Never Apart

> "*Doomknight and Spirit, entwined as one. Never to be separated again.*"
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**Never Apart** is the third challenge on the *Ties that Bind* board. It consists of defeating a duo of Achilles and Patroclus at the same time.

## Rules

### Achilles

1. For the first 12 attacks, either uses a Spear rotation or a Shield rotation, depending on whether or not any of the player's MPM or BPD stats exceed 100.
	* Spear rotation grows in power the more hits he lands.
	* Shield rotation grows in power the more hits he receives.
2. After 12 attacks, Achilles will transition to phase 2, and combines both rotations together.
	* Starting with the first repeat, Achilles ends his rotation with a massive nuke.
3. If Patroclus is defeated first:
	* Achilles resets his rotation.
	* Achilles immediately transitions to phase 2, if he hasn't already.
	* Achilles gains his massive end of rotation nuke, if he hasn't already.

### Patroclus

1. Outside of his first attack, **all** of Patroclus' buffs require hitcheck.
2. After his first attack, Patroclus gains All every time he receives damage, which resets at the start of his turn.
	* This **includes** damage from DoTs.
3. Patroclus can forcibly unequip your Pet. If he does so, he gains 50 Boost for 4 turns.
4. At the end of his rotation, Patroclus can begin tracking player effects with 'Termination' for the next 4 turns.
	* Patroclus checks for effects on the player that increase any of the following:
	* Melee/Pierce/Magic
		+ - Patroclus **ignores** 'Umbral Form' from ShadowWalker of Time.
		+ Block/Pierce/Dodge
		+ Crit
			- This includes modifiers to Crit damage, such as 'Penumbra' from ShadowWalker of Time.
		+ Bonus
		+ Boost
		+ Resistances (except Health)
			- Patroclus **ignores** 'Relic Barrier' from DeathKnight.
		+ Stats
	* If any of these stats are increased by effects, Patroclus will enrage, healing 17% of its maximum HP, and use an extremely powerful, accurate nuke, which purges 'Termination'.
5. If Achilles is defeated first:
	* 'Termination' becomes **permanent**.
	* Patroclus gains +100 Boost for the rest of the fight.

## Equipment

Since they only deal Evil damage, stacking Evil resistance is recommended

The following is a relatively easy free player setup that maximises Evil resistance:

* (0+10) Exalted Apotheosis
* (0+10) Ancient Dragonlord Helm III
* (0+15) Wings of the Thousand Flames
* (0+10) Tizheruk Scale IX
* (0+10) Grimoire of the Lich III/Ourobouros Root Belt III
* (15+0) Relic DeathKnight Circlet
* (5+0) Exalted Blaster II (any version will work, but Doom is probably best for burst)
* (0+1) Legion Bracer

Total: 76 Evil + All

The following setup also maximises Evil resist and provides much better stats, but requires DM and seasonal gear:

* (0+10) Exalted Apotheosis
* (12+0) Boxhat IX
* (0+15) Wings of the Thousand Flames
* (0+10) Defender's Dragon Necklace XXXV
* (0+10) Defender's Dragon Belt XXIII
* (15+0) Relic DeathKnight Circlet
* (5+0) Exalted Blaster II (Doom)
* (0+1) Legion Bracer

Total: 78 Evil + All

## Strategy

Due to the various debuffs to avoid from both enemies, a rotation of the fight has been documented here.

* There is no preferred order in who to defeat first.
* As every single buff on Patroclus requires hitcheck, shields can be strategically used to stop it from gaining its buffs.
	+ If no shield is available, Pets can be unequipped on the turn Patroclus would attempt to unequip them, to avoid giving it +Boost.
* Achilles' empowered phase 2 nuke must be shielded, as its raw damage means it cannot be safely tanked, even with max resistances.

## Classes

* Doomknight is an excellent choice, as it has low hitcount to deal with Patroclus handily, and the damage to burst Achilles.
* Kathool Adept is another good choice, as Writhe lines up perfectly with an enraged Achilles, and deals very high damage with low hitcount, circumventing both monster's anti-hitcount mechanics.
* Technomancer is the best free class for this fight, with correct shield timing it can also avoid all the nasty debuffs from both monsters, while -WIS swap, high +bonus and low hitcount lets you burst them both to prevent dragging out the fight further.