SWTOR 60 HM Flashpoints Guide

SWTOR 60 HM Flashpoints Guide by Account9726

I’ve noticed quite a lot of people talking about the difficulty of the new 60 HM Flashpoints. For myself these discussions scarred me to the point I didn’t try my first one without hunting down videos and making augmented 186 gear. Now I’m comfortably running them with 178 gear, and over two dozen runs have yet to have a group that was unable to be trained to do them with a little advice on mechanics. However, as that information is currently a bit scattered about, I thought perhaps writing a simple guide on the difference from Tactical Mode mechanics would be of use.

Unless otherwise noted assume things work like Tactical Mode, though obviously you will need to pay more attention to the mechanics as things will be hitting harder. There are already guides out there that do a far better job of explaining those things than I could.

A note on trash: this is generally applicable, so I won’t repeat it in each section. Some trash encounters are significantly tougher now, so you’ll need to be aware and use your abilities. Ask your group to use the target designators for pre-combat CC’s, and in fights make use of your combat stuns, interrupts, and the like. Have the DPS concentrate on single foes together and prioritize killing standards before silvers before golds, unless specific enemies are called out below.

Korriban

• The Trash: At the top of the elevators after the first boss you will want to line-of-sight the enemies behind the wall, so they can be taken out with AoEs (preferably ones with a knockdown). The large fight after you enter the Sith Academy can also be helped by this (have the tank hit the gold then run behind the wall), as it prevents the Marauders from Force Leaping and the Sorcerers from supporting from the back.
• Master Riilna/Lord Renning: After releasing the Tuk’ata the broken cage becomes electrified, and is an instant kill if you are knocked back into them (which the boss loves to do). The Tank should position themself not in line with the cages (I usually have my back towards the back wall) to avoid this.
• R-9XR/I5-T1 : There are adds now. They will head straight for the healer, and I’d recommend letting them. This groups them up without the Tank having to run around like a madman, and as Standards they can all be knocked down with a Mortar Volley or the like. They melt under AoEs and shouldn’t be an issue unless they are allowed to take excessive nibbles of tasty healer. Towards the end of the fight the boss will enter “extermination mode,” increasing damage very significantly, and so should be burned with all haste (as several people have pointed out this is a time based enrage so you might not see it, though I generally do).
• Commander Jensyn/Darth Soverus: “Malfunctioning Interrogation Droids” have been added. These head straight for a character and turn into an AoE explosion (like most exploding droids you get a bit of warning from beeping and a red circle). Obviously, do not stand in that circle.

Tython

• The Trash: much like Korriban, it is not a major issue. As there a line-of-sight maneuver can be useful during the first battle in the academy, and for the same reasons.
• Major Imos/Major Travik: During the orbital strike phase the group should run out of the arena, behind the large anti-aircraft blaster to the NE. This prevents dealing with shields, and conveniently gets around the bugged Republic version (where orbital strikes do not remove the shields of the adds on the right). The important part is to get back before the boss resets: this requires watching the timer on his shield buff, and running back when it gets down to about 5 seconds.
• Master Liam Dentiri/Lieutenant Kreshin: In my opinion the hardest fight. When coming out of stealth the boss will stab a random player who must be cleansed within 3 seconds or they will die (thejadefalcon corrects that you CAN survive 10+ seconds, with sufficient healing, but it should still be cleansed ASAP). There are now 3 flavors of droids, appearing to the south, north, and east in order, with the boss appearing and stealthing in between. The Southern droids are like the old ones, but have added an AoE around themselves to the conal attack. The Northern droids channel “Ranged Attack,” meaning the Tank can’t take aggro until they are done, but aren’t too difficult. The Eastern droids attack with AoE missile attacks. megalesius explains that the damage isn’t bad if multiple people aren’t being caught in them, but their high HP means the boss is more likely to reappear before they are dead and the a distracted or DPSing healer might miss the cleanse.
• Master Oric Traless/Lord Goh: Chain lightning is a new knockback/high damage attack that mDPS need to watch out for. When he begins channeling it they need to move away from him and the Tank or they will take damage and be knocked down (during which time the falling ceiling will do a pile of damage). Be kind to your healer, back up.

Manaan

• The Trash: There are medics that can full heal people, so should be stunned/killed. Snipers deal high damage and are also a priority. A LOS can help in the large room with the two golds, since otherwise the enemies are wildly spread out. In the last segment the robots replace the medics with repair droids, and CC becomes extra important as you tend to have smaller numbers of tougher foes.
• Sairisi: The droids now transfer shields between themselves and the boss, taking the shields for themselves when damaged. Therefore you need to burn them down evenly (I’d recommended assigned one to each DPS with target markers) so they take the shields at the same time, leaving the boss vulnerable for as long as possible.
• Ortuno: Stay at the top of the ramp before entering his arena, and have the Tank aggro him and bring him up to you. This avoids adds appearing. He has a new “Mass Project” that drops water around every team members, so it is important that even the rDPS and healer be stacked close to the boss (behind, to avoid cleave). Mass Project is followed by Flow and Energy Eruption as before, and remember he is immune to damage until after he would summon the adds so don’t bother wasting anything during that time.
• Stivastin: Have a DPS eat the first knockback before the Tank takes aggro. He aggro drops like crazy, so Tanking is hit or miss. This is actually okay because he also adds a stacking debuff (it can’t be cleansed) that increases damage, and the knockback/aggro drop is like an accidental tank switch to give time for it to drop. However, as bstr413 points out, if you find yourself in the 20-30 stack range, using the kolto tank becomes increasingly important (and vital at 30+). Ideally position yourself so he will kick you towards them, and Shadows can consider a Phase Walk. Don’t waste DPS on the adds, just drag them under the flames with the boss. While fancy footwork around the edges can work, I recommend just standing in the stupid fire to make sure they stay. It is foolproof and the damage is not bad at all.

Rakata

• The Trash: There is generally a gold among groups of Rakata, a prime target for a CC (or at least interrupts/stuns, as his abilities require casting times). When you get to the weapon stockpiles CC is even more important. The humanoid droids have a wicked Suppressing Fire that you should try to interrupt and make sure to point away from the group.
• Arena: Tank the rancor, DPS the boss. The boss now likes to use a root on players in the fire, which needs to be cleansed or you will burn to death.
• Commander Rand: Let the Tank grab the adds and bunch them up for AoEs (Tanks, use your AoE Taunt). megalesius adds that the damage from the red circles the boss fires during that phase is pretty pathetic, and bunching adds is a priority over avoiding circles. The boss uses a powerful full power shot preceeded by knockback against the Tank. This is possibly avoidable by the Tank (I think I do it maybe 1 time in 4, but might be hallucinating), but easy for DPS or healers who are paying any attention.
• Dark Arkous & Colonel Darok: Tank should tank Arkous’ aggro, then everything on Darok to kill him first. Yes, his death enrages Arkous, but it should be doable unless both your healer and Tank are in weaker gear. However, it avoids the instant kill from Darok. The issue is Darok’s new circles, and your “ally” Jakaro. Darok will pull in someone and mark them with a blue circle, then later another one. If these circles touch it is over. Players are smart enough to move away from Darok when they have the circle so the next player pulled in doesn’t cause the explosion, but Jakaro will happily stay right on Darok. If this happens and someone gets pulled you lose them. There is no way to avoid it other than taking down Darok first.

And that should be it. Obviously I didn’t include the bonus bosses, as their lack of rewards means most groups don’t bother and they would require all new writeups anyway. I’ll happily add any mechanics or ideas that aren’t included.