Talk:The Shatterer (achievements)

Getting the Lightning Reflexes achievement without HoT/gliding

A video has been made, explaining how to get the achievement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDK5x0PR2FM).

I don't have Heart of Thorns so I can't glide, but my Lightning Reflexes achievement is currently at 2/40, and I'm not sure exactly how I got it, though I suspect it has to do with dodge rolling.
I do sometimes dodge roll twice under The Shatterer to get from his right side to his left side, to tag the branded and pick up loot on his left side (I usually stand by his right side to fight). I remember during one of those dodge rolls, the 1st tier (1/1) of the achievement popped up on the right side of my screen.

So, what exactly is his "Focused Lightning" attack? How does it look like? And when do I know he's about to use it?
I would like to try to deliberately get this achievement instead of accidentally from now on, so I would like to know if there are any tells when he uses this skill. --138.75.212.57 08:16, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

Update: I just did Shatterer again and I'm at 4/40 now. I saw the "crosshair/target" above my character (the same one that those who are gliding will see) while moving/dodging underneath him on my 3/40 attempt. It's very difficult to see, because his body will block your camera and obstruct the view of your character most of the time.
I still have no idea when the target icon will appear or how to get it to appear. I'm just randomly dodging under his body during the fight now and hoping it will add to the total to try to progress the achievement. --138.75.212.57 10:36, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

When you are gliding, there are two tells (apparently) for when he is about to do that attack: the target above your head and a lightning symbol on your buff bar (I've never seen the Lightning icon since I have no trouble seeing the target above my head). I don't know when he does that attack, but I have found that I see the target almost every single time I glide, so I think he is using that attack VERY often. Hekela (talk) 16:48, 15 February 2016 (UTC)

I've been trying Shatterer for about a day and I'm up to 23/40 now. It's impossible to be certain of most things, and whether this is a bug for non-gliding characters. Here are my observations:

The Lightning icon on the buffs row/bar appears more than half the time when you move underneath the Shatterer. It doesn't appear sometimes though. I think it's random, and sometimes it's based on the phase of the fight. For example, when it's the pulsating crystals healing him phase, there definitely won't be any lightning icon.

The Lightning icon can appear on your buff bar and remain for a random amount of time before disappearing. It's quite unpredictable. I've stood in the same place and had the Lightning icon appear for a few seconds before disappearing for a while. Also, I've had the Lightning icon on my buff bar for at least 5 seconds (maybe more) as I'm moving around under him trying to avoid dying, but no target icon appears on my character.

Dodge rolling with only the Lightning icon doesn't add to the achievement. You have to dodge roll with the target icon above your character for it to count.

The target icon appears for at most 1 second only before disappearing. While I'm on the ground, there's no penalty for missing a dodge roll while the target icon is on you. I find it very difficult to progress the achievement because the window of opportunity is VERY short, probably less than 1s. I have to zoom near my character to see stuff clearly (especially since the Shatterer keeps obscuring the view) and be hyper-alert to the appearance of the target icon. Once I see it appear, I quickly dodge. Sometimes it doesn't add to the achievement even when I do this, probably due to server lag and the window being so short. Also, the Shatterer has many CCs that can interrupt you (crystal prisons, crystal shockwaves, some of his Branded minions too) while you're moving about and trying to dodge roll, and his red circle AoEs do DoT that bypasses your armor. Not to mention endurance limitations and Branded attacking you too, all of which make trying to get this achievement very tedious and unpredictable without gliding.

Basically my method for increasing this achievement is:

(1)Keep running around under the Shatterer trying to survive and hoping the Lightning icon appears on your buff bar; if it appears, there is a chance for the target icon to appear above your character; once the target icon appears, I have to dodge roll immediately, and hope it counts.

(2)Dying is quite common, too bad there's no repair anvil nearby because I've been running around naked towards the end of the fight. I eat Bowl of Orrian Truffle and Meat Stew and change traits for more endurance. --138.75.212.57 16:58, 16 February 2016 (UTC)

Update: I now have 11/10 of the Shatterer achievements without a glider, just like people who have HoT. There are several things I wrote previously that I would like to clarify now that I have more experience and knowledge:

There are actually 2 "Lightning" icons. I didn't notice the 2nd Lightning icon previously, and thus all my mentions of the Lightning icon above are referring to the 1st Lightning icon. The fights have been too intense for me so far to be able to mouseover to see their names or take screenshots, but I may try to do that next time I happen to fight the Shatterer now that I don't have any more Shatterer achievements to go for.

The 1st Lightning icon appears on your buff bar when you stand very close to or underneath the Shatterer (from a non-glider's perspective). It is a light blue Lightning icon with a lightning design similar to the Elementalist's F3 Air Attunement icon. While this buff is on you, you have a chance of gaining the 2nd Lightning icon.

The 2nd Lightning icon also appears on your buff bar, usually to the left of the 1st one if I remember correctly (can be confirmed by taking screenshots next time). It is dark blue, and the icon looks like an "X" formed by lightning. It appears for exactly the same duration as the target icon above your character. When you see this, dodge roll immediately and hope that it counts towards the achievement.
The reason I didn't notice this previously is because it appears for less than 1 second (now that I think of this very short duration, a video recording is probably better than trying to take screenshots). I presume that dodging while this 2nd Lightning icon and target icon is on you will increase the achievement, but due to the extremely short duration and possible lag, it doesn't always count when you do dodge.

But after I noticed all this and started to deliberately only dodge while the 2nd Lightning icon is up (much easier than seeing the target icon since the buff bar icons are never obstructed), I started to progress the achievement much more quickly than before.
You have to hang around under the Shatterer and hope that the 1st Lightning icon appears.
When it appears, you don't have to move around unless you're dying. You can stand still until the 2nd Lightning icon appears. There doesn't seem to be a fixed time for the 2nd Lightning icon to appear. I have stood with the 1st Lightning icon for about 10 seconds before without the 2nd Lightning icon appearing, so it seems to be random if you're not gliding.
When the 2nd Lightning icon appears, immediately dodge roll and hope you "did it in time" for the game to count it. Note that when the 2nd Lightning icon appears, the 1st Lightning icon still remains on the buff bar with it. When the 2nd Lightning icon disappears (presumably after the window is over or you successfully dodged), the 1st Lightning icon will disappear too.
After this, I'm not sure how soon the 1st Lightning icon will re-appear on you and whether you have to re-adjust your position relative to the Shatterer. --138.75.212.57 02:12, 18 February 2016 (UTC)

There's something else I've noticed which could explain why watching for the target icon above your character is a poor tell compared to watching your buff bar for the 2nd Lightning icon instead. There's a branded minion called Veteran Branded Ravager (if I remember correctly) that pounces on you and tries to pin you down and you have to use a stun breaker or stability to escape. His tell when he's about to pounce on you is the exact same target icon that Focused Lightning uses. --138.75.212.57 07:40, 18 February 2016 (UTC)