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Qadim the Peerless

Published Jun 25, 2021 Updated Aug 16, 2023
QueenNamorita writer

Qadim the Peerless (QtP) is the final boss in The Key of Ahdashim. The tank and pylon kiters are the lynchpins of the squad. For everyone, positioning and CC are everything in this fight. One wrong step and you'll find yourself in a pit of fire, immediately greeted by death.

Qadim the Peerless

Before Fighting Qadim the Peerless

  • Required Masteries and Mounts

    • No masteries required
    • No mounts required
  • Special Roles

    • 1 tank: Qadim the Peerless attacks the first person who walks into the main circle with their Flux Disruptor (SAK) turned on.
      • Toughness and condition cleanses are highly recommended.
    • 3 Pylon kiters
      • The kiters must be able to self sustain and have movement skills to reach the (Orbs) and return in time.
      • The north kiter should have a condition cleanse.
    • 1 person with ranged CC should be assigned to break the Entropic Distortions (Anomaly/Anom).

A tank is required for this fight as well as 3 kiters. If the tank is new, the north kiter can be someone with ranged heals/barrier/condition cleanses.

All four special roles have to use the special action key Flux Disruptor (SAK). You can activate it as soon as it appears or you respawn. You do not have to wait for the fight to start. Make sure to only use it once. If there’s a red glow in the middle of your special action key, you’ve turned on your Flux Disruptor and using it again will turn it off.

Phase 1 (100%-80%)

Split the squad into 3 groups: the tank and north pylon kiter will go north, 3 players and the SW pylon kiter will go SW, and 3 players and the SE pylon kiter will go SE. Try to split the CC evenly between SW and SE pylons.

To start the fight, a player needs to walk inwards past the pylon. Watch out for (Sharks) - an electric current in the shape of a shark fin that travels along the white lines of the arena whenever Qadim the Peerless controls at least one pylon. It deals damage and applies Weakness and 2 stacks of Burning to any player it touches. It is only active when Qadim the Peerless controls a pylon.

Pylon and Chaos Called (Sharks)

Each of the pylons have 1000 Breakbar. If the Breakbar isn’t broken by the time the AoE reaches the center, Qadim the Peerless uses and kills everyone.

Force of Retaliation orange AoE indicator
Force of Retaliation (Shockwave)

Once all 3 are broken, Qadim the Peerless becomes targetable and begins channeling (Shockwave). When the orange AoE is almost fully expanded, Dodge inwards. It can be Evaded, blocked, or Stabilitied. Players hit by it are Knocked back a large distance.

Tanking

The aggro mechanic is the first player to cross the center circle with the Flux Disruptor (SAK) turned on. As soon as the SAK is available, turn it on immediately and never turn it off.

If new to tanking, the tank should have as much Toughness as possible. Condition cleanses are extremely important.

The tank’s job is to keep Qadim the Peerless facing NNW and NNE between the pylon and orb drop location to avoid hitting the pylon kiters. Move as little as possible except to go between the two tanking locations.

To keep Qadim the Peerless' aggro, the tank needs to have their special action key activated which will create a red line, or “tether”, to Qadim the Peerless. This “bad tether” applies the Sapping Surge effect, applies Vulnerability, and reduces outgoing damage by 25%. Regeneration and condition cleanses are important for the tank to stay alive.

Small orange Tether Strikes AoEs on the tank and Force of Havoc (Road)

There are two main attacks to be aware of:

  • (Auto Attack) - A cone with massive range that targets every player in its range with a barrage of attacks. White circles also appear on the ground underneath the players. Each hit deals damage and applies Vulnerability. Block this entirely or use a combination of Aegis and healing and condition cleanses.

  • (Road) - A very long road rolls out like a carpet in the direction the tank is standing. It lasts for 20 seconds and deals heavy damage to players standing on it.

If you drop NNE, move NNW to drop the next one. Alternate between these two locations and move whenever a new road appears.

will disappear a few seconds before it despawns. It is still there and will reappear briefly before the despawn animation. If you find yourself taking heavy damage, you’re likely standing on an invisible road.

Attack pattern:

  • (Cone/Circles) x 3

  • (Road)

  • (Cone/Circles) x 3

  • (Road)

  • (Lightning)

  • Repeat

Quick reference Phase 1 tanking attack pattern:

  • Cone/Circles x 3
  • Road
  • Cone/Circles x 3
  • Road
  • Lightning
  • repeat

During (Lightning), Qadim the Peerless picks a random player and turns his attention toward them until the attack is over. As long as you’re not the player picked, you’re off the hook for tanking during this attack.

Pylons/Kiting

Qadim the Peerless is Invulnerable while connected to any of the pylons so the kiters must keep the pylons tethered. You can only tether as long as Flux Disruptor (SAK) is active so always turn it on the moment you respawn or when it is first available.

There are three pylons - each of these need a kiter. The north kiter needs a condition cleanse or decent self sustain for when they are inevitably hit by .

If the tank is new, the north pylon kiter can be someone who can provide ranged healing/barrier/condition cleanses.

Players tethered to the pylon have Kinetic Abundance (good tether) effect, which grants Alacrity, Quickness, Fury, and Might every second. Each Kinetic Abundance effect applies a stack of Erratic Energy to Qadim the Peerless, causing him to suffer more damage from all sources (+5% per stack).

Green Pylon recapturing AoE; player next to Shower of Chaos orb
Player moving an orb back to their pylon

(Orbs) is the main mechanic for pylon kiters. Every 5% (except at 80% & 60%), Qadim the Peerless launches an orb at one of the three locations. It lands on the ground 4 seconds later. Pylon kiters can teleport underneath where the orb will drop, pick it up by waiting for it to land, and then teleport back to their pylon. The orb is transferred to the pylon the moment the player re-enters the circle around the pylon.

If you are out of the pylon AoE for more than 5 seconds, Qadim the Peerless will reclaim the pylon and it must be CCed.

Groups typically catch clockwise. On the first pull, the orb will always drop at NE and will then continue counterclockwise from there. It remains on a global location so on the next pull, it will drop at the next location from where it left off last time.

If the orb hits the ground with no player to catch it, it explodes and deals raid-wide damage as well as applying to the entire squad. is a DOT (Damage Over Time) that lasts for 15s.

The orb continues slowly moving towards Qadim the Peerless, applying increasing stacks of Vulnerability to everyone as long as it remains on the ground. If the orb touches Qadim the Peerless, he deals extremely heavy damage to everyone from .

If the kiter is Downed or otherwise unable to get the orb, someone else besides a kiter or tank should touch the AoE, picking it up.

If there is an orb on the ground that has not been picked up, pick it up. It does not matter if you don’t have ranged DPS. The squad will wipe if no one grabs the orb.

Take it to the matching pylon and turn on Flux Disruptor (SAK). Anyone else in the pylon AoE should turn off their Flux Disruptor. You cannot turn off Flux Disruptor for 5 seconds so you need to stay in the pylon AoE until it’s off Cooldown and the kiter is able to kite again. You can then turn off Flux Disruptor and the kiter can turn theirs on.

If the orb touches an Entropic Distortion (Anomaly/Anom), it will explode and deal raid-wide damage. The orb can also tether to an Entropic Distortion instead of the player if it is closer to the center of the orb drop location when it lands. This is just bad luck on timing and there’s nothing that can be done in the moment to prevent it.

Tether Share

White-blue Tether Share lines between players

For each orb on a pylon, the kiter gets Power Share, a buff that lets them share their tether - including Kinetic Abundance (good tether) and Erratic Energy - with players who have Flux Disruptor active. Erratic Energy causes Qadim the Peerless to suffer more damage from all sources (+5% per stack).

The kiter needs to stand right on the edge of the pylon AoE or the subtether needs to stand near the kiter to be in range. Players with SAK turned on need to stay away from the tank so they don’t get a bad tether. Subtethers can create their own subtether for each orb collected, for a total of 4 tethers per pylon (the kiter gets one to start with and then collects 3 orbs throughout the fight).

Rain of Chaos

Massive orange AoE labeled Rain of Chaos

A random player (INCLUDING the tank and pylon kiters), is targeted by Qadim the Peerless with (Lightning), a triple lightning AoE attack. There is a gold border, “ding” audio notification, and an orange circle underneath their feet. They should move away from the group without going near the orb drop locations or the kiters. The first circle is small and can be walked out of. The second circle is larger but can still be walked out of. The third circle is massive; you must use a Dodge to make it out in time. All circles can be blocked or Evaded instead.

Special Phase 1 (Fires / Pylons 80%)

Fire Drops

Large white AoEs under several players stacked together

At 80% all players are lifted into the air for 5 seconds with a huge white circle underneath them before dropping to the ground and placing a fire field called (Fires). The fire fields become active 4 seconds later and deal extremely heavy damage that kills almost instantly. They remain for the rest of the fight.

Locations of semi-hardcore drops

There are many ways to drop fires. If there are 2 fires stacked, an Entropic Distortion (Anomaly/Anom) that is CCed in the fires will die.

The most common pattern is referred to as “pug fires”. Players drop their first fire clockwise, halfway between their assigned pylon and orb pickup spot, then the second fire is dropped counterclockwise in the same relative spot. There are “semi-hardcore” and “hardcore” strats which can vary from group to group. Semi-hardcore is becoming more popular and is pictured above.

If the commander doesn’t specify, assume they are using pug fires or ask to be sure. If they are doing semi-hardcore, they will assign players to drop locations.

Qadim the Peerless reclaims the pylons and uses (Knockback) - a shockwave centered on himself and the pylons. Standing near the center circle or in the pylon AoEs will cause a Knockback that can put players in (Fires).

Do not stand in the center circle or in the pylon circles until the pylons can be CCed.

Pylons need to be CCed again so Qadim the Peerless can be damaged. Qadim the Peerless uses (Shockwave) again. Be careful not to be Knocked back into .

Phase 2 (80%-60%)

This phase is identical to Phase 1 (100%-80%) with two additional mechanics: Entropic Distortion and (CC).

Entropic Distortion (Anomaly/Anom)

Entropic Distortion standing in Residual Impact

At 75% an Entropic Distortion (Anomaly/Anom) spawns with 400 Breakbar and walks towards the nearest pylon. Anomalies spawn every 40 seconds clockwise, and need to be CCed by whoever was assigned. These Anomalies are easily dealt with by breaking their bar while in a stack of 2 (Fires). Otherwise they need to be killed by the squad to prevent them from channeling the pylons or Qadim the Peerless. While channeling, the Anomalies gain stacks of Flare-Up, and at 10 stacks they explode, dealing massive damage from .

Entropic Distortions that spawn south or NW try to channel the SW pylon and the NE Entropic Distortion channels north pylon.

Poisoned Power (CC)

Beginning at 70% and occurring whenever Qadim the Peerless feels like it after (Road), he will use (CC) and gain a Breakbar and start channeling one of the pylons. That specific kiter and all subtethers no longer gain boons, and instead gain the debuff Enfeebled Force - making them do 10% less damage and giving Slow, Weakness, and increasing stacks of Vulnerability and Torment every second. Players need to quickly CC Qadim the Peerless to stop this mechanic. If his Breakbar isn’t broken with 10 seconds, he reclaims the pylon and it must be CCed again.

Special Phase 2 (Fires / Pylons 60%)

This phase is identical to Special Phase 1 (Fires / Pylons 80%).

If doing pug fires, drop (Fires) counterclockwise from your assigned pylon.

Watch out for (Shockwave).

Do not stand in the center circle or in the pylon circles until the pylons can be CCed.

Phase 3 (60%-40%)

This phase is identical to Phase 2 (80%-60%) with one additional mechanic:

Caustic Chaos (Arrow, Purple Jump Orbs)

Red line pointing at a player labeled Caustic Chaos Indicator
Silver Caustic Chaos projectile

Qadim the Peerless randomly points an arrow at a player (including tank and kiters) and throws , 3 spaced out electric attacks at them. The player has a gold border around their screen and a red arrow that tracks with them. This attack can be Evaded, jumped over, Dodged, and blocked. If you opt to jump, do it as soon as he starts to lower his arms.

Getting hit by the attack causes Chaos Corrosion - getting hit a second time Downs. A third hit will result in death. If any of the attacks land, Qadim the Peerless will get Quickness.

The targeted player should move away from the group and not stand in front of a pylon kiter. If the player gets hit by any of the 3 attacks, it explodes and deals damage in a large radius.

Special Phase 3 (40%)

Qadim rushing a pylon

At 40% Qadim the Peerless does Battering Blitz (Dash) and rushes towards the north pylon to destroy it. Players in his way will get Knocked back and damaged. He will drop on the pylon - a larger version of (Fires). Everyone - including tank and pylon kiters should move to the edge of the fire at the north pylon and use Stability to continue attacking. Conversely, players can Dodge, Evade, or block when they see him put his arms down after spinning.

Kiters should leave their pylons at 40%, 30%, and 20%, and join the squad. When the Pylons are CCed, stay at your assigned pylon until it is destroyed.

Qadim the Peerless then teleports back to the middle and uses (Knockback). If group DPS is very high, he can be phased directly into using Battering Blitz on the SW pylon.

Pylons need to be CCed again. Qadim the Peerless does not do (Shockwave) after.

North pylon kiter can now stack on squad. They should turn off Flux Disruptor (SAK) unless trying to subtether.

Phase 4 (40%-30%)

There are no more orbs so kiters no longer have to leave their AoE.

Entropic Distortion (Anomaly/Anom) now spawns every 30 seconds.

(Lightning) frequently hits the ground, indicated by small orange AoEs. You can just walk out of them.

Qadim the Peerless' tether to the tank now spreads to a maximum of 1 nearby player and applies Sapping Surge (bad tether). It can only be applied if their Flux Disruptor (SAK) is activated.

Special Phase 4 (30%)

This phase is identical to Special Phase 3 (40%) except he destroys the SW pylon.

Phase 5 (30%-20%)

Qadim the Peerless has an additional bad tether which gives him Resolution and Aegis every 6 seconds. Quickly boonstrip to avoid players killing themselves. One of the kiters should activate their Flux Disruptor (SAK) and stand on the side of the arena with the tank to avoid additional subtethers and keep Sapping Surge (bad tethers) off the group.

The NW Entropic Distortion (Anomaly/Anom) walks toward Qadim the Peerless instead of a pylon. There will likely not be a (Fires) in its way so the squad needs to CC and kill it.

Special Phase 5 (20%)

This phase is identical to Special Phase 3 (40%) except he destroys the SE pylon.

Phase 6 (20%-0%)

Qadim the Peerless activates everyone’s SAK and locks it with a small Knockback to all players - only Stability works for this specific knockback.

The first person to walk in is fixated so let the tank walk in first. If the group is baiting bad tethers (which is recommended), let the other 2 baits walk in first.

If you are not baiting a bad tether, stay on the south side of Qadim the Peerless or else you will spread Sapping Surge to the entire squad, making everyone deal 25% less damage.

Qadim the Peerless no longer uses (CC) since there are no more pylons.

There are 3 bad tethers now, all can spread to 3 subsequent nearby players and apply Sapping Surge (bad tether). Two of the kiters should walk in after the tank but before the other 7 players and bait the extra tethers and stand away from the squad on the north side with the tank. Qadim the Peerless now gains Might, Fury, Quickness, and Alacrity every 6 seconds in addition to, and on a separate timer from, the Resolution and Aegis from the previous phase. Boonstrip as soon and as much as possible!

Anomalies now walk towards Qadim the Peerless because there are no pylons. CC and kill them ASAP. Advanced groups can place fire puddles in the way for the last phase to not have to kill these anomalies, but this can be hard for newer groups.

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