King Kong Down: Warmaster Etiquette

"It's a Warmaster!" - Really? I thought it was the tooth fairy.

I know what you're thinking. 'But this is a video game! What etiquette is there to have??!!11?!!!1 Shoot the monkey and be done with it.' - - Valid, and true. However, let us remember that this is an MMO, and therefore, we're not just playing for ourselves. Which brings me to my point and the nature of this 'guide'.

Everyone wants to win, especially those who call down this giant pain in the arse. I've been in a fairly large number of Warmaster's, enough to have gathered ample insight and a collective of knowledge on how to act and/or behave once within the ark itself. Getting straight into the nitty gritty, let's start with how you summon such an angry ball of crystallized schtako. 

Since there is already a guide for this, I will merely (and briefly) go over the very few steps it takes.

On your world map, there are symbols. Various, in fact, I know. Major Arkfall windows, which is what you want to find, are small; circular dots coloured red. Hovering over them, they will read what they are. Now, once you've set your course and arrived at your intended destination, there will be a sum of four (that's 4) place holders for spikes. Spikes can be obtained via the Arkbreaker DLC (and if you have it, then you're practically all set. If you do not, you will need to have someone who does lay these spikes down for you). If you run out of spikes or find yourself short, you can simply purchase more from your nearest supply vendor.

Anyhow, as mentioned, there's a more detailed guide on the how-to located here.

Before you set that fourth spike, take a moment to chill. Relax, enjoy the post apocalyptic scenery and invite your friends. You are going to need backup, there's literally no solo-ing once you've made it to the final chamber. (This bro is like the new-age BOWSER on steroids, okay.)

So, you've called down the Warmaster. Wonderful! You won't be getting inside just yet. Before you can enter the ark fall, you must deal with the enemy waves outside of it. You can treat this how you do with your usual open-world fights. As far as loadout's go, whatever works for you works for the rest of us. Personally, I go with a bit more BANG and BOOM.

After you've dealt with the outside swarm, there will be stations that appear along side the wreckage. Four windows of opportunity. More often than not, especially if you're console based, you will disconnect attempting to get in. I recommend you RELOG completely before even beginning the ark fall.

Once inside, you will probably spawn into the floor - - so, just take a breath, go get some chips, you know, use the time you'll likely spend key-mashing or raging and put that energy to better use. There is a brief fight within. I mean, quite literally, it will (or should, depending on how many people are with you) take only a few moments to clear out the small fries. This is where we get to the point of this whole thing. 

Do. Not. Kill. The. Big. One.

You see the giant, domineering one walking around like he's not about to get his ganchis kicked? Yeah? Don't kill him. I know it's an awfully large request to make, your adrenaline is pumping and you just wanna kill even more schtako. Easy, Clint Eastwood's of Defiance. Hop onto the second tier and set your controller down, take your trigger happy self for a short walk and hey, maybe treat yourself to some stretching, food - - whatever you're into. It's intermission time!

The Viscera is a vital enemy to keep alive because once he is face planting the floor, you're being ushered below to the big and the bad, and unless you have a solid group of either high ego folk or an entire instance full; you're likely only going to tickle that over stuffed teddy bear.

Utilize the time you're given with the Visc to invite more friends. Encourage others via team chat to do the same, and do not take troll-y shots. Honestly, you will only serve to annoy everyone else and the chat will explode with various hate and obscenities and it's like a verbal soap opera. No one wants to be on the receiving end and no one wants to read it as it unfolds in chat. We all have the same goal when we're in that room, idle. We want to win. We want to go and cream that smug ape. And we want to be rewarded handsomely because of it. (Actually, the RNG will probably rip you off, but hey, at least you get a (now irrelevant) epic out of the deal, no?)

Patience is clearly your best friend, here. Exercise a little of it and you'll make everyone else around you happy.

Trolls, I know there are many of you out there who for whatever reason enjoy spoiling anothers good time, have a little restraint. You can go wild and run amok afterward, but for a few minutes, just take a chill pill.

When your map is a purty shade of purple, time to wreck face. Either ask chat if they're ready to put the BEAT in DOWN and go wild on that Viscera who's been taunting you for the last five or so minutes, or inform the rest of us that it's about to go DOWN. (GDFR plays in the background)

The Visc has fallen! Hooray! That was astoundingly easy. Activate the central control crap and slip down one more level, and - - fall back on that patience you spent the better part of a few minutes perfecting. I know, I know. It's a lot to ask, but hey, there is a time limit this time and it won't hurt to spare two minutes more to invite folk who've either finished their prior business or just logged on. Pulling a few extra bodies isn't going to hurt you, in fact. It's far more helpful than harmful. Plus, I'm sure people will enjoy being invited to a #WINNING Warmaster.

Oh, it probably needs to be said, doesn't it?

Do. Not. Shoot. The. Locks.

I know it's tempting. I know when someone tells you 'not to do' something, it's like a switch has been flipped and suddenly you want to do that thing. Don't. As I mentioned above, a lot more people will be happy with you if you can just wait. It isn't a lot to ask and it's not going to buck your chances of getting something good. It won't really help your score much, either.

Take all the time given to get to know the people you're in there with. Make a few new friends, crack lame jokes in chat. Anything. Hell, trade with each other. It's really and truly that simple. (Any minds blown, yet?)

Once the timer has run out, go crazy, fellow Ark hunters. Go teach that Warfool who's the REAL master.

(Bonus tip ! When the Warmaster is free, focus fire solely onto his RIGHT arm (usually your left), or the arm he uses to hang onto the roof (I think he's attempting to raise it? Idk) with.)

That's about it as far as etiquette goes. It's really all about being a Team Player. Work as One.

Now, for loadouts. I find that DPS is usually what will get you the most points, if that's what your aim is. You want the highest score? DPS. Not only does it help you, but it helps the rest of us, too. My personal loadout for the WM is a Castithan Springer (which is a WM drop) and a detonator. The det is a secondary, meaning I only use it for the cannon fodder, ie; groups of volge and bombers and those annoying flying machines. I whip out my det when the WM calls out his goonies, fire a couple of shots standing amidst damage spikes, watch as the crit kills fall and then return to shooting the main objective hanging loosely from the ceiling above.

BMG's are a literal nightmare, so don't use those. There's no need to heal in this. If you go down and are unable to revive, just extract and jump back down into the fray, okay? Same with CrimeFighters, you will lag the ever living schtako out of everyone and likely cause several to crit out. Don't be that person.

(Bonus tune ! I get knocked down, but I get up again,)

Your perk build should reflect ego recharge and sustainability, and also the range to which blasts hit you. Everyone knows the Warmaster likes to explode, someone should really have him enrolled in anger management.

Run with either Damage or Ammo spikes and the rest is history. (Protection spikes are useless, opt for something that will aid in the slaughter)

Be advised that unless you have the DLC required you will not be able to use the weapons received. If you're merely in it for the XP, great! Because you will definitely get plenty of that.

I hope that this is somewhat helpful to new player's who find themselves wandering into one of these ark falls. It isn't always explained in team chat, the preference. You will more than likely be cursed out for being a 'noob'.

Right.

Quick recap: 

Organization. Patience. Team Work. Open up a can of whoop-a s s. Pray that the RNG smiles upon you. 

Happy gaming. Good luck! May the RNG odds be forever in your favor.