[Shieara]

Foresight

Okay, imo this will be one of the hardest trials. It is given by the Projection of Tactics. As always, clear to him and form groups while explaining the strat.

For this trial we will use one MT group, melee and caster dps groups, and have the rest balanced. The MT group will be…

1. Tank
2. Tank
3. Tank
4. Cleric
5. Cleric
6. Shaman

When we go in we will position ourselves on the center platform. The goal of this raid is to kill the 6 perma rooted, non summoning Dragorns around the edge of the zone. While doing this the raid force must contend with 'Emotes' asking them to perform certain actions. Failure to do this action results in the toon taking a lot of damage, ranging from 5k up to 9.5k

The dragorns are, from north pedestal and going clockwise…

Pedastal 1 = Dragorn Annihilator
Pedastal 2 = Dragorn Adept
Pedastal 3 = Dragorn Flamecaster
Pedastal 4 = Dragorn Spellscribe
Pedastal 5 = Dragorn Incinerator
Pedastal 6 = Dragorn Acolyte
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The Emotes

Room AE:
The room begins to heat up dramatically. The north side looks safe.
The room begins to heat up dramatically. The center looks safe.
The room begins to heat up dramatically. The south side looks safe.
The room begins to heat up dramatically. The east side looks safe.

These always give:
The room explodes with chaotic energy.

If you dodge it you also get:
You escape the blast unscathed.

These, upon a fail, hit you for 5k damage.

Kyv arrows:
From the corner of your eye, you notice a Kyv taking aim at your position. You should move.

From the corner of your eye, you notice a Kyv taking aim near your position. He appears to be leading the target, anticipating your next movement. You should stand still.

From the corner of your eye, you notice a Kyv taking aim at your head. You should duck.

If you dodge you these you get:
An arrow narrowly misses you.

If you fail to dodge them you get:
You are struck by a stray arrow!

Failing to move was 6k damage, failing to standstill was 6700 and failing to duck will hit for a massive 9500.

Dragorn Emotes

The Dragorn before you is developing an anti-magic aura.
-Dragorn flamecasters begins to cast a spell.

Upon being hit by this you recieve the emote Your mind burns.

The Dragorn before you is sprouting sharp spikes.
-Dragorn spellscribe begins to cast a spell.

Jagged Spikes is a dmg shield, which will hit melees. Lacerating Aura is a spell damage shield that will hit all nukers.

You notice that the Dragorn before you is preparing to cast a devastaing spell. Doing enough damage to him might interupt the process.

-The dragorn shivers about to explode-
-The dragorn shivers about to explode-
-Dragorn flamecaster explodes in a ball of fire.
-Dragorn Flamecaster begins to cast a spell.

Minor Emotes:
A haze of unnatural steam billows near your feet. You should find higher ground.
-a hazard begins to cast a spell.

The Weapon in your right hand begins to heat up dramatically. You should remove it.
-you have sucessfully loaded bandolier NOweap.
-your weaponry cools down
-you have sucessfully loaded bandolier Blunt.
-a hazard begins to cast a spell.

Finger Rings will also emote you..
-a hazard begins to cast a spell.
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Okay, to deal with this *everyone* will remove their rings. Casters will remove their primary weapons. Melee will have a bandolier set up with their main hand wep unequipped. All will have levitate. All will have a separate window to filter emotes into so they do not miss them. No exceptions.

Melees will start at Dragorn Annihilator(Pedastal 1). They will dps this Dragorn first and move round clockwise from there.

Rangers will use Trueshot at the start and Bow Dps Dragorn Flamecaster(Pedastal 3). Once it dies they will assist the melee.

Nukers will start at Acolyte(Pedastal 6) and work anti clockwise from there.

Doters (Shamans/Druids/Necros) will stack there DoTs on Acolyte (pedastal 6) and work Anti-Clockwise from there. Keep in mind, these mobs don't summon, so stack those dots like mad, on multiple mobs!

We will also have several people assigned to dispelling. This probably will be our enchanters, but may include rangers.

As time goes on, the emotes will increase in speed and difficulty, thus, its best to burn all dps discs and full burn of mana from the start. A dead rogue with full discs is a waste. Also, at the start melees spend a lot longer time dps'ing the mobs rather than running around. So with that in mind, the first thing to tell your raid force is pop all pets at the start (yes even shaman pets), buff the pets maxed, pop discs from start and go full out from the beginning.

Aggro on these dragorns is hard to hold, and with running back and forth, it will remain hard to hold, so the tanks in the main tank group will need to fight to hold aggro. Never rely on a heal you think is inc as your cleric could be busy fighting an emote, so always back out of melee range when low of health. Like I said, these do not summon. The tanks job is to make sure that the melee can safely dps while keeping the melee target focused on them.

When a Dragorn is about to PBAE or has a Damage shield/Caster shield on, whoever sees it calls it in Rsay and gets it Dispelled. Running back from a room emote into a PBAE +Dmg shield is the most common reason melees die.

Casters, when asked to move to a side of the room, you don't have to wait till back at the centre to start nuking again, nuke from there!

Beating the emotes

Room Emote

The room begins to heat up dramatically. The ***** side looks safe.
Simple one this. Move yourself to the wall indicated in the emote and wait for You escape the blast unscathed

Kyv Arrows

From the corner of your eye, you notice a Kyv taking aim at your position. You should move.
1. Take note of the point you was at when the emote appeared. Make sure you are far away form this area when the emote triggers.
2. Make sure you are moving and not standing still when the emote triggers.

From the corner of your eye, you notice a Kyv taking aim near your position. He appears to be leading the target, anticipating your next movement. You should stand still.
1. Take note of the EXACT point you was standing at when the emote appeared. Be at that exact place when the emote triggers off.
2. Make sure you are not moving or ducked when the emote triggers.

From the corner of your eye, you notice a Kyv taking aim at your head. You should duck.
Easiest one to beat and thus the most punishing on a fail. Hit your duck key and stay ducked for the duration of the emote. Moving around is fine as long as you remain ducked.

The Dragorn before you is developing an anti-magic aura.
-Dragorn flamecasters begins to cast a spell.
Dispell the offending dragorn and don't nuke until its dispelled.

The Dragorn before you is sprouting sharp spikes.
-Dragorn spellscribe begins to cast a spell.
Dispell the offending Dragorn. Melee attack off until its dispelled.

The Weapon in your right hand begins to heat up dramatically. You should remove it.
Uneqiup your primary.

You notice that the Dragorn before you is preparing to cast a devastaing spell. Doing enough damage to him might interupt the process.
-The dragorn shivers about to explode-
-The dragorn shivers about to explode-
-Dragorn flamecaster explodes in a ball of fire.-
-Dragorn Flamecaster begins to cast a spell.

This one is all about judgment, if your force is in place meleeing when this appears, don't worry about it, but if half your melees are not clsoe and running around for a room emote, then stay off the offending Dragorns Pedastal.
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This raid is really complex and all about people paying attention and being responsive. I am going to initially disallow boxers on this raid, since it will be difficult if not impossible for them to respond to two emotes at once. Self-healing is also very important, since you never know when a healer will be unable to heal due to responding to an emote. Everyone needs potions and those with heals should load them.

And that pretty much is that.

[Tetrafluor]

From the looks of this, it seems that a number of audio triggers set up to indicate exactly what to do when the emote triggers could be helpful..

i.e. when the kyv emote comes up that he is leading the target, an audio trigger saying "stand still" initiates, then when the emote triggers, another indicating it is ok to move.

Does anyone have a list of the exact key phrases for when it triggers in addition to the emote listed here?

[Suegar]

Shie has the exaxt phrases there that you need to make audio triggers Tetra. Didnt see it mentioned but at times you will get a kyv and room emote that conflict, ie stand still for the kyv and go north for the room. In that situation ignore the room emote and do the kyv. I always have fun with this trial, lets kick its ass

[Tetrafluor]

Ah, I see it now, I think I read that part too fast. tx

[Kalakob]

a website with some audio files prime to use with the triggers - eqvoices.eqthieves.com/raids.html

there is a link to download if you scroll down a bit

[Tetrafluor]

Here is an easy way to get these setup for all who want to use them.

Download the audio triggers from Kalakob's post and place them files in the directory: <yourdrive>:\<everquestdir>\AudioTriggers\tactics\

Then create a file called "AT_tactics_yourcharactername_bristle.ini" in the directory: <yourdrive>:\<everquestdir>\userdata\

Cut and paste the following into that file:

[Triggers]
Pattern0=The north side looks safe.
Sound0=mpg_north
Pattern1=The center looks safe.
Sound1=mpg_center
Pattern2=The south side looks safe.
Sound2=mpg_south
Pattern3=The west side looks safe.
Sound3=mpg_west
Pattern4=The east side looks safe.
Sound4=mpg_east
Pattern5=You escape the blast unscathed.
Sound5=mpg_safe
Pattern6=position. You should move.
Sound6=mpg_move
Pattern7=movement. You should stand still.
Sound7=mpg_stand_still
Pattern8=head. You should duck.
Sound8=mpg_duck
Pattern9=An arrow narrowly misses you.
Sound9=mpg_dod_arrow
PatternCount=10

You can be in game or out of game when you create this file. Once created open your audio triggers window in EQ and click the dropdown box labelled "Trigger Set" and select "tactics". Voila! All the proper audio triggers for the foresight raid will be populated. You will need to have selected this Trigger Set when we are in the raid to be able to hear the triggers.

For those that also want their original audio triggers you can still use a version of this method. Put the wav files in the AudioTriggers\default directory, then just copy the above data WITHOUT the PatternCount=10 part into the very end of the file called "AT_default_yourcharactername_bristle.ini". Then increment the existing PatternCount=X value by 10 and change the numbers on each of the lines to go in sequence with your existing triggers.

Note that if you edit an already existing audio trigger file you will have to re-log to get them to appear.

[Tetrafluor]

Here are a couple other adds you could make to the audio triggers file. Just make sure you edit the PatternCount line to add another 6 triggers. PatternCount=16 if you use only the AT_tactics_yourcharname_bristle.ini file method.

Pattern10=You should find higher ground.
Sound10=mpg_high_ground
Pattern11=dramatically. You should remove it.
Sound11=mpg_remove_weapon
Pattern12=a hazard begins to cast a spell.
Sound12=mpg_safe
Pattern13=The Dragorn before you is developing an anti-magic aura.
Sound13=mpg_dispell_nonuke
Pattern14=The Dragorn before you is sprouting sharp spikes.
Sound14=mpg_dispell_nomelee
Pattern15=Dragorn before you is preparing to cast a devastating spell.
Sound15=mpg_leave_platform

You'll also have to record the following wav files (which say as indicated) and place them in the proper audio trigger directory

mpg_high_ground.wav "move to high ground"
mpg_remove_weapon.wav "remove your primary weapon"
mpg_dispell_nonuke.wav "Stop Nuking and Dispell"
mpg_dispell_nomelee.wav "Stop Melee and Dispell"
mpg_leave_platform.wav "Check for Melee, or Leave Platform"

[Tetrafluor]

for those that need the extra wav files for the triggers listed above and don't mind some dork on the microphone:

Download Tactics Audio Triggers HERE!

[Zenshiss]

Key points from our first run:

--they aren't "emotes", they are "other". At least some of them.
--never ever blow them off all classes, all roles (cept maybe MT?) need to always listen to 'em.
--the kyv sureshot ones seem to take a while to happen: make sure you keep doing what they say until you get the "emote over" follow up emote. Especially the "you should move" (which means to be constantly moving, not just move to a new spot--the arrow will hit you unless you are in the process of moving when it is fired)--I was dancing in place for like 10 sec and still got hit with it. Didn't help of course that I also had the "you should stand still" one running

[Tetrafluor]

It seems like later in the trial there were a lot of dual emotes, which wouldn't get picked up by the audio triggers.

I think I might try to shorten the triggers to one word, and also get rid of the kyv ones. Then just listen for dragorn, and watch for kyv. Probably less of a problem if I miss a dragorn emote than a kyv.

[wurms]

I did not use the audio triggers and only had 2 hit me the whole time. i was one of the 4 that lived. I got a stand still and a move south at the same time. Was about the funnest fight i have ever done Cant wait for attempt #2.
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Wurms 75war 900aa

[Olidan]

Whatever emotes you get, you should act on until it is over.


Like if you get a stand still emote, and then you get a movement emote before your stand still arrow has whizzed past, you should wait for the second half of the stand still emote and then follow the movement command.
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[Jamn]

I rather like this trial, even if it is a bit like "Simon Says"

I downloaded the audio files and set up the audio triggers this time. It helped a lot, but it isn't perfect. Especially later on when you get 2 at once. If they overlap, you won't get the second audio warning.

Bottom line, even if you have audio triggers, don't count on them. You still need to set up a separate window for the "other" filter and watch it close!

Jamn

[Zenshiss]

[Ladile]

To the best of my knowledge, the emotes get worse as *people* die, though they may also just get worse as time drags on, too.

*Edit* Yep, the emotes get worse as time goes on, but I still want to say that losing people has some effect on it as well.

[Shieara]

My understanding is that the emotes increase in frequency as time goes on, and they are divided amongst the number of raiders in the zone.

So, for example, if there are supposed to be 60 emotes given at the 8 minute mark, and we have 30 raiders, that means we each will get two emotes. If, on the other hand, we were to have 20 raiders because ten people died, we would each get three.

So the speed is not directly related to how many die, but it does have an effect since that leaves more emotes that others have to deal with.

[Ghraa]

I think i can confirm this since tonight we had 50 players in the zone and it was very noticeable that I have fewer emotes in the beginning then I did last night when we had about 40 in the zone.

[Atuin]

If this is the case, should we have a dedicated rezzer trying to keep as many peeps as possible? even unbuffed, you're able to run around and try to escape the emotes. and this way there'd be more peeps to distribute the emotes

[Shieara]

I think that battle rezzes will work during the start of the fight. However, as the emotes get faster I think that rezz has too long of a cast timer to be effective at the later stages.

Here is a guide I found to audio triggers on Monkly Business. Maybe this will help some people set them up.

http://forums.monkly-business.net/viewtopic.php?t=10686

[Shieara]

So anyways, here are some things we may do...

First of all, using Infusion should help some on the room AE. I know I was resisting some stuff. I don't think it will help on the kyvs. However, it should help us maintain a burn through our discs that all should be using at the start.

Going to make sure Finbaar gives it up and mass rods us. Also going to set up some more mgb heals.

Other then that, the only thing I know to do on this trial is practice. I like splitting the targets at first between casters/rangers and melee. Do people think that casters and rangers should remain focused on their own mobs or should they continue to assist the melee after their mob is down?