Nahut

Overview

Summary

Nahut is an interesting encounter marking the midway point through the operation. Unlike the randomness of Tyth and A&E, Nahut is very structured with defined phases with predictable mechanics. This makes Nahut a more difficult fight initially but easier with practice.

The key feature to the Nahut encounter is the Candle and Nahut’s stealth mechanic. Groups should endeavor to pass the Candle around between players to keep Nahut permanently suppressed and visible to all players.

The encounter begins in the inner platform with the group attacking Nahut while avoiding various AoE hazards. Afterwards, the group moves to the outer platform to destroy some power couplings and adds while dodging Nahut’s snipe attack. The group then splits with half attacking Nahut while others seek out and destroy rail turrets. The fight concludes with a burn phase where the group tries to kill Nahut before the outer platform fills with lightning.

Kill Video & Video Guide

Nahut Story Mode Kill Video

Nahut Story Mode Video Guide

Detailed Walkthrough - STORY MODE

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Candle

Candle Temporary Ability Bar

Suppression Burst (Temporary Ability)

0.5.s cast ability that emits a stealth suppressing burst from the Candle. The ability has a circular area of effect of approximately 40m. Using Suppression Burst activates a 40s cooldown on the player who used it and applies the Candle Suppressed debuff. Affecting Nahut with Suppression Burst applies a buff to Nahut of the same name.

Example Screenshot of the Suppression Burst AoE telegraph

Candle Suppressed (Player Debuff)

16s debuff applied to the player when they use the Candle’s Suppression Burst ability to suppress Nahut’s stealth ability. This debuff prevents the player from benefiting from the Candle’s passive Stealth Reveal ability, which lets the player holding the Candle see Nahut even when he is stealthed.

In practice, this debuff is not usually impactful. The Suppression Burst debuff has the same duration, which means even while the Candle’s passive Stealth Reveal is inactive Nahut’s stealth should be suppressed anyway. If the player uses Suppression Burst and misses Nahut then this would matter as no one would be able to see Nahut.

For practical purposes, this debuff serves as a reminder to immediately pass the Candle after using its Suppression Burst ability. Players who watch their operations frame carefully can watch this debuff to time the next use of Suppression Burst. Since it has the same duration as Suppression Burst’s debuff on Nahut, Nahut will be able to stealth as soon as the debuff expires. In Hard Mode this is a very helpful way to time uses of the Candle.

Example Screenshot of Ops Frame

(See the Candle Suppressed debuff on my bar)

Pass Candle (Temporary Ability)

Passes the Candle to the selected player in the ops frame. This ability should be used similar to a healing ability where you select the player in the ops frame then use this ability to pass them the Candle.

The main thing to consider is making sure you have a clear line of sight to the player. If you pass the Candle to a player while Nahut is between you, he will intercept the Candle. Nahut will eventually drop the Candle on the ground for a player to pick back up but only after stealthing again.

Drop Candle (Temporary Ability)

This ability drops the candle at your feet. It will appear in a yellow circle similar to the beginning of the encounter. Another player can immediately step into the circle to pick up the Candle. The player who dropped the Candle can pick it back up after 5 seconds. This ability should almost never be used in the Nahut encounter.

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Nahut

Suppression Burst (Nahut Buff)

A 16s buff applied to Nahut when he is affected by Suppression Burst’s AoE. The buff functions as a debuff in that it prevents Nahut from cloaking and causes a yellow circle to appear above Nahut as a visual indicator of Nahut’s inability to cloak.

As soon as this buff expires, Nahut will cloak again and become invisible to all players who are unable to see Nahut when cloaked (i.e., in Story Mode, any players outside melee range who are not holding the Candle.)

An important distinction here is that the Suppression Burst ability has a 40 second cooldown while the Suppression Burst buff applied by the ability to Nahut only lasts 16 seconds. One player cannot hold the Candle the entire fight and keep Nahut permanently unable to stealth. A minimum of three players can keep Nahut suppressed the entire fight, and 2 players can keep him suppressed most of the time. In Hard Mode a four player rotation is the most common to provide more margin for error if players use Suppression Burst early.

Example Screenshot of Nahut's Bar

(see the Suppression Burst at the top right)

Disruptive Distortion

Debuff that prevents Nahut from stealthing. This debuff is applied anytime the Suppression Burst or Overwhelming Distortion buffs are active on Nahut.

Energized Slice

Screenshot of Energized Slice conal

Mass Distortion

0.5 second cast ability by Nahut that applies the Inertial Distortion debuff. The cast ability has a 12 second cooldown but is not used while the debuff is already active on a target or while Mass Distortion Immunity is active. The ability also follows the normal ability priority rotation for Nahut. As such, Mass Distortion tends to go out around a few seconds after Mass Distortion Immunity expires.

Reflect Shield

Nahut maintains a shield around himself with a 10m radius. Anyone outside the shield will have their attack damage reflected back at them. The shield reflects 35% of attack damage in Story Mode. The shield is only active during Phase 1.

Screenshot of Nahut's Reflect Shield

Prepare the Field

Nahut deploys one distortion mine into the battlefield each second for up to 20 seconds. The channel can be interrupted through sufficient damage to break the Prepare Shield.

Prepare Shield

Orange shield deployed around Nahut while channeling Prepare the Field. Sufficient damage will break the shield and interrupt the Prepare the Field channel, resulting in fewer distortion mines placed on the map. The shield requires around 50% more damage to break in Hard Mode versus Story Mode.

Nahut channeling Prepare the Field with Prepare Shield

Railgun Snipe

3 second cast attack by Nahut that targets the player holding the Candle. A debuff is placed on the player during the cast indicating they are being targeted, along with a red line telegraph. The snipe attack deals damage on a conal trajectory to any nearby players or enemies and adds 1 stack of Railgun Trauma. 8 second cooldown between uses. This attack is only used during Phase 2.

Screenshot of me being targeted by Railgun Snipe

(Note the telegraph red line and the debuff of me being targeted)

Overwhelming Distortion

Debuff applied in Story Mode to Nahut during Phase 4 that prevents him from stealthing.

Energy Barrier

Nahut shields itself during Phase 3 when it reaches 34.3% health in Story Mode. It is invulnerable to damage until the Singularity becomes critically unstable and the encounter transitions to Phase 4.

Screenshot of Nahut with Energy Barrier active

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Player Debuffs for Distortion Mines

Screenshot of Distortion Mines - Pins (small circles) & Nails (big circle)

Distortion Mine Incapacitation

Debuff applied when a player enters the AoE of a distortion mine. The debuff stuns the target for 6 seconds and applies the Snared Prey buff to the player.

Snared Prey

Buff applied to the player when a player enters the AoE of a distortion mine. Snared Prey taunts Nahut for 6 seconds to force Nahut to attack them directly. In Story Mode, Nahut can be taunted back by a tank to prevent Nahut from focusing the affected player.

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Player

Intertial Distortion

Debuff applied by Nahut’s Mass Distortion cast. The debuff lasts 4 seconds in Story Mode. The debuff reduces movement speed by 50% and deals internal damage if the player moves. When the debuff expires, a Mass Distortion Field will appear at the player’s location.

Mass Distortion Immunity

4 second debuff applied after Inertial Distortion ends and a Mass Distortion Field is placed on the map. The debuff makes the player immune to damage from the Mass Distortion Field for its duration. This debuff gives the player a brief window to safely move out of the Mass Distortion Field before beginning to take damage.

Blackout

75s debuff applied to players during Phase 2. Blackout suppresses the Candle’s detection capabilities so that Suppression Burst will no longer remove Nahut’s stealth. This mechanic serves to prevent the team from attacking Nahut during Phase 2.

Live Conduit

Debuff applied to indicate that the player is taking damage from the electrified floor.

Railgun Trauma

Debuff applied by taking damage from Railgun Snipe. In Story Mode, each stack reduces healing received by 5%, reduces maximum health by 5% and increases damage taken from subsequent Railgun Snipe attacks by 50%. The debuff lasts 40 seconds and can stack up to 6 times.

Oppressive Gravity

Debuff that reduces movement speed by 35%. This debuff is applied to all players in all difficulties upon entering Phase 4.

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Rail Turrets

Resilience Shield

Buff to Rail Turrets that make them immune to crowd control, incapacitating and gravity distortion effects. The Resilience Shield is removed when the Rail Turret reaches or drops below 40% health.

Emergency Shield

Buff applied to Rail Turret when it reaches or drops below 40% health in Story Mode. The Rail Turret shields itself and ceases any actions. While Emergency Shield is active, the Rail Turret is vulnerable to gravity distortion and will be pulled into the Singularity with the next Gravity Pulse.

Screenshot of Rail Turret after Emergency Shield activates (ready for pull)

(Note Rail Turret has 3 stacks of Powering Up)

Rail Shot

7 second cast attack used by Rail Turret. 2 second cooldown. Damage and cast time is modified by stacks of Powering Up as consecutive uses of Rail Shot occur.

Powering Up

Stacking buff applied to each Rail Turret when it uses Rail Shot. Each stack increases its damage by 10% and decreases cast time by 20%. Rail Turrets can reach a maximum of 10 stacks, which triggers the Fully Charged buff.

Fully Charged

Buff applied to Rail Turrets after 10 casts of Rail Shot. Rail Shot casts with this buff active go through walls (cannot be LoS’d), deal damage on a conal trajectory and apply Railgun Trauma.

Railgun Snipe

5 second cast attack used by Rail Turret after it receives the Fully Charged buff. This attack functions exactly the same as Nahut’s Railgun Snipe and applies Railgun Trauma in the same fashion as well.

Railgun Trauma

Debuff applied by Rail Turrets when they use Railgun Snipe (used after they reach 10 stacks of Powering Up and receive Fully Charged buff). This debuff functions exactly the same as Nahut’s attacks during Phase 2.

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Other

Mass Distortion Field

After Inertial Distortion ends, a Mass Distortion Field is placed on the ground as a blue AoE circle. The Mass Distortion Field deals continuing damage to anyone who stands in it. The field lasts 45 seconds in Story Mode and 60 seconds in Hard Mode.

Below are example screenshots. It is a bit tough to compare the size of circles but the circle in Hard Mode is around 50% larger.

Mass Distortion Field (Story Mode)

Mass Distortion Field (Hard Mode)

Gravitic Storm

Gravitic Storm is an expanding AoE emitted by the singularity in the middle of the room during Phase 4. The AoE is represented by an expanding red circle that moves outward during the phase. As it expands, the team has less room to safely stand. Combined with the lightning fields on the floor and Nahut’s cleave attacks, they form an effective soft enrage mechanic.

Example Screenshot of Gravitic Storm

(notice how as it expands in Phase 4 we have less room to move)

Gravity Pulse

The singularity applies a pulse of gravitational energy and pulls in nearby players. The ability is telegraphed by a rapidly shrinking white circle around the platform. It occurs approximately every 25 seconds during Phases 2 and 3.

Example Screenshot of Gravity Pulse telegraph

Spaghettification

The singularity in the middle of the room will kill you if you get sucked into it...

Electrified Floor

Sections of floor are electrified and deal persistent damage to anyone standing in it.

Example Screenshot of Electrified Floor during Phase 4

Strategy

Overview

The Nahut encounter is a far more structured fight than Tyth and the random waves of adds or Aivela/Esne with the psychedelic color palette. It has 4 unique phases that each have several mechanics. Overall the fight tends to be more difficult for newer players/teams but with experience the fight is fairly easy due to its predictable mechanics.

Phase 1 sees the team fighting Nahut on the inner platform. The simplest strategy is for the tank to kite Nahut around the edge of the inner circle to drop Mass Distortion Field (blue AoEs) while the DPS and healers stay stacked in the middle. Phase 2 requires the team to move to the perimeter wheel and destroy 2 Power Couplings while Nahut snipes at players from a distance. Phase 3 has the team split between a core group kiting Nahut while a few players destroy Rail Turrets. Finally, Phase 4 has the team slowly kiting Nahut around the perimeter wheel while it slowly fills with electrified flooring in a burn phase to kill Nahut before there is no safe place left to stand.

The keys to success for Nahut are effective tanking, coordination for using the Candle, having DPS deal with Rail Turrets quickly and following a good kiting path for the burn phase.

Group Composition

A standard composition should generally be taken for Nahut. Nahut can be easily solo tanked in favor of extra DPS, as there are no tank swap mechanics in Story Mode. Nahut does not hit super hard in Story Mode nor are other damage mechanics that dangerous, so one healer is theoretically possible though generally not recommended. This fight can be short manned with as few as 4 people given sufficiently strong DPS, as the primary limiting factor is the DPS check to push Rail Turrets before they enrage and to kill Nahut in Phase 4 before running out of room to stand.

Pre-Fight Preparation

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

Phase 1 positioning: Make sure the group understands how the tank will be moving Nahut. My recommended strategy is to position Nahut at the edge of the inner circle with the tank standing along the floor in between the vents, as this enables minimal movement by everyone except the tank. Other strategies may be employed successfully. If the group will move outside the inner circle, the team may need to employ knockbacks on the Distortion Mines to ensure players are not caught by them, and the tank(s) need to be prepared to taunt Nahut back if a DPS/healer gets caught by a Distortion Mine.
Candle strategy: As noted above in the mechanics, using the Candle’s Suppression Burst applies a 40 second cooldown to the player but only suppresses Nahut’s stealth for 16 seconds. One approach is to have one player hold the Candle the entire time (usually a tank so they can take Nahut’s rail shot attacks in Phase 2) but this strategy will have Nahut stealthed to players outside melee range over half the time. Another approach is to have a Candle rotation where players use the Candle then pass it. This is better for keeping Nahut visible all the time but requires some coordination.
Discuss Candle positioning in Phase 2. Discuss whether the tank(s) will hold the Candle and take all Nahut’s snipes or whether a rotation of DPS and healers will handle it. Agree where the Candle holder should stand away from the group and make sure everyone knows to stand away from the Candle holder during that phase.
Assign DPS to kill Rail Turrets: Around half the DPS players should split off to deal with Rail Turrets in Phase 3. Any DPS discipline is fine for Rail Turrets in Story Mode. I also recommend sending one healer around just to be safe, especially if the group has lots of melee DPS without self heals. These players should be reminded that they can interrupt Rail Turret casts and LoS its attacks as long as it is below 10 stacks.

Make sure the Tank knows how to kite Nahut in Phase 4: The tank needs to know where to pull Nahut so DPS do not have to stand on the electrified floor for long, but at the same not pull Nahut so quickly that you skip a platform section.

Strategy Key Points

The strategy for the Nahut encounter has the following key points:

Use the Candle to suppress Nahut’s stealth ability. Using the Candle suppresses Nahut’s stealth for 16 seconds and has a 40 second cooldown per player. Players in melee range or the Candle holder should always be able to see Nahut. Either keep all players in melee range of Nahut or else work out a Candle rotation.
In Phases 1 and 3, Tank should drop Mass Distortion outside the group. Nahut will drop Mass Distortion fields frequently during Phase 1 and Phase 3. The debuff gets applied and the AoE appears when the debuff expires. Try not to move while the debuff is active as it functions similarly to Electro Net. Make sure to be standing out of the group when it expires or call out for the group to move.
In Phase 1, players should avoid Distortion Mines. The mines are placed while Nahut channel’s Prepare the Field and the number that get placed depends on how long it takes the group to interrupt the channel. They appear with a white circle around them. Running into a Distortion Mine deals damage, stuns the player and taunts Nahut. Tanks should be prepared to immediately taunt back if this happens. Ideal group positioning during Phase 1 places everyone in the middle to avoid Distortion Mines.
In Phase 2, coordinate Candle passing to survive Nahut’s Railgun Snipe. Nahut’s Railgun Snipe is a conal that affects any nearby players and adds spawning during Phase 2. Getting hit by the attack adds 1 stack of Railgun Trauma that increases damage by future Railgun Snipe’s by 50% (among other effects). Around 6 Snipes should occur during this phase. A DPS or healer should only take 2 or at most 3 Snipes, using a defensive on the third. A tank can take all 6 if they use defensives on the 5th and 6th snipes and get healing. If a tank is not taking all attacks then a Candle rotation is necessary.
In Phase 3, DPS need to push 5 Rail Turrets to <40%. Nahut shields when reaching 34% health during Phase 3, and the only way to push to Phase 4 is killing 5 Rail Turrets by getting them pulled into the Singularity. Assign around half the DPS to Rail Turrets as soon as they spawn. DPS should burn them until they shield then move on. If damage from the Rail Turret attacks is an issue, the casts can be interrupted or LoS’d. The attacks deal more damage as the Rail Turrets gain stacks from previous casts.
In Phase 4, move Nahut from platform to platform as it fills with lightning. The outer platform has three primary sections with 4 segments for purposes of the electrified floor mechanic in Phase 4. The platform that Nahut is standing on will fill with lightning every 12 seconds. Make sure to kite Nahut to the edge of the current platform segment but do not skip one.

Detailed Strategy

Phase 1 - Nahut 100% - 62%

To begin the fight, a player should click on the Candle to pick it up. Nothing will happen for 10 seconds then “Singularity Startup Generator Initiated” will be announced. Nahut will become visible immediately afterwards to any player within melee range of Nahut and the player holding the Candle.

Candle Abilities

At this point, the Candle should be used by clicking the LEFT button for Suppression Burst. The Candle’s AoE is quite large and just needs to clip Nahut to suppress the cloak (see above for more details and a screenshot of the AoE).

If the team plans to rotate the Candle, the player should use the MIDDLE button for Pass Candle to pass it to another player. Make sure to select the player in the ops frame to whom you want to pass the candle, which is done in a similar fashion to healing or guarding players via the ops frame. Make sure Nahut is not between you and the player receiving the Candle or else Nahut will intercept it and drop it onto the ground to pick back up.

Please do not click the RIGHT button to drop the Candle. Always USE it, then PASS it.

Phase 1 Layout of Distortion Mines

Nahut will then begin channeling Prepare the Field (see above). Every second Nahut will place a Distortion Mine (see above) around the room. DPS will eventually break the shield and the sooner it breaks the fewer Distortion Mines will be present around the room.

See the layout to the left of the potential mine patterns.

The kiting strategy for Nahut below should prevent the mines from becoming relevant to players. If using a different strategy, avoid them if possible. If someone hits a mine, they will receive the Distortion Mine Incapacitation stun debuff for 6 seconds and the Snared Prey buff that taunts Nahut for 6 seconds. In Story Mode, a tank can and should immediately taunt back if Nahut swaps to a DPS or healer.

If moving through the mines, players can and should use knockbacks to clear a path. Mines knocked into the vents will be destroyed when the vents activate with fire.

Here is an example of where to stand while tanking Nahut during Phase 1. Notice how I am positioned outside the inner circle, am avoiding the fire vents and mines, and have Nahut positioned on the outside of the inner circle in a manner that lets DPS stand safely away from any AoE hazards.

Phase 1 Nahut Kiting Path

I recommend the team employ a kiting strategy for Nahut to avoid the Distortion Mines. In this strategy, the tank should pull Nahut to the edge of the inner circle. This faces Nahut away from the group to avoid cleaving the group with Energized Slice and lets the DPS and healers stay in the inner circle and easily avoid all Distortion Mines.

The tank should step slightly out of the inner circle while making sure not to stand on a fire vent. There is a small section of safe ground in between each vent. Tanks should try not to step into a Distortion Mine, though if they clip one it is less dangerous and not a huge issue.

When the tank gets the Inertial Distortion debuff, they will take damage from moving so try to get positioned quickly so you can stay still for this debuff’s duration.

When Mass Distortion goes out and the blue AoE spawns, the tank will have Mass Distortion Immunity for 4 seconds to get out of the puddle and re-position.

Around 80-82%, Nahut will leap to the middle and recast Prepare the Field. At this point the mechanics in Phase 1 should be repeated. DPS break the shield to limit the placement of Distortion Mines, the tank kites Nahut around the edge of the inner platform, and so on until around 62% when the encounter pushes to Phase 2.

Phase 2 - Power Couplings 100% - 0%

When Phase 2 begins, a few things will happen all at once:

Ops announcement “The Reactor’s Startup Sequence is almost Complete”
Gravitic Storm begins in the inner platform, noted by the inner platform being covered in red.
Ops announcement “Destroy the Power Couplings before the Sequence Completes”
2 Power Couplings spawn in the Northwest corner of the map along the bridge between outer platforms.
Nahut enters stealth.
The Northeast and Southeast outer platforms are filled with Electrified Railing.

The group has now transitioned to Phase 2 and needs to move to the outer platform near the Power Couplings as quickly as possible.

Nahut Phase 2 Layout

Railgun Snipe is an easy mechanic but can feel difficult for less experienced players since it requires coordination during a chaotic transition phase.

As discussed in more detail above regarding the mechanic, Railgun Snipe is a conal attack that is telegraphed by a red line then deals damage to the player and any players or enemies in close proximity to the line of attack. Each person damaged by Railgun Snipe gains 1 stack of Railgun Trauma, which among other things most notably causes any subsequent Railgun Snipe attacks to deal 50% more damage.

Screenshot of good positioning by the Candle Holder to take Nahut's Railgun Snipe away from the group

Railgun Snipe always targets the player holding the Candle so it is very controllable. There are two primary strategies for dealing with this mechanic:

Have the tank hold the Candle during the entire phase. This keeps positioning simple. The tank takes the Candle during Phase 2 (or is immediately passed the candle by whomever has it) and stands behind the generator station away from the group. They will take 6 Railgun Snipes, with the last 2 potentially dealing pretty high damage. A defensive cooldown should be used for the last 2 snipe attacks and healing will be necessary to top them off between snipes.
Have multiple players take turns holding the Candle. This can range from a different player taking each Railgun Snipe, 2 tanks each taking 3 attacks before swapping, or many other combinations. DPS and healers can take 2 attacks easily and a 3rd will hurt a lot.

My personal recommendation is with an inexperienced group to have a tank take 3-4 snipes then pass it to any other player to take the last 2. For experienced groups that plan to eventually progress on Gods in Hard Mode, I highly recommend having a rotation of players to take only 1 Railgun Snipe each as that is how the mechanic must be handled in higher difficulties.

The Phase ends when the last platform section closest to the Power Couplings becomes electrified. The team should take little or no damage assuming the Power Couplings are both at 0% health by this point. An ops announcement “Error: Coupling Connection Failure Detected. Suspending Startup” indicates the group passed this phase and moves on to Phase 3 after some chatter between Nahut and Scyva.

Phase 3 - Nahut 62% (72% in HM) - 34% (37% in HM), 5 Rail Turrets 100% - <40%

Phase 3 is often the most confusing phase because it is not really very focused on Nahut but rather on managing adds.

Coming out of Phase 2, there is a brief pause while Nahut (still stealthed) approaches the group. Since Nahut becomes visible in melee range, the group should wait until Nahut appears then immediately use the Candle to suppress the cloak. The phase then properly begins at this point.

In Story Mode, the phase begins with an immediate announcement of “A Wave of Reinforcements Arrives!” and 1 Rail Turret spawns in a semi-random location around the room.

See below for the map/layout of Phase 3 and let’s discuss the various things going on during this semi-confusing phase.

The best way to think about Phase 3 is to divide up the team into 3 groups:

The tank(s) holding aggro on Nahut.
The DPS/healers staying with Nahut (“boss team”)
The DPS/healers dealing Rail Turrets (“turret hunters”)

Let’s discuss each of these in turn and how they should deal with mechanics.

Before we do, let’s talk about the Candle briefly. Nahut will continue to stealth during Phase 3 except for the Candle holder and any players within melee range.

The strategy for dealing Nahut can vary from team to team, but I recommend either having a rotation amongst the DPS and healers to use the Candle or having a tank hold it the entire time. I recommend this because Nahut is moving a lot during this phase and it can be easy to accidentally lose the Candle by passing it through Nahut between a tank and a non-tank.

Both strategies work and have their benefits. Having the tank hold the Candle ensures they can always see Nahut therefore can be confident of keeping Nahut’s aggro, and it provides an easy reference for players where Nahut is based on simply knowing the tank’s location. Having non-tanks rotate the Candle is nice because it keeps Nahut visible to everyone all the time but does add some complexity. I do not suggest having a non-tank player hold the Candle the whole time because then Nahut can get lost. I personally prefer to have a Candle rotation with an experienced group but with an inexperienced group I let the tank hold it the entire time and use it whenever they can.

Nahut Phase 3 Layout

Phase 3 Nahut Kiting Path

So for tanks the key is to always (1) face Nahut away from the group and (2) drop Mass Distortion puddles out of the group. Nahut’s cleave is not super dangerous most of the time but when Energized Slice is used Nahut will cleave for a lot of damage.

As for Mass Distortion, recall that first you get the Inertial Distortion debuff for a few seconds, take damage if you move, then drop the Mass Distortion Field on the ground where you are standing when it expires.

The goal for kiting Nahut is to drop around 4 or so Mass Distortion puddles around each generator station, with DPS and healers standing with their backs to the generator. This lets the DPS and healers have more uptime on Nahut and are only exposed to the cleave very briefly when repositioning Nahut.

Phase 3 Screenshot of Mass Distortion Placement

Here is a quick example of ideal placement of Mass Distortion. It can be tough to get a good screenshot while tanking Nahut so this is in the middle of a Gravity Pulse after we moved to the next generator station.

Notice how when we were at that station the DPS/healers could cluster together to avoid Nahut's cleave, avoid the Gravity Pulse and essentially tunnel DPS/heal? That is the goal even though the placement does not need to be that clean in Story Mode.

For DPS and healers staying with Nahut, they have the simplest job. Keep DPSing Nahut and healing damage while taking care to always stay behind Nahut and out of the Mass Distortion puddles. Nahut will gain the Energy Barrier buff and becomes immune to damage at 34% in Story Mode. At this point if Rail Turrets are still active then all DPS should spread out to help push turrets and get to Phase 4.

Screenshot of Rail Turret after shielding

For folks on Rail Turret duty, simply find them and DPS them down. You can track where they spawn on the minimap. Every time an ops announcement indicates more reinforcements have arrived there will be more turrets. One spawns immediately as Phase 3 begins and afterwards they spawn in pairs each wave.

Make sure to use interrupts and defensives to mitigate damage from their Rail Shot attack. Rail Shot gets more powerful as it is used more often due to Powering Up so I highly suggest prioritizing interrupts whenever possible and saving defensive cooldowns for eating Rail Shots with 4+ stacks of Powering Up.

If a Rail Turret reaches 10 stacks and gets the Fully Charged buff then it becomes exceptionally dangerous and must take priority. Interrupt any casts you can and call out for help to DPS it down. The most common cause of a wipe in this phase is a Rail Turret enraging and chewing up your healers.

The screenshot to the left (copied from the mechanics discussion above) is how a Rail Turret will look when pushed below 40%. When this happens you can ignore it and move on to other Rail Turrets. It will get pulled into the Singularity on the next Gravity Pulse.

When 5 Rail Turrets get pulled in, the encounter moves to Phase 4.

Phase 4 - Nahut 34% - 0%

Phase 4 is the final burn phase of the Nahut encounter. Nahut does not have a traditional enrage timer like many bosses, so instead the soft enrage results from the team running out of safe places to stand and taking steadily increasing group-wide damage until healers can no longer keep up.

When 5 Rail Turrets are pulled into the Singularity in Phase 3, the team gets a “The Singularity has become Critically Unstable” ops announcement to indicate Phase 4 is beginning. Nahut will continue to attack the tank with aggro but no other mechanics will take place for 25 seconds, giving any players spread out from dealing with turrets the time needed to rejoin the group.

After 25 seconds, the Electrified Floor mechanic will return from Phase 2. In Phase 4, after the 25 second grace period, every 12 seconds the platform under Nahut will become electrified.

Nahut gains the Overwhelming Distortion debuff in Phase 4 that disables stealth, so the Candle is no longer relevant in Phase 4 in Story Mode.

The key to this phase is good kiting of Nahut by the tank. The layout below divides each platform into 4 sections that correspond to how they become electrified during the phase. Not that each platform is divided in half, then each half is further divided in line with each generator station on the platform.

The ideal kiting by the tank is to pull Nahut to the edge of the current platform section where Nahut is standing in it but the tank and melee DPS are either just on the edge or even perhaps standing just outside it. Then when the platform fills with lightning, it takes merely a moment for the group to move out of lightning and avoid damage.

Nahut Phase 4 Layout

For tanks unfamiliar with this kiting, I suggest instead pulling Nahut to each of the exterior supports (the diagonal supports extending from the outer platform up to the ceiling). These are roughly in the middle of each platform section and so are less ideal to avoid damage, but are safer to avoid risking skipping a platform by accident by pulling Nahut too far by mistake.

Another strategy that can be helpful for kiting through the slow effect applied to players during this phase is to have the tanks swap each time a platform becomes electrified. The off tank moves ahead to the next kiting position and taunts as soon as the floor becomes electrified. This lets the tank and melee DPS focus on moving and reduces the risk of Nahut cleaving the group as everyone runs in the same direction.

Further complicating this phase, the Gravitic Storm (red AoE) will expand during this phase and take up more and more of the outer platform. Standing inside it will cause steadily ticking damage and the group will run out of room around the same time that the 12th platform section becomes electrified.

This phase is functionally a DPS check that should be fairly easy in Story Mode provided the entire group is alive, does not skip any platforms by pulling Nahut too fast and people avoid the electrified floor as much as possible.

Candle Strategy

The Candle mechanics and its use in each phase has been discussed at some length above, but I thought a brief refresher and recap might be helpful given the Candle’s importance to the Nahut encounter.

The Candle’s abilities are as follows (from left to right on the temporary ability bar):

Suppression Burst: 0.5s cast with a huge AoE effect. If it clips Nahut then it suppresses Nahut’s stealth in Phase 1 and Phase 3 for 16 seconds. The ability has a 40 second cooldown and applies to the player who used the Candle not to the Candle itself.
Pass Candle: Passes the Candle to the player selected in the ops frame. If Nahut is standing in between the Candle holder and the player to whom it is being passed, Nahut will intercept the Candle for a short time and drop it on the ground when resuming stealth.
Drop Candle: Ability that drops the Candle leaving a circle on the ground similar to the beginning of the encounter. A player running through the circle picks up the Candle again.

The Candle is only used during Phases 1 and 3 but is relevant in Phase 2 as it determines who Nahut targets with Railgun Snipe.

Since the Candle has a 40 second cooldown but only applies to Nahut for 16 seconds, it takes a minimum of 3 players in Story Mode to keep Nahut visible at all times. If Nahut enters stealth, it is still visible in Story Mode to the Candle holder and any player within melee range of Nahut.

The best strategies are either to have the tank hold the Candle at all times or to have a rotation of non-tank players.

If the tank is holding the candle the entire time then Nahut will be stealthed to some players some of the time, but the tank should always see Nahut and be able to taunt and the rest of the group should be able to mark Nahut’s position by the tank’s position.

If a rotation is using the Candle that is optimal since Nahut will always be visible (making the ranged DPS’s jobs easier) but can get messy if the rotation is messed up and Nahut stealths. In this approach it is critical that a player immediately pass the Candle after using it, so that if Nahut stealths the player with the Candle will always be able to immediately use it to reveal Nahut.

Role Discussion

Tanks

Tanks have a lot more to do in the Nahut encounter as compared to Tyth and Aivela & Esne. I feel fairly strongly that Nahut is primarily a tank encounter due to the importance of positioning during the fight.

As discussed above, the tank may be responsible for holding the Candle. If so, make sure to use the Candle on cooldown during Phases 1 and 3 to keep Nahut visible as often as possible to players outside melee range.

During Phase 1, you will be responsible for kiting Nahut around the inner platform. Make sure to always face Nahut away from the group (his Energized Slice will chew up non-tanks). If you leave the inner circle, kite Nahut in a path that helps DPS and healers avoid Distortion Mines. If a player clips one and Nahut swaps to them, taunt back immediately.

I highly recommend the tank kiting path described above, where the tank can kite Nahut in a way that lets DPS and healers barely move at all during Phase 1. Just watch your step and don’t drop Mass Distortion in the group.

During Phase 2, you will either have the Candle most/all of the time or not at all. Either way, try to use taunts to hold aggro on the adds as often as you can. If you hold the Candle the entire phase, save a defensive for each Railgun Snipe at 4 stacks and 5 stacks as those can take each take a big chunk of health off.

During Phase 3, the key for you is kiting Nahut so that the group does not get cleaved and so that Mass Distortion is not dropped in the group. See the above kiting path as suggestions.

During Phase 4, you are the key to success by kiting Nahut in such a way that players can take minimal damage from standing on electrified floors. This allows more uptime of DPS and makes the burn far easier.

Healers

Healers have relatively no dedicated mechanics in the Nahut encounter and the difficulty of their job will relate heavily to how well the tank and group do in positioning Nahut and themselves to avoid cleaves and AoE damage. Healers also make excellent members of the Candle rotation.

During Phase 1, there is little reason for healers to leave the inner circle given the range of their heals, so I suggest staying in the middle and healing the group. Make sure you know the debuff market for Distortion Mine Incapacitation (see above), as a player who gets that clipped a mine and is likely about to take high burst damage from Nahut via the Snared Prey taunt debuff. I also suggest focus targeting Nahut if possible so that you can see the Energized Slice cast, as that is an indicator the tank is about to take some burst cleave damage (and perhaps the group depending on Nahut’s positioning at that time).

During Phase 2, healers make great choices to be part of the Candle rotation to take Railgun Snipes since they can heal from anywhere so moving away from the group does not reduce group DPS. I recommend healers make sure they are looking for player stacks of Railgun Trauma (see above). Any non-tank with 2 or more stacks is at risk of very high burst damage if they get clipped by a Railgun Snipe. Tanks with 3 or more stacks will also take high burst damage and any preventative abilities and burst healing will be very helpful to helping tanks survive those hits.

During Phase 3, healing is fairly easy provided the group does not stand in Mass Distortion AoEs and the tank avoids cleaving the group. The healers will be the first ones to notice if the turret hunters fail to pick one up timely, as it will enrage and start sniping the healers. Call out if that happens. If you see a Rail Shot telegraph try to stand behind the generators, as you can LoS them safely as long as they are not enraged.

In Phase 4, stay ahead of Nahut at all times (20 or more meters if possible) to avoid ever standing in lightning. The more efficient the tank is in kiting Nahut to the edge of each section, the easier the heal check will be during this phase. If the group positions Nahut poorly and has to run/stand in lots of lightning then the heal check can be challenging on the move.

DPS

Except for the DPS hunting turrets in Phase 3, otherwise DPS players primarily just need to maximize their DPS and watch their positioning carefully. The Nahut encounter has lots of opportunities for cleaves and AoE damage that can be very damaging to non-tanks. DPS may also need to handle the Candle mechanic, in which case they should use the Candle promptly and then pass it to the next player in the rotation.

During Phase 1, DPS players need to watch their step. Avoid standing in Mass Distortion puddles, avoid standing in fire, stay behind Nahut to avoid the cleave and avoid walking into the Distortion Mines. If the tank kites Nahut around the edge of the inner circle as described above, this should be easy.

During Phase 2, DPS need to prioritize damage on the Power Couplings and not the adds. Use DoT spread and splash damage to handle adds while the tanks hold their aggro. Once the Power Couplings are at 0% then clean up the adds. If a DPS needs to hold the Candle, promptly get out of the group and pass the Candle immediately after taking a hit of Railgun Snipe.

During Phase 3, DPS staying with Nahut should stay behind the boss and avoid Mass Distortion until Nahut shields at 34% or the phase ends. DPS dealing with Turrets should kill them as quickly as possible and interrupt as many casts as possible. Once they shield at 39% health, move on to another until 5 are pulled in.

During Phase 4, ranged DPS should stay well ahead of Nahut at all times and should not take damage from the electrified floor unless the team runs out of open platform sections. Melee DPS have a tougher time to maintain uptime on Nahut while not standing in lightning or taking cleaves. Use defensive cooldowns aggressively in this phase if the team starts to take a lot of damage and do not be afraid to move away from the boss if low on health. The DPS check is relatively easy in burn phase provided the team stays alive the entire fight.

Detailed Walkthrough - VETERAN MODE

Kill Video & Video Guide

Nahut HM Kill Video (Tank PoV)

Nahut HM/Veteran Mode Video Guide

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Veteran Mode only

Energized Slice

12s cooldown ability used by Nahut throughout the encounter. The ability is a much stronger version of Nahut’s regular cleave attack. Tanks should be especially careful to face Nahut away from the group when this attack is used. In Hard Mode this cleave hits VERY hard and can one shot non-tanks, so positioning is far more important than in Story Mode.

Intertial Distortion

Debuff applied by Nahut’s Mass Distortion cast. The debuff lasts 10 seconds in Hard Mode. The debuff reduces movement speed by 50% and deals internal damage if the player moves. When the debuff expires, a Mass Distortion Field will appear at the player’s location.

The debuff deals very high damage if the affected player moves. Once the debuff is applied, the player should not move without using a very strong defensive ability (e.g., Resilience / Force Shroud) to resist the damage on movement.

Mass Distortion Field

After Inertial Distortion ends, a Mass Distortion Field is placed on the ground as a blue AoE circle. The Mass Distortion Field deals continuing damage to anyone who stands in it. The field lasts 60 seconds in Hard Mode. The circle in Hard Mode is around 50% larger in Hard Mode.

Reflect Shield

Nahut maintains a shield around himself with a 10m radius. Anyone outside the shield will have their attack damage reflected back at them. The shield reflects 100% in Hard or Nightmare Mode. The shield is only active during Phase 1.

Rending Cloud

Buff applied to Nahut during Phase 1 in Hard Mode. Any players standing within Nahut’s Reflect Shield (within 8m of Nahut) will receive 1 stack of the Rending Cloud DoT every second. The Rending Cloud DoT has a 5 second duration and quickly falls off after leaving the proximity of Nahut. Most Hard Mode groups will need players to leave the shield to let Rending Cloud stacks drop off around 15-20 stacks.

Distortion Mine Incapacitation

Debuff applied when a player enters the AoE of a distortion mine. The debuff stuns the target for 6 seconds and applies the Snared Prey buff to the player.

In Hard Mode, receiving Distortion Mine Incapacitation also applies the Distortion Shock debuff. If a player enters another Distortion Mine AoE while Distortion Shock is active, then Distortion Mine Incapacitation immediately kills the player.

Snared Prey

Buff applied to the player when a player enters the AoE of a distortion mine. Snared Prey taunts Nahut for 6 seconds to force Nahut to attack them directly. In Hard Mode, Nahut is temporarily immune to taunts and will attack the affected player.

Distortion Shock

Debuff applied in Hard Mode when a player receives Distortion Mine Incapacitation by entering the AoE of a distortion mine. The debuff lasts for 60 seconds. Entering another distortion mine AoE while Distortion Shock is active will immediately kill the player.

Railgun Trauma

Debuff applied by taking damage from Railgun Snipe. In Hard Mode, Railgun Trauma reduces healing received by 30%, maximum health by 30% and increases damage taken from Railgun Snipe by 300%. In Hard Mode this makes Railgun Snipe a one-shot mechanic to any players with the Railgun Trauma debuff and requires a Candle rotation to ensure no one gets hit twice.

Resilience Shield (Inactive)

Buff applied to Rail Turret when it reaches or drops below 40% health in Hard Mode. The Rail Turret continues to attack and be vulnerable to damage (unlike in Story Mode) but the turret is vulnerable to stuns and CCs. The Rail Turret is only vulnerable to Gravity Pulse while stunned or CC’d, so players will need to stun/CC the Rail Turret during Gravity Pulse to ensure it is pulled into the Singularity.

Energy Barrier

Nahut shields itself during Phase 3 when it reaches 37% health in Hard Mode. It is invulnerable to damage until the Singularity becomes critically unstable and the encounter transitions to Phase 4.

Strategy - Hard Mode

Overview

Nahut in Hard Made adds quite a few mechanics as compared to Story Mode. The fight has a lot of movement and positioning mechanics for tanks and the Candle rotation takes some time to get the hang of for most new teams. Fortunately, the fight is very predictable in nearly all respects, so steady progress should be possible for most teams and once cleared Nahut may actually be easier to clear in the future than Tyth or A&E due to those fights having greater RNG in their mechanics.

Group Composition

The standard composition of 2 tanks, 4 DPS and 2 healers should be used. The DPS check precludes short manning in nearly all instances and is nearly impossible to solo tank.

Pre-Fight Preparation

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

Tank kiting in Phase 1/3/4. Along with the Candle, good efficient tank kiting of Nahut is the biggest key to success. Make sure both tanks are on the same page about this in all respects. During Phase 1, in which directions will the tanks be moving Nahut to drop Mass Distortion and who will grab Nahut first? During Phase 2, who is grabbing Nahut first and will they be following the 4 puddle strategy per generator as outlined above or something else? During Phase 4, do the tanks know where to hold Nahut at the edge of a platform segment? Will one tank be holding Nahut the entire time or will there be a swap each time a segment of floor is electrified?
Candle strategy: Identify your four players to handle the Candle rotation. In a 8 person team, I highly recommend having both healers and the two DPS staying with Nahut in Phase 3 be the Candle team. It is viable to include one or both tanks in the Candle rotation, but doing so introduces greater risk that Nahut will intercept the Candle. If a tank or both tanks are in the rotation, the person they are passing to should know to move to the side of Nahut when they are about to be passed the Candle. For this reason and the overall difficulty in learning Nahut kiting path, I usually suggest leaving tanks out of the Candle rotation unless someone dies.
Remind DPS to drop Rending Cloud stacks. It’s always a good reminder to DPS to drop stacks at a certain point. I usually suggest 15 with the understanding that going a little higher is okay but absolutely no higher than 20 if possible.
Remind tanks not to move during Inertial Distortion. Tanks should not move at all when Nahut casts Mass Distortion and applies the Inertial Distortion debuff. It will deal extremely high damage if you move with the debuff. A few very powerful defensive cooldowns can help but plan to not need them and get positioned early.
Discuss the order for taking Railgun Snipes in Phase 2. Some teams prefer to have the same person hold the Candle going into Phase 2 and to pass it to them entering the phase, while other teams prefer to continue with their normal Candle rotation. I have found that most teams need a fifth person to take a Railgun Snipe and identify that person pre-pull.
Discuss the order for DPS to break off during Phase 3 for Rail Turrets. Only one Rail Turret spawns at first in Phase 3. Some teams choose to have just one DPS break off to attack it while leaving the other turret hunter DPS on Nahut until the second wave of reinforcements. If so, identify that person.

Detailed Strategy

Phase 1 - Nahut 100% - 71%

Phase 1 in Hard Mode works quite differently from Story Mode due to (1) the much larger size of Mass Distortion puddles; and (2) the Rending Cloud DoT applied to anyone inside Nahut’s Reflect Shield. These two mechanics prevent the team from holding Nahut in the middle as in Story Mode.

The tanks will need to move Nahut around the inner room to position themselves to drop Mass Distortion. In Hard Mode, Energized Slice hits really hard so moving Nahut around is important to avoid cleaving the group as well.

Nahut Phase 1 Hard Mode Tank Kiting

I recommend a kiting path per the above graphic. The basic idea is for tanks to kite Nahut directly through the middle of the short fire vents, which avoids the Distortion Mines altogether. Distortion Mines are extremely dangerous for non-tanks since the Snared Prey debuff in Hard Mode prevents tanks from taunting Nahut back for 6 seconds so I highly recommend avoiding them.

From an ordering perspective, the two tanks should pull Nahut NW and SE on the map initially. The first tank pulls Nahut all the way to the edge of the platform to drop Mass Distortion. They should be standing just inside the barrier and right next to a generator. As soon as Mass Distortion is cast by Nahut, the other tank taunts Nahut and pulls the boss across the room to the far side. The first tank waits to drop Mass Distortion and then moves across the room to grab Nahut when Mass Distortion is cast on the other tank.

This strategy essentially ping-pongs Nahut on a straight line back and forth across the room. As long as DPS stay on a similar line with Nahut, they should not clip any mines. The pathing also makes it easy for DPS to drop stacks of Rending Cloud as they can step back into the inner middle circle for a few seconds.

Most teams should push Nahut to the mid-phase reset after the fourth Mass Distortion leaves 2 blue AoE puddles in each position.

After Nahut’s shield is broken, the tank should pivot 90 degrees and move Nahut along the NE and SW paths to similarly ping-pong Nahut across the room to drop Mass Distortion.

Below are a few screenshots of the positioning I recommend to drop Mass Distortion.

Positioning for 1st Mass Distortion

Positioning for 2nd Mass Distortion

Healers can stay in the inner circle the entire fight for the most part and avoid many stacks of Rending Cloud. DPS must follow Nahut to stay inside the Reflect Shield and step out as needed to cleanse Rending Cloud stacks. Be careful not to stand in fire!

The initial path is important for this phase since the first Mass Distortion puddles will disappear by the time the team pushes to Phase 2. Making sure the first puddles are dropped at NW will make it easier for the group to run to NW to reach the Power Couplings.

Phase 2 - Power Couplings 100% - 0%

Phase 2 is essentially the same as Story Mode except for the much stricter requirements for dealing with Railgun Snipe. The Railgun Trauma debuff applied in Hard Mode is far more dangerous as it increases damage taken from Railgun Snipe by 300% while also reducing the players maximum health by 30% and healing received by 30%.

Screenshot of good positioning by the Candle Holder to take Nahut's Railgun Snipe away from the group

Here is the same screenshot from the Story Mode strategy above. This positioning is critical in Phase 2 in Hard Mode. You must ensure only one person gets clipped by each Railgun Snipe, or else it will not be possible to avoid someone taking a snipe with a stack of Railgun Trauma and almost certainly being killed.

For the rest of the phase, tanks should use taunts to maintain aggro on the adds while all players attack the Power Couplings. The DPS check to pass this phase is slightly more difficult than in Story Mode but still quite easy for most groups.

Phase 3 - Nahut 71% - 37%, 5 Rail Turrets 100% - <40%

Phase 3 has a few important differences. The first relates to the tanking path which is more important due to Mass Distortion’s greater size and the greater danger of Nahut’s Energized Slice cleave. The second relates to the strategy to deal with Rail Turrets.

The kiting path for Nahut is a little tough to explain and much easier to show, but here goes. The good news is that this kiting is super easy with just a little practice, even if it's tough to explain.

Phase 3 Nahut Kiting Path

Tank 1 holds Nahut at Position 2 until Mass Distortion goes out. Tank 2 taunts Nahut and holds at Position 2.
Gravity Pulse pulls Tank 1 to Position 1 to drop Mass Distortion, then moves to Position 4.
Tank 2 gets Mass Distortion at Position 2. Tank 1 taunts Nahut and pulls to Position 4. After Mass Distortion goes out, Tank 2 moves to near Position 4.
Tank 1 holds Nahut at Position 4 until Mass Distortion goes out. Tank 2 then taunts Nahut and holds at Position 4..
Gravity Pulse pulls Tank 1 to Position 3 to drop Mass Distortion. After Mass Distortion goes out, they move to Position 2 near the next generator station.
Tank Tank 2 gets Mass Distortion at Position 4. Tank 1 taunts Nahut and pulls to Position 2 at the next generator station. Rinse and repeat.

Hopefully that makes some sense. The idea is that the tanks take turns dropping Mass Distortion. This is very beneficial to quickly reposition Nahut to minimize the time anyone may be cleaved, helps spread out defensive cooldowns and should always result in the same tank getting pulled to drop Mass Distortion.

Here is a quick video of how this tanking pattern should work from the PoV of Tank 1 in the above description.

DPS and healers staying with Nahut should focus on maintaining the Candle rotation and avoiding Nahut’s cleave but should otherwise have a relatively smooth Phase 2. Nahut will shield at 37%, at which point if the group has not yet pushed it may be necessary for another DPS to break off to help with pushing turrets.

Players handling Rail Turrets have quite a bit more on their hands in Hard Mode. The Rail Turrets are much more dangerous and far trickier to kill in Hard Mode. Just like in Story Mode, the team needs to get 5 Rail Turrets sucked into the singularity to push to Phase 4.

Rail Turrets appear each tim

Let’s briefly recap how the Rail Turrets work in Hard Mode. Rail Turrets begin with a Resilience Shield that makes them immune to crowd control, stuns and Gravity Pulse. When a Rail Turret drops below 40%, that buff is replaced with Resilience Shield (Inactive) that indicates they are vulnerable to these abilities. Rail Turrets are only vulnerable to Gravity Pulse while under the effects of a stun or CC ability.

The key to getting them pulled in is to stun them during Gravity Pulse. The best time to do this is right after the Gravity Pulse white circle telegraph. CC abilities can also be used, but be very careful to make sure the Rail Turrets have sufficiently low health that the CC-related healing does not take them back above 40% to become immune to Gravity Pulse. Also be very careful not to kill them!

Rail Turrets also get more dangerous the longer they are active on the map. They target the player with aggro with Rail Shot initially every 9 seconds. The attack can initially be LoS’d and targets healers, which is partly why the kiting discussed above suggests healers stay near the generator stations to LoS most of the possible Rail Turret spawn points.

Regardless of whether the target takes damage, each successful cast of Rail Shot adds 1 stack of Powering Up that increases damage by 10% and decreases cast time by 20%. When a Rail Turret reaches 10 stacks of Powering Up they gain Fully Charged that converts the Rail Shot into Railgun Snipe that applies Railgun Trauma just like in Phase 2 (target takes +300% damage, -30% max health, -30% healing received). The DPS must deal with Rail Turrets before they “enrage” by becoming Fully Charged or they will start two-shotting players.

As such, it is important for DPS dealing with Rail Turrets to interrupt as many casts as possible to reduce the damage done by successful casts and buy more time before they get Fully Charged.

Below is an example video clip of handling Rail Turrets.

Phase 4 - Nahut 37% - 0%

The burn phase or Phase 4 is essentially the same as Story Mode. Nahut has higher overall health and begins the phase no lower than 37% (versus 34% in Story Mode), so the overall DPS check to kill Nahut before the team runs out of room is somewhat tighter but not overly difficult with a full team.

The main area of focus in Hard Mode is minimizing damage to the group from the electrified floor. It hurts for much higher damage in Hard Mode and combined with Nahut’s very high single target burst potential on the Tank (and occasional cleave on the melee DPS), poor kiting can make the phase very difficult to heal.

Tanks should pull Nahut to the edge of each platform segment while being careful not to pull Nahut too far. Good positioning can enable the entire team to avoid any electrified floor damage.

I strongly suggest having tanks alternate their kiting to pull Nahut to the edge of one segment, then when it becomes electrified have the other tank taunt ahead of the group to pull Nahut to the next position. This enables a rapid repositioning of the group and reduces the risk of the group being cleaved or being too slow to get into position due to the slow debuff applied to players during this phase.

Here is a quick reminder of the platform segments and tanking path from Story Mode, which as stated above is the same as in Story Mode but precision in positioning is far more important.

Nahut Phase 4 Layout

Candle - Hard Mode

Please see the above discussion of the Candle strategy for Story Mode. There is essentially no difference in the mechanics for Hard Mode regarding the Candle except for the following:

Nahut’s stealth is effective on ALL players, unlike in Story Mode where Nahut is visible to players in melee range.
Nahut’s stealth is NOT disabled during Phase 4, so a Candle rotation is necessary in all 4 phases of the encounter.

I highly suggest having 2 DPS and 2 healers in an 8 person operation group handle the Candle rotation. It avoids the risk of Nahut intercepting a Candle pass from a tank to a non-tank. Here is a quick screenshot of how we assigned roles in a prog group running Nahut in Hard Mode.

Example Group Candle Rotation

So here is a typical group composition for roles and responsibilities.

The two tanks at the top usually do not participate in the Candle rotation unless there is a death in the group.

Two DPS are noted as Turret Hunters and do not participate in the Candle except possibly as a 5th or 6th option during Phase 2 to take Railgun Snipe attacks.

The other 2 DPS and 2 Healers set up a rotation where they proceed in the same order to use the Candle and pass it. The exact order is not important so long as everyone is clear as to whom they should pass the Candle after using it.

I have found the simplest way to keep track of when to use the Candle is by watching Nahut’s buff bar for the Suppression Burst buff. See above for the ability icon but it is the same as the Suppression Burst ability on your temporary ability bar. There are only a few buffs so it is fairly easy to watch via target or Focus Target. When it looks like the ability is a few seconds from expiring, use the Candle’s Suppression Burst ability then immediately pass the Candle to the next player in the Candle rotation.

Since the Suppression Burst buff lasts for 16 seconds per use and the cooldown on its use by a player is 40 seconds, then over a 4 player rotation there are potentially 24 seconds of cushion. As such, it is far better to use the Candle a few seconds earlier than trying to wait until the last possible moment.

Role Discussion - Hard Mode

Tanks

Tanks have a lot more to do in the Nahut encounter as compared to Tyth and Aivela & Esne. I feel strongly that Nahut is primarily a tank encounter due to the importance of positioning during the fight. This is especially true in Hard Mode where Nahut’s positioning and kiting is the most important element of the fight after the Candle rotation.

As discussed above, the tank may be responsible for holding the Candle. If so, make sure to use the Candle on time during Phase 1 through 3 and make sure to pass promptly. Nahut stealing the Candle during a pass in Phases 1 and 3 is a worry so make sure to coordinate with the player receiving the Candle to avoid LoS by Nahut.

During Phase 1, the kiting is more complicated in Hard Mode since the Mass Distortion Field’s greater size and the Rending Cloud DoT prevent the Story Mode strategy (keep Nahut in the middle) from working. Instead, the tanks need to move Nahut through the inner platform to drop Mass Distortion in safe locations. This is further complicated by the Distortion Mines, which are invisible and far more dangerous to players due to Snared Prey (tanks can’t taunt back in Hard Mode if a DPS clips one) and Distortion Shock (one-shot if a player clips two mines). Thus, the kiting path is super important. See above for tanking path, this is not the only kiting strategy but I have found it to be super reliable and should always avoid Distortion Mines so long as DPS follow Nahut’s path closely.

During Phase 2, the tanks should keep aggro on adds and otherwise help DPS the Power Couplings. Depending on the group’s Candle strategy, tanks may need to take Railgun Snipe attacks. Railgun Trauma is far more dangerous in Hard Mode so no player should take more than 1 Railgun Snipe. However, if the only option is for a player to take a second attack then tanks are the only players with any chance of surviving it if they use a very strong defensive to resist the Railgun Snipe damage.

In Phase 3, tanks should coordinate to keep Nahut facing away from the group and always drop Mass Distortion away from the group. See the kiting path strategy above as it works really well and coordinates with the Gravity Pulse pull-in well.

In Phase 4, the key is to pull Nahut just to the edge of a platform segment but without going too far. Skillful kiting in Phase 4 is enormously helpful to allow high uptime of DPS while avoiding standing in the electrified railing.

Healers

There are no healer specific mechanics in the Nahut encounter in Hard Mode. However, knowing all the mechanics to predict burst damage is critical to keeping the team alive during the fight. My experience has been that Nahut can feel very difficult to heal or relatively easy depending on how effective the tanks and DPS are at positioning Nahut to deal with cleave attacks, not taking unavoidable damage from the Rending Cloud DoT (taking too many stacks) in Phase 1, interrupting turret attacks in Phase 3, and especially good positioning of Nahut in Phase 4 to minimize time spent standing in lightning.

Prior to discussing mechanics and healing strategies for each phase of the Nahut fight, we should first discuss the Candle. Healers are typically involved in the Candle rotation in Hard Mode. As such, healers need to be very careful not to lose track of the timing to use/pass the Candle. See the Candle discussion above for more details.

During Phase 1, expect the tank with Nahut’s aggro to take heavy burst damage. I highly suggest keeping Nahut on Focus Target to see Nahut’s Energized Slice cast, which precedes a highly damaging conal attack. The ability has a 12 second cooldown and its burst damage is the most common reason to unexpectedly lose a tank due to burst damage. The second and less common cause is a tank moving while they have the Inertial Distortion debuff (the debuff applied by Nahut’s Mass Distortion cast). The tank ideally should not move after receiving this debuff, but in some cases may have to move to avoid bad placement. If so, the tank will need to use a defensive ability and may need heavy healing as well.

Also during Phase 1, the need for sustained healing on non-tanks will mostly depend on the stacks DPS players receive of the Rending Cloud DoT. AoE healing is very effective during this phase to keep some healing on the tank while maintaining sustained heals on the nearby DPS.

Something else to consider during Phase 1 is a player clipping a Distortion Mine. You should see the pink Distortion Mine Incapacitation debuff. In Hard Mode, this debuff means the player is stunned (and unable to use most defensive abilities) for 6 seconds and will also have Nahut’s aggro for that same duration due to the related Snared Prey debuff. The affected player will need immediate and heavy burst healing to survive 6 seconds of aggro on Nahut, especially if Energized Slice goes out during this time.

Phase 2 should be a relatively easy phase to heal. If the team positions and passes the Candle correctly to avoid deaths to Nahut’s Railgun Snipe attack, then damage is very manageable during this phase. The group will take some damage from the spawning adds but not a lot. As the Candle is passed around, the person hit by Railgun Snipe will take significant damage. However, the Candle should be passed such that one person only takes one Snipe during the round so the pressure to quickly heal the player back up is very low.

The only difficult heal mechanic during Phase 2 is if a tank unexpectedly has to take a second Railgun Snipe during the round. If so, they will take +300% damage from the attack while having their maximum health reduced by 30% from the Railgun Trauma debuff applied from the first Railgun Snipe. The tank should use a very strong defensive cooldown and healers will need to make sure they are at 100% health prior to the second snipe to have any chance of surviving it.

In Phase 3, healers will generally stay with the Nahut group. In 8m encounters where healers have to be part of the Candle rotation, the focus during this phase is to keep the tanks alive through Nahut’s burst damage and maintain the Candle rotation to keep Nahut visible at all times. Group damage is relatively low during this phase provided that DPS players hunting turrets get them downed in a timely manner. Healers should be especially careful to put their backs to the generator stations at all times to LoS any attacks from the turrets due to healer aggro.

During Phase 4, healers may need to continue their role in the Candle rotation but otherwise just need to keep everyone alive during the burn phase. The healing strategy in this phase will alternate between high single target sustained healing on the tank with Nahut’s aggro, periodic group AoE healing as the group moves out of electrified floors, and healing on the move most of the time. The best strategy for healers here is to stay as far ahead of the group as possible to ensure that when you need to turret cast for a few GCDs that you can do so without standing in lightning. Keep the tank topped off prior to lightning phases so that as you move from single target burst healing to AoE healing while the group moves, the tank has the maximum cushion to survive unexpected spike damage while the healer keeps the group healed.

DPS

DPS have a relatively easy time in the Nahut encounter and usually only have one important task to either (1) be part of the Candle rotation; or (2) deal with Rail Turrets in Phase 3. Otherwise, the key for DPS is proper positioning in all phases to minimize damage taken, which is critical to healers’ ability to manage burst damage from Nahut on tanks.

In Phase 1, DPS have the most mechanics to consider. Assuming the tanks are following the kiting strategy listed above, DPS generally do not need to worry about Distortion Mines so long as they carefully follow Nahut’s path. DPS do need to be careful about the following:

Energized Slice: Stay behind Nahut at all times. The most dangerous time is when the tanks swap and Nahut starts moving across the middle platform. I recommend staying close behind Nahut and just letting him move past you immediately.
Reflect Shield: DPS need to be inside the shield to deal damage and will have damage reflected outside the shield. Note this mechanic is coordinated with Rending Cloud.
Rending Cloud: The DPS pick up stacks of this DoT while inside the shield. Assuming the group has strong capable healers, I usually suggest DPS step out of the shield around 15 or so stacks of Rending Cloud to let them drop off.
Distortion Shock/Snared Prey: In case the tanks lead Nahut through the minefield, be really careful with your positioning and try to pro-actively use knockbacks to kill mines. If you clip one and get stunned, call out immediately for heals and use a defensive if one is usable while stunned.
Fire Vents: Be careful to stand out of fire. The main drawback to the kite path suggested above is it takes Nahut directly through the smaller fire vents. A tick or two of fire is not hugely dangerous to DPS but obviously avoid setting up shop in them.

If DPS are part of the Candle rotation, they need to ensure the Candle is used to suppress Nahut’s cloak in a timely fashion.

In Phase 2, DPS should focus on the Power Couplings to kill them as quickly as possible. Any DPS discipline with DoT spread capabilities should spread DoTs to nearby adds and between Power Couplings as possible.

A few DPS should be part of the Candle rotation. If so, when their turn comes up they should move away from the group to take the Railgun Snipe attack. Make sure to pass the Candle immediately after the attack. (Pro-tip - you can generally pass the Candle early as soon as the telegraph comes up and be safe, though be careful doing this if you are new to the encounter.)

In Phase 3, DPS will split between Candle rotation DPS who stay with Nahut and turret hunters.

Nahut/Candle DPS: See the map above for positioning. Assuming the tanks are following this kiting path, ranged DPS can stay behind generators until relocating to another one. Melee DPS need to be a little careful to avoid getting cleaved. The main focus is to keep track of the Candle rotation.
Turret hunters: Make sure to spread out to deal with Rail Turrets. Interrupt as many casts as possible to keep the Rail Turret from powering up. As soon as the Rail Turret goes below 40%, stop damaging it and just wait with your stun ability ready to use. When you see the Gravity Pulse white circle telegraph, hit your stun. CC abilities can be used but are risky since DoTs will break them and the Rail Turret will heal during the CC. I don’t recommend those unless a stun is not available, and if so make sure to DPS the add lower down to 25-30% and try to time your CC just slightly after the telegraph to align it more closely with Gravity Pulse.

In Phase 4, DPS need to be mindful of positioning and the Candle rotation. Ranged DPS should stay well ahead of Nahut so that they are never standing on the electrified floor. Melee DPS should be really careful of positioning to get out of lightning while avoiding Nahut’s Energized Slice cleave. Otherwise, just keep moving and burn Nahut down.

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