very damn long time since I've written something on this blog. Per implied by the title, this will be a rojak post of sorts. Basically, I'll be touching a bit on Castle Never (and why you shouldn't be running this bs with a melee dps apart from the great weapon fighter), my view on Mod 10, and first impression on a respec'd Les Trois Beautés.

Correction: I can only afford to write this much for now. No thanks to my brain having the penchant for working abnormally.

Gone in (less than) 60 secs...

Poor Tom "better for him to be Loki" Hiddleswiftone. While it's a hyperbole to say that the Hiddleswift saga lasted less than 60 secs, I'm pretty sure it really sucks to be him. I'm not gonna make any speculations over who's the one drawing first blood, but here's hoping that his current ex won't start doing a follow-up song to her Bad Blood (i.e. First Blood).

To that Tesla girl: I still remember the lesson you've taught me like 3 yrs ago lol

Firstly and foremost, I decided to share a bit on how Cyrea's current (and so far only) CN run. When I say CN, it has got nothing to do with Park "not the 대통령" Shin-hye's rumored Remy LeBeau (Vishanti dammit, I really need to do something substantial for Les Scélérats. Trickster, Priest, and that Eastwood bromance. No intent to plug Hiddleswiftone though since the idea came out long before Hiddleswift. Oh, nearly forgot Le Cajun himself as well).

Suffice to say, the beholder was really damn easy to deal with. Because it's just one undead boss versus the team, Cyrea had no problem doing what she does best: mass heal. Due to the massive AoE heal called Bastion of Health, it's very easy to play a mass AP building game (the only thing I needed to look out for is Magneto's tesla beam. Nothing to do with the Tesla girl fyi).

It's only once we reached the 2nd boss where everything spiraled into the Abyss. Long story short, we had to abort the run. It's not every day I did a Brexit, this was to be one of those few moments. The reason why lies in not enough CC to go around. Someone in my team mentioned not enough dps, but I suspect my team members were out to make fun of me since this wasn't the first time people decided to take me for a ride. It's like "oh we got a genius here. Might as well have a few laughs since he's really that damn good." Tbh, I don't really mind since I can just dismiss it as the classic angmoh humor (then again, years of solitude have somewhat warped my character). I'll be frank here: it could have been worse, it's basically just that once in a blue moon moment. Even my friend Private Ryan Shawcross made fun of me at times. Actually more often.

After the failed run, I decided to ask myself some questions. And together with that, some ideas on Cyrea's character in the event Ed "not Miliband" Greenwood decides that I'm good enough to rub shoulders with the likes of R.A "not rated R" Salvatore, Elaine "enough of your Elaine jokes, Wani" Cunningham, and Paul S. "not the actual apostle Paul" Kemp. Maybe not, maybe yes, hopefully time is on my side.

The first question is this: what if no one does a CC on the adds? Throughout the fight, the mobs were running all over the place at various interval. The poor hunter ranger didn't stand a chance once the mob broke free from the aggro hold. I was forced to multitask as a result since I'd need to keep two key areas in mind instead of just one. I only had Exaltation and Bastion of Health, it's quite hard to aim once you realized your bro had to move all over the place to avoid the aggro. And it didn't help that the tank was stuck at one place instead of following the crowd (word of advice to every tank: the hallmark of a good tank lies in knowing where to move, not when). I suggested a hammer-anvil strategy. I have to admit that this strategy actually worked wonders. Unfortunately, there's not enough CC and mass protection to go around. In other words, I wasn't responsible for the failure.

This comes to mind another question: how effective is Chains of Blazing Light in this scenario. No one was slowing down the mob, I should have considered this option since no one was using Smoke Bomb/Path of Blades (if this wasn't proof of my team seeing for themselves whether I think like Pep or Mourinho, I don't know what else is. We're talking abt the only effective AoE gameplay for a trickster rogue). By my own estimation, spamming this move may easily be the solution to a dearth of CC. The divinity version lasts only for a very short time, but you can afford to multi-cast 3 times in a row. After which, you just pull off an empowered version. In this case, I won't recommend using other encounter powers to build up your divinity. Whatever you do as a devoted cleric in this instance, you can't afford to do a mass heal until after you've spent all 3 stacks of divinity. The mob is nothing less than the fast moving and hard hitting type. The moment around 3-4 of them broke free, your team will never get back together. Period. Ideally, you should do a mass heal only after you consumed all 3 stacks of divinity on that divine straitjacket. I'll be testing this in the future CN run (then again, maybe not. Depends on my team since every CN requires at least a healer, if not both tank and healer). Tentatively, this may be what Cyrea's skill set looks like.

Encounter powers: Chains of Blazing Light; Divine Glow; Bastion of Health

At-will powers: Lance of Faith; Astral Seal

Daily powers: Flame Strike; Hallowed Ground

Class features: Divine Fortune; Anointed Armor

I'm currently hooked in Exaltation for open world PvE because the dual buffing too good to pass up. I tried a combination of Astral Shield and Divine Glow together with this. Once you max out Prestigious Exaltation while choosing the Virtuous path (note that you now can allocate a total of 15 paragon feat points to other skill trees without compromising that one point reserved for the final feat). Kills the mob faster and healing for more, I'm very sure of this. If I decide to use Exaltation for just about any epic run, most likely Divine Glow will be that sacred cow. Ultimately, it's more about Gift of Haste and mass heal than anything else (alternatively, using Divine Glow as a CC substitute for Chains of Blazing Light can be at least equally useful provided your team members can sustain both the CC and aggro holding).

Note: There are times where your encounter powers will enter a few seconds of cooldown during divinity mode. Therefore, it's advisable to have a main divinity move and a secondary one. Either that or you'll need to do what I'd call divinity braking (i.e. revert to normal mode for a few secs before reactivating divinity mode again).

Advice: Better late than never

I'm pretty sure all of us have done stupid things before. There are times where late and never mean the same outcome. Then there's the common saying above. I forgot who's the one telling me not to use Astral Shield during Cyrea's latest attempt to preserve Moradin's honor against mindflayers both (un)dead and alive. Long story short, that person told me to use Break the Spirit and Divine Glow instead. On the first glance, it didn't make any sense since Astral Shield would have given my party some much needed defensive shielding. Afterwards, I asked myself whether it's okay to use Break the Spirit due to its insanely long casting time (however, it must be said that this move can be very efficient in terms of dictating where the undead thoon hulks will headbutt the prison cells). Then I suddenly realized that the problem with Astral Shield lies in the long casting time. Which makes it quite cumbersome due to high mob mobility and the fact that they don't do things rank and file. Then I made a decision. By switching Astral Shield with Exaltation (while keeping the rest untouched), the process became much smoother. Because Divine Glow is instant cast, it's very easy to do a mob wipe no matter whether it's divinity mode or empowered mode. Retaining the usage of Bastion of Health means no compromises were made in the process (i.e. Gift of Haste). With Exaltation (together with a maxed out Prestigious Exaltation feat), keeping everyone alive while maintaining at least a decent dps momentum became a walk in the park.

Then I decided to test run this move set in open PvE. The flow of combat has never felt smoother where this Tesla (Ar-tel-quessir) girl is concerned. Initially, I was worried whether the absence of her holy straitjacket would affect the way she gets things done. A few tries later (against those bald Thayans no less), such fears were effectively banished. Ofc this doesn't address the problem of CC if your team couldn't do it for the party. But it really gives me something to think about.

Cyrea's first move set involved Bastion of Health, Astral Shield, and Chains of Blazing Light. I ended up enduring a bore fest not unlike watching Aston Villa playing football/soccer under Martin "Michael, wa si lin laopeh" O'Neill's stewardship. I don't know which one is worse though. Halfway through the fight, my brain entered screensaver mode for all the obvious reasons. The current move set actually set the pace on faster mode without the kind of Lamborghini accident any rich kid can be famous for. Felt a bit like watching Les Bleus playing their national sport instead of England crashing and burning on the pitch. I don't know how many devoted cleric gamers can do this, but I enjoy baiting the Thayans so that Cyrea can slap them with a Divine Glow (either that or Chains of Blazing Light since it's also counted as Radiant damage over time).

P.S: I suddenly realized that Cyrea purchased a respec token without my knowledge. I don't know whether it's via the Savras tokens or le zen, but I'm very sure I never purchase one. Because once I do, I'd just straight away do a respec, no questions asked.

Add P.S: In case you've yet to know the basics, Chains of Blazing Light isn't foolproof. Divine Glow, on the other hand, is.