Minds of Mayhem Trial/Strategy
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The Minds of Mayhem Trial consists of five distinct phases, each with its own strategy. The strategies build in that the strategy used in phase one and two will be repeated in phase four. Each phase also has a set of common elements:
1) Target AV to defeat 2) Obstacles to overcome 3) Conditions to overcome the obstacles 4) Coordination required to meet the conditions 5) A timer for the phase
The individual strategies for the phases are as follows:
Phase One: Malaise and Nightmares
Malaise spawns on an outdoor map (in front of the Mother of Mercy Psychiatric Hospital as a level 54 (+2) AV. He is accompanied by small "mini-Tilmans" who pose no significant threat to a league composed of mostly +2 and +3 incarnates. A league which is shifted to this level is required for the trial as less advanced leagues will not be able to inflict sufficient damage rapidly enough to meet the phase conditions and obstacles within the time limit.
A solid strategy here is to place everyone in melee, immediately adjacent to Malaise. This way any kinetics heals as well as other AOE heals can be applied effectively, as can speed boost an other team buffs. After Malaise is reduced to 50% health, he retreats and the nightmares spawn. The league must defeat 3 nightmares before Malaise reappears for the final battle of the phase.
Starting when the first nightmare reaches 50% health and continuing for the remainder of the phase, the AV or GM engaging the league emits "World of Anguish", which consists of pink circular patches at the feet of most league members. These pink patches are fixed in place and grow twice before disappearing. The areas inside the pink circles deal Damage Over Time (DOT / Psionic). Staying within a pink area will usually kill a character in a matter of seconds, so moving out of the pink is critical. If a character is airborne (jumping or flying), the pink area will still spawn at their feet, however, with the area suspended in the air, those who wander below that area (the actual area is spherical, so the area impacting the ground is smaller) can take damage without realizing where the damage is coming from (depending on their camera angle). It's considered a good idea not to fly or jump.
With the "team members in melee" strategy, it is critical to move immediately as soon as they start taking damage. Watch the World of Anguish timer and move when it gets to about 1 second. This will stack the pink areas in the immediate area around the target, so moving quickly is critical to stay alive. Once out of the pink, it is very easy to taunt the AV or GM out of the small, stacked pink area and resume a melee-only attack with effective, small-area heals and buffs. Watching the timer (or having someone watch the timer and announce when to move) does not prove problematic for most leagues.
As with all phases, Desdamona offers resurrection to those who die. If the league is killing quickly enough, taking Desdamona's rez is not an issue during the final Malaise fight or even the 3rd or 2nd nightmare. It's best to leave a minimum of 3 minutes per kill, however, just to be sure.
Badge Strategy: There are 16 unique nightmares. Many badgers farm the first phase of this trial since it offers 3 nightmares per run and an astral merit.
Phase Two: Penelope Mayhem
Penny is immune to damage unless a storm collapses into a void near her. Thus, any knockback or immobilization powers must be either not used or used with extreme care. As a rule of thumb, such powers should not be used at all when Penny is Unaffected (immune to damage) and can be used without concern when she is losing health. The same holds true for controller-style (non-MM) pets since they cannot be directed at specific targets.
A workable strategy is to have a taunt team target thru a single taunter to pull the storms to Penny, then have the rest of the league target through a second person to switch focus from Penny to a storm, then back to Penny. Everyone except the taunter doing the pulling should be at Penny's location to maximize heals and buffs. Pull one storm at a time, then the targeter targets the storm, the league kills it (since they are then all targetting that same storm), Penny starts taking damage, the league shifts focus to Penny and attack her until she is once again immune to damage. Then the taunt team pulls another storm, rinse and repeat.
An alternative method is to pull Penelope into the center of the room with Taunt or Confront where the storms will naturally pass around on their set pathway.
If done properly, this is a very short phase. Any lore pets used here typically recharge by the end of phase 4 when they are next needed.
Badge Strategy: If Penny is killed using only 4 storms, there is a badge and an extra Astral merit awarded. The strategy is simple - just pull one storm at a time. If the league is well disciplined, KB any additional storms which approach so only one dies at a time.
Phase Three: Aurora Borealis
This phase consists of two rooms. In the main room, the league will fight Tilman (Level 54+2). Off to one side, however, there is a portal. Standing adjacent to the portal for a few seconds shifts a player to the second room, identical to the first except that Aurora Borealis is bound in the same location as Tilman and is being attacked by mini-Tilmans similar to those seen in phase 1.
The shift between the two rooms is very subtle since they are structurally identical. It's best to be facing and looking at Tilman when standing next to the portal since she disappears and is replaced by Aurora when the room shift occurs.
It is critical to get some kind of protection on Aurora immediately upon entering the phase. Typically, a charge of barrier or some shields (sonic, thermal, ice) will serve well. The remaining league members stay in the main room and attack Tilman at point blank range.
This will serve two purposes:
1) The blue circle will become meaningless since everyone will be huddled together regardless. 2) Buffs like SB, shields and barrier will be easier to apply to the entire league 3) The only movement required is when someone gets Suffer in Silence. If you see that message, simply move your character slightly and if the red circle moves with you, run to a corner out of Line of Sight and let it wear off.
Badge Strategy: For Aurora's protection, it's often a good strategy to identify those with T4 and T3 barrier and have them go into the second room, each for 30 seconds, one after the other, to keep her shielded. While there, kill as many mini-tilmans as possible before the game kicks you back to the main room. Once it does, call for your backup (next in the barrier chain) and have them go do the same. Typically, Tilman can be killed in 2 or 3 minutes, so 4 barriers (30 seconds each) is plenty to get the badge.
Phase Four: Malaise (reprise)
Phase 4 is a combination of phases 1 and 2, strategy-wise. Malaise is back and so is his pink stuff. Gather when he's in the clear, move quickly away when he's not.
At 50% health, he disappears and Tilman spawns at the edge of the room (NW statue first). This time, the taunters should act independently, pulling as many nightmares (boss level) as quickly as possible to her location. The targeter should switch targets to any nightmares which are close to Tilman and that target should die very quickly with the combined firepower of the league hitting it. Again, KB is your enemy here - shut off or do not use any KB powers like force bubble, repel, bonfire and most energy attacks.
Once she is mezzable, kill her quickly. Telekinesis (and other push/kb powers) are effective, but should ONLY be used from the location of the well at the center of the room, that way Tilman will be pushed away from that location.
Once Tilman dies, IMMEDIATELY move - the pink circles are back and they spawn the second she dies. Move quickly to Malaise's location and resume with the strategy from phase 1. Alternate these strategies until Malaise dies 3x and Tilman dies 3x.
For the final Malaise fight, launch all pets. Remember, pets are offline during the Tilman/nightmare fights, so this should be a fresh spawn. Lore pets are spawned as well since Malaise will die in under a minute, there is at most 60 seconds between phases 4 and 5 and you have a 3 minute timer for phase 5. Lore pets last 5 minutes, so they can be used both for the Malaise kill and the phase 5 Tilman kill. Just don't die.
Phase Five: Tilman
The final fight is with Tilman, no gimmicks other than the fact that the league is debuffed at the start. The presence of all pets, Lore and otherwise, should more than offset this. Kill her within 3 minutes.