March of Sacrifices Guide – Hardmode Balorgh

Table of Contents

Introduction

Welcome to the March of Sacrifices Hardmode Guide. March of Sacrifices is a Dungeon that has been added to the game with the Wolfhunter DLC Update 19. March of Sacrifices is quite a long dungeon and at the end of the Dungeon you will have to fight against Balorgh. The Hardmode of March of Sacrifices can be very challenging, this guide will explain the mechanics of the Hardmode and give you some tips.

Set up your Group – March of Sacrifices Guide

March of Sacrifice Hardmode is one of the most difficult ones yet, it requires a lot of group coordination and some adjustment to builds and skills. You need to be fast in terms of walking and running, especially in the hunt phase.

The most difficult phase of the fight is the hunt phase of Balorgh. Here it is very important to stick together, otherwise you will wipe fast and you have to restart the fight. To improve speed there are a few very good tricks:

  • Major Expedition
    • Retreating Maneuver, Channeled Acceleration & other skills
    • Speed Potions (Blessed Thistle,Dragonthorn,Scrib Jelly)
  • Swift Jewelry (especially nice for Magicka Characters)

You will also be snared a lot during the hunt phase from the wolves that will spawn, therefore you need some sort of snare removal:

  • Retreating Maneuver removes snares
  • Efficient Purge from Alliance War skill line
  • Shuffle from Medium Armor skill line
  • Forward Momentum from Two Handed skill line
  • Reflective Plate from the Draconic Power Dragonknight skill-line

Useful Tips

  • In the hunt phase, survival is more important than pure dps. However, make sure to try to kill the wolves and stranglers asap.
  • Kagrenac’s Hope can really help a lot, as it reduces the time to resurrect and makes it way easier to not get interrupted by any of the mechanics.
  • Swift Jewelry can be worth it if you have trouble getting away from the boss during the hunt phase.
  • Keep in mind, do not sprint too much, you need to make sure to have stamina to dodgeroll the fire projectile of the boss.

I really recommend preparing your character and group before you do this hardmode. It will make your life a lot easier.

Boss Mechanics

I will start to explain the easier mechanics, and then later on the hunt phase, which is the most difficult phase of the March of Sacrifices hardmode and probably where most people struggle.

  • Shockwater: When the water is electrified, it is important to not stand in it, make sure to stand on the island.
  • Flowerbombs: When the islands have exploding flowers on then, make sure to stand in the water.
  • Fist stomp: From time to time, Balorgh will smash his fists into the ground, make sure to avoid the red aoe, for most people it is a oneshot mechanic if you get caught in it.
  • Charge: Balorgh will charge ahead from time to time, dealing damage and leaving a fire field behind him, the fire field oneshots most players, make sure to avoid it.
  • Scream: Balorgh will scream sometimes, it is a cone and if the tank faces the boss the right way, it only should hit the tank, otherwise make sure to move out of it as fast as possible.
  • Fireballs after Fist stomp: Sometimes Balorgh starts to glow red, will charge ahead and leave the fire on the ground, afterwards he will stomp his fists into the ground and 4 fireballs will get shot at the players. Make sure to dodgeroll the fireball, otherwise you will get an insane amount of damage over time. Even more so in the hunt phase, you have to make sure to have enough stamina for this. The boss has two sentence that you can hear, before he shoots the fireballs:
    • I will burn you to a crisp.
    • Feel my flames.

The Hunt Phase

The hunt phase is the most difficult phase of the fight, Balorgh will scream, split up in 4 parts and start hunting you. You have to direct the boss towards the trap which the NPC sets, the blue light that you have to find in the storm. That sounds not that difficult right? However, wolves will also spawn that snare you and you will find stranglers in the area that will pull and stun you if not interrupted. Therefore, you need to make sure that you stay together at all cost.

The fire projectile that you can dodgeroll also does increased damage in the hunt phase, so you really do not want to miss that dodgeroll.

Stranglers

Stranglers are one of the more annoying mechanics in this hardmode. They spawn during the hunt phase, when a player gets too close, you will get pulled to them and another player has to interrupt the Strangler to break the stunned player free. If not done so in a few seconds, you will die from lifedrain.

Make sure to stay together, so you can always interrupt in case someone gets pulled. Make sure to kill them as fast as possible. You can also use abilities that stun or interrupt the Strangers.

  • Kill them asap
  • Stun them with abilities such as Shock Touch, Time Stop or Rune Cage.
  • Interrupt them with abilities like Venom Arrow, Crushing Shock or a stun.
  • Stay together to not die in solitude.

Wolves

When the hunt phase begins, wolves will spawn. Those wolves put heavy snares on you, which can be cleansed away. However, they can be reapplied instantly. Make sure to gather up all the wolves, we usually gathered them on the first blue trap for the mainboss, then put our AoE ultimates to kill them as fast as possible. Once the wolves are dead, you have one problem less to deal with. Just remember, still stay together because Stranglers will continue to spawn.

Gameplay of March of Sacrifices