Vindictus Kraken Basic Guide

Vindictus Kraken Basic Guide by JynXi

The Kraken is divided in to three phases and it is essential that all party members know what their job is and do it properly to have any hope of beating. This is one battle where a single pro player can’t carry the whole party but where the whole party needs to work as a team.

The strategy for Kraken largely relies on having two teams; a head team and a tentacle team. The head team is the main DPS and the tentacle team is the important team that needs to prevent the tentacles from breaking the ship the party is standing on. But before I go further I’ll list some of the pros of each character.

[Classes: Pros & Cons]

• Sword Lann – He performs all duties moderately well. I’ve heard that he’s good for one of the upper tentacles but I’m not yet sure why but I believe it’s because of Kraken’s inhaling.

• Spear Lann – What is there to say? DPS that head like crazy! It isn’t impossible for a spear to handle a tentacle but it’s nowhere near being an optimal choice.

• Fiona – Both Sword and Hammer fiona can be assigned as a head team member since it’s mainly stand-still DPS but the more optimal choice will be to assign her to a tentacle due to her high survival. Also preferably one of the lower tentacles because of phase 3 which will be explained later.

• Staff Evie – An important member due to her healing abilities which is crucial due to the fact that it’s extremely difficult for the tentacle team to pot safely. Can perform both head and tentacle duties.

• Scythe Evie – Valued for her mobility and IR. The reason why her mobility is important is that things will get hectic in phase 3 unless the party is highly experienced and tentacles will pretty much be all over the place with adds and the kraken ****ing in party members from time to time, her blink will be an important method of movement to quickly support a tentacle team member. Which is why it’s best to assign her as a head team, this will be explained later.

• Karok – He can handle a tentacle well thanks to his absorb but it’s best to assign him as a head team for his boss
clash. His boss clash prevents the Kraken from using it’s AoE attack and two Karoks taking turns with clash effectively locks this skill indefinitely.

• Kai – You can beat the Kraken without a Kai but he is so useful that he’s practically mandatory. He deals massive damage, his magnum shot and Multi-Sniping has high enough stun rate to cancel Kraken’s AoE attack, his range and mobility allows him to quickly support a tentacle team member. Can perform both head and tentacle duties but is better as a head team. If he is assigned to the tentacle team it’s better to have him mark one of the upper tentacle in order to have Kraken’s head in range.
Oh, and they say that a well-aimed ricochet shot at the right timing can hit all four tentacles and the head with a single shot.

[Phase 1]

So let’s start with phase 1. Each phase is the same as the one before it with added challenges.

So the basic layout of the battle with Kraken is his head at 12 o clock and four tentacle that are each place in 1, 5 , 7 and 11 o clock on the minimap.
The party will be divided into two teams; a head team and a tentacle team.
The tentacle team’s job is important since their job is to prevent the tentacles from attacking the ship the party is standing on. If the ship reached 0% durability, it will sink and the battle will fail no matter how many graces you throw at it.
The upper tentacles [1 and 11 o clock] and the lower tentacles [5 and 7 o clock] have different patterns you have to be able to recognize. They’re all blockable so it should be easy for a Fiona to handle.
Each of the four tentacle team member should be assigned to a tentacle because the tentacles will do a move that damages the ship in two situations.
When there is no one in it’s melee range to hit or it does it from time to time even when there is a person in it’s melee range. In the latter case, it will stand straight and stick close to the ship, if the player assigned to that tentacle does enough damage during this time, the attack on the ship will be canceled and the tentacle will briefly slither away [the tip of the tentacle counts as a normal attack when it slithers away so it should be avoided or blocked]
The attack on the ship is not only threatening because of the fact that it lowers the ship’s durability, but also because it can hit other party members since the tentacle slaps across the whole deck.
If not prevented, the tentacles will cause the ship to lose 2% durability and slither back and repeat it’s normal pattern.
The important thing for the tentacle team is to never leave your post. If something happens to another tentacle team member it’s not your problem, it’s the head team’s job to support any leaks. And, whether or not your ranged, always stick to ledge as if your trying to hug the tentacle. They’re very picky about staying within range.

The head team’s job is much easier in comparison but it is crucial for this team to know how to handle tentacles as well because it’s their job to fill in any leaks that occur.
Their main job would be, of course, DPSing the head. Damage on both the head and tentacles deplete Kraken’s HP but the tentacles sway out of range most of the time so the head should be damaged for optimal DPS.
Their other job would be to cancel Kraken’s AoE attack and inhaling. The kraken gives a red flashing warning before he uses his AoE attack which can be avoided by jumping but since the tentacle team would be busy minding their own targets it is best for the head team to cancel this attack. This can be done either by inflicting enough shock to it during it’s warning signal [this is where Kai is important because his Multi-Sniping has high stun value and Magnum shot works good as well because Kraken’s head is almost as long as a dragon] or with Karok’s boss clash. Having two Karoks take turn in boss clash can prevent the Kraken from using the AoE attack at all. Karoks that have tried it comment that the timing is pretty easy.
Kraken’s inhaling can be canceled with enough stun value and basically pulls party member close to his mouth. This is troublesome because it prevents the head team from quickly reacting to situations that occur with the tentacle team and it also pulls in the tentacle team placed on the upper tentacles thus making it hard for them to stay in position.
If everyone follows the strat, phase 1 should pass with the boat’s durability at 100%.

[Phase 2]

Phase 2 will start when the Kraken has 7 bars of it’s HP left. The same tactics of Phase 1 will continue with added challenges.
Two tentacle will join the battle placed between 7, 11 o clock and between 1, 5 o clock. These tentacles don’t need additional party members to pull agro but will attack party members by
-Throwing objects that aren’t that threatening since it has poor accuracy and doesn’t do a lot of damage
-Attempt to grab one of the tentacle team. This attack is similar with Glas’s grab in the way that the grabbed party member must be saved by throwing a spear at the right location or the grabbed player will be thrown into Kraken’s mouth and get killed. And also in the way that it can’t be blocked yet Amber works.
The grab can be avoided but this is not easy for beginner tentacle team members to do while minding their own tentacle at the same time. If one from the tentacle team is grabbed, the most important thing is not saving that player but filling in his/her empty spot ASAP. Once one of the head member fills in the empty spot the other head members can proceed to save or revive the grabbed player.
Adds are also spawned in the middle of the map. Either a giant crab or a siren will spawn which have a lot of HP and have super armor status. If one of these adds start attacking a tentacle team member, things will get ugly quickly so it’s important for the head team to take care of these adds quickly.
The four main tentacles will also disappear for from time to time from this phase so if a tentacle team member’s assigned tentacle slithers away, he/she should help other players assigned to tentacles or help with clearing the adds. A Kai assigned to one of the upper tentacle can just help out with the head DPS as well. But they always have to keep an eye out for when their tentacle re emerges again.

[Phase 3]

Phase 3 starts when the Kraken has 4 HP bars left and all hell breaks loose.
The party must handle everything up to Phase 2 and also tend to the horrendous tentacles that spawn on the opposite side of Kraken’s head.
This is where the head team starts to het really busy because.
1. They have to handle the extra two tentacles that spawn at the bottom of the map.
2.They still have to take care of the adds, save party members from being grabbed by a tentacle, and fill in any leaks that occur with the tentacle team.
3.All the while doing this they have to be able to spare a party member to continually DPS his head because the limited DPS to tentacles will not be enough to cut it.

No one’s exactly sure how the P3 tentacles work but handling them like the original four tentacle from P1 certainly causes them to attack the ship less. This is the reason why the head team needs to give up on the DPS and head towards the opposite side of the ship to handle these tentacles.
The reason why the P3 tentacles are so threatening is that, while the original four tentacles just inflict 2% damage to the ship if it’s attack isn’t prevented, the new tentacles will wind themselves on the ship and continually damage the ship for 5% damage until it is knocked off.
This is why it’s important to assign Fiona to the lower tentacle team. The P3 tentacles require a lot of stun value to knock off and her Shield Bash and Shield charge contributes here a lot. So if a P3 tentacle starts damage the ship, if she can spare the time, a Fiona place against one of the lower tentacles should give the head team a hand in knocking off the P3 tentacle with a Shield Bash or Shield Charge.

Also, unless the party is experienced and have perfect teamwork, phase 3 will have constantly have tentacles slapping all over the deck. With these tentacles, adds, and Kraken’s inhaling getting in the way, the mobility of Scythe evies and Kais will prove to be crucial in filling in for busy tentacle team members.
Once the Kraken reaches half of it’s last HP bar you can use the ballista at the end of the ship to finish it off.

This is a battle where teamwork is required to beat [along with good gear as well] and is important to have all party members up alive at all times. Lack of feathers is never an issue so players should not hesitate to use party feathers if more than 3 players are dead. One useful trick is to use the fact that assists also cost fatigue but can get rewards at the end of the battle to essentially make the party 9-man.

[How to free a binded ally?]
@ 9:05, @10:18