Sanctum Ophidia Trial Guide

Released in late 2014, Sanctum Ophidia is the third and the most difficult trial of the Craglorn triad, that concludes the zone story. It offers a medium-difficulty spike compared to vAA and vHRC and is quite a polarising experience: some people hate it, some people love it, but no one is left indifferent.

Drops

• Wise Mage (light armor) – 1/5
  Utility: Support (for no-warden groups)
  Worse version of the Infallible Mage set without Minor Slayer and additional damage to Heavy attacks. Stickerbook material
• Twice-Fanged Serpent (medium armor) – 3/5
  Utility: Stamina PvP
  Quite a popular penetration-stacking option for mid-tier PvP. There are better overall options, though, which leaves this set with not a lot of applications.
• Immortal Warrior (heavy armor) – 1/5
  Utility: Tank
  Worse version of Eternal Yokeda, which isn’t the best set in the first place.
• Infallible Mage (light armor) – 3/5
  Utility: Support (for no-warden groups)
  This set became somewhat outdated after the introduction of the warden class (their Fetcher Infection skill gives the same debuff) so you can use another set, but some solo-dps builds and groups without wardens still use it sometimes.
• Vicious Serpent (Vicious Ophidian) (medium armor) – 4/5
  Utility: Stamina DD
  A better version of the Quick Serpent set, that gives Minor Slayer and increases your weapon damage. Useful for stamina solo-builds and sustain-heavy fights (sacrificing damage compared to damage stacking sets).
• Eternal Warrior (Eternal Yokeda) (heavy armor) – 2/5
  Utility: Tank
  Niche and selfish tanking set. Generally, if your fight plan as a tank includes your health dropping below 25% health, and your way of countering it is to hope for a proc with a 1 minute cooldown, you should be aware that there are better ways of dealing with/mitigating the incoming damage.

Group composition

2 tanks, 2 healers, and 8 dds are a traditional way of approaching vSO. The group will have to split into two teams, 1 tank, 1 healer, and 4 dds each.

Throughout the trial, the group will also have to simultaneously press two levels separated from each other. Assign 1 dd from each group for that duty.

Adds before Mantikora

The first trash pack doesn’t pose any threats. Tanks turn them around, and the group kills them.

Follow a road around the cliff on the left and jump down at the end of it. Once you pull the only conjurer in the room, you will encounter several waves of adds. The group should stay in a tight stack, with healers slightly behind keeping up all the HoTs and buffing the group, while the tanks pull everything in. Adds will come from all directions

Possessed Mantikora

This fight is notoriously known for being a pug-run (pug standing for pick-up groups) breaker, because it requires some basic coordination. Before the fight, pick at least 2 dds to deal with the Black Hole mechanic.

Main flow of the fight

Mantikora alternates between 5 basic attacks.

1. Punch aka light attacks, hitting the tank. Don’t do much damage and are harmless for the group as long as the main tank has the taunt.
2. Slam aka explosion. If Mantikora isn’t enraged, does around 5-8k damage to DDs so can be ignored, if the boss is enraged, does around 14-17k to DDs, needs to be blocked. This mechanic applies bleed to everyone not blocking the hit that only goes away after getting healed to full health, but usually doesn’t cause any issues for modern groups.
3. Spear throw aka Poison, targeted at the people who stay the furthest away from the boss. Upon hitting the ground, they stun (if unblocked) and slow down the target, also creating a large AoE that stays on the ground for a while, dealing damage to everyone staying inside. In most groups, 2 healers (and optionally 1 additional DD) are kiting this mechanic and placing AoEs around the outer edge of the arena
4. Quake aka Popcorn. Mantikora raises its head up, and creates 3 consecutive AoE explosions that throw people high in the air like popcorn, unless dodged or avoided (can’t block them). Mechanic affects 3 people at the same time, creating 3+3+3 AoEs in total. Usually as a DD, if you get hit by one of them, you will survive, but since it’s impossible to get out of the next AoEs, unless your healers catch you and target you, you most likely will die.
   The easiest way to avoid this mechanic without it being too much of a reaction check is to run/dodge backwards away from the boss as soon as it raises its head, following individual lines. If you get comfortable with timing you can dodge back, run out of the second AoE and dodge towards the boss through the third one
5. Celestial Nightmare aka Black Hole. After the second Quake, the shadow image of the Serpent will appear, and a black hole on a random player will spawn, creating a huge portal on the ground that closes after 4 people enter it. Inside that portal, the Serpent’s Image waits to be killed. Make sure that the off-tank jumps in the portal and taunts the add, because as a DD you won’t be able to survive the cleave attacks. If the mini isn’t killed in 100 seconds, the main boss becomes enraged. It’s not a forced wipe, you can skip this mechanic altogether and just burn the boss, but make sure to block Slams and kite Spears properly then.

Raid Lead Notes

As of April 2022, Raid Notifier has Quake set to off by default for whatever reason, so make sure to check it with the first time members of your group. The usual sequence is 2 popcorns -> BH -> Slam -> 3 popcorns -> BH, with popcorns usually happening after heavies and slams happening after black holes.. If you’re in a training group, watch the animation and call to spread or dodge when it happens. After Mantikora enrages in execute, popcorns won’t happen again, stack and burn time. Bleed damage from Slams can be ignored.

Adds before the bridge

After Mantikora is defeated, follow the stairs and enter the next room, where you will encounter several types of extra strong adds

1. Serpent Fang. Archers. Need to be taunted and outranged to stack them in the melee spots. Have typical archer mechanics: quick shots and arrow sprays. Not deadly, but can be annoying if overlapped with additional damage sources.
2. Overchargers. Can be familiar to you if you’ve completed Aetherian Archive. Overcharge a random person from the group, creating an AoE dealing lightning damage to everyone inside (needs to be taken out of the group) and activate the Call Lightning mechanic, that target a random player, creating splashes of lightning following their position. Are a priority target, ranged, so need to be outranged to stack them.
3. War-Priests. Melee adds with swords and shields, applying bleed and light attacking.
4. Rockheaver Trolls. Have three main mechanics
   1. Spreading Poison AoE. Is one of the main reasons a lot of people don’t like vSO. Targets random players creating a small AoE that deals significant poison damage over time and that spreads to other players if they get inside the AoE of a targeted player. If the affected player dies to this mechanic, it creates a poison explosion affecting players around in a small radius.
      A good strategy to deal with this is to define a place for poisoned people to stay (left/right side)
   2. Boulder toss. A thrown rock creates an AoE on the ground and deals a lot of damage to the targeted player. Stuns if not blocked.
   3. Ground slam attack. Is similar to Gargoyles in Hel Ra Citadel. Keep out

We won’t describe every pull in major details, because there are a lot of ways to deal with the adds in this raid, but the overall pattern remains the same. We recommend one tank to take War-Priests and Trolls and pick a central position to stack them, and another tank to pick Fangs and Overchargers and outrange them / or break visual contact with them to stack them on melee adds.

• Blue Icon – Overchargers
• Yellow Icon – War-Priests
• Brown Icon with arrows – Fang
• Green Icon – Trolls

Just look at where the spawn points are and plan your pulls accordingly

First bannered adds

One tank takes the War-Priest in the middle and pulls all minor adds, second tank range-taunts the Fang and the Overcharger, runs to the right side near the entrance stacking adds on the War-priest, group tab targets the Overchargers, cleaves everything else.

Stairway pull

First Troll of the trial. If the group goes too much down the stairs it will trigger the next pull consisting of two Overchargers, a Troll and a War-Priest, so if you’re in a less experienced group, kill this pack first, then proceed to go down.

Bridge pull 1

The War-Priest and the Troll will take some time to run towards the group, don’t run too far over the bridge to meet and taunt them to avoid triggering the next pull. Healers, it’s time to keep the group alive now, keep all the HoTs up

Bridge pull 2

Similar idea, but there are two Trolls now, so positioning poisons becomes more and more important. Let the adds come to you, if you accidentally cross the halfway mark of the bridge, the boss fight will trigger.

Stonebreaker

Stonebreaker is a big Rockheaver troll, so he has all mechanics associated with this add and a couple of extra ones.

He will enter the fight coming from across the bridge once anyone from the group reaches the trigger point, accompanied by a War-Priest and a Fang, both need to be stacked at the boss by the off-tank.

Main flow of the fight

The group forms a loose stack around the boss and parses it. At 75%, 1 overcharger will spawn to join the fight, at 50% there will be 2 more overchargers, at 25% – 3 more overchargers. They apply their regular mechanics and need to be killed before the next batch spawns, except for the last pack, those just need to be stacked with the boss and die to the cleave, while the group focuses the main boss down.

Stonebreaker alternates between several mechanics in a rapid succession:

1. Spreading Poison, spreadable poison AoE. If the group forms a loose stack, will be able outhealed without any complications. Similar to regular Trolls, if you die while this mechanic is on you, you will cause an explosion, so stay in your spots and don’t cause a chain reaction.
2. Ground slam. Boss turns around and slams his fists on the ground, creating 3 stone waves. Need to be avoided or at least blocked.
3. Destructive Aura. Similar to Mantikora’s Slam, creates a large AoE, dealing moderate damage to everyone inside. If you’re not affected by any other damage source, can be ignored.

Raid Lead notes

The fight is straightforward. Stop overcharged players from stacking and running behind the healers. Don’t hesitate to use more mitigation options for the last spawn of Overchargers

Split after Stonebreaker

After the Stonebreaker is defeated, the group will see the first set of levers by the door. It’s time to remember who your group has assigned for that duty.

In the next room you will have to press two more levers, each of them is guarded by a set of adds: a Troll, an Overcharger, a Fang. Split into predefined groups, pull the second set of levers and go in the side rooms. Kill Overchargers, then Trolls, then Fangs and small adds. Come back to the main room and stack at the exit door, with the assigned people pressing their levers when everyone is stacked in the middle below.

Adds before Ozara

Two trolls

Tanks roll through them and turn them away. Group kills them.

Don’t fall down

There is a pit on the right, don’t fall down. If you go too far ahead, another group of adds will come from up the stairs

Nothing special about this one

For a better stack, the group can stay around the corner and wait until the tank taunts the overcharger, runs towards the left wall opposite the pack, and once everything is stacked up around the X mark, brings the War-Priest towards all ranged adds

After dealing with the last trash pack you will see two rooms, each will have a lever and a couple of adds, guarding it. Nothing new here, you can deal with them separately, or taunt them across and stack them around the X shape in the previous picture.

Press, levers, proceed up the stairs.

The next pull is arguably the most hectic in the whole trial. It comes in two waves. For the first one, run around the corner and stack up in Group P1. Once the adds start coming out of their spawn points, get out of cover, let the tanks grab them and stack them in the middle, and then get behind a brazier around the Group P2 position for the second wave.

After this group is dead, press the levers and once everyone has their boss setups on, proceed to the next room to deal with the next boss

Ozara

Ozara is a lamia that is accompanied by a War-Priest, a Fang, a Troll, and a bunch of lesser adds, and calls Overchargers to her aid throughout the fight.

The most important mechanic of this fight are Trapping Bolts. They target random players, creating a small AoE on impact, stun-locking everyone inside of that AoE. The affected person can’t escape the trap and can only be released by the people around them. Make sure to watch out for your neighbours.

To minimise the amount of trapped people, we recommend forming a loose stack around the boss and not moving out of positions unless absolutely necessary.

Throughout the fight, Overchargers will spawn, coming from the door near the main tank. They need to be stacked with the main boss and targeted down, because they bring their signature mechanics to the fight (Call Lightning and Overcharge).

Adds before the Serpent

Right after the fight, the exit door will open and a pack of Trolls will appear. Defeat them, loot chests and heavy sacks and get ready for the last add wave in this trial

After pulling the last set of levers you will enter the room with the last boss of this trial, the Serpent. On both sides of the room, there are banners. Burning those banners will activate hard mode. This action cannot be reversed. If you change your mind you will need to reset the instance.

The Serpent

The last fight of this trial should be relatively easy after all the coordination you have built defeating previous bosses.

Main flow of the fight

The boss will light attack and cleave the MT, and then port to the middle and perform the Poison Mist mechanic that will deal a large amount of damage to the whole group.

Poison phase will be followed by Lamias, that need to be taunted away by the OT, because they explode on death, one-shotting everything inside.

After the second poison phase, a Mantikora will spawn from one of the nirncrux pools, MT should stack Mantikora on the main boss, and the group should focus it down, because it enrages after a short period of time.

The next poison phase will be followed by Lamias again, then by a Mantikora.

After the second Mantikora, the group needs to pay attention to the next poison phase, because it will be followed by purple/pink shields, scattered around the arena. Each member of the group needs to take only one shield to avoid getting one-shot.

Throughout the fight, the boss will spawn totems that either increase poison damage done by the boss, or will cause Magicka Detonation on a random player. If Magicka Detonations affects you, your character will start glowing blue, your screen will turn blue, and you will see a message on your screen; you should drop your magicka below 15% to avoid getting fatal damage. Damage is individual, despite a lot of misconceptions, stay in the group. Totems can be killed or ignored.

After the main boss has 0% HP, the final poison phase will start, so the group needs to stack up one more time and outheal the incoming damage

The Serpent hard mode

This fight is arguably the easiest hard mode in the game. The boss has more health and deals more damage, but has only one additional mechanic, World Shaper. The Serpent charges a huge green orb and throws it on a random player, creating a large AoE, one-shotting everything. To avoid getting hit by it, the group needs to watch the animation or Raid Notifier timers, and scatter at the same time. To avoid early starts, it’s better to start running at 0.

Raid lead notes

Keep an eye out for lamias in the group and don’t let the group relax until the last poison phase is over.

Congratulations on completing Sanctum Ophidia!