Kai Yan's Wrath Guide: Expert

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I will be your extinction!

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Kai Yan's Wrath: Expert is a challenge quest centered on a boss battle with Kai Yan, unlocked upon the completion of Chapter 10 and any Advanced Dragon Trial at standard difficulty, and meeting the minimum might requirement of 28,000.

• Rewards from Expert difficulty include and , which can be used to craft 6 shadow Agito tier 1 weapons, and can be used to upgrade the facility.
• Additionally, clearing Expert difficulty for the first time rewards the player with sufficient amount of materials to obtain a copy of 6 shadow Agito tier 1 weapon.

Stat and Equipment Requirements

HP

HP isn't too much of a concern, as DPS should be high enough to prevent severe unavoidable damage from ever happening under most circumstances, and even if it does, most adventurers will survive these attacks anyway if they were at full HP.

Weapons

For Expert, at a minimum, adventurers should be equipped with at least a 5 Chimeratech tier 2 weapon; these weapons are in fact required before you're able to craft Agito weapons in the first place. Expert Kai Yan is significantly easier than the other Agito fights, so a 0-unbound Chimeratech T2 is completely acceptable as a starting point - max-unbinding it is not necessary, though it would help.

Using 5 High Dragon tier 2 weapon is acceptable as well, though requires quite a bit of sidetracking into High Dragon Trials to get a hold of one. If you already have it then great, use it. But if you don't have one, then you don't really need to bother getting one - a Chimeratech tier 2 will do fine.

The 6 0UB Agito weapon, which you may have crafted from first clear rewards after clearing the Standard difficulty, is an excellent starting point. This weapon beats out a max-unbound High Dragon tier 2 weapon, even if the 6 is at 0 unbinds.

Weapon Category	Sword	Blade	Dagger	Axe	Lance	Bow	Wand	Staff
Chimeratech Tier 2
High Dragon Tier 2
Agito Tier 1

Dragons

Everyone should ideally be equipped with a max-unbound 5 Shadow-attuned dragon for Expert.

• Healers such as , , and may carry weaker dragons, and outside of Grace, off-element dragons which may bring better utility.
  • This does not apply to as he does a significant amount of damage despite being a staff-wielding adventurer.

Adventurers	Dragons
DPS - Most DPS adventurers, including Heinwald, use standard DPS dragons. Gala Cat Sith currently has bugs with regard to her buff skill damage boost on Lathna; for the time being, use a different dragon for her. Andromeda requires the adventurer to stay at 30% HP or below to gain most of the strength boost and the defense boost, and is likely ideal for a Bellina, who can damage themselves to meet the threshold. It also provides additional safety for Veronica, should you choose to equip her with Andromeda, too. Fatalis automatically inflicts Curse that never expires upon exiting shapeshift. Adventurers with Fatalis equipped will have to touch one of Kai Yan's Unbreakable Satellites to receive Blindness, which overwrites it, should you have used his shapeshift (which isn't recommended). This property makes Fatalis a bit annoying to use on Lathna and Forte, as Lathna's forced dragon form is exceptionally strong against a poisoned Kai Yan, and Forte wants to shift a lot, but they both will need to repeatedly re-Blind themselves every time they exit shapeshift. Bellina doesn't have to worry about this Curse at all - using Dragondrive will not trigger it. Any other adventurers that have will not be able to dragon tank unavoidable attacks without having the healer or a Patia carry 's as a shared skill to perform curse cleanse once they exit shapeshift.
Skill Damage-disfavoring DPS - Linnea has little skill damage, and Delphi has a negative strength passive. They prefer dragons that grant Strength as a primary ability over their Skill Damage counterparts. Fatalis automatically inflicts Curse that never expires upon exiting shapeshift. Normally, adventurers could remove it if they touch one of Kai Yan's Unbreakable Satellites to receive Blindness, which overwrites it. However, since Linnea has , she can't do that. Therefore, she would not be able to dragon tank unavoidable attacks without having the healer or a Patia carry 's as a shared skill to perform curse cleanse once she exits shapeshift.
Supportive White Sparrow - As a support adventurer, beside standard DPS dragons, Patia can also utilize Azazel to increase the frequency of her buffs, or a bog-inflicting dragon such as Leviathan, High Mercury, or Peng Lai, to inflict bog on a broken Kai Yan to significantly increase break DPS.
Healers - Besides non-Skill Damage-based DPS dragons (see DPS's table), healers can also make use of HP and hybrid aura dragons, as well as Pop-Star Siren (a la Halloween Lowen in Volk's Wrath).
Life Shield Lady - Grace really wants HP dragons above all else, so her choices are much more limited than standard healers.

Wyrmprints

Most DPS adventurers (including Heinwald), as well as Grace, should equip their standard wyrmprints.

Forte in a composition without a Poisoner prefers a somewhat unusual setup to capitalize on her dragon form and her tendency to get them earlier than most other adventurers.

Adventurer	Wyrmprint 1	Wyrmprint 2
Dragon Spam! - The Red Impulse is Forte's best secondary wyrmprint under most circumstances, should no one in the team be able to reliably inflict poison on Kai Yan. grants Forte additional Skill Damage that stays permanently on, and due to the multiplicative effect, can become devastatingly strong when combined with 's standard and any possible effects from a Pop-Star Siren's buffs. further augment the innate chain co-ability to increase gain with each shapeshift.

Special considerations should be taken for standard healers (not Heinwald or Grace).

Adventurer	Wyrmprint 1	Wyrmprint 2
I NEED HEALING! - Cleo's wyrmprints can be a bit complicated, so let's break it down into parts - Cleo's best wyrmprints can change depending on the equipped dragon and play style. For the primary slot, it depends on whether Cleo is focusing on healing, buffing, or attacking. Give Me Your Wounded and Study Rabbits are standard healer wyrmprints which improve Cleo's healing output and survivability. Proper Maintenance's extends the duration of Cleo's regen healing and defense buff from her Ancient AegisLv. 1: , and also does the same for Strength and Defense buffs, on top of adding a to slightly increase her healing and damage output when she's at full HP. The Fires of Hate has the same as Proper Maintenance, but gives up the Buff Skill Time ability in exchange for , which can significantly increase Cleo's damage output, especially while shapeshifted against a poisoned Kai Yan. For the secondary slot, wyrmprints enable the entire team to be able to shapeshift earlier, which is important to "dragon tank" the first unavoidable stack marker attack, Every Man For Themselves, should the DPS be not high enough to end the first phase before it connects. The Bridal Dragon slightly increases Cleo's DPS while in dragon form with a ability, and is suitable when you're using , , , or Welcome to the Halidom! grants Cleo in a pinch. A Suit of Midnight allows Cleo to take up to three attacks that inflict Blindness without being afflicted. This also works for mitigating ' automatic Curse if you use him for dragon tanking. Note that Affliction Guard will be consumed even when Cleo is struck by an attack that deals Paralysis. Blossoms on the Water's Edge lets Cleo shapeshift faster with a ability.
Free Lifesteals - This combination of wyrmprints grants Summer Verica to extend the healing output of both her Everlasting SummerLv. 1: 's regen heal and Moment of PassionLv. 1: 's life steal effect on other DPSes, and to prevent Paralysis from ever crippling her.

Party Roles

DPS

These units will be doing the majority of the DPS. They can fill all 4 team slots, or fill 3 and leave the last slot for a healer.

• Don't bring more than two Patias in the whole composition, or more than two adventurers that inflict (preferably only 1 non-Patia bleeder, or two Patias at most).
• Due to the low difficulty of the quest, almost every adventurer, including off-element adventurers, will work for this quest. This lists only the more notable adventurers for the quest, known for their very high damage output or extremely strong supportive effects, with short descriptions.

Adventurer	Notes
	Very high damage output, Poison.
	Extremely high burst damage output, Poison, tricky , minor .
	Very high constant damage output, very high critical rates and damage, strong , self-sustaining.
	Very high force strike damage further boosted with Poison, can cover Supreme Spheres easily due to extremely long force strike reach, and can .
	Extremely high constant damage output if paired with a Poisoner.
	Extremely high Poison damage and uptime, high overdrive damage, large .
	Extremely high damage output at low HP and while in the Dragondrive state, and can , can cover Supreme Spheres easily due to autotargeting nature of Renegade Dragonfall.
	Extremely high constant damage output if paired with a Poisoner.
	Extremely high damage output, especially towards the mode gauge, minor , and can Poison, and can still benefit from poison attempts even if they fail.
	Extremely high constant damage output if paired with a Poisoner.
	Very frequent and buffs, can help maintain uptime if needed.
	Extremely high damage output, frequently gains shapeshifts.
	Very high damage output, can burst on command, Poison, .
	Very high damage output, Poison.
	Extremely high damage output at low HP.
	Extremely high buff uptime and burst damage output, , can provide healing, can cover Supreme Spheres easily due to autotargeting nature of Ancient Ray.
	Very high damage output, can provide healing.

Healer

The healer keeps the team alive, provides support, and in some cases, deal damage themselves.

Adventurer	Notes
	Cleo has low personal DPS, but has high healing output, can , provides Paralysis relief, grants some defensive support, and can end up contributing somewhat in damage output with DPS dragons (taking advantage of her innate with each shapeshift) or 's buffs.
	Grace provides a very large which can protect adventurers from being afflicted and blocks knockback while the shield is not completely destroyed. Her buff is much higher, at 100%, but also lasts significantly shorter than Cleo's, making it more suitable for mitigating severe damage. Also s.
	Heinwald is pretty much a DPS adventurer that wields staves instead of other weapons. His healing output is the lowest technically speaking, and is dependent on his own DPS, but he tends to make for speedier clears if other adventurers don't take too much unnecessary damage. Cannot dispel innately.
	Summer Verica foregoes all other effects and focuses purely on healing. The effect granted with her Moment of PassionLv. 1: enables absurd levels of healing due to Shadow adventurers' very high DPS. Cannot dispel innately.

General Party Setup

There are three general variations of compositions in Kai Yan's Wrath: Expert.

Composition
A sample standard 4DPS composition.
A sample PPNG (Patia-Patia-Nefaria-Gala Cleo) composition. Gala Cleo may be replaced with any other DPS that isn't , , , or a third , due to stacking limits.
A sample standard 3DPS composition.

Attacks and Patterns

On Adamantine Shield

is a buff that renders Kai Yan immune to afflictions, creates a barrier around him, and will regenerate the barrier if it is destroyed, provided the buff is still active.

• Since this is a buff, it can be removed by a effect. Doing so will also instantly remove the barrier if it is up.
• If the barrier is hit by an adventurer, Kai Yan will take no damage, but the adventurer will receive a fixed 50 HP of damage.
• The barrier can withstand 30 hits before breaking in Kai Yan's human form, or 60 hits in his transformed state.

Hence, at least one adventurer should be able to dispel. Innate dispels are preferred, but any adventurer can borrow

's

Tornado BashLv. 1:

if it's at level 4; it provides a skill-based dispel that works anywhere on anyone, with a very low skill cost of 3 points.

On Battleground

is a special effect that creates a field around the enemy. Enemies in this zone will take 2x damage, while adventurers will take 1.5x damage.

All adventurers should stay within the Battleground area to maximize DPS. No unavoidable attack from Kai Yan will one-shot any adventurer that is properly following gameplay instructions from full HP even if you're within the Battleground area, so don't worry too much about it under most circumstances.

Phase 1

Slam

Large unavoidable attack targeted on the furthest adventurer (3rd slot). Immediately get out of there - preferably, walk towards Kai Yan.

Spin Attack

Kai Yan swings his mace, tracking the closest adventurer. Bait him where you see fit, keeping in mind that dodge rolling works for iframes, though can be a bit finicky. If in doubt, stay out of the Battleground area entirely.

Unbreakable Satellites

Kai Yan will spawn a red ring outside the Battleground area, creating 4 Unbreakable Satellites which inflict Blindness on contact.

Fight for Survival

Kai Yan will spawn two purple rings tracking two closest adventurers. These rings inflict Paralysis on contact, and will knock back adventurers that touch them, trapping them within the rings.

There are four methods for dealing with this, and what's preferred depends on the DPS, and if you're willing to lose some HP, in case of forcing it.

• If DPS is high, don't bother lining up these rings and try to continue DPSing as normal. If done right, no unavoidable damage will occur anyway, as you will have skipped the next attack and reach Phase 2.
• If DPS is not high, the targeted adventurers should line up the rings, and avoid excessive movement. An adventurer that is trapped between these two rings will take rapid damage and it likely will become fatal without shapeshifting.
• s and dragon form provide knockback immunity, and can be used to simply "walk out" of the rings after they land, if desired.
• It is also possible to force your way out of these rings with dodge roll spamming if you're a adventurer - you'll take damage, but after four or five rolls, you'll leave the rings as the dodge roll's movements end up outpacing the rings' knockback.

Every Man For Themselves

Kai Yan will spawn a red stack marker targeted on the closest adventurer.

• If DPS is high, keep on DPSing and try to push for Phase 2 before the attack hits.
• If DPS is not high, all adventurers should get together and split the damage. A defensive healer and the Agito skill's defense buff effect can help with this.

If possible, in either situation, dragon tank here; you'll either tank the stack hit, or the Phase 2 transformation blast, depending on the outcome.

Faster runs should initiate phase 2 at this point; you should be in dragon form to mitigate the damage from the transformation blast.

• In 's case, tanking in dragon form unfortunately isn't an option, due to Dragondrive. However, Dragondrive does increase her defense by a beefy 75%, and she can also use the Agito skill's defense buff to further mitigate the damage taken.
  • Generally speaking, if Bellina is at 30% of her max HP, she usually will survive the transformation blast with little HP remaining if she has dragondrive enabled and had used the Agito weapon's defense buff. This will also help her DPS output, as she will be very close to 1 HP.

Cone Attack x2

Kai Yan attacks a cone-shaped area in front targeted at the farthest adventurer, with the center portion a red marker attack, and the two side portions a purple marker attack. Skill, dodge, or get out of the danger zone. Iframes do not function in purple zone, so make sure you don't accidentally enter the purple zone if you opt for dodge rolling.

Medium speed runs (some slower 3DPS runs) should enter Phase 2 here.

If your composition has low DPS, you will see the following attacks.

Quick Spin Attack

Kai Yan swings his mace in-place, and for a shorter duration. Skill, dodge, or leave the Battleground.

Unbreakable Satellites & Adamantine Shield

The unbreakable satellites will be more plentiful than the previous instance, and an Adamantine Shield will also spawn.

it ASAP.

• es will have to wait for the buff icon to show up before attempting to dispel. Other dispellers may preload their dispels.

Natural Selection

Unavoidable map-wide attack. If shapeshift is available and you are not using

, shapeshift now and dragon tank the attack. Otherwise, leave the Battleground area, and if possible, use defense buffs to reduce the oncoming damage.

• Make sure to not accidentally hit an Unbreakable Satellite; move along their path! There should be two gaps where you can move safely in.

Spin Attack

Slow runs will enter Phase 2 around here.

Phase 2

Note: This is based on a run that can last about 2:00-3:00. Some moves may be skipped in extremely high DPS runs. Conversely, lower DPS teams may see certain additional moves; these moves that show up on low DPS runs will be specially marked.

Adamantine Shield

This move is sometimes skipped or delayed if the DPS is high enough. If either happens, Kai Yan will not enter overdrive state.

Kai Yan will spawn a red ring-shaped marker. This marker inflicts blindness if it hits, and an Adamantine Shield will spawn.

it ASAP.

• es will have to wait for the buff icon to show up before attempting to dispel. Other dispellers may preload their dispels.

Claw Swipes

This instance only shows up in slow runs.

Kai Yan 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.

Crushing Cataclysm

Kai Yan will grab the farthest adventurer and trap them. If the purple marker fills up, everyone caught up in the area will take fatal (unless a

exists) damage, as it deals 100% of your maximum HP damage.

• The weakest DPS adventurer (usually a healer, , or ) should try to bait this.
• If the attack is about to land and the prison is nowhere near being destroyed, the remaining adventurers should abandon the trapped adventurer; losing 1 adventurer is much more preferable to wiping here.

Supreme Spheres

Kai Yan will spawn three Supreme Spheres that slowly move towards Kai Yan. If they make contact towards Kai Yan, they grant Kai Yan buffs, and also give him Adamantine Shield. Destroy them all before Kai Yan starts charging later.

• Initially, these spheres will be invulnerable. Don't waste skills on them when they initially spawn. Stand near the spheres and use some basic attacks until the HP starts to go down, before you use skills.
• 's Ancient RayLv. 1: and 's Renegade DescentLv. 1: (while in Dragondrive as Renegade Dragonfall) can make quick work of these spheres.

Charge

Kai Yan will charge towards the unit at the farthest distance. All units should roll towards Kai Yan's destination, taking care not to hit any of the Unbreakable Satellites.

• If any Supreme Spheres still exist, make sure to not bait Kai Yan towards them.
• If in doubt, group bait - all adventurers should position themselves in the same position to guarantee that Kai Yan is baited towards the same destination. This is useful in case of possible network issues.

Universal Annihilation

Unavoidable map-wide attack, similar to Natural Selection. If shapeshift is available and you are not using

, shapeshift now and dragon tank the attack. Otherwise, leave the Battleground area, and if possible, use defense buffs to reduce the oncoming damage.

Mini Universal Annihilation

Purple marker attack covering the Battleground. If shapeshift is available and you are not using

, shapeshift now and dragon tank the attack. Otherwise, leave the Battleground area.

Throw Adventurer

Kai Yan picks up the furthest adventurer and throws them away, causing unavoidable damage to the adventurer, and also avoidable damage to anyone caught in the path. There's nothing the targeted adventurer can do, but others should try to avoid being hit.

A fast and medium speed run should clear around here. If your DPS is on the lower side, the run will extend past this point.

Supreme Spheres

This time, there will be six Supreme Spheres. Make sure to destroy at least one Supreme Sphere, and everyone should bait Kai Yan towards the empty space before the next attack!

Charge x3

It is highly recommended to group bait Kai Yan's charge attack towards an empty area this time around, and keep doing that for the next 2 successive charges.

Unbreakable Satellites

The unbreakable satellites will be more plentiful than the previous instance.

Mini Universal Annihilation

Kai Yan is likely to be defeated by this point in slow runs. If Kai Yan still has significant amounts of HP left and your equipment are at least meeting the requirements, it's likely your DPS uptime is low, so practice more and try to get more attacks in.