Genesis and Barnacles, Nature and Ice
Bramblehelm‘s Angry Earth Ward AND Arboreal Conditioning will come in very handy for those who seek to tackle the Overgrown Garden of Genesis this week. If you’re sick of the Angry Earth and their vines, you could choose to venture into an Icy Barney’s instead. Don’t forget to rug up!
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.
Expedition specific
- Angry Earth Ward armour
- Angry Earth Bane weapon
- Angry Earth Ward potion
- Angry Earth Coating
- Slash/Fire damage – Hatchet, Axe, Great/Sword
General buffs
- Honing Stone
- Attribute bonus food
- Topaz gypsum attunement potion
Mutation specific
- Nature protection amulet
- Amber in armour
- Desert sunrise
- Nature Absorption potion
The Garden of Genesis is one of the classic expeditions, having been in the game since release and very popular as a place to raise your item expertise. It’s the only Angry Earth dungeon and can be run pretty fast, although there are a couple of sticky spots that can slow groups down. The worst of these is Alluvium Marl, the Caretaker, who guards his Greenhouse in the middle of the dungeon. He can be seen terrifying those facing him. Our advice for this boss is to just kill him, and do it fast.
Overgrown means those mobs are going to be healing one another, which really should be a privilege exclusive to us. Compost mobs drop a healing circle that works like a Sacred Ground for them and looks a bit like one too. This is one of the rare times that disease perks are useful in PVE, so pull out your Hatchet with Infected Throw, or slot a weapon with Plagued Strikes or Plagued Crits. Your Bile Bomb heartrune will also spread disease around, so vomit away to your heart’s content.
Toxic mobs spawn THE most annoyingly friendly little green blob that follows you around, does pretty intense DOTs (20-40%), and casts an area root. We just love not being able to move and getting damaged at the same time. Best bet is to try and stay out of its way. If you get stuck, it might be worth it to have Nature Absorption potions slotted and chug one down. Arboreal enemies are dealing 50% of damage as Nature, and Bramble enemies deal 20-40% base damage as Nature when hit, so Amber slotted in your gear will protect you.
Once we reach M3, we start seeing Mage Hunters, who drain mana when hit, so healers need to make sure their mana potions are slotted. Silence enemies cast a zone in which no abilities can be used, but at least it doesn’t have the explosion at the end.
The Curse of the Overgrown Garden is Desiccated, which is your basic dip and nae-nae. When a player gets a nature ring around them, they need to dip all team members in order to remove their Shrivel. But make sure they nae-nae away before the timer ends to avoid spiking others with a chain Nature for 50% of their max health. If you’re unlucky enough to be left shrivelled, damage and healing will be reduced by 50% until the debuff wears off.
Expedition specific
- Lost Ward armour
- Lost Bane weapon
- Amber gem Nature damage
- Lost Ward potion
- Lost Coating
- Strike damage – War Hammer
General buffs
- Honing Stone
- Attribute bonus food
- Topaz gypsum attunement potion
Mutation specific
- Frozen protection amulet
- Aquamarine in armour
- Desert sunrise
Arrrrrr me hearties, let’s get Lost and Angry. Barnacles and Black Powder is mostly full of Lost enemies like pirates and ghosties, but features a couple of angry ole tentacles and a final boss having an identity crisis. Lost Ward and Lost Bane usually suffice, but you can bring some Angry Earth gear if you want to go the extra mile. The Lost are particularly weak to Nature damage, so consider putting an Amber in your weapon. Hammers and Ice Gauntlets have a slight advantage but feel free to make use of the features of your favourite weapon if you prefer. Lost Ward potions can be scoffed in the big fights, or places like the ghost stack on the gold piles that can often get messy. As always, attribute food and honing stones keep you at your best.
The last boss in Barney’s is so annoying, she deserves a mention of her own. While she does move to a predictable pattern, her attacks become quite frenetic and she closes in the arena dramatically, leaving very little wiggle room toward the end of the fight. Legend has it that despite looking very similar to her Lost sister the Siren Queen, Nereid is of the Angry Earth with modified Lost weaknesses. Instead of the regular 30% Nature, 15% Ice, 10% Strike, she is weak to 30% Ice and 20% Strike only. So it might be worth swapping to Angry Earth Ward and Bane without an amber if this fight is causing a problem, but don’t be fooled into thinking your slash weapon would be stronger.
Ice, Ice, Baby! Everything slows down in the cold and this mutation is no exception. At M1 level we start with Icebound, which means all enemies are dealing Ice Damage, so pull out your Aquamarines and Frozen Protection amulet. Most annoying is Shiver, a zone of exclusion that bites anyone who is outside of it, which keeps the group huddled up together. Be careful of enemies with Glacial, as they will drop a crystal that can root you in place. To prevent this, you need to destroy or run away from the crystal, depending on where it is positioned.
When we get to M3, some of the mini-bosses gain Phalanx shields that block projectiles, which is particularly annoying for healers who are trying to speed up their cooldowns or charge up their heals with heavy attacks. If you play ranged DPS, make sure you have a melee weapon in your other slot and be aware that heals might be a bit less powerful. Vampiric also makes an appearance, which can make enemies slower to kill but to be honest, it’s not particularly noticeable.
The real trouble starts when things get Frenzied. At M6, players begin being penalised for dodging, by acquiring a stack of Unstable that does 1.5% of max health as ice damage per second for 10 seconds and cannot be cleansed. You can get up to three of these stacks. When we get to M9, 3 stacks of Unstable drops a 3m radius zone that does 10% of max health per second for 15 seconds – ouch, that’s 150% of your health if you just stand there! If you enter this zone with stacks of Unstable, it will consume them and do 30% of max HP. So, it’s really important to manage your stacks and move away from the group if you can’t avoid dropping a puddle. Don’t poop on the group.
