I'm a GF and have made at least 6-7 PUG attempts at Epic Mad Dragon with 0 success so far, issue with PUG is that most players don't seem to know the fight, even with instructions they don't seem to be on the ball with it. Here is the strat I usually instruct to PUG group, please let me know if anyone thinks any of the strats are questionable:
Ideal Party: TR (tanking boss), GF (tanking waves and imps), DC (look pretty), CW (AoE Imps/CC), anything else
I've had one instance where we had the GWF tanking the boss and doing it reasonably well, but it just seems more intuitive for TR to do it since he can drop aggro on Imps if things get too hot. I've tried tanking boss as a GF but you seem to inevitably have to lose half of your HP from the big wing AOE of boss as you can't shield block it or have enough time to run from it, not to mention that your CW/DC really need you to fend off the 70%/30% spawns.
TR starts off by running behind boss to gain aggro and get him to face the treasure/exit, rest of the party stay reasonably close to one another and as close to the back of the dragon as possible without him obstructing too much of the view. The stock standard stuff. DC should try keep TR alive with Divinity Forgemaster on boss (or any other regen alternative), GF AoE taunt Imps (without taunting boss), CW AoE imps and dps boss when he has time, the usual stuff.
I advise for the Magis to be left completely alone. The short respawn time makes the amount of time it takes to kill one not worthwhile from what I can see. Always on the look out for Magi's stun, as that in conjunction with Dragon's AoE is instant kill.
70% wave: GF rounds up demons and kill.
30% wave: GF kites Erinyes and everyone else focus down boss, if party has a GWF he'd make for a great off-tank against Imps to protect CW/DC.
Notable issues with the strat:
1. Getting imps off the boss-tanking TR/GWF: AoE Taunt from GF is bad as it pulls the boss too. As long as the boss-tank don't damage the imps, they SHOULD automatically aggro DC for the healing, but that's not as reliable as one would hope. CW can try AoE the imps near boss-tank but it's rather difficult with boss in the way.
2. Pulling 30%/70% wave spawns off boss-tank: Similar issue as the one above. This is usually the part where group falls apart, the boss-tank dies either due to spawn or lack of attention from DC, dragon turns around and look at everyone else funny, everything explodes.
3. Erinyes: it's relatively easy for the GF to drag Erinyes around for a field trip but rest of the party have trouble fending for themselves against Imps and whatnot.
admittedly i stopped playing a while ago but i remember this dungeon as the most challenging t1.
i had success with several pugs but many more failures.
the general strategy was:
have someone tank the boss -> GF or GWF ar ebest at that, TR can do it but is generally more useful elsewhere
deal with hellfire magus ASAP -> they won't stop spawning, you have to keep cleaning them up as you go. this is where TR are best at as speed is essential. when magus are down the TR can dish some damage on the boss (that was usually me)
have a DC create a "safezone" for the rest of the party -> always stay nearby the tank however as they might need help
have 2 other characters (generally a CW+1 more) clean imps and help kill/cc the magus while sticking to the cleric.
this generally works provided everyone does their job fine up until the 25% 3 erynny wave. that's the real stress test: immediately cc/burn the erynny with all your daily and dirty tricks. if you survive this part you're done.
usually if we failed during the first part it was because the imp-group couldn't manage the adds or the tank failed to keep the boss from puking on the dc (not because of the magus as being the overgeared TR that i was i could kill those before they got out of hand, random pug might fail that part) but where the most fails really happened was when the 3 erynny spawned. failure to focusfire them down or cc them had hilarious results like boss getting back to 100% health.
Comments
Ideal Party: TR (tanking boss), GF (tanking waves and imps), DC (look pretty), CW (AoE Imps/CC), anything else
I've had one instance where we had the GWF tanking the boss and doing it reasonably well, but it just seems more intuitive for TR to do it since he can drop aggro on Imps if things get too hot. I've tried tanking boss as a GF but you seem to inevitably have to lose half of your HP from the big wing AOE of boss as you can't shield block it or have enough time to run from it, not to mention that your CW/DC really need you to fend off the 70%/30% spawns.
TR starts off by running behind boss to gain aggro and get him to face the treasure/exit, rest of the party stay reasonably close to one another and as close to the back of the dragon as possible without him obstructing too much of the view. The stock standard stuff. DC should try keep TR alive with Divinity Forgemaster on boss (or any other regen alternative), GF AoE taunt Imps (without taunting boss), CW AoE imps and dps boss when he has time, the usual stuff.
I advise for the Magis to be left completely alone. The short respawn time makes the amount of time it takes to kill one not worthwhile from what I can see. Always on the look out for Magi's stun, as that in conjunction with Dragon's AoE is instant kill.
70% wave: GF rounds up demons and kill.
30% wave: GF kites Erinyes and everyone else focus down boss, if party has a GWF he'd make for a great off-tank against Imps to protect CW/DC.
Notable issues with the strat:
1. Getting imps off the boss-tanking TR/GWF: AoE Taunt from GF is bad as it pulls the boss too. As long as the boss-tank don't damage the imps, they SHOULD automatically aggro DC for the healing, but that's not as reliable as one would hope. CW can try AoE the imps near boss-tank but it's rather difficult with boss in the way.
2. Pulling 30%/70% wave spawns off boss-tank: Similar issue as the one above. This is usually the part where group falls apart, the boss-tank dies either due to spawn or lack of attention from DC, dragon turns around and look at everyone else funny, everything explodes.
3. Erinyes: it's relatively easy for the GF to drag Erinyes around for a field trip but rest of the party have trouble fending for themselves against Imps and whatnot.
All advice welcomed.
i had success with several pugs but many more failures.
the general strategy was:
have someone tank the boss -> GF or GWF ar ebest at that, TR can do it but is generally more useful elsewhere
deal with hellfire magus ASAP -> they won't stop spawning, you have to keep cleaning them up as you go. this is where TR are best at as speed is essential. when magus are down the TR can dish some damage on the boss (that was usually me)
have a DC create a "safezone" for the rest of the party -> always stay nearby the tank however as they might need help
have 2 other characters (generally a CW+1 more) clean imps and help kill/cc the magus while sticking to the cleric.
this generally works provided everyone does their job fine up until the 25% 3 erynny wave. that's the real stress test: immediately cc/burn the erynny with all your daily and dirty tricks. if you survive this part you're done.
usually if we failed during the first part it was because the imp-group couldn't manage the adds or the tank failed to keep the boss from puking on the dc (not because of the magus as being the overgeared TR that i was i could kill those before they got out of hand, random pug might fail that part) but where the most fails really happened was when the 3 erynny spawned. failure to focusfire them down or cc them had hilarious results like boss getting back to 100% health.