As a seasoned Operative with countless battles under my belt, I must say that tackling the Nightborne Phantom is quite the intriguing endeavor. This ethereal adversary certainly knows how to put on a show, but fear not, for beneath its flashy attacks lies a relatively manageable foe.

In simpler terms, the Nightborne Phantom serves as the main boss in the “Operation Midnight” special story chapter. On the surface, the battle seems straightforward, but once you get into it, you might find it a bit puzzling – just wait and see!

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Attacks and Behaviour

General Info

The Nightborne Phantom consists of four destructible components: three protective pieces of armor and its own weapon. When these armor segments remain intact, it’s said to receive a 30% reduction in damage received, though I personally couldn’t discern any such difference. Strange indeed.

Regardless, breaking these parts will drop S-Energy refills.

Additionally, the Nightborne Phantom possesses a unique energy reservoir for an resource named Ageless Corruption. This energy source automatically replenishes when its weapon is intact, and is fully restored during its health regeneration phases.

It appears that I can’t find any discernible changes in its actions, regardless of whether it has energy or not. I’ve given it a considerable amount of thought, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

Here’s another way to put it:

Orb Burst

The Nightborne Phantom conjures a series of explosive orbs on the floor; when triggered, they inflict harm and momentarily stun the target. To dodge their impact, just step away from the affected zone.

Orb Strike

At night, the Phantom Nightborne conjures up three big orbs and flings them towards you, causing harm and momentarily knocking you back when they strike. Since these orbs move slowly, you can easily dodge them by stepping aside.

Oneiric Spring

The Nightborne Phantom conjures up a protective ring and numerous orbs for an assault. These orbs can target any individuals within the perimeter, appearing in two distinct types of attacks.

Regardless of the difficulty level you choose, there’s ample time for you to exit the affected zone, but be cautious not to step into an orb. Keep in mind that the size of the affected area grows larger as you select tougher settings.

Libation Fountain

The Nightborne Phantom summons a series of circular formations made from pillars that inflict significant damage and cause stun upon impact. These circles don’t appear simultaneously but instead gradually approach you. This can make evasion challenging due to their progressive movement. To dodge these formations, it is advisable to leap forward into the circle just as it’s about to reach you.

Refined Air Slash

The Nightborne Phantom slashes with its weapon and shoots multiple energy bursts at you, causing harm and knocking you back when they connect. At higher settings, it will execute two extra slashes, as demonstrated in the video. However, this attack is relatively simple to dodge by moving aside.

Corrupt Field

The Nightborne Phantom generates an area that persistently drains your health but simultaneously replenishes S-Energy. During this field’s active period, the Nightborne Phantom is free to launch additional attacks. Notably, when its energy meter runs out, it can unleash a distinct ability within this field.

As a fan, I’d say it feels like Orb Strike, but with an abundance of smaller orbs instead. Unlike the larger ones, these don’t knock you back on impact. You might find yourself caught by a couple, but each orb doesn’t pack much of a punch, so it’s generally manageable.

HP Triggers

Upon reaching 70% HP, Nightborne Phantom will enter an invulnerability period.

As a gamer, I’m zapped back to the heart of the battlefield, where swirling circles of orbs start rotating. A moment later, they explode, causing damage and knocking me off balance with each hit. On harder settings, it even summons a Libation Fountain for added challenge. To top it all off, it recharges its energy reserves and repairs any breakable components.

The fight then continues until its HP is reduced to 40%. Nightborne Phantom enters another invulnerability phase.

Similar to the initial prompt, each of its armored components are restored, and its energy is replenished. But unlike before, it generates a more expansive form of the Corruption Zone right at the heart of the battlefield, which persists throughout the entire combat.

Strategy

Boss HP: 2,642,760

The Nightborne Phantom is often perceived as a formidable foe due to its showy and menacing abilities, yet upon closer observation, it’s found that many of these abilities are more for show than causing harm if one remains vigilant.

Phase Skipping

The Nightborne Phantom goes into two periods of invincibility, during which it launches irritating assaults that slow you down significantly. Luckily, there are two methods for bypassing these phases entirely.

If you manage to shatter the final two sections of Nightborne Phantom precisely when its Health drops below a certain threshold, it will bypass that particular enemy. However, aligning these two events calls for meticulous timing, which could prove challenging without adequate damage output.

Speeding up your work pace could expand the timeframe you have to complete this task effectively. Consequently, it might make the process less challenging for you.

As another option, you could halt the boss just when an attack strikes, reducing its health points until it reaches the activation level.

This is much more forgiving as long as your DPS pick allows for the timing coordination.

Team Building

The Nightborne Phantom serves as the primary boss in Vidya – Agave, a role that will be highlighted in a separate section soon. Her unique skillset, which includes breaking parts during damage dealing and the travel time of her projectiles aligning with phase skip strategies, makes her particularly effective here. Additionally, other high DPS characters like Lyfe – Infinite Sight and Fenny – Coronet are also well-suited for this encounter, maintaining a level of competitiveness.

When it comes to choosing supports, commonly favored options tend to be quite beneficial, but Mauxir – Shadow Ka might struggle slightly if you’re not phase skipping because her support skill duration gets interrupted by her invulnerability phases. Having a character with Freeze or Slow abilities can still be handy even without phase skipping, as crowd control is effective regardless. It’s possible that some players may consider bringing a healer to maintain health during battles in Corrupt Fields, but typically the fights conclude quickly enough that such assistance isn’t usually required.

Featured Operative: Vidya – Agave

Apart from the advantages of Agave we’ve discussed earlier, which are largely boosted by her unique design, she offers a few more perks. For instance, she is invulnerable to any attacks launched by Nightborne Phantom when her standard skill is in phase 4, making her virtually untouchable during that time. Moreover, Agave has an exceptional ability to harness HP and convert it into S-Energy, a trait that sets her apart from other characters. This conversion is crucial for her as she heavily depends on S-Energy to execute her standard skill effectively. Consequently, runs with Agave will aim to have Nightborne Phantom cast Corrupt Field as frequently as possible, allowing Agave to stay within it and maintain an almost infinite supply of S-Energy.

2024-10-04 02:07

Neural Simulation Spotlight: Nightborne Phantom