The Second Circle Normal Raid Guide

The Hippokampos, a Mythic Creation, is the second raid boss fought in Asphodelos.

To unlock The Second Circle, players must complete the quest "Under the Surface." This is the third quest in the quest chain, starting from "The Crystal from Beyond," which can be received from Nemjiji in Old Sharlayan (x9.6, y11.9). There is a minimum item level restriction of 565 to enter through the duty finder in a matched party.

The warder Erichthonios has brought with him the chilling news that all creations within Asphodelos, the highest level of Pandæmonium, now run free of their fetters. In order to prevent total chaos from bursting forth unto the world above, Themis and Erichthonios plan to utilize interment magicks to safely capture any errant creatures─if their theory translates well into practice, that is. With only one way to find out, you head for the waterways to confront a monster of legend, the water-wielding hippokampos.

The Hippokampos is first fought in a square arena. The wall will instantly kill players who stand inside it or get knocked back into it. Additionally, the arena will be flooded at certain points in the fight. The Hippokampos has no positional indicators.

Phase one has you do battle with the Hippokampos. This phase will introduce the player to mechanics in the fight.

• Murky Depths deals raidwide damage.
• Doubled Impact is a tank buster on the main tank that requires both tanks to share the damage.
• Spoken Cataract will detach the Hippokampos's head from its body temporarily. The head and body will both point in a direction and do an AoE. The head will do a half-room cleave in its direction, while the body will do a line AoE.
• Sewage Deluge deals raidwide damage. After a few seconds, it will flood the arena with water except for the raised platforms and drains between them. Standing in the water will inflict a Dropsy damage over time effect.
• Tainted Flood will place marked AoEs on players.
• Predatory Sight will mark all players with a triangle stack marker. Players must stack together with at least one other player in order to avoid taking heavy damage.
• Shockwave will mark one platform with a knockback marker. The Hippokampos will leap to that platform, dealing damage and knocking all players back.
• Dissociation will remove its head. It will appear at the edge of the arena and dash across it. The Hippokampos will grow a new head in the meantime.
• Coherence will mark the offtank with a proximity marker while marking another player with a line stack marker.
• Sewage Eruption will place AoEs over players.

• For Spoken Cataract, be behind where the head is pointing and to the sides of where the body is pointing. This should usually leave one quadrant of the arena safe.
• After Sewage Deluge is cast, players should loosely spread for Tainted Flood. After taking damage, head to the same platform to stack for Predatory Sight and to heal up. Keep in mind you only need to stack with one other player.
• Either use knockback prevention abilities on Shockwave or get knocked back across the drained passage.
• Head to the correct side of the arena to dodge Dissociation. Keep in mind the attack will not go off and the boss will not move until its head has regrown.
• For Coherence, the party should stack on one side of the boss and the tank should run across to the other side. Mitigate for both hits.
• After a raidwide, the boss will cast Sewage Deluge again, flooding the arena.
• The boss will cast Spoken Cataract while the arena is flooded. Players will have to move to the correct platform through the drained passages connecting the platforms.
• Dodge the AoEs from Sewage Eruption, then spread for Tainted Flood and group up for Predatory Sight.

Phase two has you do battle with the Hippokampos as it starts combining previous mechanics to form new mechanic combinations.

No new mechanics will appear in this phase.

• Dissociation will be cast along with Shockwave. Players will have to get knocked back to the correct half of the arena to dodge the former.
• Dissociation is then cast alongside Sewage Eruption and Coherence. Bait the AoEs on the unsafe side and move to the safe side to leave room for all players.
• The arena will be flooded again with Sewage Deluge.
• After a few raidwides and Spoken Cataract casts, the boss will do a fast Tainted Flood into Predatory Sight combo. Spread and stack extremely quickly.
• After these mechanics, the phase will repeat until the boss is defeated.

Coffers that appear after defeating the Hippokampos will yield tokens that can be traded in for gear.

• 1x Unsung Helm of Asphodelos;
• 1x Unsung Armor of Asphodelos;
• 1x Unsung Gauntlets of Asphodelos;
• 1x Unsung Chausses of Asphodelos;
• 2x Unsung Greaves of Asphodelos;
• 2x Unsung Ring of Asphodelos.