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Heal Alacrity Druid Gameplay Guide

Published Jun 9, 2021 Updated Aug 16, 2024
RainbowTurtle writer
I'm a force a' nature!
Heal Alacrity Druid Gameplay Guide

Druid continues to be a solid specialization that provides essential Boons, makes an excellent solo Healer, can tank bosses, and handles a variety of mechanics—all at the same time.

Even if you are not able to do all of these things at once, your wide range of utility and ranged healing capabilities still make this class a top pick in many situations.

As a Heal Alacrity build, the goal is to keep your squad alive while providing a variety of Boons.
In fact, Heal Alacrity Druid is able to provide all boons except Quickness to its party. 100% uptime of 25 Might, Fury, Alacrity, Regeneration, and Protection is expected as a baseline.

A squad's healer will usually tank the boss when the encounter allows, so you should familiarize yourself with this role if you want to pick up Druid.
Spotter? Glyph of Empowerment? Sure, grandma, let's get you to bed.
Boon Skill Source
Alacrity skills
Might , , , , Swap Pets Various sources
Fury , , , Swap Pets Various sources
Stability , Slot skills
Protection , , , Utility skill, Mace, Pet F2
Regeneration , , Mace, Staff, Heal skill
Aegis , Utility skill, Pet F2
Vigor Mace Auto Attack, , Mace, Pet F2, Utility skill
Swiftness , Swap Pets Warhorn,
Resistance Utility skill
Resolution Utility skill
Stop standing in the big red circle please I can only outheal so much damage

Nearly every raid boss pulses damage to the squad during combat. Maintaining Protection and Regeneration to your allies will sustain them through this damage and reduce the overall healing pressure you feel throughout the fight when they inevitably take more serious damage from other sources.
These two boons provide some serious defense, so be sure to keep them up.

Celestial Avatar

  1. - Swift small Heal. Use this whenever you're not casting anything else to pad Alacrity, or to upkeep it from range when you or other players are separated from the herd.
  2. - Heals and cleanses conditions. This skill is a Light Field with no cast time, so use it off Cooldown during other skills.
  3. - Massive burst of Healing, potent Daze and a Blast Finisher.
  4. - Pulses good Healing around you, generates Might and creates a Water Field for your team. Use this skill every time you enter .
  5. - Pulses damage and movement impairing conditions in a larger radius, grants Might to allies, and grants you Stability. Be aware this skill will be interrupted and put on full Cooldown if you move.

Combos

Another way to burst Heal is to use a Blast Finisher in a Water Field, or any other Combo Field with .

Here are Water Fields you have access to:

And a few Blast Finishers you can use:

and can perform two Blast Finishers each when using .
The real DPS meter is CC per second

Druid is considered one of the strongest specializations for Defiance Break. Below are some of the accessible sources to help you stop enemies in their tracks.

Skill Type
Stun 250
Daze 200
Launch 232
Launch 232
Pull 150
Daze 200
Daze 150
Daze 200
Knockback / Pull 150

Use when running for doubled effectiveness.

The table shows baseline values, however, and together increase the potency of Stuns and Dazes by 80%!
"I'm bleeding!"

Cleansing conditions is as important as raw healing for keeping your squad healthy.

While it's pretty obvious that damaging conditions are important to cleanse, it's also important to remove the non-damaging impairments.

Avoiding or minimizing damage taken is often a matter of not standing in the wrong place. Your allies are in greater danger when afflicted with Chilled or Crippled, and damage output is significantly reduced when affected by Weakness or Slow.
Some encounters can also apply serious amounts of Vulnerability.

Here's a list of common condition cleanse options:

  • for Area Condition Cleanse.
  • from the Brown Bear pet.
  • as a trait option.
  • (outside , use this when conditions are reapplied frequently!)
Tools of the Trade

When tanking a boss, you can swap any number of gear piece to Giver's to ensure you have the highest Toughness in your squad. Minstrel's is another option with lower Boon Duration, but higher amounts of defensive stats. Following the recommended build setup, you will always have more Toughness than standard builds. If there is another healer in the squad, reconcile who takes responsibility for the tanking role.

Your default weapons, as listed on the build page, are the best generalist options you can take.

  • Mace provides Boons, Healing, and Defiance Break.
    It also grants Stacks of Nature's Strength, activating Force of Nature at 5 Stacks to boost you and your pet's outgoing Damage and Healing.
  • Warhorn provides essential Boons and more Defiance Break.
  • Staff provides strong burst Healing, which is useful in high pressure situations while not in .
    's projectile conversion wall is useful in specific encounters. Do not linger on this weapon set, as you usually gain more value out of the Mace & Warhorn set.

You should also have:

  • At least one Axe in the Main Hand for additional Conditions, boosting squad damage, and allowing you to strike enemies at range.
    Alternatively used as a situational Pull with in the Off Hand.
  • A Longbow to Push enemies with , useful in certain encounters.

Without Secrets of the Obscure (SotO), replace Mace with Axe.
See specific encounter recommendations for applications of each weapon.
Sigil & Rune options

and are the default Sigil recommendations.
increases healing output, so we always keep this one. boosts your Defiance Break, but can be replaced when other options are relevant:

  • or if you need to Remove boons.
  • or for a small amount of extra Healing.

On any encounter that requires you to deal a large amount of Defiance Break damage, you can optionally use . It comes at the cost of Healing Power; ensure your squad can handle a lower healing output.

Consider if your gear is otherwise lacking Boon Duration. Avoid using as the other sigils options provide significantly more value.

Slot Skills & Pet Choices

"By the spirits.."

Heal Skill Options

  • for burst healing.
    Cast this in for the most healing.
  • for more ranged healing.
  • for Condition Cleanse.
     

Utility Skill Options

  • for Might, can often be replaced.
  • for Protection and Aegis.
  • for Stability and Defiance Break.
    grants Stability and Breaks Stun for allies.
  • to Push enemies.
    will Pull them instead.
  • for Defiance Break.
    Recommended in combation with .
  • for Resistance, Resolution, and Condition Cleanse.
  • to quickly Revive a downed ally.
  • to temporarily reduce damage incoming damage for allies.

Pet Choices

There are many viable pets a Heal Alacrity Druid can use effectively.

Pets can play into your strengths and weaknesses to solidify your capabilities. Use them to complement your kit when your slot skills are not covering all your needs.

Fanged Iboga is the first default pet, taken for its damage contribution and Pull.
Electric Wyvern is the second default pet, taken for its strong Defiance Break capabilities.

Here are a few others you can consider:

  • Rock Gazelle for even more Defiance Break damage.
  • White Tiger for Aegis application.
  • Jacaranda to Immobilize enemies.
  • Siege Turtle has access to Projectile Destruction and Protection.
  • Jungle Stalker to help keep up Might.
  • Brown Bear to help Cleanse Conditions.
  • Tiger for high damage and more Fury.
  • Spinegazer as an alternative option for Boon Removal.
Pet Control

Pet AI is often cited as somewhat difficult to deal with, but the Guard/Avoid Combat keybind makes managing your pets quite simple.

When set to Guard, your pet will attack anything that attacks you or the pet itself, or anything that you attack. You can recall your pet via Return to Me F3.
When set to Avoid Combat, your pet will not attack anything unless prompted to do so by using Attack My Target F1.

Key-binding the Guard & Avoid Combat skill (in your Control Options menu, under Miscellaneous) has three benefits:

  1. Your pet will directly return to you when called, as Avoid Combat cancels any skills being used.
  2. Consistent control of positioning is desirable for effects that cast around your pet, such as White Tiger's Aegis and Siege Turtle's .
  3. Taking control over Pet AI skills, such as Electric Wyvern's and Rock Gazelle's .
    1. Pet starts combat in Avoid Combat mode.
    2. Set your pet to Guard.
    3. Without using Attack My Target F1, your pet will cast its skill as soon as its AI allows.
Flexibility and Utility

Some variations from the standard setup can be useful:

In the Nature Magic Trait Line:

  • when using multiple spirits, such as or , to double their effectiveness.
  • if being able to quickly Revive an ally is important.

In the Druid Trait Line:

  • when dealing with frequent condition applications.
  • can provide useful mobility when on kiting duty, or during non-boss events.
  • if you have no Glyphs equipped.

Overall Marksmanship offers more for the baseline build, with stronger Defiance Break through and allowing for a fast Might ramp up, and notably gives you access to another Blast Finisher.

This should almost always be your third traitline, but let's look at some alternatives nonetheless:

Skirmishing

increases the Regeneration granted by —but you rarely struggle maintaining this in the first place.

significantly reduces the Cooldown of your first skill after Weapon Swap. Combining this with can grant a significant burst of healing.

Wilderness Survival

All selected traits in this line grant damage reduction or significant sustain.
steals health whenever you apply Defiance Break, while the rest are passively bolstering your defense.

This can be quite useful when tanking or kiting a very scary boss that applies high pressure to you.
Staying alive is the most important as a healer—otherwise you won't be healing anyone!

Beastmastery

grants lots of Swiftness and Regeneration when using Commands.

gives you a small burst of Quickness and Superspeed when you Swap Pets, which can help when you're away from the group and not receiving any Quickness.
Now with 79% more spirits!
I don't think this is what they meant when they said "Guardian Privilege"...
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

A common mistake is to try to keep everyone alive at any cost. If a squad member is teleported, it's possible that you cannot spare cooldowns to keep them alive, while also having enough healing for .
The damage from deals 80% of your squad's Health. Ideally, you should use your and Healing skills around this mechanic. Don't just save healing for after the damage, you should top everyone up before it hits, too.
Remember to swap to Staff to help with burst Healing!

Use Electric Wyvern and Rock Gazelle to help CC Vale Guardian when he uses . Alternatively, bring Jacaranda to immobilize the seekers.

If you are tanking, make sure to not turn Vale Guardian toward the group, as it hits for a decent amount. This build does not bring any Blocks aside from occassional Aegis, so be sure to side-step even if it means moving the boss slightly.
Seeker Control

If you are killing Vale Guardian in the middle then it is extremely important that you use early enough so that your squad doesn't get boxed in.

If you are killing Vale Guardian on the side of the arena, you can alternatively let the Seekers come close enough for to be within range of both. Otherwise, is usually sufficient if you have a faster group.

Regardless, keeping Seekers away will improve the healing pressure for this fight—they hurt!
Split Phases

In a two-way split, it's common for the Heal Alacrity Druid to pull the Green Guardian over to the Blue Guardian using .

Do not underestimate the ticking damage during this phase. Keep everyone topped up as you usually would, and make sure to stand in the green circle while Blue Guardian casts .
Keep applying Boons like you would during the main boss phase. DPS is just as important here, and you don't want to be losing out on damage just because it's a split phase.

Don't be afraid to go to the "wrong" Guardian to help with the Defiance Bar.

Save your Cooldowns when you're approaching the end of the split phase and use them when you regroup with the rest of the squad to ensure they get proper Boons.
They've got a lot of hands. Maybe they and Deimos are friends.
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

For the main boss phases make sure to provide either Aegis or Stability to your group so that they don't get Knocked Back by . This attack is telegraphed by Gorseval raising its arm for a downwards slam.

This encounter has relatively low pressure aside from , in which sufficient healing and Condition Cleanse is important.
During this attack, you want to :

  • Apply sustained Heals to counter the effect of Vivid Echo
  • Cleanse the 25 stacks of Vulnerability applied to anyone standing in the black goo when they detonate.
  • Apply Defiance Break damage to interrupt Gorseval's attack.
    This is a good time to cast , as Vivid Echo's damage reflection can easily down a careless DPS player.
Split Phases

Keep applying boons to allies as normal.

You have access to a lot of slowing conditions like Immobilize, Chilled, and Cripple, to slow down the Charged Souls.
Here are some efficient skills available to you:

  • ( 5)
  • (Staff 4)
  • (Jacaranda F2)
  • 's AoE

If your squad is running around as one group, you'll likely want to go slow down the final two Charged Souls immediately. and can Immobilize multiple enemies with proper positioning.

is an optional skill to ensure the Charged Souls don't reach Gorseval, and is rather easy to use, but locks you out of one of your most powerful healing tools. Remember that every class has easily accessible options to help slow down Charged Souls.
If you've got warm feelings because of her, it's probably because you're on fire.
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

This fight will test your positioning and overall awareness.

Try to watch your party members that are doing cannons, as they will return with very low Might and Alacrity.

Always keep an eye out for Heavy Bombs as it will probably be your job to kick them away.
Stability can help prevent someone from getting kicked into flamewall by a Bandit Thug.

Your ranged heals and utilities in your arsenal will allow you to comfortably kite Sabetha's .

  • You should be able to bait every Sapper Bomb. Do this by standing to the west of Sabetha when the bandits spawn. Make sure you are the furthest from Sabetha.
  • Avoid standing near the launchpads when Sabetha fires . Players who are on their way to cannons may accidentally be the furthest away and become the target of .
  • In between each , she will fire two 'normal' shots (). Watch her animation and spend this window to go to the group for more boon application and healing.
  • Try to get in closest to Sabetha in between to potentially get the Time Bomb mechanic, which you then must take out away from the group.
  • When Sabetha leaves the platform, you should stay together with the group. She will return soon after each of the other NPCs reach 50% health.

can be a useful tool, but be mindful of the timing. A well timed can save someone caught in a bad position, or help them get to or from a cannon faster. A badly timed can Stealth you and make Sabetha fire her to the group.
Slubling ranger pet confirmed!???
Fire-breathing dinosaur sloth. The perfect pet.
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

Cooldown management is important for this fight.

This fight can be incredibly easy or incredibly difficult, depending on Slubling and condition management.
If they do not get pulled or cleaved down fast enough, you can use some of your CC skills to interrupt them and prevent some boon corruption.

provides additional condition cleanses, Resolution, Resistance, and a Blast Finisher. Consider taking for an additional condition cleanse and Blast Finisher for more healing.

Rock Gazelle provides more breakbar damage which may be beneficial.
Brown Bear can also give you an extra condition cleanse with , and Siege Turtle can help block projectiles with . Keep in mind that you cannot block projectiles from Evolved Slublings.

Ideally someone groups the Slublings together, and you can optionally use an Axe for to help Pull and cleave them down.
Narcolepsy—CC Phase

Use all your available CC skills.

You can counter Slothasor's Fear after CCing them by providing Stability, or Resistance paired with Condition Cleanse. The suggested build gives you access to and , both grant stability regardless of being in .

The Stability from lasts long enough for you to safely use it to both deal Defiance Break and negate the resulting Fear.
Time to throw bees at people, like a 5th grade bully.
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

This is less a raid encounter and more an open world one. Use the environmental mechanics, the Beehives from the trees, caged Warg Bloodhounds, and Oil Kegs from portions of the bandit camp on their respective bosses. Beehives can be used to stop Saboteurs.
Make sure to yell at your squad if they do not help you gather environmental items.

Break Berg's breakbar as soon as possible. Beehives apply massive damage over time.

Avoid letting Zane face the cage, as his long and wide ranged shots can easily do half or more of the cage's maximum health. Use to mitigate his pulsing Blind.
Warg Bloodhounds should be released at this time, as there are 4 of them in cages nearby.

After Zane dies, you can use the downtime to run to the other Warg Bloodhounds and release them from their cages, reducing cage damage pressure.

Make sure you drop Oil Kegs on Narella, as they apply many stacks of burning onto her. Cleanse her fire with and , apply Stability and power through.
You may want to save the latter for reviving any allies who get caught in her , as this can down a player very quickly.
He is the Scythe, the Bringer of Salvation. Or so I've heard from somewhere.
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

This fight will test your awareness, ability to prioritize Heal targets and Cooldown management.

It's important to regularly Condition Cleanse Chilled and Poison.
Target squad members that spread for mechanics with and . Staff skills can also be ally-targeted.

can help cleanse allies from range.

You can use to mitigate the Jump Attack, , for an interesting visual that produces many healing projectiles.
You can use the "Snap Ground Target to Current Target" setting to easily use in the right location.
Do not use it on his , as this prevents the removal of Blood Shield!

Make sure to CC the sacrifice! Take multiple pets or extra skills if needed, such as Rock Gazelle.

You can also replace with in the Druid Trait Line, but make sure you can still maintain full Protection uptime!
Consider taking in favor of .
Mursaat? More like mur-gone. Gotem.
All we need now is some supply and a WvW battering ram.
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

This encounter is frequently called Escort.
Always watch Glenna. Unless someone else is watching Glenna and you trust that they are doing it right. As a healer, you are often the one babysitting her, and she's helpless by herself (but she's not your puppy).
Move her with the Special Action Key out of danger, such as away from the White Mantle adds, landmines, or Warg Bloodhounds, the last of which will instantly kill Glenna.

How do you prevent Warg Bloodhounds from reaching her? Become an Immobilize bot. Become the avatar of Immobilize itself. If your skills do not Immobilize, then you have the wrong skills.
When the Warg Bloodhounds are safely rooted in place, you can move Glenna ahead faster than anyone has ever seen.

Both Jacaranda and Fanged Iboga have Immobilize on their respective F2 skills, & .
and provide additional Immobilize when all your utility skills are spent.
Tower Druid

Wait, but I thought I was supposed to watch Glenna?

Well, Druid can also help speed up the encounter significantly when accompanying the Mesmer or whoever else are going up to the towers.
Bring and , help push the White Mantle adds on the towers out of the capture circle, and keep interrupting and Immobilizing them to make the process much, much smoother. Healing your tower friend also makes the whole ordeal quite comfortable.

With such a smooth tower run, you better hope whoever is watching Glenna knows how to be as efficient as you.

Keep Construct

Xera needs to learn to Keep Construct-ive criticism in mind.
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

This fight is relatively easy, only having notable healing pressure in a few mechanics of the fight.
Be aware that through the fight the pressure will increase over time.

Provide either Aegis or Stability to mitigate the Knockdown from Keep Construct's .

The suggested build gives you access to 3 options with , , or .

Keep healing and giving Alacrity during the orb collecting phase. Save cooldowns as the orb phase is approaching to an end to heal through .

When this mechanic finishes, players are likely to go all in on the damage. should be used when the boss starts casting to immediately Cleanse Conditions applied by the attack and prevent any greedy DPS players from dying. You can also cast it in if you expect some downstates to happen.
Pile on the burst healing you have available and continue the fight.
Construct Core

Push the Construct Core using your Staff by continuously attacking it. The range and piercing beam will make this easy.

If you want to really speed up this phase, ask a friendly Mesmer if they have or to help you get to the rifts faster. You can optionally take .

Most groups will be fine with only a single rift. Push the core into the the rift and then out of the arena. If your group needs more time during the burn phase, you can consider doing two rifts.
Any more than that is not useful, as the additional damage does not make up for the time it takes to push the core around.

Xera

Stress your squad out with Intervention!
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

Xera by herself poses no threat unless she obtains Bloodstone Blessed from standing in Bloodstone Shard area of effect.
The main danger of this fight are the adds that can heavily pressure your squad if left alone.

Protect your squad by applying Blind to adds with , blocking their projectiles with , and otherwise keeping them controlled.
You can also opt to take an Axe offhand to Pull them in with .

Use to pulse condition cleanses when in high pressure situation.

If you are the only healer, and not tanking, you should always take the portal back to Xera after 50%.
Tanking

If you are tanking, give yourself some space either behind or on the side.

is the primary attack to worry about. Xera will be rooted and slash rapidly in front of her, dealing heavy damage and Confusion.
Dodge or move out of range to avoid the damage. If necessary, you can eat the attack, but make sure to rapidly heal and cleanse yourself.

While there used to be a time where it was crucial to evaluate whether to move or not based on the group's DPS, we've reached a point in powercreep that allows for more aggressive tanking patterns even in pug groups.

During the first phase you should keep her in the middle, slightly to the left.
After the first gravity well (covering half the platform in a shifting pattern), stay middle and sidestep to the right side to avoid the second gravity well.

In the second phase, you should keep her in the middle, slightly to the right.
After the first Intervention you can move to the edge between the platforms 5 and 6 marked on your minimap and keep her there for the rest of the fight.
If you are confident in your group's DPS, move her to the edge upon starting the phase.

It is most important to keep her out of the Bloodstone Shard. If she starts gaining boons, move her immediately.
Deimos is a monument to all Saul's sins.
Scissors beat Rock. Rock beats Paper. Stability beats Greens.
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

Stand the furthest away from Cairn to direct his attacks toward you. Outside the inner circle on the platform, the attacks will Knockback. Be sure to Dodge the projectiles if you need to stand this far out (read: if your squad isn't stacking properly).
Use or to block to give yourself an easier time.

Remember that Celestial Dash is also an Evade! Use it to get to and from the boss, especially before and after .

To be most effective here, you want to apply boons to allies while facing Cairn away from the group, significantly reducing the pressure applied to them. This also means you need to focus on keeping yourself alive while also managing boon uptimes on your squad.
If you struggle to do so, it is fine to stay with the group, but do make sure to still kite the .
Don't hesitate to camp for the majority of the fight to keep your squad and yourself healthy and alive.

Provide Stability to your party to counter Cairn's. This attack will happen soon after starting the encounter.
You should still do this in Challenge Mode, even though it is necessary to stand in the green circles.
Shared Agony

You will most likely be tasked with taking the first at 7:37 on the timer, by being the player furthest away from Cairn.

Use to heal the people with and use to heal yourself.
Checkmate.
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

This is a fairly low pressure fight with the main source of damage coming from people standing in active segments.

Save your condition cleanses for when the Jade Knights arrive. Removing Slow as quickly as possible is very important.

Your last utility slot is realtively free because there isn't anything particularly useful for this encounter. You can time when statues reach the squad, and Protect isn't used, to add an extra layer of damage reduction to your party.
can be used for an additional revive skill if needed, pulling downstate allies out of floor mechanics.
Samarog's a bit of a lapdog. If being a lapdog means smashing someone into the ground with 2 spears.
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

This fight has low healing pressure, it's mostly a Breakbar check. Regeneration covers enough healing alone, unless players are positioning badly.
You can afford to swap to to boost your Breakbar damage.

Focus on using all your available skills for the Breakbar Phase, using heal the Fixated squad member if necessary.

You can use to help get rid of spears.
Rigom and Guldhem

Equipping a Longbow not only increases the number of skills to deal Breakbar damage but also gives access to a Knockback to place Rigom under Samarog.

You can either bait Guldhem or provide Stability to your party.

You can replace Electric Wyvern or Rock Gazelle with Jacaranda to help immobilize Rigom while they are under Samarog, buying more time to kill Guldhem. can be used for this purpose as well, if truly needed.
Need a hand? Deimos has plenty!
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

Make sure you stack Might, Fury and Alacrity before your squad is teleported to kill the chains during the prephase. This will massively help your squad kill them faster.

Use and to grant Aegis for when Deimos casts and .
Make sure it is always have up for .

Chaos can ensue quickly in this encounter, so be quick to heal and Revive players when needed.

Always keep an eye on Saul health. If you see a Pride walking in, you can use , and from Jacaranda on it.

You can provide either Aegis or Stability to your party in the last 10% through , and both celestial and non-celestial versions of .

If you need more Druid fluids, you can use when exiting . The healing from pulses with regenerative effects, giving you extra Astral Force. Utilities here are flexible enough to allow for it.
Feet first into the Underworld, straight to your Dhuum.
For someone so powerful, she does walk slowly after this fight.
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

You can block the from Elite Flesh Wurms with a well placed , or replace Jacaranda with Siege Turtle for .

Make sure you move through the group when using to ensure that you heal the tank, or move close to the group if you are the tank.

Use constantly to help Cleanse Conditions. You should save to Revive players.

Use Electric Wyvern for the Breakbars, but make sure it does not otherwise target the Tormented Dead as this can interfere with Pushing.
Tormented Dead

You need to take a Longbow and as you will be in charge of Pushing away the Tormented Dead.
Make sure to use in Marksmanship Trait Line. It will prevent projectiles from being blocked by other enemies.

Use , then to push the Tormented Dead.
Ideally, you want to push them out of the arena, otherwise opt for a spot that is already covered by . Let it walk towards the group before using your skills to knock it away.
It is common to Push the Tormented Dead out of the arena near, or through, the group. This is in order to cleave it with some damage and conditions so that it dies before making its way back to the group. Evaluate based on your composition how aggressively you can Push it, or if you need to let it hang around for a brief moment before Pushing.

will be off Cooldown in time for the next Tormented Dead. You can use this as your own 'timer' for their spawn.
You can Weapon Swap after every other push, so that you can still make use of your other weapon set while having Longbow ready in time.

Jacaranda can be used to Immobilize the Tormented Dead, should it take too long to die. Otherwise, replace it with a pet of choice.
Desmina and her death-defying Reapers!
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

It is important to maintain Swiftness in this encounter, so no slacking on the boons. Lack of Swiftness will make it more difficult for everyone to deal with mechanics.

Try to have ready when Dhuum casts . Your priority during this mechanic should be to Cleanse Conditions as soon as possible, and subsequently keep everyone alive.
You should use , , and on top of the souls, as the all players need to pass through them.

Next, make sure to build up Might and Fury along with all the other boons as quickly as possible while the is still channeling.

You can optionally swap to Brown Bear for an on-demand Cleanse with .

After Dhuum reaches 60% HP, try to get as close to him as possible to bait , which you can quickly break by moving out of the group.

Lastly, keep an eye on the Star Reaper's health, as it usually is the one to take the most pressure.
Reapers can be healed with any healing AoE, but will not receive boons like Regeneration.
Kiting Tips

Most of the kiting happens in the pre-event. Your job is to be the first to tag Messengers, thereby being their fixated target. Keep your distance, as they hurt quite a bit.

You'll typically be the one to start the encounter by talking to Desmina. Upon starting, immediately rush to the group and hit them with all your boons:

  • Swap Pets

  • Periodically dump these skills at the group during the pre-event. Do not worry too much about Alacrity until the main phase, but do use as much as possible on your allies (and yourself) since they will be taking damage from Arcing Affliction.

You can bring to grant yourself more timely Superspeed. Do keep in mind that this may also Stealth a nearby Reaper.
While Stealthed, Messengers fixated on you will become directionally challenged, not knowing what to do with themselves until you emerge from the shadows.
You can also take if you feel like lack of Quickness makes it difficult to kite.

Use your Pets to take care of Deathlings attacking the Reapers if your group is slacking, particularly on Star.

It is commonplace for a person in the squad to take the first "Green 2", but it is otherwise your responsibility. There frankly isn't much else to do for the rest of the encounter.

Dhuum will spawn at 8:00 left on the timer. Before this, you should make sure to give your group plenty of boons and healing.
Once he spawns, go grab any stray Messengers and give some final boons to the group before running to Star for your first green at 7:30 on the timer.

Messengers will now only spawn around the time of . The next green will happen soon after the mechanic, and you must make sure to kite the Messenger while trying to keep everyone alive before going to Arrow for the green.
Tanking

Druid is far from the ideal tank, as Dhuum deals low damage to the tank, and you are unable to bait any mechanics or otherwise make use of your utility.
Ask a friendly DPS player if they would prefer tanking, since they get to enjoy the life of no mechanics!

But if you really must tank, then be sure to stand close to the middle of Dhuum's hitbox so that your boons reach as far as possible towards the group.
Always pay attention to where Dhuum is facing, as his attacks deal high damage to the group. Since the pressure on the tank is so low, you can spend most of your time paying attention to the group, where help may be needed, and why no one is stacking properly!

At no point should you go out of your way to Revive players, other than with , since you risk further cleaving the group.
Stealthing Reapers

If you see that a Reaper is taking a lot of damage, you can Stealth it. Any enemies attacking it will instead target the next closest Reaper instead. Stealth grants them a long-lasting buff, so they are not dependent on the duration of your applied Stealth.
The Star Reaper is a good target for occasional Stealth, since it will typically be the target of both Messengers and Deathlings.

You have two available sources of Stealth: when using and Smokescale's F2, , combined with a Blast Finisher.
Squad members, pets, and summons take priority for Stealth, so be sure to stand away from the group when attempting this.

When playing the throne tanking strategy, two Reapers must be Stealthed in specific order to guide the final Enforcer through the group.

  • Stealth the Triangle Reaper around the time the Enforcer spawns near Arrow.
    The timing is not strict as long as it does not walk too far in the wrong direction.
  • Stealth the Arrow Reaper once the Enforcer is getting close.
    Allowing it to hit the Reaper is not a problem, but try to apply Stealth before this happens. Since this is rather close to the group, you should position somewhere between Arrow and Triangle.
Zommoros has an ecto gambling problem.
It's not just a boulder, it's a rock!
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets
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There is no aura tick damage on this fight, making it quite comfortable. Most of the pressure will come from the orbs during the burn phases, Conjured Shields with unbroken Defiance Bars, as well as any potential Conjured Warriors.

When the arms come down you can provide either Aegis or Stability to your subgroup to avoid the Knockdown.
Use your Defiance Break damage abilities on Conjured Shields.

As a Heal Alacrity Druid you will probably be assigned to taking Conjured Protection. Make sure you coordinate with the other support classes so you know what's going on.
and are the two attacks where you may need this defensive tool. Unless the group is really lacking damage, you will only need this once per phase. Otherwise, you may need another player to help pick up some of the Conjured Shields.

Maintaining Swiftness on yourself will greatly help collecting Conjured Protection. Consider using for Superspeed.
If there are any unbroken Conjured Shields in the way, you will need to Cleanse Conditions from yourself.

If you suddenly realise that you have no Conjured Protection collected. You can save and use it slightly before the fatal hit to resurrect your party.
There's something in the water!
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

In this encounter your group will split up, and you will typically be expected to tank for your subgroup.
Toughness should not be an issue within your subgroup, but do figure out who is the primary tank for the first two platforms.
At no point should you tank either of the bosses on the edge of the platforms, as this causes difficulty for your squad to position properly. Moving is often required depending on a variety of mechanics.

You will have to deal with both Nikare and Kenut in the encounter, but depending on your allocated side you will face one more than the other. Both introduce significant damage pressure with mechanics happening quickly. Awareness is key to keep your subgroup alive.

Both bosses introduce Defiance Bars once the group has split up, be sure to take this down quickly.
Nikare

Nikare's attacks all apply Chilled and Slow. You can optionally bring for Resistance in order to reduce the impact of applied conditions.

Nikare's dashes deal heavy damage and there is little you can aside from healing up anyone caught by the attack.
The third dash will be aimed at the tank, that's you, so you can adjust your positioning to save allies from collateral damage.

His other mechanics can be mitigated by Stability, so be sure to help your party out by applying this. Use your Condition Cleanse frequently. Most of the damage pressure comes from Nikare directly.
Kenut

The second boss, Kenut, will stealth and teleport to the furthest person away from the stack and use . This skill will steal boons. Kenut will first use at 1:44 and then every 20 seconds after that.

If your group is stacking well, you can move away as soon as she disappears to bait the attack. If you're not tanking, you should be sure to always take care of this.
The attack can simply be Dodge or mitigated by Aegis to avoid giving her boons.

Kenut will also create a large shockwave, which can be mitigated by Stability if your party aren't good enough to press the jump key.

When both tanking and kiting, be clever and watch where the are, to move Kenut to a safe spot. You should always move her away from where these whirlpools are heading, but at the same time move her as little as necessary.
Don't keep her in place and let the tear through your group, as these contribute to a large portion of the damage pressure. These apply Slow and Chilled, so be sure to Condition Cleanse frequently.
The future will be what he Qa-deems it to be
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Make sure to grant Might and Swiftness to the lamp-goers when the encounter begins. The completion of the lamp is often the limiting factor, and a fast lamp will reduce the amount of mechanics you have to deal with.

Keep an eye on your kiter's health and be ready to leap to their rescue if needed.

Don't hesitate to camp during main boss phases.
Qadim can apply Weakness and Vulnerability frequently, so make sure to spam to Cleanse Conditions.

Time your Stability for . Aegis can be quite important in order to save players from .
The Hydra

The Ancient Invoked Hydra is the more scary of the mini-bosses in this encounter.
It will use two bite attacks, and then perform a special attack. Each bite applies multiple conditions, but can be side-stepped or dodged.

After the first two bites, it will use a breath attack. Make sure to face it away from the group.
After the next two bites, a Defiance Bar will appear and meteors will be called down if not broken. It is extremely important to deal with this Defiance Bar quickly.
Lastly, the Hydra will bite twice more before teleporting to the adjacent platform it is facing.

Make sure to Cleanse Conditions from the tank if they fail to avoid the attacks. Multiple hits may quickly cause them to go Down.

Shortly after the Hydra has moved platforms, Qadim will use , teleporting any player close to the Hydra to his platform.
The Destroyer

Apocalypse Bringer is less threatening than it may seem.

Firstly, stack inside its hitbox so that the other destroyers spawning will come closer. These 'Reapers' are quite threatening and will aggro on random players.
You should ensure their Defiance Bars are broken to reduce the pressure, while also helping to mitigate the Apocalypse Bringer's attacks.

Most of its attacks are easy to side-step, save your Dodges for its two larger attacks: and .

This mini-boss will also have a Defiance Bar, and summons many smaller destroyers if not broken. These will also spawn at the kiter, which will cause problems. Break that bar!
The Wyverns

The Wyverns will spawn at the same time, and there will usually be a designated kiter for the Wyvern Matriarch while the main tank takes care of the Wyvern Patriarch.
Their attack patterns are similar; the telegraphed swipe can be side-stepped. This is followed up by an identical attack, without a telegraph, and must be Dodged. The Wyvern will then slam the platform, and this deals no damage as long as you avoided the swipes.

If possible, stay with the Wyvern Patriarch as most of the squad will be near it, and it will have a Defiance Bar that is important to deal with.
If not broken, the platform will be destroyed and players will fall into the cauldron.

The Wyvern Matriarch has no Defiance Bar, and all its attacks can be side-stepped or Dodged.
It is important to face both of these away from the platforms, especially once the Wyvern Patriarch casts .
The Wyverns are exactly the same as any you've seen in open world—and so are their attacks.

This phase takes quite a while, and it is likely that the kiter will start to struggle. If you see their health jump up and down a lot, don't hesitate to run over to their platform to help them stabilize.
Qadim may be hungry for power, but we're hungry for Wing 8.
Pocket Sand!
Recommended Skills Weaponset Pets

Always bait the mechanic if you aren't tanking. This means you need to be one of the five furthest players from Cardinal Adina.

Keep an eye on people running to their pillar, as some are likely to seriously hurt or down themselves to .

Be sure to avoid standing next to the , as they detonate for heavy damage.
Hands of Eruption

Hand of Eruption throw projectiles that cause Knockback. These spawn in the north-east and south-west corners, typically being the 2nd and 4th Hand to be taken down.

Place or during the split phase to block the projectiles. You can also apply Stability with if you run out of projectile mitigation.
Did someone say Technobabble?
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Druid really shines in this encounter with its outstanding affinity for Defiance Break.
The special action skill, Flash Discharge, is affected by both and . If you're confident in your squad and you can rely on a competent second healer, you can equip a set of .

Make sure to bring to increase 's effectiveness. Use all your available Defiance Break skills, along with Flash Discharge as often as you can cast it, when the Defiance Bar is up.

While Violent Currents is a damage buff, it also increases incoming damage. Make sure to constantly heal your allies.

Make sure that everyone is healed up as the Breakbar Phase ends, as all players will soon be hit by .
You can replace with to grant your subgroup Superspeed to help them spread out faster.

If you are struggling with Immobilize applied by Paralyzing Wisp in the later portion of the encounter, you can use to pulse Condition Cleanse.
helps destroy some of the incoming projectiles, try to place it in a good spot.
Jump the Shark!
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After breaking the pylons, use to give nearby allies Stability to avoid the Knockback from . This will mean that you don't have to Dodge and can start to give Alacrity and ramp up Might.

Don't waste your near 80% and 60% when Qadim the Peerless is getting close to phasing.
Make sure to save some Cooldowns to help break the pylons.

Cast some occassional heals at your tank (unless that's you) such as to help remove Vulnerability from them.
You should also keep an eye on your pylon kiters, as your ranged heals are plentiful.

At 40%, 30% and 20%, Qadim the Peerless will destroy a pylon. Once destroyed, he will use and Knockback your entire squad. Once again, you can use to provide Stability to your squad to mitigate this attack.
It is quite safe for players to go close to Qadim the Peerless to get some additional damage. Use your heals on them to keep them healthy.

Remember that is very useful for reviving downstate allies at range! Don't put yourself at risk unless it is absolutely necessary. It is more important to keep yourself and other key roles alive, such as the kiters.
Tanking

If you are tanking, can help you get rid of Vulnerability applied to you, or for more ranged healing. When running , use to get more group healing out of it!

It is important to face Qadim the Peerless in such a direction that he does not cleave the kiters; his attack chain applies tons of Vulnerability and will make it difficult to stay alive.
See the Boss guide for more specifics.

As a Druid, you lack mitigation such as Blocks, therefore you must rely on Dodging and Condition Cleanse to keep yourself healthy.
Druid makes an excellent tank, but can be quite tricky if you allow the Vulnerability to stack up.
Anomalies

Breaking anomalies before they charge up is crucial to this encounter success.

Anomalies have a relatively small Defiance Bar, so you can effortlessly take care of them. You should allow Anomalies to walk into the fire puddles before breaking them, so that they don't require the attention of your squad's damage. As long as fires are stacked properly, you only need to break them once.

You should have or available for each of them, and you can additionally cast or to finish the job.
Either of the recommended pets can break Anomalies on their own, allowing you to freely Swap Pets for .
Just be sure to not interrupt their casts.

If you are tanking, you can still send your pet to take care of the Anomalies. This may be a bit tricky if you are at the far side of Qadim the Peerless, so time this with his attack patterns before running over to target the Anomaly.

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