Aivela & Esne

Overview

Summary

Enrage Timer: N/A

Aivela & Esne is a fun encounter that can appear quite chaotic the first few times you run the Gods operation. There are lots of colors and many graphics to kite/avoid. Fortunately many of the mechanics can be ignored in Story Mode so the learning curve is quite generous on the fight despite its many mechanics.

At its core, the A&E fight is all about matching your polarity with various attacks targeting you. The attacks will typically be White or Red, and the player must shift their polarity to match via a temporary ability gained in the opening phase of the fight.

At the end, the fight concludes with a soft enrage burn phase that requires targeted DPS to kill one boss at a time while positioning requirements for players to step out of the group.

Kill Video & Video Guide

SM Kill Video (DPS PoV)

Aivela & Esne Story Mode Video Guide

Layout

Layout during opener

Layout during main fight

Detailed Walkthrough - STORY MODE

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Aivela & Esne

Polarized Energy Burst

3s cast ability by Aivela and Esne with a 12s cooldown. The white/blue icon is the positive polarized attack used by Aivela and the red icon is the negative polarized attack used by Esne. These attacks are telegraphed during their cast time by a white or red circular AoE. Damage can be nearly fully mitigated by matching the color/polarization of the attack via the Polarity Module temporary ability.

Polarized Energy Burst is used in all phases until A&E complete a cast of Overdrive Mode, at which point it is replaced by Overdrive Energy Burst.

Positive/White Polarized Energy Burst

Negative/Red Polarized Energy Burst

Radiance

6s cast ability by Aivela and Esne used at the beginning of each phase after they drop below 72% health. The cast applies a very large AoE circle centered on each boss that has a polarization corresponding to each boss (Aivela = positive/white, Esne = negative/red). Players standing in the Radiance circle will take no damage if they match the polarization and will take light damage every 3s if they do not match the polarization. Standing in overlapping Radiance circles will do damage either way since only one circle can be mitigated through polarization.

Radiance begins use by A&E in Phase 2 and onward (A&E < 72%).

Radiance Circles during Cast

Radiance Circles after Cast

Overdrive Mode

8s cast ability by Aivela and Esne that increases their damage dealt by 100% and heals them for 7.5% of maximum health. The cast is triggered for both Aivela and Esne when either reaches 7% health. The cast cannot be interrupted in Story Mode.

Example of Aivela w/ Overdrive buff

(See graphic on the ground similar to Hydraulic Overrides)

Overdrive Energy Burst

3s cast attack ability by Aivela and Esne after they enter Overdrive Mode. The ability has a 12s cooldown. Overdrive Energy Burst is a buffed version of the Polarized Energy Burst AoE attack except that it deals increased damage due to the Overdrive Mode buff and cannot be mitigated by matching polarization. This is indicated visually as the AoE telegraph includes both White and Blue markers.

Overdrive Energy Burst AoE

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Other

Hardened Shield (Nexus)

Buff applied to Nexus by each Codex unit that makes Nexus immune to damage. Visually indicated by a light blue beam of energy connecting each Codex Unit to the Nexus. Once all Codex units are destroyed, the buff is removed and the Nexus becomes vulnerable to damage.

Nexus with 8 stacks of Hardened Shield before pull

Defense Protocol (Nexus)

3s cast ability by Nexus after its Hardened Shield is removed. The ability has no effect in Hard Mode.

Charge Fire (Nexus)

2.5s cast attack by Nexus after its Hardened Shield is removed. The attack is telegraphed in a narrow rectangular conal and is channeled over a few seconds. The channel affects all players within the telegraph, dealing damage and applying 3 stacks of the Residual Burn debuff over its duration. The Nexus generally targets players according to the threat table but will not target anyone with stacks of the Residual Burn debuff.

Emergency Shielding (Nexus)

Status effect applied to Nexus when it reaches 50% health that makes it immune to damage. This shield is removed when Aivela & Esne drop their shields after both reaching 40% health.

Repulsion Field (Glare)

Status effect on Glare droids (droids at points of the diamond platform) that will knock back any players who get closer then 2.5m from the Glare. Do not get too close!

Repulsion Field AoE graphic

Charge Fire

Channeled beam attack by Glare droids. The attack is telegraphed by a long narrow conal that targets the nearest player of the opposite polarization to the Glare droid. The beam attack is polarized and can be mitigated by matching the polarization, otherwise it deals very high damage. The Glare droid alternates polarization after each Charge Fire attack.

Charge Fire is used beginning in Phase 1.

Glare Droid w/ Negative/Red polarity

Glare Droid w/ Positive/White polarity

Charge Fire telegraphs

Charge Fire beams

Purification

An extended version of the Charge Fire mechanic. The Glare droids on the sides of the platform channel matching beam attacks that sweep across the platform. The polarization swaps after each attack, such that the Purification beam attack will alternate colors.

Purification is only used in Phase 3 onward (A&E < 40%).

Beginning of Purification Beam mechanic

Middle of Purification Beam mechanic, just before beams cross each other in the middle

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Player

Polarity Module

Immune to negatively polarized damage. Vulnerable to positively polarized damage.

Applied by clicking the Red icon on your temporary ability bar provided by picking up the Polarity Module (the clicky on the ground after killing a Codex Unit). Applies a negative polarization buff to your character. While polarized negative (Red), you will take minimal damage from any negatively polarized attacks with Red telegraph attacks such as Radiance, Purification Beam or Polarized Energy Burst.

Clickable item to pick up Polarity Module

Negative Polarization

Immune to negatively polarized damage. Vulnerable to positively polarized damage.

Applied by clicking the Red icon on your temporary ability bar provided by picking up the Polarity Module (the clicky on the ground after killing a Codex Unit). Applies a negative polarization buff to your character. While polarized negative (Red), you will take minimal damage from any negatively polarized attacks with Red telegraph attacks such as Radiance, Purification Beam or Polarized Energy Burst.

Positive Polarization

Immune to positively polarized damage. Vulnerable to negatively polarized damage.

Applied by clicking the White icon on your temporary ability bar provided by picking up the Polarity Module (the clicky on the ground after killing a Codex Unit). Applies a positive polarization buff to your character. While polarized positive (White), you will take minimal damage from any positively polarized attacks with White telegraph attacks such as Radiance, Purification Beam or Polarized Energy Burst.

Temporary Ability Bar from Polarity Module

Residual Burn (debuff)

9s duration DoT applied by the Nexus Charge Fire attack. The DoT ticks for very minimal damage. This mechanic primarily exists for Master Mode but is still present in Story Mode and Hard Mode.

Polarized Energy Burst (debuff)

The player targeted by Polarized Energy Burst receives a debuff during the cast time. The color of the debuff matches the color of the AoE telegraph for the attack and also indicates the color to match to mitigate damage.

Strategy

Overview

The Aivela & Esne encounter has several phases that primarily involve damaging Aivela & Esne evenly while using the Polarity Module, a temporary item granted by detroying a Codex unit in the opener, to match colors with various damage mechanics. The Polarity Module provides a temporary ability to match Positive/White (Aivela) or Negative/Red (Esne), where matching the color of the attacker will prevent one from taking damage. The bosses should be burned evenly until around 15% after which the bosses should be focused down on at a time to minimize the length of the soft enrage Overdrive Mode phase that is triggered at 8% health.

Group Composition

Group Composition for this fight should ordinarily be at least 1 tank, 4-5 DPS and 2 healers. A second tank can be helpful to hold aggro on the second boss but is not required. Aivela and Esne do not hit very hard individually, so a DPS holding aggro on one boss is not a huge issue for healers. The fight can even be severely short manned and duos are possible for skilled players.

Pre-Fight Preparation

The key points to discuss before the fight begins are as follows:

  • Polarity Module: Make sure everyone knows what the Polarity Module is and how to get it (click the button on the ground after defeating Codex units), how to use it (the temporary ability bar) and when to use it (match the color of anything targeting you).

  • Ability priority: Since it is possible for players to get targeted by multiple mechanics, make sure everyone understands that Purification (beam attacks that sweep the platform) > Charge Fire (beam attack targeting a player > Polarized Energy Burst (small AoE centered on a player) > Radiance (huge AoE centered on bosses).

  • Discuss Purification "Wiper" Beams: Make sure to let players know that after A&E are pushed below 40%, the wiper beams will occur. Players need to match the color. The beams will alternate colors after the first. Players can identify which color by looking at the Glares on the sides.

  • Burn order: Decide which boss will be burned first once both reach around 15%. It can be pre-selected or can be based on whichever is lower, just make sure everyone knows what to do or whether to listen for a call-out during the fight.

Strategy Key Points

The strategy for this fight has the following key points:

  1. Match colors. Most mechanics in the encounter have a polarity of Positive/White or Negative/Red. Matching that color with your temporary Polarity Module abilities will completely negate the damage from that mechanic. Nearly all damage in the fight comes from these mechanics, so proper color matching reduces the damage to a very low amount.

  2. During burn phase, focus one boss and move out of the group for AoEs. Overdrive Mode is triggered at 7% and will heal each boss if completed. To avoid both bosses healing, push one first by concentrating DPS. If one completes the cast, dangerous AoEs will go out and should be moved out of the group.

There are other mechanics as noted above and discussed below. However, if players match colors and focus burn phase DPS correctly, this fight should be quite easy in Story Mode.

Detailed Strategy

Opener - Kill Codex Units, Nexus 100% - 50%

In the opener, the team kills all Codices around the room. Each Codex will drop 1 clickable item on the ground (2 in 16m) that provide a Polarity Module. Each player should pick up one. This enables the player to “swap colors”.

After killing all Codices, the team damages the Nexus (middle of the platform) down to 50% health, at which point it shields. Aivela & Esne spawn at this point and the main fight begins.

Phase 1 - A&E 100% - 72%

Aivela & Esne are immobile during Phase 1 and 2. They periodically target random players with Polarized Energy Burst (see below for priority of color matching). Glare droids spawn at the cardinal directions (points of the diamond-shaped platform) and target players with Purification Beam conal and knock back any players who get too close to them. Countermeasures spawn at the middle of each edge of the platform and target random players with low damage attacks.

The strategy for this phase is to DPS Aivela & Esne while moving away from the group and matching colors to deal with Polarized Energy Burst (AoE) and Purification Beam (long conal). See below for priority on these items. Each boss shields itself at 72% until both are shielded then the encounter moves to Phase 2.

Phase 2 - A&E 72% - 40%

All mechanics in Phase 1 continue here (bosses immobile, Polarized Energy Burst AoE attack, Purification Beam conal attack) and a new one is added. Aivela & Esne cast Radiance that applies a very large AoE circle that deals damage to anyone standing inside it without matching its color. See below for discussion of color matching.

The strategy is the same as Phase 1 to continue burning Aivela & Esne while moving away to deal with mechanics and matching colors to minimize damage. Each boss shields at 40% health and the fight moves to Phase 3 after both are pushed.

Phase 3 - A&E 40% - 15%

Phase 3 changes the fight significantly. The Polarized Energy Burst AoE and the Radiance huge AoE mechanics remain, but both Aivela & Esne are now mobile and the Purification Beam mechanic changes significantly. Called the "Wiper Beams", in Phase 3 the Purification Beam does not target a player but consists of two beams of the same color that sweep across the platform and affect everyone. See below for discussion of color matching.

The general strategy is to group up Aivela & Esne in the middle and burn them equally until both are around 15%. This strategy causes the group to take extra damage from Radiance but makes it easier to survive the Wiper Beams and the AoE damage and DoT spread damage can dramatically shorten the phase.

Burn Phase - A&E 15% - 0%

Once both Aivela & Esne are at around 15% health, the entire team should focus down one of them at a time. Once either boss reaches 7% they will start an 8s cast of Overdrive Mode, which if completed will heal them for 6-7% of their health, buff their overall damage, and change their Polarized Energy Burst cast (which can be mitigated by matching the color) to Overdrive Energy Burst (which cannot be mitigated via matching colors).

The idea behind this strategy is that by focusing one boss down first, most groups should be able to kill at least one boss before the Overdrive Mode cast heals them both and extends the fight. Even if one boss completes the cast, burning down the remaining boss despite the extra health is not a major challenge.

It is particularly important that any player targeted by Overdrive Energy Burst (the blue/white AoE) move away from the group.

Color Matching & Mechanics

Once each Codex is killed, it will drop 1 (2 in 16m) clickable items on the ground. Each player can only use one of these to gain a Polarity Module. This applies a temporary ability bar that lets the player swap between positive polarity (WHITE) and negative polarity (RED). Most damage mechanics can be largely mitigated by matching the color of the graphic for the attack. The details by mechanic are as follows:

    • Polarized Energy Burst (Phase 1 -3, 3s cast by Aivela or Esne): A 10m diameter circular AoE that targets a random player. The player should match the color and try to avoid placing anyone else in the AoE effect. Polarized Energy Burst is important but can be ignored if the player is also targeted by Charge Beam.

    • Charge Beam (Phase 1 -2, cast by Glares at points of diamond-shaped platform): A long conal telegraphed attack. It deals very high damage over multiple ticks of its channel and is likely to kill the player unless they match the color. The player should match the color and move to the side of the platform to ensure the conal does not go through the group and damage anyone else. Charge Beam is very important to match colors.

    • Radiance (Phase 2 - 3, one time cast by Aivela and Esne at the beginning of Phase 2 & Phase 3): A very large AoE circle centered on each boss (BLUE for Aivela, RED for Esne). During Phase 2, players should match the color of the boss they are standing near (White/Blue for Aivela, Red for Esne) to mitigate this damage. Radiance takes bottom priority over Polarized Energy Beam and Purification Beam and should only be matched when players are not targeted by any other mechanics.

    • Purification "Wiper Beams" (Phase 3): The modified Purification Beam mechanic in Phase 3, it consists of two Purification Beams of the SAME COLOR sweeping across the platform. The color of the first set of beams is random but will alternate between WHITE and RED each subsequent time. Players should match these colors immediately and preferably in advance once the pattern is known.

    • Overdrive Energy Burst (Phase 3 sub-7%, 3s cast): Modified Polarized Energy Burst once either a boss completes casting Overdrive Mode. It essentially combines both WHITE and RED colors so cannot be mitigated by matching colors. It does not hit super hard but is noticeable. The player should move away from the group to take this hit and use a defensive if below half health.

It is possible for a player to be targeted by multiple mechanics. For example, during Phase 2 a player can be targeted by Polarized Energy Burst (small AoE), Purification Beam (long conal) and be standing in a boss' Radiance (large AoE), any of which could be different colors.

The priority for which mechanic to match colors is Purification Beam > Polarized Energy Burst > Radiance.

In this example, the player should match colors to the Purification Beam until after the channel is done, match the Polarized Energy Burst if it hasn't hit yet, then once both are done match the Radiance color and go back to attacking the boss.

Role Discussion

Tanks

There are no tank-specific mechanics in the Aivela & Esne encounter in Story Mode. Tank(s) should hold aggro on the bosses at all times (or as much as possible on both if solo tanking). It is helpful to use AoE taunts to hold aggro on the Countermeasures when possible but not super important in Story Mode.

Otherwise, follow mechanics and mitigate as much damage as possible by matching colors. Make sure to stand outside the Radiance on the far boss in Phase 2 onward.

Try to time your use of defensive cooldowns to make sure they are all up for the burn phase, as that is the only time damage typically gets difficult assuming players match colors to other mechanics.

Healers

There are no healer-specific mechanics in the Aivela & Esne encounter in Story Mode. The fight should feel very easy to heal until the burn phase, provided that players match color mechanics.

A helpful strategy to your DPS and tanks is to try and kite as many Glare beam attacks as possible. See the discussion below regarding Hard Mode where that healer mechanic is much more important.

When Aivela & Esne enter burn phase, be prepared for much higher burst healing. If either boss completes the Overdrive Mode cast, they will begin doing higher basic damage to the tank(s) and will substitute Polarized Energy Burst with Overdrive Energy Burst, meaning that it is guaranteed to hit for moderate AoE damage.

DPS

Aivela & Esne is very nearly a tank and spank encounter in Story Mode. The main thing to consider prior to burn phase is to watch each boss' health. The first one to reach the trigger for the phase (72% or 40%) will shield until the other boss catches up, so make sure to avoid attacking a shielded enemy.

Make sure to follow mechanics in burn phase. Once both bosses hit 15%, swap to one and burn it down. Make sure you swap to the correct one based on pre-fight discussions or in-fight call-outs from the ops leader. Assuming one boss completes Overdrive Mode, watch for the AoEs for Polarized Energy Burst and move out of the group to take the damage. If you hit a defensive cooldown and avoid clipping the group, the damage should be manageable for your healers to clear the phase.

Detailed Walkthrough - HARD MODE

Kill Video & Video Guide

HM Kill Video (Tank PoV)

HM Video Guide

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Hard Mode only

Disruptor Pulse (Countermeasure Droids)

Debuff applied by Countermeasure ranged attack. Each stack decreases healing done by 1%, up to a maximum 100% decrease in healing done at 100 stacks. This mechanic requires DPS and tanks to maintain and re-acquire aggro on Countermeasure droids throughout the encounter.

Ops Frame w/ Disruptor Pulse Stacks

(note only DPS have stacks, so this is ideal)

Prioritize (Countermeasure Droids)

40s cooldown ability used by Countermeasure Droid. Resets aggro so that droids will aggro to healers if not picked up by a tank or DPS player. An audio trigger accompanies this graphic to indicate aggro is resetting.

Countermeasure Droid

(graphic when Prioritize triggers)

Remote Access (Aivela & Esne, Player debuff)

1s cast ability by Aivela and Esne with a 18s cooldown. The ability places a 30s debuff on the targeted player. Aivela's cast/debuff is blue while Esne's cast/debuff is red.

If the player with the Remote Access debuff maintains aggro on the same boss, the boss will then use Spike on them to temporarily jam their Polarity Module. This mechanic is intended to force a tank swap in Hard Mode.

The casts by Aivela & Esne are initially synchronized and occur simultaneously. If tank swaps do not occur simultaneously these can desync where they occur at slightly different times.

Spike (Aivela & Esne, Player debuff)

1s cast ability by AIvela and Esne with a 12s cooldown. The ability places a 15s debuff on the targeted player that prevents them from matching their polarity to the color of the Spike debuff. If the player has the Positive/White Spike debuff, they cannot swap to Positive/White polarity to mitigate damage mechanics. If the player has the Negative/Red Spike debuff, they cannot swap to Negative/Red polarity to mitigate damage mechanics.

This mechanic is designed to force tanks to swap timely, as without the ability to match polarity for mechanics a player can be quickly killed. If this happens during the "wiper beam" phase, the tank is highly likely to die due to being unable to match colors to the beams.

Synergy Protocol (Nexus)

Nexus 24s channeled attack with a 32s cooldown. During its channel, the Nexus channels a yellow energy beam towards each of Aivela and Esne. If the beams are not intercepted they will massively buff the target's damage dealt and damage resistance. Players can intercept these beams to prevent Aivela and Esne being buffed, in which case the player picks up stacks of System Shock for each tick that is intercepted.

Positioning for Synergy Protocol

System Shock (Player debuff)

Debuff picked up by players intercepting the Synergy Protocol beam mechanic. The player takes internal damage based on the number of stacks. A player who completely intercepts a full channel of Synergy Protocol will pick up 24 stacks of this debuff. After a player ceases picking up stacks, they receive the Mortal Frailty debuff.

Mortal Frailty (Player debuff)

16s debuff applied after the player stops picking up stacks of Synergy Protocol. If the player picks up any more stacks of System Shock while this debuff is active, they will immediately die. Since Synergy Protocol only has a delay of 8s between channels and Mortal Frailty lasts 16s, this forces a swap between players intercepting the Synergy Protocol beams.

Raid Frames and the debuffs for System Shock and Mortal Frailty (this is immediately after standing in to take a full Synergy Protocol channel)

Purification

An extended version of the Charge Fire mechanic. All four Glare droids fire beams in Hard Mode. The polarization of each Glare is random for each wiper beam phase.

Purification is only used in Phase 3 onward (A&E < 40%).

Beginning of Purification Beam mechanic

Middle of Purification Beam mechanic, just before beams cross each other in the middle

Empowered Shield

Immunity shield triggered when boss reaches 7% health. Shield cannot be broken except via the Disruption Pulse temporary ability device gained from killing the Nexus.

Esne while Empowered Shield is active

Disruption Pulse

4s cast ability by the player with a 24s cooldown. The temporary ability is gained by picking up the item from killing the Nexus.

Pic of the button to pick up Disruption Pulse device

(same as picking up Polarity Module after killing a Codex)

Overdrive Mode

8s cast ability by Aivela and Esne that increases their damage dealt by 100% and heals them for 7.5% of maximum health. The cast is triggered for both Aivela and Esne when either reaches 7% health or when the Nexus is destroyed. The cast can only be interrupted by (1) pushing the boss to 7% health (if the Nexus is destroyed first); or (2) using the Disruption Pulse device..

Example of Bosses casting Overdrive Mode

(Esne shielded @ 7%, Aivela unshielded > 7%, both casting Overdrive Mode)

Example of Aivela w/ Overdrive buff

(See graphic on the ground similar to Hydraulic Overrides)

Overdrive Energy Burst

3s cast attack ability by Aivela and Esne after they enter Overdrive Mode. The ability has a 12s cooldown. Overdrive Energy Burst is a buffed version of the Polarized Energy Burst AoE attack except that it deals increased damage due to the Overdrive Mode buff and cannot be mitigated by matching polarization. This is indicated visually as the AoE telegraph includes both White and Blue markers.

In Hard Mode this attack hits very hard and should be mitigated with a defensive ability if possible and must be taken out of the group.

Overdrive Energy Burst AoE

Strategy - Hard/Veteran Mode

Overview

Aivela & Esne in Hard Mode are a much more technically challenging encounter than Story Mode. Between a continuing tank swap, the Countermeasure debuff, Synergy Protocol, the dread wiper beams, and the challenging burn phase mechanics, the fight can be very difficult at first. The key to success is focusing on awareness and avoiding tunneling as a tank/healer/DPS so that mechanics can be executed.

Group Composition

A standard composition of 2 tanks, 4 DPS and 2 healers should be used. This fight generally cannot be short manned or solo tanked.

Pre-Fight Preparation

  • Discuss strategy to ensure Countermeasures stay off healers. DPS and tanks must coordinate to make sure they maintain aggro on Countermeasures to keep the healing debuff off healers. Even one Countermeasure being missed can be a major problem so I recommend assigning DPS to specific Countermeasures. A good approach is to have DPS stand on “their” Countermeasure position pre-pull.

  • Make sure tanks understand the Remote Access tank swap mechanic. Tanks need to be prepared for the frequent swaps. Given the many other targets present during the phase (Countermeasures, Nexus, Glares), tab targeting for tank swaps will not be a good idea in most cases. I strongly recommend tanks get familiar with Focus Targeting (default Alt+F) and use that to swap between bosses for easy and immediate tank swaps.

  • Assign DPS players to step in for Synergy Protocol. In an 8m group, all 4 DPS players must handle this responsibility. A DPS from each side (Aivela side and Esne side) should step in to take a full channel of Synergy Protocol and then swap positions with the other DPS on that side. DPS should ideally call out the swaps themselves as the tanks have their own swap to manage. Make sure the call out for DPS swap is distinct from the tank swap call out for Remote Access.

  • Assign a person and a backup to call out Purification beam directions. This is probably the trickiest job for the fight. I have usually found a DPS can handle this responsibility best. Tanks can do it also but the Remote Access swap usually happens around the same time and can cause a delay in the call-out or even risk missing the swap (which usually leads to Spike and death during the wiper beams). The call-out should be Left or Right based on the puzzle combination. It is far better to call out the correct movement late than the wrong one early, as the team is safest at the “default” position in the middle until they know which way to go.

  • Assign a DPS to damage the Nexus during Phase 3. A ranged DPS is ideal for this responsibility. As soon as Phase 3 starts, the DPS should burn the Nexus to around 5%. If a DoT-based class it may be advisable to stop DPS around 8-10% and let ticking DoTs bring it down further.

  • Determine the kill order during burn phase. Due to Overdrive Mode’s buff to boss damage and healing, it is critical to kill one boss before it can complete Overdrive Mode. It does not matter which boss is selected but the team needs to make sure it knows the priority target going into the burn phase.

Detailed Strategy

Opener - Kill Codex Units, Nexus 100% - 50%

Each player should stand on their assigned Codex and kill it (2 per Codex in 16m). After DPS kill their Codex they should immediately pick up the Polarity Module and then go help tanks and healers kill their assigned Codex.

After all 8 Codices are destroyed, all DPS should swap to the Nexus. Players should spread out so that only the targeted player is clipped by Charge Fire. Once the Nexus reaches 50% health it will become immune to damage.

While Aivela and Esne come down, players should make sure they have picked up their Polarity Module and teams should split to their assigned boss.

Phase 1 - A&E 100% - 72%

Teams should be split with half the team assigned to Aveila and half to Esne. The objective is to DPS each boss to 72%. If one boss gets pushed first, DPS on the other team should swap and help push the other boss.

Tanks should swap after each boss casts Remote Access. These casts should be synchronized during Phase 1 and happen simultaneously.

Players should match polarity with any Polarized Energy Burst AoE attacks and move out of the group. Any players targeted by Glare Charge Fire attacks should move to the edge of the platform to avoid the beam going through the group.

DPS players should maintain aggro on their assigned Countermeasure Droid. Watch for Prioritize for Countermeasures to reset aggro and swap to healers, and immediately regain aggro through damage or taunt. Prioritize has a visual cue (see above), an audio cue, it will be visibly evident that your Countermeasure is targeting someone else, you will also see healers begin to pick up stacks of Disruptor Pulse, and finally the healers and/or ops lead will start yelling to pick up Countermeasures.

DPS players with DoT spread should endeavor to periodically DoT spread to Countermeasures to maintain aggro while minimizing loss of uptime on the bosses. Tanks should periodically AoE taunt to assist with maintaining aggro, which is especially helpful immediately after Prioritize.

Skilled healers should try to be the Glare’s target as often as possible. See the role specific discussion for healers below.

Phase 2 - A&E 72% - 40%

Phase 2 has all of the same mechanics as Phase 1 with two additions, Synergy Protocol and Radiance. All previous mechanics (tank swap on Remote Access, match polarity to Polarized Energy Burst/Charge Fire, DPS/tanks keep aggro on Countermeasure droids) continue during this phase.

Radiance is a large color circle centered on each boss and matching their polarity (Aivela = White, Esne = Red). Standing in a circle without matching its polarity will deal steady light damage. Anytime a player is not changing polarity to match Polarized Energy Burst or Charge Fire, they should match the color of their boss’ Radiance circle. Players should also position themselves outside the far boss’ circle so that they are only standing in one circle and can mitigate its damage by matching the circle. Standing inside the overlapping Radiance circles will deal damage regardless of polarity and should be avoided except during tank swaps or Synergy Protocol.

Synergy Protocol is a channeled beam from the Nexus to each of Aivela and Esne. The beam will buff each boss’ damage to a point that is impossible to heal through if not interrupted. A DPS player on each side must stand between the Nexus and their boss to interrupt the beam. See the graphic above in connection with the ability graphic and description for an example of the positioning.

It is critical that one player takes all stacks continuously without either stepping out briefly or another player (most likely a tank during a tank swap) stepping in and taking a stack. A full channel will apply 24 stacks of System Shock.

As soon as a player stops getting stacks they pick up the Mortal Frailty debuff. Getting another stack of System Shock from another channel of Synergy Protocol will instantly kill the player. This prevents the same two players from handling all channels of Synergy Protocol.

The strategy must be to have two DPS players step in to take Synergy Protocol the first channel, then a different pair of DPS should take the next channel. If a third (or fourth) channel is needed, these four should continue alternating to allow time for the Mortal Frailty debuff to fall off safely.

Phase 3 - A&E 40% - 15%, Nexus 50% - 5%

Phase 3 continues all of the mechanics from Phases 1-2 except for Synergy Protocol and the Glare droids no longer use Charged Fire. Polarized Energy Burst AoEs, Remote Access tank swaps, Radiance huge AoE circles all continue.

Beginning in Phase 3 and continuing until the end, both Aivela and Esne are mobile and will follow the tank. Tanks should generally hold each boss around their original position, as this leads to Radiance circles not overlapping so that players can match polarity to Radiance to avoid damage.

Due to the impact of the Purification Beam mechanic in Phase 3 and Burn Phase, tanks generally should not change positions as they typically do in Phases 1-2. Instead, tanks should cross-taunt so that Aivela & Esne themselves swap positions. This means DPS need to coordinate and generally should swap targets as well.

Both Aivela and Esne begin to do more damage in this phase via a ranged attack if the tanks do not match their polarity. When tank swapping, it is especially important to match the color of the boss you are picking up immediately to avoid taking high burst damage.

The main mechanic introduced in Phase 3 is the Purification Beam mechanic, also called the “wiper beams”. This mechanic features all four Glare Droids targeting their beam attack at one side of the platform adjacent to the Glare then sweeping it across the platform. Two beams will be Positive/White and two will be Negative/Red. The beams can sweep in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. This leads to 8 possible combinations of Purification Beams.

The goal for Purification is to survive the sweeping beams by matching polarity. The most efficient strategy is for each team to move towards the pair of colored beams that will intersect first and closest to the group, then swap to the alternate color and wait for those beams to cross through the group.

See below for more extensive discussion on this mechanic.

Also during this phase, the Nexus will lose its shield. A DPS should be tasked with damaging the Nexus to around 5-10% health early in the phase. It is very important not to accidentally kill the Nexus but keeping it at low health is critical to a successful burn phase. A ranged DPS is the best to handle this task as they can avoid standing in the middle. Ranged DPS with DoT spread abilities should be careful during tank swaps to avoid clipping the Nexus and killing it too early.

Burn Phase - A&E 15% - 0%, Nexus 5% - 0%

The burn phase unofficially begins as Aivela and Esne reach around 15% health, though some teams may prefer a different level (20% is also common). There is a very clear order of operations in this phase to have a clean kill. It should generally proceed as follows:

  • Focus DPS on the first boss to be killed. (It doesn’t matter which.)

  • One or two DPS should swap to the Nexus around 10% health on the first boss.

  • Push first boss to 7%. This will trigger Empowered Shield and make the first boss immune to damage.

  • All DPS should swap to and kill the Nexus. This must happen before the first boss can complete the Overdrive Mode cast.

  • The assigned DPS should pick up the Disruption Module.

  • As soon as the first boss begins casting Overdrive Mode (again), the DPS with the Disruption Module should begin casting Disruption Pulse. Overdrive Mode is an 8 second cast while Disruption Pulse is a 4 second cast, so it must begin with more than 4 seconds remaining on the Overdrive Mode cast. A successful cast will interrupt the Empowered Shield and make the boss vulnerable to damage.

  • Team kills the first boss.

  • Team swaps to second boss and damages boss to 7% health triggering Empowered Shield.

  • As soon as possible, the player with the Disruption Module casts Disruption Pulse to break the shield.

  • Team kills the second boss.

There are a few other mechanics to consider during this phase. The most important is that no matter what happens, the second boss will complete its cast of Overdrive Mode. The cast will heal the boss 7.5% of its health, significantly buff its damage and enable it to cast Overdrive Energy Burst. This buffed AoE attack cannot be mitigated through matching polarity. The targeted player must get out of the group and use a defensive cooldown if possible.

The second mechanic is that Remote Access no longer goes out after the first boss is pushed to 7%. Once that happens, no more tank swaps are necessary. Yay!!!

The third mechanic to consider is that Countermeasure droids are still targeting players and applying the Disruptor Pulse debuff. It is really easy to lose track of this mechanic and find your healers with lots of stacks and unable to heal effectively. The team should communicate if healers pick up stacks and make sure to re-aggro their Countermeasures.

After the first boss is killed, the tank who had the first boss should take over Countermeasure duty for both Countermeasure droids on their side of the room. Particularly for groups with melee DPS, this helps them maintain better uptime on the boss.

Purification Beams

Dealing with the “wiper beams” is the biggest challenge for Aivela & Esne in Hard Mode. The mechanic’s eight combinations can make it difficult to quickly identify a safe location, though with practice it is entirely predictable.

The timing for this mechanic is predictable as well. The first wiper beam phase will begin around 13 seconds after the bosses’ shields come down at 40% health to begin the phase. The phase will take 19 seconds from when the telegraph appears to when the beams complete and disappear. After the first wiper beam phase, successive waves will begin 17 seconds after the previous wave ends.

For teams dealing with this mechanic for the first few times, I recommend stopping DPS on the bosses altogether and just focusing on surviving. Tanks will still need to execute tank swaps, as discussed below, and healers will need to heal but DPS should focus on surviving until they can handle executing the mechanic successfully while maintaining high DPS.

The tank swap is also a pain. The first Remote Access will occur just before the first wiper beam phase and thereafter will float and happen before, during or just after successive wiper beam phases.

The beams complete their full rotation of the platform at the same time, despite the beams originating from the Glares on the sides having a much wider angle than the beams originating from the Glares on each end. Yay for geometry! This means the beams coming from the sides rotate around twice as fast and given the team’s position will be the most difficult to avoid.

The goal for this phase is to quickly identify the points at which the beams of the same color will cross each other and move to the “X” position. In this way, one team can click Red and run to where the Red beams will cross to avoid damage from those beams. Once they move on, the team can swap polarity to White hold that position until the White beams reach and pass through them. This strategy requires folks to pick polarity at the beginning of the phase and swap once midway.

Here is an example screenshot of the “X” position.

The alternative to this strategy is more of a free for all, in which case players may need to change polarity 3-4 times as they move from beam to beam. This is doable but is riskier and nearly always leads to dramatically less damage or healing during that time.

Identifying and calling out the beam positions can be challenging. The goods news is that it should always come down to the team moving to its immediate Left or Right, so it comes to a simple call out and then the team should match the color they are moving towards.

The color the team should match on each side will correspond to the color of the beam on the side pointing their direction. The position (Left or Right) will be whichever side is closest to the other beam of the same color.

Below are graphics denoting all 8 possible combinations and the “X” positions on each side and their color.

Purifier Beams - Left-Red / Clockwise

Purifier Beams - Left-Blue/ Clockwise

Purifier Beams - North-Red / Clockwise

Purifier Beams - North-Blue/ Clockwise

Purifier Beams - Left-Red / Counterclockwise

Purifier Beams - Left-Blue/ Counterclockwise

Purifier Beams - North-Red / Counterclockwise

Purifier Beams - North-Blue/ Counterclockwise

Some disciplines can use defensive cooldowns to move through the Purification Beams safely. Resilience / Force Shroud for Shadow / Assassin players works, as does Blade Blitz / Mad Dash for Guardian / Juggernaut players and various others.

Another nuance to the wiper beam phase is that Aivela and Esne will usually target a player with Polarized Energy Burst. This usually happens as the team reaches the “X” position and is of the opposite color. The team should move to a safe spot through the “X” and then swap colors when safe to hopefully mitigate the AoE damage.

Lastly, please note and carefully consider the width of the beams. There is a line on the ground to either side of the beams noting their area of effect, which is considerably wider than the beam itself. Do NOT swap polarity until you are out of the conal.

Here is a brief video of a successful wiper beam phase. Note the positioning and team movement to the “X” position and then holding steady there until the beams pass.

Role Discussion - Hard Mode

Tanks

Tanks have a fairly challenging task for the A&E fight just based on the frequency of the Remote Access tank swap. It is a straightforward mechanic but must be executed quickly and correctly many times during the fight. Once the group enters Phase 3, a mistake on the swap is likely a group wipe due to a tank getting Spike and dying to wiper beams since they cannot match polarity.

Tank Swaps & Focus Target

I highly recommend using the Focus Target function to make the tank swap easy and quick. Tab targeting or manually clicking your target for tank swaps is very frustrating due to the many other enemies. As soon as Aivela and Esne come down to begin Phase 1, I set the other boss as the focus target (default Alt+F) and then pick up my boss. (Assuming you have Focus Target cast bar enabled, this also means you can easily track the health and cast abilities of both bosses, which is super helpful if a tank is your ops leader.)

When Remote Access goes out, I hit Alt+F again to swap targets. For example, if I initially pick up Esne as my main target and have Aivela as my focus target, then hitting Alt+F will swap so that Aivela is my main target (whom I can now taunt to complete the tank swap) and Esne is now my focus target. This tool is very helpful on any multi-boss fights with tank swaps (e.g., Dread Guards and Dread Council).

Remote Access & Spike

As discussed above, initially the Remote Access casts will happen simultaneously and so the tank swap is fairly straightforward. Depending on how evenly the bosses are pushed to 72% or 40% the casts may get slightly out of sync. If so, it is important that you do not pick up the other boss until they place Remote Access on the other tank. This means you may briefly hold aggro on both bosses by taunting the other boss and holding yours until Remote Access goes out, or conversely may briefly have aggro on none.

If a tank gets Spike it is critical that the other tank picks them up immediately. Spike prevents you from matching polarity to that color, so you need to be hyper aware of any color mechanics that target you from the Spike color and use defensives accordingly. Charge Fire or Purification Beam are super dangerous from that perspective though since they are one shot mechanics. Shadow / Assassin tanks can use Resilience / Force Shroud or Guardian / Juggernaut tanks can use Blade Blitz / Mad Dash to cheese damage from the beams. If a tank gets Spike during the Purification wiper beam phase, use those defensives when the Spike colored beams near you and run/dash through the “X” so that you cross both beams and will survive.

Countermeasure Droids

Since Aivela & Esne are usually spaced far apart, tanks can and should use AoE taunts to help keep Countermeasure droids off of healers. I usually try to time my AoE taunt right after the Prioritize effect that resets aggro, which lets me hold initial aggro on the nearby Countermeasures until the DPS can re-establish aggro.

During Phase 3 and the burn phase, tanks should be very careful about using AoE taunts as the bosses are mobile and it’s very easy to clip both and cause a wipe. After the first boss dies in burn phase, the free tank should use their taunts to hold aggro on the far Countermeasures then help DPS the remaining boss.

Healers

Healers do not have any mandatory mechanics other than following general team mechanics for matching colors. They can be super helpful by helping to call out players who match the wrong colors for Radiance, as that will provide a noticeable impact on healing.

A useful trick for healers that can help minimize complexity for other players is to grab aggro on as many Glare beam attacks as possible. As a reminder, the Glares aggro to whichever player is closest and has the opposite polarity. The first color is always random but afterwards is predictable during Phases 1-2.

The simplest way to ensure you always get at least one Glare beam attack is to stand closest to the top or bottom Glares. The first color in each phase is random but just match the color of the first Glare beam attack, which will ensure you are the opposite color for the next. Continue changing your color to match the glare attack as usual and stay in that color to make sure you pick up the next one. This means you will take slightly more damage from Radiance when your color does not match, but is helpful especially during Phase 2 to reduce the chances of DPS in the middle for Synergy Protocol having to cleave beams through the middle of the platform.

DPS

DPS players have several specific responsibilities during the A&E encounter in Hard Mode. Their biggest task is to maintain aggro on the Countermeasure droids. As outlined above in mechanics, they reset their aggro periodically via Prioritize that has an audio and graphical cue. DPS players can use AoE attacks or DoT spreads to clip Countermeasures and keep aggro on the boss, DPS players with a taunt can use that, or players can simply swap to the Countermeasure for 2-3 GCDs then swap back.

In Phase 2, DPS players need to handle the Synergy Protocol mechanic. One player from each side needs to step in to absorb the channel for its full channel, then swap places with another DPS, and continue swapping for alternating channels until the phase ends.

In Phase 3, one DPS needs to handle damaging the Nexus down to around 5-10%. It’s important that players be careful to get the Nexus low but avoid killing it early at all costs. All DPS players need to remember the Countermeasures, as they will frequently reset aggro during Purification wiper beams and will need to be picked back up.

As the team enters the burn phase, DPS need to pay close attention to boss health. The easiest way to screw up the burn phase is pushing the first boss and Nexus in the wrong order. The easiest method is to push one boss to 7% and trigger Empowered Shield, then kill the Nexus during the first cast of Overdrive Mode. A DPS then picks up the device and casts to break the shield while Overdrive Mode is being cast again. DPS need to communicate about Nexus health and avoid pushing the boss if the Nexus has too much health.