- Three main phases with a split phase at 80% and 50%.
- Failing facet mechanics causes Cerus to gain stacks of Empowered.
- Failing the Defiance Bar at 80%, 50%, or 10% causes Cerus to regain health.
- Prioritise killing the large Despair Malice and Envy Rage during split to avoid their Empowered facets.
- Killing two facets will end the split phase and proceed the encounter.
- Cerus' attack chain rotates through each facet in a set order.
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When first setting up a squad to fight Cerus, you'll need to consider the following:
- Have players bring Crowd Control skills for the phases.
- Bring condition cleanse and boonstrip skills in case of failed mechanics.
- The instance is set to Day.
Phase One
100% to 80%Once the encounter starts, Cerus will begin his attack chain, rotating through each of his facets. Each facet has a unique mechanic which players will have to accommodate. Failing mechanics will grant a growing number of stacks of Empowered to the boss, which each increase his outgoing DPS.
Cerus will rotate through: Regret Despair Envy Malice Gluttony Rage.
Empowered
Key MechanicA key mechanic in this encounter is the stacks of Empowered which are permanently applied to Cerus.
Each stack grants him a five percent damage increase, and can stack up to 99 stacks at which point his attacks are unavoidable and do +495% damage.
Facets
Key MechanicEach facet introduces a unique mechanic into the encounter. Facets can become Empowered throughout the encounter.
Regret
The facet of Regret assigns green circles to random players.
Unempowered green circles require at least five players to be in the circle when the timer expires. If there are not five players, the group takes damage, all players gain a stack of Exposed, and Cerus gains five stacks of Empowered.
If this facet is Empowered during the encounter, it will produce three green circles instead of a single one. Empowered circles require at least three players, who may be in multiple circles at once, but will take proportional damage from each.
Despair
The facet of Despair targets all players with a timed demonic AoE.
If this facet is Empowered the AoEs are larger and don't despawn until the the facet is killed or the end of the encounter.
Players should spread out to drop these. They can be stacked when unempowered if players Evade at the correct time.
Envy
The facet of Envy produces a large wall which rotates 360 degrees around the platform.
If this facet is Empowered an additional wall spawns which rotates faster than the first wall.
Players will need to rotate around the boss to avoid being hit by the wall else they will have their boons corrupted and take damage. The wall can be Evaded.
Malice
The facet of Malice creates a shadow of a random player that walks towards Cerus. It grants five stacks of Empowered and Barrier if they reach him.
If this facet is Empowered three players will be targeted to create a shadow.
Players should defeat the shadow(s) as quickly as possible, ensuring they don't reach the center.
Gluttony
The facet of Gluttony spawns three large orbs and non-reflectable, but blockable and destructable, projectiles that are pulled towards Cerus. Orbs and projectiles grant Barrier, with orbs also granting Empowered.
If this facet is Empowered five orbs will spawn and Insatiable stacks become permanent.
Players should intercept orbs and projectiles to prevent them from reaching Cerus. For each orb collected they will gain a stack of Insatiable which applies a damage tick.
Rage
The facet of Rage causes Cerus to spawn a large area of effect circle around him. Players in the circle when the mechanic procs take damage and have a stack of Exposed applied to them.
If this facet is Empowered the circle area and damage are increased; players in the circle each grant the boss one stack of Empowered.
Players should be outside the circle if possible. This attack can be Evaded when unempowered.
- While minimum numbers of players are noted to not fail Crushing Regret (green) and gain a debuff, as Cerus and the Facets gain stacks of Empowered , Regret's circles may require more players to be in them to mitigate the increased damage, when shared between those standing in the mechanic, to a survivable level. The base damage of the attack is reduced by the number of players inside the circle.
- The visuals of the green circle and the arrows/swirls may not be accurate, depending on how many players were in range when it spawns, and may not show or update correctly as players move.
Split Phase
Unique SubphaseAt 80% HP, Cerus will gain a Defiance Bar which players must break using Crowd Control skills to prevent him from regaining health. Cerus will then split into each of his individual facets.
Starting either east or west most per instance, three of the facets will be larger and Empowered, and the other three smaller. The larger facets will become Empowered for the remainder of the encounter unless they're defeated during this phase, so it's important to act strategically and defeat the most impactful facets.
Killing two of any facets will end the phase and proceed the encounter. Throughout the split phase the facets will continue to perform attacks.
Priotise defeating the large facets in this order: Despair Malice in the west set and Envy Rage in the east set. On both sides this will be target the right most facet in the set first, then the left most, skipping the middle.
Phase Two
80% to 50%After the first split Cerus is made whole again, with the addition that he now has (at least) one Empowered facet. The attack chain will again match the same pattern as Phase One.
The next split phase occurs at 50% HP, and should be treated the same as the first split phase.
Phase Three
50% to 0%As with Phase Two there are no major changes to the encounter dynamics aside from an updated attack pattern. When Cerus reaches 10% HP he will begin an ongoing timed attack which provides constant damage to the group. This can be easily healed through if he has low stacks of Empowered, however, may prove more difficult with higher numbers. This attack can be Evaded with the right timing.
Cerus now rotates through: Regret Envy Gluttony Rage Malice Despair.
Continue to DPS the boss until 0% HP.