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The second instance for Defiant players, Deepstrike Mine is
found buried deep in Stonefield. One of the most bountiful lodes of
sourcestone is contained within the mine, making it a highly contested
prize. The mine is currently under the control of the Endless Court who
plunder its riches in the efforts of returning Regulos to the plane of
the living.
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Group Configuration:
Deepstrike Mine is a pretty standard dungeon crawl and only requires a
single tank and healer to complete. Having at least one form of
reliable CC will make it much smoother and two will make it easy mode.
Quests:
There are a ton of quests for DSM with most of them being available out
of the dungeon, which is a bit of a departure from the previous
instance; The Iron Tomb (players doing the saga quests will get sent
back into IT eventually however). There are two quests available inside
the entrance so even the rift and warfront levelers will have something
to grab.
style="text-shadow: none;">Gregoris Revelation
style="text-shadow: none;">
style="font-weight: bold;">Starts: Granite
Falls
From: Torin
Fergal
Locate and read the journal once inside the mines.
The Foreman's
Disgrace
Starts:
Granite Falls
From: Torin
Fergal
Locate and kill Overseer Markus.
Slaughtering
the Butchers
Starts:
Granite Falls
From: Emily
Fergal
Locate and kill 4 Baneful Decapitators - [protip]Most groups will only
kill 3 through standard pathing, so you may need to grab the fourth
before you disband the group[/protip]
The Saga of the
Endless: Endless Digging
Starts:
Granite Falls
From: Emily
Feral
Locate Kaspar inside the mine. Kaspar is one of the quest givers
encountered as you first enter the zone, make sure to pick this up for
free xp.
Stolen Source
Starts:
Deepstrike Mine
From: Kaspar
Loot sourcestone from miners throughout the instance.
Reclaiming
What's Ours
Starts:
Deepstrike Mine
From: Asha
Catari
Locate and disable the Eth Device. A wave style encounter that charges
you with protecting the device as hordes of the undead assault you.
Bosses:
Overseer Markus
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The first encounter in the dungeon is a alternating two phase encounter
that starts out with four adds. Burn the adds on the initial pull while
the tank spins the boss away from the group. Markus has a moderate
frontal cone cleave that can be healed through, but its best to stay
safe and keep his back to the party. At 50% life Markus splits into
three shades that need to be burned down quickly. Killing the shades
causes the boss to re-materialize and from there you can finish him off.
Gregori Krezlav
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My wait is eternal.
Gregoria Krezlav awaits you high above the mine guarding the entrance
to a small cave. This fight is also a two phase encounter involving
adds. Due to the rather precarious location of the boss in relation to
other patrolling mobs, it is best to tank him where he stands with DPS
remaining near the initial point of entry. Krezlav periodically summons
two types of adds, the first and most dangerous kind are the
channelers. While the channelers are active the boss becomes immune to
all damage. Ranged should burn these mobs down quickly while the tank
maintains threat. Typically after the channelers are down he will then
summon a minor undead called a Baneful Delver. The tank can usually
solo this mob down and DPS should ignore it and focus on burning the
boss.
Bonehew the Thunderer
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Lets rock!
Bonehewer is the next encounter and the one that may seem the most
daunting on the surface, but with proper positioning he will soon be
rubble. Employing some rather annoying mechanics, Bonehew should always
be tanked away from the ranged and healer and melee should always be at
his back. Intermittently during the fight the boss will run to the
opposite side of the room and cast an aoe knockback that travels in a
straight line. By sidestepping this and maintaining proper distance, this
fight becomes fairly simple.
Gatekeeper Kaleida
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Are you the keymaster?
The final encounter of the zone, Gatekeeper Kaleida is an exercise in
awareness. This fight will test the healer and tank the most, with DPS
being called on to quickly re-target and burn down crystals. Kaleida
hits like a truck and employs several abilities which can cause a ton
of chaos during the encounter. The most important one is Fireblast
because it does so much damage and most importantly, because it is
easily interrupted. He also has a frontal cleave and a stun which will
keep the tank on their toes. Adding to the mix are the periodic
appearance of two crystals; fire and earth. Fire does a ton of AoE
damage, while earth heals the boss if he is in range. The tank must be
on top of his game and kite the boss away from the crystals without
turning him to face the group and cleave a poor clothie who will
already be at less than full due to the steady AoE inherit to the
encounter. DPS will need to burn the crystals to make the tanks life
easier and some latitude will need to be given to the tank as the boss
seems to know exactly when to use that stun to keep himself near the
crystal for as long as possible. Mind your positioning and make good
use of cooldowns and this fight will be yours.
Deepstrike Mine is one of my favorite instances due to its
excellent ratio of boss encounters to trash, and for its relative
brevity. It also is a great place to really hone your skills and master
the mechanics of your class with its diverse encounters.
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