Serpent's Ire - Domain of Vabbi - Path of Fire, does it ever get done?

[Leger.3724]

Forged with Fire - the hounds meta gets done routinely.

Is there a group or a guild that ever runs Serpent's Ire meta? 

Tried holding a spot in LFG for hours this weekend but nobody ever joined, tried soloing and no success yet and it's been roughly a week.

I understand why no one does the meta - it's 3 events and the first one is a nightmare where you have to find 5 champions and kill them on timers but these champions are in the branded area and not clearly marked.

It's stopping my progress towards the Mark Y Golem backpiece unlock and I really want that back skin.

So do any groups ever run this meta?

[AliamRationem.5172]

I rarely see it done.  It's an annoying event with poor rewards.  People mostly do it for whatever achievement/collection they need and then don't think about it again.

[Smurfiness.3714]

It's a boring map and the event was only required for something. Needs too many people involved so once we got it we don't waste our tine to do it again. 

This is why you need to rush new maps unless you like begging for help 1 year later. 

[Danikat.8537]

It does get done but I don't know if there's any guilds or groups that do it regularly like there are for other meta events. It's not as popular as other metas because it's annoying to organise, which then becomes a vicious circle where people avoid doing it because they hear it's annoying, so then it's even harder to get people to try, especially for the first phase.

But I know there's a few people on this forum who like it, or at least don't think it's bad. If you can tell us whether you're on an NA or EU server we may be able to help with it.

[Leger.3724]

2 hours ago, Danikat.8537 said:

It does get done but I don't know if there's any guilds or groups that do it regularly like there are for other meta events. It's not as popular as other metas because it's annoying to organise, which then becomes a vicious circle where people avoid doing it because they hear it's annoying, so then it's even harder to get people to try, especially for the first phase.

But I know there's a few people on this forum who like it, or at least don't think it's bad. If you can tell us whether you're on an NA or EU server we may be able to help with it.

I'm on NA. I saw a reddit post from 5 months ago that suggests a group might run it Friday morning/night so I'll check it out on Friday.

[mungozen.2379]

Form a PoF + S4 Meta train, have it stop at Pinata and then Serpent's Ire then something else like Forged with Fire.  I did so a few years back and it kept enough people active between metas to get Serpents Ire done.  In your LFG description put the Metas you are going to do, and a note about 'for collections/achieves' so people know what to expect and that they can also work on collections.

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

I have a 3.5 to 4 out of 5 success-rate of this meta event, which is probably one of the highest on the forums.

How is that possible?
1.) I only do that meta event once in a blue moon which is hardly twice per year at best.
2.) I only do it when I do not need it. Mostly helping strangers I've met a few minutes ago, who I will never see again once the event is finished and they have completed their achievement. That allows me to play with a higher level of confidence, because I do not ask for help for myself - which I would almost never do.
3.) It is always either Daily Vabbi Events, Daily Vabbi Bounties or Weekly Vabbi Bounties OR Rifts in Vabbi. Those are the only reliable ways to get the maps properly populated.
4.) You need a time where people farm these events without any real distractions. So prime-time is not an option. Preferably weekends, preferably afternoons. Or evenings AFTER the usual player-magnet-events. So for EU 9-10 pm CEST. Around these times, you still have active and awake players in the maps, but the rewarding meta-events have been completed already.
5.) You need a squad with a visible tag, preferably a bounty-squad. If you are some sort of leadership-person, I highly recommend doing a bounty-run to collect people and finish it with the meta-event. If you are not a leader, you need to talk to people. Most bounty squads still read map-chat and also use it to collect more participants.
6.) You need bait. Does not have to be expensive. But should be banners at least (both).
7.) You need someone to help you. The smallest start I have ever pulled was the person in question and me until about 5 minutes before the actual meta started. That second person should not be anxious (see 2.) and dominate the map-chat in a calm, yet charming way. What is serpent's Ire? What is it used for? How to check, if you have open achievements for it? Where it takes place? Where people gather for it/the banners are?

What is going to be a problem?
1.) Every player who wants Forged With Fire and is willing to advertise for that. If you have any of these players on the map, you can almost certainly abort the mission and try later. Because they will pull all the people to that meta-event instead. Compared to SI, it is a brain-afk meta-event with 100 % success rate. Who with a right mind would go for the other one?
2.) "You help me, I help you." Sounds great, does not work. Once their objective is complete, they usually run out of time or brb and you are alone on an empty map. This can happen with the Djinn Event, Leyline Anomaly and also with the Lair of Zomorros. People who run these events, just want to get their collection-step done.
3.) Bounty trains that wander from map to map. They do not have the patience to wait for the event to start. If you have a legendary bounty train on your map, do not calculate with their aid. Once the leggies are dead, they are off to the next map.
4.) ANet doing a surprise-patch.

Other tips:
- Form a squad early. Make a LFG entry early and advertise the LFG. Technically we do have sub-categories for the different maps. But let us face it, nobody who is not actively looking for a group in vabbi is going to open that tab. So opening the LFG 'accidentally' in a tab with higher visibility ... the end justifies the means. You should not pull that trick to often though, as people may start to block you for doing so.
- Fill the squad with people. Sounds stupid, but it works. If you are the only person in a squad, nobody will join you. If you are two, curious people will give a try. If you have five or more, the squad will fill up almost automatically - with the proper advertisement. Ask friends, ask guild. Trust me, it works.
- Plan ahead. Announce the run a few hours earlier in map-chat during prime meta-events. A lot of people read these adverts. Even if they are not the target audience, they are members of guilds. Serpent's Ire is dreaded among the players. A lot of people have quests open for this.
- Know the mechanics. The most annoying part are the zealots, which you cannot really control. You need people with flying-mounts for that. But the actual bossfight can be a pain. Whoever leads the squad should know the spawnpoints of the zealots at the actual battlefield and be able to command people when it is time to focus on the whisps.
- Waystations. At least during the 2nd zealot-phase and the bossfight. You need a lot of CC.
- Do not be stressful, aggressive or negative in any way. The meta-event is a mess. But you need the proper attitude to get it done. Stay positive. Be polite. If people have questions, answer. Be persistent, but not annoying. It is a game after all. People want to have fun here.
- Don't worry about DPS. The last few runs I have done have proven that the power-creep, ANet applied to the game, has reached a ridiculous level. You can fail the event. But if you get past the 2nd zealot-phase, it is almost a guaranteed win. The timer is quite forgiving and allows multiple re-tries after HP resets of the bosses. You do not need a 50-player squad. Last attempt was ~ 20, including out-of-squad randoms.
- Bring loads of crowd-control and waystations if possible, or make sure someone in your group can drop them.
- If you have an option for mass-revive, pick it. The hydra is ... well, still a legendary hydra. Powercreep did not really affect survivability, so people are getting downed a lot.
- Tell your squad to use the jade-waypoint before the 2nd zealot-phase starts. Fully dead players are more likely to use that instead of the real waypoint, even if it is only a few flaps away.

[Kattliadi.1507]

Check out Auric Oasis on discord, I haven't run with them super recently but earlier this year I marked them down because they run a weekly meta train in POF that includes Serpent's Ire.

[EruWan.4362]

On 9/2/2024 at 11:57 PM, Smurfiness.3714 said:

It's a boring map and the event was only required for something. Needs too many people involved so once we got it we don't waste our tine to do it again. 

This is why you need to rush new maps unless you like begging for help 1 year later. 

thats great for new players

[Healix.5819]

I happened to be out there a few weeks ago, saw there were 2 zealots left with only a few minutes remaining and just happened to be next to one, so I solo'd it. It turned out someone else had been soloing them. We ended up completing the meta with 3 people total.

If you can just get a few people to try, it's fairly easy.