4-Star Speedy ITF Mission & Incan Walkthrough (Video)

[Projector]

Hey friends!

I'm back with another hardmode guide! This one is for the 4star ITF, which can get very chaotic even for experienced teams! This guide covers the speedy approach to the Task Force with explanations of how to actually navigate each mission and why it's done that way in faster runs (such as avoiding Hostless encounters, maximizing Lore uptime, etc.). This is not the only way to approach a 4Star ITF. Please feel free to do any strategy you like.

The only things that matter in 4Star content is that you are able to complete the task force and that you had fun/feel accomplished at the end. Builds don't matter and speed does not matter as long as everyone is having a good time. This is a game, after all! So if you do not want to do this approach, feel free to create your own, do it as a Kill-Most, etc. Just make sure your team is aware of what approach you are taking and that you give clear instructions as you go!
 

Incan Locations/Instructions

Spoiler

Mission 1 Incan locations:

• First incan is to the "T " intersection at the north part of the cave after freeing the first 3 Sybils from the south room
• Second Incan is to the Minotaur behind Sister Solaris outside

 

Mission 2 (Map Dependent, easily the most complex):

• Incanners operate like a relay race
• Work clockwise through the map, going down the left path, then the north path, then the west path. 
• First Incanner acts as a scout on the team's current path and calls out the number remaining on that path and if there are any on branching side paths, then when only 1-2 crystals remain on the current path, the Incanner runs to the next path and incans to the far side of the first crystal.
• To avoid directional confusion, when the Incan happens, the incanner should call the direction of the first crystal relative to the team. So, if I incan to the first crystal on the north path, I will say, "First crystal is directly south of us! Run north after"
• Second Incanner repeats this "Scout -> Incan" process for the current and next path.
• Optional (because incans will be on cooldown): If there is a crystal on a branching path, tell the team to keep going on the main path, position yourself at the crystal on the branching path, and tell your team to TP to you as soon as they finish the last crystal. This minimizes how much they need to run back through ambush mobs.

 

Mission 3:

• Team gathers behind Romulus/Requiem and summons Lores, jumps on Requiem/Romulus (order is dependent on team's level of mez protection)
• First Incan is down to the Computer as soon as Romulus and Requiem are both defeated (this gets the Lores there instantly)
• Next Incan, depending on how the run is going, will either be between the Robots and the first general, or far in the water past the Robots if you are going to go for a pull method. Do the former if you are confident your team will survive and your tank is experienced at keeping the Robots facing away, as this method allows you to take out the first General, the Robots, and Vandal all at the same time. The Lores also help absorb the extra aggro while increasing DPS/Debuffs, making this strategy exponentially more difficult after Lores are lost.
• The last incan is to the "EB Mob" which is the General that is surrounded by Cyclops/Minotaur EBs. Not really necessary if you don't have Lores, but is very helpful to keep the team together. Obviously this incan is not needed is the EB Mob is the first general by the Robots.

 

Mission 4:

• Team waits outside while one incanner enters (this is to delay early ambush Ambush spawns near the door)
• Incanner triggers cutscene, instructs team to enter as Romulus is getting shot in the cutscene (this is to minimize the time in mission, see previous bullet)
• FIRST INCAN MOMENT: Incanner turns off stealth to aggro Romulus. He does not attack first, instead the Barrier Novas activate and he usually does a Void Judgement as his opener. Once the Novas are activated, incan the team to the center of the platform.
• Second Incan regroups the team on Romulus immediately after his first Rez.
• Third Incan is to the Left tower as soon as the team defeats Romulus for the third time. The third incanner should leave when Romulus is at about 25% health, and as soon as he is defeated the third time, incan directly into the center of the tower. I cannot stress how important the immediacy of this incan is. Romulus' rez is a GLOBAL line of sight power, meaning it will instant kill anyone in Romulus' line of sight REGARDLESS of where you are on the map. Bonus points if you cancel your Incan's knockback so your team can use Fold Space!
• Fourth and final incan of the Task Force is to the front of the Throne Room. Once the team is on the second tower, the next Incanner splits off from the team to head to the throne room (be mindful of bombs!!). Incan the team to the throne room when there is just 1 traitor left to defeat (Romulus counts).

 

 

Helpful Binds/Targeting Macros

Spoiler

Teleport binds (replace KEY with whatever button you want to map it to:
/bind KEY powexeclocation target teleport
/bind KEY powexeclocation cursor teleport
(to make these macros, replace "/bind KEY" with "/macro NAME"

Helpful Macros/Binds for the ITF! Copy and Paste these into your chat
/macro HOST targetcustomnext enemy alive Hostless
/macro CRYS targetcustomnext enemy alive Crystal
/macro GEN targetcustomnext enemy alive General
/macro ROM targetcustomnext enemy alive Augustus
/macro REQ targetcustomnext enemy alive Requiem
/macro SURG targetcustomnext enemy alive Surgeon

You can also remap your Tab key to scroll through specific enemies:
/bind TAB "targetenemynext$$targetcustomnext enemy alive Crystal$$targetcustomnext enemy alive Lae$$targetcustomnext enemy alive Control$$targetcustomnext enemy alive Vandal$$targetcustomnext enemy alive Requiem$$targetcustomnext enemy alive Augustus"

 

I will be doing Aeon next! Please let me know what other content you would like to see, if you have any questions, and how I can help you be successful.

Also, if anyone knows a more efficient way to stay alive on Brainstorm beyond just spamming Burnout >Barrier, please let me know 😄