General Gameplay Tips

Deadeye has a simple looping rotations with small variations.

Throughout this guide, "one loop" means using x3 , some Stealth source, and /.

You are always considered to be flanking/behind Qadim, the Pyre Guardians, Qadim the Peerless, and the Pylon; you do not need to reposition for nor .

Mythwright Gambit

Qadim

Skills	Weaponset

Overview

This boss's kiting phases occur when Qadim has 100%, 66% and 33% health. At the start of these phases, one player must stay on Qadim's triangular platform to hold his aggro.

During this time, small Lava Elementals will spawn at the triangle's corners and slowly crawl towards Qadim; if they reach him, he will gain a stack of Fiery Surge, increasing his damage output by 20% and his attack speed by 2%!

Your job is to stay alive and kill all Lava Elementals; your kit is well suited to this goal.

Once the rest of your squad has completed the Lamp/Menagerie mechanic, Qadim will rush to the center of the arena, and your solo job is done—until the next 33% phase begins, you're just a DPS player.

Throughout this guide, "safe spot" refers to the two blue sections in a triangle corner. You do not want to stand on the thick gold lines!

Setup

In the Deadly Arts Trait Line, swap to . Your cooldown is fully refunded when you kill a Lava Elemental, allowing you to sustain yourself with just this trait.

Do not take in the Critical Strikes Trait Line, as this sacrifices 6% personal DPS during the burn phase. Most of Qadim's attacks will completely miss you without having to dodge, and you can change your Heal Skill to for emergencies.

If your group needs a portal for the Pyre Guardian, swap to ; cast in a safe spot near Qadim, run to the Pyre Guardian with your subgroup, kill it, then cast to return.

Kiting Phase

in a safe spot. Use and to kill the Lava Elementals.

Qadim has a fixed attack sequence. Due to your positioning, you are unaffected by the auto-attacks (out of range) and the Fire Lines (do not strike the blue sections), so only the ! Knockback and ! Meteor attacks can hit you.

• Auto (x 2) → ! Knockback
• Auto + Fire Lines (fire rushes along the platform's golden lines)
• Auto (x 2) → ! Knockback
• Auto + Fire Lines
• Auto (x 4) → ! Meteor

Avoiding the ! Meteor attack is trivial, as it targets you with a ground indicator. This means you only need to worry about the ! Knockback.

Each ! Knockback is preceded by two auto attacks either:

• At the start of the full attack sequence on each platform.
• After the Fire Lines attack.

With this in mind, you can truncate the attack sequence to the following:

• Auto (x 2) → ! Knockback
• Fire Lines → Auto (x 2) → ! Knockback
• ... ! Meteor

After the ! Meteor, you'll need to change platform.

During the 33% phase, there is an unfortunate glitch which causes you to lose aggro from Qadim if you choose a certain platform as your second position—the platform adjacent to your starting point closer to the wyverns. You need to kite on the furthest platform instead, then move closer to the wyverns. The correct sequence is shown on the diagram below as 1 → 2 → 3.

DPS Phase

If your group is running to the Pyre Guardian, use and your Deadeye Stolen Skill for one loop against the Pyre Guardian.

If a Mesmer is providing to the Pyre Guardian, start your basic rotation on Qadim, but don't use your Cooldown yet, as he still has Protection!

This means you won't have your to use against the Pyre Guardian but you probably wouldn't have enough time for a full loop anyway, so just do: Auto Attack.

Do not save your to help cleave the elementals—targets unaffected by your will take less damage than the auto-attack chain on other builds.

Defiance Bar

If you don't have high squad damage, you'll have to deal with a Defiance Bar Phase.

If you think your team's CC is lacking, only use once then hold it when it comes off Cooldown. If you don't trust your team at all, swap to .

The Key of Ahdashim

Qadim the Peerless

Skills	Weaponset

Overview

You will take control of a Pylon using the Flux Disruptor special action skill. You have three responsibilities:

1. Stay alive within the radius of your Pylon
2. Catch the "Shower of Chaos" orb launched by Qadim the Peerless
3. Deal high DPS to Qadim.

Kite Deadeye's kit is exceptionally well suited to this task.

• will provide valuable, Might, Fury, Vigor, Protection, and Regeneration.
• , combined with your defensive boon generation, will keep you healthy, even if your allies make mistakes (e.g. other kiters dropping an orb, or struggling with Qadim's Breakbar).
• utility skill lets you teleport to the orb to catch it, then return to your starting position to link the orb to your Pylon.
• All of your damage is applied at 1,500 range

While linked to the Pylon with your Flux Disruptor active:

• The player is buffed with Kinetic Abundance, granting you Quickness and Alacrity.
• Qadim is debuffed with Erratic Energy increasing all incoming damage.

There are three orb-catch phases: 100%-80%, 80%-60%, and 60%-40%. Most groups will have kiters catch the orb to the left of their Pylon.

During the fight's transitionary phases (when Qadim is not attacking your tank in the center), three white spikes of energy race around the arena following the white lines—this is the "Chaos Called" mechanic. If a spike hits you, it deals approximately 7,000 direct damage, 2,500 Burning damage over 5 seconds, and inflicts Weakness. Stay off the white lines during transitionary phases!

If another player gets downed on a white line, don't stand on the line yourself while reviving them.

Throughout this encounter you may want to Dodge certain mechanics, which may Stealth you before you've reached 7/7 Malice points.

• If you have 3 Malice, then use twice. This will Reveal you, so fill time with or use .
• If you have 5 Malice, then use and aggressively queue . The bullet from hits Qadim before , maxing out your Malice for the Initiative refill.

Setup

In the Critical Strikes Trait Line, swap to .

You don't need to use .

If you are an inexperienced Pylon kiter, take instead of ; you can use Mercy if you fumble your rotation and run out of Initiative.

Fire Drops

At 80% and 60% HP, Qadim will Lift the entire squad into the air. Players can move, but have an AoE tracking them. After a few seconds, the squad drops to solid ground and plants fire-field AoEs at their feet.

These fire fields are dangerous to players, but are very useful for killing the Anomalies. Different groups have different fire placement strategies, so we will not cover the specifics here.

As soon as you are Lifted into the air, swap to your Sword/Pistol set—you'll need to break the Defiance bar bar of your Pylon!

Pylon Defiance Bar

While claimed by Qadim, Pylon gain a Defiance Bar. This occurs at the start of each phase.

At the start of the fight, begin on your Sword/Pistol set. You and allies can use your mount's engage skill (Springer Cannonball, or Raptor Tail Spin) to break the Pylon's Defiance Bar. Use either or → for additional CC.

Coordinate with your team if you want to solo all subsequent Defiance bars for your Pylon. To do this, as soon as your Lifted fire ball lands, cast while walking to the :

2. x3
3. Deadeye Stolen Skill →

If you're not soloing the bar, repeat the strategy for the opener.

DPS Phase

After breaking the Defiance bar, swap to Rifle ASAP (take note of conditions on the Pylon which can break the bar over the next 1-2 seconds). at max distance from Qadim, right next to your Pylon, staying off the white lines. Qadim's first attack is a shockwave with travel time, so staying at max range gives you more time to start your rotation.

Your goal is to cast x2, then Dodge forward. This will give you Stealth for , but first throw , aggresseively queue (hit the keybind during the animation for ), and active as the bullet travels.

From here, you'll continue the rotation as outlined on the Build Page. Remember that all your skills except can queue, so be aggressive.

• Your tank will be directing some attacks between two Pylons, to avoid targeting you with them (e.g. Force of Havoc "road" and Ether Strikes "cone"). If you notice your tank directs these attacks toward your right-hand side, try to stay on the left-hand side of your Pylon for safety. If the cone attack targets you, don't panic— can easily sustain you through the attack as long as you perform a good rotation.
• If targeted with Rain of Chaos (triple expanding AoE), your Kneel-walk speed is fast enough to walk out of the first AoE. Keep up your rotation to Dodge through the others.
• If targeted with Causic Chaos (arrow attack), you can either dodge (ideally forward/backward so you don't swing the attack into someone else) or just kneel-jump over the projectile. You can jump during the cast of any of your skills, so continue your rotation. Qadim will track you if you use to catch your orb, so be ready to jump or Dodge!

Orb Catch

to your orb a little early; don't risk catching it late. will return you to your Pylon instantaneously, so don't be afraid of losing control of the Pylon.

The orb-catch location is still within 1,500 range to Qadim, so continue your rotation!

Each orb delivered to a Pylon allows the kiter to extend the Pylon's tether to another ally within 600 radius. This will apply another stack of Erratic Energy to Qadim! If your squad uses this mechanic, stay at the front of your Pylon radius close to Qadim and your allies. Be mindful of the orb-catch in subsequent phases—catching is higher priority than sharing the Pylon tether.

Pylon Destruction

At 40%, 30%, and 20% respectively, Qadim destroys the North, South-west, and South-east Pylons. The North and South-west kiters can join their South-east counterpart when their Pylon is destroyed—the orbs caught during the earlier phases let the South-east kiter share Kinetic Abundance.

Once Qadim crosses each health threshold, he will charge at a Pylon—don't get flattened! Stand outside the AoE indicator forming underneath Qadim and continue your rotation. A large shockwave will knock you backwards shortly after Qadim destroys the Pylon (specifically, right after he drops his hands to waist level) and creates a damaging debris field. Getting hit by this shockwave isn't lethal unless you put your back to a nearby fire field. Hopefully, your group provides Stability. Otherwise, time your rotation to Dodge through the shockwave.

Once all the Pylons are destroyed, you can rejoin your team in the middle. If you get targeted with Rain of Chaos (triple expanding AoE), use to take it far away from your allise and, as always, continue your rotation!

Beginning at 30%, Qadim starts getting Aegis every 6 seconds—if he manages to block your , your Malice won't reset so you should NOT use your next . Auto Attack until Revealed wears of, use another Stealth source for a 2nd , then continue your rotation.

After all Pylons are destroyed, if you are separated from your Quickness provider, don't activate your signet to pair with —keep your signet passive and just throw at Qadim.