Vindictus Ancient Elchulus Guide

Vindictus Ancient Elchulus Guide by Dominnique

Some people choose a strange path to redemption. Unfortunately, the lack of info on warriors entering Elchulus’ dungeon affects us all. I hope this guide will reduce that at least up till the tolerable level.

[ ~ How? Who? When? ~ ]

So, we have 3 timeframes and 2 types of players:

Players:
1. Under level 60 – support and ballistae
– not recommended for them to take active patrs in the DAMAGE unit of the party (weaker armor, lower weapons, etc) – no offense, but they’re much more useful alive
– ballistae – can be shot when the dragon is on the ground or airborne
– shelter repair and pools refill – it’s way more efficient to have a filled pool when you need to extinguish the Cursed Fire if you’re a damagedealing unit (over lvl 60)

2. Over level 60 – Damage dealers
– not much to say about attributes, just use whatever you can to damage the dragon while trying your best to stay alive.

Timeframes on Elchulus:
1. Lifebar 30 to 20 – DAMAGE
– Damagedealers should remain in the center of the map while the lower levels on the sides. That way we avoid unnecessary deaths and mindless chasing around.
– This timeframe should be focused only on damaging the dragon. Note that lifebars are now full, so that’s something we should take advantage of.

2. Lifebar 20 to 10 – Synchronized damage and Breakoff attempts
– Breakoff now is useful when and if it’s done on one thing – the tail. Breaking that off reduces its area of damage (I’ve not mentined this as a “must do” in the first section because the focus should be on DPS, not on breaks, yet if the ballisters aim correctly it can might as well be done between lifebars 30 and 20)
– By this time, Elchulus should start flying more often so party-smashes can help a lot – here’s when the lower levels start shining. When the dragon is flying, high-levels should head for the shelters while lower ones should hit him. Remember hit while he is airborne.

3. Lifebar 10 to 1 – Breakoffs
– Here’s when the focus should start shifting from damage to breaking the parts. That means the low levels (which by this time should be on the ballistae) should shoot constantly. Try to focus on one part at a time. The high’levels should take it easier on dealing damage and head for shelters or (try to) move out of his AoE. The only ones relatively safe in the middle are Fionas.
– There are six breakoffs: the tail, two wings, two front leg spines, and the horn on the top of its head. Breaks are mainly done by using the ballistae, yet sticky bombs and spears are also an option.

[ ~ Tips and basics ~ ]

Map
Take the shelter buff (helps a lot).
In one side of the map, a glowing waterfall flows with three re-spawning buckets at the bottom. Near it there’s four ditches that can hold up 3 buckets of water. Those are used to extinguish the Cursed Flame de-buff.
There’s a total of 8 ballistae on the map that can be used for Breakoffs and party-smashes.
There’s four shelters which give all players inside the buff Battle Focus (increase on attack speed, attack power and SP restoration buff, but only when fully repaired. Note that Elchulus will destroy them, but there’s usually enough time to repair before his next attack. They’re destroyed more easily when he is on the ground, so no need to turtle up inside.
Mana amber can help staff evies slide through the shelter walls.

Dragon

Block/guard/amber/dash the first attack upon entering the dungeon – he will shoot fire.
Make sure you have a party feather equipped (should be a must-do for all raids).
Safest place so far seems to be under his belly towards the back and under his neck (between his legs) and on the sides, but mind his dash-attacks and claw-swipes. If you time your guard skill right one player can easily damage easily half a lifebar. Note that he uses dash-attacks multiple times, so if you managed to block one, expect at least one-two more).
Before swinging his tail or shooting fire in one side he turns his head and looks back – most times he shoots fire towards his left side.
You can’t block (guard or amber) the black projectiles, you can only dodge them. Mind that if your HP is low they have a high chance of killing you.
Fire attack: I’ve noticed he has 2 types:
1. Spear mode – one long-tailed fire bullet that reaches diagonally on the map (very damageful and if on low hp is a killer – usually aimed at one single player. Can be fired multiple times.
2. Blast mode – close AoE attack, in the shape of a comma. Usually used one sinle time and followed by other type of attacks.
Party-smashes are EXTREMELY damageful. He needs to be shot with the ballistae 3 times anywhere on his body while he is flying. Falling deals damage and he gets a very long stun. A successfull takedown should grant 2-3 lifebars worth of damage, so it’s totally recomended. This should be the main damage strategy of the party (same as for Lionotus’ cliff-edge smash). Shoot the ballistae from the side he’s flying into. Note that the spears have a range-hit time (around 1.10 seconds) so try aiming a bit in front of him.

Annex

– One of the reasons ballisters die is the fact that they neglect the Cursed Flame de-buff. Even though they’ve been hit by an orb, they keep shooting – make sure you get that flame cleaned up a.s.a.p.
– Wait for the party to fill up as much as possible before starting the raid and create the battle strategy at the beginning.
– Once the dragon takes off, it is recommended that the high-levels shelter up while the lower ones head towards the ballistae, so the middle of the arena remains empty – this prevents epic mass-kills / unnecessary deaths.
– Evie’s SP gauge should be used on SP Skill – Regenerate instead of Reverse Gravity. If the choice goes for the latter, it is more effective when the dragon is shot down; it adds to the damage if more Evies do it at the same time – also applicable on Stribog.

In hope this will shed some light on how to defeat The God of Fomors.