ALTHAR – THE UNDEAD KING
OVERVIEW
While his bones may be brittle, don’t take this lich for a weakling. The fight against Althar is one of the most frantic in the game, thanks to the hordes of minions he summons to do his bidding.
The main source of danger may not be from Althar himself, but from the endless waves of Undead he summons to fight you. He will attempt to keep you away from him by Pushing or Launching your Invokers, teleporting around the arena, then using Fatigue and Crush Corruptions to slow you down or completely lock you in place.
While you may dispatch one wave of minions, he will simply bring them back to life and continue to summon more, meaning his army will grow and grow in size. If you give him the time, there will come a point where he will overwhelm you. You need to take him out before that time comes.
This means bring a team of high damage, high mobility Invokers who can strike hard and fast. Resistance will help fend off his Pushes and Launches, while Block Revive can also provide some assistance for thinning Althar’s ranks.
There's one major thing to mention if you want to succeed in this fight - do not bring Bleed. Althar's Bloodless Passive will grant him Invincibility for 10 seconds if you place a Bleed debuff on him. The last thing you want to do is give Althar 10 uninterrupted seconds to summon more Undead, so leave those Bleed teams on the bench!
DO
✓ Bring Block Revive
✓ Use Invokers or Relics with Fatigue and Crush Tolerance
✓ Deal with Althar’s minions
✓ Bring high DPS and high Move SPD – Althar teleports around the area, so you need to keep on top of him
DON'T
✕ Waste time. This battle is a race – you need to lay Althar to rest before his army gets too large
✕ Ignore the minions.
✕ Neglect Move SPD. Althar will be continually Pushing and Launching your Invokers away from him, so you need to be able to reposition quickly
✕ Spread out. Stick to Althar like glue, as he teleports to the Invoker furthest away from him
✕ Bring Bleed. Althar's Bloodless Passive will grant him an Invincibility buff if you place Bleed on him. The last thing you want is an Undead King who can't take damage!
SKILL BREAKDOWN
Combo Attack #1
Attacks 1 enemy, dealing N damage.
Combo Attack #2
Attacks the 2 furthest enemies in a 10m radius, from a distance of 20m, dealing N damage.
Each hit decreases the target's Ultimate Mana by 25.
Combo Attack #3
Attacks all enemies in a 180°, 11m semicircle in front of Althar, dealing N damage.
Skill 1 – Shadefall
Attacks all enemies in the arena, dealing N damage per hit.
Each hit casts 1 stack of Fatigue Corruption on each target. The Fatigue Corruption ticks 1 time every 10s. Each tick damages the target by 0.5% of their MAX HP. Each stack of Fatigue Corruption decreases the target's Move Speed by 2%.
TIP #1: Bring Fatigue Tolerance. The consistent Move SPD reduction from growing stacks of Fatigue Corruption will be the death knell for this fight. You need to be on Althar’s heels at all times and be able to respond to the minion waves he summons quickly. Don’t let him slow you down.
Skill 2 – Realmbreak
Selects all enemies in the arena. Attacks all enemies in a 3m radius around each target, dealing N damage per hit. Launches the targets for 0.4s.
Then, attacks all enemies in a 5m radius around each target, dealing N damage per hit. Launches the targets for 3s, knocking them 10m away.
TIP #1: Keep moving! Once selected, Althar creates a damaging area around the target which you can then move out of. Don’t stay still and let him pinball you around with Launches – get your butt in gear!
TIP #2: Resistance is your friend. Should you not manage to dive out of the way, Launches are subject to ACC vs RES checks, like any other debuffs. Having a high RES stat will see you not launched sky-high by Althar’s spectral blasts.
Skill 3 – Necrocall
Summons a wave of Minibosses and Minions.
Then, attacks all enemies in the arena, dealing N damage per hit. Casts Crush Corruption on each target, lasting 7s. Targets under Crush Corruption take 100% more damage.
Summons alternating minion waves each time this Skill is used.
Wave A: 1 Death Giant (Miniboss), 3 Lost Rangers (Minions)
Wave B: 3 Lost Rangers (Minions), 1 Undead Grunt (Minion)
Wave C: 1 Necroknight (Miniboss), 3 Ripper Ghouls (Minions)
Wave D: 3 Ripper Ghouls (Minions), 1 Death Acolyte (Minion)
Will not summon Minibosses if 2 or more are alive.
Will not summon Minions if 10 or more are alive.
Damage: 40% ATK + 20% ATK as Fatigue Damage
TIP #1: Don’t let Althar’s reinforcements overwhelm you. While there is a cap of 10 Minions and 2 Minibosses, they constantly get stronger when they are healed by Deadraise, Althar’s Skill 5. You will be overrun if the fight drags on for too long. Don’t waste time.
TIP #2: Bring Crush Tolerance. Getting hit with Crush Corruption will lock your Invoker down completely – that’s no Skills, no movement. Add on that you take double damage while you’re locked in place and all of Althar’s minions will be swarming you? You’ll wish you were dead.
TIP #3: Keep track of which wave he’s summoning. Wave C always has the Necroknight appearing from the right hand portal. Wave A sees the hulking Death Giant arriving via the left hand portal. Position your Invokers in front of those portals, so you can take out those Minibosses as soon as they appear!
TIP #4: Be wary of the Necroknight and Death Giant’s Skills. Both these minibosses will cause you aggravation if not dealt with swiftly. The Necroknight will look to lower your Move SPD, Crit DMG, Crit Rate and ATK, while the Death Giant will sap your Ultimate Mana and try to charge you out of the way. Consult their Skills below, and prioritise them as the target for any Block Revive debuffs.
Skill 4 – Lifereap
Teleports to the furthest enemy in a 15m radius. Attacks the target, dealing N damage. Pushes the target 11m away.
Casts Crush Corruption on the target, lasting 15s. Targets under Crush Corruption take 100% more damage.
TIP #1: Keep your Invokers grouped up. The last thing you want is Althar teleporting all the way across the arena, meaning you have to chase him down again, while being mobbed by his minions. Have your Invokers move as a unit, so Althar will actually teleport to you, rather than away from you.
TIP #2: Like with Realmbreak, having a high RES means you won’t get pushed away from Althar when he teleports to you. Don’t let him push you around!
Skill 5 – Deadraise
Heals all alive Minions and Minibosses by 100% of their MAX HP, then doubles their ATK.
Then, revives all dead Minions and Minibosses.
Minions and Minibosses will retain their doubled ATK even if they are defeated and revived again.
This Skill's cooldown will double every time it is used. Starts the battle on cooldown.
TIP #1: Use Block Revive (if you have it). As this skill revives all dead Minions and Minibosses, it means more and more minions will reappear, on top of new ones coming with each cast of Necrocall. You can at least mitigate old foes coming back to life by inflicting them with Block Revive (and stopping the return of enemies with continuously doubling ATK). They’ll stay quiet in their graves, meaning you’ll only need to deal with brand new ones.
TIP #2: Block Revive is great here, but it's not a perfect cure. You're not going to have enough Invokers or Skills with Block Revive to use on every single enemy – but you can target the Minibosses. Hit the Death Giant and Necroknight with Block Revive and suddenly these waves become a lot easier to handle.
TIP #3: The ATK doubling effect only applies to enemies who are alive. If you can wipe out Althar’s forces before he can cast Deadraise, they won’t receive this ATK boost.
- TIP #4: But you know what’s the real solution? Vanquish Althar fast. Focus on exorcising the Undead King before he can build an insurmountable revenant army.
Passive – Bloodless
Casts an Invincibility buff on Althar, lasting 10s, every time a Bleed debuff is cast on Althar.
Minion - Death Giant - Skills
Skill 1 – Soulfire Crash
Attacks all enemies in a 20m radius around Death Giant, from a distance of 5m, dealing N damage. The targets lose 50% Ultimate Mana.
Skill 2 – Unleash Revenants
Attacks all enemies in a 4m radius around the target, from a distance of 8m, dealing N damage. Launches the targets, knocking them away, for 0.5s.
Skill 3 – Death Giant’s Charge
Charges 1 enemy in a 15m radius. Damages each enemy hit in a 15x6m path, dealing N damage. Casts a 1% Bleed debuff on each target hit, lasting 4s. The Bleed ticks every 2s, damaging targets by 1% of their MAX HP per tick.
Minion - Necroknight - Skills
Skill 1 – Avert Your Gaze
Attacks all enemies in a 8m semicircle in front of Necroknight, from a distance of 2m, dealing N damage. Casts a 25% Crit Rate Down debuff on the targets, lasting 8s. Then, casts a 50% Crit DMG Down debuff on the targets, lasting 8s.
Skill 2 – Quake With Fear
Attacks the 10 enemies with the lowest current HP in a 20m radius, from a distance of 10m, dealing N damage. Casts a 50% Move SPD Down debuff on the targets, lasting 6s.
Skill 3 – Scour Your Soul
Charges 1 enemy in a 16m radius, damaging each enemy hit. Attacks all enemies in a 5m radius around Necroknight, from a distance of 10m, dealing N damage. Attacks the targets in a 5x18m area in front of Necroknight, from a distance of 10m, 2 times, dealing N damage per hit. Each hit casts a 50% ATK Down debuff on the targets, lasting 8s.
CORRUPTIONS
Althar has two Corruptions: one Damage Corruption (Fatigue), and one Control Corruption (Crush).
Each of Althar’s attacks will deal extra damage as Fatigue Damage, which is not decreased by your Invokers’ DEF Stat.
DAMAGE CORRUPTION – FATIGUE
Fatigue Corruption
Each stack of Fatigue damages the target by a percentage of their MAX HP every tick. Each stack also decreases the target's Move SPD. Infinite duration.
Fatigue Tolerance
Fatigue Corruption is a damage-over-time effect that damages the recipient by a percentage of their MAX HP every tick. It also decreases the target's Move SPD by a certain percentage. Fatigue Corruption has an infinite duration and cannot be removed. Fatigue Corruption stacks additively, so each stack of Fatigue directly increases the damage per tick along with the Move SPD reduction.
Bosses with Fatigue Corruption also deal direct Fatigue damage from their Skills, in addition to their regular damage. Direct Fatigue damage ignores the target's DEF stat, and can only be decreased by the target's Fatigue Tolerance.
Increasing an Invoker's Fatigue Tolerance will decrease all Fatigue damage by the Invoker's Tolerance percentage, along with decreasing the effects of the Move SPD reduction.
CONTROL CORRUPTION – CRUSH
Crush Corruption
Stuns the target, making them unable to move or use Skills. Increases all damage taken by +100%.
Crush Tolerance
Not only does Crush Corruption stun the target, taking them out of the battle for a long time, but it also causes the target to take double damage, from all sources of damage - whether that's a direct hit from a Boss, or damage from a Burn or other debuff.
Increasing an Invoker's Crush Tolerance decreases the duration of Crush Corruption and its effects by the Tolerance percentage, reducing the time you are stunned and take double damage. Increasing Crush Tolerance will significantly reduce the amount of damage an Invoker takes throughout a battle with a Boss with Crush Corruption.
STRATEGY
If it’s not crystal clear already – this fight is a sprint. You cannot keep pace with Althar’s army and he will overrun the arena eventually. Everyone needs to be pulling their weight to deal as much damage to Althar as possible, before he gains momentum.
You can use Block Revive to slow his forces down slightly, but this is delaying the inevitable. Be fast, be mobile, be efficient, and you can vanquish the Undead King before he reigns supreme.
Althar’s first two Skills – Shadefall and Realmbreak – are there to keep you away from him. The Fatigue Corruption applied by Shadefall are there to slow your Invokers to a crawl, while Realmbreak is there to Launch you far away, so you waste time running back to attack Althar. Counter Shadefall by bringing Fatigue Tolerance, and ignore being launched by Realmbreak with high RES.
Don’t let him play pinball with your squad – stay on him at all times.
Let’s jump to Althar’s 4th Skill, Lifereap. This sees him teleporting to the furthest enemy, pushing them away and then locking them in place with Crush Corruption. This is meant to further divide your Invokers up and draw your attention away from Althar.
One way to counter this – keep all your Invokers close together, so Althar essentially teleports to you if he gets too far away. As long as you have some Crush Tolerance to counter the Corruption, this won’t be what causes your demise.
Necrocall is where we get into the real meat and potatoes of this fight. While Althar is your main target, he is probably not what will cause you to lose. It’s his army of minions that will take you down.
With Necrocall, Althar summons reinforcements – either Wave A, B, C, or D. Waves A and C come with two Minibosses to add to the chaos. He will then alternate between summoning new waves over and over again until he (or you) are defeated. If that’s not nasty enough, he also attacks all of your Invokers after summoning his forces, and inflicts Crush Corruption for good measure.
There is one silver lining to this Skill. Althar can only have a maximum of 2 Minibosses and 10 Minions out supporting him, so there is a limit to how many enemies you can possibly be dealing with at once. It doesn’t make them any less scary though!
So to recap – that’s constant minion waves, along with a Boss that keeps trying to keep you away from him, while you potentially are getting slower or even frozen in place. See what we mean about this being a sprint, not a marathon?
That’s not even the most cruel part – Deadraise heals any alive Minions and Minibosses to full HP and doubles their ATK. It then revives any dead minions and Minibosses with full HP.
That means your priority is to dispatch all minions and Minibosses before Althar can heal them and double their ATK. Enemies who have had their ATK doubled will retain this boosted strength when revived – so send them back to their graves before that can happen!
If enemies are dead before Althar casts Deadrise, the worst that can happen is that they come back to life. If you’ve used Block Revive to take them out of the revival equation, you’re sitting pretty!
Every second counts against Althar. Don’t let him out of your attack range, deal with the minions as soon as they appear, and try to dispatch Althar before the scales tip in his favor.
Good luck!