Shotcalling in a Worm Raid

This guide will teach you how to shotcall a Worm Raid. You should have a clear understanding of All Roles in the raid and how they contribute to the team, as well as a clear understanding of all Phases & Attack Rotations.

Blocks

The fastest and most consistent way of calling blocks is by memorizing the sound cue.
That sound is unique to the melee attack and you will only hear it when it happens.

Tips for Block Calls

Use a one-word call, as this requires a fast response. Usually, we call “BLOCK!!”
Do NOT say “and block” or “melee attack block.” Some players might have a slight delay in the voice channel or just have slow reaction speeds, and they could die before holding their blocks. Be consistent. Players are just waiting to hear the word “Block,” and that’s all you need to say.
You can also watch the worm attack to see if the first is on your side or the other. It is always random, but if it is on the other side, you can call “Block the second,” meaning to block the second attack instead of holding block from the start, saving a few seconds for damage.

Calling Lights

Knowing the attack rotations is important, but you don’t really need to count all the attacks. What you need to watch out for are the Acid Balls (looking up).

In each phase, the worm does Acid Balls 3 times and only spawns enemies (Nephilim + adds) on the 1st and the 3rd. Dealing enough damage will phase the boss before the second spawn, meaning that ideally, you only need to call lights once per phase.

After the Acid Balls, the worm usually spawns enemies after 2 attack rotations, but I will cover a more precise way for each phase.

Phase 1

Enemies spawn after 1 attack rotation.
It can be after 2, but 90% of the time it will spawn after 1.
Call lights as soon as the first attack is done.

Phase 2

The boss will spawn enemies after 2–4 attacks.
This is easy to predict because there will always be a heavy attack in this phase, which is 95% of the time directly before or after spawning.
Call lights as soon as it does a heavy attack or starts spawning Nephilim.

Phase 3

Regular spawn after 2 attacks.
If it is an Acid Trail, there is a high chance it will spawn them directly after.
Call lights after the 1st attack. It may either spawn or do 1 more attack, and either way, you will have enough time.

Second Light Call

If the damage is low, you need a second round of lights after the 3rd Acid Balls pattern.
You usually know if you still have around 80% left from the bar needed before phasing.
Call lights directly after the second attack following Acid Balls.

Lights for Offtank

You should always have good communication with your offtank or at least keep an eye on his Nephilim.
If the Nephilim is broken while being prepared, then you will need to do the lights mechanic again.

Tips for Light Calls

The single spit is not counted as an attack and might happen randomly between any attack. On rare occasions, the worm will do two single spits, which count as an attack.
Give your call during the attack, not after it. For example: call “lights after the last spit” or “lights after the lick (Acid Trail)” to prepare the lights in their positions. This will save a lot of time, as players can watch for spits or press lights, then look up for Acid Balls if needed (might happen in Phase 2).
Give the “look up” call even if not needed to help yourself memorize the patterns and remember the calls.

Note: Rarely, the worm decides to randomly go off script and mess up the patterns, so don’t be surprised if something strange happens.

Managing the Raid

Knowing your raid and members is very important. Aside from your damage dealers, every player has a role to do, and if that player dies you should know how to act.

If a lights player is down, then you need to call another light player to revive him. Do not assume that they will notice. It is your job to keep an eye on them. If he is fully dead, then you need someone else to go up and press the lights instead. Know which of your players is capable and knows the mechanics to serve as your backup lights.
Usually, you rely on the Flail and SnS players to keep extending the debuffs. If the Flail or SnS are dead, then you need to call for your support players (mainly the renders) to keep reapplying the rend abilities since they are not extended anymore.
With every Nephilim spawn, look at the caves to check if the enemies are mages/ranged scorpions or melee enemies and call it so your lights and mage can take care of them if needed.
Watch out for heavy attacks during mines. In Phase 3, there will always be a heavy before or after the second wave of mines (first if you broke the worm after stamina phase). If the boss throws mines without doing a heavy during that phase, then there will be a heavy attack directly after, and you need to call it out for your players. A safer way would be to send them mining after the heavy attack.
Make sure every player on your team knows their roles. Before the raid starts, call out who is responsible for cleansing (fire kicks), mining, and make sure players know which sides they are on for Scorpion phase.

Important Calls

A list of the usual shotcalls you will use in a Worm Raid:

Dodge – Roll to evade a Worm attack or a knockback. Usually called when the Worm pops out of the ground during Scorpion Phase or before Stamina Phase to avoid being knocked back.
Look up – A call specifically for Lights players, who need to shoot the Acid Balls.
Lights – Lights players interact with their platform for the lights mechanic.
Block or Block the Second – The Worm makes a melee attack that players need to block with a full stamina bar.
Kill the Nephilim – Heavy attack to break the Nephilim’s stamina and kill him.
Pick up the sword – The Nephilim drops a huge sword. Interact with it to deal more rend to the boss.
Mages: call out if the enemies spawned are mages or melee so the mage/lights take care of them.
Groups 1 and 3 left, 2 and 4 right – The 4 groups split for the upcoming Scorpion Phase (this is how we split groups in my raids).
Lights up, everybody down – In melee stamina, Lights players go back to their platforms, and everybody else clumps up together for the Stamina Phase.
Everyone go up – In ranged stamina, everyone needs to go upstairs after Scorpions are dead.
Kicks – Use your Stalwart Heartrune of Firestorm to cleanse the players around you.
Go mining – A dedicated group splits up in the bottom area to interact with the mining ores.
Heavy attack, prepare to dodge/block – Warning for players far away from the Worm (usually the ones mining) about the upcoming heavy attack.

Wipe or Keep Going?

You should have good judgment of the situation of the raid you are leading.

If your main rend players are dead halfway through the raid, then it is better to reset, as the remaining half will take more time than actually resetting, and you have more chances of wiping.
If you have 3–5 damage dealers dead, then you should still be fine if the remaining players are experienced. Just make sure you have enough kicks for stamina phase if you are doing melee.
Melee is more reliant on players than ranged. I advise always starting with ranged stamina for learner and practice raids, as you can still complete the raid with 10 players dead. For melee, losing 5–6 players almost guarantees a wipe, giving you less room for practice.
Always have a second healer on your team. I don’t mean a “backup healer”(Flail/LS does not count). I mean an actual second VG/LS player. This role does so much for the team that if he dies, you’ll be at a very big disadvantage. Having two on your raid team helps avoid a lot of risk.

Tone & Vibes

It’s just a game. The leader’s mood affects your raid and players. Always try to keep a positive atmosphere to keep your players motivated. Even if you wipe or have a hard time, you control the mood of the raid. Always keep that in mind and spread positive vibes ^^

This sums up everything you need to know about leading the Worm Raid in New World: Aeternum. Use this knowledge to improve and succeed as a raid leader. Best of luck in your raids!!