Dungeon Guides

Timescape (Hard Mode)

Chronometry Mechanics

The main mechanic of this particular fight is something I like to call Chronometry Mechanics. An incredibly unique and seemingly complex mechanic that far exceeds any that I have ever seen in the exiled realm of Arborea, the Chronometry Mechanic involves moving three gears into position in order to align correctly with one of three wall relief panels. This mechanic may feel overwhelming at first, but by breaking it down and assigning each of the three gears to specific party members, it can make handling the mechanic significantly easier. Let’s start with each of the three gear positions and the functionality behind each one of them…

Inner Gear (Turning Direction is Clockwise)

During the fight, there will be a UI bar labeled “Seal” that maxes out at 100. In order to turn the gear ⅓ of a full rotation, the party must do actual damage to Valona, raising the seal bar to 100. Once the bar reaches 100, the message "The Stone Tablet Object Becomes Active" will display and someone must interact with the pedestal in which Valona hovers upon. While interacting with the stone tablet on the pedestal, a blue loading bar will appear, taking approximately one second for it to finish and successfully turn the inner gear. Be wary that the interaction can be interrupted by attacks or attempting to move away too soon. Also be aware that the inner gear is one of two gears that can be moved by Valona itself if Gears of Fate (Stun Mech) is not interrupted by a stun skill with a chance of moving either inner gear or outer gear. This can be used to your advantage if both inner and outer gears are not set, especially if Valona has ???. However, the animation of this is very long and can delay Mind Blown (Donut), which is a limited time sensitive mechanic used for moving the middle gear. You will find that most parties will stun regardless if it is needed or not...

Step 1: Do Actual Damage To Fill Seal Bar

Step 2: Seal Bar Reaches 100%

Step 3: Interact With Stone Tablet Pedestal

Handling Inner Gear Mechanics as a Mystic

Inner is generally an easy gear to turn so long as your DPS team stays up and is buffed. You can always support them with DPS of your own, but generally it is better to focus on keeping them alive and surveying the area/boss for mechanics. If multiple DPS go down, prioritize the strongest first if possible, especially if Valona has a Light of the Sun buff. Should one of your DPS members start spawning a Black Hole (Portal) underneath them while trying to fill the seal meter, you can use Mass Teleport to prevent them from being sucked away if timed right, thus allowing them to continue uninterrupted...

As the fight goes on, try to keep the turning mechanism area free of Arun's Motes and Black Holes as they may impede with the interaction process if placed too close to the device. The Black Hole spawning mechanic and Pull can combo, leading to interesting scenarios where a Black Hole is placed almost dead center under the stone tablet. Use caution when approaching the pedestal you should be able to turn inner just fine without being teleported away...

In a typical run, the party will assign the Tank to handle turning inner. If you are confident in your abilities or a situation occurs where you must step up to handle the inner gear yourself as a Mystic, try to approach from the frontal sides of the boss if possible. Valona's hitbox mostly exceeds the distance required to interact with the turning mechanism, particularly from behind. Some of the best times to interact with Valona's stone tablet would be during lengthy secondary attacks such as Breath or Ripples of Time (Waves). If the middle gear is already set, Mind Blown (Donut) is also a great opportunity for turning the inner gear unhindered...

It can be difficult to find a spot around the base pedestal to interact with as the hit box of Valona exceeds the interaction distance. Though it can be risky, you can Teleport Jaunt to clip into the boss's hitbox and interact with the stone tablet from the inside...

Middle Gear (Turning Direction is Counter Clockwise)

In order to turn this particular gear ⅓ of a full rotation, any party member(s) must take a hit from the large donut AoE of Mind Blown (Donut) and survive. This attack is set to do 100% damage of whatever your max HP, with the percentage divided when more players stand in the AoE as it goes off. For an example, two players standing on the AoE would each take 50% damage of their own respective max HP while three players taking it would take 33% damage and so on. It is worth noting, like most mechanics involving max HP percentage damage, this does not factor in shield absorption damage. Overall, players do not necessarily have to take damage in order to move the middle gear but just need to be hit by the attack. This makes Sorcerers and Gunners primary candidates for middle gear turning as their skills Warp Barrier and Command: Recall will allow them to still be hit by the mechanic without taking any damage at all...

Despite sounding relatively easy, middle gear is perhaps the most difficult and annoying gear to turn out of the three. This is because you have less control over being able to turn it whenever you like compared to the other two as the turning mechanic behind it involves one of Valona's attacks, which is set to go off about every ?? minutes. Therefore this gear takes high priority to set as you typically have only three attempts to move it per a rotation, leaving very little room for error. Lengthy mechanics or animations can delay the attack, cutting it extremely close by the time the third AoE arrives. It is highly advisable to have middle gear set after the first two sets of donut AoEs as you may not have enough time for a third...

Handling Middle Gear Mechanics as a Mystic

Typically DPS handle turning the middle gear; however, Healers can participate in this as well. In the event that you are handling turning mid on your own, you can utilize thralls to divide up your damage received percentage. Remember that a player must take a hit and survive, meaning that thralls by themselves cannot take the hit alone. I find that Thrall of Protection and Thrall of Vengeance works best for this. Be aware that Thrall of Protection is not stationary and will start running towards the last enemy you attacked or was put into combat by after being summoned. You will have to time this accordingly else the thrall will run off the AoE prior to it going off...

Shielding is also a viable option as mentioned previously. Since this mechanic runs off percentage damage, it does not take in account of damage absorption from shields. Having Thrall Augmentation on whilst casting Thrall of Protection will provide the Element: Thrall of Protection buff which shields anyone in the casting radius for 30,000 + 60% of total Magic Resistance. Totem also has a very tiny shield that can help with survival should you have 100% of your HP, though you will take a huge hit. It's not recommended to depend on shields alone, but rather use thralls or partner up with another party member to divide the damage...

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