Tyth

Overview

Summary

Enrage Timer: 9 minutes

Tyth is the introductory boss fight in the Gods operation. He is very easy in Story Mode, so much so that nearly all mechanics can be ignored. In Hard Mode, he is very straightforward but can be chaotic due to the randomness of add waves.

The basic mechanic to the encounter is managing Tyth's stacks of Rage. If Tyth gets too many he overflows and deals heavy AoE damage. The group must position Tyth to avoid cleaving adds while managing waves of 3-5 adds and dealing with their mechanics as well.

Kill Video & Video Guide

Kill video in Story Mode without commentary

Tyth SM Video Guide

Layout

Story Mode Boss Positioning and Add Locations

Detailed Walkthrough - STORY MODE

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Tyth

Spawn Adds

Tyth will periodically spawn adds throughout the room. In Phase 1 (100% - 60% HP), Tyth will spawn 3 adds every 30 seconds. In Phase 2-3 (<60% HP), Tyth will spawn 4 adds every 36 seconds.

Rage

Tyth gains stacks of Rage any time an add is killed. He gains 1 stack when a player kills an add and gains 3 stacks when Tyth kills an add via its Energy Wave or Cleave attacks. When Tyth reaches or exceeds 10 stacks of Rage, it will immediately cast Rage Overload. In Story Mode, Tyth cannot exceed 10 stacks of Rage. In Hard Mode, Tyth can continue gaining Rage stacks (and thus will chain cast Rage Overload).

Rage Overload

A high damage AoE attack by Tyth used whenever Tyth has 10 or more stacks of Rage. After the damage is triggered, Tyth reduces its stacks of Rage by 3.

As currently balanced, the attack deals damage of around 30% of every player's health and cannot be mitigated through any defensive abilities. Its damage affects adds and killing them gains 3 stacks per add as usual. As such, Tyth casting Rage Overload with multiple adds alive can lead to chain casting of the ability. Avoiding Rage Overload is the overall key priority to clearing the encounter in any level of difficulty.

Rage Decay

A white debuff on Tyth’s bar that has an 8 second duration. When Decay expires, Tyth loses 1 stack of Rage and Decay is refreshed. If an add is killed prior to its expiration, Decay is refreshed without losing any Rage stacks.

Intensify Rage

When Tyth’s health goes below 30%, it will cast Intensify Rage every 12 seconds and add 1 stack of Rage to itself. An ops announcement of "Tyth's Rage Intensifies!" identifies this mechanic when it triggers.

This changes Tyth from losing 1 Rage every 8 seconds due to Rage Decay to being only very slightly net negative on Rage even assuming no adds are killed. Over 24 seconds, Tyth will lose 3 Rage and gain 2.

Energy Wave

Tyth’s rectangular conal attack. Any adds hit by this attack will be destroyed and add stacks of Rage.

Sweep

Tyth’s semi-circular cleave attack. Any adds hit by this attack will be destroyed and add stacks of Rage.

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Adds

Guardian Droid

Justice Droid

Lance Droid

Grace Droid

Guardian Marker

Justice Marker

Lance Marker

Grace Marker

Tyth will summon adds periodically throughout the encounter. The number and timing of adds changes based on Tyth's health level just before the markers are placed on the ground as follows:

  • Tyth > 60% Health: 3 adds summoned every 30 seconds in Story Mode (4 adds in Hard Mode)

  • Tyth < 60% Health: 4 adds summoned every 36 seconds in Story Mode (5 adds in Hard Mode)

The mix of adds is mostly random and will consist of the following droids. Prior to each add appearing, color markers on the ground will indicate the location and type of each add.

  • Guardian Droids (Yellow Marker): Guardians are quick-moving adds that spam a ranged attack (Guardian Blast) that deals moderate damage. They are the most important for the non-Tyth tank to pick up since they can quickly run amok and either get clipped by Tyth's cleave attacks or gang up on healers.

  • Justice Droid (Blue Marker): Justice droids move very slowly and maintain an energy shield (Multi-Phased Shield) around themselves. The shield reflects any damage dealt outside the shield. Any player inside the shield will take increasing damage via stacks of Charge Buildup . The shield can be brought down via a stun/cc ability or by kiting a Lance droid’s Energy Lance to hit the Justice droid. Interrupts do not work to bring the shield down! The Charge Buildup debuff can and should be cleansed at 3+ stacks to minimize damage on players standing in the shield to damage the Justice.

  • Lance Droid (Red Marker): Lance droids do not move and spam a rectangular conal attack (Energy Lance) that can be avoided. Energy Lance does relatively low damage but has a special effect on shields. If Energy Lance hits a Justice droid, it will apply Shield Overload (purple debuff) and reduce shield chance by 100% for 10 seconds. If Energy Lance hits a tank, they will be unable to shield attacks for several seconds. As such, tanks or whomever has aggro should aim them towards any Justice droids but avoid getting hit by it themselves.

  • Grace Droid (Green Marker): Grace droids do not deal damage but will target Tyth with rotating cast abilities. Their rotation consists of 3 Avira's Restoration casts (green beam) then 1 Avira's Grace (yellow beam).

Tyth will always summon a Grace droid in even numbered add waves. Tyth usually does not summon a Grace droid in odd waves in Story Mode, and never does so in Hard Mode.

Energy Pulse (Justice Droid)

Damage dealt by Justice Droid to any players within its shield every few seconds. The base damage is low in all difficulty levels but is buffed by the Charge Buildup debuff applied by the shield. No damage is dealt while the shield is down due to the Justice Droid being stunned or when Shield Overload is applied by hitting the Justice Droid with Energy Lance.

Charge Buildup (Justice Droid)

Debuff applied by the Justice Droid's shield. The debuff increases the damage taken by periodic attacks by 20% per stack and lasts for 5s. The maximum number of stacks is 25 (+500% periodic damage) though players will die long before reaching that many stacks.

The first stack is applied immediately upon entering the shield AoE and then additional stacks are applied every 2.5s. Charge Buildup can be cleansed by a healer or self-cleansed/purged. No stacks are applied/refreshed while the shield is down due to stun/cc or while overloaded.

Energy Lance (Lance Droid)

3s cast conal attack by Lance Droids. The attack has 100m range so can target anyone on the platform. During its cast time, a red telegraph is placed on the ground indicating its path of attack. The attack deals low damage but placed the Shield Overload debuff on any affected targets, including other adds.

Shield Overload (Lance Droid)

Reduces shield chance by 100% for 10s. Debuff is applied by the Lance Droid's Energy Lance attack. This debuff can be applied to Justice Droids to suppress their shield AoE or can affect tanks to dramatically reduce their damage mitigation.

Avira's Restoration (Grace Droid)

Grace droid will cast three consecutive times. The cast connects to Tyth with a GREEN energy beam. If not interrupted, the ability will remove 1 stack of Rage from Tyth and heal Tyth for 2% health.

Avira's Grace (Grace Droid)

Grace droid will cast after 3 Restoration casts. The cast connects to Tyth with a GOLD energy beam. If not interrupted, the ability will remove 3 stacks of Rage from Tyth and grant Tyth a 50% damage reduction buff that lasts for 12 seconds.

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Player

Shield Overload (Lance Droid)

Reduces shield chance by 100% for 10s. Debuff is applied by the Lance Droid's Energy Lance attack. Tanks should be mindful of the red telegraph for Energy Lance and move out of it.

Armor Melt

Tyth applies via its regular melee attack. Armor Melt decreases armor by 10% per stack. Can stack up to 10 times, resulting in 100% armor reduction. This can be cleansed and should be by healers. Lasts 15 seconds if not cleansed or refreshed by adding another stack.

Strategy

Overview

The objective of the encounter is burn down Tyth while coordinating DPS of adds to avoid being overwhelmed while also balancing Tyth's Rage to stay below 10 stacks.

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 manage adds but is not required. Since Tyth does not hit very hard, the "tank" can even be a DWT or tank in mostly DPS gear without any huge issues. 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:

  • Tanking position: Make sure the tank knows to position Tyth at the edge of the platform to keep the conal away from adds. The preferred position will be at the edge of the platform in between add spawning points.

  • Grace droid: Designate a DPS player to handle interrupting and killing the Grace droid. Make sure they understand the basics for dealing with the Grace droid as discussed further below.

Strategy Key Points

The strategy for this fight has the following key points:

  1. Tank Tyth at the edge of the platform facing outward to avoid cleaving adds. Tyth does not have a knockback so he can be safely tanked right at the edge of the platform. This minimizes the chances that Tyth's cleave attacks will hit and destroy an add and add excess stacks of Rage.

  2. Kill adds as they spawn unless Rage is 8 or more. At 0-7 stacks it is usually preferred to kill adds as soon as they spawn. If the team reaches 8-9 stacks of Rage, the adds can be ignored and kited for a short while until Tyth naturally drops Rage through Rage Decay or for Grace Droid casts to reduce Rage.

  3. Handle Grace droid to manage stacks of Rage. At low levels of Rage, the Grace droid should be killed immediately and all its casts interrupted. At medium levels of Rage, a few casts can go out to lower Rage stacks then killed. At high levels of Rage, the Grace droid can be allowed to chain cast for a short while to reduce Rage stacks to a manageable level before killing it.

  4. When Tyth reaches 30% HP, all DPS should focus down Tyth and let the off-tank or healers kite adds. Due to Tyth's Intensify Rage mechanic that naturally adds Rage stacks, it is usually preferable to just burn down Tyth and ignore adds to avoid chain spamming of Rage Overload. Ideally an off-tank should gather up the adds and kite them to keep them off healers. Healers can also handle this task if necessary.

Detailed Strategy

Phase 1 - Tyth > 60%

The tank should grab Tyth and pull him to the edge of the platform. The exact positioning is not super important but being close to the edge is ideal to minimize the chance of cleaving adds. I recommend the east edge of the platform (will be to your left as you drop down onto the platform). This is convenient since the SE position will not include an add while Tyth is above 60% and is equidistant between add spawns below 60%.

The fight is a tank and spank until adds begin spawning. While Tyth is above 60% health, Tyth will summon 3 adds at the NE, NW and SW positions. See the map above for more detail on positioning. The mix of adds is semi-random. The only predictable aspect is that the odd numbered waves will not include a Grace droid while even numbered add waves will include a Grace droid.

Since only 3 adds spawn per wave in Story Mode while Tyth is above 60% health, I usually recommend having DPS just burn down all adds then return to Tyth. The natural Rage Decay should offset any Rage picked up by killing adds. If possible, try to group up adds then AoE them down to minimize the downtime on Rage Decay.

Healers also should make sure to periodically cleanse the Armor Melt debuff from the tank. Damage taken by the group should be fairly light at this point so healers may be able to add DPS to adds and Tyth.

Phase 2 - Tyth 60% - 30%

Tyth begins to summon 4 adds per wave below 60% health. Note that this is based on when the add color markers are placed not when the adds themselves spawn. Mechanics are still the same

Phase 3 - Tyth 30% - 0%

The last phase of the fight is below 30% when Tyth begins to trigger Intensify Rage every 12s and add one stack of Rage. This makes it far more difficult to manage Rage stacks since Tyth now is close to net neutral on Rage over time. Players can let the Grace droid get more casts off to offset the Rage generation but that extends the fight.

The most efficient method is to have all DPS focus on Tyth to burn him down as quickly as possible. The off-tank or perhaps a healer should gather up and kite the adds to keep them away from the boss. Assuming that Tyth does not reach 10 stacks of Rage, overall damage in this phase should be higher than earlier phases (due to more adds) but manageable.

If Tyth hits 10 stacks of Rage it will be important to ensure players are grouped for efficient AoE healing. It is possible to heal through the damage with good AoE healing.

Role Discussion

Tanks

The main tank has a very simple responsibility for the Tyth encounter, which is to hold Tyth's aggro and position him near the edge of the platform. This minimizes the chance that a cleave will hit and destroy an add.

The off-tank (if one is available) should use single taunts and attacks to gain aggro on as many adds as possible to group them up for AoE DPS. I suggest prioritizing taunts and high threat ranged attacks on Guardians as they are the quickest and most likely to get under the boss, and pull them to a nearby Lance droid for AoE DPS.

Healers

Healers should not have a super difficult task in this operation. The damage taken by the main tank should be relatively low as long as they are regularly cleansed. Damage from adds is typically relatively low.

The main sources of significant spike damage are as follows:

  • Justice Droids: Players who stand in the Justice droid AoE for an extended period of time will take very high damage. Healers should do their best to cleanse players who reach 3-4 stacks of Charge Buildup, as that should prevent super high damage and given them enough time to kill the Justice droid before getting back to high stacks.

  • Rage Overload: If Tyth reaches 10 stacks of Rage the group will take AoE damage of around 30-40%. If Rage stacks are not well controlled then this attack can be chain cast several consecutive times, and is the usual cause of any wipes.

DPS

DPS have a simple job for the most part in Tyth, except possibly for a DPS tasked with handling the Grace droid. DPS should generally kill adds immediately unless Tyth is at high Rage stacks.

If a DPS handles the Grace droid, their thinking should be as follows:

  • Tyth <4 stacks of Rage: Kill the Grace droid immediately and interrupt all casts. Even if the other adds are up, the most stacks Tyth should reach is around 7 after the add wave and will have plenty of time for stacks to drop off before the next add wave to avoid issues.

  • Tyth at 4-7 stacks of Rage: Let the Grace droid get off 2-3 casts of Avira's Restoration (green cast) and then kill the droid while interrupting Avira's Grace (yellow cast). This should reduce stacks down to around 1-5 which is manageable and allows to cushion to kill other adds and then let more stacks drop off before the next add wave.

  • Tyth >7 stacks of Rage: Let the Grace droid cast all 3 Avira's Restoration (green cast) and Avira's Grace (yellow cast). At 7 stacks, there is a high chance that kill the Grace droid and any remaining adds may get above 10 and trigger Rage Overload. Letting all 4 casts go off will reduce Rage stacks by 6 and essentially reset Tyth's Rage stacks. This comes at the cost of lengthening the fight by healing Tyth and granting sizable damage resistance but is a better trade than letting Rage Overload go out.

Detailed Walkthrough - HARD MODE

Layout

Hard Mode Boss Positioning and Add Locations

Kill Video & Video Guide

HM Kill Video (Tank PoV)

HM Video Guide

Key Abilities / Mechanics - Tyth - Hard Mode only

Energy Wave

Tyth’s rectangular conal attack. Any adds hit by this attack will be destroyed and add 3 stacks of Rage.

In Hard Mode, Energy Wave gets wider as Tyth’s number of Rage stacks increase.

Energy Wave @ low Rage stacks

Energy Wave @ high Rage stacks

Sweep

Tyth’s semi-circular cleave attack. Any adds hit by this attack will be destroyed and add 3 stacks of Rage.

In Hard Mode, Cleave increases from around a 90 degree cleave at 0-2 stacks of Rage, to a 120 degree cleave at 3-5 stacks of Rage, to a 180 degree (half circle) cleave at 6+ stacks of Rage. Sweep applies 1 stack of Meltdown.

Sweep @ low Rage stacks

Sweep @ high Rage stacks

Intensify Rage

When Tyth’s health goes below 30%, it will cast Intensify Rage every 12 seconds and add 2 stacks of Rage to itself. An ops announcement of "Tyth's Rage Intensifies!" identifies this mechanic when it triggers.

Assuming that Decay is also completing successfully, this means Tyth will gradually gain stacks of Rage even if no adds are killed, contributing to the burn phase having an enrage component where eventually Tyth will start casting Rage Overload if DPS is too slow. Over a 24 second time period during burn phase and assuming no adds are killed, Tyth will lose 3 stacks from Decay and gain 4 stacks from Intensify Rage.

Meltdown

Tyth applies via its Sweep cleave attack. Meltdown reduces healing received by 10% per stack. Lasts 60 seconds and is refreshed by each new stack applied. This cannot be cleansed and is the primary reason a tank swap is necessary in Hard Mode, as a tank swap on each Inversion will provide sufficient time for the stacks to expire before the next Inversion. Tyth will typically cast Sweep every 6-8 seconds and will apply 5 stacks of Meltdown between each Inversion.

Inversion

The signature mechanic of Tyth Hard Mode, Inversion is cast 20 seconds into the fight and every 40 seconds thereafter. Inversion has a 5 second cast time and places a very wide blue circle around Tyth (approximately 25-30 meter radius). At the end of its cast, anyone inside the circle is pulled towards Tyth and thrown past him in that direction. The distance thrown depends on the range from Tyth. You need to be more than 7.5 meters from the boss to avoid being thrown to the far edge or off the platform. Anyone outside the circle is pulled into the circle. A different Inversion Resonance buff is received depending on whether you are inside the circle (Short Wave) or outside the circle (Long Wave). If no one stands outside the circle, a player will be targeted by Resonant Implosion.

Inversion Resonance (Short Wave)

Received by players inside the Inversion circle when it ends. The buff lasts 8 seconds and increases damage and healing by 100%. Also, the players are ignored by Tyth and do not build threat. As such, even with a taunt it is not possible to hold aggro on Tyth for the duration of this buff.

Inversion Resonance (Long Wave)

Received by players outside the Inversion circle when it ends. The buff lasts 12 seconds and decreases damage and healing by 50%, but increases threat generation by 100%.

Resonant Implosion

If no one runs into the Inversion circle, then every player will have the Inversion Resonance (Short Wave) debuff and be ignored. In this case, Tyth will typically target the next highest player with aggro (usually the DPS with highest aggro) and one-shot them via this mechanic.

Strategy - Hard/Veteran Mode

Overview

In Hard Mode, Tyth becomes a fun and challenging encounter that features extra adds, buffs Rage Overload to become a likely group wipe mechanic to avoid at all costs, a required tank swap, and a fun new mechanic in Inversion. The fight is an important awareness check for teams to execute mechanics and coordinate their behavior in a dynamic environment, which is good practice for future fights. Teams must be aware of positioning to succeed at Inversion and manage a tank swap, ensure adds are gathered and kept away from Tyth at all times (despite Inversion) and manage the timing of killing adds and dealing with the Grace droid to avoid Rage Overload at all costs.

Group Composition

In Hard Mode, the group should consist of 2 tanks, 4 DPS and 2 healers. It is not possible to solo tank Tyth in Hard Mode due to the Meltdown debuff and how Inversion works.

Pre-Fight Preparation

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

  • Tanking strategy: Make sure tanks are well coordinated around who is pulling the boss, that each tank knows how to maintain aggro through the Inversion swap and the plan for burn phase and whether to continue swapping or stop swaps. Also discuss where Tyth will be tanked (preferably in between add spawn points), when to pull Tyth to the very edge of the platform, which direction to turn Tyth if needed to avoid adds, etc.

  • Inversion mechanic: Everyone needs to understand how Inversion works, have Starparse enabled to see the timer countdown and make sure they execute the mechanic. Of particular importance is to discuss positioning during Inversion to keep Guardian droids out from under feet. If any players have really good root abilities, such as Sage/Sorcerer players, make sure they have them selected and know when to use them.

  • Grace droid: Unlike in Story Mode, the Grace droid will have to be managed successfully to keep Rage low. Make sure to identify who will be interrupting/killing the Grace droid.

  • Rage Decay: Discuss with the group Rage Decay and ensure everyone knows how to find it on Tyth's bar and how to use it strategically when killing adds.

Strategy Key Points

In the simplest sense, the overall strategy for this fight has the following key points:

  • Tank Tyth near the edge of the platform in between regular add spawn points and behind the potential fifth add spawn point.

  • Keep Rage stacks below 10 to avoid Rage Overload.

  • Tank swap each Inversion by having the off-tank stand outside Inversion and get pulled in.

  • Everyone other than the off-tank should always be inside Inversion and positioned more than 7.5m from the boss on the outside to survive the mechanic.

  • AoE down adds to avoid too many resets of Rage Decay, focus down Guardians to avoid them running under Tyth and getting cleaved.

  • A DPS should be assigned to interrupt/kill the Grace droid.

  • Below 30% ignore all adds other than the Grace droid. Generally tanks should stop swapping at this point so one tank holds Tyth while the other continually kites adds. If so, the kiting tank will run in for Inversion while the main tank steps out.

Detailed Strategy

Phase 1 - Tyth (100% - 60%)

  • Tank should face Tyth away from the group and position it about halfway between the edge and center of the circle. Ideally Tyth should be placed at a cardinal point (N, S, W, E) relative to the spawn point in the room, as this will be most effective in avoiding an add spawning on top of Tyth.

  • Inversion #1 will happen 20 seconds into the fight. Everyone but the off-tank should run to the outer edge and be thrown out. Off-tank should stay outside the circle and be pulled in to gain aggro on boss.

  • Adds will spawn 30 seconds into the fight. Off-tank should grab aggro to group up adds. Off-tank should also watch Decay on Tyth and wait until Decay expires to call out for AoE DPS. DPS should stay on Tyth but swap to AoE down adds when Tank calls out for burn.

  • Inversion #2 will happen 1:00 seconds into the fight, including a Grace droid. Adds will spawn just as the Inversion cast completes and throws everyone into the middle. Everyone but the off-tank should run to the outer edge and be thrown out. Tank with aggro on Tyth going into Inversion should be thrown out and immediately grab add aggro. Off-tank should group up adds and watch Decay cast, coordinating call for DPS when Decay has completed and adds are grouped up. DPS should return to Tyth until Tank calls out for burn then immediately swap and AoE down adds. A tank or DWT should execute team’s strategy for Grace droid (see above).

  • Healers should make sure to always get inside the Inversion circle to avoid any debuff to healing output. Healers should also cleanse tank on Tyth frequently to avoid armor debuffs.

  • With good DPS, boss uptime, and efficient AoE of adds, the team should push into Phase 2 by the 3rd Inversion at 1:40.

Phase 2 - Tyth (59% - 31%)

  • Tyth will begin summoning 5 adds per wave instead of 4 and on a slightly longer 36 second cooldown rather than 30 seconds in phase 1.

  • The tank on Tyth needs to closely watch add location when spawning. The 5th add will always be at a cardinal direction, so there is a 25% chance it can spawn underneath Tyth. If so, kite Tyth away if possible.

  • If an add spawns under Tyth, the off-tank or a DWT needs to immediately taunt the add and get it out from under Tyth.

  • The next wave of adds will spawn 10 seconds prior to Inversion #3 (this could happen in Phase 1 depending on DPS). The off-tank should group up and pull well away from Tyth, so that when the pull-in happens, the other tank can grab adds and keep them grouped up until Decay goes off. DPS should burn Tyth until tank calls out for Aoe DPS.

  • The next wave of adds will spawn around 6-10 seconds prior to Inversion #4. The off-tank should group up and pull well away from Tyth, so that when the pull-in happens, the other tank can grab adds and keep them grouped up until Decay goes off. DPS should burn Tyth until tank calls out for Aoe DPS.

  • Grace droid needs to be managed and kill per team strategy.

Phase 3 - Tyth (30% - 0%)

  • Tyth will cast Intensify Rage periodically to increase his Rage stacks by 2.

  • Apart from possibly Grace droids, DPS should ignore adds and focus burn on Tyth.

  • Off-tank should kite adds and keep aggro on as many as possible.

  • There should be at least one Inversion during burn phase. There are two strategies for dealing with it depending on the teams comfort with AoE taunting. One is to do the tank swap the normal way, with the tank swapping off Tyth using an AoE taunt to pick up the adds during the taunt immunity following Inversion. The second is to have the main tank stay on Tyth. See below in Tips & Tricks for more detailed discussion.

  • Healers may need to kite some adds as well depending on add composition.

  • The Grace droid needs to be managed even during burn phase. If Tyth is at 8 or fewer stacks, it is usually preferable to just kill the Grace droid immediately and get back on the boss. If at 9 stacks, let a few casts go out then kill it and get back on the boss.

Inversion

Inversion Positioning

A key point to understand is positioning inside the Inversion circle. Recall that at the end of the 5s cast, each player is flung through Tyth in the direction opposite where they were standing.

The distance you are thrown depends on your distance to Tyth. The closer you are to Tyth, the further you are thrown. The breakpoint for this calculation is 7.5m. So here are the possible outcomes:

  • Standing inside of Tyth (closer to the center of the platform): You will get thrown off the platform to your death.

  • Standing outside of Tyth (closer to the edge of the platform) > 7.5m from Tyth: You get thrown back towards the platform about half its diameter.

  • Standing outside of Tyth (closer to the edge of the platform) < 7.5m from Tyth: You get thrown just slightly less than the full diameter of the platform. If you do not have Tyth positioned close to the edge of the platform, you will likely get thrown to your death.

Here are a few screenshots to help illustrate this point...

Inversion is the distinctive mechanic for Tyth in Hard Mode. The cast lasts 5s and at the end anyone inside the circle is flung past Tyth and anyone outside the circle is pulled in.

Positioning is key here!!! In this screenshot, do you see how two players are in melee range of Tyth while everyone else is near the edge of the circle? Watch and see how the Inversion throw mechanic turns out...

So here is how it ended up. The two people really close to Tyth get thrown to the far edge of the platform, while those of us towards the back get tossed roughly to the middle of the platform.

What's the message? STAY MORE THAN 7.5M FROM TYTH DURING INVERSION.

Inversion Strategy

There are several factors to consider when constructing a strategy to handle Inversion:

  • The off-tank should NOT be inside the Inversion circle. Due to the aggro debuff placed on players inside the Inversion circle, having the off-tank stay outside and be pulled in will automatically facilitate a tank swap. If everyone is inside the Inversion circle, it is highly likely that Tyth will turn to the middle and cleave adds. That will likely lead to a wipe.

  • The off-tank should TAUNT Tyth during Inversion just before it ends. Inversion resets threat on the tank with aggro, which can create difficulties in holding aggro through the swap as the tank has to start over from 0 threat. A way to avoid this issue is to have the tank standing out taunt during Inversion. This lets them piggyback off existing threat and jump above it via the taunt, and their threat is NOT reset by Inversion as it is for folks inside the circle. This strategy makes it super easy to hold threat, whereas without this strategy we occasionally had issues with losing threat to really strong DPS.

  • Players should move as close to the outer edge of the circle as possible. The Inversion circle throws you opposite your positioning to Tyth and the distance thrown is inverse to your distance from Tyth. This means standing on the outside edge of the Inversion circle will throw you to the middle of the platform. Standing on the outside of the circle but in melee range of Tyth will get you thrown off the far side, or standing on the inner side of the circle at any length will get you thrown off the platform.

  • Off-tank can use AoE taunt immediately after Inversion. The tank with aggro on Tyth during Inversion should lose aggro after the cast due to the aggro debuff. This also makes Tyth immune to the effects of a taunt. As such, the off-tank should use their AoE taunt within 2 seconds to grab aggro on as many adds as possible (if they are up). If the AoE taunt is used later than 2 seconds after Inversion, Tyth may turn back towards the group (since the AoE taunt debuff will still be active when the aggro debuff expires) and the main tank will need to taunt him back immediately. Be careful using an AoE taunt after Inversion. Using it too late will pull Tyth's aggro and likely lead to a swap. I suggest avoiding AoE taunts and letting healers pick up aggro on newly spawned adds until the tank being thrown out can grab aggro.

  • For add management, angle yourself to be thrown towards adds. If you need to be thrown towards a specific add (Grace or Guardian droid most likely), angle yourself on the outer edge of the circle but opposite the direction you want to be thrown. In that way, Tyth will throw you right to the droid.

  • When in doubt, stay outside the Inversion circle. Inversion’s 5 second cast time is relatively short given that players need to move 30 meters or more. If you are unsure of your ability to get to the proper position, stay outside the circle. You will be pulled in and have your DPS/healing significantly reduced for a short while, but it is better than being thrown off the edge if you can’t get positioned in time.

  • If a DPS gets pulled in, call out to the Tank so they can use taunts and swap a Guard. The mechanics of Inversion Resonance (Long Wave) and its buff to threat generation tends to benefit DPS far more than tanks. This happens because the +100% doubles threat generation by DPS but typically only increases tank threat generation by 50% (since Tanks already benefit from +100% threat generation). It is very easy to lose aggro to a DPS when this happens, so use guards and taunts aggressively and make the DPS drops aggro if possible when/if this happens.

  • Have a plan for managing adds in burn phase during Inversion. The most dangerous part of the Tyth encounter is when adds spawn right BEFORE Inversion. Due to how quickly Tyth can be burned down, this usually only happens once. It is incredibly important that the adds be kept as far away from Tyth as possible so his conal doesn’t kill them.

I recommend having someone (preferably the off-tank) stay outside the circle and grab adds before getting pulled in. If need be, a DWT (DPS with taunt) could help as well. The player should try to stay as far away as possible, so that when they pulled in (and the other tank is thrown out) the adds won’t have enough time to get under Tyth. The tank thrown out can then safely AoE taunt and keep them far away from Tyth.

Add Management in Hard Mode

Adds & Inversion

A big goal during Inversion is to keep adds out from under Tyth, as he does not attack during Inversion but will begin cleaving right afterwards and can kill adds in front of him before they can run out to follow tanks/healers.

Try to stand on the sides of the circle and angled to be thrown to the sides instead of the middle platform. Adds will follow better angles and are less likely to get cleaved.

Also consider taking utilities that can provide momentary roots to adds as they come in. Force Wake / Electric Bindings for Consular/Inquisitor is an example of an amazingly useful utility for this purpose.

Rage Decay

Apart from the Inversion mechanic in Hard Mode, the rest of the Tyth fight is primarily focused on managing Rage stacks. The key to this is maximizing the benefit of Decay. To refresh, Decay is constantly ticking on Tyth. Anytime it completes its 8 second duration and “expires” (only to be instantly reapplied), Tyth drops 1 stack of Rage. Anytime an add is killed, it refreshed the timer.

As such, it is critical to AoE down adds together. This should refresh the Decay timer several times over a few seconds, effectively just “wasting” a few seconds of Decay. This is much more efficient than single bursting down adds, which can lead to Decay continually being refreshed and wasting 2-3 stacks worth of Rage loss.

The off-tank should group up adds and watch the Decay timer. Once adds are grouped up and Decay has just expired, they should call out for AoE DPS to kill the adds.

Grace Droid

To recap, there are two viable strategies for managing the Grace droid:

  • Interrupt all 3 casts of Avira’s Restoration, let Avira’s Grace cast go off, then kill. As discussed more below, this strategy is usually optimal provides interrupts can be coordinated. If a Guardian/Juggernaut is in the group, they can handle all three interrupts via the Daunting Presence utility (enables Force Leap to reset cooldown on hard interrupt) to use Force Kick > Force Leap > Force Kick.

  • Let all 3 casts of Avira’s Restoration go off, then kill and interrupt Avira’s Grace. If interrupts are too difficult to coordinate or at the preference of the ops team, this simpler strategy is also viable. It makes the off-tank’s job easier to focus on grouping up adds, interrupt Avira’s Grace, and then nuke the Grace droid along with the rest.

So which is optimal? Generally I would recommend the first option (let Avira’s Grace cast go off). Let’s do the quick and simple math. As of patch 5.10, Tyth has 7 million health in 8m Veteran Mode and typical HM DPS will tend to be around 10k per DPS. So, letting all 3 Avira’s Restoration go out will heal Tyth by 6% or 420k HP. By contrast, letting Avira’s Grace go out provides a 50% damage buff to Tyth for 12 seconds, which at 40k DPS for 12 seconds would mitigate 240k HP.

From a strategy perspective, I would recommend interrupting Avira’s Restoration while the off-tank groups up adds, then as soon as Avira’s Grace casts turn all DPS to nuke adds. This will allow most of the 50% damage mitigation buff on Tyth to run while DPS is on adds instead, which optimizes overall DPS on Tyth.

Add Strategy

In addition to the timing considerations for killing adds (i.e., waiting to AoE down adds to maximize the number of Rage stacks falling off due to Decay), it is important to understand the priority for handling adds.

  • Guardian - These are the most important for the off-tank (or at worst, a DWT with available defensives) to pick up. They move very quickly and deal high damage to a non-tank, and they can screw things up by running into Tyth’s cleave or by nuking a healer. The first priority is to pick them up.

  • Grace - A Guardian/Jugg DPS or Tank is ideal to handle the Grace, since they can handle all 3 interrupts of Avira’s Restoration if that is the strategy. The player needs to be quick thinking as to whether it is optimal to (1) kill the Grace immediately (likely the strategy in Add wave #2 and in burn phase if Rage is below 7 stacks); (2) execute the regular 3 Restoration or 1 Grace strategy (interrupting the others); or (3) let all 4 casts go out if the team has 8+ stacks and 4-5 adds up (see more discussion on this below in Tips & Tricks).

  • Justice - The Justice droids aren’t dangerous and move very slowly. The tank usually doesn’t need to pick these adds up since they will naturally drift towards healers. Healers can easily kite these adds while maintaining heals until the tank and/or DPS are ready to kill them.

  • Lance - Lance droids are very useful and very dangerous. Tanks should avoid their conal attacks at all costs, as the debuff will reduce their shield chance to 0% for 10 seconds. This will make tanks extremely squishy for that duration, particularly so if no defensives are available. On the other side, when the team is ready to kill adds, kiting the Energy Lance conal into a Justice droid will drop its shield for 10 seconds and usually provide enough time to kill it.

Rage Management

Grace Droid & Rage Stacks

Whomever is handling the Grace droid needs to be particularly aware of Tyth’s health and # of Rage stacks. Depending on the situation, a different choice may be optimal as to what to interrupt. Here are some examples:

  • Tyth >30% HP, 0-2 stacks, adds just spawned - DPS immediately nuke the adds while letting the Grace droid do its Restoration casts. Kill the Grace droid after 2 or 3 Restoration casts. Tyth should be at 1-4 stacks but the adds will have died really quickly so 3 more stacks should drop off before the next add wave.

  • Tyth >30% HP, 2-6 stacks, adds just spawned - Off-tank groups up adds while DPS stay on Tyth. The Grace droid should follow the normal strategy. This maximizes the DPS boost from Inversion Resonance (Short Wave) and gives time for the Grace droid to do its thing. Nuke the adds after Decay finishes. Between the 1-2 Decays while grouping up adds and the 3 stacks from Grace, this should hold the group level on Tyth’s Rage stacks or even gain 1 if they are very efficient.

  • Tyth >30% HP, 7+ stacks, adds just spawned - In this scenario, we are very concerned about Rage stacks because killing the 3-4 non-Grace droids will push Tyth past 10 stacks and trigger Rage Overload. Assuming DPS is sufficient, I would let Avira’s Grace go off and let 1-2 Avira’s Restoration casts go off as well. This will both heal Tyth and give it the damage mitigation buff, but will get rid of 4-5 stacks plus the 2-3 Decay stacks that should fall off naturally before the next add wave. It is especially important here that the DPS AoE down adds very timely.

  • Tyth <30% HP, <7 stacks, adds just spawned - Below 7 stacks during burn phase, I would recommend following the normal strategy (off-tank kites adds, follow normal strategy with Grace).

  • Tyth <30% HP, <5 stacks, adds just spawned - If you are in a really good Rage position entering burn phase, I would recommend just killing the Grace immediately to get DPS back on the boss (or let the off-tank handle killing Grace if possible) and follow the normal strategy of kiting other adds.

  • Tyth 20-30% HP, 7+ stacks, adds just spawned - Tyth will naturally gain stacks in burn phase due to Intensify Rage (gains 2 stacks every 12s, outweighs the Decay -1 stack every 8s). If we are at 7 or more stacks and Tyth is above 20%, he may hit Rage Overload before the kill. If so, I would recommend keeping all DPS on Tyth and letting the Grace cast everything until Tyth’s stacks are 7 or lower then kill it immediately and resume the burn.

Tips & Tricks

  • A strategy to deal with Rage management can be to let all of Grace droid casts go out. This clears off 6 stacks of Rage, though at the cost of both 6% heals and a 50% damage mitigation buff. In early progression pulls, use judgment about how many casts to interrupt. This strategy extends the fight, but can be used to avoid Rage Overload and the usual wipe that follows.

  • By far the most difficult phase for tanks from a damage perspective is Phase 3. As such, tanks should strive to save as many of their long cooldown defensive abilities for burn phase while kiting adds. As long as Inversion and any Grace droids are managed, the key to surviving the burn phase is the off-tank holding most adds and staying alive.

  • Be careful about using AoE taunts when tanks are swapping following Inversion. If not coordinated tightly, Tyth can be inadvertently pulled the wrong direction to face the group and lead to a wipe. I recommend avoiding AoE taunts during initial prog pulls of HM Tyth, as between single taunts, ranged aggro builders (Sin Force Pull, PT harpoon, etc.) and regular attacks on a nearby add can readily get aggro on at least 3 adds at once. That is usually sufficient, especially given that Lance and Justice droids do not move or move very slowly.

  • Make sure at least one person stays out of Inversion. That should always be the off-tank. If no one stays out, usually the DPS with highest threat will be one-shot via the Resonant Implosion mechanic.

  • Save Medpacs for Rage Overload. There are no other instances of high burst damage in the Tyth encounter. If Rage Overload goes out while there are any adds still alive, it will likely cast Rage Overload at least twice. Without a Medpac, strong defensives, and really skilled burst healing by healers, two Rage Overloads will be a wipe. Even one can lead to a wipe by compromising the team’s health, so save medpacs to help recover if one goes out.

  • If the team has a Guardian/Juggernaut DPS, they are the ideal player to handle the Grace droid if the team’s strategy is to interrupt all 3 Avira’s Restoration casts and let Avira’s Grace go off. Due to the Daunting Presence Guardian utility (and its Juggernaut equivalent), Guardians can use their hard interrupt for the first cast, back out of melee range and leap in for the second interrupt, and the leap resets their hard interrupt for the third cast.

  • Starparse is really handy for Tyth in Hard Mode since the Combat Timers will track the Inversion mechanic. Please be aware that the timer tracks the time until the END OF THE CAST. The Inversion cast will begin at 5 seconds left on the timer, so the team needs to be aware of this and move into position on time without stepping into a boss cleave early or missing Inversion altogether.

Role Discussion - Hard/Veteran Mode

Tanks

Tanks have a straight-forward but very difficult job in the Tyth encounter, which is to hold aggro on Tyth and face him away, accomplish a tank swap and keep adds wrangled and out from under Tyth.

The Inversion mechanic and its frequent synchronization with adds spawning just before/during Inversion makes it exceptionally difficult to manage. The off-tank who is waiting to be pulled in has taunts and stuns and roots to use but risks pulling aggro and having the adds follow them into Tyth, which likely leads to a wipe.

The key items to remember for tanking Tyth are as follows:

  • The tank who is getting pulled in during Inversion to take Tyth should always taunt during Inversion. This lets you piggy-back on threat and eliminates any chance of losing aggro except if an AoE taunt is used.

  • Get comfortable with slightly moving Tyth to help minimize your chances of clipping adds. When I have Tyth, I will frequently pull him VERY close to the edge right after Inversion. If an add came in during Inversion aggro'd to someone else, this quick movement can help pull Tyth past the adds (while the adds move past him in the opposite direction) without clipping adds.

  • When you get pulled in during Inversion, consider waiting a GCD or two to attack. LOTS of tank abilities have an AoE component and most of your best/heaviest hitting abilities have AoE. It is really easy to clip an add and pull aggro. Some of your abilities may also apply a stun/slow (e.g., Slow Time / Wither for Shadow / Assassin tanks) and can cause adds to hang in too long against Tyth and get clipped.

  • When adds are up going into Inversion and you are the tank swapping off Inversion, make sure you don't stand right in front of the circle. Cheat towards whichever side has Guardian droids and try to grab their aggro and/or throw any root/stun/slow/knockbacks you can at them as they come in to the Inversion circle. This can cause them to linger just behind Tyth and then after you are thrown out they will follow you without ever getting in front of Tyth.

  • While you are the off-tank helping with adds, keep an eye on the Inversion timer (Starparse is almost mandatory for this fight for that reason). If adds spawn with 10s left for Inversion, you need to decide how many adds you can safely pick up and kill before you get pulled in for Inversion. You do not want adds following you into Tyth and getting cleaved. This is a bit safer for Shadow/Assassin tanks as they can DPS adds, then stealth out to drop aggro and taunt Tyth before the pull. Our tank instinct is to grab aggro on all the adds but in this fight it may be better to let them follow a healer in and let them knockback or stun them.

  • Make sure to communicate with your tank when/if you begin to stop tank swaps. When that happens, the tank keeping Tyth steps OUT of the circle (where doesn't matter) and the tank who is kiting adds needs to run in and to the far side of the circle to get tossed back into the middle of the platform. You both need to know the kiting tank has time to run in or a gap closer to get into position.

  • Try to save your really heavy defensive abilities for burn phase if possible and try to save them for as late as possible in burn phase. Tyth's damage to tanks should never be that difficult to heal unless you are not getting cleansed of Armor Melt (which should never happen) or during burn phase if you have high stacks of Meltdown that is discounting your healing received. Having good defensives and absorb adrenals to help buy you 10-20s of really high mitigation can be the difference between a wipe at 2-4% and a kill.

Healers

Healers have the simplest job in the fight in terms of mechanics but can face a difficult heal check during burn phase. Beyond simply healing the team as they take damage, healers' key responsibilities are as follows:

  • Run in for Inversion on time.

  • Keep the tank with Tyth's aggro regularly cleansed of Armor Melt.

  • Cleanse DPS stacks of Charge Buildup if they reach 3-4 stacks, to give them more time to kill Justice Droids.

A skilled healer can be incredibly helpful to tanks by helping kite and group up adds for AoE damage. Most tanks are unable to use AoE taunts in the encounter due to the risk of Tyth cleaving adds and triggering Rage Overload, so it can be difficult to round them up. In these cases, adds often aggro to healers. Try and be prepared to heal on the move to run Guardian droids (the most likely candidate to jump on a healer) over to the off-tank or to Lance droids for easy AoE.

It is also incredibly helpful to use a big burst AoE heal to pull aggro on adds if they spawn during Inversion and position yourself to keep them out from under Tyth. See the graphic and discussion above on Adds & Inversion. Really skilled healers are practically a third tank when it comes to wrangling adds in this fight.

Another factor to consider is the burn phase. If the tank strategy is to stop swaps once Tyth goes below 30% health, the main tank will become harder and harder to heal as they gain stacks of Meltdown. Communicate in voice comms with your tank and if possible try to prioritize their healing as much as possible early in the burn phase when they have low stacks. Late in the burn phase they will receive very little healing and will need to depend on defensive abilities to mitigate damage.

DPS

Apart from managing the Grace droid, DPS have the easiest job which is simply to kill stuff as quickly as possible while making sure not to kill stuff at the wrong time. Apart from managing Inversion and always getting inside the circle safely (which should be easy with practice and Starparse timers), the only other thing DPS need to worry about is keeping an eye on Tyth's stacks of Rage and the Rage Decay debuff. When Rage is high, leave adds alone for a short while. When Rage Decay is about to refresh its duration and drop Rage, wait a GCD or two to kill the adds.

I highly suggest that most teams should designate a DPS player to stay on Tyth the entire time. This should typically be the least mobile player, sometimes a newer player less familiar with the fight, or perhaps a player with a discipline that is poorly suited to target swapping but can provide very high sustained DPS on Tyth.

As discussed above in pre-fight preparation, one DPS should be designated to handle the Grace droid. That player has a lot of responsibility to make split-second decisions about when to let the Grace cast and when to interrupt/kill. The higher the stacks of Rage the more casts that should be permitted to keep Rage stacks low.

An ideal approach to DPS'ing adds is to wait for the off-tank (and sometimes healers) to group them up then use AoE damage to kill them.

DPS should make sure to keep an eye on the Inversion timer and be thoughtful in their use of gap closers. Ranged DPS should stay relatively close to Tyth for ease of running in to Inversion, while Melee DPS should generally save their gap closers for getting back to the boss. Ideally the off-tank / healers will group up adds in relatively close proximity to Tyth to enable quick target swapping and minimal downtime.