Frost DK Artifact Challenge Guide

[Hyper27]

Hey bros,
Here is my guide to killing Archmage Xylem, the frost DK artifact challenge boss. Curious to see what you guys thing about the new appearance and the difficulty of this run. Let me know if you have any questions

[Xlink]

This does not seem possible as a 903 ilvl DK. I cant pretty consistently get to second arcane phase, but can't keep up with the damage afterwords.

[bylahgo]

Gratz on completing it. As a 898 Frost DK, i have no hope of beating it right now. Your video has helped me make progress, but I take too much damage. I shall try again at a higher ilvl. Thanks for sharing this.

[Terion]

Is it possible to locate somehow the boss on arcane phase with macro? Too hard for me to see him =|

[Hyper27]

I doubt it, since he can't be targeted in the arcane phase. I would suggest nuking down the closest image, and starting on a 2nd one while you're in the bubble looking around.

[hasslehoof]

did it using sephuz's/hb helm as my legos, wasn't easy and I had 914 equipped, think it took about 19 pulls including 4 where I died instantly due to thinking the frost ring just blocked your path instead of one shotting you.

main thing is to just be very patient with your defensive cds, first frost phase I'd use my fang of tichondrius on the first blizzard, ams on 2nd and nothing on the 3rd, this gives time for AMS to be back up for the arcane phase when he blinks away and you have to find him , after that it's pretty much luck if you have AMS ready for the 2nd time he does it (unless he spawns close enough that you can run to him before you take damage). 2nd frost phase I repeated except I used SF on the 3rd wave to get out instantly, pushed him after that with about 10s left before the next Arcane phase.

if you're low at this point, remember that you drop combat. Eat food/use bandages etc whilst you're waiting for the next mob to pop up, then just go HAM and use your cds with drums/2nd pot etc after you've killed the first wave of adds, tbh the last phase was incredibly easy for me despite not having any of my CDs ready first time going in to it but I can see people with worst gear struggling so it might be a good idea to make sure you plan ahead on when you're using your offensive cds. I one shot the last phase with barely any space left due to my cds being fucked, but it was still very VERY easy.

as a final note, only use IBF if you 100% know you're going to die, don't panic press it because chances are you'll only get 1 use of it the whole of p1.

[Dristereau]

Had a few attempts tonight as Frost DK (905, 2 piece Tier Set with AMS Cloak/Toravon's Wrists). Found I could get through the cycles relatively stable, using AMS to heal up from his casts. Spamming Howling Blast on the Frost Spikes when out of the Comet Storm was useful for Dark Succor healing. Was able to get to about 65%, died three times to the Arcane/Shimmer phase. Just plain could not see it and died twice to the 6 Mil wipe.

I think it is possible with around 900 ilvl. I just can't see the shimmer well right now so I'm not having any more tries right now. The rest of it doesn't look too bad for Xylem, I'm just concerned about the adds in the Void phase.

[Hyper27]

Had a few attempts tonight as Frost DK (905, 2 piece Tier Set with AMS Cloak/Toravon's Wrists). Found I could get through the cycles relatively stable, using AMS to heal up from his casts. Spamming Howling Blast on the Frost Spikes when out of the Comet Storm was useful for Dark Succor healing. Was able to get to about 65%, died three times to the Arcane/Shimmer phase. Just plain could not see it and died twice to the 6 Mil wipe.

I think it is possible with around 900 ilvl. I just can't see the shimmer well right now so I'm not having any more tries right now. The rest of it doesn't look too bad for Xylem, I'm just concerned about the adds in the Void phase.

Void phase was easy. First time I got to it, the boss died. They can be gripped and stunned with Remo. I was planning on saving Sindra Fury for 2nd set, but they just died too quick so I used it to push the boss a little quicker. I went into void phase with no cooldowns up, as you can see in the video and still killed it with relative ease.

[Deleted]

Had a few attempts tonight as Frost DK (905, 2 piece Tier Set with AMS Cloak/Toravon's Wrists). Found I could get through the cycles relatively stable, using AMS to heal up from his casts. Spamming Howling Blast on the Frost Spikes when out of the Comet Storm was useful for Dark Succor healing. Was able to get to about 65%, died three times to the Arcane/Shimmer phase. Just plain could not see it and died twice to the 6 Mil wipe.

I think it is possible with around 900 ilvl. I just can't see the shimmer well right now so I'm not having any more tries right now. The rest of it doesn't look too bad for Xylem, I'm just concerned about the adds in the Void phase.

Just an FYI, in the arcane phase, if you struggle seeing the shimmer, use the minimap, you can find him that way by the yellow dot.

[GCD]

anyone else having issues with the targeting of the frost pillars ?

[Deleted]

This shit is so fucking bugged.

10% of the time he port 15meter avoid and instantly comes runing back and begins casting in melee range.
30% of the rime he port just 1 step too far away to grip him so you have to take the extra dmg vom the beams.
And he litterly 100% (9 trys) port like to the end of the world at 15% after doing an frost pillar grave, even with wraith walk, full hp (3.7m) and a grip ready, he just spams you down with frostbolts before you can reach him.

its so fucking random, just infurating at ~30 trys in

hope they patch this garbage

P.S. getting sniped from the dublicates 2sec into the invis phase is so much fun too, such interactive gameplay

P.S.S fick dich tobi _|__

[Ashaeron]

This shit is so fucking bugged.

10% of the time he port 15meter avoid and instantly comes runing back and begins casting in melee range.
30% of the rime he port just 1 step too far away to grip him so you have to take the extra dmg vom the beams.
And he litterly 100% (9 trys) port like to the end of the world at 15% after doing an frost pillar grave, even with wraith walk, full hp (3.7m) and a grip ready, he just spams you down with frostbolts before you can reach him.

its so fucking random, just infurating at ~30 trys in

hope they patch this garbage

P.S. getting sniped from the dublicates 2sec into the invis phase is so much fun too, such interactive gameplay

Just finished mine at 903. Bear tartare is a Must. Sephuz & Prydaz are both fantastic legendaries and basically enabled me at 903. Drapes or Aggramar's might be an okay substitute, but I didn't find them as good and you definitely want survivability/mobility legendary options instead of damage. (I have 7 frost-applicable legs, so I had a lot of choice).

The big problem is the illusion phase for us. You NEED to turn towards the broader platform area, see the port and move towards him IMMEDIATELY, fuck all the little clones, they don't do shit. You get ~1.5-2s of leeway before you start taking damage. I advise always saving AMS for this unless you're about to die. IBF is an emergency heal, I used it during the Arcane Barrage phase (have to save interrupt for Draw Power and Grip for the teleport, so lots of incoming damage) to do a quick top up.

For the burst phase, you CAN change gear/buffs (you drop combat) between Xylem and the Corrupting Shadow, but generally having Prydaz was great. I changed food buffs but otherwise kept everything the same. You can also re-prepot if you don't use a second to kill Xylem (I didn't, not enough of a window).

General recommendations; grip him next to the Razor Ice once you get out, and cleave using HB/RW to get more Dark Succor procs. Frost phase should be relatively easy to survive if you do this and interrupt freely.
Abomination's Might does fucktons of work if you take it. The controlled stun/blind can be more useful for extra interrupts, but I found Abom's gave me more survivability overall. White Walker was my pick of choice as well, as you're getting shelled from range or walking through the shadow burn for 30% reduction. Volatile didn't give enough return, as you need to save AMS most of the time.

[Tyrean]

This shit is so fucking bugged.

10% of the time he port 15meter avoid and instantly comes runing back and begins casting in melee range.
30% of the rime he port just 1 step too far away to grip him so you have to take the extra dmg vom the beams.
And he litterly 100% (9 trys) port like to the end of the world at 15% after doing an frost pillar grave, even with wraith walk, full hp (3.7m) and a grip ready, he just spams you down with frostbolts before you can reach him.

its so fucking random, just infurating at ~30 trys in

hope they patch this garbage

P.S. getting sniped from the dublicates 2sec into the invis phase is so much fun too, such interactive gameplay

I did it with 901 ilvl and the things you are talking about are your fault, not bugs. It is all about where you position him during the frost phase. When you interrupt him, that is when you need to drag him away from the center, his teleport has a range and if you fight him too close to the center he will put the ring on the center and teleport too far away causing you to have to move around one of the beams or use AMS to get close enough to him.

Once you understand how the fight goes, you will see that all of those things you just complained about are not bugs at all, just how the fight works.

- - - Updated - - -

Just finished mine at 903. Bear tartare is a Must. Sephuz & Prydaz are both fantastic legendaries and basically enabled me at 903. Drapes or Aggramar's might be an okay substitute, but I didn't find them as good and you definitely want survivability/mobility legendary options instead of damage. (I have 7 frost-applicable legs, so I had a lot of choice).

The big problem is the illusion phase for us. You NEED to turn towards the broader platform area, see the port and move towards him IMMEDIATELY, fuck all the little clones, they don't do shit. You get ~1.5-2s of leeway before you start taking damage. I advise always saving AMS for this unless you're about to die. IBF is an emergency heal, I used it during the Arcane Barrage phase (have to save interrupt for Draw Power and Grip for the teleport, so lots of incoming damage) to do a quick top up.

For the burst phase, you CAN change gear/buffs (you drop combat) between Xylem and the Corrupting Shadow, but generally having Prydaz was great. I changed food buffs but otherwise kept everything the same. You can also re-prepot if you don't use a second to kill Xylem (I didn't, not enough of a window).

General recommendations; grip him next to the Razor Ice once you get out, and cleave using HB/RW to get more Dark Succor procs. Frost phase should be relatively easy to survive if you do this and interrupt freely.
Abomination's Might does fucktons of work if you take it. The controlled stun/blind can be more useful for extra interrupts, but I found Abom's gave me more survivability overall. White Walker was my pick of choice as well, as you're getting shelled from range or walking through the shadow burn for 30% reduction. Volatile didn't give enough return, as you need to save AMS most of the time.

I actually found that using winter is coming is better because you can stun the adds at the end and control stun archmage to get in a little extra time before he ports away. I also ended up using permafrost instead of volatile or white walker, it was a more consistent shield and it helped with the arcane phase where I needed it more. You can't use grip or interrupt when he is casting arcane into you and it hurts more than frost. So the only thing you can do is heal it and the permafrost shield helped because you could stack it pretty high while he was channeling the meteors at you.



Biggest thing I would say to anyone doing this, it is NOT a DPS RACE! You must live. I think I spent all of my RP on death strike and I even slowed down dps in a couple of places to make sure AMS was up before the shimmer phase. On my kill, I actually had to kill one of the shimmer clones and stand in the bubble long enough for AMS to come off cooldown.

[Cosmic Janitor]

I did it with 901 ilvl and the things you are talking about are your fault, not bugs. It is all about where you position him during the frost phase. When you interrupt him, that is when you need to drag him away from the center, his teleport has a range and if you fight him too close to the center he will put the ring on the center and teleport too far away causing you to have to move around one of the beams or use AMS to get close enough to him.

People keep saying that, but I still had him teleport to the far side of the orb despite dragging him to the elevated part of the outer ring..

[Tyrean]

People keep saying that, but I still had him teleport to the far side of the orb despite dragging him to the elevated part of the outer ring..

He almost always transports to the opposite side of the orb from you. I got him to teleport across the beams a few times, but it is probably programmed to always try to go across the orb. What I am telling you is that you control how far from the orb he teleports by controlling where he teleports from. If you are standing close to the orb, he will be too far away to grip. You need to pull him farther away from the orb.

[Krisppo]

He almost always transports to the opposite side of the orb from you. I got him to teleport across the beams a few times, but it is probably programmed to always try to go across the orb. What I am telling you is that you control how far from the orb he teleports by controlling where he teleports from. If you are standing close to the orb, he will be too far away to grip. You need to pull him farther away from the orb.

This may be true for the first frost phase, but when he starts mixing frost/shadow/arcane towards the end he can TP really far away even when tanked out towards the edge.

[Rixarius]

I just got mine and thought I would share some tips.

I used Prydaz+Helm first phase, helm was nice for breaking out of the ice and prydaz for surviving. Ice phase was easy, got through it consistantly. The shadow phase is what killed me over and over. I used Bear Tartarae, got about half way to the shimmer, then just popped AMS and dashed towards him. This worked for me most the time. The arcane phase was also pretty easy but I stayed at low health because I used my interrupt for his draw power only. Used AMS+DS spam to stay alive. Tried to save AMS for when he teleported away from me. IBF was back up at the end of that phase so I used it during another one of his ice prisons to top off.

I killed it the first time I got to phase 2. I swapped the prydaz out for KJBW for the adds. First set that came out I used PoF+PoPP+Dragon to pretty much insta nuke them and went back onto the boss for a long BoS with lust drums. Then the second set I just popped my trinket and cleaved them down with RW and rime procs. I killed the boss shortly after that set.

If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to help out

[linkumpoot]

I keep failing to the ice shards/razor ice. I can't seem to get/target them down in time. I'm 904. =(
Any tips on dealing with the ice shards?

[Ashaeron]

I keep failing to the ice shards/razor ice. I can't seem to get/target them down in time. I'm 904. =(
Any tips on dealing with the ice shards?

As soon as you kill one, use the free Dark Succor you get off it. RW and even 1x non-rime HB have value. Stock some runes if you're struggling. Make sure you're always at 100% during the frostbolt part.

[linkumpoot]

As soon as you kill one, use the free Dark Succor you get off it. RW and even 1x non-rime HB have value. Stock some runes if you're struggling. Make sure you're always at 100% during the frostbolt part.

Thanks for replying Ashaeron. I think my main issue is even being able to target one of them correctly to death strike it. I use tab targetting. Do you guys suggest other alternatives?