Battleborn Taken King Guide

The Relay Race

OK, let's get one thing out of the way. Some people call this the totems. They are misinformed. It is the relay race. Please correct them. If they do not respond to correction, please beat them. Blunt objects like baseball bats or sledgehammers only, we're not savages.

First thing you'll notice is a bunch of acolytes praying or something.

DO NOT SHOOT....yet

There's a Calcified Fragment at the base of the pillar to your right. Go ahead and pick it up and take a look around. Don't worry, the acolytes won't notice you.

Oh, you had to go and teabag one of them, didn't you. Didn't you! Fine, after you wipe and it restarts, then take a look around.

You should notice there's a big plate in the center which doesn't seem to do anything. To the left and the right there are rooms, each with a shiny orb in front of them. Why did you pick up the orb? I'm not done yet!

Sigh. Ok, now we've restarted again. Go ahead and walk into one of the side rooms. Notice how it's a bit misty? Notice how your life starts going down? It's poison! Now there's also a plate at the end of the room with a pillar.....

You weren't supposed to stay and let the poison kill you!! My god do I have to tell you everything?

Anyway now you've restarted again...here's how it's going to go. As you can guess since there are two sides, you'll have to split into two groups of....very good, that's right, it's three. Glad to see you can do basic math.

Now it's a bit complicated, but here's the general rules.

1. Picking up the orb wakes up the acolytes who will begin shooting you. Shooting the acolytes also starts things off.
2. The orb provides a shield from the poison.
3. The pillars start activating as soon as things get started, if someone doesn't get on the plate on each end quickly, everyone dies. (that's bad, ok?)
4. After 25 seconds, the shield transfers from the person holding it to someone else within the shield (the shield holder can see a countdown timer). The person who held the shield now has Deathsinger's Power x10.
5. The person with Deathsinger's Power now must run to the center plate (see, it's useful!) and stay there while the power drains. When the Deathsinger's Power goes away completely, a rune will light up on the pillar in front of you. When the all the runes are lit up, you'll be done.
6. The person who had the power drained must now run back to the plate on the side they were on so they can get the shield and start this whole thing over.

THIS IS WHY THE CORRECT NAME FOR THIS IS THE RELAY RACE

I know, I know, it sounds complicated. But I haven't even told you how it's so much worse yet!

Why it's so much worse

• At the end of the 25 seconds, a Knight will appear in the balcony above you and start chucking down energy balls on your head, because they're dicks.
• In the central area, Wizards will alternate appearing on the right and left (usually once per runner) and hammer you.
• Acolytes will continue to harass you on the side plates.
• Thralls will spawn from the central portal and annoy either side.
• Knights will spawn from the central portal and threaten each side.
• Yellow Knights will spawn from the central portal and wreck pure havoc on each side.
• Finally, if you don't have someone to pass the shield too when the timer runs out, it goes away and the orb does not spawn for a good 10 seconds. So you will watch your health fade away while you wait for a teammate to pick up the orb and replace you. Whimpering is usually involved, and allowed in this case.

But Fear Not!

I in my generous nature, will guide you to victory. Now remember how many people per side? That's right 3, just checking.

You'll want to line up with one person beside each orb. Assign who is going second behind them, and finally who's staying in the middle. Have someone countdown from 3, and on go, say something inspiring like "CHARGE!", or "KILL EM ALL!", or "BURRITOS!". It helps.

At that point orbs are picked up and the bearers sprint to their plates. Start picking off Acolytes as soon as they appear. That way you feel useful. Everyone else stays in the center and wipes out the Acolytes then Adepts.

Side Note: If you kill the Adepts before the Acolytes, the Acolytes turn into mini-ogres with powerful eye beams and can really ruin your day. Again, if Oryx was anywhere intelligent he would appear with an army of Adepts and Acolytes, then kill the Adepts himself and watch everyone get wiped out.

Good thing he's an idiot.

After about 10 seconds of that grand fun, the person who is in the 2nd position needs to join their orb bearer on the plate. The orb bearer should be letting you know when there is 5 seconds left so you can get nice and close.

No, closer.

Closer.

That's better. After the time expires you can cough, look embarrassed and separate yourself. The person who now has the Deathsinger's Power should look up at the balcony and use a sniper rifle on the Knight. One headshot should do it.

When running back to the center pull out a Solar Machine Gun. When you arrive, immediately find your Wizard and blast her to bits. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. She has to die. Quickly.

After you kill the wizard pick off any adds that come through the portal.

Do not hang around after your power has been drained! The timer keeps marching on, and they need you back at that plate. Start running.

Finally while waiting for your turn to get the shield again, keep the the path back to the center clear, otherwise the person sniping the Knight will get bumped around and start whining which is really freaking irritating.

Q: What if I miss the knight?

A: That's ok, fire again.

Q: What if I miss the knight again?

A: OK, you've tried long enough, let your partner on the plate know you missed twice and you have to take off.

Q: If I don't like sniper rifles, what else can I use to kill the knight?

A: A sniper rifle.

Q: I don't think you understood my question.

A: I don't think you understood my answer.

Q: When I'm in the center should I kill things that aren't on my side?

A: You didn't do well in Kindergarden did you?

What can go wrong

Brand does not transfer

Of course it's a because of a glitch, not because you were busy tracking down a wandering add and stepped to the edge of the bubble. Seriously though, it appears you can be in the bubble, but still not get the brand if you're a certain distance away. Hence why you should stand very close together. But if it doesn't transfer, you can recover! Make sure your person who is in the center knows what's going on so they stay at the entryway since it's going to take 10 seconds to appear or so. During this time, make sure that balcony knight is dead then hide as best you can from the adds to keep your health as high as possible. If you're carrying a sword, start blocking. As your health drops past half-red, take off, at this time the orb should have appeared and your partner is sprinting towards you. You can afford to be off the plate for a couple of seconds. If you've been talking, everyone knows what's going on and will not freak out if their screen starts going red.

If the orb appeared and your partner is not sprinting towards you. Make sure to punch him in the face before you wipe.

Someone died

This happens, and this is probably the most unforgiving place for it to occur. You can still swear at them though. First off is you want to see how much further you have to go. If you only have a couple of rounds left, suck it up and start talking with your partner about dealing with the delayed transfer. Once the person leaves the plate for the middle they will not be able to get back in time. So get ready. Don't linger in the center, as soon as your Deathsinger's Power is done, see if you can prove me wrong by sprinting back. Otherwise set up shop where the orb appears and start killing any adds you can see. You can probably do 3 rounds of this before you succumb to the poison if you're really good.

If you pull it off, you are allowed to brag about it for the rest of the week.

The person who is next to me on the plate got the Deathsinger's Power can't hit the broadside of a barn, much less the balcony Knight.

Try to be understanding, some people have bad days. Hmm, ok, not that guy, has he shot a gun before? There are two ways to handle this situation:

Option 1 (The nice guy approach): Calmly let them know that it appears they're having a bad day (yes, lie) and you're willing to take their Knight duties for them. They should be appreciative. Though now it's pretty much guaranteed you're going now to miss and look like a complete dick. Even though you've hit headshots every time on your knight.

Option 2 (The sneaky bastard approach): Just take out your sniper rifle and shoot the damn knight. Then quickly switch back to primary and compliment your partner on their shot. If their intelligence is as good as their aim, they'll believe you.

In the end

Did you make it? Of course you didn't! Try again, but know that at the end is a shiny chest with something other than shards in it! So keep plugging away.

There used to be an alternative strategy, but Oryx fixed it. If you were curious how it worked, go head and look at the cheese approach.

Have you made it yet? Great! Now you have been found worthy, it's time to kill the warpriest