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The second part of the Nier: Automata themed story of Shadowbringers was released in patch 5.3. The item level required for its raid dungeon, The Puppet's Bunker, is 465 and is unlocked in the quest "Everything You Know Is Wrong."

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Like the previous Nier: Automata dungeon, this raid can get chaotic. There are five major bosses the three alliances have to fight through both familiar and unfamiliar mechanics. The difficulty is worth the prize though, as the loot in the dungeon includes good-looking gear, minions, orchestrations, and the Puppet's Bunker Coins.

813P-Operated Aegis Unit

raid boss in puppets bunker surrounded by alliance raids

The first boss is the sort where the three raids need to split up and surround the area on the three platforms. Players can fall off the platform, so be careful. There are several attacks to watch out for in this fight.

First off, "Firing Order: Anti-personnel Laser" is the name of the tank buster. When that comes up, the tank and other players should move away from each other, as the attack does splash damage.

One of the more tricky attacks of this fight is called "Maneuver: Beam Cannons." A bunch of cone AoEs will cover the platform. What players need to focus on is where it looks like the cones overlap. The overlaps will be shrinking. To avoid getting hit by beam cannons, the players must run to the yellow overlap that is shrinking the fastest. For extra safety, players should stay close to the boss because if they get hit, they can be knocked off the platform.

"Firing Order: Surface Laser" is another attack to watch out for. It will target a random player and put a red indicator on them. That player should move away from others. An AoE will then appear and that marked player will need to move away asap to not get hit.

A mechanic that will be new, at least in design, is when the boss sends out strips of runes at the players. Players will want to utilize Sprint when this happens, as they will run for the blank spots in the strip.

After understanding these mechanics, the rest of the fight is pretty simple. The boss will spice things up by mixing some of the mechanics simultaneously.

Superior Flight Units

flight units versus players

The second boss is another fight where the three alliances split up, though this time they are each fighting an individual flight unit.

The easiest mistake players can make that can wipe an entire team is standing in the wrong place when these bosses cast "High-powered laser." Basically, every flight unit has linear attacks and they will aim at an individual player from time to time. That marked player will want to point the boss away from the other two alliance teams. So it is best to stand at the outer edge/corner of the arena. If they don't, the linear attack will hit anyone behind that player and likely wipe them.

A familiar mechanics players will face in this fight is from the attack "Incendiary Bombing," where players are marked. They need to move away from the party, as that marker will place an AoE puddle.

A tricky mechanic is when the three flight units use "Formation: Sharp Turn." The three bosses will make a triangle. Players have to examine the bosses closely to figure out if the safe zone is inside or outside the triangle. The way to do this is to check which side they are holding their laser swords. If the sword is on the right side, go outside of the triangle. If it is in their left hand, go inside the triangle.

The last thing to look out for is "Sliding Swipe," where all the alliances will gather to one corner that is a safe zone as AoEs spread everywhere else. Players will need to stay there, as then all the flight units will gather and attack one at a time in a line. To dodge their attacks, move to the opposite side of where they are holding their swords.

With that all settled, the rest of the fight is more of the same.

Heavy Artillery Unit

yorha unit on screen during fight against heavy unit

Finally a fight where all alliance groups can cluster together. However, this fight is more chaotic than the others before. It eventually uses pods and the surrounding screens that players will have to focus on in order to avoid AoEs.

There is a duel tank buster to watch out for called "High-Powered Laser." Tanks will definitely want to stay self aware of where they are standing versus where DPS and healers are, or else they will get hit with massive linear damage.

The attack "Unconventional Voltage" will mark players and they will want to move away from others to avoid splash damage. There will also be those signature Nier orbs on the field that must be dodged as well.

What can confuse many is the attack "Operation: Activate Laser Turret." At the center of the area, three clusters of lasers are going to charge. Some of these sets of charging lasers will be higher off the ground, and that is an important detail to look for. Stand where they are higher and near the outer wall. Next to you will be an AoE but it will disappear in time for you to dodge the oncoming lasers.

There is also "Movement: Impact Crusher" where the boss will mark three players with AoEs and jump to each one. At the last player, it will do a donut-shaped AoE attack called "Maneuver: Revolving Laser."

Once the boss uses "Operation: Access Self-conscious Data" the fight enters phase two which uses some new mechanics. Now Pods will enter the fight, and make things even more complicated.

At this point, players will want to look at the surrounding screens in the area to find out what the pods are going to do. Each pod will tether to a screen and from the screen, players can find out what each pod is going to do. The screens will read "R010," or "R030." If the screens show R010, they will use linear cannons. If the screens show R030, they are going to do large circular strikes. The screens will also have countdowns, so players will want to move to a safe zone by the time the timer runs out. To solution to both of these is to stand between the pods against the wall. When the two attacks are used in combination, stand between two pods that are R010.

The last mechanic to know is "Operation: Synthesize Compound." It also uses the surrounding screens, but this time with five pads in front of each. The screens show how many players need to stack on each pad as well as a count down until meteor impact. Stack on the appropriate pads to avoid damage.

The Compound

the compound

The Compound is a bit of nightmare fuel, as it is a bunch of android bodies submerged into a ball. As intimidating as it may seem, its actually not as complex as the last boss.

The boss switches between Mechanical Dissection and Mechanical Decapitation. Dissection has the ball spin vertically and send a red laser out from two opposing sides of itself. Decapitation will have lasers make a circle under the boss. Players will want to get inside that circle to avoid the oncoming attack.

When the ball gets to half health, it will split open and go to the edge of the battlefield. Players should position themselves between the two halves of the ball in the empty space to not get hit as it rolls at them.

Besides those two attacks, mechanics are what players have seen before. Dodge AoEs, move marked AoEs away, ect.

Compoud 2P

compoud 2p with sword

The ball will eventually form into a large 2P, and thus is the final boss of the Puppet's Bunker. She is more difficult than the ball form with more mechanics happening at once.

Watch out for an attack called "Prime Blade." Depending on the bosses pose, she will do one of three different attacks. If she crouches, then players must run out as she does a spin-attack AoE. If she stands straight with the sword over her head, she is going to cleave all in front of her. If she stabs her sword into the ground, the safe spot is right under her.

"Four Parts Resolve" is another complex attack. The boss will tether four players which will be numbered one to four with dots. 2P will jump on one, slash two, jump on three, and slash four. All other players should avoid being around these four and those that are marked should stand still.

A more simple attack is her "Relentless Spiral," in which her AoE attacks follow two random players. Those players should run away from others as three AoEs will appear following them.

At a certain point, there will be a 2P at each corner of the arena. They will all cast "Prime Blade" so move to safety according to their stances. When the boss casts "Three Parts Disdain," players should also move away from the walls so they do not get the electrocution debuff when the attack pushes them back.

Eventually, the boss will summon pads. Keep an eye out for them, as they need a player to stand in them. This will get more complicated as the pads get tethered to other pads. Just stand on the brightest and pulsating pad. While this is happening, pods will appear at the edge of the battlefield to deal out linear attacks to dodge.

The last thing to watch out for is called "Forced Transfer." These tethers teleport what they are attached to, be it a pad or the boss before it attacks. Pay attention to what is tethered and where it will end up.

Notable Loot

All gear dropped in this raid is item level 490. Even if its not a higher level than the grear you already have, it is worth trying on at least (Nier clothes are popular among player glamours). There are two possible minions to get: 2P and 2B Automatons. There are four orchestration rolls: End of the Unknown, Grandma, Fortress of Lies, and Torn from the Heavens/The Dark Colossus Destroys All.

Lastly, players can get Puppet's Bunker coins which can be used as currency with certain NPCs in Eulmore.

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