Say goodbye to the Turkey and hello to three new mutations this week. It’s a fiery and savage Savage Divide, void Starstone, and Overgrown Shipyard. With the desiccated curse, Starstone is probably the easiest for M3.
There are three levels of Mutation, as well as Story mode, for each Expedition.
- M1 requires 650 gear score and is relatively easy, introducing the mechanics of the mutation type at a reduced level of damage.
- M2 is a little harder and requires 675 gear score, with increased scaling and the addition of the Promotion challenges. It is still quite simple to do with an experienced group and is probably the most efficient mode, with improved loot for little effort.
- M3 requires 695+ gear score and optimised perks, gems and buffs. It is considerably more challenging than M2, both with increased scaling and the addition of the mutation Curse as well as the Promotion.
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
- Opals in Armour (elemental protection)
- Beast Ward potion
- Beast Coating
- Thrust damage – Spear, Rapier, Bow, Blunderbuss, Musket
General buffs
- Honing Stone
- Attribute bonus food
- Topaz gypsum attunement potion
Mutation specific
- Flame protection amulet
- Rubies in armour
- Desert sunrise
- Fire Absorption potion
Artifact: Endless Thirst earring
The Savage Divide is a beast-filled warren of caves, which is very easy to get confused in. Beasts have no specific elemental weakness, so feel free to use any gems your like in your weapons. Watch our for hard-hitting chameleons and annoying gorillas throwing their stuff at you. If you’re curious, you may want to see whether you can lure the mammoth Madhu down the Vast Chasm to help you find a secret.
Both boss fights focus around a range of elemental damage types, so your best bet is to keep at least some Opals in your Armour and use a Protection amulet and mutation-specific gems in your jewelry.
Mutation: Hellfire
Burn baby burn, this rotation it’s Fire. We start with the basic Hellfire. Look at the enemies’ nameplates to see whether they are Explosive, and be sure to position yourself well away from edges when they die, to avoid being blown over. Fiery enemies apply Burn, giving you a Fire DOT, so it’s worth drinking some Desert Sunrise before you start. Ignited enemies deal 50% of their damage as Fire, so slot Rubies in your armour and wear a Flame Protection amulet to get your Fire resistance up. Enemies with Enflamed can cast a Burn zone on the ground, so watch your positioning.
At M1 level, everything is a bit easier, so you will be fine with Opals rather than Rubies, and may not need to use Ward potions or Coatings.
M2 - Savage
When you get to M2, Festering enemies start to appear, dealing disease against you so your incoming healing will be reduced. Remember, debuffs can be Purified in a number of ways. Slicer enemies also turn up, adding 30% base Void damage, so think about diversifying your protective gems in this mutation.
M3 - Frenzied
The real trouble starts when things get Frenzied. At M3, players begin being penalised for dodging, by acquiring a stack of Unstable that does 1.5% of max health as fire damage per second for 10 seconds and cannot be cleansed. You can get up to three of these stacks, and when you do it 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.
General buffs
- Honing Stone
- Attribute bonus food
- Topaz gypsum attunement potion
Mutation specific
- Void protection amulet
- Amethyst in armour
- Desert sunrise
- Void Absorption potion
Artifact: Blooddrinker Ring
The Starstone Barrows is an exotic mashup of our first dungeon experiences, with the expedition taking adventurers through both Starstone and Amrine. We start in Starstone and then instead of ascending the stairs to the central pillar, a breakage appears to our left and we sneak into Amrine to face Simon Grey. Then we work backwards through Amrine until we return to Starstone on the other side of the central pillar. This means we get a fun split of Ancient and Lost enemies, and need to carry double the potions.
Just like at the end of Amrine, Simon is a heavy hitter with a periodic minion spawn, but now he’s completely buffed. If you don’t manage to dodge his smash-down attack, there’s a good chance of light-armoured players being wiped. On top of that, if you can’t kill his minions, he eats them up for a little heal, prolonging the fight.
Time is tight in this dungeon and there are a few tough fights where the mobs are grouped up or skipped. Keep those Ward potions handy and make sure you have a good healer.
The final boss, Greundgul the Regent, whose voice taunts us all the way through, has a fairly predictable mechanic and isn’t too bad as far as dungeon bosses go. The most important thing here is that everyone sticks together, literally stacking on one another during the jumping phase to help co-ordinate the dodges. Also during the bone throwing phase, it’s good to keep those bones close and take advantage of our AOE damage. If you can get a ranged attack on her face when she lands her jump, it makes everything easier as it stuns her and stops her jumping phase early.
Mutation: Eternal
It’s all purple in Starstone this week, with the Eternal mutation transforming the enemies to Void damage, so go with the theme and protect yourself with Amethysts. Paranoia is particularly annoying, with stacks building up as you hit the enemy. When you reach 4 stacks, a purple pool appears at your feet, dealing 40-70% damage. This is easily dodged as an individual, but when the melee are crowded together, you can end up with some big spikes of pain. It might be an opportunity to try a ranged DPS team for a change, with the tank holding aggro and 3 bow users shooting from afar. Creeping enemies Empower their friends when they die and Oblivion enemies use a life leech that heals them when they hit you.
At M1 level, everything is a bit easier, so you will be fine with Opals rather than Amethysts, and may not need to use Ward potions or Coatings.
M2 - Indomitable
When we get to M2, 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, so your Bile Bomb heartrune might be useful.
M3 - Dessicated
The Curse of the Eternal Barrows is Desiccated, which is your basic dip and nae-nae. When a player gets a void 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 void for 50% of their max health. If you’re unlucky enough to be left shriveled, damage and healing will be reduced by 50% until the debuff wears off.
Expedition specific
- Sapphire gem Arcane damage
- Corrupted Ward potion
- Corrupted Coating
- Thrust damage – Spear, Rapier, Bow
General buffs
- Honing Stone
- Attribute bonus food
- Topaz gypsum attunement potion
Mutation specific
- Nature protection amulet
- Amber in armour
- Desert sunrise
- Nature Absorption potion
Artifact: The Butcher Sword
The Dynasty Shipyard we explored on our way to level 60 has become a lot more difficult, and more rewarding. Healers, in particular, can get some very nice looking loot here, and as a mutation it’s all at that higher level.
The two boss fights in Dynasty can be tricky, and it can be good to bring an off-tank to the dog fight in order to keep them separated. Empress Zhou Taiyang is as challenging as ever, so remember to stay away from her pink magic, stack the pylons against the back wall and run back to the door to fight.
Mutation: Overgrown
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 damage over time that increases at the higher mutations, 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, so Amber slotted in your gear will protect you.
At M1 level, everything is a bit easier, so you will be fine with Opals rather than Ambers, and may not need to use Ward potions or Coatings.
M2 - Oppressive
Once we reach M2, we start seeing Mage Hunters, who drain mana when hit, so healers need to make sure their mana potions are slotted. Suppressor enemies cast a silence zone in which no abilities can be used, but at least it doesn’t have the explosion at the end.
M3 - Fiendish
The first of our M3 curses is Weary, which slows down player movement as well as increasing damage taken by 20%. This is on a timer and while you’re meant to be able to delay it by using abilities, it’s been glitchy in game so don’t rely on that.
The other curse is Blood Offering. Using abilities causes a 4.5% nature DoT, which can stack up to 3 times, however while under the influence of Offering players also get a 25% life leech. So as long as you’re doing damage, this curse has little effect. The main person it impacts is the healer, so they may need to focus on healing themselves. Drinking some Desert Sunrise before you start the expedition should help reduce the effect.
