Having just recently reached the milestone of S rank after SO MANY attempts, I thought I'd share my personal approach to this instance that might help current A rankers overcome those final few steps into S rank.

Keep in mind that some of the information in this guide may conflict with other shugo guides. Frankly, because this guide is based on my personal approach to S rank, some of the information is opinionated, so please read the following with a skeptical eye. That being said, I'll justify the decisions I've made as much as possible.

Also, I will skip over the players' jobs before the final room because at this point, most players know what to do prior to entering the final room, and many shugo video guides do a good job of explaining this part.

Emnity in this instance:

* Unlike aggro in most Aion PvE instances, aggro in this instance is NOT dependent on gear, class, or even level. It is completely random, and every toon has its own emnity. The only way to determine whether your toon has more emnity than your teammates is to do a test run and see which of the three holds aggro WITHOUT the templar's healing skill, the reason being that the templar's healing skill will immediately steal aggro from all teammates

* There's a rumor that older toons have more emnity in this instance than newer toons, but I've yet to confirm this

Prerequisites:

* Around 100ms ping, preferably less. Ping is extremely important in this instance because ping - being the time it takes for information to travel from your computer to the server - affects the delay time between the moment you hit that attack button and the moment your toon actually attacks. Simply put, the lower your ping, the higher your hits per second

* A tombstone of revival in your inventory AND KEYBOUND. It is VERY likely that your group's templar will die near the end of this instance more than once. Having a tombstone of revival keybound will allow you to INSTANTLY resurrect your dead teammate with minimum interruption from your dps rotations

*A 4k DP Jelly popped before you enter the instance. Having 4k DP to use on the early mobs will save you precious seconds due to the fact that you'll reach the final room sooner if you use more DP attacks

**** Knowledge of your toons' emnity (see "Emnity in this instance"). The toon with the MOST emnity MUST be the templar; the reason is that by consistently holding aggro, the templar guarantees that the shield that comes with the healing skill won't go to waste. In other words, the complication of the healing skill stealing aggro from teammates (and ultimately wasting the extra hp of the untouched shield) is GONE if the templar is the one holding aggro the entire time.

* Some form of communication such as Teamspeak or Vent (reason explained in The Templar's Role)

* Keybound skills for your respective class (for obvious reasons)

The Templar's Role (mob rotation phases):

* The templar role is arguably the MOST important role in this instance, with arguably the highest skill cap because they play the vital role of being the group's "manager" and leader. They are responsible for managing the number of mobs being aggro'd, the group's HP, and the group's destination in the final room

*** Every class, including the templar, MUST know the conventional CC rotation (templar pull -> gladiator aetherhold -> sorcerer freeze) in order to DEVIATE from it. The reason the templar MUST deviate from this rotation is because the templar's pull CC has a longer cd than the gladiator's aetherhold skill. This is where teamspeak/vent comes in handy; it is the templar's responsibility to CALL OUT whenever he cannot use his pull on a group of mobs that he just aggro'd so that the gladiator can take over with his aetherhold skill. Doing this maximizes the amount of time the corner mobs are NOT attacking you (the templar), which saves SIGNIFICANT amounts of time and HP

* A general rule of thumb for aggroing mobs: if you do NOT have the shield buff up, do NOT aggro more than 10 mobs, the reason being that all players' aoe attacks and aoe CC's only affect up to 8 mobs. In other words, the extra aggro'd mobs that AREN'T being CC'd or dps'd are doing "free damage" on you while your teammates are dealing with the other 8

* With the exception of the first several seconds of entering the final room, the templar - for the most part - should be popping the healing skill on himself the instant it cools down; the only time the templar should ever delay this skill is if he's extremely healthy (AKA the first several seconds of the final room)

* The templar must lead the group to all 4 corners during the first mob rotation phase (before killing the first boss) because your group MUST kill every single mob in the room during the first mob rotation phase (in order to spawn the 2nd boss immediately after killing the 1st boss)

The Templar's Role (boss fights):

* These boss fights are the source of most of the damage your group will receive in your quest for S rank, and the templar - with its massive hp pool, hp pots, healing skill, and shield - is the only thing standing in the way of a complete wipe. Therefore, the templar must be both conservative (to reserve HP for later bosses) and efficient (to reserve time for later bosses). Sadly, because the bosses are now ridiculously fast, you have no choice but to face tank them with the exception of the AOE attacks

*** Templars MUST conserve their hp by avoiding EVERY SINGLE AOE skill from the first balaur boss onward. There are 3 balaur bosses in this instance, each becoming subsequently harder to kill up to the S rank boss. All balaur bosses have an UNAVOIDABLE single-target cast-time nuke called Fatal Fury which you will have to face-tank. HOWEVER, EVERY OTHER CAST-TIME ATTACK IS AN AOE THAT IS AVOIDABLE BY SIMPLY RUNNING ABOUT 10 METERS AWAY BEFORE THE CAST TIME FINISHES. I cannot emphasize avoiding these AOE attacks enough; if the templar is hit with even one of these AOE's, your chances of beating S rank drop dramatically. If the templar is hit with one specific AOE attack called Drakan Bomb (a 50k AOE damage attack), you might as well give up on S rank at that very moment.

*** The trick to avoiding these AOE attacks is standing a few meters away from the boss. As barely noticeable as it is, your attacks DO HAVE SIGNIFICANT RANGE, and it's important to exploit this to give yourself a headstart when you start running away from the boss as he casts his AOE drakan bomb/balaur snare/etc.

* Templars must also gradually lure a few mobs at a time from a nearby corner WHILE dpsing the boss. The reason for this is because these extra mobs can actually INCREASE your group's dps on the boss in the form of gladiator aetherhold -> sorcerer searing blaze (which will STILL hit the boss); in addition, extra mobs killed during this time mean less mobs that the templar will have to aggro after killing the boss, meaning LESS DAMAGE during the mob rotation phases

The Gladiator's Role (mob rotation phases):

* The gladiator is arguably the 2nd most important class in this instance because gladiators are the group's PRIMARY source of dps. However, because their job is primarily straightforward dpsing, they are arguably the easiest of the three classes to play. Ultimately, the templar's job is actually to protect the gladiator

* Gladiators MUST ONLY EVER TARGET BOSSES OR THE CORNER MINIBOSSES. The reason is that gladiators have a strong single-target nuke that does 18k damage; it's extremely important that this precious skill isn't wasted on "trash mobs" that will probably die from your teammates' regular AOE's anyway

* As mentioned in the Templar Role section, gladiators are responsible for aetherholding prematurely when the templar calls out his pull cooldown on teamspeak as well as following the conventional CC rotation when the templar's pull is NOT on cd

The Gladiator's Role (boss fights):

* Being the highest-DPS class in this instance, the gladiator is essentially the one who determines how long the templar will have to suffer the boss's damage, so maximizing use of the single-target 18k nuke and the 15k AOE attack are a MUST in these fights. Boss fights are where gladiators make the most impact

* Unlike the templar and sorcerer, the glad isn't as burdened with having to avoid the boss AOE attacks. A drakan bomb hitting the gladiator in the middle of his 15k AOE animation is NOT the end of the world. That being said, the gladiator should still avoid MOST of these AOE attacks to conserve HP in case the templar dies; every gladiator skill EXCEPT the DP attack and the 15k AOE attack is kitable, so for the most part, the gladiator should have no excuse not avoiding most AOE attacks.

* The same strategy for avoiding boss AOE attacks for templar applies to gladiator as well

*The gladiator should be the last person to use their resurrect stone on the dead templar because of how important gladiator dps is during boss fights; even a split second wasted insta-rezzing the templar can be the difference between an A and S rank

* Gladiators must aetherhold extra mobs that the templar has lured so that the sorcerer can exploit these mobs for extra DPS on the boss in the form of searing blaze

The Sorcerer's Role (mob rotation phases):

* Sorcerers are arguably the least important class in this instance due to their low dps compared to the gladiator as well as the long cd of their CC freeze spell; however, they are - in my opinion - the 2nd hardest class to play because of their demand for good reaction time and clicking skills. You can still get A rank with an inexperienced sorcerer, but a highly skilled sorcerer is a must for S rank

* Upon entry into the final room, the sorcerer should aggro extra mobs that the templar missed in the first and second corner (which will for the most part be mobs near the center of the room). The reason for this is so that the sorcerer can eat up some of the group's damage instead of the templar or gladiator. You want to minimize damage to the templar for obvious reasons, but you likewise want to minimize damage to the gladiator because the gladiator is the group's primary source of dps.

*** Sorcerers MUST be able to mouse-click aetherheld mobs every time the gladiator aetherholds a group of mobs as part of the CC rotation; this is so that they can use the spammable, hard-hitting searing blaze skill. Generally, because the gladiator is supposed to only target the corner minibosses instead of the trash-mobs, the minibosses will most likely be aetherheld, so when in doubt as to what mob to click, click the big corner-miniboss

* Sorcerers must follow the conventional CC rotation, which is a no-brainer compared to the templar and gladiators' job of deviating from the CC rotation

The Sorcerer's Role (boss fights):

* Boss fights are exceptionally skill-demanding for sorcerers because not only do they have to concentrate on mouse-clicking; they also have to watch out for boss AOE attacks

*** Sorcerers MUST click and searing blaze mobs that the gladiator has aetherheld; as a consequence of searing blaze's AOE effect, searing blaze will also hit the boss, dealing massive damage that will speed up a boss fight and ultimately reduce damage to the templar

** Sorcerers - like templars - are burdened with having to avoid cast-time boss AOE attacks nearly 100% of the time. A mistake in avoiding a weaker AOE attack such as balaur snare won't ruin a S rank run; however, failing to avoid a strong AOE attack such as drakan bomb will significantly jeopardize a S rank run because of how small the sorcerer's hp pool is. The burden is harder on sorcerers than templars because sorcerers will - during searing blaze bursts - NOT have the luxury of targeting the boss to see the cast bar appear. On these specific occasions, sorcerers will have to rely on the boss's animation as a signal for an AOE attack, hence the relatively high technical-skill demand for a sorcerer




I realize that some of these points may not be conveyed clearly, so if you have any questions about anything in the guide or need clarification, please ask away!