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Alyssa Goldenblade
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re: A General’s Guide to the Battlezone

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Table of Contents

Introduction

I. General
A. Order & Charging Up
B. Level Playing Field
C. Add Mechanics
D. Shoryuken!!!
E. Mousing & Kiting

F. Circle of Defense
G. Minimum Recommended Gear & Stats


II. Star Sapphire Quests
A. Crystalline Catalysts
B. Crystallography
C. Star Sapphire Embargo
D. Violet Ultraviolence

III. Orange Lantern Quests
A. Avaricious & Vicious
B. Orange You on Our Side

IV. Red Lantern Quests
A. Crimson Fog of War
B. Rage Against

V. Ferris Aircraft

VI. Spark of Parallax (BONUS)
A. Straight Bosses
B. Double Trouble
C. Related Feats


Last edited by Team Goldenblade on Sun Jan 11, 2015 6:19 pm; edited 3 times in total
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re: A General’s Guide to the Battlezone

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Introduction

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There are only two daily missions in the new Metropolis Battlezone from two quest givers, but at CR106, these things take a bit of time… certainly more time than the three AF1 dailies at CR100. Placcio hands out the Star Sapphire missions that take place at City Hall. There are 4 of these total. Druumando is in charge of the Red and Orange Lantern missions that take place along the coast & Lexcorp respectively. There are 2 of each of these. This guide is organized by spectrum color.

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NOTE: Currently this guide is written from the hero point of view. I will fill in the villain variations in the future. From what I see in the battlezone, it seems that the Star Sapphire and Orange missions share the same zones across factions. The villains face Blue Lanterns in a different zone in place of the Reds.
Alyssa Goldenblade
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re: A General’s Guide to the Battlezone

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I. General

A. Order & Charging Up
With 2 dailies each day, you will get one Star Sapphire mission along with either a Red OR Orange one. You don't need to consider crossovers as in Gotham Under Siege. My recommendation is to do them in order of difficulty. This will vary from player to player after a first pass at each. The idea is to build supercharge with the easier mission for use in the harder one. As you know, the SC will help with weapon knockdowns as well as activate your "oh sh**" loadout! Also, if it's still in your schedule, just rip through the 3 AF dailies before coming here to build SC and pickup 3 quick MoFs.

B. Level Playing Field
The City Hall zone is probably the tightest packed daily quest area in the game, surpassing T4 Steelworks and T5 Envy on the “mob-o-meter.” Not only do you have to worry about red dots around you, but also above and below because of flying enemies and the sloping landscape. To survive this area, you have to get used to picking your nodes wisely. Try to attack the ones on level ground rather than a slope, especially if you can't fly.

C. Add Mechanics
It's pretty consistent in these dailies that adds have limited counter mechanics and bosses have full mechanics on. This means that the adds will be vulnerable to counters, but you are immune to theirs. However you should still look for the opportunities because a counter results in more damage and a knockdown opens up the window for a good combo. Naturally all bosses have full mechanics on and none that I have come across are programmed incorrectly (like in GuS). Something else I've noticed about these missions is that if you're facing an add that seems to have way more health than others, a red flag should go off that you're missing a detail with the battlefield configuration. Not all missions are head on battles! Some are easier when approaching with stealth and other non-combat skills.

D. Shoryuken!!!
Almost all adds you face in these missions are vulnerable to repeated uppercuts. You'll often get mobbed by 3 or more, but you can survive each node by continuously knocking them up. Use an AoE to CC the group and go uppercut happy on the weakest one until knockout. Once an enemy has been launched into the air, also pay attention to the direction you’re knocking them. If you're headed over to another mob, you have time to reposition. You always want to knock away from a nearby mob, which is often away from the red zone you’re in or against a wall.

E. Mousing & Kiting
Move like a mouse and stay along the edges of each war zone to minimize the chance of getting mobbed. Every time you do a quest, be sure to select it in the journal so that you see the red zone. This is important here because both of the zones are tightly packed. There are many cases this time around where there are nodes not along the edges. This is where you have to master kiting, or baiting the enemy to come to you. First locate your node and then find a clear path that leads to the edge of the red zone. Tap your ranged attack to get aggro and block to prepare for a lunge. If the enemy doesn't lunge, then make your way down the path and he/she will eventually float to you.


Last edited by Team Goldenblade on Thu Jan 15, 2015 10:06 am; edited 1 time in total
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F. Circle of Defense
There are many cases in these missions where you're going to get attacked by more than one mob. Even the boss fights can get ugly. No matter what your role is, it’s a good idea to have a rotation of defensive & healing abilities ready besides your soda:

SC heal - every power has one one of these and nearly all of them restore close to full health if not full. This may not be in your standard loadout, but I recommend setting an armory with one for these for the dailies.

Sidekick - Your sidekick can heal up to 3x if he/she doesn't get KO'd. Without boost it will still be a strong heal. With boost, it's a full heal + hard light shield.

Damage Mitigation - A shield or health buff is mathematically is the same as a heal. Be sure to have at least one of these in your loadout whether it be a power, consumable or trinket.

Boo! - If you have Boo Jr. or Baby Boo, they provide a long-lasting shield, though not a 100% mitigation. One of these is good to have in the self-healing rotation.

Tank Turf Mods - Anything T5 up stresses counter mechanics, so you’re going to be blocking a lot. Though the Fortified Blocking neck mod and Deadly Block feet mod are considered tank items, I recommend them for all roles. They really helps in kiting if you need to take some hits to position your enemy at a strategic spot. Kiting often results in a lunge and counter. With Deadly Block, you'll get some free damage as well.

On a side note, this rotation is also handy for soloing multiplayer content without being overgeared.

G. Minimum Recommended Gear & Stats
The required 106 CR (I recommend your Equipped CR be 104) is good enough for soloing these dailies. In adding up to that CR, I only recommend that your weapon be at least level 93. All other gear slots don't matter. To deal with the health of the enemies here, you will need to get in the habit of using WM and the AM of your powerset. It's important to burn down the enemies fast because you want to avoid comboing them into a nearby node. I'll say that you need to have at least one weapon mastery move. So 50 (43 in weapons + 1 fast movement + 1 movement to unlock innates + 5 movement innates) is the minimum recommended SP... though you probably have more than that at this point. Burning down adds at a fresh 106 is tedious, but the good news is you only have to endure it for 1 CR. There's a significant difference when you're 107. That's basically a weapon and armor piece away, but it will give you the stats to survive much more easily.


Last edited by Team Goldenblade on Wed May 20, 2015 9:43 am; edited 2 times in total
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re: A General’s Guide to the Battlezone

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II. Star Sapphire Quests

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A. Crystalline Catalysts

1. Captives (5) - Each node is guarded by 1-2 Sapphire Warrior and many can be found along the edges of the red zone. When you free the captive, it will most likely be a mist affected Lantern of your faction. You must defeat and interact with 5 of these. There's a small chance (after an adjustment) that the captive could be an opposite faction Lantern or Star Sapphire. If it is, try not to aggro them or you'll just be wasting time with a fight and receive no credit. After you interact with the crystal, you should immediately roll back until it's confirmed to be your faction.

2. Conqueror - The boss is a dual pistol fighter with hard light special attacks. She usually spawns in an add free and level platform. To be on the safe side, position yourself to knock her into the wall or alcove in case warriors or constructors float lower than normal.


Last edited by Team Goldenblade on Thu May 14, 2015 2:27 pm; edited 2 times in total
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B. Crystallography

1. Amethyst Crystals (3) & Constructors (6) - Each crystal you need to pick up will have 1-2 constructors guarding it. They're not that tough, in fact you can likely take two at once, but the thing to be careful of is the nodes from other tasks. I've found that the most efficient way to do this is to grab the crystal right away. When you have the crystal, you get 3 loadouts that knock enemies back pretty far. Use loadout #2, which is a spin attack. It will knock the constructors out of the way. Then make a b-line for dropoff point. The constructors will follow you, but you should be able to drop off the crystal OK. Then take out the constructors at the drop point. It will be more add free. If the path to the dropoff looks add-heavy and you need some extra defense, activate a shield, sidekick or Boo before you pick up the crystal. Something to note here is that once you drop off the 3 crystals, the nodes are no longer marked by white dots on the minimap. Maybe an alternate way to approach this is to defeat the 6 constructors first.

2. Architect - The boss fight is only tough because of the tight area. She is a dual pistol fighter with hard light attacks, but other Sapphires can get into the mix easily. There are also 2 architect spawn areas that are right next to each other. You'll need to pay special attention to your attack direction. If you’re straying too far from the initial spot, step back and use a pull before you run into a different quest node.


Last edited by Team Goldenblade on Tue Jan 20, 2015 12:44 pm; edited 4 times in total
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C. Star Sapphire Embargo

1. Crystal Shards (5) - Each of these nodes is usually guarded by 1 Star Sapphire Warrior though some nodes have 2. It’s pretty straightforward as you just have to defeat the warrior and interact with the crystal, which has no timer. In some cases, you can use line of sight to get to the crystal without fighting the warrior. You should go for this if the opportunity is available because of credit stealing from the opposite faction.

2. Escort Engineers (2) - You'll need to escort an engineer (don’t worry… he can fly!) to 2 portals and protect him from Sapphire mobs. Two or three may spawn from the portal itself and sometimes there are already 2 warriors at the location. BE IN SUPPORT STANCE regardless of the gear you’re wearing! You don’t need to defeat ANY of the adds here! Just hold out long enough for the portal to blow. If you're a tank, block & AoE. If you’re a bunny, keep stunning and if you’re a healer, keep a HoT going. When the portal explodes, all adds will despawn. Many times, if you position yourself just out of aggro range, the engineer will be able to get in and there will be no fight at all.

3. Facilitators - This can be one of the tougher boss fights, but really not so bad with strategy. You have to defeat & interrogate Star Sapphire Facilitators until one of them leaks you some intel. Most are located in tough spots, but you can kite them to an open area. The northern and western edges are usually pretty good for the one-on-one fight. I've noticed that the Facilitators that give the intel are not random. If you remember which ones speak, make a mental note and keep hitting the same one each time you get the quest.


Last edited by Team Goldenblade on Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:29 pm; edited 2 times in total
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D. Violet Ultraviolence

1. Captives (6) - This is very similar to Crystalline Catalysts, except there’s a higher chance of the captive being of the opposite faction. Crystals are guarded by 1 or 2 sapphire warriors. If the captive is on your side, you don’t need to fight. If they are opposite or violet, you’ll have to fight them if aggro’d.

2. Invasion Force (6) - There's no boss fight for this quest, just survive 2 mobs of 3 adds for a total of 6. The sapphires are grouped in packs of 3… all weak adds with combat mechanics off, but together, they can do damage. It's best to kite them out of the red zone just so you don’t end up mixing into another 3. 6 at once is extremely hard at CR 106! Once you’re at a clear spot, you can use the basic technique of AoE knockback/control and continuously uppercutting the one with the lowest health. You'll want to target the non-warrior first. It's the "adherents" and "believers" that have special attacks. One can encase you and the other has the Spike Quake stun.


Last edited by Team Goldenblade on Fri Jan 30, 2015 12:32 pm; edited 1 time in total
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re: A General’s Guide to the Battlezone

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III. Orange Lantern Quests

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A. Avaricious & Vicious

1. Orange lanterns (7) & Mist Containers (4) - Though this is a 2-in-1 task, you can knock off the 4 mist containers first as it’s pretty easy to find 4 unguarded ones. The 7 lanterns can be time-consuming if you don't pay attention to the names. There will be various ranks of orange lanterns, but the ones labeled with "powerful" have a lot more health than the ones that aren't. So concentrate on the weaker ones, which tend to be on the ground level towards the West. Also watch for Yellow Lanterns carrying containers as they may wander into the fight.

2. Defense Turrets (3) - There's no boss fight in this mission, but this takes the place of it. If you've ever tried fighting the Orange Lanterns guarding the turrets, you'll notice that it takes quite a bit of hacking to take them down. This should be a signal that there's an easier way. Take a look at the layout of turrets in the entire red zone. There will almost always be 3 that are lightly guarded or not guarded at all. Let your fellow Lanterns take on the enemy while you concentrate on getting open paths to the turrets.


Last edited by Team Goldenblade on Thu May 14, 2015 2:27 pm; edited 2 times in total
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B. Orange You on Our Side

If done right, this is probably the shortest mission of the 8 dailies.

1. Citrine Mist Scanner - This is a heavily guarded device, but there is a weak point. Approach from the side against the building entrance. There will be a single security captain. Stand against the building tap your ranged attack. Let the captain come to you. Roll towards him so that you can combo him against the building. After you finish him, carefully sneak in and interact with the scanner. Have a shield ready just in case other guards notice, but usually you can get by with just fighting that single add. On the villain side, this is the only task with a slightly different layout. I've had success approaching from the right side , using line-of-sight to block the left side adds from seeing you. The adds guarding the scanner have much higher health than others in this zone, again giving off the impression that you're not supposed to fight them head on!

2. Greedy Lanterns (2) - You'll want to pick Lanterns with a normal body type. The larger ones have much more health, thus extending the length of the task. After defeating each of these, you have to follow the orange mist that gets released and it will reveal a Lexcorp armored guard. So far in the times I've had this mission, the final spot has been clear. This 2nd segment is actually easier than the first. The armored guard, like other sentinels fights with handblasters, but also has an aerial strike. Whe his health gets low, he'll summon a security guard, which is annoying because the sentinel goes down way before the little guard! So you'll finish your mission then still have to clean up the add afterwards!


Last edited by Team Goldenblade on Wed May 20, 2015 9:44 am; edited 5 times in total
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re: A General’s Guide to the Battlezone

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IV. Red Lantern Quests

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A. Crimson Fog of War

1. Cleanse Rifle - This is worth going into more depth about since it takes us out of our normal weapon and loadout. Here are the loadouts in order:

Cleanse - save this for the cleansing you need to do after defeating each lantern
Cryofoam - I don't really use this one as it's not 100% effective. I'd rather save power for #3 or #4.
Blast - straightforward single shot attack that's good to WM into.
Heal - this is a full heal and seems to do some damage in melee range.
Air Strike - this is a SC move. It's best to save this up for the boss.
Drop Rifle - use this when you want to reset the rifle timer and pick up a new one. This is unlike form changes in previous DLCs where you get credit for starting a fight with the rifle and ending with your normal weapon. If you don't end with this rifle, you lose credit!

2. Raging Lanterns (7) - Becoming familiar with the various lantern ranks is important here. If you go after the weaker ones, you can obviously clear more of them before the timer on your rifle runs out. So concentrate on the "specialists" and officers." Avoid the "constructors" and "encasers."

Using the cleanse rifle, you have to take out 7 lanterns and then cleanse them with loadout #1. So be sure #1 is not on cooldown towards the end of the fight or the timer may run out. Use the regular tap range attack to kite the lanterns to a clear area to fight. That should be it for ranged attacks. It's against all logic of using a rifle, but the way to make this mission fast is to melee! It does a ton more damage, especially if you weapon mastery into the 1-handed moves. All weapon mastery moves are available once you pick up the cleanse rifle despite what you have actually spec'd into. This is the weapon I have the least experience with, but the WM moves are demonstrated nicely by Balkan in this video...
http://youtu.be/_g0nWjTx67c

For the 7 lanterns, I like to WM into loadouts #2 & #3. When your health gets low, the healing loadout restores all health, so you shouldn't get knocked out during this task as long as you don't forget about this loadout! The timer for the rifle is a bit short. At CR106, you may be able to defeat 3-4 lanterns before it runs out. If it runs out mid-battle, you will lose credit. So pace yourself. If things are going slowly after you defeat a couple, drop the rifle and grab a new one to be safe. If you lose credit on one, you're going to be wasting more time than running back for a new rifle.

3. Lieutenant - The boss for this quest is pretty isolated, but there are 2 spawns next to each other. Consider this when choosing your attack direction. By now your supercharge should be full. Go ahead and open the fight with this move. It'll be a sure hit and it opens up half of your meter to fill up again as you combo him. Like the previous task, stick with melee WM to maximize damage and heal yourself if needed. The Lieutenant is a brawler and spams the regular melee combos often. If you're blocking more than attacking, you'll win most of the counters and the fight.


Last edited by Team Goldenblade on Wed May 20, 2015 9:46 am; edited 5 times in total
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B. Rage Against

1. Red Lanterns (4), Raging Lanterns (3), Mist Barrels (7) - This is a 3-item task, but it’s good to knock off the barrels first as you can manage to find 7 unguarded ones. Then mix and match the Reds & Greens, trying to pick one-on-one fights. There will often be a Red Lantern fighting a Raging Green. If you aggro one, you'll have to fight both. Some of these are tougher than others. I will note the names in a future update. This is in the same quest zone as "Crimson Fog of War," so pick fights with the same green ranks mentioned above. For the reds, the "stalkers" are the easy ones that can't counter you and the "hunters" are the ones with counter mechanics on.

2. Thrasher - This boss fight is pretty straightforward. He's located in a red zone away from other mobs, but there are 3 spawns of him. Be careful not to combo towards one of the other spawns. The Thrasher is a brawler with some special hard light attacks. He has high health and damage, but it's just a typical countering game.


Last edited by Team Goldenblade on Thu May 14, 2015 2:33 pm; edited 2 times in total
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