Guide: How the Hollowjack fight actually works

code65536

There seems to be some confusion and misunderstanding over exactly what happens during the fight against Lord Hollowjack, so I want to take a moment to clarify some details.

1. Crouch phases happen at 70% and 40% boss health, so you can anticipate them.
   
   
2. All of the adds and scarecrow totems will despawn when a crouch phase starts. All existing resource drains are cleared when a crouch phase starts. So if you are nearing a crouch phase (or if the group has enough damage to push to a crouch phase quickly), you can and probably should just ignore them. No point in wasting time killing an add or totem that will go away on their own.
   
   
3. The crouch phases last for a fixed amount of time:
   • The 70% crouch phase lasts for 50 seconds.
   • The 40% crouch phase lasts for 80 seconds.
   • As long as the group does not fully wipe during this mechanic, you've beaten it.
   
   
4. Stealth is not actually required. Just crouching. What's the difference between the two? For example, let's say you are a DK, and you cast Igneous Shields to get some stam back via your Helping Hands passive. If this were a Heist or Sacrament quest, doing so will pull you out of stealth and cause you to be detected. But you will remain crouched. For the Lord Hollowjack fight, it's checking only if you are crouched, and stealth does not matter. So many abilities that can cause problems for actual stealthy quests such as Heists are completely fine for the Lord Hollowjack fight.
   
   
5. The main challenge to the crouch phases is that there is a resource drain, and once it drains all of your stamina, you will no longer be able to crouch, and Lord Hollowjack will be able to target you.
   
   
6. The strength of the resource drain during the crouch mechanic is equal to the number of crows on the ground. When the crouch mechanic first starts, there are no crows and no resource drain. Then a group of four* crows will land, and everyone will get 4 stacks of resource drain. If two of those crows are scared away, then you'll still be suffering from a resource drain, but a lighter 2-stack drain instead of a 4-stack drain. The 40% crouch phase will have significantly more crows than the 70% crouch phase; the number of crows spawned per wave is still the same, but the waves spawn much more frequently.
   • * The number of crows that spawn per wave is scaled to the size of the group; four crows per wave is for a full group.
   
   
7. Scaring away the crows is not absolutely necessary, since the goal is to just make it through 50s or 80s without the group wiping. It is possible to "beat" the crouch phase even if nobody scares any crows, if people simply rez faster than the boss can kill. Of course, scaring the crows away to keep the resource drain at a manageable level, coupled with building for stam sustain, will allow you to get past the crouch phases without dying, which I suppose is what's "intended", but where's the fun in that?

EF321

code65536 wrote: »

if people simply rez faster than the boss can kill

Pressing "Respawn at wayshrine" will instantly rez you at portal location. It's not always great idea, but can be useful.

Rowjoh

Don't really see the point of these time consuming boss fights.

The rewards are miserable and you can get tickets and gold/purple skulls in a fraction of the time soloing a large variety of other content.

spartaxoxo

Rowjoh wrote: »

Don't really see the point of these time consuming boss fights.

The rewards are miserable and you can get tickets and gold/purple skulls in a fraction of the time soloing a large variety of other content.

If you have a group, the HJ is pretty fast. Less time than any of the other groups content. Only little longer than a typical world boss. It's like one dungeon boss.

DenverRalphy

Rowjoh wrote: »

Don't really see the point of these time consuming boss fights.

The rewards are miserable and you can get tickets and gold/purple skulls in a fraction of the time soloing a large variety of other content.

Because it'sa fresh and delightfully different mechanic instead of the same ol' Tank & Spank everybody's used to. You get a Gold box from it like you would from anywhere else in the world.

Pelanora

Yea this fight is fun. Well done Zos

code65536

Rowjoh wrote: »

Don't really see the point of these time consuming boss fights.

The rewards are miserable and you can get tickets and gold/purple skulls in a fraction of the time soloing a large variety of other content.

FWIW, ZOS's article about this event says that there's a tiiiiny, minuscule chance of hitting the "jackpot" with the Crow and Hollowjack skulls (only these two golden skull types). You can see an example of this in this reddit thread. And once people figure out what to do, it's really not that time-consuming.

FriedEggSandwich

Also spread out during crouch phase, because if another player gets seen, and you're in the path of the red circle around the boss, you're going to die too, even if you weren't seen.

LalMirchi

Excellent guide, thanks

Stafford197

Great write up! This should help a lot of people, thanks for the post.

Sleepsin

Having about 4-5 players is better then having 10-12. The fewer players the fewer amount of crows that drain stamina. Since the crouch phase based on time, it works out better.

Vonnegut2506

It should be that more people equals more people to get rid of crows, so it should be similar. In reality, only about two people are actually trying to get crows while the rest are just sitting at the edge until they run out of stamina which causes the boss to run over the people actually trying to get rid of the crows. I have died more times in full groups than in groups of four, so I agree with this playerbase less is more.

Tommy_The_Gun

code65536 wrote: »

[*]The strength of the resource drain during the crouch mechanic is equal to the number of crows on the ground.

So that is what it is for ! I was convinced that boss simply, occasionally charges random player and using synergy of the green AOE crow is to prevent that. I was convinced that resource drain is simply a de-buff that stays on you from previous phase of the fight as I have noticed the abnormal stamina drain, even if not moving.

It also explains why if I solo the boss, then the boss will never charge me & I am not running out of stamina. It is best to use tri-stat potion (or stamina potions) or skills like siphoning strikes, or any skill that can give you stamina if you have access to it. Or you can potentially equip Darloc Brae Set & it should help too.

Also, if you stop moving it should penitentially reduce the drain as during crouch, stamina recovery is only disabled when you are moving (unless they changed something).

I would also like to know:

Do things like invisibility potions, NB cloak or Vamp invisibility sprint do count for this fight as "crouch" ? So you can for example stop crouching & transition into invisibility ?

Elvenheart

Rowjoh wrote: »

Don't really see the point of these time consuming boss fights.

The rewards are miserable and you can get tickets and gold/purple skulls in a fraction of the time soloing a large variety of other content.

My initial plan was to only do this quest until I got the random bust drop. But after that, the completionist in me wanted to do the quest at least once on every active character I have, which is 11, just because I have the add-on Quest Journal and you see a check beside the quest if you have done it on that character. I was surprised to notice that several of my characters had never done the Witchmother’s Bargain quest so I finish that one up too. Now, Lord Hollowjack is safe from me for the rest of the event because at this point all I need are 7 more owl feathers to finish my last Witches Festival achievement.

code65536

Vonnegut2506 wrote: »

It should be that more people equals more people to get rid of crows, so it should be similar. In reality, only about two people are actually trying to get crows while the rest are just sitting at the edge until they run out of stamina which causes the boss to run over the people actually trying to get rid of the crows. I have died more times in full groups than in groups of four, so I agree with this playerbase less is more.

Even if all 12 people are on point with the crow mechanic, it's still harder.

Why?

Let's say you have a group of 3 players. Crows spawn in waves of 1. So a single crow spawns, you get hit by 1x Resource Drain, and let's say it takes 5s total for someone to creep over to the crow, use the synergy, and do the whole animation of scaring it away. So every player gets 5s of 1x Resource Drain.

Now let's say you have a group of 12 players. Crows now spawn in waves of 4, so 4x Resource Drain per wave. Let's say it takes the same 5s for people to creep their way to all 4 crows and do the scaring animation, etc. So everyone gets 5s of 4x Resource Drain.

The point is that even if everyone does everything right, there is still a minimum amount of time that you're going to be eating that resource drain, because it takes time to get there and it takes time to do the scaring animation, and a full group of 12 will eat 4x as much during that time as a small group of 3.

What they should've done is scale the strength of the resource drain so that the amount of drain per wave is the same regardless of group size. Dispelling each wave in a larger group would still require more people, but each wave for a 12-person group shouldn't be draining 4x as much as a wave in a 3-person group.

ApoAlaia

Also, the mechanic does not disable Darloc Brae's proc.

It pretty much negates the stamina drain.

Taril

It's worth noting 2 things:

- Jack can target companions to charge at. Which can make them a liability (As you're less able to control their positioining so them getting charged can kill multiple players). Even more so since sometimes they get targeted even while the owner is crouched.
- It's possible for the boss to reset if he goes too far towards the back of the arena (I.e. Where the portal is). This can occur in both his regular phase as well as the crouch phase (I had a reset occur because a group was hanging about at the edge of the arena behind where the portal is and got targeted by his charge. Meanwhile, I was still alive so the fight shouldn't have reset)

Tommy_The_Gun wrote: »

Do things like invisibility potions, NB cloak or Vamp invisibility sprint do count for this fight as "crouch" ? So you can for example stop crouching & transition into invisibility ?

No. It is specifically tied to "Crouch"

Which is a significant issue for Werewolves as they cannot crouch and thus even with invis pots cannot avoid the mechanic.

code65536

Taril wrote: »

Jack can target companions to charge at. Which can make them a liability (As you're less able to control their positioining so them getting charged can kill multiple players). Even more so since sometimes they get targeted even while the owner is crouched.

Companions crouch when their owners crouch, and they uncrouch when their owners uncrouch. While it is true that Lord Hollowjack can and do target companions, every single time that I've seen it happen has been a case where the companion's owner lost too much stamina and uncrouched.

coop500

Kinda lame that werewolves, a staple of Halloween, can't take part in the new Halloween boss.

Taril

code65536 wrote: »

Companions crouch when their owners crouch, and they uncrouch when their owners uncrouch.

I'm aware of that.

code65536 wrote: »

While it is true that Lord Hollowjack can and do target companions, every single time that I've seen it happen has been a case where the companion's owner lost too much stamina and uncrouched.

I've seen on multiple occasions times where a player was crouched, along with their companions. Yet the crouched companion still got charged by Jack.

In the same vein, I've personally been charged while crouched (With 80%+ Stam). Meaning his detection has some wonkiness for some reason (On a side note, you can technically dodge roll his insta-kill aura... Though you're unlikely to make it out of the area unless you're simply in his path as he's charging someone else)

JinKC98

Literally told people to help chase the crows if it lands right in front of them. Like 2 meters in front of them while Hollowjack is all the way on the other side. Helps others sustain better. Most people just crouch near the edge and not move an inch and no response...

Playing a magicka based DPS so I don't have a lot of stamina to be drained.

(Evil tip: If things get toxic, just use whatever is left of your stamina and run to the one guy with no response and get wiped together.)

Hapexamendios

I actually found the fight simplest with 3-4 people.

WhiteCoatSyndrome

code65536 wrote: »

[*]The strength of the resource drain during the crouch mechanic is equal to the number of crows on the ground. When the crouch mechanic first starts, there are no crows and no resource drain. Then a group of four* crows will land, and everyone will get 4 stacks of resource drain. If two of those crows are scared away, then you'll still be suffering from a resource drain, but a lighter 2-stack drain instead of a 4-stack drain. The 40% crouch phase will have significantly more crows than the 70% crouch phase; the number of crows spawned per wave is still the same, but the waves spawn much more frequently.

• * The number of crows that spawn per wave is scaled to the size of the group; four crows per wave is for a full group.

Thank you! I was wondering what they were for since they didn’t seem to end the crouch phase any faster.

GlassHalfFull

Finished this with three people, only one crow raised. This battle was rather fun.

I still do not know why a crow was fluttering over my head, any ideas?

code65536

GlassHalfFull wrote: »

I still do not know why a crow was fluttering over my head, any ideas?

The crow circling around your head is the visual in-game indicator that you are being affected by the resource drain. It will disappear once the ground is cleared of all crows.

TheBeautyOfSuffering

It's a really fun and challenging fight

Servadei

This is fun with a lot of players. Watching people avoid and get found by Hollowjack is hilarious.

We need a Christmas version with a huge faun (Krampus) as the boss. The oneshot mech could be the boss throwing frostballs at us if we don't jump onto elevator pads or take cover behind ice pillars.

The mechanics are already in the game. Cloudrest and Scalecaller Peak.

AnduinTryggva

Rowjoh wrote: »

Don't really see the point of these time consuming boss fights.

The rewards are miserable and you can get tickets and gold/purple skulls in a fraction of the time soloing a large variety of other content.

Actually I like this boss. Its mechanic is fun. And its "mood" is pretty "halloweeny" and pretty scary unlike other stuff.

About the rewards: Conceded: The golden skulls are a bit of a letdown.

LukosCreyden

As I said before, Witches Festival is peak event content. The new fight is awesome, the quest to get to the fight is cool and I like the new trophies you can get from besting it.
The fight IS soloable, but time-consuming. Also those totems are pain when soloing.
As for the crouch phase, might be worth saving a pot cooldown for it, just to ensure your stamina doesn't get drained. Hollowjack is VERY hard to evade when he is coming for you.

Caligamy_ESO

Rowjoh wrote: »

Don't really see the point of these time consuming boss fights.

The rewards are miserable and you can get tickets and gold/purple skulls in a fraction of the time soloing a large variety of other content.

Probably this:

Rowjoh

Caligamy_ESO wrote: »

Rowjoh wrote: »

Don't really see the point of these time consuming boss fights.

The rewards are miserable and you can get tickets and gold/purple skulls in a fraction of the time soloing a large variety of other content.

Probably this:

Seriously? The cosmetics are truly awful, and everyone except new players have all the Dremora motifs 10 times over, which can be bought from every guild trader for peanuts anyway, saving the complete waste of time it takes to grind for them.

When the main purpose of collecting and spending tickets is? enriching you character and improving power, strength, sustain and survivability ...cosmetics! and pets! you know the game is floundering.