Citadel Raid (Normal)

The Citadel Raid is a 4-boss raid for 10 players. The entrance is located inside of the Dragon Shoppe in the City of Highsteppe, but it can also be accessed via Activities in the menu.

This raid requires a group of skilled people that work well together. Many of the interesting mechanics require a lot of teamwork and communication.

There is a Hard Mode version of this raid that has stronger versions of the bosses and expands on mechanics.

Layout
Unlike the Guild City Raid, the bosses in the Citadel Raid have to be completed in order, and the next boss won't spawn until the previous one is defeated. Once a boss is defeated, a portal in the area will activate and take players to the next area.

In the hall at the entrance, three portals that lead to the second, third and fourth boss serve as shortcuts, should the raid party wipe. These portals are only active if the previous bosses have been beaten.

Raid Trash
The add groups in the Citadel Raid are called "Sephotep's Minions". Most of them look and behave like the Corrupted Knights from the Guild City Raid:
 * Melee: Normal melee-type enemy without any special attacks.
 * Brute: Similar to Stafrutes, Necro Brutes or Scav Knights, with a powerful Smash attack.
 * Pistoler: Similar to Pistoler Scavs, ranged enemies that can slow or poison.
 * Mage: Similar to Marksman Scavs, using homing projectiles and DoTs.

In the cave leading up to the first boss, there is a group of spiders similar to those found in the Secrets of Mugwood MSP:
 * Octofang: Periodically spawns a group of small spiders.
 * Venom Arachna: Small spider enemy that can inflict poison DoTs.

The large group in Sephotep's room needs a bit of strategy to deal with - have a few tanks kite around the Brutes while the other players kill the ranged enemies first.

Napur
Napur is the "gatekeeper" of the Citadel raid, serving as a test of the party's endurance, concentration, and coordination.

Mechanics
Napur will give all players in the raid Frost debuffs, which will deal damage over time and stack up.
 * After every two Crystal Rain attacks, a big crystal will drop on a random player (except the player that has aggro). If enough crystals of the next Crystal Rain drop on the big crystal (at least half of the party, rounded up), it will light with a green fire. Any player standing near the fire will get their debuffs removed. If the big crystal is lit, it will stay until the next Crystal Rain.
 * The party can usually survive without clearing their debuff once (if a crystal doesn't light), but most of the time the DPS will start dying after not clearing for two cycles.

Attacks

 * Normal attacks inflict anti-heal debuffs which decrease incoming healing by 10% each (stacks up to 10 times).
 * Tankbuster: A wide backhand sweep, accompanied by the usual sound effect. Napur does a Tankbuster after every three normal attacks.
 * Crystal Rain: A small red circle appears on the ground below every player, and after a short delay, a small crystal falls from the sky to strike anything in that circle. Group up on the big crystal before Napur casts Crystal Rain to make the small crystals fall on it.
 * Circles appear in the order in which the players logged in.

Tips and Strategies

 * Keep grouped up and only split up when dodging Crystal Rain, to have the big crystal spawn in a spot where everyone can reach it quickly. You can group up on one player, a spot marked by placing down a Musketeer turret or the journal, or even on the boss.
 * To deal with the anti-heal debuffs the boss inflicts on the tank, have two tanks take turns, one clearing the frost stacks in the fire and waiting until the anti-heal stacks wear off, while the other one keeps the boss occupied. The tank that is not in combat with the boss groups up with the rest of the party. Switch either at a set point in the rotation, or when one tank has too many anti-heal stacks.

Bugs and Technical Notes

 * The large crystal may not always look like it's lit for some players, but they can still clear their frost stacks when standing near it.
 * Orbus occasionally does not read a player because of desync issues, if a player is desynced, they will not be able to help light the ice-shard. Relogging often solves that issue.
 * Mount speed in combat is an early sign that desync issues are cropping up.
 * In order to make sure Orbus updates your position (to avoid dying to crystals you have already jumped out of), double jump and slide a bit. Jumping late can also cause you to be out of your circle on your end, but the server registeres you as inside because of delay.
 * After a few attempts, the large crystal can start to spawn very quickly after Crystal Rain. Be quick when grouping up.
 * If the large crystal falls on a player that is very tall, it might not light.

Brynjua
The fight against Brynjua is a race against time - kill him quickly before he kills you.

Mechanics
Brynjua has a set rotation he does on a timed cycle:
 * Chains appear on two players, together with pools that deal damage over time.
 * The boss jumps on one of the two chained players, then walks back to the tank.
 * If Brynjua has less than 50% health, he will quickly chase a player (starts with a person that is not the main aggro holder), attempting to run them over and kill them. While he does that, he takes reduced damage. After a while, the boss returns to the main aggro holder and resumes to take normal damage.

Attacks

 * Chains: Brynjua creates chains connecting him and two players (except the main aggro holder) that deal a small amount of damage over time to the players chained up, and a lot of damage to any (unchained) player that touches the chains.
 * Jump: Brynjua jumps on one of the players chained up. All players hit by the jump share the damage.
 * Poison Pools: A large red poison pool that deals damage to everyone standing inside of it.
 * Pools usually appear on chained players directly after chains appear.
 * Poison pools disappear after a while.

Tips and Strategies

 * Slow the boss when he is chasing players - for example, with Frost spells or Gravity Orb.
 * Use damage-boosting buffs like the Bard Super, a Runemage's Affinity-boosted Affliction, a Scoundrel's Break Shot, a Ranger's Hunter's Mark, or a Warrior's Blessing of Might to kill him faster.
 * It is possible to jump through or duck under Brynjua's chains.

Bugs and Technical Notes

 * The chains can be invisible (to some players), believe your party members if they tell you that you are chained.
 * The poison pools can be invisible (to some players), keep track of where the boss lands.
 * If the boss does the phase change (reaches less than 50% health) before the first pair of chains appears, circles will drop instantly.

Geruvi
There are a lot of things happening on this boss. Good communication and managing the mechanics is key to beating Geruvi.

Mechanics
Regularly, two gears appear in random places in the sky, which contain a giant sun-like fireball each.
 * The suns can be shot at and will then explode. One of the Suns can fall on one random raid member (including the main aggro holder), dealing a lot of damage.
 * If the Sun hits more than one person, they will share the damage.
 * If not shot down, the suns will send down a beam of fire, spawning in a group of enemies (two melees, two mages, one pistoler).

On hitting the boss, weak (decurse-able) Poison stacks may be applied to the player, making Unbending less useful on this fight.

Attacks

 * Consume: At 75%, 50% and 25% health, a purple Consume bar appears above Geruvi's head, together with two Brute-type Corrupted Knight adds. When the bar is filled, the boss will Consume the Knights, getting back a percentage of his max health for every Knight still alive.
 * If the boss refills his health this way, the Consume phase will repeat after his health is lowered again.
 * During this phase, the boss does not take any damage.

Tips and Strategies

 * Always stay grouped up (but at a distance away) to share the damage from the falling suns.
 * If the sun falls on the tank, they need to move back to the group immediately (or if they are a Paladin, use their Shield), because if they get hit by the falling sun while alone, they can and will get one-shot by it. The group should call out a sun falling on the tank with an appropriate amount of panic.
 * A Musketeer can use their Shield Orb on the group to help shield some of the damage from the suns.
 * Stay at a distance from the boss to kill the Knights before they reach the group and have the opportunity to kill you with their Smash attack.
 * The tank can grab one of the Knights while the party focuses on the other one, to prevent them from reaching the group at the same time and killing people with Smash.
 * Have a dedicated sun shooter (Scoundrel or Ranger), who stays away from the group and only attacks the suns, while staying out of combat with the boss to prevent the suns falling on them. The First Strike weapon affix is great for this job.
 * Prioritize killing Consume adds, then Sun adds, and only if there is nothing else to hit, the boss.
 * A Musketeer should avoid placing their Lifewell below the group. Healing this many players at once might cause them to pull boss aggro.

Bugs and Technical Notes

 * The suns never completely un-load - doing too many attempts on this boss can make everything involving the suns very buggy. Leave the instance, re-form party, and enter the raid again to fix this.

Mechanics
Sephotep will gain a colored shield at 75%, 50% and 25% health, which will prevent any damage dealt to him. The shield must be removed by doing certain things to open a portal, which will lead to an area with a group of monsters. Sephotep will attack the portal with Destructive Volley, that must be blocked, and if the portal's health bar reaches zero, all players will die immediately. After all the monsters are defeated, the shield will disappear, and party members in that area are transported back into the boss room.

Attacks

 * Normal attacks inflict anti-heal debuffs which decrease incoming healing by 10% each (stacks up to 10 times).
 * Tankbuster: A large backhand sweep with his spear, accompanied by the usual sound.
 * Purple projectile: A quick, non-dodgeable projectile that hits a random player for a bit of damage.
 * Purple orbs: Sephotep spawns two purple orbs that fly from near his face to one random player each (not including the main aggro holder). They can be shot down by damaging attacks.
 * Orbs can be frosted by the player that is targeted by it.
 * If there are only two people in combat with the boss, one of the orbs will target the main aggro holder.
 * Red circles: A big red circle appears around a random player every 10 seconds. A purple sphere will drop in the middle of the circle, dealing a large amount of damage damage to players standing inside it. If more than one person is inside the circle, the damage is split between them.
 * Add Spawn: A group of adds spawns every 20 seconds in the middle of the area. The timer stops while the portal is open.
 * Destructive Volley: Sephotep creates large red orbs that fly towards the open portal.
 * If it hits the portal, the portal will lose health. After four orbs hit the portal it explodes, killing all players in the process.
 * The orbs can not be killed, but can be blocked by players. On impact, they deal a good chunk of damage.

Tips and Strategies

 * Use two tanks for this - during the main phases, switch aggro to deal with the anti-heal stacks. During hell phase, one tank stays in the main area to block orbs (a Musketeer can leave their turret with them if healing is needed), while the other leads the rest of the group in the portal and tanks the add groups.
 * Stay grouped up to share the damage from the red circles. If the tank gets a circle, they need to jump out.
 * Green Shield: A Musketeer can hold the adds on them with healing aggro while someone lowers their health. Once enough adds are saved and at low health, kill them quickly. If they need to place down a Lifewell, the other players should stay outside of it, as healing the entire group can generate enough healing aggro to pull the boss off the tanks.
 * Blue Shield: The off-tank Paladin stands in front of the group and uses their Shield to block both purple orbs simultaneously. Group up tightly and in a straight line behind the Paladin, so that the orbs are almost perfectly on top of each other.
 * The group inside of the blue phase portal is the same one as the group in the cave on the Forsaken Isle. You can practice killing this group in preparation for the raid.

Bugs and Technical Notes

 * If a player desyncs, it may become impossible to open the Red portal until they re-log.
 * A purple orb can fly to the zone origin (coordinates 0,0) if the player it targets is desynched.
 * If any player closes their game and logs back in (due to crashes or on purpose), they appear at origin for a split-second. If there are orbs at that position, the player dies immediately (but appear in the correct position anyway). This can also be used to open the Blue portal.

Loot

 * Special Level 30+4 Equipment (Liberator sets), unique to each class
 * Napur: Gloves and Shoulders
 * Brynjua: Helmet
 * Geruvi: Chestpiece
 * Sephotep: Weapon (can be 30+5)
 * Napur Frost Major Dye
 * Chaos Lavender Accent Dye
 * Windup Sephotep Pet