The reasoning for this is simple, Alberhastic is one of the more mechanically complex Guardians in the game, outside of something like Argos of course, and is in a similar tier to the most dreaded fights like Tytalos or Achates. Thankfully, Alberhastic isn’t quite as unforgiving as it used to be, as one of the first balance patches in the Western release of Lost Ark made it a bit more forgiving.
The Core Mechanics
Like previously stated, Alberhastic has a lot going on, both for better and for worse. Between its five Forms, the wide array of attacks, and multiple complex systems to keep in mind, it feels more like an Abyssal Raid boss than a Guardian Raid at times. Let’s go over the most important stuff to know now, so that players who are skimming this while queuing will know exactly what to look out for most.
Default, Wing, & Claw Form
While technically Alberhastic has five Forms, one default (the Spear Form), two Claw, and two Wing, it’s more like three. There are minor differences between the two Claw and two Wing forms, but none of them are important enough to take precedence over what were previously wipe mechanics and are now just heavy damaging mechanics after its nerf. For example, in its Wing form, Alberhastic won’t do its Silver and Gold orb system, while the Claw form won’t have the blue and red tornadoes.
Red Orbs
This is the passive system players need to keep track of throughout the fight with Alberhastic, regardless of what phase or form the Guardian is in. Basically, throughout the encounter Red Orbs will spawn at random locations near Alberhastic. As soon as these appear, players should focus on destroying them ASAP. If Alberhastic gets close enough to them, or they’re left alone for too long, it will absorb the Orbs, buffing itself each time to the point that even his normal attacks can insta-kill players.
Once an Orb is destroyed, it leaves a Blue Orb behind that can be absorbed by the player. If this is done, they’ll receive a Damage Reduction buff that will reduce the damage of the next attack taken to almost nothing. Using these Blue Orbs are a decent way to get around some of Alberhastic’s heavier hitting attacks if players fail to respond to them correctly. For every Red Orb destroyed, the party gets a stacking debuff up to three. At three debuff stacks, the whole party will be Burned for a decent amount of damage over time.
Gold & Silver Orbs
In its two Claw Forms, Alberhastic will often summon Gold and Silver Orbs from four different spawners around itself. These Orbs will spawn and glide in pre-ordained paths for a short amount of time. Players can ignore these Orbs entirely, but if they happen to pick one up they’ll gain an aura of the same color underneath their feet. Make sure not to pick up two of the same color, as doing so will Stun the player and deal a moderate amount of damage. The better option if one happens to pick up an orb by accident is to pick up one of the opposite color, as they cancel each other out.
Gold & Silver Energy Bomb
This attack is why knowing about the Gold and Silver Orbs ahead of time is important. Once Alberhastic summons a gigantic Gold or Silver circle underneath him, this is the “tell” that this attack is coming in about 30 seconds. Players then have that much time to get an Orb of the opposite color as the circle Alberhastic spawned. Thankfully, he’s guaranteed to summon Orbs twice leading up to this attack, so there are plenty of opportunities for players to gather the correct Aura. If a player happens to miss both Orb spawning opportunities, then they should run as far away as possible until their allies let them know to come back. Alberhastic will summon a gigantic Orb of either Gold or Silver energy and slam it into the ground, doing nothing to players who gathered the opposite color aura and almost assuredly killing players who didn’t.
Blue Tornado Slam Attack
This is the heavy damaging system for Alberhastic’s two Wing Forms, and it’s the most unique one of the bunch. Essentially, while in either Wing Form, Alberhastic will routinely summon tornadoes with bits of red energy in them. These tornadoes hurt any players they touch, but are also a clue for things to come. Then, at a certain point in this phase, Alberhastic will summon four tornadoes with blue energy in them. These are the ones to pay attention to.
Once Alberhastic does a spin while releasing blue flame, the attack is coming. Alberhastic will fly up and off-screen, and players need to immediately run into any of the visible blue tornadoes. Doing so will send them up into the air and away from the lethal slam attack that Alberhastic unleashes a second or two later. Like with Tytalos’ sandstorms, any player who goes into these tornadoes early will have a debuff that prevents them from being used again while active, so keep this in mind.
Stagger Check
Alberhastic’s Stagger Check is by far the weirdest one in the game, and doesn’t follow the same rules as the others. Now, this Guardian has a few attacks where it glows blue, the telltale sign of a Counter-able attack. But, for this mechanic, players have to look out for when Alberhastic has a “slight” blue hue in the energy surrounding it.
When this happens, it’s time to unleash any and all Stagger Skills. Succeeding here will guarantee that the fiery rain that Alberhastic is about to summon will have a safe zone directly underneath the boss and Alberhastic will be free to use Awakening Skills on while Staggered like this. Essentially, whether players fail or succeed in this Stagger Check, Alberhastic goes into Wing Form not long after and summons a torrent of fiery rain across the whole arena. If the Stagger Check was passed, players can stand under the Guardian to stay safe, if not, it’s basically a wipe.
Regular Attacks & Summary
And that’s all for Alberhastic’s Core Mechanics, the Guardian who, in lore canon, waited until after the Chain War to pick a side. Thankfully, the Max HP of this Guardian is pretty low, even for players at the minimum recommended Item Level, so more often than not a party will DPS Alberhastic down to 0 before it uses more than one of these complex systems. Just make sure to top off on HP Potions when needed, as a lot of this Guardian’s attacks quickly drain HP.
That said, Alberhastic also has a wide variety of painful regular attacks, so let’s go over them now for those who want to master this fight:
What To Bring
Finally, what should players bring into this Guardian Raid as far as Consumables go? Well, Alberhastic actually has a few specific Battle Items that can help in its confrontation, specifically:
Lost Ark is available now on PC.
More: Lost Ark: Things You Should Know About The MMO’s Endgame
