Oathsworn Blade Master Trial - Cleared

All buffs carry in. Geomancy debuff potency is nerfed by 50% on August, but is full potency on all adds. There is no WS wall. There is no prime weapon damage bonus (nor a non-prime penalty).

The encounter starts with August (level 157) by himself. Every 10%, August summons a random Naakual add starting at 90%, all the way down to 40% for a total of all 6 Naakuals. At 30%, he summons Teodor as the final add.

While a Naakual is alive, August has extremely strong DT and regen (something to the tune of -99% DT, and 1% HP regen every 15ish seconds). August does not have this DT/regen when Teodor is alive.

All adds (including Teodor) spawn in with an aura and there is no known way to proc these auras. The auras give the adds approximately -25% DT, along with other effects that are mostly consistent with other versions of these NMs (i.e., the Bee's aura gives it a blink effect, the Lion's aura is a 20' paralyze aura, etc.). Teodor's aura is unique to this encounter and I'll discuss that later. The auras wear off over time. The aura on the first add lasts 3.5 minutes, and each subsequent adds' aura lasts 30 seconds longer - so the 2nd add has a 4-minute aura, the 3rd add has a 4.5-minute aura, etc., with the final add (Teodor) having a 6.5-minute aura.

In addition to having a longer aura duration, each subsequent add spawns in at 1 higher level than the previous add. The first add is level 150, 2nd add is level 151, etc., with the final add (Teodor) being level 156. The level of the add influences the potency of the aura. With the Naakual spawn order being random, this creates a layer of RNG as there are certain adds that you hope will spawn early (i.e., the Bee).

Pre-buffs before entering, many of which were from outside characters included the following: x8 Soul Voice songs (honor, prelude x2, minuet 5+4, aria, STR etude, AGI etude). x4 crooked rolls (SAM, Chaos, Misers, Tacticians). Flurry 2 on the COR/RNGs. Full SCH buffs - regen, embrava, baraero/barparalyze, adloquium, Minuo, phalanx, aquaveil. WHM for pro/shell/auspice/boost-STR. The main BRD's SV was reset using outside CORs before we enter, or reducing it to sub-10minutes with multiple Cutting Cards.

Main songs throughout the encounter: honor, prelude x2, minuet 5+4. Dirge fulltime on the GEO as the GEO does the majority of the healing and can pull hate later into it if they're not being given dirge.

Main rolls: crooked Chaos / SAM.

GEO bubbles varied by mob - see below.

Frailty/fury/entrust STR with SV songs up. Without SV songs, swap fury to precision. Last Stand.

Similar TP moves as the Sinister Reign version has, ramped up of course. The same applies to all of the adds and their previous versions.

Null Field is one of his notable TP moves, as it's an AoE 1-3 buff dispel, and is one of several reasons why a melee setup on this encounter is probably not viable.

He also has access to AoE terror and conal amnesia. Most of his AoE moves are 10' radius centered on his target.

Each time an add dies, August uses Daybreak, which visually gives him wings along with a damage boost. Daybreak also begins the countdown for No Quarter. The countdown lasts exactly as long as the previous add was alive. For example, if it takes 4min20sec to kill the Tree add, then once the Tree dies, August uses Daybreak which begins a 4min20sec countdown until No Quarter.

No Quarter is a 15' split damage conal move. Following an add death, to prepare for No Quarter, the tank turns August toward the group while the group moves within 13'-14'. The tank gets as close to August as possible in this position to help ensure that the 10' radius moves (which are centered on the tank) do not hit the rest of the party. You can then just plant in this position until No Quarter goes off. There may be times where damage needs to be stopped if No Quarter hasn't happened before the next add is about to spawn. No Quarter going off while an add is out should be avoided.

If Tree spawns within the first 3 adds, Malaise + Acumen, otherwise Malaise + Focus. With the increasing levels of later adds, we found that there was a tipping point where resists become too much of a problem to not run focus.

Light Threnody. x2 lux + x1 Tenebrae Rayke + Gambit. Storms from the BRD/SCH. True Flight from the RNG's, Leaden from the COR.

Cannopierce hurts real bad with the tank solo soaking it (along with perhaps a luopan). x3 Flabra Vallation/Valiance.

Constant Timber AoE doom spam (the removeable kind, smile).

Similar to Tree, if Lion spawns within the first 3 adds, Malaise + Acumen, otherwise Malaise + Focus.

Fire Threnody, x3 Ignis Rayke + Gambit. Firestorm. Hot Shot from the RNGs and COR. Wildfire is an option for the COR if accuracy becomes a problem (i.e., if Lion is a later add and SV songs are not up).

The paralyze aura is quite brutal and depending on RNG, may really debilitate your tank's ability to spike hate on him. Tank can make a judgment call here to use Sforzo if enmity generation isn't going well. Losing hate on Lion, even if only for a moment before a jump gets used, can be run-ending due to his AoE full dispel.

Similar approach for both of these - Frailty/Fury. Last Stand.

Damage dealt is physical here, so the RNGs should coordinate a Super Jump around 50%, otherwise hate will likely be pulled before these adds die. Try to time the Super Jump right after a TP move as both of these have access to dispels (Static Prison from the Bird and Volcanic Stasis from the Dino).

Dino is particularly threatening to the tank (especially if he spawns later in the add order). We like entrusting an indi-wilt on the tank for Dino.

Indi-wilt, Geo-frailty, entrust Barrier. Last Stand.

I haven't said it until now, but other than Shark, Bee, and while waiting for August's No Quarters, you should be fighting everything from 20'+.

Fight Shark inside the donut of Marine Mayhem (so everyone within 5' of him). If you try fighting him outside the donut, you will very likely have wipes to the wombo-combo of Protolithic Puncture (hate reset) on tank, followed by Marine Mayhem on the backline, which he can use at range while he's in transit from the tank to the backline, instantly killing everyone. A big downside of fighting him inside the donut is that everyone is now in range of August's Null Field. Since you're not shooting August during this time, he should only get off 3-4 TP moves while you're killing Shark and you either hope that none of those TP moves are Null Field, or at a minimum hope that neither of your rangers lose a song if a Null Field is used. Another layer of RNG.

Spread out around him within the donut - he's got conal moves. With frequent hate resets, we found the Wilt to be extremely important in preventing deaths. Panacea off debuffs. His autos are AoE and the BRD/SCH has a limited number of AoE heals, so the damage pressure gets a bit real here. Spreading out Valiance, One For All, Liement, and Odyllic are important resources for making it through. An early Shark spawn while Regen/Embrava are still up is dreamy, but he's doable without that.

Bolster geo-frailty, indi-wilt, entrust fade. Last Stand.

Bee is THE most difficult of the Naakuals.

With constant hate resets, we found it best to fight him with everyone in melee range except the tank, who should keep August away to limit the chances of a Null Field hitting the group. Spread out around him since he also has conals.

Zombie, weakness, stun, and a potent paralyze on his TP moves make him really dangerous. The tank is not even attempting to hold hate here, so it's the backline eating all of these things. RNGs should save their Super/High Jumps for a bad Zombie. If they get paralyzed or stunned along with Zombie, the run may just be over.

I mentioned that the auras are more potent the higher level the add is (the later it spawns in the RNG order). Where this matters the most is with the Bee. His blink aura very noticeably has higher chances of absorbing hits the higher level he is. Having an early Bee spawn with pre-buffs and a shorter duration aura is extremely desirable.

In general, Double/Triple shot should be saved for every add. The adds dying as quickly as possible is one of the win conditions of the encounter - the regen August has while an add is out is very potent, so more damage output on the adds effectively does double duty. With Bee, these cooldowns, along with Overkill, felt particularly important in helping cut away at the blink effect from the aura.

Teodor's dark aura gives him Dread Spikes and provides his auto attacks with an en-doom effect. This doom is seemingly un-removeable. He rotates through several auto attacks, one of which is a 25' ranged attack that is also AoE, and everyone hit by it receives the doom. His aura also applies Avoidance Down to anyone in range, so parrying/blocking in hopes of avoiding the en-doom is off the table.

It's worth mentioning that Teodor could not be slept - we've tried both light (with NiTro) and dark sleeps. It's also quite difficult to even get to Teodor and when you do get to him 45min+ into a pull, you have exactly 30 seconds to test/try things before your tank dies from doom and everyone else dies very quickly thereafter. Hence why the encounter took so long to clear.

But I'm digressing - so yeah, a 25' ranged un-removeable AoE doom. Not really sure if the devs fully thought this one through or how they expected players were going to deal with him, but here is how we navigated it.

The approach involves a zombie/death rotation between the BRD, GEO, and COR. The tank holds August on one side of the arena (the entrance platform), and the BRD/GEO/COR take turns tagging Teodor and dying on the opposite side of the arena. Teodor does not spawn with shared hate on August, which is one detail that makes this possible. Another detail that makes this possible is the fact that you have control over where Teodor will spawn in the arena. He spawns exactly where the 6th Naakual was killed. If he always spawned on August, it would be very difficult/inconsistent for someone in the zombie group to tag him before he hits the tank with his first en-doomed auto attack. For this reason, we kill the 6th add near the Teodor corner in the image below, then drag August to the opposite side before pushing him to 30%.

When the next player up in the zombie cycle dies, Teodor will (somewhat) slowly leash back to the center of the arena (green arrow) as he no longer has anyone on his enmity list. An important note is that while he is leashing back to the center, he will not sight/sound aggro. Upon reaching his reset spot (which is pretty much directly in the center of the arena), he links to August and full sprints toward the tank. With a 3-man zombie rotation, it's possible to perpetually prevent him from crossing that threshold. To facilitate the re-raising, the BRD/GEO/COR loaded up on Scapegoats, items that give reraise and, importantly, are instant-use items that have no animation/spell/ability lockout after using them.

Dropping the BRD/GEO/COR from the party to do this zombie juggling may or may not be necessary, but it does offer extra wiggle room. As mentioned, some of Teodor's auto attacks are AoE, and if the zombie gamers are not in the same party, then they will not hit each other with those AoE's, allowing them all to zombie near each other in the furthest possible corner without worrying about perfect positioning.

Tank heals himself while this is all going on. Continue the zombie rotation for 6.5mins until his aura wears off, then allow him to reset to the center, link to August, and attack the tank. Killing Teodor is straightforward once the aura is off. Frailty/fury, Last Stand. GEO/WHM keeps banish 2/1 on cooldown.

To provide a rough DPS benchmark to be aiming for: Teodor needs to spawn with approximately 17mins left on the instance timer to allow for this.

Unlike the other adds, Teodor doesn't give August DT, but once August gets to 1%, he will take 0 damage if Teodor is still alive. Once Teodor dies, August uses Daybreak and restores his HP to 30%. Therefore even though you're able to, it's pointless for the RNGs to damage August while the BRD/GEO/COR zombie juggle Teodor. The RNGs can basically AFK while the juggling is going on.

After he restores to 30%, you're in the final zerg phase. August will keep his wings out for the remainder of the fight. He will use No Quarter at 20% and again at 10%. The end.