Achates is one of the Lost Ark bosses that players can challenge in the Guardian Raids. It resembles a lion with wings and can inflict a buff that reduces healing efficiency for those who get hit. It also has quite a complicated matching mechanic that players have to solve quickly to avoid enraging Achates.
In this guide, we will look into Achates’ attack patterns and mechanic, as well as share some tips and strategies to clear this raid.
How to Unlock Achates Raid in Lost Ark
You will first have to unlock the Guardian Raids by just progressing through the main story, then finish the main story in the Yorn Continent to get the appropriate gear. Then, you will have to defeat all of the level 1 and level 2 raid bosses. Finally, reach iLvl 920 to be able to enter the Achates raid.
How to beat Achates in Lost Ark?
Acahtes Weaknesses
- Achates is very weak against dark damage
- Skills with Mid-High Stagger or Whirlwind Grenades
- Switch out your skills with tripods that provide a stagger effect. You should focus on dishing out all your staggering skills and your Whirlwind Grenades when you manage to break Achates’ barrier to prevent his wipe attack.
- Counter Skills
- Achates can sometimes glow blue when he does his wing whirlwinds attack. Do your counter skill to stop this attack and create an opening.
Achates Barrier Mechanic
Once Achates reaches a certain HP threshold, it will progress into its enraged state. It will hide itself within barriers that have different colors and shapes. While under this barrier, Achates can still deal some of his ranged attacks.
Around the barrier, there are 1-4 statues that will spawn. Players can break these statues to reveal different colored and shaped stones, with each color assigned to a shape. Players will have to pick up a stone that matches either the color or the shape that shows on the barrier and then throw that stone towards the barrier to break it.
This should be done four times to completely break all barriers and reveal Achates inside. If the barrier remains intact after a few moments, Achates will burst out of it in its enraged state. Otherwise, he will be in his regular state. Players will still have to stagger him afterwards to prevent him from doing his AoE wipe.
A variant of this barrier mechanic happens when there’s only one statue that appears at a time. During this, Achates’ barrier will also be surrounded by colored rings on the ground that move outward and knock the player up.
In order to to get past the rings, a player should pick up a stone with the matching color of the ring and walk towards it to dispel the ring. Other players can then go through this opening and should prepare for the next set of rings by having the other player holding the matching stone be in front to dispel the ring and create an opening. Finally, the player with the stone matching the barrier should throw it to the barrier to break it.
Achates Debuff
Some of Achates’ attacks can inflict the Torch debuff which causes the healing efficiency of a player to go down. This debuff can stack up to four times, after which the player will gain a different Torch debuff which makes them emit the Torch effect within their immediate surroundings.
When this happens to you, make sure that you don’t go near your teammates to avoid giving them the debuff.
Achates Phases, Attacks, and Tactics
Phase 1
- Claw and Wing Swipe – Achates will swipe one of his claws forward then follow it up with a swing of the wing on the opposite side as he spins around. Dodge towards his back side to avoid both attacks.
- Charge – He will crouch and then charge straight towards the direction it is facing. Simply sidestep away from the path of his charge as soon as you see him crouch.
- Wing Whirlwinds – He will flap his wings and create three whirlwinds that fly outwards from his location. He can do this attack three times. Once he raises his wings up high, dodge towards his back side to avoid both the wing hit and the whirlwinds. He can sometimes glow blue so hit him with a counter skill to stop the attack.
- Wing Slap – He will flap his wings to get off the ground, and then flap them again to deal damage to anyone in front of him. Avoid being directly beside him.
- Feather Grenades – Achates will swing one of his wings, releasing a bunch of feathers towards the ground. He will then stomp, causing all the feathers to explode. When you see the feathers on the ground, dodge to his other side where it is clear.
- Cross Fissures – He will stop the ground with one of its front legs which spawns white cross cracks on the ground. He will then stomp with his other leg to make them explode. There will be a crack under him and then several others in nearby spots. Try to find a clear area in between these cracks to avoid the explosion.
- Fly-by Strike – He will fly off the ground and quickly flies forward. Another variation of this attack is where he will disappear after flying forward, then reappear on the other side of the arena to continue his flight. Simply dodge away from his flight path. For the second variation, he will fly towards the same direction before disappearing, so make sure to just run away from the path.
- Torch Explosion – This attack happens once Achates is taken out of its barrier and is not staggered right away. He will hover above ground while siphoning energy from his surroundings. Orbs of torch are also getting pulled into him from the edge of the map. He will then explode dealing massive damage to anyone caught in the blast. To avoid this, run away from him and get outside from the siphoning animation which can be seen as white dust flying towards him. Wait after the explosion happens before re-engaging.
Phase 2
Phase 2 includes all attacks from phase 1. This happens after the first barrier mechanic.
- Torch Rain – Achates will sit down and a ring of white markers will show up on the ground. After a few seconds, white energy will rain down on these markers. Getting hit by this rain will inflict the torch debuff. Another variation of this attack is when a smaller ring of markers are centered on a particular player which will then explode, followed by a marker on the center spot where the player was targeted. This marker will then explode, followed by another ring of markers that surround the first ring of markers, which will then explode. For the first variation, stay close to Achates once he sits down to avoid getting hit by the rain. For the second variation, remain in the middle, then move towards the small ring after it explodes. The ring of markers happen so fast, so make sure to remember where to stand, or have someone cast a shield.
- Torch Puddle – He will summon circle markers below players. Within the circle is a smaller circle that gradually gets smaller. Once the marker disappears, it will explode and leave a puddle of Torch flames that will inflict the debuff when touched. If you have the marker, time your dodge right as soon as the smaller circle disappears since that is the time when it will stay in place.
- Torch Breath – Achates’ head will start burning with white flames. He will either breathe out flames in a small cone in front of him, or do it side to side in an arc shape. Another variation of this attack is when his head does not get covered in flames. He will move his head from side to side to breathe out flames while he is walking backwards. With all breath attacks, always try to reposition towards his back. With the third variation, you can also run along him as he steps back to avoid getting hit.
- Laser-Guided Torch – He will shoot out beams of laser to etch circle wedges on the ground. Everything within the wedges will then get pelted by Torch rain after a few seconds. He can do this attack twice in succession. The wedges on the ground have gaps in between them, so reposition yourself within a gap, and then after the first rain, move towards a previously unsafe spot to avoid the second rain.
- Crippling Curse – Achates will summon two different markers on two players. The player with the red marker will have their HP slowly drained. The player with the blue marker should stack up on the one with the red marker until both markers get dispelled.
Achates Raid Rewards
After defeating Achates, you will have the chance to be rewarded with the following:
- Splendid Monarch Necklace
- Splendid Monarch Earrings
- Splendid Pulverizer Earrings
- Splendid Monarch Ring
- Splendid Pulverizer Ring
- Destruction Stone
- Guardian Stone
- Life Leapstone
- Tier 2 Epic Ability Stone
- Achates Card
- Rare Class Engraving Recipe
- Epic Class Engraving Recipe
- Rare Skill Rune
Achates Raid Tips
- Bring the essentials like HP potions, Whirlwind Grenades, and Flares.
- Panacea does not dispel Torch, so make sure to manage your Torch stacks and try to stay away from teammates if you have the AoE Torch effect.
- During the barrier mechanic, on the second variation, you can anticipate the next wave of rings by looking at the color or shape that is within the barrier.
- While doing the barrier mechanic, remember to use your run skill upon picking up a shape to move faster.
- It’s recommended to have a set party before challenging Achates so that you can talk about your positioning during a barrier mechanic. When Achates is about to go under the barrier, he will slowly fly, disappear, and re-appear at the center of the area. He will then summon the statues on the cardinal directions (N, E, W, S) then on the ordinal directions (NE to SW) relative to where he’s at. Decide with your teammates in advance who should take what quadrant to be more efficient in dealing with the barrier.
- The barrier order will follow these patterns: X-X-O-O or X-X-X-X where X is one color and O is a different color.
Check out this video by Nassem on how to defeat Achates:
