Awakening The Machine
Awakening The Machine is a weekly task in Gundargaz of the Ringing Deeps, tasking players with clearing twenty waves while keeping Speaker Kuldas alive, with checkpoints every five. Each checkpoint cleared will unlock an additional Awakened Cache, each containing greater rewards.
Rewards
The weekly quest, [80W] Gearing Up for Trouble, awards an
[Awakened Mechanical Cache], containing materials for upgrading gear, gold, and maybe Veteran-track gear and a
[Restored Coffer Key].
Back in Gundargaz, each five waves cleared unlocks an Awakened Cache:
- 150
, +150 Assembly of the Deeps reputation, 15
[Valorstones], 2x
[Carved Harbinger Crest], 100
[Resonance Crystals]
- 175
, +250 Assembly of the Deeps reputation, 18 Valorstones, 2 Carved Harbinger Crest
- 175
, +350 Assembly of the Deeps reputation, 20 Valorstones, 3 Carved Harbinger Crest, 150 Resonance Crystals
- 175
, +350 Assembly of the Deeps reputation, 22 Valorstones, 3 Carved Harbinger Crest
Clearing wave 20 awards [It's Not Much, But It's Honest Work], granting the <Machine-Warden> title. The Awakened Caches also have a chance to contain the
[Machine Defense Unit 1-11] mount. The mount can be farmed across alts, but each character only has one attempt per week.
Enemies
Enemies are listed in order of appearance:
- Swarmbot
- Basic melee only.
- Corrupted Machinist
- Channels an attack on Kuldas. Use any form of crowd control to instantly defeat it.
- Explosive Bomberbot
- Will walk up to Kuldas and cast Self Destruct. If aggroed by a player, will attempt to Self Destruct on the player instead. Self Destruct will damage other enemies caught in its area of effect!
- Malfunctioning Pylon
- Machine fixed in place, channels a Hazardous Beam on Kuldas. Players or enemies can stand in the beam to intercept it and will take damage instead of Kuldras.
- Automatic Ironstrider
- Casts Volatile Magma on the player, ticking damage every second for eight seconds. Upon removal, the magma detonates, forming a Magma Puddle at the location for one minute and exploding Magma Waves outwards from the target. Don't stand near Kuldas when the debuff expires!
- Medbot
- Casts Routine Maintenance on damaged enemies for 12 sec, healing allies within 5 yards for 5% of their max health every 2 sec. Drops a healing orb that heals the player and Speaker Kuldas for 10% of his max health when run over
- Nullbot
- Channels Nullification Barrier on another enemy, putting that target in an immunity bubble until the Nullbot is defeated
- Awakened Phalanx
- The Wave 20 boss. Casts Bellowing Slam, dealing damage to Kuldas and the player, and spawning void zones. Also casts Earthshaking Charge, which is an aimed charge attack (avoid Kuldas!) and significantly damages the player hard if they get hit by it
Waves
- 3 Swarmbots
- 1 Corrupted Machinist, 2 Swarmbots
- 1 Corrupted Machinist, 3 Swarmbots
- 5 Swarmbots
- 2 Corrupted Machinists, 1 Explosive Bomberbot, 2 Swarmbots
- Malfunctioning Pylon, 2 Swarmbots
- Malfunctioning Pylon, 2 Swarmbots
- Malfunctioning Pylon, 2 Corrupted Machinists, 2 Swarmbots
- Malfunctioning Pylon, 1 Corrupted Machinists, 3 Swarmbots
- Automatic Ironstrider, 3 Swarmbots
- 4 Swarmbots, 1 Medbot
- 1 Malfunctioning Pylon, 1 Nullbot, 1 Medbot, 3 Swarmbots
- 1 Nullbot, 2 Explosive Bomberbots, 1 Swarmbot
- 1 Nullbot, 2 Explosive Bomberbots, 1 Medbot, 1 Swarmbot
- 1 Malfunctioning Pylon, 1 Automatic Ironstrider, 1 Medbot, 1 Swarmbot
- 3 Explosive Bomberbots, 2 Medbots, 3 Swarmbots
- 1 Malfunctioning Pylon, 1 Automatic Ironstrider, 1 Corrupted Machinist, 2 Explosive Bomberbots, 1 Medbot
- 1 Malfunctioning Pylon, 1 Corrupted Machinist, 1 Automatic Ironstrider, 1 Explosive Bombbot, 5 Swarmbots
- 1 Malfunctioning Pylon, 2 Nullbots, 1 Automatic Ironstrider, 1 Explosive Bomberbot, 4 Swarmbots
- Awakened Phalanx
Strategy
Waves 1 to 5
The first wave introduces the basic enemy, the Swarmbot. It has no special moves. After that is the Corrupted Machinist, which is rooted and channels a spell on Speaker Kuldras. Interrupting it with any form of crowd control will instantly defeat it. The last enemy in this set is the Explosive Bomberbot. It will run to Speaker Kuldas unless aggroed by a player, where it will instead run to the player. If it reaches its target it will wind up a slow Self-Destruction cast, doing significant damage to all units in the area of effect.
Waves 6 to 10
This set introduces the Malfunctioning Pylon, which channels a spell on Kuldas. Unlike the Corrupted Machinists, this channel cannot be interrupted, so stand between the pylon and Kuldas to keep him from taking damage. Kite other enemies into the beam and they will take damage too! Wave 10 introduces the Automatic Ironstrider, which casts Volatile Magma on the player. That DoT will tick each second for eight seconds, then explode, leaving a magma puddle on the ground and launching four orbs. Don't stand near Kuldas when the DoT expires!
Waves 11 to 15
This set introduces the Medbot, which channels a healing spell on other damaged machines, and drops a healing potion on the ground when it's defeated. Run over it before it expires to heal up and heal Kuldas as well. Wave 12 adds the Nullbot to the mix, which channels an immunity bubble on another unit in the room. Defeat it to pop the bubble on that target. In wave 15, drag the Automatic Ironstrider into the Malfunctioning Pylon's beam, then focus down the Nullbot before working on the pylon, then the rest of the units.
Waves 16 to 20
Quickly aggro the bomberbots and swarmbots, then drag them away from Kuldas. Focus down the medbots, and let the bomberbots explode the swarmbots once they catch up.
In wave 17, immediately crowd control the corrupted machinist, then drag the ironstrider and bomberbots over to the malfunctioning pylon. Focus down the pylon, then the medbot, then whoever is left after the bomberbots go off.
Wave 18 is more of the same, but with a bunch of swarmbots. Let the explosive bomberbot take them out.
Wave 19 throws everything and the kitchen sink at the player. Repeat the same strategy from waves 17 and 18, but with the added complication of nullbots in the mix.
Wave 20 is just the Awakened Phalanx. Don't let the charge go through Kuldas, but otherwise there's nothing to the boss.
Powers
If a [Spare Toolbox] is obtained, Kuldas' Toolbox can be placed, offering a choice of one of three of the following buffs. Items can also be bought, granting specific buffs. Several of them are noted to stack, but as the items used to spawn the toolboxes are unique, the most stacks one would be able to get is two.
[Urgent Repairs] - 200% movement speed
[Grace of the Machine] - Double jumps and aoe damage when landing
[Inner Forge] - Damage on hit + 50% reduced damage taken
[Steam Vent] - AOE damage around you
[Ironstrider Support] - Support from Klanker the Ironstrider
[Cogwalker Support] - R-K-MEDES shields Speaker Kuldas. He receives 50% less damage taken
[Edict of Alacrity] - 5% Crit stacking up to 100 times
[Edict of Haste] - 5% Haste stacking up to 100 times
[Edict of Regeneration] - Regen 5% Health in combat + 5% Leech stacking up to 100 times
[Edict of Stamina] - Increased Stamina stacking up to 100 times
[Edict of Rage] - 5% damage amp + size, stacking up to 100 times
Gossip
Ah, the Halls of Awakening! She's certainly dragging her feet after her slumber these past few eons. Let's give her a tune up, shall we?
These ancient machines have a mind of their own, and don't always react to our rituals in ways that are... pleasant. Things might get a little hot in here!
I'm ready to continue. <Start.>
What are we doing here?
I'd like to leave.
Trivia
During development, the feature was planned to run for many more waves, with associated achievements and rewards every 10 waves.
- Awakening The Machine: Wave 10
- Awakening The Machine: Wave 20
- Awakening The Machine: Wave 30
- Awakening The Machine: Wave 40
- Awakening The Machine: Wave 50
Presumably it would also have been possible to obtain more Toolboxes, in order to stack up the possible buffs.
Patch changes
Hotfix (2024-10-28): Addressed an issue causing Nullbots to become stuck evading.
Hotfix (2024-09-13): Addressed an issue causing the Awakened Phalanx to become stuck in an unattackable state.
Hotfix (2024-09-03):
- Medpack ground duration increased to 2 minutes (was 1 minute).
- Automatic Ironstrider damage decreased by 17%.
- Malfunctioning Pylon damage decreased by 20%.
- Nullification Barrier duration decreased to 2 minutes.
- Addressed an issue where Nullification Barrier could persist after combat.
Hotfix (2024-08-28): Addressed an issue preventing intended steps for "Awakening the Machine" while Speaker Kuldas was a questgiver.
Patch 11.0.2 (2024-08-13): Added.