Vertus is the toughest level 1 raid out of all guardian raids. Vertus is a boss that has multiple damaging abilities and phases. Making him the strongest boss in the level 1 raids. It’s recommended to get a solid 4 man group for this raid to complete it fully. This boss is barely doable solo. In this guide, we will go in-depth about Vertus’s phases and abilities, how to dodge them and survive them!
Complete Vertus Guardian Raid Guide – Lost Ark
Damaging Abilities
As you progress through the boss, he will start using different abilities and movements to give you a hard time killing him. He firstly starts with some basic movement abilities that are easy to see when they will come at you. All in all this boss is slow and 80% of the abilities are casted slowly, meaning that you have enough time to react to them and survive.
Swipe Attack
The first mechanic that Vertus will do to you is his basic Swipe Attack. He usually does a double swipe attack, starting with his right hand and finishing it with his left. Sometimes he will only perform one swipe attack. The best way to dodge this skill is to circle around the boss counterclockwise. It’s easy to notice this mechanic, as he raises his right hand first, which will give you a sign to start moving.
Jump Attack
This mechanic is simple. Vertus performs a jump towards you that deals AOE damage to the area that he lands in. His jump tends to be slow while he is in the air, giving you enough time to react and dodge. He jumps either forward or backward. In most scenarios, he tends to jump forward. The only way to notice him using this mechanic is to watch the movement of his head, his head pulls back before he jumps.
Ice Orb & Ice Breath Attack
His Ice Orb and Ice Breath attacks are easy to see. When Vertus performs his Ice Orb attack, you will see him instantly rotate towards you and will shoot an ice ball towards you. A simple way to dodge this is to just move on either the left or the right side where the ball is being shot at.
His Ice Breath attack starts with a big inhale and you will get hit if you stand in front of him. As he inhales he will start pulling you towards him. There is a short window between the inhale and the breath. Here is where you can use that short window and use your dodge skill to get out of the way.
Tail Attacks – Tail Swipe Attack
Vertus’s first tail attack is his Tail Swipe. He will do a little swipe with his tail if you are standing behind him. This only occurs when you are standing behind him. In order to dodge this skill, you will want to dodge the attack with your skill or move towards him, where he may miss you.
Tail Spin Attack
This attack begins with Vertus leaning his head and rotating his whole body towards the left, where his tail follows behind and deals damage. If you get hit by this mechanic, you will get knocked back and take big damage.
Tail Slam Attack
One of his most common attacks is his Tail Slam. It’s a noticeable ability and also easy to dodge. You will just need to see when he raises his tail and is about to slam the ground. He slams the ground 3 times, meaning that he can do a three-hit combo damage to you and also keep you in the air for those three hits. Simply just watch how his tail moves and walk out of the situation, the radius of his tail is not that big.
Counter Charge Skill Attack
Unlike any other raid boss. Vertus has his own counter-charge skill that counters any ability that you do to him. He will turn blue and charge towards you and deal damage. In order to dodge the charge, simply notice when he turns blue and start moving to the left or right of him.
Grab Attack
This is the hardest ability to dodge or survive. Vertus’s grab attack makes him charge towards his target and instantly grab him with his right hand. Once the target is grabbed, Vertus will walk in a counterclockwise motion, slamming the target in the ground 4 times. After the fourth time the target is slammed, he will throw it in the air and do an Ice Blast attack. The best way to dodge this is for the other party members to start staggering the boss until he drops you on the ground, or give the targeted player shields and massive heals for him to go through the attack.
Water Geyser Attack
This is an ability that is gained when Vertus enters his second phase. He will slam the ground with his tail, creating some red circles on the ground that transform into geysers once they blow. If you are hit with this ability you will get frozen and not be able to move for a few seconds. The simplest way to dodge this ability is to just move away from the red circles that spawn on the ground.
Dive & Breach Attack
For the Dive and Breach attack, Vertus will go into the ground where he will start to follow you around. He is noticeable in this mechanic as he tends to spawn puffs of white clouds that indicate where he is currently located. To dodge this ability, just run away from the white clouds in a straight line.
Phase One
Vertus’s first phase is when you first encounter him, he will spawn a group of snow bears and golem constructs. This is an easy phase to go through, just AOE the mobs and you should have cleared the battlefield from mobs.
Phase Two
The second phase is when Vertus becomes red and enrages. This enrage will give him two extra abilities and he will also deal more damage. The two abilities that he gains in his second phase are Water Geyser and Dive and Breach attacks. You are also able to stagger him in this phase, which can enable you to use a weak point attack to chop off his tail. Then he won’t be able to use any of his tail attacks.
Phase Three
The third phase of Vertus is where he will deal more damage and attack faster. In this phase, Vertus cannot be staggered. You mainly want to save all your DPS in this phase in order to kill him as fast as possible to make sure nobody from your party dies.
