Garden of Genesis was one of our first Expeditions. It helped pave the way for new gameplay mechanics such as defending objectives, exploring optional chambers, and conquering unique boss elements.
Whether it’s your first or five-hundredth time entering Garden of Genesis, here are some tips for even more enjoyable runs.
“This is an Angry Earth Expedition, so weapons like the Fire Staff and anything that deals Slash Damage are preferable,” TrickTrick said. “My recommendation is to have all three DPS players use light loadouts with a combination of Great Swords, Great Axes, and Spears. The Spear is one of the best weapons for Mutations due to its unique utility kit — weakening enemies so they deal less damage (Enfeebling Skewer Perk) while breaking their armor for your team to inflict more damage (Perforate ability).”
“For clumping the mobs, the Great Axe will be your go-to, thanks to abilities like Gravity Well. The Great Axe can make large fights manageable and easy since the mobs won’t be spread all over the place.”
“For tanks, ideally, you want to go in with heavy gear, plus the Sword and Shield and War Hammer.” TrickTrick said. “Make sure you have a Carnelian in both weapons and pick the abilities that taunt enemies. These two weapons will provide an incredible amount of survivability and utility for the team.”
“Remember to hold your AOE Taunts and use them after you are done pulling or when you are ready to fight. If you use them too early, the taunt might run out before the fight starts, creating unnecessary inconveniences. Taunt too late and your DPS or healers may instead aggro the mob, making encounters even more difficult.”
“They should go in a light loadout for extra healing,” TrickTrick said. “Life Staff is your primary healing weapon. If you feel comfortable helping with more than just heals, you can use a Void Gauntlet or Flail. You can also use your off-weapon abilities to provide utility and buffs to your team.”
“A Void Gauntlet with abilities like Oblivion can greatly increase your group’s performance through Damage and Stamina support alongside debuffing enemies. As for Life Staff abilities, Sacred Ground is your main healing ability and Splash is amazing since it has a team cleanse. The third ability is up to you.”
“Blight Tinctures are a must for new players since when you are Blighted you’ll have -50% Less Damage, -75% healing reduction and take damage 1.4% HP over time for 3 minutes,” ArsheeTV said. “Incense will help reduce your chances of becoming Blighted.“
“Recommended Consumables: Angry Earth Coating (+15% damage, use in both weapons), Angry Earth Ward Potions (+10% resistance), Honing Stones (+7% damage), Attribute food, and Dessert Sunrise,” TrickTrick said. “Remember to reapply when they run out.“
“My gear will always include refreshing and weapon Perks for whatever role I am running,” vXBlackSwanXv said. “Mutations have elemental damage that is very easy to mitigate by either carrying around an Amulet or swapping Gems based on the element type.”
“Enchanted Ward is a must on all 5 pieces of armor to reduce damage taken by every type of attack,” ArsheeTV said. “You must Gem toward the Mutation type. If you want to be successful as a team you’ll need over 35% resistance between M1 to M2 and a combination of Rends and Weakening stacks to avoid one shots.“
“Constitution is your friend,” vXBlackSwanXv said. “Do not go into an Expedition with low Constitution thinking your DPS will be incredible. A dead DPS does no DPS.”
“Remember, everyone starts somewhere,” vXBlackSwanXv said. “You won’t be a pro the first time you run a Mutation. Give yourself some credit for having the courage to run it and don’t give up. Communication helps immensely. If you can avoid going into an M3 with a random group, do so until you have the mechanics down.”
“The game gives you plenty of time to complete Mutations, so take your time, clear the rooms little by little, and collect every gatherable,” TrickTrick said. “They are very important for your score.”
“The optional side chambers were another first for us,” Darren said. “There is something very special about the idea of a secret chamber. It conjures images of mystery and discovery. This opened up a lot off design questions like whether the rewards would be good enough and if players would even discover how to get into the first optional chamber. That sounds silly in retrospect because almost everyone knows about the chamber now! There’s a sense of satisfaction from crafting these secret rooms and knowing players explore them.”
“The development of objectives for players to defend required a lot of balancing and technology exploration,“ Darren said. ”Getting it to work was a challenge. We were up against launch deadlines but felt defending an objective was a good pace breaker, plus a natural fit for the environment. One of the biggest obstacles was getting enemies to balance their attacks between players and objectives. Do they always attack the sapling? Do they peel off the sapling easily?“
“Make sure the group saves their CC (crowd control) abilities to use on the big mobs before they get to the sapling,” TrickTrick said. “Interrupted or taunted mobs will stop attacking it. Keep the fight away from the sapling at all times.”
“We put a lot of love into Alluvium Marl, the Caretaker,” Darren said. “He was sort of this sad figure to us, an Angry Earth caring for a lost garden which was infiltrated by the Blight. His intro animation and voice over calls this out and the atmosphere of the knee-deep water is amazing.”
“The boss designer really pushed the boundaries of our tech with the cage gameplay—opening up the option for players to go all in. The Caretaker is still a favorite. This player choice really pushes the fun factor. I love watching groups make that choice, especially when success comes down to a tense, last second slash.”
“Split your team in two once the Caretaker enters the nature barrier phase at around 60 to 70% health,” TrickTrick said. “The tank should be the only one inside the barrier since they can break his Stamina bar with heavy attacks alone.”
“After the tank has stopped the group wipe, mobs will spawn outside of the barrier,” TrickTrick said. “It’s the DPS and healer’s job to take care of them. If they don’t, the team will be overwhelmed once the barrier comes down.”
“See if you can defeat Marl before the barrier goes down, but I don’t recommend it for beginners,” TrickTrick said. “If you don’t have enough damage, the Caretaker will take care of you.”
“Back in 2021, this boss had 171 player kills (34 wipes) in one Expedition instance, so don’t take it personally if the Caretaker gets the best of you,” ArsheeTV said.
“The Blighted Greenskeeper is an early example of our team designing harder, instanced content,” Darren said. “We knew that thematically we wanted an Angry Earth boss who had been Blighted and corrupted from her purpose, but how we’d express that through gameplay was less certain. We investigated a number of gameplay elements and really liked the poison angle.”
“Early on in experimentation we also found her boulder drop ability to be really fun, although it presented unique challenges like what to do if she threw a boulder on herself. Pairing that attack with her Blight Bomb wipe ability culminated in a fun encounter that brought out the best of instanced content and New World combat.”
“Go into this boss battle with a solid tank,” said vXBlackSwanXv. “And never, I repeat NEVER stand next to your tank. The Greenskeeper has several mechanics that will wipe everyone but the tank, so best to stay behind this boss. Watch out for:
The Slam: The Greenskeeper will extend herself and slam the ground, dealing massive amounts of damage. This will almost always hit the tank, so don’t stand next to them.
Poison Tether: The Greenskeeper will tether onto a player at random and give you a few seconds before dropping a massive poison puddle AOE below the tethered player’s feet. Hug the wall quickly, farthest away from the Greenskeeper and your team as the poison puddle will make it very challenging to damage the boss.
Poison Breath: The Greenskeeper will extend herself again, but instead do a scream infused with poison breath as an AOE damage in front of her. Stay behind the boss and you won’t have any issues dodging this.
Underground Attack: The Greenskeeper will retreat underground and pop up in random locations. Immediately group up and hold block. She will not hurt you as long as you hold it!
Boulder Drop: This usually targets the farthest player from the boss. Don’t hug the wall when these land because your team will rely on these boulders to dodge her “ultimate” charged attack. Give yourself several feet from the wall to allow ample space for protection.”
“Go all in with everyone around the Mutated version and bet who will die first,” said ArsheeTV. “Since the boss is fairly easy to iframe/dodge, I like to make it more difficult than it needs to be for an even more thrilling experience.“
“Garden of Genesis has one of the best healing weapons in the game, the Lifewell Channeler, and remains a fast and fun Expedition,” vXBlackSwanXv said. “Go in with friends or recruit individuals to help you the first time.“
“If you choose to not share that it is your first time, it’ll typically lead to disrespect from other players because many assume you already know everything about the Expedition,” said ArsheeTV. “Feel free to join streams like mine (shameless plugin) and ask questions. We’re more than happy to help!“
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“My enjoyment throughout development reflects the Expedition’s popularity,” Darren said. “We hope players continue to enjoy it.” Thanks for your support! We’ll see you in Aeternum.
