Guide:Temple of Febe Strike Mission Strategy Guide

This guide provides tips and strategies for the fourteenth strike mission and how to defeat Ceus in the Temple of Phoebe. If your group is struggling, the guidelines in the Introduction to Raiding will apply here as well. Check out the glossary page if you're not familiar with a term used in this guide and make sure to run an optimal build from our list of recommended builds for this encounter.

Introduction

Entering the white AoE near the start of the map will bring up a dialogue box to proceed, but the fight won't actually start until players reach the platform. Shortly afterwards, Cerus will leap to the center of the arena and the fight begins.

This encounter has a unique feature whereby the group can target specific abilities to prevent a more powerful version occuring. This allows teams to reduce the threat from the mechanics they struggle with most.

Strategy

Crushing Regret

Shortly after spawning, a random player is targeted by a green AoE as Cerus prepares to slam a claw down on the target. Players should stack inside the green to reduce the damage taken.

Wail of Depair

Next, every player is targeted by a small AoE. After a few seconds, this detonates and leaves an AoE on the ground. Players should move these away from Cerus, but it doesn't need to be too far.

Envious Gaze

A large arrow indicator appears on the group and a short while later, Cerus fires a demonic beam that rotates anti-clockwise around him, dealing very heavy damage and corrupting three boons on players it hits.

The Tormented that spawn during this attack appear near the stack and will often be cleaved down before people even notice them. The other two effects are more serious: Debilitated lowers the player's damage by 25% for 60 seconds, and Residual Anxiety can turn players against their allies if they reach 10 stacks (see below for more details).

Malicious Intent

Below 90% health, seven players are targeted with a medium-sized AoE that will explode after five seconds, dealing 20% of the targeted player's max health as damage to anyone inside. Players hit by multiple AoEs will take a further 200% of their max health as damage, downing them.

Insatiable Hunger

Cerus pulls in a series of orbs from the edge of the arena. Each one that reaches Cerus will provide him a small amount of barrier, but they can be body blocked by players. More conveniently, they can also be blocked by [projectile destruction].

In addition to the small orbs, three larger ones spawn that will provide the boss with a stack of [empowered]. These orbs can only be body blocked by players, and doing so with inflict the player with [insatiable] - causing them to take a small amount of ticking damage for 30 seconds.

Cry of Rage

Cerus charges up a large AoE attack that deals heavy damage and applies Exposed to each player hit. The attack can be dodged, but otherwise is unavoidable.

Split Phase 1

At 80% health, Cerus gains a defiance bar [strength: ??] and begins channelling [Petrify]. Failing to break this bar will restore 20% of health to Cerus, as well as stunning the group for [??] seconds.

If broken, Cerus will split into six Embodiments, each corresponding to one of his six attacks:

• Embodiment of Regret: Crushing Regret
• Embodiment of Despair: Wail of Despair
• Embodiment of Envy: Envious Gaze
• Embodiment of Malice: Malicious Intent
• Embodiment of Gluttony: Insatiable Hunger
• ???

The split phase ends when two of the Embodiments have been defeated. There are three large and three small Embodiments, all of which have the same health. Killing the large Embodiments will prevent Cerus from gaining the Empowered version of their related skill, but killing the small Embodiments has no effect (other than ending the split phase).

As such, groups will want to choose two of the large Embodiments to kill.

Additionally, the large Embodiments will cast empowered versions of their related skill. Failing to deal with these mechanics as normal will give the embodiment stacks of [empowered], which will be inherited by Cerus in the next phase.

Phase 2

Phase 2 is the same as Phase 1, with the exception that some of his attacks will be empowered.

Split Phase 2

At 50% health, Cerus once again gains a defiance bar as he attempts to cast Petrify.

Upon breaking, the group will once again be faced with the six Embodiments. Assuming two large Embodiments were killing in the first split phase, these two will be small and invulnerable. All the remaining Embodiments will be large.

Phase 3

Phase 3 is similar to Phases 1 and 2. Two more of the boss's mechanics will now be empowered, and his attack pattern is slightly different:

Crushing Regret ⇒ Envious Gaze ⇒ Insatiable Hunger ⇒ Cry of Rage ⇒ Malicious Intent ⇒ Wail of Despair ⇒ repeat

Phase 4

Upon reaching 10% health, Cerus gains a defiance bar once more as he attempts to cast Petrify. There is no split phase upon breaking though, instead for the rest of the fight, Cerus will spam Enraged Smash, dealing heavy damage with each cast.