Kil’cik the Swarm Lord

Things to Know

Group Composition

Recommended: Have at least 16 people, including 1 tank, 3 healers and the rest DPS. As the easier Ossus boss, a full 24 person group is not required, though it does help with downing the mass amount of adds.

I’m Crazy, So Why Not? Kill the boss with 8 to 12 players, including 1 tank, 2 healers and the rest DPS.

Rewards

Kil’cik tends to drop Ossus decorations with some frequency.

The faction currency for Ossus is a frequent reward.

A weekly Ossus mission can grant additional rewards and reputation. It requires players to kill both Kil’cik the Swarm Lord and R8-X8 Heavy Tank Droid. It’s also a requirement for the Flesh and Steel story mission.

Difficulty

The main issues groups will have in this fight are extreme lag, and getting overwhelmed with adds (which, as you may be able to guess, are intimately connected).

Tactics

Mechanics

For tanking Kil’Cik, you should put your back to a wall to nullify the knockback. Choose a section of wall where you can move along it periodically, as you will need to avoid the boss’ Caustic Sludge (often referred to as spit). You may also periodically be stunned by the boss.

Under no circumstances should you push yourself up the hill to the East of the arena – this typically ends up with groups taking extra damage from Caustic Sludge. Just stay in the open area against the wall.

Have all the DPS and healers gather directly behind the boss so adds group up as a result. Melee player will want to be mindful of standing in Caustic Sludge, or spit. Else, the only thing to be mindful of past that point is to manage add spawns.

Since everyone is stacked up around the boss, simply let them come under the boss, have the tank/off-tank AoE taunt, and AoE the entire group down.

If players stand outside the group they are more likely to be killed when adds gang up on them. Adds include medics, elites, champions and strong mobs.

Abilities

  • Medic!: Summons a Geonosian Combat Medic during the cast. Typically 2 are summoned at a time. The cooldown of this skill is 60 seconds.
  • Guards!: Summons adds called Guardian of Kil’cik on a 60 second cooldown. Typically two are summoned at a time. The adds deal weapon damage.
  • Slaves! Get Them!: Summons adds called Geonosian Slave on a 45 second cooldown. Typically summons 4 adds. Can be interrupted. This add deals weapon damage.
  • Vengeance!: Applies a buff to nearly Guardian adds to buff their damage done by 100% and reduce damage taken by 15%. This lasts 38 seconds or until they die. The buff can go out up to every 15 seconds and has as 2 second cast.
  • Violent Incentives: Applies a buff to nearly Slave adds increasing their damage by 100%. This occurs about every 15 seconds and the buff lasts 50 seconds or until the add dies.
  • Melt Armor: Indicated by a 1 second cast, this drops a puddle of spit on the ground that, if stepped in, applies a stacking debuff called Caustic Sludge that deals progressively more damage. The debuff will fall off if not refreshed within 2 seconds. It deals damage and also reduces defense by 20% per stack, up to 5 stacks total.
  • Psionic Flash: This ability stuns the target for 3 seconds and deals 3 ticks of damage. It is preceded by a debuff called Whispers of the Hive that lasts 30 seconds, which causes the next Psionic Flash to stun the affected player.

Role Tips

What you should know if you’re playing a Tank, DPS or Healer in this fight.

  • Put your back to a wall to mitigate the frequent knockback.
  • Move to the side to step out of the Caustic Sludge (green spit) any time Kil’cik casts Melt Armor.
  • Help group up adds to ensure they don’t kill DPS or healers, and if an off tank, watch out for your fellow group members by helping pull adds off of stragglers that aren’t stacking up.
  • Stay behind the boss and out of spit.
  • Stack up, regardless of your range. Even if you aren’t melee, stacking up behind the boss with the tank and healers allows easy add management. There’s nothing to gain by standing out other than greater damage taken and a longer fight.
  • Keep the tank alive as they may be taking intermittent spike damage whenever they pick up adds or are stunned in spit circles.
  • Help group up adds and players. Sage/Sorcerer pull abilities are particularly helpful in wrangling DPS standing outside the group. You can also throw out interrupts on the medic adds.
Kil’cik the Swarm Lord abilities, buffs and debuff icons

Damage Profile

  • Skill Name: Melt Armor and Caustic Sludge
  • Damage Type: Force/Tech > Elemental
  • Frequency: Occurs up to every 20 seconds.
  • Damage Spread: AoE circle on the ground.
  • How to Defend: Don’t stand in the spit. Watch for the red circle, and move out of the resulting green puddle. This skill is signaled by a 1 second cast and a stacking debuff if you’re in the wrong spot that decreases all your defenses by 20% per stack, up to a total of 100% or 5 stacks. Avoid it. It takes 2 seconds to fall off.

  • Skill Name: Kick
  • Damage Type: Force/Tech > Kinetic
  • Frequency: Occurs up to every 15 seconds, though is very low priority.
  • Damage Spread: Single target instant hit.
  • How to Defend: Deals moderate damage, but will not be used unless all other abilities are on cooldown. Impossible to predict.
  • Skill Name: Psionic Flash
  • Damage Type: Force/Tech > Internal
  • Frequency: Occurs up to every 25 seconds.
  • Damage Spread: Single target
  • How to Defend: Watch for the 3 second cast and be ready for the following stun. A stun break works. It takes multiple instances of Psionic Flash to actually be stunned, so it may not occur every time the skill is executed.

  • Skill Name: Flurry
  • Damage Type: Melee/Ranged > Ranged
  • Frequency: Occurs up to every 2 seconds, though is very low priority.
  • Damage Spread: Instant, single target flurry with 5 blows.
  • How to Defend: Deals moderate damage, but will not be used unless all other abilities are on cooldown. Impossible to predict.

Additional Resources

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Help, input and feedback was provided by:

  • Khazad Sanci
  • Erani

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