AAC Cruiserweight M3 Savage Raid Guide

Brute Abombinator is the third boss fought in AAC Cruiserweight (Savage).

AAC Cruiserweight M3 (Savage) can be unlocked at level 100 after completing the Normal difficulty of the Light-heavyweight raid and talking to Gabbro in Solution Nine (x22.3, y17.1). It requires a minimum item level of 735 to queue, but this requirement can be bypassed when entering with a full party.

It seems the devastation wrought by the Brute Abombinator in your battle was not quite enough to satisfy Gabbro─at least not for the purposes of his cartoons. Having invited you to imagine your rival fighting with even greater savagery, you follow the train of thought to its end...

Video resources for this encounter will be posted when available.

Brute Abombinator is fought on three distinct arenas, with the first and third being square and second being rectangular. Players can fall off on the first and second arenas, while the third has a death wall. This is a fairly straightforward encounter with strict DPS and mitigation requirements.

Brute Abombinator's enrage occurs at around 11:10 into the fight and requires at least roughly 180,000 raid DPS including downtime.

Begin by assigning clock spots to all players, with supports on cardinals and DPS on intercardinals. Divide the raid into two light parties of one tank, one healer, and two DPS each. Throughout the fight, these light parties will be split into melee + ranged pairs as well as melee + melee and ranged + ranged pairs.

Waymarks are placed in the fight depending on the strategy used for showing important spots on the second and third arenas. Waymarks on the second and third arenas are unable to be placed until you have cleared, so pick up them from another player. Intercardinal markers in the first and third phase are useful, while four markers are used in the second phase for a specific strategy.

In the first phase you fight Brute Abombinator in the starting square platform.

The following mechanics are introduced in the first phase.

• Brutal Impact: Multiple hits of raidwide physical damage.
• Stoneringer: Brute Abombinator creates a weapon in one hand. The next Brutish Swing, Smash Here, or Smash There will do a point-blank AoE if he has a club, and a donut AoE if he has a sword.
• Smash Here: An unmarked shared tank buster on the closest player.
• Smash There: An unmarked shared tank buster on the furthest player.
• Spore Sac: Four spores drop at the edge of the arena. These create vines that extend and spawn AoEs, with safe spots at opposite intercardinals. Afterwards, these spawn Blooming Abomination adds that cast Crossing Crosswinds and Winding Wildwinds, a cross and donut AoE respectively that can be interrupted. Adds enrage after a short while with a castbar.
• Sinister Seeds: The four closest or furthest players receive a marked AoE that drop Tendrils of Terror and inflicts a magic vuln. These create line AoEs extending cardinally and intercardinally. The other four players receive marked AoEs under them which create gigantic AoEs afterwards.
• Impact: Unmarked stack AoE on both healers that inflicts a magic vuln.
• Quarry Swamp: Roomwide petrify that can be avoided by standing behind a Blooming Abomination add or its corpse.
• Explosion: Three proximity AoEs around the edges drop in sequence.
• Pulp Smash: Marked stack AoE on the healer. The boss jumps to the healer creating a small point-blank AoE, and all players take damage in a conal AoE that inflicts vuln.
• Neo Bombarian Special: Heavy physical damage that knocks players back off the platform.

Begin by pulling and mitigating the Brutal Impact raidwide. For every cast of Stoneringer in the fight, look at the boss's weapon. If he has a sword, the party needs to start inside the boss. If he has a club, the party needs to start outside the hitbox. Check the castbar: if it's Smash Here, the tanks need to go close and the party farther than them, and if it's Smash There, the tanks need to go far and the party closer than them.

The first real mechanic of the fight is Sinister Seeds 1. It begins with Spore Sac, with four safe spots at opposite intercardinals inside and outside. Light party 1 will take the west safe spots and light party 2 will take the east safe spots, with tanks and melees on the inside and ranged and healers on the outside. To identify the safespot, go towards where the vines are not extending towards. On the outside, move towards the L-shaped vines.

Next, the mechanic splits into two different sequences depending on if the melees received the AoE or the ranged received the AoE. If the melees received the marked AoE, they will place their seed drops at the four intercardinals at max melee or slightly further. Meanwhile, the ranged will bait a series of marked AoEs along the edge of the wall going counterclockwise. Once the AoEs stop dropping, meet east and west for the Impact stack, which does do a significant amount of damage. Stay on the inside to avoid the large AoEs.

If the ranged received the marked AoE, they will place their seed at the cardinal walls. Meanwhile, the melees will bait the marked AoEs counterclockwise on the inside of the boss, tucking into the centre as much as possible without being hit. Once the AoEs stop dropping, meet up at the intercardinals on the inside for the Impact stack; note that the melee and tank will be in opposite groups. The safe spot will be inside from the ranged safe spot. Move to the outer edge of the arena to avoid the large AoE.

In either set while dodging, the four Blooming Abomination adds will spawn. Tanks will need to pick them up and group them together to AoE them down. They should each silence one add that is casting the donut Winding Wildwinds, with the MT interrupting first and OT interrupting second. The ranged can act as backup. Dodge the cross AoEs if the adds are not dead and hide behind them for Quarry Swamp.

Explosion is done the same way as normal mode: run around the boss to avoid the proximity AoE. During the damage, the boss will cast Stoneringer into a Smash Here or There, so pay attention to the weapon and do the tank buster, with the tanks going opposite of the party. He then casts Pulp Smash, so stack up and mitigate, then run outside the boss hitbox towards your clock spot. This can be done either true north or relative, but all players have to do the same orientation.

Finally, be at the north edge when Neo Bombarian Special finishes casting and mitigate. Use 2 minute raid buffs and burst before the knockback sends you to the second arena, beginning phase two.

In phase two, Brute Abombinator tethers to the buildings and continues with seed dropping mechanics. When he is tethered, he is omni-directional.

The following mechanics are introduced in the second phase.

• Brutish Swing: The boss does an AoE based on the weapon in his hand. If he is tethered to a building, jumps to it halfway through the cast and casts it from there.
• Glower Power: Line AoE in front of boss with unmarked circle AoEs on all players that inflicts a magic vuln.
• Revenge of the Vines: Heavy raidwide magical damage.
• Abominable Blink: A random tank receives a proximity flare AoE marker that needs to be mitigated.
• Thorny Deathmatch: Tethers to #1 in aggro. The tether deals damage over time, based on the stack indicated by the debuff. Increased distance from the origin point of the tether increases the stack and damage dealt.
• Sporesplosion: Three sets of circle AoEs on the floor.
• Demolition Deathmatch: Two passable tethers that cast Thorny Deathmatch on those players, with one additional tether on #1 aggro. The two passable tethers cannot be swapped, but the tank tether can be swapped if #1 aggro changes.
• Strange Seeds: Four sets of two marked AoEs that drop Tendrils of Terror AoEs. Each set targets one support and one DPS.
• Killer Seeds: Four stack marker AoEs that also drop Tendrils of Terror AoEs. Spawns on four players of one role.
• Powerslam: Breaks the arena dealing heavy physical damage, causing all players to plummet down into the third arena.

Brute Abombinator is not yet targetable when players land on the second arena, so take this time to heal up and walk to the north of the arena, where he tethers to the north building and becomes targetable shortly afterwards. One major mechanic that occurs throughout the phase is the combo of Stoneringer, Brutish Swing, Glower Power, and Revenge of the Vines.

Brute Abombinator first creates a weapon, so note whether it's in or out. Next, he begins casting Brutish Swing and tethers to a building. Go near that building and go in or stay out. Immediately after dashing, spread out for Glower Power but not directly in front of him due to the line AoE, then stack up, heal, and mitigate Revenge of the Vines. Example spreads are shown in the image above, but as long as melee are hugging the boss and there are two on each side of the line AoE there is plenty of space for ranged.

Afterwards, the boss casts Stoneringer, but the mechanic won't happen for a while so remember to look at the weapon when it does. He casts Thorny Deathmatch into Abominable Blink. Have whichever tank doesn't have the marker take aggro and the tank with the proximity marker go into the corner. The party should stand in the middle edge at max melee range.

Next, Brute Abombinator casts Sporesplosion into the second instance of the combo mentioned above. While you can aim to dodge from the third set into the first set, the AoEs are slow enough that you can walk into the first safe spot from any set. Note what weapon he has and do the Brutish Swing, Glower Power, and Revenge of the Vines combo.

At this point in the fight the boss will do the major mechanic of phase two, Demolition Deathmatch. The MT will receive a tether from where the boss is, and two other tethers will spawn on the buildings. As there are two close buildings and one far building, either the OT and one ranged have to pick up the tether, or two ranged should pick up the tether. He then casts Abominable Blink. Have both tanks use mit and stack in the corner. Brute Abominator also casts Stoneringer right after, so keep track of his weapon. There are multiple strategies to consistently do Demolition Deathmatch.

The first is a static assignment of positions using waymarks, known as Bilibili in PF. Players line up from the corner the boss is at to the opposite corner and always drop seeds at their waymark or position indicated in the diagram. When they are not dropping seeds, they need to be dodging the Tendrils of Terror line AoEs but can stand wherever as long as they obey the tether. Depending on where the boss jumped to, either the MT, OT, and H2 will have tethers, or the MT, H1, and H2 will have tethers.

Another strategy is to drop each set of seeds outside or inside and obey the safe spots. As the line AoEs are fairly thin, if players drop their seeds along the edge just inside of that will be safe and vice-versa. Have the first two targeted players drop their seeds on the inside, the second set of marked players drop their seeds on the outside, and repeat for all four sets. This is known as Zenith in PF. Both strategies are viable and have their pros and cons.

Afterwards, stack with your partner on the assigned location and dodge the line AoEs. At this point, the boss will do another Brutish Swing, Glower Power, and Revenge of the Vines combo. He can tether to the north building this time, so be wary. Spread afterwards, ideally with light party 1 left and light party 2 right if it's the north building to even out the spread and avoid clipping.

Heal up and mitigate as Brute Abombinator casts Powerslam, causing the raid to plummet down into the third and final arena.

In the final phase, Brute Abombinator can tether to all four cardinal edges with Brutish Swing and will perform mechanics from those walls. When he is tethered, he is omni-directional.

The following mechanics are introduced in the final phase.

• Stoneringer 2: Stoneringers: Brute Abombinator creates both weapons, one in each hand. The glowing weapon when he casts Brutish Swing is the one he will use.
• Lashing Lariat: Once he uses Brutish Swing, the weapon he used disappears. He will do a large line AoE from that hand's side and dash across the arena.
• Slaminator: A tower in the middle of the arena. Must be soaked and deals massive damage as Brute Abombinator jumps to it.
• Debris Deathmatch: Four Thorny Deathmatch tethers appear at cardinal edges.

The third and final phase brings all the mechanics from the first two phases together. The boss will be north and become targetable a few seconds after players land. He begins by casting Brutal Impact, and Stoneringer 2: Stoneringers. This combo will occur twice in this phase.

After spawning both weapons, note which weapon is glowing when he begins to cast Brutish Swing and tethers to a wall. Go in or out based on what weapon was glowing, heal up Revenge of the Vines, and proceed to dodge Lashing Lariat. You can tell which side is safe quite quickly, as it will be the side the glowing weapon is on before he jumps. After the dash across the arena, he casts Brutish Swing on an adjacent edge. It will be the opposite in or out from the first time, and it's followed by Glower Power and Slaminator. Ideally have one tank use their invuln on this.

Next, Brute Abombinator will use Stoneringer into a Smash Here or There combo. This is followed by another Brutal Impact, which does one more hit at the end. He then casts Debris Deathmatch, one of two major mechanics in the final phase.

Four tethers will spawn at cardinals, which need to be picked up by ranged DPS and healers. Brute Abombinator casts Spore Sac, and players need to find the safe intercardinal to go to. Next, a Killer Seeds stack AoE will spawn on four players from one role. Everyone should stack with their preassigned partners: MT and R1 north, OT and R2 south, M1 and H1 east, and M2 and H2 west.

Notice the faint lines on the arena. The stack should be placed at the cardinal one line in. Proceed to dodge the line AoEs, with the tanks picking up adds. The MT should pick up the adds spawning north and west, while OT picks up adds spawning south and east. The boss will soon cast Quarry Swamp, so hide behind the adds. You do not have to kill the adds this time, as the attack will petrify them allowing a player to instantly kill it with any attack. Note that one add on each side will shift slightly as the tank goes behind the add to dodge the attack.

Next, heal and mitigate while obeying the tether as it is still active. Position the raid like the diagram above with the melees stacked northwest and ranged going clockwise before the boss casts Sinister Seeds. This is exactly like the mechanic in the first phase without Impact, but the ranged DPS are tethered.

If the ranged receive the ground AoE baits, they run clockwise with their baits. Meanwhile, the melee will place their seeds at the intercardinal markers if you have them placed. If not, the location is two lines in vertically and horizontally on the arena. Once the seeds are placed, the tether disappears and the entire party should go to the inside to dodge the large AoEs and line AoEs.

If the melee receive the ground AoE baits, they will bait their AoEs clockwise moving along max melee range of the boss. Ranged will simply drop their seeds at the cardinal edge (do not go inside)! Once the seeds have dropped, all players will head southwest where there is a small safe spot for the giant AoEs and line AoEs.

After either sequence, there will be Pulp Smash. As the raid could be in the corner, always do this one boss relative. Brute Abombinator then casts Brutal Impact, so heal and mitigate the heavy incoming damage. Move the boss to the middle and prepare for the final major mechanic of the fight.

The final major mechanic is Strange Seeds 2 along with the combo that happened at the beginning of the fight. The boss first casts Stoneringers 2: Stoneringers to summon both weapons. He then casts Strange Seeds, which will spawn seeds on all four players of one role. These players need to pre-position at their intercardinal as shown above, with the targeted players dropping them on the intercardinal marker (or two lines in).

The boss then does Brutish Swing on a wall. Run in or stay out to the tethered wall and dodge the line AoEs as well, preferably on the side of the glowing weapon as he casts Lashing Lariat immediately after. For melee, there are two safe spots near the boss with one under and one out, so dashing is ideal.

As Lashing Lariat is cast, the four players of the role not targeted earlier will receive Tendrils of Terror seeds. Again, these need to be placed on intercardinals the same way as the first to resolve the mechanic in a clean way. You can either have all players go to their pre-assigned intercardinal marker, or do it boss relative to where he dashed to so that melee can dash across the arena and move to their spot for uptime.

The boss then casts another Brutish Swing, so check the remaining weapon and dodge the in or out with the line AoEs. This is followed by Slaminator, and the other tank with their invuln should take it to ease healing requirements. The fight ends with a final tank buster sequence with Stoneringer and Smash Here or There into Brutal Impact. Mitigate, heal up, and kill the boss before he finishes casting his Special Bombarian Special!

When Brute Abombinator is defeated, a treasure coffer will appear that contains Babyface Champion's Chest and Leg Coffers. When opened by a player, these coffers contain an item level 760 Babyface equip for the job the player is currently on. The amount of coffers that appear depend on how many players have already cleared during the weekly lockout. If no players have cleared yet, both coffers will appear, as well as a Evercharged Twine and Evercharged Solvent. If one to four players have already cleared, one random coffers will appear and a random upgrade item. If five or more players have already cleared, no treasure coffer will appear.

Players who defeat the encounter for the first time during the weekly reset will also receive an AAC Illustrated: CW Edition III token. Six of these can be traded in for a Babyface Chest or Leg gear of your choosing at an Arcadion gear vendor.