Hamidon Raid
For information on the pre-Issue 9 Hamidon raids, see Old Hamidon Raid.
Overview
Attempts to defeat Hamidon, generally referred to as Hami Raids, occur regularly on most servers. These are loosely-organized events that bring together many, many players, all hoping to acquire a single Hamidon Enhancement or 40 merits.
With the introduction of Issue 9, Hamidon was revamped and a new strategy needed to be produced to defeat the Hamidon. The new Hamidon was designed to be Archetype and Powerset independent, which means everyone will be able to contribute and there are no specifically desirable builds for a player to have when undergoing an encounter. Additionally, Villains have their own opportunity to defeat Hamidon.
Heroes will encounter Hamidon in The Hive, while villains encounter him in The Abyss.
Enemies
Monsters
A Hive or Abyss instance begins populated with a large number of Devouring Earth Monsters, spawned in pairs. These monsters sometimes drop Essence of the Earth inspirations when defeated. These inspirations will cap resistance against special damage dealt by mitochondria and the Hamidon nucleus for 60 seconds when used.
Once a certain number (the exact number is random and varies each time) of monsters are defeated, the remaining monsters will despawn, and Hamidon will spawn in the center of the zone, along with its initial bloom, six of each of the three mitochondria types.
Mitochondria Antibodies
| Mitochondria Antibodies | Powers | Effects |
|---|---|---|
 |
 Cytoplasmic Blast |
DoT(Special), Knockback, Disorient |
| Cytoplasmic Burst |
DoT(Special), Knockback, Disorient | |
 Resistance |
Def(Ranged, AoE) |
Mitochondria Antibodies' (also known as "yellows") special defense is Resistance, which buffs defense to ranged and AoE well past the hard cap of 175%. They are therefore nearly untouchable except by attacks which lack the ranged and AoE defense types, namely, single target melee attacks, certain melee cones and PBAoEs, certain control and debuff powers, and autohit attacks.
Mitochondria Antibodies' attack, Cytoplasmic Blast, deals high special DoT to targets within a large 45' AoE radius, additionally inflicting high magnitude knockback and disorient.
Mitochondria Antibodies are also protected by a 45' radius PBAoE damage aura, Cytoplasmic Burst, which deals low special DoT, but the same amount of knockback and disorient as Cytoplasmic Blast. The disorient from the two powers easily stacks and can overwhelm status protection toggles without outside status protection buffs.
Mitochondria Electrolytes
| Mitochondria Electrolytes | Powers | Effects |
|---|---|---|
 |
 Contagion |
Fear, DoT(Special), -Recharge, -SPD, -End, -Recovery |
| Aura? |
Fear, DoT(Special), -Recharge, -SPD, -End, -Recovery | |
| Resistance |
Def(Melee, AoE) |
Mitochondria Electrolytes' (also known as "blues") special defense is Resistance, which buffs defense to melee and AoE well past the hard cap of 175%. They are therefore nearly untouchable except by attacks which lack the melee and AoE defense types, namely, single target ranged attacks, certain control and debuff powers, and autohit attacks.
Mitochondria Electrolytes' attack, Contagion, deals special damage to a single target (at first), additionally draining endurance, inflicting fear, and debuffing recharge, speed, and recovery for a long time. A target hit by Contagion will fire a Contagion at a nearby target, thus Contagion can hit several targets, or, often, two nearby targets multiple times.
Mitochondria Electrolytes are also protected by a small radius PBAoE damage aura, which endurance drains and terrorizes like Contagion but deals far greater damage. This makes Electrolytes dangerous to approach without protection.
Mending Mitochondria
| Mending Mitochondria | Powers | Effects |
|---|---|---|
 |
Endocronic Blast |
DoT(Toxic), -Heal, -Regen |
 Heal Other |
Ally Heal, +Regen | |
 Regenerative Aura |
Toggle DMG Res, +Regen |
Mending Mitochondria's (also known as "greens") special defense is Regenerative Aura, which greatly increases resistance to all damage types (for a total of 90% resistance) and buffs regeneration well past the hard cap of 8.33% per second. Regenerative Aura is visible as a green translucent force field surrounding the mitochondrion. If the mitochondrion is held, Regenerative Aura will deactivate at its next tick, leaving the mitochondrion relatively easy to destroy.
Mending Mitochondria's attack is Endocronic Blast, which deals only minor damage to a single target, but severely debuffs the target's regeneration and makes them resistant to heals for a long time.
Mending Mitochondria lack any PBAoE damage aura, and so are safe to approach.
Hamidon
| Hamidon | Powers | Effects |
|---|---|---|
 |
 Electrolytic Blast |
AoE Dmg(Special), Knockback, Disorient, -Heal, -Regen, -End, -Recovery |
| Resistance |
Res(DMG) |
The Hamidon nucleus's attack, Electrolytic Blast, incorporates most of the negative effects of all three mitochondrial attacks. It inflicts high special damage, healing resistance, endurance drain, regeneration and recovery resistance, and a chance for disorient and knockback on multiple targets within a 25' AoE.
The nucleus's special defense is simply having very high resistance to all damage types. There is no known counter to the nucleus's resistance aside from sheer brute force.
Basic Strategy
As of 2009, this is the basic strategy used to defeat Hamidon.
Organization
Raid Leader
Single person who coordinates the raid. This person has the responsibility of organizing the various teams, and coordinating the timing of certain actions within the raid. This person also usually leads one of the teams.
Tanker Team
The tanker team is composed of characters with high hit points and taunt effects, and characters who can heal damage and buff regeneration. Taunters take turns drawing the nucleus's aggro, using a combination of Essence of the Earth, regeneration/maxhp buffs, and healing to survive.
Scrapper Teams
The Mitochondria Antibodies are susceptible primarily to melee attacks, which means that teams of melee-oriented fighters will be needed to deal with them. Group Fly, Group Energy Flight, and Raptor Packs can help the teammates stay within melee range of the target. Regeneration/maxhp buffs, disorient protection, and knockback protection alone may be enough to survive the Antibodies' attacks, but healing and Essence of the Earth can also be used.
Assault Teams
All other raiders are divided into assault teams, who in different stages of the raid distract mitochondria or destroy them one by one.
Phases
Yellow Phase
The initial strategy during the Issue 9 closed beta test involved a single team of melee fighters rapidly entering the cytoplasm, defeating one or two Mitochondria Antibodies (yellows), then escaping before danger sets in. This was made possible in large by the Essence of the Earth inspiration, which negates most of the damage dealt from various parts of Hamidon.
The current standard strategy employs two teams of melee fighters. The teams split up and deal with three Antibodies each. Two teammates on each team solo an Antibody, preventing them from aggressing the rest of the raid, and using a combination of stun protection and regeneration buffs to survive (as well as knockback protection and Essence of the Earth, if needed). The remainder of the team spikes the remaining Antibody, defeating it as quickly as possible as a group, before moving to the other Antibodies.
During this time, the remainder of the raid enters the cytoplasm and distracts the Mending Mitochondria by damaging all Mitochondria Electrolytes. The Mending Mitochondria will heal the Electrolytes, making defeat of the Antibodies quicker. A tanking team engages the nucleus, keeping its aggro away from the rest of the raid.
Blue Phase
The Mitochondria Antibodies are the primary damage from the Hamidon, and once they're removed, the rest is relatively painless.
All Mitochondria Electrolytes (blues) can be taken out in a single sweep. When everyone helps with the same target, the Mitos can be taken out by running a lap around the nucleus. Players generally avoid getting too near Electrolytes, as their close-range aura is highly damaging, and melee attacks are ineffective anyway.
Green Phase
The Mending Mitochondria's (greens) Regenerative Aura heavily resists all damage types and caps the mitochondria's regeneration. When a mending mitochondrion is held, Regenerative Aura will deactivate at its next tick, leaving the mitochondria nearly defenseless.
Nucleus Phase
After the Mitochondria are removed, only the nucleus remains. At this time, anyone with resistance debuffs and damage will attack the nucleus, slowly wearing it down. The nucleus's resistances are high, so a large amount of damage is necessary to overcome the nucleus's regeneration and defeat it, encouraging the concerted effort of all raid participants, except for designated teleporters.
Blooms
When the Hamidon reaches 75% HP, a full set of Mitochondria will spawn. This is known as a "bloom." Six more each of yellows, blues and greens will appear just as they did when Hamidon spawned. Another bloom occurs when the Hamidon reaches 50%, and the final bloom occurs at 25%. The bloom at each level can occur only once per raid; for example, even if the Hamidon heals from 75% back to 100%, it will not get another bloom until 50%.
The Hold Phase of the old Hamidon raid is no longer feasible, as blooms occur even if the Hamidon is held. Additionally, it takes 30 or more players to Hold Hamidon, and even so only for a second or two.
When a bloom occurs, the sudden onset of powerful AoE attacks will effectively wipe any player in the cytoplasm. Since it is not possible to evacuate the cell while keeping up sufficient damage-per-second, the cytoplasm is quickly evacuated at every bloom under the standard strategy to avoid a raid wipe and hospital trips, which could lock participants out of a full instance.
Each team usually designates one person with the Assemble the Team veteran reward power to evacuate the team each bloom. Two or three teammates with Assemble the Team are needed. This way, all players can be evacuated from the Hamidon and revived if necessary in order to take out the Mitochondria once more.
Nuke-Based Strategy
When Hamidon is defeated, any remaining Mitochondria vanish. This fact led to an alternative approach to the Hamidon raid. The nuke-based strategy involves ignoring blooms and using buffs and debuffs, especially those from the temporary powers Biological Mutagens and Chemical Burn gained from the Missile Launch Mission in Warburg, to defeat the Hamidon nucleus quickly enough to survive. Nuke-based variants that have so far been successful include:
- Clearing three blooms normally, then nuking Hamidon quickly from 25%, ignoring the final bloom.
- Clearing two blooms normally, then nuking Hamidon quickly from 50%, ignoring the third and fourth bloom. Risks having to face a double bloom if the nuke strategy fails.
- Clearing the initial bloom normally, then nuking Hamidon quickly from 75%, ignoring all additional blooms. Risks having to face a double or triple bloom if the nuke strategy fails.
Success
When the Hamidon is defeated, a trial reward dialogue will appear offering a random Hamidon Enhancement or 40 Reward Merits.
A character must be level 47 or higher to select the Hamidon enhancement. Level 45 and 46 characters can only choose the merit reward.
Failure
The basic strategy is not in danger of failing, so long as there are sufficient characters present to complete the raid. The "Yellow Dawn" of the Old Hamidon Raid has been eliminated, meaning that the situation will never turn hopeless so long as the raid faces one bloom at a time. Since the basic strategy calls for evacuation after every bloom, the situation is controlled and multiple blooms do not occur.
In contrast, the nuke-based variant strategy is possibly in danger of failing, because multiple blooms are intentionally allowed to occur. So far, one failed nuke-based raid has recovered, clearing a double bloom, then the nucleus, using the basic strategy.