AAC Heavyweight M3 Savage Raid Guide

The Tyrant, Grand Champion of the Arcadion is the third boss fought in AAC Heavyweight (Savage).

AAC Heavyweight M3 (Savage) can be unlocked at level 100 after completing the Normal difficulty of the Heavyweight raid and talking to Gabbro in Solution Nine (x22.3, y17.1). It requires a minimum item level of 770 to queue, but this requirement can be bypassed when entering with a full party.

The Tyrant's martial mastery combined with the magicks and brute strength of a behemoth made him a fearsome adversary. Ultimately, however, your will prevailed over his in that decisive clash for the title. Yet if he had drawn out more power from the fell beast's soul, who is to say what might have happened?

Video resources for this encounter will be posted when available.

The Tyrant is fought on a square arena that players can fall off of. At certain points in the arena he will destroy it and split it into two halves.

The enrage occurs at roughly 11:00 into the fight and requires roughly 233,309 raid DPS.

Begin by dividing the raid into two light parties of one tank, one healer, and two DPS each. All players will get assigned a clock spot with supports at cardinals and DPS at intercardinals.

Place these waymarks with letters for cardinal directions and numbers on outer intercardinals. The number markers need to be precise for a certain mechanic later in the fight, with the corners lining up for a specific safe spot Grab these markers from another player if they have them, or use the waymark plugin to input them yourself.

Waymark Code

{"Name":"M11S","MapID":1073,"A":{"X":100.0,"Y":0.0,"Z":90.0,"ID":0,"Active":true},"B":{"X":110.0,"Y":0.0,"Z":100.0,"ID":1,"Active":true},"C":{"X":100.0,"Y":0.0,"Z":110.0,"ID":2,"Active":true},"D":{"X":90.0,"Y":0.0,"Z":100.0,"ID":3,"Active":true},"One":{"X":83.75,"Y":0.0,"Z":87.5,"ID":4,"Active":true},"Two":{"X":116.25,"Y":0.0,"Z":87.5,"ID":5,"Active":true},"Three":{"X":116.25,"Y":0.0,"Z":112.5,"ID":6,"Active":true},"Four":{"X":83.75,"Y":0.0,"Z":112.5,"ID":7,"Active":true}}

Copy

All diagrams in this guide are available as Strategy Boards here together, or use the codes below to import individual strategy boards.

Trophy Scythe

[stgy:a8dhqoNTEw5bXGzrVZE6Td1RnmpI8DK65QnmokTaSihRj1Pgx2u0NzJRVa8oNX1+lKc+tTkysR2DWdftsbnjGrBmDoFqkP6-5NnzMhiwNymwOtvKIT2ON1uAjXnC3ix4xK7jEaFWulXQoAGvI7s3VcNikNvOIqpFYRUnBsldD+BNwGnTzf4q41tTcxltaxG9068DuErnhrY8UxpeH8YkWSIQWpAmdISlH5qJYK0XxMUuBccf8VbcomzCa0HJxys4CVcAVrvbMaoFt7qvqjibx1+hyZVmHd8HzDQtUI1KM6ww7MZevy4NeVzA5cpMGWWpN]

Copy

Trophy Axe

[stgy:a-Jg78oy+Qwm3PyeNbP8flApwFdW-7xcjEqFkg2BZKt10-oLC35f2fDBwuSzY35L15WpTxDfXqX961LIhNE1pMkkM5Xn4zVsj7173sY2iE4I4uCUPfLBo3HY5kUlVGvpTXtr9CLB84iy3qha9hYVFc9gvbHP6BTqir4A0cg1pQwnnLgdKfiS3+pkyDh1uw+otnpRqazEpC-Ie41GpUzh4of4bD8BBrU5tlBgn3OA-UQl0uWLHFIaRUZiMdktTMZZJ9ZcFT5+TfPUdBtQjrE3lqrBXDK6+uZYjEcvul3W9]

Copy

Trophy Sword

[stgy:anistwvEejEM-eSdOAIgc6SJwls0sDSJbyFJQkQjWRoTdcNUVnuJiDloYlx+I-N5nZ2+h-NmVN41byeCvOGo8cgRCAvH-4zb5-hw8Sxt8ArHBQfJp42NMLaThVLWlJJjajlM4cScFGSsQfq+wbHF1CIm9u-cp7Q61inDG5-J6YFS7ZXXbcdUtNbUsAgS-Ykl+hE0JHE1Mt3+t7OUE2-dBDCM3EkWCTxP4zoOPt20TkIV3F00ZTTv62e-+lgRf1B1TWpGfc1JxxipNrWyCc12oMdODLqQmj1TANE7I-MRr-hCFA-BnCBHKCp58bU+Y-eQObio]

Copy

Dance of Domination

[stgy:a6c43q6VX5cZBT60Fa9YrvNLmyQbzHs92gCwQ1QLr24MakuUi3cTZD--j4TFDl-GT5NQQHD6medrVZRmQ82m-jSv2fg4kVdpla+IH7CO3x5ivnQ9BnrKffEf1i60aXINfxy-nqnqBpX40tXFBnzFLTQkDuOW+ivA6xvd+04KTq0XDV-6Vd5-j4hDmR3Gpp3oQWn2O2mPTyCt-bSd3Leum-tU8eieVWORsdmqgrwZF71fjEkVgZCSPhX7qTwOsnQ6FUEV0w9LCOr9Bwa6nb6+1Zcl8qcvsESrE6EqawnDUADzNMPHHi8mFQYUJCfT6S2fj5X77stZE5oIpqyLqap-ofilYN2SBjSmOUB53M9Zcj1sTly2doiKQN0gLETLkaET1MOisRh3qMlTuK1PK9fDm0rN]

Copy

Powerful Gust

[stgy:aHed5WBPZNVXzAtkpFt8i3tlyYBcXDTa2qBPv0DrfhQhterSiwdZ6ngM-gcYjzrDHIwYQzra4rPmW2Ax0pKXywcGCjyWcK0CqttqOEo+rLOxR035--tdr90+21WhcDPwZFHK8QTHYNLMRQAmQ0YQBrcWQEVrLZ0cWgphTN30gwLK4UdJMGR-mtikGkPLezMs8i95aB6I51hlx5RY0gxbEHJsdRm1HbqWg8vUEhY9gCFkxSTWMIwLWiYw+-P7g05aVUwMGN5ENhcMsR1maOEs4FswTED1eBf2BjYh5Wt3XWPKneGdZ]

Copy

Orbital Omen

[stgy:ac2MqScRBqHRljDabN+LL3OFh4X-chYLHGY2MZtMgroiFU67eQXOokpKmulk8LVxC4cNE5V2CqcjtGbI31N5AzOE+2ThOzO8JnnVDVEGqMZi-LXWjm2qUB5vca6ydwl4OH2g+K6pC04xoPccZ4flG6adJebPJpJ5MbnZUWKeiq6MMpyKIp+SqOB1Di31QwLuOSQ1pEGvnFSOTBW0+0M-ERRZRRg6j-4GbYGIDay2CYqaTcygfjNDjZ9pdvdWp0MLw2ZPMA77VeWnV32iQmR1TFO+ddX1X3H8xxzSC0HFmhEfM2v8]

Copy

Meteorain

[stgy:aq0+sXCbCfj6soZluMgYY8ZLHzXT6wDFD9sYeOwAhcqutfdvplriixgfC304eyAwoeiEbEe4ieQnFNuz9LQYt545MYlzLhUShe9281ga+1z1GahvpMXDEgL20RsA4nDboel44-scrCKefpbGYBquv-MiXpWLLQ6fU3EsQZHCaPaLj9kFWFPMGDstKM4BTPR7NY3cbbV5m2smFvaNwWeKMa2qYBVZyex3hWcIhE9S7qzYIOgfvvi-RCd3v1YX65PzWuQU1M6nP4AMkEeARBIZ+m+Mu0iNTSoXJo9sRyVamCRfCSpFMncNAD]

Copy

Arena Split Tethers

[stgy:aZRLIn1L6pRCh6WYl3mSFs-vFkDKZeEtJuAhmOBGMd2n753Qe35Lz5cpTxn1iQX96ILMaNM14MhEdbiUjBgq0-ytjsrdtujidgR+b9WgBddKn6DUSGps0naypGoHQULO9LXI8DbYcND-Qxn1UXxu6BImh+7Qm+Tik+kqwFipNbTQSoj6seMqz5ZQrAue12kKQZ9LQjpdCDjU4F4CeAIYfndmmgMtNaR5JLNAOl1VOo9YyNdd8ATLIuc6ywTN5diQNoQ0yY7YXqZz5dMpeAIhiwDIff2Z+Oer4XlxQRkLz+eRMgP1Ya0xTDIfnUDHaMkqU9GzFmIWq36Ci1ikFO8IJL-7H1aAxcRWEzOFSj1RbrG+sXD93PA6O6wrwqidXw1EXntIPRmc8eUfT8kB6gqrz8BRTspdXPZU]

Copy

Ecliptic Stampede

[stgy:alZNiIP9zyz4oUYjt91dARNWTVsuwKdiL-W6NJRQGOB9MGY1OjTOX0ApsRvpsiwUivlsv+scLsYu2BQXtlF4bFbhFedFvBs9L9vV5bI1T85NUEGUFIugfC8-m5JpLVMC2W5taW0Sm9h4SH-P+9VJXScMMu1n62Ku2pjC6VG3iCcw-gQR0ktZTJRNRDfxNhy7gweagxCqgSH61d-ie2V1URee+sr3FqaMlEUuD9uuHy2Jh2dExiODZkpH4E1Dhy0y1smxa9RUmsoeaCUa9bzdlH0xFGbYuujZiohTLwLP-NNmSnSOLXKppJi2mRELxXJ804vbYCCU+Hvey2By8lWg1VYWZjZTciYInihbCyp1vTY9xQoq]

Copy

The main mechanic for the first phase is Trophy Weapons. The Tyrant creates three weapons on the ground and jumps to them using an Assault ability. When he jumps to a weapon, he will perform a mechanic. There are three types of weapons: a sword indicates a plus-shaped AoE and a line stack AoE on both healers, an axe indicates a point-blank AoE with a stack AoE on a random healer, and a scythe indicates a donut AoE with conal AoEs on all players. All damage is physical and inflicts a vuln.

You will face only the Tyrant in the entire fight. The first phase focuses on his Trophy Weapons.

The following mechanics are introduced in the first phase.

• Crown of Arcadia: Raidwide physical damage.
• Raw Steel Trophy: Pulls out either a scythe or an axe. The mechanic is indicated by the weapon.
  • An axe indicates a shared physical buster on the main tank, as well as unmarked physical AoEs with a vuln on all non-tanks.
  • A scythe indicates a conal AoE on three players: #1 and #2 on aggro as well as a random third player. This deals shared physical damage, though for tanks it acts as a tank buster.
• Trophy Weapons: Creates three weapons on the ground.
• Assault Evolved: Faces a weapon and jumps to that one, performing the associated mechanic. The Tyrant proceeds to jump to all weapons on the ground in clockwise order.
• Void Stardust: Three sets of ground AoEs under all players. This is followed by either marked AoEs on all players or a stack AoE on a healer. Deals physical damage.
• Dance of Domination Trophy: Slashes the ground, creating a pattern on the ground that indicate line AoEs. Deals seven hits of raidwide physical damage, with the last hit doing more damage. At the end, four players in one role get a stack AoE marker that requires one other player. This deals magical damage.
• Charybdistopia: Sets all players HP to 1.
• Ultimate Trophy Weapons: Spawns six weapons in succession. Each weapon afterwards will be either always clockwise or counterclockwise of the previous weapon.
• Assault Apex: Continues to jump to each weapon. The last four weapons will create tornadoes that knock players back and inflict a damage down debuff if standing in them.
• Powerful Gust: The tornadoes do a conal AoE on the closest two players, dealing magic damage and inflicting a magic vuln.
• Immortal Reign: Transforms the boss. Doesn't actually do anything.
• One and Only: Raidwide physical damage.

The fight begins with the raidwide, Crown of Arcadia. Note that it deals physical damage, and caster DPS and healers have lower physical defense, meaning they will take slightly more damage. Following this is Raw Steel Trophy. Look at the weapon drawn: if axe, the party spreads and the tanks stack for a tank buster. If scythe, the party stacks on the rear of the boss and the tanks will move apart from each other. Make sure to heal up after the raidwide and mitigate both hits.

The next mechanic and arguably most important one to master in the fight is Trophy Weapons. The boss summons three weapons around the arena, then jumps to them with Assault Evolved. He will face the weapon he jumps to first during the cast, but it will always be the weapon that directly faces him. He then jumps to all weapons in order clockwise. Each weapon has an associated mechanic.

If sword, split into light parties left and right. If axe, stack near the middle of the arena. If scythe, spread out in clock spots underneath the boss. Aim to spread in your positions boss relative, understanding that the boss will always face the next weapon from where he jumps from. These three mechanics happen in quick succession, and certain patterns such as sword into scythe require one light party to move fast and far. Mitigate and heal through this.

Next, the boss will cast another Trophy Weapons, but not jump to them yet. He jumps to the middle and casts Void Stardust. The melee and tanks can stack north of the boss and rotate clockwise to drop the ground AoEs, while ranged can join them or spread on their own on the outside of the arena. Prepare to either spread or stack after the AoEs: ranged can fan out if not out already, while the melees can go east and west relative to the boss with tanks north and south.

Immediately after the spread or stack, The Tyrant prepares Assault Evolved. As mentioned previously, you can tell what weapon he will jump to first when they spawn, as the weapon that faces him on the flat side will be the first weapon so you can prepare earlier. Do the weapons mechanic again. Immediately after the third and last weapon, The Tyrant will do an untelegraped Void Stardust again. Try to stack on the rear of the boss and rotate clockwise, with ranged fanning out. The stack or spread will always be the opposite of the first. Stack up near the boss again for Crown of Arcadia.

Dance of Domination Trophy is the next mechanic, along with a burst window. Mitigate and heal, and look at the ground pattern after the final hit. This is similar to normal mode in that it creates safe spots on the ground. There will be two in melee range and two on the outside with no line. To assign partner spots, look at the single line on the outside and consider that the new north. The safe spots are in the middle and south: have light party 1 go left and light party 2 go right, with tanks and melee in and ranged and healer out.

The final mechanic of the phase is Raw Steel Trophy. It will always be the opposite pattern of the one at the beginning of the fight. Mitigate and heal beforehand, but you do not need to heal afterwards as the boss will set everyone's health to 1 with Charybdistopia.

Next, the boss casts Ultimate Trophy Weapons and Assault Apex. This is essentially the same as Trophy Weapons, but you have less time to react to the weapons spawning and there are six in a row. Save strong healing cooldowns for this and be prepared to use Sprint on bad patterns. The first three weapons will always be different and the last three weapons will always be different, creating some really bad patterns for one light party if it goes scythe > sword > sword > scythe. This mechanic tests consistency on every weapon, which is why doing these mechanics correctly is essential for progressing on the boss.

The final weapon will always be north. The Tyrant jumps to the middle and begins casting Immortal Reign while the tornadoes prepare Powerful Gust. Players should all go to the outside and bait one tornado, leading to all four tornadoes having two baits each. Since they always spawn in the same place at cardinals, we can preassign tornadoes to all players, essentially at your colour marker with supports left and DPS right facing in. Return to the boss as he casts Immortal Reign, which doesn't do anything, then mitigate and heal for One and Only, beginning the next phase.

In phase two, the Tyrant becomes even more tyrannical.

The following mechanics are introduced or changed in phase two.

• Great Wall of Fire: Two shared busters on the main tank. Inflicts a fire resist down debuff on the closest player and leaves behind a lingering line AoE.
• Orbital Omen: Four portals will appear north and four east, creating lines across the arena. These will spawn line AoEs on the ground in the order they appeared in.
• Fire and Fury: A conal AoE from the front and back of the boss in the direction he is facing at the cast.
• Meteorain: Prey markers baited on the closest two players to The Tyrant. These drop a meteor that inflict a physical vuln on the player and leaves behind a rock. If two rocks are too close to each other, they will explode. This happens three times.
• Fearsome Fireball: A stack marker on a random non-prey player dealing magic damage and inflicting a vuln. The player in front will take increased damage, and breaks any rocks it hits. Broken rocks can act as the player in front, and explode in an AoE when broken. This happens four times.
• Foregone Fatality: Two portals appear at cardinal edges and tether to rocks. These will explode a rock if the tethers are not picked up. Tethers act as magic tank busters with a vuln, and do not actually do AoE damage despite the animation. This happens three times.
• Triple Tyrannhilation: Three hits of an undodgeable raidwide that requires players to hide behind three rocks. Each rock needs to be behind another rock and are destroyed on hit with no exploding AoE.

Point the boss north again, as he casts Great Wall of Fire. This requires both tanks to share the two hits, with the main tank in front for the first hit and the offtank in front for the second. Move clockwise together for the second hit. Tanks can opt to use invuln on this one instead, with ideally a non-Paladin using theirs.

The next mechanic is Orbital Omen, an extremely important mechanic as getting hit will inflict a damage down if not outright kill players. Eight portals will spawn in succession: one north and one east for each set. These will create white lines on the arena that indicate line AoEs in the order they spawned. Additionally, the boss will cast Fire and Fury, going off right before the first AoE. Getting hit by any AoE here will inflict a 35% damage down debuff.

There are many ways to dodge this mechanic. The main tank needs to ensure that the boss is faced directly north at the start of the Fire and Fury cast. Each line AoE creates an intersection, and we only care about the first two intersections. Ranged players can always opt to move into the first intersection at the end of the Fire and Fury castbar, about when the bar reaches the "u" in "Fury." Move diagonally into it and stay, making sure to dodge Fire and Fury by standing at the sides.

If they want to keep the boss in the middle, melee players have to look at the second intersection. This will always intersect in one of the four middle spots in the arena. This means that there is always a pattern where players can stand in the second intersection, move diagonally across the boss, and move back into the second intersection which will be safe. This is the safest movement that keeps full uptime; certain patterns only require one movement where you can move into the first intersection from the second intersection and stay there. Again, move at the "u" in "Fury," and ranged players can do this movement too.

The next mechanic is Meteorain. Players will have to drop three sets of meteors in a line to create a safe spot for Triple Tyrannhilation while protecting them from stacks and tank busters. There are four stack markers, three sets of two meteor drops, and three tank busters. Light party 1 players will be placing the meteors in a line southwest, while light party 2 players will place meteors alternating northeast and northwest.

Players should begin by stacking northwest except for melee DPS who are inside the boss and out of the initial stack. Once melee receive the prey marker, tanks can go in front of the stack and melee can go southwest and northeast. Immediately after the stack goes off, healers go into the boss to bait the next set of meteors, everyone else rotate along the outside of the arena to the northeast behind the meteor for the stack. H1 will go southwest and place their meteor halfway between the already placed one and the edge, while H2 places it northwest.

This will repeat again with the ranged bait; players will dodge the exploding meteor AoE and rotate along the outside while ranged move in to bait. R1 places their meteor close to the edge, leaving some room at the edge for the party, while R2 places theirs northeast. The party stacks northwest behind the meteor. There is a final stack behind the northeast meteor without any baits. Everyone then goes behind the three rocks for Triple Tyrannhilation.

Tanks are doing a completely different mechanic in this phase: they are protecting the rocks from tethers. Have T1 take north and east tethers and T2 take south and west tethers, though with how the tethers spawn this can be fast and loose, so tanks need to use their best judgment. Each tether acts as a tank buster, and tanks need to make sure they're not in the stack when it goes off. This happens for each meteor drop. After the third tether, they will also go behind the rocks for Triple Tyrannhilation.

Afterwards, return to the boss as he prepares to split the arena for the next phase.

In phase three, the arena is split into two halves.

The following mechanics are introduced in the third phase.

• Flatliner: Knocks all players back from the centre, splitting the arena into two halves. Note that you can stand inside the line AoE as the knockback originates from the centre of the boss hitbox. Deals physical damage.
• Majestic Meteor: Creates portals, towers, and tethers.
  • The boss creates four towers that knock players up and in a direction relative to the centre of the tower. These towers need to be soaked by two players each, or else they explode.
  • The boss creates four portals at the edge of the arena east and west that proximity tether to one player each. These do a line AoE towards the player, requiring them to be far away to survive, dealing magic damage and inflicting a magic vuln.
  • There are two portals that run north to south along each platform. Similar to Orbital Omen, these are a line AoE that makes the back or front of the platform relative to the boss unsafe.
• Fire Breath: Prey markers on the four closest players to the boss. This will shoot a line AoE at the end of the cast, dealing magic damage and inflicting a magic vuln. Additionally creates three ground AoEs in succession under each player.
• Majestic Meteor 2: Multi-hit stack marker on one player on both platforms. Deals magic damage and inflicts a magic vuln debuff. Spawns knockback towers again.
• Arcadion Avalanche: Grabs one platform, killing all players on it. The Tyrant throws that platform at the other platform, dealing massive damage in a large AoE with a safe spot on the opposite side he swings from.

Prepare for Flatliner. This deals physical damage and requires some mitigation so the magical classes survive. Split the raid into the two light parties and have light party 1 go west and light party 2 go east. Return to the boss for a burst window as the Tyrant casts Majestic Meteor. Line up on your side: the order doesn't matter, but it makes it much easier to see your mechanic.

Four players will receive tethers as the knockback towers start arming up. They go off when the falling meteor reaches the ground. Players will split up into groups of two, with tanks and ranged DPS north and healers and melee DPS south. All players will get knocked back either to their platform or to the opposite platform: stand either directly east or west of the middle of the tower, or directly north or south. Players with tethers need to stretch them, while non-tethered players will get knocked back to the same platform. This ensures four players per platform at all times. Once you are knocked back, note whether the east or west (relative front or back) of your new platform is safe.

The boss will cast Fire Breath shortly after. The four non-tethered players need to bait the prey to ensure tether players don't get it. Those four players should immediately run inside the boss hitbox, while the four tethered players stay outside. The players baiting need to use their body language to communicate which side of the arena they are going to, as one needs to go north and one needs to go south. Once the prey is locked in, players all need to move in and bait the ground AoEs.

Fanning out, move towards the north and south of the arena. Two players on each platform should be heading towards each direction, with tether players stretching their tether and marked players going in the direction they positioned for. Drop the ground AoEs along the wall, and move towards your final position. This is where the intercardinal markers come into play. Tethers and marked players all have preassigned positions: tethers will go to the wall, while marked players go to the inside corner of the numbered marker. At the same time, go to the safe half of your platform. If done correctly, all players should either get hit by a tether AoE or a Fire Breath AoE, but not both.

This mechanics repeats again, so head towards the middle and heal up. Take the tower you came from and do the exact same mechanic. A new set of tethers and portals spawn, so the safe half of each platform may change. Do the mechanic, and return back to the middle for heals. Mitigate Majestic Meteor, and towers spawn. Players will always be returning to the same side they did the tethers and baits in. Look at the boss, as he will face one of the platforms and start casting Arcadion Avalanche. Get knocked back to the platform he is not facing.

Once on that platform, look at the Tyrant and which way he swings. Alternatively, look at the grabbed platform and see which side is elevated. He will be throwing the platform from that side, and players should all run to the edge of the opposite side to dodge the giant AoE. Return to the boss and mitigate for Crown of Arcadia, beginning the final phase.

In phase four players have to deal with a combination of mechanics seen previously.

The following mechanics are introduced in the final phase.

• Ecliptic Stampede: Multiple mechanics happen together.
  • Creates proximity markers at two opposite intercardinals, which deals proximity damage.
  • >Marks two of the four furthest players from the Tyrant with prey markers, which will drop six AoE puddles on the ground in succession.
  • Creates six marked AoEs under all remaining players in succession, then creates four towers: two tank buster towers and two two-player towers. One player in each tower receives a proximity tether from a portal.
• Four-way Fireball: Line AoE that does shared damage on the four closest players. Inflicts a magic vuln and fire resist debuff on the closest player.
• Two-way Fireball: Line AoE that does shared damage on the two closest players. Inflicts a magic vuln and fire resist debuff on the two closest players.
• Heartbreak Kick: The Tyrant gains a stacking damage up buff and creates a tower in the middle of the arena. This is a multi-hit stack tower and hits for 5 times initially over 9 seconds. This happens three times, and each time adds one additional hit with 2 extra seconds.

The phase begins with Great Wall of Fire. This one should be shared by tanks, and not with all their cooldowns as they need to save some for the next mechanic, so 120s and 25s CDs will do with healer support. The boss repeats one more Orbital Omen, so handle this one the same as the first. Again, play it safe, as damage downs or deaths are much worse than losing uptime. This is followed by a Crown of Arcadia, so heal up and mitigate.

All players then need to preposition for Ecliptic Stampede. The ranged DPS and healers need to stand outside of the boss, while the melee DPS and tanks stand under the boss as to not bait the proximity preys. Have them go outside at intercardinals, with ranged DPS north and healers south. Players on the outside who receive a prey need to adjust and go to the safe intercardinals, while non-prey players stay in the middle. To adjust, have the player further from the safe intercardinal move, and if they're both opposite, adjust north.

Those players need to drop their puddles along the north side, curving in after four puddles. Essentially, they're starting near where the markers are and moving along the north and south wall, making sure to keep the corners of the arena safe. The party will start directly under the boss and bait six AoEs. Move north, and then rotate clockwise stopping at the edge of each AoE to not rush movement.

After the fifth AoE, look north, and after the sixth AoE, towers will spawn. There will be two tank towers and two two-player towers. Note that some towers may be half-covered in a prey puddle, so stay on the inside. Towers always spawn at inner intercardinals, so we can use the following priority: the two ranged players who did not receive prey and the main tank look northeast and take their first tower clockwise. The two melee and the offtank look northwest and take their first tower counterclockwise. This ensures that all towers have the players needed to survive.

Finally, four tethers will appear. The players with tethers need to stretch them out by going to the opposite wall and clockwise into the corner, forming a pound or hashtag pattern leaving the middle safe. The other four players will need to assign positions for themselves at intercardinals, and will use body language to do so: the inside players can already prepositon as they will be in towers, while the prey marked players come in and fill in the gaps.

As the tethers are being stretched, the Tyrant will cast either Two-way Fireball or Four-way Fireball. These need to be baited by the inside players and shared with the outside players, with the outside players being further away as they have a fire resist vuln already from the tether. If it's Four-way, the inside players at intercardinals can move to the ring of the boss hitbox to bait while tether players walk or dash in from the outside. If it's Two-way, rotate to east and west and have only one player on each side bait on the inside of the hitbox, while the other players stay out. Again, the outside players need to be further than the inside players.

Finally, the boss will cast Crown of Arcadia and begin the enrage sequence. This consists of three Heartbreak Kick towers into a final Heartbreak enrage. The easiest way to do this mechanic is to ignore it and use tank invulns and cooldowns. However, communicate with your party to determine what you will be doing, especially if a tank had to emergency invuln earlier in the fight. All invulns except for Paladin's Hallowed Ground will be back up if used for the first buster.

For the first tower, have the MT invuln. For the second tower, have the OT invuln, but both need to use their short mit and take the first hit together as the invuln does not last for the entire tower. Finally, for the last tower have everyone in the entire party use all their mitigation and tank cooldowns. Heal the tanks with oGCDs in between hits or when they get low.

The enrage happens at 11:00 into the fight. Kill the Tyrant before he breaks your heart!

Amendments to the guide above based on popular strategies used in party finder will be used here.

• This guide is compatible with the Toxic Friends Raidplan at https://raidplan.io/plan/HJAbE7fuWodELUSB except for Phase 3 arena split, as most PFs use Kindred No Buddies at https://raidplan.io/plan/hvbysrfwvrc55ahz.
• This guide is compatible with Hector's video lecture guide.
• For Two-way Fireball, certain parties will opt to always have the two prey baiters bait it inside east and west.

When The Tyrant is defeated, a treasure coffer will appear that contains Grand Champion's Gear Coffers. When opened by a player, these coffers contain an item level 790 Grand Champion equip for the job the player is currently on. The amount of coffers that appear depend on how many players have already cleared during the weekly lockout. If no players have cleared yet, Body and Legs coffers will appear as well as a Thundersteeped Twine and a Thundersteeped Solvent. If one to four players have already cleared, one random coffer will appear with a random upgrade item. If five or more players have already cleared, no treasure coffer will appear.

Players who defeat the encounter for the first time during the weekly reset will also receive an AAC Illustrated: HW Edition III token. Six of these can be traded in for a Grand Champion Body or Legs gear of your choosing at an Arcadion gear vendor. Four of these can be traded in for a Thundersteeped Twine or Tundersteeped Solvent.