Order Guide – Sigmar Crypts

So Redztk recorded some footage of one of our Crypts runs and put together a montage of the mini-boss and boss fights and asked me to write up a guide for the bosses.  Instead of just doing the Boss/mini-boss information, I’m tossing in some general dungeon strategy as well.

So here’s Gaar’s Guide to Sigmar Crypts.  Please keep in mind, I like boring, dull dungeon runs where the tanks take damage and no one else does, so this is written from that perspective.  It also tends to be good if you don’t have full wards yet.  Enjoy!  ~Gaar

General Information

Required Level – 40

Required Wards – Lesser Wards (Annihilator/Bloodlord)  The more warded pieces you have, the more damage you will do and the less damage you will take.

Location – The Crypts are located inside The Temple of Sigmar which is at 7355, 24340 in Altdorf.  To access the Crypts, go through the main doors then go left into the side room and through the closed door directly in front of you.  At the bottom of the stairs is the portal that will take you and your group to your instance.

Recommended (but not required) Group Make-up: 2 Tanks, 2 DPS, 2 Healers.  This is mainly due to the final bosses, whose debuffs should be working by the time this gets posted which means it may no longer be possible to solo-tank them both.  We’ll see.

Pieces Obtained – Sentinel Gloves, Shoulders, Body, Belt.  Mobs in here also have a chance to drop “Warden” gear as well which can be nice in certain cases and is Bind on Equip so can be traded/sold.

Lockout Timer – 2 days, 20 hours.  Goes into effect after killing the first mini-boss.

Walkthrough

Crypts is composed of three “wings” (right, left, middle) with the left opening up only after defeating the right and the middle opening only after defeating the left.  There is no skipping ahead here and nothing is optional.  Healers should slot hate-reduction tactics, DPS likewise if available.  Tanks should slot hate-building tactics as well as strong defensive tactics.  The Tome Undead tactics are good here as well if you have them.  Your Main Tank should be the tank with the most wards/best gear, or if it is equal, the one with the most defensive mastery build.

Right Wing

To start, you have three pulls of Skeletons.  The first pull is three, the second is four and the final is three again.  The easiest way to do this is to stay in the entry room with the healers and DPS back by the portal.  The Main Tank (MT) should open the gate, taunt the first Skeleton and move to the left away from the rest of the group.  The mobs will move thru the door and turn to face him at which point, the MT should Challenge them all.  After this, the Off Tank (OT) can Taunt one mob off the MT to reduce damage.  The group should then kill one mob off the MT and then the OT and then the last mob off the MT again.  This first pull will show you how well your MT can take damage, how well your OT can take damage and who is the biggest aggro producer in the group.  If your MT can handle the damage, you can even let them hold all the mobs while the OT guards them or simply kills mobs.  Guard from the MT should now be placed on the biggest aggro producer.  If everything went well, repeat with the next set and the next until all is clear.  If not, well, figure out what went wrong.  Dungeons are where you learn how to balance groups and group responsibilities.  Welcome to the learning curve.

After you have cleared the skeletons, you will see stairs going down with Giant Spiders at the bottom.  Have your group stay at the top on the side nearest where you came in, have the MT taunt a spider and back up to the far side forcing the spiders to come up and face away from the group again.  (This should be habit for tanks at this point, if it isn’t, make it one.  Many mobs in dungeons from this point on have frontal cones of various types and you do not want them facing your group at any time.  Practice on all the trash mobs so you can be perfect on the bosses.)  The spiders can disable, so have the OT be ready to grab them if necessary.  After the first three, go down the stairs and finish off the last three.  As soon as the last one dies, you get your first Mini-Boss instantly.

Cryptweb Queen

Always keep the Queen facing away from your group.  She will disable and root your MT so have the OT ready to Taunt her off your group just in case.  As long as she never faces your group, you should be fine.  When you finally defeat her, she has a chance of dropping a Sentinel Belt.  All Sentinel Belts are Bind on Equip (BoE) and can be traded, sold or salvaged as you see fit.

Once past the Queen, you will face four groups of three Banshees.  Stay in the Queen’s room and have your MT taunt them down the stairs and face them away from your group.  These are casters so you need to break Line of Sight (LoS) to get them to move.  You can pull the second set down the stairs as well to make it easy to control them.  For the third set, move up and have your MT Challenge them where they stand, then rush past them to face them away from the group as you kill them.  Do the same for the fourth group.  Once you have cleared them, you are at your second Mini-Boss.

The Reaper

Don’t fear The Reaper.  (I had to, I’m sorry. :p  )  You will need your graphics at least Balanced for this encounter.  The Reaper likes to spawn purple clouds on the ground that do damage to anyone foolish enough to stand in them.  He will also summon forth spirits to assist him a few times during the encounter.  Simply have your MT Taunt him and face him away from the group to start.  As he drops clouds, the MT will move him around the room while the group stays behind the boss.  As spirits spawn, have the OT Taunt them and hold them while you kill them.  Repeat until The Reaper dies.  The Reaper also has a chance at dropping a Sentinel Belt.

You now face four sets of undead.  These like to silence, so be ready and don’t pull two groups at once until you’ve got more experience with them.  The easy method of clearing the first room past The Reaper is to have your group wait in the room to one side of the doorway.  The MT goes into the room, taunts the Priest and runs back to the other side of the door from your group.  The three undead should come into the room and face the MT at which point they should Challenge the group.  Kill them all and repeat with the second pull in that room then move in and set up for the next two sets.  One of the next sets is a roaming group.  Wait in the doorway for them to show up and then taunt them and kill them like the last two sets.  Repeat on the fourth set and move in to the next room.

You are now in the right wing Boss’ room.  There are multiple groups of mobs in here to clear out before you take on the Boss.  Pull the first group up to the room you just cleared to give yourself room to fight.  As always, keep them faced away from your group.  Once they’re down, move into the bottom area of the room and pull the next group following the same tactics.  Once the room is clear, you’re ready to fight the first main Boss.

Necromancer Malcidious

This Boss is an interesting fight, especially if it’s your first time.  He awaits you at the end of the long room.  Make sure your group is fully prepared before engaging.  When ready, have everyone wait at the far end of the room while the MT runs up and Taunts him.  The MT should race back to the group, wait for the Boss to reach the far end and then turn him quickly away from the group.  At this point, you just have to keep the MT up while working him down to 50% health.  During this fight, the Boss will at times summon spirit-clones of your group.  The OT should Taunt these and kill them as they shouldn’t do much damage to a tank.

Once the Boss reaches 50% health, he summons his guards.  Do not let these touch you.  They start where he was at the beginning of the fight and slowly move towards your group.  At this point, this becomes a damage race.  You want to kill the Boss before his guard reach you.  If it doesn’t look like that will happen, you have to become mobile.  The group must stick close together while the MT moves the Boss to the outside of the pillars and starts walking him back to his spawn point.  As long as you stay behind the Boss and the MT moves quickly, you can avoid the guards and have more time.  Before the Boss dies, make sure to hit his guards with a ranged attack or AOE from someone.  This will give you loot rights on them as they die when the Boss dies.  Once he is dead, your first priority is to rez anyone that died before looting anything.  Once everyone is alive, loot the Boss and his two guards.  The guards tend to drop Sentinel Belts while the Boss drops up to two pairs of Sentinel Gloves, a blue Warden armor piece and a rare dye.

That’s it for the Right Wing.  The gates to the Left Wing are now open.  Your group has to run back to where you spawned in and through the gates to start.

Left Wing

While the Right Wing checks your ability to deal with mainly melee mobs in dungeons, the Left Wing checks how you fare against casters/ranged.  Before you get anywhere near the mini-bosses here, there are four groups of casters, a group of two roaming casters and a roaming Giant Bat.  Good times.  Have your group stay right by the gates in and have your MT peak around the corner, Taunt the closest NPC and then move back out of Line of Sight.  All three NPCs should come charging around the corner.  Once they do, the tank should Challenge and then turn them away from the group.  After they’re dead, it’s easiest to wait for the roaming set to come to where the first group was and pull them the same way.  Kill them and move closer to the next hallway and wait for the Bat.  When it comes by, Taunt, turn it and kill it.  It can silence those in front of it so, again, make sure it never faces your healers.

The next group in the hallway is a bit tricky.  Two are to the right and one is in plain sight in front of you.  Have the OT Taunt the one in sight and have the MT Challenge the other two as they run around the corner.  Turn them away from the group and clear them out.   Move your group back around the corner and have the MT LoS the next trio before moving on to the last three.  For the last three, have the MT Taunt one and duck to the right into the hallway near where they stand.  When they come around the corner, Challenge and kill them off.  You are now ready to start clearing the mini-boss rooms.

Standing with your back to the hallway you came down, there are three paths.  Left, forward, right.  We’re going right first.  These are Undead Templars.  They like to silence, a lot.  Luckily, there aren’t many of them.  Don’t all rush forward at once, stand just inside that hallway and let the MT move up to the stairwell on the left and Taunt the first one out.  The OT should move to the right stairwell as there is another one there.  Taunt it as well.  Both tanks can meet in the middle as they back up and turn the NPCs away from the group.  Once you clear these two, it’s time to move down into the lower chamber.  In here are two sets of three Templars.  The main group can wait in the entry while the MT moves to the back of front of the room and Taunts them.  Once the MT has Challenged them all, move in behind them and clear them out.  Repeat with the second group while staying away from the back hallway.  Once done, it’s time for the mini-boss.

Tobias the Fallen

This guy is fun.  He likes to silence, disable and group knockback and he can take a lot of damage.  Have the main group wait to one side of his hallway while the MT Taunts him into the main room.  The MT should move to put his back to the wall away from the group and start focusing on defensive buffs while rotating Taunt and Challenge.  Everyone else should move in behind him and work on Tobias.  When he does his group knockback, be wary of an aggro switch.  If the MT has Taunt up, he can pull him back.  If not, the OT needs to do it until the MT can pick him back up again.  Keep this up until Tobias is dead.  This is pure tank and spank here, as they say.

One he is dead, move back to the junction and take a right again.  The next chamber is full of Giant Bats in sets of three and the mini-boss is in the middle.  There’s a hard way to do this and an easy way to do this.  Because of all the bugs in this dungeon, we do the easy way because we feel it makes up for the glitches.  If they ever fix it, I’ll update this section to explain the hard way to do it.  I’ve done both.

Sister Eudocia

That’s right, you can skip right to the main event.  Move into the top part of the stairwell on the left and have the group stay on the stairs.  The MT can sneak down to the bottom and Taunt the mini-boss off her perch.  They then run up to the first landing and start their ranged toss on the mini-boss until she moves all the way up to the top step.  Make sure no one attacks until she is on the top step.  Once she is there, the melee DPS and OT can move down behind her on the stairs while the rest stay where they are.  This way is pure tank and spank again.  If for some reason you didn’t move her to the right spot, you will get Giant Bat adds coming up the stairs.  If this happens, they must die quickly as they will silence your healers.

Once she is dead, move back to the junction and take another right.  This part is a bit harder as the next mobs are all ranged.  Squishies without enough Wards can easily be 2-shot here if you do not take your time and be careful handling these mobs.  This part is very glitchy so it’s better to be safe than wipe.  Again, set up at the entry to this junction and only have the MT move forward along the left wall.  Have them Taunt the archer and turn them quickly away from the group by moving past the hallway.  Kill them and repeat with the NPC on the right side.  The MT should then move down the left stairwell and pull the single NPC around the corner there back up to the hallway using LoS.  Do the same on the right and then set up to clear the bottom room.

If the mobs are working correctly, they will come in sets of three.  There are two sets that need to be pulled back up to the hallway to kill.  The MT should move down the stairwell on the right and stay on the left side of it.  There will be one NPC in front of them they can Taunt.  Once done, run back up the stairs to the group and wait for them to show up.  This could take a while and if they don’t show up, you’ll have to do it again.  These mobs like to get stuck in walls or in reset loops.  Be patient.  Once this first set of three is done, the MT will move down to the entrance and look left to see the next set at the front of the room.  Taunt them and move back to the hallway just like the first set.  Under no circumstances should you Taunt the NPCs by the mini-boss.  These are linked to her and will pull her.  Once you clear both sets of three, move down to the entry and get ready for the final mini-boss.

Seraphine ‘Pale Eye’

She and her two guards are ranged and she likes to randomly turn and fire on everyone.  It hurts, be prepared.  Everyone should set up at the entrance to the chamber.  The MT will move in and to the right along the wall and Taunt her before moving to the middle of the room, keeping her faced away from the group.  The OT should Challenge both of her guards once she has moved out of its path.  The guards should be killed first and quickly.  Once they are down, focus on her.  You do not have to completely kill her, only get her to 15%.  Because of her random turn-and-fire, the MT and OT should stay on the same side of her and rotate their Challenge to reduce the damage from her to the rest of the group.  Once she goes unattackable at 15%, you will get one or two adds from the back of the room.  Have the MT turn around and grab aggro, then kill them both.  Time for your reward.  Talk to Seraphine.  Her script can be slow, but eventually she will start it and then run out of the room.  Follow her to the gates to the Middle Wing where she will open the gates and spawn a chest of loot.  Once spawned, someone must attack it once to unlock it, then right-click to loot.  The chest gives up to two sets of Sentinel Shoulders, a blue Warden armor piece and a rare dye.  You are now ready for the final chamber.

Middle Wing

If you’ve gotten this far, the NPCs in this room will pose no problem to you.  Have your group move through the gates and stand just inside them on the left of the stairwell.  The MT should pull the first set of NPCs up to that room for easy dispatch.  There will be four and they are all casters.  Once they are down, move into the chamber.  Healers and ranged can stand up on the ledge while the Tanks and Melee DPS move down below.  The easiest way to clear this room is to be patient and LoS the groups so they stay in small clumps for easy AOE damage.  Have the MT move behind the left pillar while the other melee stay near the right.  The MT should then hop out, Taunt a mob and move behind the pillar.  The casters will be a little jerky and slow due to pathing issues, but will eventually group up on the MT behind the pillar where he can then Challenge and make sure they’re facing away from the melee DPS.  Finish them all off and repeat with all the groupings by moving up row after row and using the pillar LoS.  You should then only have the twins left standing on their rocks and now aggressive at the end of the chamber.

Twin Lectors

I’m a big fan of this fight.  I’ve actually had my full Sentinel set for months now and yet I still run people through here just to play around with the nuances of their script.  I’ve even solo-tanked it with only four others before and finished it solo when we lost the OT partway through.  I can’t stress enough how important it is to learn a Boss’ script, whether in a Dungeon, a Fortress, or the City Sieges.  That knowledge can make any one of those a walk in the park.

I always forget their names and honestly, it doesn’t matter.  hehe.  All that matters is the Left and the Right.  You want your MT on the Right one and the OT on the Left one.  I like my groups to set up the healers and ranged inbetween the first and second pillars to keep sufficient distance for the Taunts used during the fight.  Melee DPS will need to move between the two Bosses as needed.

Important:  During this fight, you MUST keep their health between 10% of each other at all times.  If you break that 10% mark, the lowest one will heal up to where his Twin is.  That’s a huge waste of your time and could lead to a wipe.  Ranged DPS can switch back and forth between the two as needed.  Melee DPS will have to switch targets, or at times even stop DPSing.  I know, sounds weird, but this isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.

Ok, so you’re set up and ready to go.  The MT will lead the charge in and run right up to the rock where the Right Twin is and Taunt him to hold him while the OT runs up to the Left Twin and Taunts and holds him.  Keep them about as far apart as their rocks, even if they move off a bit, that’s fine.  You just don’t want them close to each other.  At the start of the fight, just DPS away while keeping their health close.  I prefer no more than a 5% spread at all times but your group will get the hang of it.  If you’re not properly warded, these guys can hit hard so tanks should go defensive while cycling Taunt but not Challenge.  Once you get them down a bit, their script will kick in and it’s time for fun.

The second their script kicks in, one drops a huge purple Disable circle on the ground while the other goes into melee mode.  The tank with the circle must immediately back out of it until they’re no longer disabled.  I usually back towards the outer wall and the front door, thus moving behind the pillar but jumping into LoS for my healers.  Once that tank is out of the circle, they need to immediately Challenge their Twin which should be in caster mode.  If you do this quickly, Challenge will work as a timer for when the circle goes away as it is roughly 35-40 seconds the initial time.  Once you have Challenged, toss your axe/knife/whatever at them repeatedly and toss a Taunt in once.  Keep this up until Challenge is back up and hit it again and immediately run back up to the Twin and start spamming your disabled Taunt button.  The second the Disable circle drops, you’ll Taunt them and pull them back to you.  This is important as they clear their aggro and will rush a squishie and sucker-punch them otherwise.

While one tank is dealing with the caster/disable situation, the other tank is being beat upon mercilessly by the other Twin.  That tank needs to go full defensive while occasionally Taunting to maintain aggro.  This is the tank that should be getting the majority of the heals as the other one shouldn’t be taking much damage from the caster.  Your experience may vary based on wards/gear/spec.  DPS should of course be watching the health of both Twins.  If you do not have a ranged DPS with you, you must have your melee DPS back off during this phase so as not to break the 10% barrier.  A ranged DPS can switch targets and try to keep the caster within the 10% mark while the melee works the other Twin.

Once the Disable circle drops off the first Twin, it immediately appears on the other Twin.  The other tank must now do what the first was doing.  This process will repeat a couple times but the Disable circle will disappear faster each time so your tanks have to be ready to Taunt on a moment’s notice.  Healing and Damage Absorb morales should be saved and used appropriately.  Shield Wall is a MUST for tanks as their Rank 2 morale in any dungeon.  As an IB, I slot that at 2, Gromril at 3 and Immaculate Defense at 4.  I prefer to wait until 3 to help the whole group, but if I have to, I use 2 to keep me up if I’m the only one taking damage.

If you do not beat them fast enough, either due to low DPS or due to resetting their health, they will adjust their script.  All of a sudden, you will have both of them free with no Disable circles beating on both tanks.  Then they’ll switch again and both will have Disable circles.  Ideally, you want them dead before any of this happens.  However, with a patient, focused group, you can make it through all of it if need be.

Once both are at 10% health or below, pick one and demolish it.  DO NOT LOOT IT!  His Twin will get mad and rush right to whomever got the killing blow and suicide on them, killing them instantly.  He slowly disappears and once he’s gone completely you can revive your group member.  Only once ALL group members are alive should you loot the Twin you killed.  He will drop up to two Body pieces, one blue Warden item and one rare dye.

Rumor has it, if you kill both Twins at EXACTLY the same time, you will get twice as much loot.  Once you get this run down, I encourage you to try it.  It’s fun working them down equally and going for a dual-killing blow.  Personally, I’ve never achieved it although we’ve had both at 0% health when one died.  Maybe one of these days it will happen.

Anyway, you have now successfully cleared the Sigmar Crypts.  You will be doing this a lot, so be patient with it.  Learn the ropes and learn what your group is able to do and you can push yourself a bit each time to move faster, kill faster, wipe less, whatever you wish to challenge yourself with to keep it fun.  I do recommend static groups mainly because you get into a groove of knowing instinctively how those people will react in any given situation.  However, PUGging it is perfectly acceptable as you meet tons of new people, which can be great…and horrible.  hehe.  But since this is a game where we all end up fighting together on the battlefield, it’s nice to be able to recognize lots of names and know they’re capable of getting your back when things get tough.

Again, this is just how I like to do Crypts.  There are as many different ways to do it as there are options for your class, so experiment away.  I’ve actually done this with five people and me being the only tank before.  Twins are WAY fun that way, hehe.  I’ve also taken people with 2-3 wards through the entire thing using this exact methodology, so fewer wards are viable if you have a solid tank to help soak up damage.  Keep experimenting, challenging yourself and looking for new ways to do things.  And above all, keep having fun!  This is a game after all.

~Gaar