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Behold the blade of purgation!
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Volk's Wrath: Expert is a challenge quest centered on a boss battle with Volk, unlocked upon the completion of Chapter 10 and any Advanced Dragon Trial at standard difficulty, and meeting the minimum might requirement of 28,000.
Additionally, clearing Expert difficulty for the first time rewards the player with sufficient amount of materials to obtain a copy or unbind of 6 flame Agito weapon.
Weekly bonuses from clearing the Expert difficulty also provide a small amount of Rebellious One's Insanity, which can be used for enhancing a flame Agito weapon past 4 unbinds, as well as allowing for refinement, granting additional strength, new abilities, and might.
HP isn't too much of a concern, as most adventurers should be able to withstand the unavoidable damage Volk inflicts throughout the fight if they came prepared with sufficiently strong equipment.
Weapons[ | ]
For Expert, at a minimum, adventurers should be equipped with at least a 5 Chimeratech weapon; these weapons are in fact required before you're able to craft Agito weapons in the first place.
Support adventurers such as standard healers (non-Overdamage), Emma and Halloween Mym can get by with a Chimeratech without issue.
For DPS adventurers, while it is possible to clear with a Chimeratech, it is highly suggested to use a stronger weapon, such as an Agito weapon instead, or less preferably, a highly-upgraded High Dragon weapon (at least 6 unbinds).
It's easier to start with the 0UB Agito weapon, and unbind it instead. If you already crafted one from Standard first clear rewards, use it!
High Dragon weapons can become very expensive to unbind for its later unbinds, and its power is inferior to Chimeratech weapons before 6 unbinds. If you already have it, though, use it.
Gala Mym as well as any possible substitutes should use a 4UB+ Agito weapon for speedclearing.
Weapon Category
Sword
Blade
Dagger
Axe
Lance
Bow
Wand
Staff
Manacaster
Chimeratech (OK performance, not recommended for pubs as DPS)
Everyone should ideally be equipped with a max-unbound 5 Flame-attuned dragon for Expert.
Standard healers such as Halloween Lowen and support adventurers such as Emma and Halloween Mym may carry weaker dragons, and in the case of healers, offelement dragons which brings better utility, as their personal DPS is usually not too relevant (aside from during break state, in the case of Halloween Mym).
Prime Overdrive DPS - The Prince, Marth, Naveed, and Chrom play largely the same role - prime ODPS deliverers as swordsmen and a major source of DPS.
Gala Mars significantly improves all of their DPS. However, there are many other suitable dragons who still provide excellent damage output.
Gozu Tenno provides the second-highest Strength, as well as providing access to significant elemental damage up and resist down effects. However, adventurers are required to spend at least 3 seconds launching a force strike to activate the elemental damage up effect, which can be clunky with the general attack cadence of most adventurers, and will drop combo without chain co-ability Combo Time extenders - the Agito weapon's combo time extension is insufficient.
Marth can provide significant amounts of direct and indirect buffing to the entire team with his skills (Strength Up, Attack Rate Up, and even 100% Skill Gauge Charge Up), and Gala Mars is hence a perfect fit for him.
Chrom and Naveed prefer running Konohana Sakuya before any other dragon not Gala Mars, due to their very high skill slices.
Standard DPS + Overdamage Healers - These standard DPS units deal damage to the boss. In addition, overdamage healers such as Yukata Cassandra and Kuzunoha appreciate Strength-based dragons to enhance their effective damage output from both themselves and everyone else due to their overdamage buffs.
The dragons are mostly interchangeable, aside from Gala Mars being stronger than anyone else.
Gozu Tenno provides the second-highest Strength, as well as providing access to significant elemental damage up and resist down effects. However, adventurers are required to spend at least 3 seconds launching a force strike to activate the elemental damage up effect, which can be clunky with the general attack cadence of most adventurers, and will drop combo without chain co-ability Combo Time extenders - the Agito weapon's combo time extension is insufficient.
Seimei and Gala Leonidas will be able to activate Gozu Tenno's ability trivially due to the force-strike holding nature of their primary attacks.
Ezelith and Mikoto like having Arctos to complement their very high critical rates if Gala Mars is unavailable. On the opposite end, Horus is completely unsuitable for Ezelith, as Ezelith can cap out the critical rate, rendering one of his abilities ineffective, and although usable, his critical rate boost has a comparatively weaker effect on Mikoto due to pre-existing critical rate boosts.
On other adventurers, using Arctos likely requires a different wyrmprint and chain co-ability setup than normal, prioritizing Critical Rate Up abilities, and may compete with the secondary wyrmprint slot that normally utilizes Me and My Bestie!.
Seimei and Gala Leonidas enhanced force strikes (of which you will be using 100% of the time, and of which the AI also does) scale significantly with Dreadking Rathalos's abilities which enhance force strike damage and also provide Striking Haste.
Incognito Nefaria appreciates Horus' massive boost to critical rate and attack speed due to very high critical damage and relatively slow attack animations, if Gala Mars is unavailable.
Nobunaga and Rena like having Konohana Sakuya to boost their massive skill slices if Gala Mars is unavailable.
Overdamage healers have no skill damage and also scale off strength, and hence disfavor Konohana Sakuya. They also gain practically no benefit from Horus due to him not providing any Strength.
Apollo may help with burn uptime, and works especially well with Xania. Note that Gala Mym cannot burn with Apollo due to his skill being overwritten with Gala Brunhilda's, though the (Flame) Burning Punisher +20%If the user is attuned to Flame: increases damage to burning enemies by 20%. ability will still function.
Spooky Flamewyrm - Halloween Mym's contribution comes from both a relatively large standard attack slice, as well as the supportive effects on her skills, but she can also burst down very hard with her dragon form, which is the strongest among Flame dragons, even when compared with Gala Mars. Horus also makes a case for himself as he speeds up every action she takes, and axes tend to be slow without Attack Rate buffs.
Konohana Sakuya is not a good choice for Halloween Mym due to her very low skill damage slice.
Note that Halloween Mym cannot burn with Apollo due to his skill being overwritten with Halloween Brunhilda's, though the (Flame) Burning Punisher +20%If the user is attuned to Flame: increases damage to burning enemies by 20%. ability will still function.
Support Squad - Like most other adventurers, if possible, you give these purer support adventurers Gala Mars. Horus also makes for a fine choice if opting for faster skill cycling in adventurer form.
Gaibhne & Creidhne provides rapid SP regen for adventurers within the zone.
Keep in mind that adventurers with Gala Mars equipped might make the SP regen redundant due to his effect of automatically refilling all skill gauges upon exiting shapeshift, so avoid using the skill while Gala Mars-equipped adventurers are shapeshifted.
Avoid equipping them with Konohana Sakuya, due to Emma's lack of innate damaging skills, or low damage slice of Sinoa.
Phoenix may be used to improve safety for 4DPS runs.
I'm a healer! - The on-element dragons provide differing benefits to these standard healers.
Gala Mars lets them dish out some damage in dragon form, and also immediately reenables the use of all their skills upon exiting shapeshift.
Arctos can be used for timing stun on Volk at critical points.
Phoenix can be used to increase their HP, which may make it harder for them to be defeated by taking too many hits, especially since she also grants a potent regen heal.
Higher amounts of HP will also improve Valentine Hildegarde's shields.
High Brunhilda may be used for slightly more damage output in exchange for less HP.
As the healers' healing output are more than sufficient, even when lightly equipped, it is possible to experiment with off-element dragons for access to strong buffs.
Pop-Star Siren can be used to grant the entire team significant strength and Energy buffs, as well as triggering doublebuffs.
Freyja is similar, but trades strength buffs with a regen heal, and instantly energizes instead of having to cast twice.
Gaibhne & Creidhne provides rapid SP regen for adventurers within the zone.
Keep in mind that adventurers with Gala Mars equipped might make the SP regen redundant due to his effect of automatically refilling all skill gauges upon exiting shapeshift, so avoid using the skill while Gala Mars-equipped adventurers are shapeshifted.
Wyrmprints[ | ]
All adventurers in standard compositions should equip their standard wyrmprints.
If planning to speedclear in a 4 Gala Mym setup (or with 1 substitute), use the following wyrmprint setup for participating DPS adventurers.
If Emma is the substitute, she should use her standard speedclear wyrmprint setup, but with one of the 4 wyrmprints replaced with Dragon's Nest.
Wait, it's all Brunhilda? - This setup will let the entire team start with 40% shapeshift prep, as well as 100% skill prep, allowing you to both frontload damage and shapeshift ASAP.
As this build has a flex slot, depending on where the Skill Prep wyrmprints are allocated, feel free to use whatever that is most consistently useful to your team.
It is possible to drop Shapeshift Prep for a different wyrmprint if playing in a controlled environment (e.g. private rooms) with pre-planning - the Shapeshift Prep is for situations where DPS is lower than expected, to ensure timely dragon. If this is the case, an additional flex slot is available.
Me and My Bestie! is a highly suggested loadout for speedclear compositions with The Prince and/or Blazing CircletLv. 1: Deals 2 hits of 608% flame damage to surrounding enemies. [2376 SP]
Lv. 2: Deals 2 hits of 676% flame damage to surrounding enemies. [2376 SP]
Lv. 3: Deals 2 hits of 750% flame damage to surrounding enemies. [2376 SP]
Lv. 4: Deals 2 hits of 826% flame damage to surrounding enemies, raises the dragon gauge by 3% if the attack connects and inflicts burn for 12 seconds - dealing 88.3% flame damage every 3.9 seconds - with 110% base chance. [2376 SP] shared skill.
A Man Unchanging and The Plaguebringer are highly suggested loadouts for speedclear compositions with Hound ShotLv. 1: Deals 1 hit of 819% wind damage to enemies in a line, and inflicts stormlash - dealing 22% damage every 2.9 seconds for 21 seconds - with 100% chance.
If this skill is used directly after Ace Operator, Ace Operator's attack will be interrupted, and the following variant of this skill will be used instead: Deals 1 hit of 1672% wind damage to enemies directly ahead, and inflicts stormlash - dealing 22% damage every 2.9 seconds for 21 seconds - with 100% chance, and poison - dealing 30.8% damage every 2.9 seconds for 30 seconds - with 100% chance. [3060 SP]
Lv. 2: Deals 1 hit of 911% wind damage to enemies in a line, and inflicts stormlash - dealing 31% damage every 2.9 seconds for 21 seconds - with 110% chance.
If this skill is used directly after Ace Operator, Ace Operator's attack will be interrupted, and the following variant of this skill will be used instead: Deals 1 hit of 1858% wind damage to enemies directly ahead, and inflicts stormlash - dealing 31% damage every 2.9 seconds for 21 seconds - with 110% chance, and poison - dealing 43.6% damage every 2.9 seconds for 30 seconds - with 110% chance. [3060 SP]
Lv. 3: Deals 1 hit of 1012% wind damage to enemies in a line, and inflicts stormlash - dealing 41% damage every 2.9 seconds for 21 seconds - with 120% chance.
If this skill is used directly after Ace Operator, Ace Operator's attack will be interrupted, and the following variant of this skill will be used instead: Deals 1 hit of 2064% wind damage to enemies directly ahead, and inflicts stormlash - dealing 41% damage every 2.9 seconds for 21 seconds - with 120% chance, and poison - dealing 58.2% damage every 2.9 seconds for 30 seconds - with 120% chance.
If this skill is used as a Shared Skill, it will always use the variant version. [3060 SP] shared skill.
Don't use both of these wyrmprints together due to overcapping.
His Clever Brother is a highly suggested loadout for speedclear compositions with Majestic TideLv. 1: Deals 1 hit of 1336% water damage to enemies in a line. The more buffs the user has, the higher the skill boost received and the higher the damage (+5% Skill Damage per buff). [2714 SP]
Lv. 2: Deals 1 hit of 1486% water damage to enemies in a line. The more buffs the user has, the higher the skill boost received and the higher the damage (+5% Skill Damage per buff). [2714 SP]
Lv. 3: Deals 1 hit of 1650% water damage to enemies in a line. The more buffs the user has, the higher the skill boost received and the higher the damage (+5% Skill Damage per buff). [2714 SP]
Lv. 4: Deals 1 hit of 1664% water damage to enemies in a line and inflicts frostbite - dealing 41% water damage every 2.9 seconds for 21 seconds - with 120% chance. The more buffs the user has, the higher the skill boost received and the higher the damage (+5% Skill Damage per buff).
Also activates "Born Ruler." During Born Ruler, the user's force strikes are powered up and can damage far-away enemies, and this skill is enhanced into Majestic Tide II, which deals 1 hit of 1674% water damage instead.
Using Majestic Tide II adds an additional stack of Born Ruler, further powering up the user's force strikes and causing them to deal extra damage and bonus damage to frostbitten foes, while also enhancing Majestic Tide II into Majestic Tide III, which deals 1 hit of 1680% water damage instead. All stacks of Born Ruler will be consumed upon using Majestic Tide III, or a force strike with any stacks of Born Ruler. Born Ruler will not activate when using this skill as a shared skill. [2714 SP], Raging TideLv. 1: Deals 2 hits of 596% water damage to enemies directly ahead. The more buffs the user has, the higher the skill boost received and the higher the damage (+5% Skill Damage per buff). [3033 SP]
Lv. 2: Deals 2 hits of 663% water damage to enemies directly ahead. The more buffs the user has, the higher the skill boost received and the higher the damage (+5% Skill Damage per buff). [3033 SP]
Lv. 3: Deals 2 hits of 736% water damage to enemies directly ahead. The more buffs the user has, the higher the skill boost received and the higher the damage (+5% Skill Damage per buff). [3033 SP]
Lv. 4: Deals 2 hits of 818% water damage to enemies directly ahead, and inflicts frostbite for 21 seconds - dealing 41% water damage every 2.9 seconds - with 120% chance. The more buffs the user has, the higher the skill boost received and the higher the damage (+5% Skill Damage per buff). [3033 SP], and/or Sanctus ArrowLv. 1: Deals 1 hit of 1470% water damage to enemies in a line, and inflicts frostbite - dealing 22% water damage every 2.9 seconds for 21 seconds - with 100% chance. [3350 SP]
Lv. 2: Deals 1 hit of 1634% water damage to enemies in a line, and inflicts frostbite - dealing 32% water damage every 2.9 seconds for 21 seconds - with 110% chance. [3350 SP]
Lv. 3: Deals 1 hit of 1815% water damage to enemies in a line, and inflicts frostbite - dealing 41% water damage every 2.9 seconds for 21 seconds - with 120% chance. [3350 SP] shared skills.
Use only if a source of teamwide (not personal) defense buffs exist.
The flex wyrmprint will depend on used shared skills and/or the substitute adventurer, if any.
To use this setup with other substitute DPS adventurers, replace Dragon and Tamer with their weapon-specific Skill Damage wyrmprint, or in case of Halloween Mym, a completely different wyrmprint that may benefit the entire team more.
Party Roles[ | ]
Note that due to general viability of adventurers in this quest, only a select few adventurers are shown in this section.
DPS[ | ]
These units will be doing the majority of the DPS, and sometimes provide support and/or additional utility.
Don't run more than 1 Halloween Mym in the entire team.
Don't run more than 1 Emma in the entire team.
Don't run more than 2 ranged adventurers in the entire team (bows, wands, staves, and manacasters).
High damage output, supportive Strength and Defense Up effects, dual-resist, doesn't inflict burn so that burn uptime may be improved if someone else already burns.
Very high damage output riding on high critical damage, potential for extremely high break damage, doesn't inflict burn so that burn uptime may be improved if someone else already burns.
Halloween Lowen has low personal DPS, but is extremely invaluable for tight plague cleansing, and has HP Up and Defense Up buffs for survival and triggering doublebuffs. If he equips Pop-Star Siren, then he can also be a great source of buffs to prepare for break damage.
These Overdamage healers' skills can elevate teamwide DPS and especially the hit count (for activating combo-based abilities). Compared to Halloween Lowen, they prefer Strength-based dragons.
Yukata Cassandra provides higher effective power and packs a regen heal on her second healing skill.
Kuzunoha is tankier, making keeping her alive easier, and can bail out individual damaged adventurers in a pinch every so often. She also provides access to a Combo Time extender chain co-ability if playing in solo, enabling better team flexibility if intending to use Flurry equipment.
Valentine's Hildegarde has the worst healing output of the lot, but is the only Flame staff that can reduce enemies' strength and perform rapid dispels with her force strike, and her 40% HP shield works well against afflictions carried from chip damage. For best results, equip Valentine's Hildegarde with Phoenix or High Brunhilda to maximize her HP.
General Party Setup[ | ]
The general setup includes 3 DPSes, and a healer. At least one of the adventurers should have a differing resistance to the others, so that all affliction bombs may be detonated safely.
For example, a team with 3 Stun Res +100%Reduces susceptibility to stun by 100%. adventurers should have the remaining adventurer be Sleep Res +100%Reduces susceptibility to sleep by 100%..
For another example, a team with 3 Sleep Res +100%Reduces susceptibility to sleep by 100%. adventurers should have the remaining adventurer be Stun Res +100%Reduces susceptibility to stun by 100%..
Gala Sarisse's, Gala Laxi's, and Gala Leonidas's dual-resist abilities lets them detonate any bomb, as they cover both Stun and Sleep afflictions.
Gala Mym and Halloween Mym should be considered as pure Stun Res +100%Reduces susceptibility to stun by 100%. adventurers, as the Burn Res +100%Reduces susceptibility to burning by 100%.-equivalent abilities are not relevant for this quest. However, if they are shapeshifted (which they will be doing so frequently) they can detonate any bomb as dragons are immune to status aliments.
Co-op compositions should ideally have at most 2 ranged adventurers (bows, wands, staves, and manacasters).
Having more than 2 ranged adventurers is inadvisable due to the way some attacks target two of the ranged adventurers first before melee units.
If there are 3 or more ranged adventurers, it becomes possible for the healer to not get targeted by such attacks, significantly reducing DPS during that phase.
Summer Cleo's Tropical BreezeLv. 1: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 3%, critical rate by 2%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. [6737 SP]
Lv. 2: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 5%, critical rate by 3%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. [6737 SP]
Lv. 3: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 5%, critical rate by 3%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. Also grants the user the following additional buffs based on the number of adventurers who were buffed by this skill, including the user:
One or more adventurers: Increases defense by 10% for 10 seconds.
Two or more adventurers: Adds 10% to the modifier applied to critical damage for 10 seconds.
Three or more adventurers: Immediately readies the user's initial skill, displayed at the top of their skill list, for use. [6737 SP]shared skill significantly helps with getting fast dragon charge in the quad Gala Mym setup.
The quad Gala Mym composition is significantly more tolerant of mistakes than other compositions due to generous amounts of dragons (which do not take HP damage and is immune to both plague and afflictions).
The other speedclear composition has a very low tolerance for mistakes due to the lack of healer and lack of dragon form to circumvent damage.
Plague is a special effect that will reduce an adventurer or Volk's resistance to afflictions.
On adventurers, plague will set the adventurer's resistance to all afflictions to -100%. This means that attacks with a 0% chance to inflict an affliction will have a 100% success rate (this describes several of Volk's attacks). When plague's effects wear off, it will spread to surrounding adventurers. Plague will wear off after 90 seconds on its own, or it can be removed more quickly if the adventurer receives any form of healing.
Plague can spread from an adventurer onto Volk himself if he hits them with an attack that has a Life Drain component.
On Volk, resistance to all afflictions will be set to a fixed value for the duration of Plague, and the enemy cannot receive any form of healing (via Life Drain, for example). If the enemy gets afflicted while they are plagued, the fixed resistance value will not change, but their "true" resistance value will increment in the background accordingly. Once plague's effect ends, the enemy's true resistance value will be restored.
On human Volk, plague will set his resistance to 25% and wear off after 15 seconds.
On therion Volk, plague will set his resistance to 50% and wear off after 10 seconds.
For example: if therion Volk had 75% resistance to burn, and then got plagued, his resistance to burn would be fixed at 50% for the duration of plague. Let's say he was burned once during plague, which would increase resistance by 5%. He will still be at 50% during plague, but after plague ends he will have his true res value, 80% (75% + 5%).
On Automatic Bracing[ | ]
Bracing (air recovery) grants iframes, but these iframes end as soon as you land. Not bracing will cause your adventurer to fall to the ground if they were hit by Snapping Squalls, which grant extended iframes that last until a few moments after they pick themselves back up.
Automatic Bracing is an option that can be configured in the Game Settings tab of the game's Option menu. Make sure that this option is turned off if you are playing a Stun Res +100%Reduces susceptibility to stun by 100%. adventurer, as if automatic bracing is turned on, it's very likely that the unit will take damage twice - once from the initial hit, and another from getting hit again after landing from the same Snapping Squall. This usually ends poorly for the unit, as it is unlikely for most units to survive getting hit twice in a row without defensive buffs.
Phase 1[ | ]
Pestilent Wind[ | ]
Unavoidable opening blast that deals low damage, but inflicts plague on entire team. The entire team should roll towards Volk here, after using any skills that may benefit them later (e.g. Agito buff skills), if they have Skill Prep +100%Fills 100% of skill gauges at the start of quests..
Volk will disappear temporarily after this attack.
Spin Attack[ | ]
At this point, everyone should be in the middle of the arena. All DPS units should spread out, preferably all in different directions.
Volk will reappear soon, and will look as if he's about to attack. The healer should stay put in the middle, and use their healing skill (preferably, a burst heal) just before he performs a spin attack. All other DPS units should try to prevent their plague rings from overlapping other units as the healer cleans it off.
Lances and ranged units will have enough reach to attack Volk with standard attacks without getting into harm's way.
If it fails to clean off plague, do not panic, and use other available healing skills once other DPSes aren't overlapping again. Cleo's shared skill, Elder CureLv. 1: Restores HP to all allies with 72%Recovery Potency, and increases the entire team's strength by 8% for 60 seconds. This strength increase will not stack. [5916 SP]
Lv. 2: Restores HP to all allies with 90%Recovery Potency, removes paralysis, and increases the entire team's strength by 10% for 60 seconds. This strength increase will not stack. [5916 SP]
Lv. 3: Restores HP to all allies with 108%Recovery Potency, removes paralysis, and increases the entire team's strength by 15% for 60 seconds. This strength increase will not stack. [5916 SP]
Lv. 4: Restores HP to all allies with 130%Recovery Potency, removes paralysis, and increases the entire team's strength by 15% for 60 seconds. This strength increase will not stack. [5916 SP], helps a lot with this by granting a healer another burst heal. In a pinch, even regen skills will work, though they take a bit longer.
Underdog's Scheme and Ravenous Claws[ | ]
In solo mode, Volk will spawn four affliction bombs that do not deal damage in a cross pattern.
In co-op mode, Volk will spawn six affliction bombs that do not deal damage in a hexagonal pattern.
In either case, Volk will then move to the center of the arena, then spawn 8 shurikens in an octagonal pattern.
These bombs can be safely detonated if you're not plagued (your healer should have cleaned it off by now) and you match resistance with the bomb's type.
Red bombs with stars inflict stun, and hence a Stun Res unit should walk into them to detonate them.
Green bombs with bubbles inflict sleep, and hence a Sleep Res unit should walk into them to detonate them.
If you have shapeshift ready by this point (usually happens with speedrun compositions with Gala Mym), dragon form may be used to safely detonate all bombs regardless of affliction resistances.
Be mindful of spacing; as the bombs alternate afflictions, getting too close to someone else's bombs may cause you or the other unit to get afflicted by the off-resistance.
Blade units may attempt to detonate bombs by clipping the edges of them with a force strike, even if they're off-resist. This is risky, though, since slipping up means a locked unit.
Purple lines signifying shurikens' path, centering on one of the closest units to Volk, will appear after the octagonal burst has fired; be mindful of their paths, and don't get hit by them. These shurikens will inflict Sleep on units that do not resist Sleep.
Imminent Illness[ | ]
Four unavoidable purple chaser attacks appear on every unit. Avoid overlapping each other.
If anyone is still plagued at this point, the healer should cleanse it off ASAP, as if this attack hits plagued units, it will inflict poison which will cause HP to drain to 1 HP, as well as disabling shapeshifting, making survivability very poor.
The previous attack will also show up for one last time, so be careful not to get clipped by someone else's chaser and the shurikens.
A HP co-ability makes overlap between two melee units survivable.
Drill Attacks[ | ]
Volk will pick the two closest units and drill towards them. Check the minimap - if Volk's pointing at your general direction, roll perpendicularly! Using skills or dodgetanking are acceptable, too.
On high-speed runs, The Prince's and Gala Mym's first shapeshift opportunity is just before Volk starts his first drill attack. Feel free to go ham on Volk if it happens.
If playing as Gala Mym, get damaged by Volk as soon as possible, so you're able to gain Dragon Gauge again.
The attack's hitbox lingers on, and can likely prove fatal if you're hit early on and Volk doesn't push you aside.
Pestilent Wind[ | ]
Volk will inflict plague on all units again. All units should spread out to 4 corners, right to the edge of the arena; there's more than enough time to do so. Heal the plague off, once everyone is apart.
All 4 units should then roll inwards, towards the center, once. Units with directional movement force strikes, such as swords, blades, daggers, and lances, should start charging their force strikes towards the center of the arena.
Make sure adventurers are facing towards the center of the arena, as the next attack will have Volk appear behind the adventurer, dependent on the adventurer's facing.
On medium-speed runs, The Prince's and Gala Mym's first shapeshift opportunity is around here.
If Volk's shadow appears, or Volk himself drops down from the top, you can use your distance to him as a gauge on who he'll attack first. He attacks in distance order, starting from the closest adventurer to him.
Spin Attack x4[ | ]
Volk will teleport behind adventurers and attempt a spin attack, which is unavoidable within the marker.
On high-speed runs, Gala Mym's second shapeshift opportunity is around here.
If the unit has a directional movement force strike, they should unleash their force strike, then dodge roll towards the center.
Otherwise, just dodge roll towards the center.
Marths may wish to intentionally get hit by the spin attack if they're at full HP, since it should be safe for them to proc Last Boost IIIFills 100% of the entire team's skill gauges when the user's HP drops to 30% (twice per quest). This does not fill the skill gauges of dragons. After activating, this ability will not activate again for 15 seconds..
If there's multiple Marths, do it only for one Marth, as any additional procs are wasted, due to full skill gauges the DPSes already have. Usually, the last Marth to get targeted by Volk is the one to attempt this.
Volk will reappear at the center of the arena and promptly dispel any afflictions on him. Use any skills you have, preferably starting with a skill that inflicts burn, or a skill that boosts the Dragon Gauge now.
Volk will buff his strength by 10%. Dispelling it is optional, but it will improve survivability later on.
Resentment[ | ]
Volk will create a black fog that covers a significant area of the arena, and walk towards the bottom-left corner. This black fog inflicts plague on anyone caught in it.
The designated baiter (usually the healer) should be at the upper-right corner, right at the edge of the fog.
Most adventurers should have gained enough Dragon Gauge to be able to shapeshift. Arctos users that aren't Gala Mym or Halloween Mym may want to hold onto their shapeshift, but for the others, they may use it at their own discretion. This is a good time for non-Arctos users to shapeshift, as an unavoidable attack is incoming. Halloween Lowen may also wish to shapeshift now to access the dragon form.
Imminent Illness[ | ]
Deal with this as the previous instance of Imminent Illness, but keep in mind that there are now also red markers representing wolves that charge, that track the ranged baiter, usually a healer that strike them. The baiter should make sure that they aren't caught between two attacks at the same time.
On medium-speed runs, Gala Mym's second shapeshift opportunity is around here.
Red Wolf Charges & Purple Shurikens[ | ]
Volk will keep attacking the ranged baiter with shurikens and wolves. For red markers, the baiter may dodge roll them, but for purple markers, they should make sure that they are not overlapping any purple markers, then dodge or skill the red markers, if they're on them. Other DPSes should continue DPSing.
On high-speed runs, Gala Mym's third shapeshift opportunity is around here.
On medium-speed runs, The Prince's second shapeshift opportunity is around here.
Ranged DPSes should stay close to Volk. If they get too far away, they could accidentally steal bait, placing the entire DPS group in danger, or cause a DPS loss from taking avoidance actions.
Volk should have his HP empty out by this point, if not much earlier. Phase 2 will begin once this happens.
Units at low HP should shapeshift before the phase changes if healing is not received, as the phase change inflicts damage, which may prove fatal to units at low HP.
If DPS is very low, the Resentment phase will end, and Volk will start spawning status bombs again, then inflict Pestilent Wind. Anything after this is a repeat of all previous moves, albeit potentially in a different order, so pay attention to the moves, and react accordingly. The 10-minute timer is fairly generous for the combined fight, so don't panic, and keep on fighting!
If dragon form is available, it is safe to use dragon form to detonate any bombs, as they cannot be afflicted in any way.
Phase 2[ | ]
Note: This is based on a slower run that can last about 5:30. Any moves that may be frequently skipped in a faster run (4:00 or faster, and 3:00 or faster) will be specially marked.
Claw Swipes[ | ]
Volk will perform two or three claw swipes, targeted at the closest unit. Skill, dodge, or get to the blind zone.
The blind zone varies with each swipe.
Normally, he will claw swipe twice. However, if DPS is very low, he will perform a third swipe, indicated by a "!!" on his head and the lack of an attack marker.
The blind zone in this case is the front area of him.
Charge[ | ]
This move tends to be skipped in fast runs.
Volk will charge towards a ranged unit, usually the designated healer. The healer should get out of harm's way in any way, and DPS units that don't have any skills should roll towards Volk's destination.
Snapping Squalls x2[ | ]
This move tends to be skipped in very fast runs.
Volk will move towards the center of the arena and then summon two purple chasers that track units.
Volk will prioritize ranged units before selecting melee units.
If there are 2 ranged units, the two ranged units should simply go away, preferably at an equal split, and move clockwise on the outer edge of the arena.
If the only ranged unit is the healer, the melee units should pay attention and avoid using skills with long durations. Whoever that gets the purple chaser should then go away from Volk and move clockwise.
Having more than 2 ranged units introduces a chance that the healer doesn't get the chaser, causing a severe DPS loss for this phase.
If the black fog from the previous Resentment is still there, the targeted players should bait the squalls towards the fog wherever possible.
Note that as it's not possible to see your unit or markers in the black fog, caution is advised, and avoid overlapping or outpacing the other unit too much.
Summon Wolves[ | ]
Volk will summon wolves that charge at adventurers, as well as buffing his own strength by 15%.
If the wolves were all defeated, Volk will respawn them automatically at certain points in the fight.
Dispelling the buff is optional, but may help with survivability and DPS checks if Steal Vitality occurs.
Charge[ | ]
Claw Swipes[ | ]
This move tends to be skipped in very fast runs.
Resentment[ | ]
Volk will create a black fog that covers a significant area of the arena, and walk towards the bottom-left corner. This black fog inflicts plague on anyone caught in it.
The healer should be at the upper-right corner, right at the edge of the fog. This is similar to Resentment in Phase 1.
This is a good time for healers with Pop-Star Siren to shapeshift, and start activating buffs. Shapeshift as soon as the purple marker appears.
Red Wolf Charges & Claw Swipes[ | ]
Volk will keep attacking the closest unit with claw swipes and wolves. All markers are red here, so dodge or skill as you see fit.
If possible, try to bait claw swipes away from the healer, though there is a safe ring between the swipe area and the black fog.
Aim to break Volk before the fog disappears; Steal Vitality will happen soon after the fog disappears, which might make things hectic if Volk is still above 50% HP at that point.
Players should pay attention to the overdrive gauge. Save up skills for a big damage burst when Volk is broken.
If Volk breaks here...[ | ]
If Volk enters break state here, Arctos users should shapeshift now. Even if Volk ends up stunned, the massive damage done by Arctos' skill is more than worth it; he can't outheal the massive break damage. Similarly, all other adventurers should unleash all skills and also shapeshift where appropriate. Aim to have Volk's HP reduced to below half of his entire HP bar.
Steal Vitality[ | ]
Volk will cause massive unavoidable damage and heals based on the amount of damage dealt.
There are ways to mitigate this HP recovery.
Volk cannot recover HP from a plagued unit.
Volk cannot recover HP from dragons, as they do not take HP damage.
Volk cannot recover HP if Volk himself is plagued.
It is also possible to inflict stun on a plagued Volk, even if he has been stunned before.
Use a combination of the above strategies to prevent Volk from undoing too much of your work done.
If Volk hasn't broken here at this point and he has more than 50% HP remaining, the following move will appear.
Snapping Squalls x4[ | ]
This move tends to show up only on very slow runs.
Volk will move towards the center of the arena and then summon four purple chasers that track units.
All four units should fan out to the edge of the arena, and then rotate in a clockwise direction.
Summon Wolves[ | ]
Volk is likely to be defeated by this point in very fast runs.
Charge[ | ]
This move tends to be skipped in very fast runs.
This is a good time for healers with Pop-Star Siren to shapeshift, and start activating buffs. Shapeshift as soon as the charge marker appears.
Claw Swipes[ | ]
Save up skills and dragon form for the upcoming attack.
This is a good time for healers with Pop-Star Siren to shapeshift, and start activating buffs, if Volk did not charge. Shapeshift as soon as the swipe marker appears.
Lunatic Judgement[ | ]
Volk will summon a Blood Moon enemy that constantly deals small amounts of damage. This damage then is converted into HP for the Blood Moon enemy. If this Blood Moon is not destroyed quickly, it will fall and instantly defeat all adventurers regardless of whether they're in dragon form or not, resulting in instant quest failure.
There are ways to mitigate this HP recovery.
The Blood Moon cannot recover HP from a plagued unit.
The Blood Moon cannot recover HP from dragons, as they do not take HP damage.
The Blood Moon cannot recover HP if Volk himself is plagued.
There are two ways of destroying the Blood Moon:
Sheer firepower. Unleash all your skills on the Blood Moon, shapeshift, and it should go down readily. Normal attacks won't be enough; the massive burst from attack skills and dragon form's normal attacks will do it, though.
Don't shapeshift as Konohana Sakuya or Dreadking Rathalos except as a last-ditch effort to push a final skill, due to their comparatively poor dragon forms and skill.
Stun it or Freeze it. Inflict plague on Volk, then use Arctos to attempt to stun the Blood Moon or use Lily's level 4 Glacial BlossomLv. 1: Deals 2 hits of 614.6% water damage to the target and nearby enemies, and inflicts freeze for 3-6 seconds with 100% base chance. Frostbitten foes take 2 hits of 798.98% water damage instead. [2490 SP]
Lv. 2: Deals 2 hits of 645.4% water damage to the target and nearby enemies, and inflicts freeze for 3-6 seconds with 110% base chance. Frostbitten foes take 2 hits of 839.02% water damage instead. [2490 SP]
Lv. 3: Deals 2 hits of 677.6% water damage to the target and nearby enemies, and inflicts freeze for 3-6 seconds with 120% base chance. Frostbitten foes take 2 hits of 880.88% water damage instead. [2490 SP]
Lv. 4: Deals 2 hits of 740.6% water damage to the target and nearby enemies, inflicts freeze for 3-6 seconds with 200% chance, and frostbite - dealing 41% water damage every 2.9 seconds for 21 seconds - with 120% chance. Frostbitten foes take 2 hits of 962.78% water damage instead. [2490 SP]Shared Skill to try and freeze it. If successful, the Blood Moon is instantly destroyed, and Volk is stunned/frozen. Even if not successful, it will still deal massive damage to the Blood Moon (though in the case of using Lily's Glacial Blossom, the user will incur significant endlag).
An adventurer may intentionally get hit by a wolf to receive plague, which will spread to Volk once the Blood Moon starts absorbing HP.
Volk is likely to be defeated by this point in fast runs.
Steal Vitality[ | ]
Snapping Squalls x2[ | ]
This move tends to be skipped in very fast runs.
Charge[ | ]
This move tends to be skipped in fast runs.
Resentment[ | ]
This is a good time for healers with Pop-Star Siren to shapeshift, and start activating buffs. Shapeshift as soon as the purple marker appears.
Lunatic Judgement & Red Wolf Charges[ | ]
An adventurer may intentionally touch the black fog to get plagued here, to transfer it to Volk. This may make this phase easier, but be careful not to get hit by actual attacks.
It might be a good idea to shapeshift immediately only after Volk is plagued.
Steal Vitality[ | ]
Snapping Squalls x4[ | ]
Volk is likely to be defeated by this point in slow runs. If Volk still has significant amounts of HP left and your equipment are at least meeting the requirements, it's likely your DPS uptime is low, or there was excessive amounts of life drain, so practice more and try to get more attacks in.
Attacks and Patterns (Quad Gala Mym)[ | ]
These instructions should also work for The Prince, and are also adaptable for other substitutes.
If the team have Strength Doublebuff equipment and you have a defense buff shared skill:
On the Pestilent Wind opening blast, use the defensive buff shared skill (e.g. Sparrow's GuardLv. 1: Increases the entire team's defense by 15% for 15 seconds. [4367 SP]
Lv. 2: Increases the entire team's defense by 20% for 15 seconds. [4367 SP]
Lv. 3: Increases the entire team's defense by 25% for 15 seconds. [4367 SP]
Lv. 4: Increases the entire team's strength by 15% and defense by 25% for 15 seconds. [4367 SP])
If the team does not have Strength Doublebuff equipment, or if you don't have a defense buff shared skill:
On the Pestilent Wind opening blast, immediately roll forward and use Dragon ClawLv. 1: Deals 3 hits of 622.5% flame damage to enemies directly ahead, increases the user's strength by 20% for 10 seconds, and raises the dragon gauge by 5% if the attack connects. [2914 SP]
Lv. 2: Deals 3 hits of 690% flame damage to enemies directly ahead, increases the user's strength by 20% for 10 seconds, and raises the dragon gauge by 5% if the attack connects. [2914 SP]
Lv. 3: Deals 3 hits of 767.5% flame damage to enemies directly ahead, increases the user's strength by 20% for 10 seconds, and raises the dragon gauge by 5% if the attack connects. [2914 SP]. (Blazing CircletLv. 1: Deals 2 hits of 608% flame damage to surrounding enemies. [2376 SP]
Lv. 2: Deals 2 hits of 676% flame damage to surrounding enemies. [2376 SP]
Lv. 3: Deals 2 hits of 750% flame damage to surrounding enemies. [2376 SP]
Lv. 4: Deals 2 hits of 826% flame damage to surrounding enemies, raises the dragon gauge by 3% if the attack connects and inflicts burn for 12 seconds - dealing 88.3% flame damage every 3.9 seconds - with 110% base chance. [2376 SP] for The Prince; future substitute instances won't be called out.)
After getting hit by Pestilent Wind, wait until Volk appears again.
Use Flames of PassionLv. 1: Deals 4 hits of 467.5% flame damage to enemies in a line. After shapeshifting for the first time, Flames of Passion deals 4 hits of 562% flame damage instead for the remainder of the quest. [5736 SP]
Lv. 2: Deals 4 hits of 517.5% flame damage to enemies in a line. After shapeshifting for the first time, Flames of Passion deals 4 hits of 622% flame damage instead for the remainder of the quest. [5736 SP] (Exalted FireLv. 1: Deals 1 hit of 1194% flame damage to enemies in a line. [4880 SP]
Lv. 2: Deals 1 hit of 1327% flame damage to enemies in a line, and reduces defense by 5% for 10 seconds with 100% base chance. This defense reduction effect will not stack. [4880 SP]
Lv. 3: Deals 1 hit of 1474% flame damage to enemies in a line, and reduces defense by 5% for 10 seconds with 100% base chance. This defense reduction effect will not stack. [4880 SP] for The Prince).
Use Dragon ClawLv. 1: Deals 3 hits of 622.5% flame damage to enemies directly ahead, increases the user's strength by 20% for 10 seconds, and raises the dragon gauge by 5% if the attack connects. [2914 SP]
Lv. 2: Deals 3 hits of 690% flame damage to enemies directly ahead, increases the user's strength by 20% for 10 seconds, and raises the dragon gauge by 5% if the attack connects. [2914 SP]
Lv. 3: Deals 3 hits of 767.5% flame damage to enemies directly ahead, increases the user's strength by 20% for 10 seconds, and raises the dragon gauge by 5% if the attack connects. [2914 SP], if you didn't use it initially.
If you have Tropical BreezeLv. 1: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 3%, critical rate by 2%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. [6737 SP]
Lv. 2: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 5%, critical rate by 3%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. [6737 SP]
Lv. 3: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 5%, critical rate by 3%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. Also grants the user the following additional buffs based on the number of adventurers who were buffed by this skill, including the user:
One or more adventurers: Increases defense by 10% for 10 seconds.
Two or more adventurers: Adds 10% to the modifier applied to critical damage for 10 seconds.
Three or more adventurers: Immediately readies the user's initial skill, displayed at the top of their skill list, for use. [6737 SP]:
Use Tropical BreezeLv. 1: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 3%, critical rate by 2%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. [6737 SP]
Lv. 2: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 5%, critical rate by 3%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. [6737 SP]
Lv. 3: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 5%, critical rate by 3%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. Also grants the user the following additional buffs based on the number of adventurers who were buffed by this skill, including the user:
One or more adventurers: Increases defense by 10% for 10 seconds.
Two or more adventurers: Adds 10% to the modifier applied to critical damage for 10 seconds.
Three or more adventurers: Immediately readies the user's initial skill, displayed at the top of their skill list, for use. [6737 SP] shared skill to immediately refill Dragon Claw.
Use Dragon ClawLv. 1: Deals 3 hits of 622.5% flame damage to enemies directly ahead, increases the user's strength by 20% for 10 seconds, and raises the dragon gauge by 5% if the attack connects. [2914 SP]
Lv. 2: Deals 3 hits of 690% flame damage to enemies directly ahead, increases the user's strength by 20% for 10 seconds, and raises the dragon gauge by 5% if the attack connects. [2914 SP]
Lv. 3: Deals 3 hits of 767.5% flame damage to enemies directly ahead, increases the user's strength by 20% for 10 seconds, and raises the dragon gauge by 5% if the attack connects. [2914 SP] again ASAP.
If you don't have Tropical BreezeLv. 1: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 3%, critical rate by 2%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. [6737 SP]
Lv. 2: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 5%, critical rate by 3%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. [6737 SP]
Lv. 3: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 5%, critical rate by 3%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. Also grants the user the following additional buffs based on the number of adventurers who were buffed by this skill, including the user:
One or more adventurers: Increases defense by 10% for 10 seconds.
Two or more adventurers: Adds 10% to the modifier applied to critical damage for 10 seconds.
Three or more adventurers: Immediately readies the user's initial skill, displayed at the top of their skill list, for use. [6737 SP]:
Use any desired shared skill.
Shapeshift.
Attack Volk with basic attacks until his HP bottoms out, and then detonate bombs while he is in the phase transition animation (you should be still in dragon form when Volk phase changes.) - don't use the dragon skill or continue attacking Volk before he enters overdrive (he needs to have more than 90% HP to not start using Snapping Squalls, which costs a lot of time and delays OD.)
Use dragon skills once OD has started.
Continue DPS as a normal run; Volk should fall within a minute, usually within 40 seconds with optimal equipment.
Destitute One's Mask Fragment and 
Plagued One's Mask Fragment, which can be used to craft 6 
flame Agito weapons, and can be used to upgrade the 
Flame Tree facility.
Chimeratech weapon; these weapons are in fact required before you're able to craft Agito weapons in the first place.
Sword
Blade
Dagger
Axe
Lance
Bow
Wand
Staff
Manacaster
Chimeratech Commander
Chimeratech Lord
Chimeratech Elite
Chimeratech Warlord
Chimeratech Lancemaster
Chimeratech Sniper
Chimeratech Archmage
Chimeratech Cardinal
Chimeratech Gunner
Absolute Crimson
Blinding Conflagration
Flameruler's Maw
Royal Crimson Heat
Pureflame Lance
Valkyrie's Fire
Infernoblaze
Blazegambol
Crimson Trigger
Nothung
Tyrfing
Hrotti
Mjölnir
Gungnir
Ýdalir
Brísingr
Gjallarhorn
Draupnir
The Prince
Marth
Chrom
Naveed
Gala Mars
Apollo
Konohana Sakuya
Gozu Tenno
Dreadking Rathalos
Cerberus
Ezelith
Gala Laxi
Nobunaga
Mikoto
Rena
Gala Mym
Nadine
Xania
Student Maribelle
Incognito Nefaria
Seimei
Gala Sarisse
Gala Leonidas
Yukata Cassandra
Kuzunoha
Horus
Arctos
Halloween Mym
Agni
Emma
Sinoa
High Brunhilda
Mini Hildy
Phoenix
Gaibhne & Creidhne
Halloween Lowen
Valentine's Hildegarde
Verica
Pop-Star Siren
Freyja
Gala Mym setup (or with 1 substitute), use the following wyrmprint setup for participating DPS adventurers.
burn and a dragon kit that can ramp up to ludicrous levels. Can also 
Dispel while in dragon form.
Strength Up, 
Attack Rate Up, and even 100% 
Skill Gauge Charge Up).
stun if running Arctos.
Defense Down debuff, potential for inflicting 
Shielder for chip damage, easier to play than other melee choices here due to lance range.
HP Up and 
Defense Up buffs for survival and triggering doublebuffs. If he equips 
Pop-Star Siren, then he can also be a great source of buffs to prepare for break damage.
Phoenix or 
High Brunhilda to maximize her HP.
Plague is a special effect that will reduce an adventurer or Volk's resistance to afflictions.
Stun Res +100%Reduces susceptibility to stun by 100%. adventurer, as if automatic bracing is turned on, it's very likely that the unit will take damage twice - once from the initial hit, and another from getting hit again after landing from the same Snapping Squall. This usually ends poorly for the unit, as it is unlikely for most units to survive getting hit twice in a row without defensive buffs.
Arctos users should shapeshift now. Even if Volk ends up 
The Prince, and are also adaptable for other substitutes.
Tropical BreezeLv. 1: For 10 seconds, increases the user and nearby allies' strength by 3%, critical rate by 2%, skill damage by 10%, and skill gauge fill rate by 10%. [6737 SP]