Trials

Trials are all about mechanics. Most of them are not particularly hard when you know what to do, but the last 2 trials (Tower of the Mad Mage, and Zariel's Challenge, which are not in the random queue) are extremely challenging. You need 40k item level to be able to enter the Random Trial Queue, but the scaling for some of the dungeons in the queue is 48k (which means that if you enter the queue below 48k, you risk being significantly underleveled). There are 6 Trials :

• Rise of Tiamat
• Assault on Svardborg
• Cradle of the Death God (CoDG)
• Demogorgon
• Tower of the Mad Mage (ToMM) (not in the random queue)
• Zariel's Challenge (ZC) (not in the random queue)

Rise of Tiamat

Rise of Tiamat requires 15k item level to enter the private queue, and 20k for the public queue. You can buy a key for the chest at the end of the trial (the Dragon Queen's Key) on the Tyranny of Dragons campaign's page (5 Gold + 2 Fallen Dragon Fangs + 20 Dragon Hoard Coins).

It scales your item level to 24k.

Phase 1

Kill the summoners (black to white, left to right, together goes faster). Grab a Dragon Soul from the summoners (you won’t be able to get them later). Kill Severin.

Dragon Souls are the mechanic that will protect you and your party from Tiamat’s Breaths. Each Dragon Soul protects from the breath of the same colored head (not the others). You cannot succeed without them. The most important ones are the Green, Red, and White ones (the Black and Blue ones are pretty much useless). I suggest Healers and Tanks pick the Green Dragon Soul (green head is the deadliest, 4 people with this soul is a good idea), Melee Damage Dealers pick the White Dragon Soul (if the White Head uses its breath attack close to it, melee damage dealers cannot do anything), and Ranged Damage Dealers take the Red Dragon Soul (the second deadliest head, if you do not manage to dodge the damage).

Phase 2

Protect the clerics and avoid the breath aoes. Just make sure the clerics are not hit by monsters so that they fill their meter. When both meters are full, phase 3 starts. It is much faster to NOT kill the monsters, as new monsters spawn and charge the clerics when you kill them. Tanks take the aggro, Healers heal, and Damage Dealers can relax !

Phase 3

You have 5 minutes to kill the heads. Start with the black head (left side) and finish at the white head (right side). If you do not have the dps to kill them all, leaving them at 20% HP is better (they come back at 20% HP if you can’t kill them all at once). That’s where you need the souls. When there’s a big aoe that fills the platform, you need to use the Dragon Soul corresponding to the color of the head.

• Black Head just pushes people away a bit.
• Green Head fills the whole platform with a strong poison. It will kill everyone without the Dragon Soul Protection. The Dragon Soul puts a small green aoe at the feets of its user. Everyone should stay in that aoe while there's poison.
• Red Head just does huge damage and will kill everyone at once except the tankier. It is possible to evade the damage entirely if you dodge twice in a row with good timing (look at Pro Tips). The Dragon Soul Protection puts a small red/orange aoe at the feets of its user. Stay in that aoe while the dragon head is breathing fire.
• Blue Head deals small damage. Healers will heal the damage, no problem, as long as you have proper stats.
• White Head makes a big aoe which freezes the people inside when it lands, and deals big damage to those who stay or go inside. It stays there for a while and isn’t always properly displayed… which is a problem because people tend to run in and die almost instantly… Just move away when the head does its breath attack, and don’t go where it landed for a while. You can cleanse the freeze, but you won’t be able to heal someone who stays in the aoe more than a couple of seconds. If you are a melee dps, the aoe can be a problem. But if you are at range, it won’t be one. Contrarily to the other Dragon Soul Protections, this one requires its user to be in the aoe to cleanse it after it has landed. If you use the power before it lands, it will have no effect.

As the heads will always use their breath when they are engaged, it’s usually a good idea to have someone trigger their breath attack before everyone goes on the platform (especially for the green, red, and white heads). The Heads will use their breath attack every 40 seconds after the first one.

Repeat

If you didn’t kill all the heads at once, and there is still time (timer on the right side of the screen), you will have to start phase 2 and phase 3 again. Start at the White Head the second time, to put all the Heads at low life if you need to do it a third time (if you are fast enough on phase 2, there’s barely enough time for a third phase 3).

Assault on Svardborg

Assault on Svardborg requires 15k item level to enter the private queue, and 20k for the public queue. You can buy keys for the chests at the end of the trial on the Storm King's Thunder campaign's store (Brotherhood Key : 150 Arcane Brotherhood Support ; Elf Tribe Key : 1000 Elk Tribe Support ; Storm Giants Key : 100 Storm Giant Support).

It scales your item level to 24k.

Remember FBI ? Well, you better, because all the mechanics come from there.

There will be Permafrost (ice) on 2 players every 30 seconds or so. If you do not free them, they die. And if they cannot revive, they won’t be able to come back in the arena. Always focus permafrost. That’s the most important thing.

There will also be 2 players with red aoe’s around them and an arrow on their head. They should move away, because it will leave aoe’s which deal damage to those who stay inside.

And from time to time, a player will have an aoe with arrows towards them around them. That’s the time for a big hug. The more people in, the less damage everyone will take. If you fly away with this aoe, you'll die miserably.

Phase 1

Kill the giants. They hit hard, better avoiding their attacks. Staying together is key to be able to heal everyone and be reactive for permafrost.

At the end of phase 1, once you have killed all of the monsters, you have to hide behind a pillar on the side of the arena (left or right, doesn’t matter). If you fail to hide fast enough, you die.

Phase 2

You will alternate fighting the boss and 2 manticores (yup, the first boss of FBI, except there’s 2 of them at once). Just make sure to kill the manticores one after the other and to cleanse poison. Do not forget to focus the Permafrost (ice) in priority.

Phase 3

When both manticores are dead, get into the protection of Serissa. Then you can kill the boss.

Cradle of the Death God (CoDG)

Cradle of the Death God requires 15k item level to enter the private queue, and 20k for the public queue. You can buy a key for the chest at the end of the trial (Omuan Key) on the Jungles of Chult campaign's page (25 Lost Idols).

It scales your item level to 24k.

Alright, this one is a bit tricky. There is a push/pull mechanic wich you need to master if you want to survive until the end. But it can be completed fast and is pretty rewarding (especially on double refinement events for enchanting stones rank 6).

Phase 1

After a couple of waves of enemies, there will be skulls following someone from time to time. They need to move close to the ghost which will appear on one side of the platform. Then, the Damage Dealers must kill the skull in the direction of the ghost. Because the skull will be pushed by the last hit, and it must touch the ghost to damage it.

Then, there will be gelatinous cubes which will spawn in the middle. They will follow the closest player. You need to kill them on every corner to stop the fall of the escalator.

Phase 2

You must kill all the tentacles. Stay together, and hit them one after the other.

Phase 3

Now, that’s the real thing. Avoid the aoes, especially the smaller ones, which are deadly. But stay close to one another. The platform is big enough that Healers cannot heal you if you are on the other side. When the boss disapears, you need to move to the outer side of the platform, and move slowly in the direction of the statues around the arena. They will push you to the center. Do not stay in a red area during this phase, or you will be bumped and will fall from the platform. When the wind stops, change direction immediatly and make sure to be in the inner side of the platform. You will be pulled the other way. As long as you do not fall from the platform during this phase, and avoid the smaller aoes, it is just a big piñata.

After doing the push/pull mechanic twice, the third time, Acerak will appear instead. This is the dps check that will decide of your fate. If you kill Acerak fast enough, then you will be protected from the cry that would wipe you all. Then you can finish the Atropal.

Demogorgon

Demogorgon requires 35k item level to enter the private queue, and 40k for the public queue. You can buy a key for the chest at the end of the trial (the Greater Demonic Key) in the Wondrous Bazaar for 2500 AD.

It scales your item level to 48k.

Demogorgon was reworked with mod 21. What follows was valid before the rework, and is still somewhat valid now. But the trial is more difficult and now requires the two tanks swapping aggro.

You will gradually stack a debuff when you get hit by attacks. If it reaches 16 or above, you will be stunned, then dazed and won’t be able to use your encounter or daily powers. To remove the daze, or the stacks, go to a blue well, like the one at the entrance. If a monster is in the well, it will become orange and it won’t cure the daze nor the stacks.

Phase 1

Only open the purple portals or you will be submerged with monsters. One good Tank stays close to the well at the entrance, and keeps the aggro on Goristro, moving around him to avoid being hit by the aoe and blocking if necessary (do not run around the arena). One good Healer heals the tank. And Damage Dealers stay together to open the purple portals only with the other tank and healer.

Phase 2

Regularly, Demogorgon will cast an attack on everyone. Purple rays go from him to you. To not get hit, rush to a well (blue or orange). If you are hit, you will be dazed (if not dead) and have to go to a well anyway. Never send Goristro to a black portal, that heals him. Send him to a gold portal if you can, or close to the entrance so that dps can still hurt him. It is possible to stun Goristro before he dashes. It helps a lot.

Phase 3

Better tank Demogorgon close to the entrance, so that if people get dazed, they can recover at the entrance well. There will be wells everywhere but if you get dazed, only the one at the entrance will appear to you. Better if people don’t have to run from one side of the arena to the other.

Tower of the Mad Mage (ToMM)

Not in the random queues.

Tower of the Mad Mage requires 25k item level to enter the private queue, and 30k for the public queue (but you'll be crushed if you're not at least 40-45k... and you need tons of training with your guild to be able to complete this one). You can buy a key for the chest at the end of the trial (Tower Key) in the Wondrous Bazaar for 2500 AD.

Your item level is not scaled in Tower of the Mad Mage ! So you need both good stats and a high item level to be able to complete this trial.

This one would require its own section. The mechanics are pretty tough. The dungeon requires very high stats. It is a very long term goal. Do not worry about not being there yet. It took me an entire year to reach the requirements as a F2P, and an entire month of intense training to beat it. It takes time, but everyone can reach them eventually.

Here is a great guide I’ve been reading to prepare for this trial. Thanks to Lightbringer, Sharpedge, and Viral for making it, and Janne for hosting it.

Zariel's Challenge (ZC)

Not in the random queues

Zariel's Challenge requires 25k item level to enter the private queue, and 30k for the public queue (but you'll be crushed if you're not at least 40-45k...). The Master version requires 30k to enter the private queue and 35k for the private queue (while the regular version is forgiving, this one requires you to know every single thing about it perfectly). You can make a key for the chest at the end of the trial (Celestial Key) on the Path of the Fallen campaign's page (25 Canian Iron Bars).

Your item level is not scaled in Zariel's Challenge ! So you need both good stats and a high item level to be able to complete this trial.

Sadly, I cannot explain the mechanics as I've not even tried it, but you can watch videos on Youtube.

Here is a full guide from Rainer.