Nightmare Pilgrim

Things to Know

Group Composition

Recommended: To kill the Nightmare Pilgrim, you MUST have a 16 man ops group with 2 tanks. Having more or less people, or fewer tanks, will result in a wipe. It is recommended to have a group composed of 3 tanks, 4 healers, and 9 dps.

I’m Crazy, So Why Not? You can try to complete this boss with as few as 12 people – two healers, two tanks and the rest DPS. The tanks must know their defensives well to account for only two healers being present. You will likely get multiple rounds of Bloodmark. The ability to solo, duo or down the boss with four people was eliminated with the advent of level sync.

Why can’t you go over 16 group members?

Every group member attacking the boss will gain a stacking debuff called Nightmare Paranoia. The number of stacks equals to the number of players in your group attacking the boss. This debuff deals periodic internal damage, and at more than 16 stacks, deals high amounts of damage that will quickly wipe the group. This is why your group cannot contain more than 16 persons (sub 16 will not cause a wipe due to stacks, but may cause issues making the DPS check in many groups).

Difficulty

Although this fight is substantially easier than it used to be, and no longer requires an AlphaWave Inhibitor, a group that does not follow mechanics or does not have sufficient DPS and heals will wipe. If you die, it is possible to run back to the encounter after reviving to the nearest med center if the rest of the group survives. However this may result in hitting enrage if the group’s DPS is low enough.

Tactics

Mechanics

The fight occurs as follows:

  1. Both bosses are summoned using the Forbidden Knowledge tablet. Each should be grabbed by 1 tank per and faced away from the group.
    • If running three tanks, two should be on the Thing from the Stars while one takes the Nightmare Pilgrim.
    • Ideally the person that clicks is NOT a tank so tanks are free to grab and position bosses immediately.
  2. All DPS focuses on The Thing From The Stars first, attempting to get it down before 90 seconds.
    • Interrupt the 1 second cast of Gore and step out of colored circles as often as possible.
  3. Once the encounter hits 90 seconds, all DPS should pause for around 10 seconds as The Thing From the Stars uses Enrage Gore and the Bloodmark debuff goes out over the next 7 seconds, one per second, leaving 8 players tagged with a debuff that will kill them if they attack The Thing From the Stars while active.
    • Bloodmark lasts 90 seconds and will fall off as the next wave of Bloodmarks go out. A player will never get two Bloodmarks in a row.
  4. Once The Thing from the Stars is dead, everyone attacks and downs the Nightmare Pilgrim, being careful not to attack during his reflect shield which occurs on the same 90 second timer as Bloodmark and lasts for 15 seconds. If the team gets to this point with at least one tank alive, you will be able to finish the fight.

Once killed, anyone who engaged in combat with the Nightmare Pilgrim or The Thing from the Stars will gain a debuff called mental exhaustion which will cause them to take 200% increased damage in the encounter, and a buff that increases certain stats by 50. The prior lasts 5 days, while the latter lasts 5 hours. Any characters with the Mental Exhaustion debuff cannot click on the Forbidden Knowledge tablet. This is not typically an issue as long as one player in the group does not have it.

Making the Fight Easier

The most important mechanic to this fight is Bloodmark. Around every 90 seconds, when Nightmare Pilgrim performs his knockback, the Thing from the Stars will perform Enraged Gore. Enraged Gore is signaled by an orange circle under its feet and is a 1.5s channel. This will be followed by 5-6 Gores in a row (as Enraged Gore temporarily removes Gore’s cooldown). The tank should be ready for massive spike damage. Healers should not cease healing under any circumstances.

For the next 7 seconds after Enraged Gore, the Bloodmark debuff will go out, appearing on a player engaged in combat one by one. The debuffs don’t appear all at once, but rather one per second, so staying out of combat is required until you are sure you will not receive Bloodmark. It typically affects one tank (though not always), and then targets DPS and healers. DPS and tanks should cease damaging the Thing from the Stars for 10 seconds, to account for any latency.

The Bloodmark debuff looks like a bloody skull and lasts for 90s. You can also see a faint white pillar of light on affected players. Anyone with Bloodmark will take higher damage from the Thing’s attacks and massive damage if they attack the Thing. DoTs already ticking on the boss do not cause retaliatory damage, unless they are refreshed.

  • DPS: If you do have the debuff, swap to the Pilgrim, though do not start attacking until his shield has fallen.
  • Tanks: If one of tanks on The Thing from the Stars receives Bloodmark, they should immediately swap roles with the Pilgrim tank. If all tanks receive Bloodmark, they can continue to tank Beast, provided they get focused heals (to deal with increased damage taken) and keep aggro using taunts and NOT attacks.

Once The Thing from the Stars is dead, Bloodmark will no longer occur.

The difficulty of this fight can be eased by bringing a second group of players along to DPS, as long as any group engaged in the fight are in groups of 16 players or under.

Players in the “support” group WILL gain the Bloodmark, Mental Exhaustion and Nightmare Paranoia debuffs, and thus need to observe mechanics. Support groups typically allow the Bloodmark mechanic to be entirely skipped, provided they can kill The Thing from the Stars in 90 seconds or less.

If trading off which group gets credit, at least one member of the support group must stand away from the battle area, drop group, and remain out of combat with either boss to avoid getting the Mental Exhaustion debuff. They can then rejoin the fight for credit and be the one to activiate the Forbidden Knowledge tablet.

Be aware that this second pull may require more healing due to the increased damage going out.

Support groups also significantly increase lag.

Always down The Thing from the Stars first, before attempting to do meaningful DPS to the Pilgrim. If splitting DPS, you will not only deal with more rounds of Bloodmark than is necessary (requiring excess DPS and tank swaps), but you cannot kill the Nightmare Pilgrim before The Thing from the Stars dies.

When Pilgrim gets to 10%, he will put up a shield that lasts until the Thing is killed. Once the Thing from the Stars dies, the Pilgrim will gain a buff that causes him to deal 25% more damage until killed.

  • Be in position before the fight begins. Ranged players should be spread out to the west, healers between the enemies, and tanks should face the bosses away from the group (The Thing from the Stars being tanks against the rock wall and the Pilgrim facing south).
  • During the fight, there will be four different AoE circles going out. Simply stay out of all of them, but especially the white and orange to avoid stuns. Orange circles stop when The Thing from the Stars dies, and the others stop with the death of the Nightmare Pilgrim.
  • Enraged Gore
  • Pilgrim’s Reflect Shield
  • Handful of Grenades

Role Tips

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

  • Face the bosses away from the group. Both enemies have conals, with the Pilgrim’s being a cast and The Thing from the Star’s being its basic melee attack.
  • Be ready for a tank swap on Bloodmark. Note that the Pilgrim will be immobile (and shielded) while reloading its gun, so the Pilgrim tank should move to where The Thing from the Stars is being held, then taunt, and the tank with Bloodmark can move to the Pilgrim, taunting at the end of the reload channel. Do not use a gap closer that deals damage while the Pilgrim is reloading.
  • Watch for stacks of Devour, which increase your damage taken from The Thing from the Stars by 100% per stack. A swap at 2 stacks is ideal. If solo-tanking and trying to kill before Bloodmark goes out, tanks will want to be aggressive about defensive use, provided they keep melee, heals and shield adrenals available for Enraged Gore.
  • The tank on The Thing from the Stars must stack defensives to deal with Enraged Gore and the following succession of Gore attacks (up to 6). Face tanking it will kill you, particularly if you have stacks of Devour.
  • Stay behind the bosses at all times to avoid conals.
  • Step out of any colored circles as these are grenades and AoE attacks that deal massive damage and may stun you.
  • Be prepared to stop damage every 90 seconds. If The Thing from the Stars is alive, wait for an additional 10 seconds, and then check your debuff bar for the Bloodmark debuff. DPS with Bloodmark must swap their target to the Pilgrim, though wait to attack until the Pilgrim’s shield is no longer present. If only the Pilgrim is alive, wait for the shield to go down (15 second cast) before you deal any more damage.
  • The tanks on The Thing from the Stars will take the most damage. Be prepared for frequent spike healing.
  • Periodic raid-wide damage goes out though, if all players step out of colored circles, it is largely healable by an AoE heal here and there.
  • Under no circumstances should you line of sight a tank. The spike damage is extreme in this fight, and depending on their defensive rotation, they may be entirely reliant on heals to keep them alive for short periods.
  • Inexperienced tanks will struggle on The Thing from the Stars and will need extra heals.
Nightmare Pilgrim abilities, buffs and debuff icons

Damage Profile

The Thing from the Stars

  • Skill Name: Gore
  • Damage Type: Melee/Ranged > Melee
  • Frequency: Up to every 9 seconds, with a 1 second cast. Has no cooldown during Enraged Gore and will be cast 5-6 times in a row.
  • Damage Spread: Single target
  • How to Defend: Tanks and DPS should interrupt if at all possible. During Enraged Gore, use a shield adrenal, defensive that decreases melee damage, and any abilities that offer heals. Do not use any retaliatory abilities in case you receive Bloodmark.
  • Skill Name: Devour
  • Damage Type: Melee/Ranged > Melee. Also applies a debuff (Devour) to the player that allows the boss to deal more 100% damage per stack.
  • Frequency: Up to every 18 seconds. The debuff falls off after 20 seconds.
  • Damage Spread: Single target, up to 10 stacks are possible
  • How to Defend: Tanks should swap every 2 stacks of devour (it goes up to 10). If running 3 tanks, merely have the Beast tanks swap. Else, perform a full tank swap.
    • It lasts for 20 seconds and, as a result, is unlikely to fall off unless the tank knowingly stays out of the 4 meter range for the last 2 seconds of the debuff timer (the skill has an 18 second cooldown). This is discouraged as it may turn its melee attack, which is a conal, onto the group.
  • Skill Name: Earth Spike
  • Damage Type: Force/Tech > Elemental
  • Frequency: Up to every 15 seconds, with Earth Spike having a 1.5 second cast.
  • Damage Spread: Indicated by an orange circle, Earth Spike knocks any players caught in it down and stuns them for a short time.
  • How to Defend: Simply step out of the circle.

The Nightmare Pilgrim

  • Skill Name: Rapid Fire
  • Damage Type: Melee/Ranged > Ranged
  • Frequency: A 4.5s channeled conal that occurs every 12 seconds.
  • Damage Spread: This narrow conal follows the target and extends 30 meters.
  • How to Defend: Face it away from the group. It follows the target. Absorb shields work great here.
  • Skill Name: Grenade Salvo
  • Damage Type: Force/Tech. Damage type depends on the “color” of the grenade on the ground (indicated by a circle).
    • White – Cryo Grenade: Stun and elemental damage
    • Purple – Poison Grenade: Internal DoT
    • Red – Shrap Grenade: Slow, Knockback, kinetic damage
  • Frequency: Up to every 20 seconds, with telegraphs lasting for about 4 seconds.
  • Damage Spread: Affects anyone in the visible telegraph
  • How to Defend: Step out of the circle.
  • Skill Name: Grenade
  • Damage Type: Force/Tech > Kinetic
  • Frequency: Up to every 15 seconds
  • Damage Spread: Single target attack
  • How to Defend: This is an instant attack and cannot be predicted.
  • Skill Name: Recharge Shield
  • Damage Type: Force/Tech > Elemental retaliation damage
  • Frequency: About every 90 seconds, lasting for 15 seconds.
  • Damage Spread: Anyone that attacks the boss during this period will have damage reflected back to them.
  • How to Defend: Simply don’t attack. DoTs ticking on the boss will continue to deal damage. Reflects (not utility based), absorb shields and skills that reduce damage taken work to mitigate this. In most cases, a single target attack results in an instant kill. Keep a close eye on the timer and knockback to reduce player deaths.

Additional Resources

Find similar guides at…

Help, input and feedback was provided by:

  • Khazad Sanci
  • Erani
  • The Eternal Order members and their frequent Nightmare Pilgrim runs

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