Global Agenda Dome Defense Raid Guide

Global Agenda Dome Defense Raid Guide by AgentLynx

 Note: This guide is only one of many ways the raid can be done, and is intended for non-pug groups that are trying to improve their chances of getting bonus and making the mission go more smoothly. Unless you take 20 minutes explaining this stuff to each player in the raid, it isnt likely to work for most pug groups (though I have used this with all of my pug groups, as long as you have relatively competent players it can still work).

Contents
-Raid Composition and Offhand Setup
-Wave 1
-Wave 2
-Wave 3
-Wave 4
-Recursive Assault Unit (Boss)

Raid Composition and Offhand Setup

I’ve found that, with good players, the most effective setup for DDR is 2 assaults, 2 medics, 3 recons, and 3 robotics. This setup allows for maximum damage/buff stacking potential and keeps all of the core roles you need to handle each phase of the mission.

Assault #1: Main Tank
The main tank assault should be specced 7 points into tanking, obviously. Having the 3 gun-boosting talents from destroyer makes things go much more smoothly as well. I prefer a 3/7/3 setup when using my assault for this role.
Weapons:
-Heatwrack MASER or Legion SMG
-Inferno Cannon
Offhands:
-Ranged Shield
-AoE Shield
-Overcharge
Boost:
-Super Smash Boost

Assault #2: DPS/Offtank
A gun-based damage build for the second assault is best, as he will be assisting the rest of the raid in dealing with adds during the boss fight. A minigun is taken over an inferno cannon to provide the 15% protection debuff on adds so that they can be taken down more quickly.
Weapons:
-Heatwrack MASER or Legion SMG
-iMinigun
Offhands:
-Perfect Target
-EMP Grenade
-Incendiary Grenade
Boost:
-Protection Boost

Medic #1: Main Tank Healer
This medic will be doing nothing but keeping the main tank alive during the boss fight.
Weapons:
-Biofeedback Beam
Offhands:
-Healing Grenade
-Triage Wave
-Protection Wave
Boost:
-Healing Boost

Medic #2: Raid Healer
This medic will be providing heals to the other 8 players on the team while medic 1 keeps the main tank alive. Poison grenade is used primarily to disable larger groups of colony drones so that they can be more easily handled by the rest of the group.
Weapons:
-Adrenaline gun or Nanite Enhancement System
Offhands:
-Frenzy Wave
-Triage Wave
-Poison Grenade
Boost:
-Healing boost

Recon #1: Debuffer/Shatter
This player’s job is to ensure that the venom bomb debuff is up and active on appropriate targets at appropriate times.
Weapons:
-Raven SMG
Offhands:
-Deconstructor
-Vulture Vision
-Venom Bomb
Boost:
-Shatterbomb Boost

Recon #2: Second Shatter
Along with recon 1, this recon will need to shatterbomb juggernauts and the boss at appropriate times. EMP bomb is taken to assist with larger groups of adds.
Weapons:
-Ballista Sniper Rifle
Offhands:
-Deconstructor
-Vulture Vision
-EMP Bomb
Boost:
-Shatterbomb Boost

Recon #3: Sensor Boost
This recon will provide the sensor boost buff at appropriate times and use EMP grenade to assist with larger groups of adds.
Weapons:
-Ballista Sniper Rifle or Dweller Sniper Rifle
Offhands:
-Deconstructor
-Visual Scanner
-EMP Bomb
Boost:
-Sensor Boost

Robo #1: Debuffer/Buffer
This robo’s job is to improve the group’s damage through the use of the grizzly done and sensor station.
Weapons:
-Harken SMG, Colony Energy Rifle, or Tempest Shotgun
-Focus Repair Arm
Offhands:
-Sensor Station (xxx preferred)
-Grizzly Drone (6c is best, though others will suffice)
-Personal Turret
Boost:
-Dome Shield Boost

Robo #2: Add control 1
Robos 2 and 3 are primarily in the raid to handle add spawns.
Weapons:
-Harken SMG or Colony Energy Rifle
-Focus Repair Arm
Offhands:
-Power Station (xxx preferred)
-Medical Station (hhh preferred)
-Personal Turret
Boost:
-Dome Shield Boost

Robo #3: Add control 2
Robos 2 and 3 are primarily in the raid to handle add spawns.
Weapons:
-Harken SMG or Colony Energy Rifle
-Focus Repair Arm
Offhands:
-Power Station (xxx preferred)
-Medical Station (hhh preferred)
-Personal Turret (Rocket or Autocannon can be substituted in for the third robo, but the personal turret is preferred)
Boost:
-Dome Shield Boost

Wave 1

The majority of deaths during the first wave can be attributed to colony ticks and ants catching players offguard. Make sure that players stay back from the door as the wave begins – usually several colony ants and spiders are present when the door is destroyed, and often players will be pulled into ant grenades or take multiple grenade hits as the wave starts.

Assaults:
-Help kill guardians whenever possible. It’s usually best if the offtank/dps assault assists the recons with killing guardians while the main tank assault remains to block damage from bancroft and assist with spiders and ants.

Recons:
-Kill guardians as soon as they are within rifle range. You should be more concerned with destroying the guardians than anything else in both this wave and throughout the raid.
-Deconstructors should be placed on the stairs left of bancroft’s position to kill colony ticks when they attempt to flank the group.
-Do not use any shatterbombs if less than a minute is left in the first wave. Shatters need to be saved for juggernauts at the start of wave 2.

Robotics:
-Set up one turret covering left of bancroft’s position, one covering right, and one covering the center door.
-The sensor station should be placed just behind bancroft’s position.
-Spread power and med stations out so that they provide the greatest coverage for the group, and to prevent them from being destroyed at the same time by guardian AoE.

Medics:
-The main healer (biofeedback medic) should stay with bancroft and any players nearby.
-The off healer (nanite/adrenaline medic) should stick with assaults and recons that are taking out guardians.

At 10-15 seconds left on the first wave, robotics and recon players should move to the next position.

Wave 2

Wave 2 is the first test of whether or not the group will perform adequately during subsequent waves as well as the boss fight – this is tested by the appearance of the first juggernaut, who always enters the area from the right side of the proteus center.

Assaults:
-When the juggernaut shows up, assaults should be the first players attacking it – the goal is to take threat from the rest of the group so that the juggernaut focuses his attacks on you and not the less durable players or turrets.

Recons:
-Recon #1 should be prepared to drop a venom bomb at the juggernaut’s feet, and immediately drop a shatterbomb afterwards.
-Recon #2 should drop his shatterbomb on the juggernaut as soon as Recon 1’s venom bomb has been dropped.
-Recon #3 should activate sensor boost as soon as recon 1’s venom bomb has been dropped.
-Throughout the remainder of wave 2, ensure that guardians are taken out as quickly as possible.

Robotics:
-Robotics #1 should set up his turret on top of the crate to the right side of the proteus center (where the first juggernaut comes through), and set up the sensor station on ground level just behind the crate. Remain on top of the crate, and as soon as the juggernaut breaches the door and is within range, drop the grizzly drone to provide it’s debuff to the target, increasing the damage dealt by the raid and shatterbombs. Once hte grizzly has been deployed, it is best to protect it and your turret with a dome shield, and back up to a safer position to fire at the juggernaut.
-Robotics #2 should set up his turret midway up the stairs opposite the proteus center, to cover enemies attacking from the stairwell.
-Robotics #3 shoudl set up his turret in the doorway of the proteus center to cover adds coming through the two doors inside it.
-Once the juggernaut has been killed, Robotics #1 can move his turret to the proteus center doorway, and his sensor near bancroft to provide the damage boost to the rest of the group.

Medics:
-When the juggernaut arrives, medic #2 should keep with the three recons and activate frenzy wave as soon as the venom bomb has been dropped. Try to catch as many friendly players in the frenzy wave as possible, but priority is to get the buff on the recons to improve shatter damage.
-Medic #1 should provide protection wave to whoever is being targetted by the juggernaut.

Juggernaut Info:
-Juggernauts will point a persistent purple laser beam at whoever they are targetting (this is usually the player with the highest threat on the juggernaut, and in most cases should be an assault class character).
-Juggernauts spawn with several maintenance drones that will repair them. It takes two shatterbombs to kill these drones.
-After a certain period of time, the juggernaut will roar, throwing both arms into the air. Shortly after this animation, he will fire a shock-field AoE at whoever he was targetting. This field can kill even tank assaults in only a few seconds.

The best way to avoid the shock field is to pay attention to the juggernaut’s animations. Whoever is being targetted when the juggernaut roars and throws his arms into the air should either break line of sight with the juggernaut, or fly straight into the air and then fall once the AoE has been launched – this will cause the AoE field to activate in the air, out of range of other players in the raid.

Wave 3:

In wave 3, two juggernauts must be faced. The first will arrive at the start of the wave, breaking through the doors on the lower level. The second will arrive halfway through the second wave timer. All of the same guidelines to wave 2 apply to wave 3 as well.

Robotics:
-Robotics #1 should place his personal turret to the left side of the doorway, in such a position that it can attack the juggernaut once the doors are destroyed. The sensor station should be placed just behind the barricade between bancroft and the personal turret’s position. When the juggernaut is within the doorway, drop the grizzly drone near your turret and place a dome shield in front of it.
-After both juggernauts have been killed, Robotics #1 can move the sensor station and his personal turret to help cover the three attack points behind the group.
-Robotics #2 should place his turret to cover the east door, while robotics #1 places his turret to cover the west door.

Recons:
-Deconstructors should be placed at the east door, west door, and the rear stairs (north) to assist with adds.

Wave 4:

Wave 4 takes place at the center of the dome, in the same area where the boss fight occurs. During wave 4, three seperate juggernauts must be defeated – they randomly approach the center of the dome from either the south or east.
Guardians spawn high above the dome, usually to the east or northeast. They should be dealt with quickly by recons and assaults.
All the same guidelines to dealing with juggernauts from waves 2 and 3 apply to wave 4 as well.

Robotics:
-Robotics #1 should wait to build his personal turret until a juggernaut begins to approach from the south or east, the turret and sensor station can be deployed to the appropriate direction before the juggernauts are within firing range. As with waves 2 and 3, use the grizzly drone when the juggernaut is within firing range, and drop a dome shield in front of it to prevent it from being killed by the juggernaut.
-Robotics #2 should cover the north side of the room with his turret, placing it between the two sets of barricades at the top of the north stairs.
-Robotics #3 should cover the south side of the room with his turret, placing it at the top of the stairs.

Recons:
-Deconstructors can be placed at the east and north to help with adds. Deconstructors on the south are usually ineffective.

Enemies do not enter the area from the west, and that is also the direction of the respawn point should players die during the fight. If recons are having issues staying alive or spotting guardians, they can stand at the bottom of the west stairs during the fourth wave and boss fight.

Recursive Assault Unit – Boss Fight

The recursive assault unit is a large mechanical enemy somewhat resembling the tripod walkers from war of the worlds. It has several basic attacks/abilities that should be noted by all players in the raid…

Targetted Lazer Every 60 seconds (approximately), the boss will fire a lazer beam. Usually this beam is targetted at bancroft, and will last 5-10 seconds – the boss will remain stunned for approximately 3 seconds after firing the beam. Occasionally the beam will target a random person in the raid – you can tell when this happens as the boss will ‘hunker down’ to fire but his head will move around, tracking a player instead of remaining aimed at bancroft. Whoever is targetted by this beam needs to break line of sight for the duration.

Rocket Barrage Occasionally the boss will fire a barrage of rockets at whoever has the highest threat – usually this is the main tank, but sometimes the rockets will target another player in the raid. They do a pretty hefty amount of damage, so whoever is targetted should try to avoid them by breaking line of sight and finding cover. The only exception to this is the main tank who, if targetted by the rockets, should remain in position and activate AoE shield.

Melee The boss will frequently ‘kick’ any players that get within melee range, dealing a high amount of damage and knocking the player backwards a large distance. Other than the main tank (who will have his back to a wall, preventing the knockback), all other players should remain out of melee range from the boss.

Wasps Occasionally the boss will release a swarm of colony wasps, which will randomly attack players, turrets, stations, or other available targets. The wasps have very little health, and usually emp/venom bomb and some player fire can take them out. Important: DO NOT waste shatterbombs on wasps

Maintenance Drones Once the boss is below 25% health, he will frequently release maintenance drones (The same drones that accompany juggernauts in waves 2-4). Once the boss is at 30%~ health, recons should save their shatterbombs and only use them when these maintenance drones are released. It takes two shatterbombs to kill them, so both recons need to be on top of it.

Main Tank
When the boss fight begins, a red circle will appear on the ground at the bottom of the eastern staircase, and several seconds later the recursive assault unit will appear there. It is very important that no players in the raid except for the main tank attack the boss at this time.
The main tank should be the only player attacking the boss. Fire as much as needed to keep threat, draw the boss across the room, and position yourself along the southwest wall between the two pillars. This positioning will keep you from being ‘knocked around’ by the boss’ melee attacks.
-Use AoE shield when the boss fires his rocket barrage at you. If AoE shield is not available, super smash boost or ranged shield will suffice.
-Try to save super smash boost, and activate it just after the boss finishes using his lazer attack on bancroft. Use overcharge immediately after activating super smash boost – the combination of your weapon damage, super smash damage, and overcharge’s threat generation should easily force the boss back to you instead of pursuing the rest of the raid group.
-Use ranged shield if the boss targets you with his lazer attack in order to survive the high damage dealt by the lazer.

Damage Dealers (robos, recons, second assault)
The ONLY time you should ever be attacking the boss is when he is using his lazer beam attack on bancroft (not when it is used on a random player in the raid). DPS can continue through the 2-3 second stun duration after the lazer beam has ceased firing, but should be cut off immediately afterward.
Adds are priority targets during this fight, even if the boss is using his lazer on bancroft, focus on adds if there are any colony ants, spiders, or guardians active. Only DPS the boss once those targets are down.

Main Healer
Remain outside of the boss’ melee range, near the set of crates (the boss should be between the southwest wall and these crates). You can use these crates for cover if the boss targets you with his lazer attack.
Save triage wave for any burst damage the main tank takes (such as from rocket barrage or the lazer attack), if the main tank dies the rest of the raid will usually follow very quickly. Use protection wave if the boss targets the main tank with either the lazer beam or rocket barrage.

Secondary Healer
Stick with the rest of the raid group and keep everyone alive while they deal with adds.
When the boss begins using his lazer beam on bancroft (and only when it is used on bancroft, not when fired at a random player), activate frenzy wave at the center of the room, hitting as many other players with it as you can.

Robotics #1 (sensor/grizzly)
Your turret should be placed on the south side of the room, with it’s firing arc facing from south to north (towards the boss). Your turret should be the only thing other than the main tank which is firing at the boss throughout the duration of the fight. It is important that you do not buff the turret unless it needs to be repaired – the turret’s unbuffed damage output is just below what a main tank can hold against, if you buff the turret it will pull aggro from the tank to your turret, and could cause a raid wipe.
-Whenever the boss fires his lazer beam at bancroft (and only when fired at bancroft, not a random player in the raid), drop your grizzly drone so that it fires at the boss. The grizzly debuff will improve the damage of every player in the raid during the short window the lazer beam lasts.
-If too many adds come up the stairs from the south, you can ‘body block’ your turret (by standing in it’s firing path) so that it switches from shooting the boss to firing at adds. this can also be done when the boss releases wasps or maintenance drones, to help take them down more quickly. Once available targets are gone, the turret will resume shooting the boss.
-Whenever the boss uses his lazer beam on bancroft, put a dome shield up to block the beam.

Robotics #2 & #3
-One robotics player should place his power station on the west side of the room, against the southwest pillars. This will allow the power station field to reach the main tank (and the main healer, if placed properly), so that he can continue firing through the entire fight.
-The other power station should be placed near the center of the room, to provide power for other players as they deal with adds or dps the boss.
-One turret should be set up to the south at all times, and one should be set up to the north. The second assault and recons can cover adds that approach from the east.
-Whenever the boss uses his lazer beam on bancroft, put a dome shield up to block the beam.

Assault #2
-Whenever the boss is not using his lazer beam attack on bancroft, you should be assisting with adds.
-You are free to attack the boss when he is using his lazer beam on bancroft. However, if there are no dome shields protecting bancroft, you will need to activate perfect target and move yourself into position to block the beam so that bancroft is not damaged by it.

Recon #1
-Whenever the boss begins to use his lazer beam on bancroft, drop venom bomb to debuff the boss and improve raid damage.
-When the boss is above 30% health, you can use shatterbombs on the boss during each lazer attack on bancroft. However, once the boss is under 30% health, save your shatterbombs and only use them on the maintenance drones the boss releases.

Recon #2
-When the boss is above 30% health, you can use shatterbombs on the boss during each lazer attack on bancroft. However, once the boss is under 30% health, save your shatterbombs and only use them on the maintenance drones the boss releases.

Recon #3
-When the boss begins to use his lazer beam on bancroft, activate sensor boost to increase the raid group’s damage output during the brief window that the lazer beam lasts.

General Tips:

Assaults:
-Super smash is taken by the main tank because it helps generate threat (in addition to protecting the player) when the boss’ lazer beam attack ends, ensuring that the boss does not randomly begin attacking other players.
-Overcharge is taken by the main tank for similar reasons – it generates a large amount of threat when used, and helps draw the boss back to the main tank after the lazer beam ends.
-The secondary assault only needs to use perfect target to block the boss’ lazer beam attack if there are no dome shields available to protect bancroft. Otherwise, attack the boss during the lazer beam window to provide your iminigun’s -15% protection debuff.

Recons:
-Vulture vision is taken by the shatterbomb recons because it improves shatterbomb damage by 10%, in addition to ranged damage dealt by your weapon. Activate vulture vision before using venom/shatter in order to maximize your shatterbomb damage.
-It is important that you dont waste shatterbombs on trash mobs unless absolutely necessary. Save them for juggernauts and the boss (and his maintenance drones), only use shatterbombs on add spawns if the group is in danger of being overrun.
-Recon #1 doesnt need to use an SMG, but an SMG build using the Raven will generate boost more quickly, and is more effective at close range (which is where you should be for dropping venom/shatter on the juggernauts and boss). At least two of the three recons in the raid should be snipers, however, in order to deal with guardians more quickly.
-It is important that recon #3 keep sensor boost active during juggernaut fights and when the boss is using his lazer beam on bancroft, to increase the group’s damage output.

Robotics:
-Robotics #1 needs to make sure he uses the grizzly drone on juggernauts, and on the boss when he is attacking bancroft with the lazer beam. Most groups arent used to having drones in a raid, but we’ve noticed that the grizzly debuff makes a huge difference in how quickly the juggernauts and boss are taken down.
-Your grizzly will survive longer if you drop it near your turret, and then place a dome shield between it and the juggernaut it is attacking.
-Robotics #2 and #3 are the front line for dealing with add spawns during waves 2-4 and the boss fight, keep your turrets alive and keep on adds even through the lazer window if they are present. Personal turrets are much more effective for this than rocket turrets, flame turrets, or autocannons.

Medics:
-The nanite medic (medic #2) can more easily heal a large number of players than a medic using a biofeedback beam, but is not capable of keeping the main tank alive through the boss’ damage output. Ensure that only one medic uses nanite and only one uses biofeedback, having two of either type will hinder the group’s performance.
-It is important to keep frenzy wave up during juggernaut fights and when the boss is using his lazer beam on bancroft, to increase the group’s damage output.

General:
-Adds always take priority, especially the more dangerous adds such as colony ants, colony spiders, and colony guardians. Make sure they dont stay alive long enough to cause any deaths to the group.
-Play safe, dont run out to get more kills – it’s better to come in second place for damage or kills and make bonus than to come in first and have several deaths to your name.
-Awareness is the biggest factor when dealing with juggernauts and the boss – players must keep their eyes open and pay attention to the tell-tale animations that are precursor to special attacks, especially the AoE shock field used by juggernauts and the random lazer used by the boss.
-With this setup, juggernauts should take no more than 15 seconds to kill, and generally they should go down in under 10 seconds. If your group is taking significantly longer than that to kill the juggernauts, someone somewhere is making mistakes that need to be resolved.

1.42 Update:

With the 1.42 patch, perfect target is now extremely unreliable for dealing with the recursive dismantler’s laser. I’ve adjusted my raid group composition slightly and the new setup has worked extremely well for the raids we ran tonight.

New Group Setup:

1 Assault – Tank
Iminigun OC
-AoE Shield
-Ranged Shield
-EMP Grenade
Super Smash Boost

We’ve dropped the second assault in our group setup to make room for a third robo. Overcharge can be dropped in favor of emp grenade, as super smash boost is all the tank really needs to regain threat easily after each laser. The tank takes an Iminigun to keep the debuff available to the party.

EMP grenade was also changed with 1.42 – it no longer provides the -40% protection debuff on targets unless they are stunned by the grenade. This means the debuff only effects trash mobs, and no longer has any impact on bosses or larger enemies such as juggernauts. EMP can still be used by the main tank on trash mobs before the boss fight, and to help deal with wasps and maintenance drones released by the recursive dismantler.

3 Recons
No changes here from the original guide, one runs sensor boost, two run shatter bomb, all should be snipers and should focus on guardians as priority targets. Venom bomb on the two shattercons will ensure that one is always available, and one can be used on wasps/drones while the other is saved for laser beam dps. All three should have deconstructors, and both shattercons should be using vulture vision prior to shatterbomb. The third recon running sensor boost can take visual scanner for additional weapon damage, and an EMP bomb to help deal with adds and wasps/maintenance drones.

2 Medics
No changes here either. One medic runs protection wave, frenzy wave, and triage wave, along with biofeedback beam and heal boost, and is dedicated to healing the tank during the boss fight. The other should have frenzy wave, healing grenade, triage wave, healing boost, and an adrenaline gun, and focuses on healing the group.

4 Robotics
Changed from the original setup, the secondary assault is replaced with an additional robo. One robo still runs grizzly/xxxsensor/personal turret, while all three other robos run powerstation/medstation/personal turret. During the boss fight, you should have the three extra robos set up on the north/south/east with their turrets. One power station goes next to the tank, one power station goes behind the crate the main healer is using, and the final power station can be placed on the opposite side of bancroft from the boss to provide maximum coverage. Med stations should be spread out to cover the entire center of the room.
The sensor/grizzly/pt robo sets his turret up near the crates on the south side of the room, firing at the boss for the duration of the fight. This turret can be bodyblocked by the robo when wasps/maintenance drones are released by the boss so it will assist in killing them. Bodyblocking can also be used to divert the turret to adds coming up the south stairs if the robo covering that direction gets overrun.

Dome Shield Rotation
During the boss fight, a rotation is set up for dome shields to protect bancroft from the laser. It takes two dome shields to outlast the laser beam – with four robos you should have two using dome shield each time the laser is on bancroft.
The fourth robo (grizzly/sensor/pt) will be able to generate morale more quickly than the other three, as his personal turret will be firing on the boss during the fight. This lets the fourth robo use a dome shield every single time a laser is fired at bancroft, but the shield should be saved for situations where the other three robos are not able to cover bancroft with their own dome shields.

So far we’ve run two raids with this setup, both were bonus (first had 3 deaths, second had 2), and bancroft never took damage from the boss’ laser with the dome shield rotation.
It does take a greater deal of coordination between your robos to ensure dome shields are always available when the laser is firing, typically I run the sensor/grizzly/pt position with my robo and I can announce over voip when others should be using their dome shields, which has worked pretty well so far.