Hive of Gorgons Raid Full Walkthrough and Loot

As you prepare for the most difficult PvE content in the game, there are a handful of tips and tricks you will need to keep in mind. Within this guide, we cover everything you need to know about the Hive of Gorgons raid, including how to prepare, useful consumables, recommended builds, and of course, boss strategies. This raid has three unique bosses, each with unique battle mechanics (and rewards).

Please note: This 10-man raid is a brand new addition to the game. As more strategies are revealed, this guide will continue to be updated and will expand further.

In order to even qualify to start this raid, there are a few requirements. For starters, you cannot enter this battle alone. You are required to be in a raid with at least 6 members, but it is highly recommended that you do not even bother trying unless you have a group of 10 members.

Additionally, it is a requirement that you are level 65. It is not possible to even attempt this raid without being max level. We highly recommend that you are as close to 725 gearscore as possible, which could be a bit challenging, as this raid is one of the primary sources of max gearscore items. You may find yourself only being able to defeat the first of the three bosses several times, just to pick up some additional loot over time to help you prepare further for the other bosses.

Once you are level 65, have a group of 10, and are satisifed with your gearscore, you will want to travel to the southeastern corner of Cutlass Keys, where you will find the entrance to the Hive of Gorgons. If you want to save yourself the walk, you can also find this raid within your "Activities" tab.

Please note: You can only receive loot once per boss per week - so keep that in mind on when you and your group are planning on taking on this raid. You will want to ensure you schedule these in a way to maximize your rewards every time you run it.

As mentioned, since this 10-man raid is still very, very new, the perfect team composition is not entirely determined yet. However, based on previous raids and PvE activities that New World: Aeternum has introduced, the list below is a good starting point.

As always, each member of the group has a different job in this fight based on their role. For example, the Tank will be handling all of the mobs and trying to take as much damage as possible from the bosses, the Spear DPS players will focus on stacking debuffs on the bosses as much as possible, and the Rapier DPS builds will focus on dishing off as much damage as possible (depending on build, that could mean stacking bleeds or spamming specific abilities). And of course, the healers are focused on keeping all members (especially the tank) alive!

Here is a quick break-down of the different roles, and the number of players within the raid that should be within each. In some cases, teams will drop a DPS and replace it with another Tank, but that's based on the experience of your group.

Role	Number of Players in this Role
Tank (with War Hammer for rends)	1/10
Healer	2/10
Enfeebler Spear DPS (with Bow)	1/10
Spear DPS (Bleed - focused, with Bow)	1/10
Greatsword DPS (with Hatchet)	1/10
Rapier Evade DPS	1/10
Rapier Bleed DPS (with Finisher)	1/10
Fire Mage DPS	1/10
Fire Mage DPS	1/10

As you can tell, this team composition can be very detailed, where each member has a unique build. It is important for all of these DPS builds to use secondary ranged weapons (such as a Bow), as certain portions of this raid actually introduce mechanics where ranged weapons deal additional damage, and "safe" damage (little risk to dying). Also, it is important to utilize Slash and Fire damage in this fight, due to the fact that most of the mobs and bosses in this raid are Angry Earth. More info on this can be found below.

Most of the mobs and bosses within the Hive of Gorgons 10-man raid are the same enemy type - Angry Earth. With that being said, it is most efficient in some cases for the DPS roles to utilize weapons and/or gems that support Slash and Fire damage.

Additionally, you will want to ensure you have three Major Angry Earth Combat Trophy items within your houses, adding up to an additional 15% damage to Angry Earth enemies.

To learn more about enemy types and their weaknesses, visit our Monster Type guide.

Before entering this raid, regardless of what your role is, there are a handful of consumables that you will want to ensure you bring with you. The full list of these can be found below.

Consumable	Purpose
Infused Health Potion	Consume if your health gets low (keeps you alive).
Infused Regeneration Potion	Consume if your health and/or mana gets low (keeps you alive).
Infused Angry Earth Ward Potion	Increases damage absorbtion from Angry Earth by 10% for 40 minutes.
Infused Angry Earth Coating	Deal 15% more damage to Angry Earth (on weapon which it's used on).
Powerful Honing Stone	Increases weapon damage by 7% for 40 minutes.
Attribute-focused Food	Be sure to consume an attribute-focused food based on your build ( Beef Braciole for example).

Throughout the Hive of Gorgons raid, you will not only come across a handful of Angry Earth mobs between bosses, but also a handful of deadly traps. It's important to stay aware of your surroundings, as there are multiple trigger traps that may go off if you step in the wrong direction. In order to best prepare for this, ensure you are utilizing the consumables listed above to quickly regain health if needed.

The first boss you will encounter is the biggest boss to date, with more verticality than any other encounter. Echidna will dish off major damage-dealing abilities, ranging from stomps to thrases, while completely reshaping the arena in the process. Every time the arena reshapes, it will slightly change your surrounding, allowing certain DPS builds to be utilized more effectively.

For example, throughout the battle there will be large pillars that rise from the ground, making it a perfect spot for ranged DPS players (such as Bow or Fire Staff users) to jump on top of, and dish off damage. By jumping on the pillar, your DPS members will be protected from any damage-dealing abilities on the ground-level.

Players will encounter Echidna after slightly exploring the Hive of Gorgons area (map of location is found below).

The first half of the battle is pretty straight-forward. The Tank must pull the agro from Echidna, and then run around the outter rim of the arena. While the Tank is kiting this boss, one of the healers should be focused primarily on keeping them alive. The other healer on the team should then be focused on all of the other DPS members of the team, as they focus on inflicitng as much rend as possible on the boss, and dealing ranged damage from the large pillars that appear throughout the fight.

Please note: Throughout this fight, Echidna will release "Obsidian Crystals" that will appear like large claws that come out of the ground. As soon as these appear, all of the DPS members of the team should focus on destroying them. This is extremely important, especially in the second wave of this battle. If all of these are not destroyed, there is a very high chance your entire team will instantly be defeated, wiping your group.

It's also to be aware of Echidna when it releases these crystals. You must ensure that they don't land on you when launched. For example - if you are on a pillar, and one of these obsidian crystals are shot out and lands on you, you will instantly die. It's worth dodge and jumping off the pillar to save your life in these cases.

The most important part of this battle is survivability. Regardless if you are the Tank or a DPS member, stay aware of all abilities, as many of them are AoE, requiring you to dodge at the perfect time. Utilizing the consumables listed above, you should have no problem staying alive. Feel free to embed additional Onyx gems within your armor as well, as these abilities deal primarily Strike damage.

It's also important to note that once the Echidna's stamina bar breaks, he will flip over and be extremely vulnerable. This is when ALL DPS members should switch to their close-ranged weapons, inflict as much rend as possible, and hit Echidna towards the top middle of it's body (where it's most vulnerable). Follow these strategies, and your team should have no problem taking down Echidna.

To take a closer look at the battle mechanics, best practices, and overall strategy on defeating Echidna, watch the video below.

After taking down Echidna, players will then be met with several groups of mobs, and even more traps. As you further explore into the Hive of Gorgons, you will eventually come across the next boss - Typhon. Typhon is the ferocious guardian of a massive elevated bridge. The boss uses a range of unique abilities, including thorny traps and biting attacks.

The map below indicates where players will encounter Typhon.

Unlike the first boss - this one is actually a DPS check, and a total of three unique phases. Each of these phases are pretty similar, except for the fact that the number of mobs is increased, while the number of available pillars to hide behind decreases. Additionally, it's important to note that Nature resistances will be extremely helpful for this battle, so it's worth utilzing Nature Protection within your Amulet for this battle, along with Amber gems in your armor.

This boss is considered a "DPS check", as you will need to deal enough damage to the boss before you run out of pillars. If you do not deal enough to push him to the next phase when you're down to zero pillars, your team will wipe.

It's important to note that there is no longer a requirement for having a ranged weapon for this boss. In fact - melee damage tends to dish off a great deal of damage to this boss, and it's recommended to utilize either the spear, rapier, or hatchet. As always - it's important to utilize as many rends as possible!

One of the most important things to understand fully for this battle are the abilities that Typhon will dish off - and what you will need to do in order to prevent taking damage from them. These abilities, along with what you have to do to avoid them, can be found below.

As Typhon is dishing off these abilities, he will also be spawning a handful of different mobs. It is important that your DPS members prioritize defeating the "Corvid" bird mobs as soon as they spawn. If they don't kill them in time, they will get absorbed by Typhon, providing him with additional buffs (and making him even more powerful and difficult to defeat). It's recommended that certain DPS members have crowd control abilities to help take down these mobs quickly, such as the Gravity Well ability for Great Axe users, or Shockwave for War Hammer users. It's also useful at time for a DPS to use the Scorpion's Sting artifact to pull the Corvid mobs out of vines (in case it ever runs into them, making it hard for your team to burn them down).

By following this guide, and avoiding all of Typhon's abilities, your team should be able to successfully take down this boss.

To take a closer look at the battle mechanics, best practices, and overall strategy on defeating Typhon, watch the video below.

At the end of the Hive of Gorgons, you will encounter the final boss - Broodmother Medusa. This battle is actually considered easier than the second boss, but it still requires close communication and collaboration between all ten group members.

The map below indicates where players will encounter Broodmother Medusa.

During this battle, it's recommended that all DPS users have a ranged weapon (similar to the first boss), but this time it's primarily for defeating eggs that spawn throughout the battle, along wiht flowers that appear on top of the arena. As soon as these eggs or flowers appear, all DPS players should focus on destroying them.

If your team doesn't destroy the eggs in time, a random mob will hatch from it, making life much more difficult for your healers.

The battle mechanics are overall pretty straight-forward here. Throughout the battle, Medusa will spit out these eggs and flowers, as mentioned above. Additionally, Meduda will be spitting out "sleep powder" throughout the arena. If you stand too close to this white powder, your character will be stunned for 2 full minutes, or until a fellow member of your team "cleanses" you.

In order to "cleanse" a team member, you must interact with one of the fountains around the outter rim of the arena, where you can then throw a glowing ball which will cleanse a specific area.

It's highly important to assign the role of "Tank Cleanser" to a member of the team, as your Tank will quickly pile up on debuffs and DoT effects while taking hits from Broodmother Medusa. One member should ensure that the Tank never stacks up on too many debuffs, which is one of the most important jobs in this fight. Without the tank, your full team will likely wipe.

Many, many teams have found a lot of success with their DPS users utilizing either Fire Staffs or Hatchets for this battle. With Hatchets, melee users will be able to throw the hatchet for a ranged attack, while also being able to utilize the Beserk ability to support survivability.

One of the most important abilities this boss will unleash is a "charge" attack, which will likely instantly kill any 50 CON DPS on the team. Whenever Medusa is "cleansed", she will unleash a screech, and then target one member of the team. After a few seconds, she will then charge full-speed at that member. In other words, be prepared to dodge!

Lastly, it's important to note that there is no DPS check with this battle like the second boss. Don't stress about going too fast - just make sure you stay alive, and slowly dish off damage while you can, and keep your tank alive. Following these steps will secure your victory, and allow you to fully complete the Hive of Gorgons raid.

One of the best parts of the Hive of Gorgons would be the rewards. To be more specific - these rewards are arguably the best in the game currently.

Some of the most sought after rewards can be found in the table below.