WoE Conflux #1 (Crabs)

Today I went into WoE Conflux #1 to get some data on the area and the mobs. This is a summary of what I've found so far.


Mobs
The mobs in this area do not roam and stand in static formations. Because of this, all groups, including the 3 zone bosses, cannot be pulled without linking. Sac pull is the easiest method to get the bosses

They do NOT appear to have regain.

Casting behavior is special for all crabs. Normal idle mage mobs cast buffs in intervals when idle. These crabs do not. Also, normal mage mobs will immediately cast upon aggro as long as their magic cast timer is up (haven't recently cast magic). These crabs, however, will NOT immediately cast upon aggro and will run in and melee for a while before their magic cast timer is up. This is good news for sac pulling, since they will not cast on a weakened sac'er which would kill them. Now a sac'er can stand in place for a short while with Perfect Dodge or Invincible and give the puller ample time to grab a mob and move away.

Also, it could have been random, but the paralyze from ice spikes seemed particularly effective on the Cyanic Crab I fought.
  1. Cyanic Crab (Blue crab)
    • Casts: Water III, Enwater
  2. Damask Crab (Dark/Black crab)
    • Casts: Waterga II, Poisonga II
  3. Caldera Crab (Krabkatoa crab)
    • Casts: Waterga III
    • Abilities: Mega Scissors and Venom Shower like VNM Krabkatoa (according to Wiki)
I did not bother testing the following because it's been confirmed multiple times: all mobs are immune to Bind, Gravity and Sleep. That means all mobs need to be tanked or kited. They don't seem to have any enhanced movement speed, but in Conflux #1 there's not a lot of room to kite.

Zone
All of WoE has continuous double dark weather. Drain and Aspir should do well if they stick at all.

All mobs seem to have alliance aggro. Once aggro'd everyone in alliance, regardless of position in zone, will be put on the mob's list of targets.
Credits to Gwynplaine on BG for mob positions on map

Runner behavior
First thing I wanted to see was the additional mobs running towards the spot where the first mob died. Someone called these mobs "runners" which I thought was appropriate so I'm going to use that term.

After killing the first lone Cyanic Crab east of the first set of stairs I ran away from the deathspot to confirm what I read on forums. First one crab showed up alone. Then less than a minute later two mobs showed up together and they all stood at the exact same spot on top of eachother and did nothing. According to some, the zone bosses CAN be runners. Which mobs in the zone become runners appears to be random. While 'running' towards a deathspot they do not link other crabs. They're not aggro'd but run at the same speed as if they were chasing someone which may be the source of some confusion.

After these three mobs I waited a few minutes and nothing else showed up. I ran towards the end of the zone towards the three Caldera Crabs (zone bosses) using Powder Boots. Damage when buffed with Phalanx and Cocoon looks like this.


Questions and what I think the answers will be: 
Do runners stop coming because the previous runners didn't die?
I expect there to be a limited number of runner 'waves' per dead mob.

Would killing a second mob cause more runners to come to the second mob's deathspot?
I expect it would.

Would pulling the first runner cause the second wave of runners to come after you or would they keep going to the deathspot?
I think they'll keep going since they're not aggro'd or linked in the traditional sense.

Boss Strength
Caldera Crabs hit pretty hard. I didn't have any buffs on except for about 40% PDT in gear and they hit me as follows.


It's not up to Long-bowed Chariot strength, but definitely not pushovers.

Proposed Strategy
  1. Grab first crab.
  2. Kill it at bottom of stairs.
  3. Immediately run back to conflux at start and wait for runners to arrive.
  4. Outsider Flees and aggro's runners and heads to hallway to boss area and dies there.
  5. Sac'er raises and forms a party with second outsider.
  6. Tank party stands to the east of stairs and rest of alliance north of them.
  7. Second sac'er stands at bottom of stairs.
  8. Boss-puller grabs a boss with second sac'er in party. Boss will run across the area to the second party member.
  9. When mobs appear on screen, second sac'er runs towards entrance conflux to avoid magic and live a bit longer.
  10. One tank grabs a Caldera off the train.
  11. Move to bottom of stairs when train has left and kill there.
  12. Move away immediately after mob dies.
  13. Repeat steps 8 to 12 for other bosses.