Quote Originally Posted by Frizze View Post
Let me try. "Stand where the birds are opposite your debuff, and the portals behind and to your side are different." I got it down to 18 words, and a fairly simple explanation.
Not to sound rude, but this doesn't help much. You basically just told a player how to handle the umbral/astral debuffs and that the portals to the back and sides function differently. Trying to dumb down the mechanic isn't doing a service to anyone, nor does it pay it the respect it deserves. It really is an interesting mechanic to toss into normal mode, and luckily as others have pointed out, there's no enrage otherwise this fight would be even more troublesome for casual players.

I've seen the mechanic explained in many different ways. All of which I am sure are valid, but what it is, is players figuring out their own way to position themselves properly during this phase. It's not difficult to explain the basics of the mechanics: pay attention to your debuff and get hit by the birds of the opposite color. The back portals are the receivers, and the birds will come out of the side portals. That's it. That is the mechanic. What makes the brain start spinning is the mechanic tricks you into thinking you have to pay attention to two things at once. The side of the brain that perceives and processes colors and the side that uses logic are different. People who don't actively practice this are going to have trouble with this mechanic until they allow themselves to split it up.

The best way for me to explain it to myself is first stand in the path of the birds opposite your debuff, and then shut off all thinking pertaining to this part. You're in the safe spot, now leave it be. The next is to pay attention to which portal the birds I am not getting hit by go into. This is the portal that is safe for me to stand in front of. Thinking about my debuff switching is actually what was giving me trouble, because it made me think about more than I needed to. The key for me was the part I italicized, but in order for me to grasp that, I first had to fully understand how the umbral/astral debuffs and how the portals worked.