This week's mutation is endlessly Eternal.
So, no Glacial Tarn again this week, showing AGS do not respond to pressure from the community. On top of that, we have double silence, again. To be honest, this just continues to highlight the problems with the mutation rotation system. It would have been nice if Season 7 had provided a real revamp. Anyway, get out your amethysts this week for the Void mutation, and at least we have synergy between the mutation type and the three corrupted expeditions. I’m sure someone will be happy to pick up the Butcher, Lost Stopwatch or the Magnetic Gauntlets (if you can get into a Tempest that doesn’t immediately get abandoned by the group, that is).
Contents
Mutation
- Abyssal – 50% of all enemy damage is Void.
- Oblivion – Attacks cause Leech on hit – M1: 20% Void DoT damage for 90% enemy heal, M2 & M3: 30% Void DoT damage for 120% enemy heal.
- Paranoia – Hitting enemies with this title applies stacks of Paranoia. At 4 stacks a Void pool appears at your feet – M1 40% Void damage, M2 & M3: 70% Void damage.
- Creeping – Enemies grant Void Empower to surrounding enemies on death, increasing Void damage by 50%.
Promotion
- Mage Hunter – Enemies drain mana on being hit. M1: 10% drain, M2 & M3: 20% drain.
- Suppressor – Enemies cast a silence zone on attacking players.
Curse
- Blowback – Using abilities builds up to cause a zone of Silence that prevents the use of abilities. When it expires, the zone explodes, dealing 65% Void damage.
- Truncated – During active periods of Silence, players lose natural mana regen. Standing in the Silence zone grants 25 mana per 0.75 seconds.
Consumables
- Void Protection Amulet
- Amethysts in Armor/Jewelry
- Desert Sunrise
- Void Absorption Potion
- Powerful Honing Stone
- Attribute bonus food
Gearing up
- M1 – Opals in your armor is fine
- M2 – Add the Void Protection Amulet
- M3 – Swap most of your Opals for Amethyst
- Enchanted Ward – Aim for 4 or 5 pieces with this perk.
- For more detailed advice on gear, check out our Gear Guide.
Count your shots
Paranoia enemies will spike you with a Void pool for every 4 times you hit them, so count your shots and then dodge. This is one time that being in the clump can be bad for your health, if you need to stand near others – stay agile!
Kill the creepy ones last
Creeping enemies empower their friends when they die, so if you notice their title, try to keep them for last. This is particularly true if it’s a mini-boss – DPS should kill all the trash mobs while the tank holds the creepy one.
M2 - Healers gonna hate
This promotion is particularly hard on healers due to Mage Hunter. Something to note is that the mana drain only occurs if you hit the Mage Hunter mob, so if there are other targets to use for cooldowns etc, try to hit them instead. Suppressor is annoying for everyone, since the silence stops your abilities from working. At least this one doesn’t blow up.
M3 - Strategic Abilities
Silence is incredibly annoying for every class. Tanks can’t taunt, Healers can’t heal, DPS can’t debuff or optimise damage. The excellent thing about Blowback is that you can see the gauge and can set off the silence deliberately, before entering a big fight. If you can’t help setting it off in the middle of a fight, try to stack and then move the group.
Dynasty Shipyard
Enemy Type: Corrupted
Weaknesses: 30% Arcane 20% Thrust 15% Nature
Consumables
- Sapphire gem Arcane damage*
- Corrupted Ward potion – 10% damage absorption
- Corrupted Coating – 15% bonus damage
- Corrupted Combat Trophy – 3/4/5% bonus damage x3
- Thrust damage – Spear, Rapier, Bow, Musket, Blunderbuss
Note: *Elemental damage gems in your weapons are simply recommendations based on the elements your enemies are weakest to. Your playstyle may suit non-elemental gems better and you are encouraged to continue using those if so.
Artifact: The Butcher
Dropped by Zhou Taiying.
- +38 Magnify (selectable attribute)
- Hemorrhage: Bleeds lasts 33% longer (Works on both weapons).
- Jagged Whirls: Whirling Blade inflicts bleed, dealing 10% weapon damage for 6s.
- Empowering Whirling Blade: If 2 or more enemies are within its radius while performing a Whirling Blade attack, gain 24% base damage for each nearby target (Max 5 Targets).
- Keenly Jagged: Inflicts Bleed on critical hit, dealing 10% weapon damage per second for 6s (7s cooldown).
Strategy and tips
Be careful of the pink elemental Void attacks from maidens and mages, and either block or dodge out. A ranged weapon can be useful in here. Enemy muskets are also quite annoying, so either bring the fight to them or stand out of their line of sight so they come to you.
Main Damage Type: Slash and Void
Isabella begins this fight, leaping around and running away as usual. She has a range of physical damage types, so the tank may be best off with some Onyx and a Slash protection shield, while everyone else needs to just stay out of her reach. She will also spawn three abominations, which are pretty easy to kill.
At about 75% health, Isabella will fly toward the boats and canons will shoot from the distance. The group can huddle up next to the eastern dog cage to prevent the canon fire from landing on them, then go and resume the fight. Canon fire will continue, so make sure you’re not standing in it.
Just before she gets to half health, Isabella gets tired of fighting and opens two of the cages in the room to reveal Oro and Joven, her pet tigers. There are a few strategies for this part of the fight, including allowing the tank to hold one dog while the rest fight the other, or having a DPS play an off-tank for the second dog. This can easily go wrong, however, so you may want to get the group to stand over by the west-side dog and get the tank to grab both of them. That way, AOE attacks will hit both enemies, killing them faster. The dogs do Slash damage and watch out for them jumping back and doing a Void breath attack, catching DP who had been standing safely behind.
Main Damage Type: Void
Empress Zhou’s moves are mostly telegraphed by particle effects, so once you get to know these, you can react in time to avoid them.
- Small particles rising from the floor = Dragon Breath – only hits in front, so just dodge to the side.
- Small particles on the floor radiating out from her = Corruption Wave – dodge into the wave.
- Small particles spinning in a small and wider circle around her = Dragon Circle – if you have grit, you can stand inside, otherwise block.
- Points to a player = Dragon Dive Solo – she will shoot a dragon at you, so move!
- Multiple perpendicular pink lines – Dragon Dive – Dragons will shoot out along those lines and follow players, just step to the side and avoid them.
At about 60% health, the Empress will take a break and summon two waves of trash mobs, plus two pillars. These pillars can also perform her magic spells. Kill the mobs only, then everyone should stack at the East wall of the arena. Zhou will throw 3 more pillars and we want these at this end. Do not kill the pillars. Once all pillars are thrown, everyone should run to the West end to finish the fight.
Interesting Loot
- M3 – Empress Zhou’s Set – Light armour with Health and Refreshing, upgradeable.
- M3 – Harbinger weapon set for skins – split stat Con/Weapon scaling attribute, Enchanted/Purifying Breeze, Weapon Ability Perk.
- Shipyard’s Amulet – Health, Fortified + Random perk and attribute.
- Shipyard’s Ring – Hearty, Blood Letting + Random perk and attribute.
- Dynasty’s Earring – Refreshing Toast, Regenerating + Random perk and attribute.
Tempest's Heart
Enemy Type: Corrupted
Weaknesses: 30% Arcane 20% Thrust 15% Nature
Consumables
- Sapphire gem Arcane damage*
- Corrupted Ward potion – 10% damage absorption
- Corrupted Coating – 15% bonus damage
- Corrupted Combat Trophy – 3/4/5% bonus damage x3
- Thrust damage – Spear, Rapier, Bow, Musket, Blunderbuss
Note: *Elemental damage gems in your weapons are simply recommendations based on the elements your enemies are weakest to. Your playstyle may suit non-elemental gems better and you are encouraged to continue using those if so.
Artifact: Magnetic Gauntlets
Dropped by Isabella.
- +32 Magnify (selectable attribute)
- Magnetic: Crit chance increased by 50%, but crit damage reduced by up to 30%.
- Empty Socket: Attach a gem to add its effect.
- Refreshing: Reduce max cooldowns by 4%.
- Physical Aversion: Receive 4.5% less damage from ranged, physical attacks.
Strategy and tips
The Tempest is a long dungeon, so players often like to run from one gate to another and fight whatever follows, when it catches up. This can be a little overwhelming for newer players, or in higher mutations. There are lots of resources to gather, and some of the mini-boss fights are quite challenging, especially Ekheke, the spriggan. DPS should clear the 2 musket enemies while the tank moves Ekheke either on or next to the stairs, to try and reduce his movement. You’ll also meet Isabella a few times. When she has her acolytes with her, make sure you kill them to reduce her power.
Main Damage Type: Void
Neishatun’s arena looks like it’s filled with fire but it actually does Void damage. Another of Aeternum’s snake-like bosses, Neishatun will slither away multiple times, leaving you with an arena full of fiery circles. Zoom your camera right out and look for a gap, because if you get caught in the fire when it pulses, you’ll get a Void DoT that can’t be cleansed until the fight is over. Trash mobs appear during this phase, and you can usually tell where a clear spot will be next by watching where they spawn.
Other moves to look for include a symbol above your head that means Neishatun is going to shoot at you – just move to the side to avoid it. An orb can also appear in the middle of the arena, which you need to destroy before it explodes and gives everyone a Void DoT. For those up close, be careful of the Tail Slam, Tail Swipe, Charge, and Charge Tail Whip, which all do Strike damage.
Main Damage Type: Void
At the end of this expedition, you can finally fight Isabella to the death – yours or hers. The shape of this boss arena is like a triangle, with 3 clearings on the corners. The space in the middle and on the edges is filled with a murky corrupted liquid that we call the spaghetti. Do not stand in the spaghetti, it does a fast DoT and will kill you quickly.
Isabella has really grown into her wings for this fight and uses them as a weapon, as well as to swoop down on players throughout the arena. If you get a symbol above your head, it means she is going to swoop you, so be ready to duck, dive, and roll. She also sends out tendrils of corruption along the ground, that cause a slow and DoT. You can avoid them by moving toward and to the side, but it’s difficult. Corruption Tinctures can help in here. Another attack is a wide slash of corruption that moves quite slowly and can be dodged forward into.
At about 40% health, she will put up a corrupted tower on one of the clearings. If you’re killing her quickly, you can just avoid this by fighting on another clearing. If it’s taking a bit longer, you can destroy the tower by pressing E. Beware of meteors – you can see if one is about to drop by a red circle outline on the ground. If the circle overlaps where you are standing, step out of the way and then resume destroying the tower.
Once Isabella is dead, you need to go to where she lands and use your Azoth Staff to make sure she stays dead. Otherwise, the fight starts over.
Interesting Loot
- M3 – Isabella’s Set – Light armour with Enchanted Ward and Void Harnessing, upgradeable.
- M3 – Befouled weapon set for skins – split stat Con/Weapon scaling attribute, Refreshing Move, Weapon Ability Perk.
- Myrkgard’s Amulet – Health, Empowered + Random perk and attribute.
- Myrkgard’s Ring – Hearty, Crippling + Random perk and attribute.
- Myrkgard’s Earring – Refreshing Toast, Healthy Toast + Random perk and attribute.
The Depths
Enemy Type: Corrupted
Weaknesses: 30% Arcane 20% Thrust 15% Nature
Consumables
- Sapphire gem Arcane damage*
- Corrupted Ward potion – 10% damage absorption
- Corrupted Coating – 15% bonus damage
- Corrupted Combat Trophy – 3/4/5% bonus damage x3
- Thrust damage – Spear, Rapier, Bow, Musket, Blunderbuss
Note: *Elemental damage gems in your weapons are simply recommendations based on the elements your enemies are weakest to. Your playstyle may suit non-elemental gems better and you are encouraged to continue using those if so.
Artifact: Lost Stopwatch Amulet
Dropped by Commander Thorpe.
- +32 Magnify (selectable attribute)
- Stunny Gaze: Taunts are active. Generate 300% more threat. Stuns last 1s longer, but base damage is decreased by 10%.
- Empty Socket: Attach a gem to add its effect.
- Purify: When you are hit while below 50% Health, you lose all debuffs (90s cooldown. Does not trigger off persistent damage, DoT effects, or blocked attacks).
- Health: Increase max health by 7% of the base value.
Strategy and tips
There are lots of teleports, trigger platforms and azoth staff nodes in this expedition, as well as a plethora of ranged enemies. Use the twists and turns to your advantage by getting out of their line of sight and forcing them to come to you.
Main Damage Type: Void
The Archdeacon begins the fight in the centre of his arena, although he can move around if players do. He summons Corrupted dogs and has a nasty Ground Wave spell that you’ll need to dodge. Try to keep the dogs in the clump so they get killed by the hits on the Archdeacon.
When he gets to about 50% life, he’ll become invincible and channel a red beam to the east side of the arena. While the Archdeacon is invincible, mines will periodically spawn and if they are not destroyed they will explode and apply Void damage to everyone in the room. If you learn the timing, you can dodge this explosion. Two DPS should step on the teleport pad, which will take them up to a platform where two mages spawn. After killing the mages, one DPS needs to use their Azoth Staff on the node so they can both return to the main arena. Azamela will resume his normal state.
At about 20% health, the Archdeacon starts channelling again, this time with an additional green beam to the west side. You need to split the group and clear each platform as soon as you can. If the dogs are clear, the healer can remain on the ground and heal each side, but usually they will go up with the tank and DPS on the green side. Surviving the bomb damage at this point is the hardest part, clear quickly, dodge if you can, and use potions carefully to stay alive.
Main Damage Type: Fire
Thorpe has been with us since the first sea voyage to Aeternum, so we should be familiar with his moves by now. His great sword does a large amount of Fire damage as well as Slash. Even when behind him, some of his moves swing back, so DPS need to be careful. When he charges, stay out of the firey trail.
Thorpe is pretty chatty and you can use his voice lines to tell what is going to happen next.
- “Ha! Pathetic!” = he goes off the tank and attacks one of the other group members
- “This will be the last time we meet” = he rises and becomes invincible while he casts a beam that spawns two behemoths. Don’t get hit by the beam and kill the adds while the tank holds Thorpe away.
- “Prepare to have your soul crushed” = aka The Big Sticky Finger. Thorpe points a beam across the room and slowly rotates. It’s pretty slow so easy enough to stay away from or you can duck under it.
- “Time to taste Corrupted Steel” = slams down his sword – don’t be too close.
- “I will crush you beneath my heel, ant!” = he summons a beam of fire and directs it at one player, leaving a circle of fire on the floor.
Interesting Loot
- M3 – Expedition Captain’s Set – Heavy armour with Strike Conditioning and Grit Ward, upgradeable.
- M3 – Gleaming Pitch weapon set for skins – split stat Con/Weapon scaling attribute, Keenly Empowered/Blessed, Weapon Ability Perk.
- Deep Amulet – Health, Shirking DoT Cleanse + Random perk and attribute.
- Deep Ring – Keen Awareness, Enfeebling + Random perk and attribute.
- Deep Earring – Empowering Toast, Nimble + Random perk and attribute.
