Helgaia Guardian Raid Guide
Helgaia Introduction
Helgaia is the second Raid Level 3 Guardian and you need to be at least 840 Item Level to enter this Guardian Raid. This Guardian drops Tier 2 Accessories, Upgrade Materials and Ability Stones as well as rare drops including Runes, Engraving Books and Cards. It takes 10% more damage from Water Element skills.
This Guardian has a unique evolve mechanic. The battle always starts with Helgaia being in its basic phase. In frequent intervals, the Guardian attempts to evolve into the next phase. This can be interrupted by using skills with Stagger affix. Once successfully evolved, Helgaia's attacks will be enhanced and new attacks become available.
Helgaia's attacks apply a Burn debuff on hit. This Debuff is stackable and lasts for 20 seconds. Each additional stack resets the timer. Make sure to cleanse the debuff once you have 4 or more stacks. This can be done with Panacea or by making use of the cleansing skills of Gunlancer, Paladin or Soulfist.
This Guardian guide assumes you know the basics of a Guardian Raid. Check out the General Guardian Raid Guide to learn more.
Special Interactions & Patterns
Counterable Charge
Counter attack is possible during the charge attack pattern. At the start of this attack animation, the Guardian glows blue. The player has a short window to cast a skill with a Counter Attack affix while standing in front of the Guardian. If you manage to pull this off fast enough, the Guardian's attack will be interrupted and staggered for a few seconds. This gives you and your team a short window to use buffs and deal additional damage.
Evolve
Helgaia has 3 phases, the basic stage(Phase 1), half evolved(Phase 2) and fully evolved(Phase 3). Each phase unlocks and amplifies her attacks further. In roughly 50 seconds intervals, the Guardian attempts to evolve into the next phase. This can be interrupted by using skills with Stagger affix. Once successful, the next evolve attempt gets harder to interrupt as it requires more Stagger damage. The more you can delay the Guardian reaching its fully evolved phase, the easier it is to kill it.
Be aware, a successful evolve attempt is followed by a devastating Area of Effect (AoE) attack which can one shot squishy classes. In case you are unsure about being able to interrupt the evolve attempt, use your support's shield Awakening Skills or Warlords first Awakening Skill as an insurance. If none are available it is better to run away and let the Guardian evolve.
Before you start the Guardian Raid, evaluate the Stagger damage strength of your party. If your party consists of classes with high Stagger damage skills like Gunlancer or Artillerist, you can interrupt the evolve attempt more often. In general a party with low Stagger damage using Whirlwind Grenade should be able to interrupt the basic stage evolve attempt 3 times and the Phase 2 attempt 2 times. A party with high Stagger damage should be able to interrupt it at least 5 times on the first phase and 3 times in Phase 2.
Once Helgaia evolves into Phase 3, its attacks will deal high damage. During this phase the focus should be on dealing high Stagger damage. After taking a certain amount of Stagger damage, the Guardian is incapacitated for a few seconds which is used to deal as much damage as possible. After recovering, the Guardian performs a Jump attack and attempts to flee to a different area. This attempt can be interrupted by dealing Stagger damage once again. A successful interruption resets Helgaia back to the first Phase and prevents it from escaping.
Hellfire Rain
A devastating attack only used during Helgaia's fully evolved Phase. The Guardian flies up to the sky and bombards a huge area with a rain of fire. Each hit deals high damage and 2 hits are enough to kill a player. There is a delay between the ascend animation and the bombardment. Use it to run away from the Guardian and wait until the end of this attack pattern before you return.
General Patterns
Fireball
Helgaia shoots a fireball, up to 2 times.
Helgaia shoots 3 fireball, up to 2 times. If you are too close to the Guardian, you can get hit by all 3 fireballs.
Beak Attack
The Guardian attacks a player in front of it with its beak, up to 2 times. This attack staggers the player on hit.
Tail Swipe
Helgaia looks for a brief moment to the side and follows up with a tail swipe towards that direction. This attack staggers the player on hit. Behind the Guardian is a safe spot.
Wing Swipe
The Guardian pulls one of its wings towards its head and swipes it back. This attack hits a big area on one side of the Guardian and staggers on hit.
Flip
Helgaia grabs a player with its beak and throws them behind the guardian.
Jump
A high damage jump attack added to the attack pool of Helgaia starting in Phase 2. It can be only avoided by reacting fast enough and dodging to the left or right of the Guardian. This attack can be performed up to 2 consecutive times and knocks down the player on hit.
Flying Charge
Flying Charge is an upgraded version of the Charge attack. In addition to dealing increased damage, the flying path leaves a trail of fire behind which deals damage and applies Burn to everyone on it.
Gameplay Video
Credits
Written by Perciculum
Reviewed by Facefoot