With the arrival of a new seasonal batch of content in Guild Wars 2, we’re staring down the barrel of a horrifying challenge. The Twisted Marionette is a returning World Boss from Season 1. The new event supports up to 50 players in a private instance. with a minimum of 25 players recommended for groups. Like many other world bosses, rewards for participation are up for grabs. But if you really know what you’re doing, you can earn Twisted Marionette Achievements that can help bling out your profile. You could also get Gems if you earn enough Achievement Points.
To enter the instance, go to Eye of the North Waypoint – [&BAkMAAA=] and head to the Scrying Pool, choose the option for the Squad event. The public version is only available during this week and happens every 2 hours.
So here’s what to expect from the Twisted Marionette fight. It’s a level 80 public event, so it’s going to be very chaotic.
Basic Premise of the Raid:
- Players spawn in a closed-off area surrounded by five valleys.
- Five lanes of mobs will rush the central portal from every direction.
- Champion Watchwork mobs making it to the portal will increase the bar to trigger the boss.
- If the Aethercannon bar fills up, you’re in big trouble.
- Clear mobs and build barricades on the lanes to slow mobs down.
You need to focus on clearing the lanes at first, putting as much DPS as possible on the Champion mobs. One group can then head into the portal to fight the boss itself. When this happens, a lane will clear of mobs. When that lane is empty, EVERYONE in that lane needs to get into the portal. The other four lanes will remain active. When you get into the boss arena, the fight changes.
Player groups inside the portal are split into groups on five platforms, with each group tasked with taking out their assigned boss, as well as the Regulator on their platform. Bring tons of stun breaks and all the self-healing you can carry for your boss phase. Swap out skills if you need to. Since you’re mostly focusing on one target, single-target DPS is most important. AoE clearing abilities will be next to useless unless you’re out clearing lanes. Also, each boss phase applies a debuff that prevents the players in that phase from going to the portal again for a short time. You must focus on lane defense while the debuff is active.
The general goal is to stack as many players as can be spared into each boss phase, spreading them out evenly. You want to get 10 players in each boss fight if you have the numbers.
Once all 5 bosses and regulators are finished, your lane succeeds and a chain will be severed. This must be done five times to clear the raid. Failing to break a chain also adds to the Aethercannon bar. If that fills, the raid is over.
Bosses Explained
Each boss has its own unique set of attacks, and each phase has a two-minute timer. You must defeat your assigned boss in that time to count for a severed chain.
One of the biggest things to watch out for is the Twisted Marionette interfering in each boss fight. This boss add spawns a ton of AoEs across each platform, and these must be dodged.
But if you fail, there is a way around it. One of the boons you get is a special action key called Inspire. This AoE heal can revive downed allies within 2,500 range. Use it if someone gets hit by the AoEs or other attacks from their boss. Make sure to call out when you use it so it isn’t wasted on someone who is already being pulled up.
Now, onto the actual bosses.
- Regulator Warden I – Cannot be hit form the front. Use an assigned tank to hold aggro, agumented by minions, to keep it rooted in place. If you break its Defiance Bar, get behind it and nuke it. Regularly spawns adds that must be nuked down by off-tank and DPS.
- Regulator Warden II – A fast-moving boss that spins around the arena. Will drop mines as it moves. Avoid the mines and have the tank path around them. The goal is to draw the boss into its own mines and have them stun it. Get on top of it when it’s stunned to nuke it down.
- Regulator Warden III – A slow-moving boss that’s very lethal to tanks. Kite it around with DPS. This boss fight heavily favors ranged DPS. Spawns many AoE reticles that are the self-planting type. Avoid them and don’t let them overlap if you can help it. If you do get caught, pop a stun break and move out of the way;
- Regulator Warden IV – A slower boss that spawns large AoE attacks to herd players. Will spawn AoE circles on either the inner or outer rings of the arena. Fires off a homing ranged attack periodically. If you’re stuck close to the boss, use defensive cooldowns to facetank it.
- Regulator Warden V – Uses charges and knockdowns in its base form. Tank by moving out of its path and using ranged where possible. When you complete the first phase, a second phase begins with two bosses. The boss keep splitting from this point, so this is the one point where AoE attacks can help nuke down the bosses. Use your mobility skills to stay out of the way.
Guild Wars 2 – The Twisted Marionette Achievements
The Origins of Madness – 135AP
The Origins of Madness Completionist – 50AP – This is a meta-achievement, you need to complete all 11 achievements within the event. The reward is a Sprocket Generator node for your home instance.
Master of the Marionette – 20AP – This is a meta-achievement. Complete all the multi-phase achievements that involve more than one marionette run. The reward is a Energy Regulator Cog node for your home instance.
Energy Probe Defender Slayer – 8AP – Defeat 50 mobs during lane clearing.
Marionette Defender – 10AP – Participate in each of the five lane defense phases in the event.
Split Defense – 5AP – Participate in lane defense phases a total of 10 times.
Marionette Deregulator – 10AP – Participate in each of the five boss phases in the event.
Champion Deregulator – 5AP – Participate in boss phases a total of 10 times.
Marionette Tangler – 10AP – Complete the event the first time.
Watchwork Wrecker – 10AP – Complete the event a total of 10 times.
Marionette Dismisser – 1AP – Use /Cheer after defeating the main boss.
Good-bye Again – 1AP – Use /Wave after defeating the main boss.
Marionette Lightfoot – 5AP – Avoid the Marionette Stomp during boss Phase I.
Marionette Sidestepper – 5AP – Avoid the Marionette Kick during boss Phase II.
Marionette Short-Circuiter – 5AP – Avoid the Marionette Lightning AoE during boss Phase III.
Marionette Short-Circuiter – 5AP – Avoid the Marionette Green Sword AoE during boss Phase IV.
Marionette Muter – 10AP – Avoid the Marionette small Scream AoEs during boss Phase V.
Like Clockwork – 3AP – Dodge all the Marionette special attacks during each phase. You can Dodge to evade each one, but also being outside the AoE counts.
The Secret Lair – 1AP
– Discover Scarlet Briar’s secret lair in Lornar’s Pass. Start from Durmand Priory Waypoint – [&BOkAAAA=] head north until you find a cave. Take the left-hand path and head through the illusory wall. When you reach the hidden door, that’s the hideout.
