Hard Mode Gatekeeper Strat for 29's (with images!)
Nov 6, 2014 1:10:24 GMT -5
wittyscorpion likes this
Post by Dumien on Nov 6, 2014 1:10:24 GMT -5
I wanted to make this post since alot of XB1 guys are prepping themselves for hard raids. Gatekeeper ends up being the most annoying part if you can skip the "defend the conflux" stage...simply because killing the first gatekeeper and the major vex adds alot of time to failures... this can get frustrating. Believe me. Most of my time in VoG has been spent on unsuccessful attempts at this section.
So...I finally got around to my crude drawing of a functioning strategy for Hard mode gatekeeper. I've run this strat with a large number of friends...and I'm pretty sure i've talked about it in detail in one of these threads. The reason a team should use this strategy is if the group consists of a majority of 29s. A group of 30s could do slightly different strategies that end up being more efficient. I'll discuss those at the very end.
This strategy boils down to 9 steps. Understanding those 9 steps will help you choose who should do which role. These steps are in temporal order. When two things occur during a single step, both actions must occur at the same time.
The Steps:
Step 1: Open the leftmost portal. Roles 1-2 defend the leftmost sync plate. Role 3 defends the leftmost sync plate. Role 4-6 enters the leftmost portal.
Step 2: After firing a few rockets at the mobs/boss in Mars two players in role 4-6 leave so as not to get caught by the darkness curse. They then assist roles 1-3 with the praetorian.
Step 3: The one remain in the portal finishes off the boss. They alert the party to this event, grab the relic, and leave. Mobs will be spawning to intercept. Evasion by double jumping then rapidly pressing melee results in some fantastic evasive movements. Alternatively, a bladedancer can stealth using their super or crouch ability. They can then cloak their way to the exit.
Step 4: Upon being alerted that the boss is dead/almost dead (there will also be an ingame sound cue of grinding when the boss dies) Role 3 will then quickly run to the infinite minotaur spawn at the top of the map. Hiding behind the left pillar will completely protect this player from hobgoblins/goblins (they will not aggro you) any will allow you to kill the minotaur with a rocket before they respawn. Stay here until the end.
Step 5: Roles 1-2 and 4-6 all shift to the right side while wiping up any remaining praetorian.
Step 6: Roles 1-2 step on the sync plate to open the portal. Role 4-6 enter the portal. Role 1-2 Defend the sync plate until step 9.
Step 7: Two people from Roles 4-6 fire rockets at the mobs. The person with the 1st relic fires the super at the boss (deals about half health damage). The person who will be picking up the second relic and the 1st relic person stay inside the portal. The person with the 1st relic Is on cleansing duty at this point. The person who will not be getting the relic can leave the portal and help Roles 1-2 outside killing the praetorian, but they will eventually go blind. Before they go blind they should go back through the portal for a cleanse.
Step 8: The boss should be killed by Roles 4-6 and one player should get the relic. They should get the the exit as fast as possible (staggering relic shields if needed).
Step 9: Once outside the relic holders should cleanse the other player in Roles 4-6. Roles 1-2 and 4-6 abandon right side (and all mobs) and defend the conflux, thus finally relievingRole 3.
Picking Roles:
Roles 1-2: must have the weapons to consistently put two praetorian. Multiple grenades help. High discipline. High intelligence. This job is super important starting with step 5. Failure past this point generally results in a wipe.
Role 3: Your highest level/highest sustained damage output player is usually put here (or as relic holder 1). The more minotaurs that person can kill, the longer the rest of the team has to complete step 5-9.
Roles 4-6: Players with really good rocket launchers help here. As do warlocks (for self res) and hunters (for cloak and gunslinger clears). Having a high level player as the person grabbing the first relic means the relic will be doing more damage on the right side.
Basic Map
Role 1 and 2
Role 3
Role 4-6
Reasons to shift plans:
There are a few ways you can shift plans if you want to.
1) Two players can go after role 3 if one player is struggling. This effectively splits the party into 3 teams of 2. It extends the possible amount of time in venus, but puts a harsher strain on Role 1-2 on praetorian killing. In addition it removes the initial damage burst against the mobs on venus since you are taking away one of the members of this team.
2) You can do both gates at the same time. I only recommend this for level 30 players of people with a crazy amount of hard mode experience/confidence. This eliminates role three completely and has two teams of 3 functioning simultaneously. Mars side is significantly more difficult, so your higher damage output players should be on this side. The pro to this strategy are that it is faster and less extraneous on ammo usage. The cons are that it demands a much more tight kill clock on all fronts. Double praetorian will be spawning. Two bosses must be killed. This is a decent strategy for a high hunter composition...since assassinating both bosses and cloaking is a legitimate strategy.
3) One player on role 4-6 never has to go inside the venus portal. The pros to this change is that player never goes blind and has a higher chance of surviving until step 9. In addition the praetorian defense on the right side is better (3 people constantly shooting. The con is that the venus side gets done significantly slower and thus role 3 will have to hold out for a longer period of time.
I'll add more variations when I come across them or people inform me of a successful one.
So...I finally got around to my crude drawing of a functioning strategy for Hard mode gatekeeper. I've run this strat with a large number of friends...and I'm pretty sure i've talked about it in detail in one of these threads. The reason a team should use this strategy is if the group consists of a majority of 29s. A group of 30s could do slightly different strategies that end up being more efficient. I'll discuss those at the very end.
This strategy boils down to 9 steps. Understanding those 9 steps will help you choose who should do which role. These steps are in temporal order. When two things occur during a single step, both actions must occur at the same time.
The Steps:
Step 1: Open the leftmost portal. Roles 1-2 defend the leftmost sync plate. Role 3 defends the leftmost sync plate. Role 4-6 enters the leftmost portal.
Step 2: After firing a few rockets at the mobs/boss in Mars two players in role 4-6 leave so as not to get caught by the darkness curse. They then assist roles 1-3 with the praetorian.
Step 3: The one remain in the portal finishes off the boss. They alert the party to this event, grab the relic, and leave. Mobs will be spawning to intercept. Evasion by double jumping then rapidly pressing melee results in some fantastic evasive movements. Alternatively, a bladedancer can stealth using their super or crouch ability. They can then cloak their way to the exit.
Step 4: Upon being alerted that the boss is dead/almost dead (there will also be an ingame sound cue of grinding when the boss dies) Role 3 will then quickly run to the infinite minotaur spawn at the top of the map. Hiding behind the left pillar will completely protect this player from hobgoblins/goblins (they will not aggro you) any will allow you to kill the minotaur with a rocket before they respawn. Stay here until the end.
Step 5: Roles 1-2 and 4-6 all shift to the right side while wiping up any remaining praetorian.
Step 6: Roles 1-2 step on the sync plate to open the portal. Role 4-6 enter the portal. Role 1-2 Defend the sync plate until step 9.
Step 7: Two people from Roles 4-6 fire rockets at the mobs. The person with the 1st relic fires the super at the boss (deals about half health damage). The person who will be picking up the second relic and the 1st relic person stay inside the portal. The person with the 1st relic Is on cleansing duty at this point. The person who will not be getting the relic can leave the portal and help Roles 1-2 outside killing the praetorian, but they will eventually go blind. Before they go blind they should go back through the portal for a cleanse.
Step 8: The boss should be killed by Roles 4-6 and one player should get the relic. They should get the the exit as fast as possible (staggering relic shields if needed).
Step 9: Once outside the relic holders should cleanse the other player in Roles 4-6. Roles 1-2 and 4-6 abandon right side (and all mobs) and defend the conflux, thus finally relievingRole 3.
Picking Roles:
Roles 1-2: must have the weapons to consistently put two praetorian. Multiple grenades help. High discipline. High intelligence. This job is super important starting with step 5. Failure past this point generally results in a wipe.
Role 3: Your highest level/highest sustained damage output player is usually put here (or as relic holder 1). The more minotaurs that person can kill, the longer the rest of the team has to complete step 5-9.
Roles 4-6: Players with really good rocket launchers help here. As do warlocks (for self res) and hunters (for cloak and gunslinger clears). Having a high level player as the person grabbing the first relic means the relic will be doing more damage on the right side.
Basic Map
Role 1 and 2
Role 3
Role 4-6
Reasons to shift plans:
There are a few ways you can shift plans if you want to.
1) Two players can go after role 3 if one player is struggling. This effectively splits the party into 3 teams of 2. It extends the possible amount of time in venus, but puts a harsher strain on Role 1-2 on praetorian killing. In addition it removes the initial damage burst against the mobs on venus since you are taking away one of the members of this team.
2) You can do both gates at the same time. I only recommend this for level 30 players of people with a crazy amount of hard mode experience/confidence. This eliminates role three completely and has two teams of 3 functioning simultaneously. Mars side is significantly more difficult, so your higher damage output players should be on this side. The pro to this strategy are that it is faster and less extraneous on ammo usage. The cons are that it demands a much more tight kill clock on all fronts. Double praetorian will be spawning. Two bosses must be killed. This is a decent strategy for a high hunter composition...since assassinating both bosses and cloaking is a legitimate strategy.
3) One player on role 4-6 never has to go inside the venus portal. The pros to this change is that player never goes blind and has a higher chance of surviving until step 9. In addition the praetorian defense on the right side is better (3 people constantly shooting. The con is that the venus side gets done significantly slower and thus role 3 will have to hold out for a longer period of time.
I'll add more variations when I come across them or people inform me of a successful one.
