The Wielder of the Shin-Zantetsuken
Raiden is the second boss of the Baldesion Arsenal, fought in the Shin-Zantetsuken Containment Unit.
Raiden has access to many instant-kill mechanics, and can do a lot of damage to the entire expedition if not handled properly.
Like the first bosses of the Baldesion Arsenal, Raiden has a set path of abilities that he will use, eventually reaching a point where his attacks will loop until either he or the expedition is dead.
Raiden is elementally attuned to Lightning, as befits his name, making him elementally weak to Earth, as it grounds Lightning.
List of Abilities
- Spirits of the Fallen: Raidwide.
- Shingan: Tankbuster.
- Thundercall: Raiden calls down lightning to cover the outer parts of the Containment Unit. Players standing in it will get a bleed.
- Ame-no-Sakahoko: Raiden prepares to unleash lightning from his position, in a large circular AoE, doing a backflip and moving to the edge of the AoE. The telegraph for this attack only shows up near the end of the cast. Applies a cleansable paralysis on hit.
- Whirling Zantetsuken: Raiden lifts the Shin-Zantetsuken to the sky and strikes the entire arena, with the only safe zone being right underneath him. Getting hit by this mechanic is an Instant K.O.
- Lateral Zantetsuken: Raiden disappears from the Containment Unit, and reappears at either the east or west side with a strike of lightning. He will then point his blade towards either the north or the south side of the Containment Unit. Getting hit by this ability is an Instant K.O.
- Ball Lightning: AoE puddles that appear as Raiden finishes telegraphing Lateral Zantetsuken. Inflicts a cleansable paralysis.
- Lancing Bolts: Raiden throws a spear into the air, splitting into six and marking six players with a circular AoE. These AoE's will leave behind a Streak Lightning spear that must be killed to prevent his following mechanic from killing the entire expedition.
- Ultimate Zantetsuken: Raiden disappears and reappears in the middle, following Lancing Bolts. This ability will, if not prevented, kill the entire expedition. To prevent it, you must destroy the six Streak Lightning spears left behind by Lancing Bolts.
- Booming Lament: AoE puddle that appear underneath a random player in conjunction with other mechanics, right afterwards. Inflicts a Mark of Mortality.
- Cloud to Ground: Exaflares that spawn around cardinal directions, and go across the arena. Inflicts magic vulnerability.
- Bitter Barbs: Pairs of players will be tethered together, dealing damage until broken. The tethers break by creating distance between each other. If not broken, will inflict a stack of Mark of Mortality to the pair.
- Silent Levin: Repeated AoE puddles that appear near players in conjunction with Bitter Barbs.
- Levinwhorl: Very hard hitting raidwide. Lethal to players with a magic vulnerability fom previous Exaflares.
- For Honor: Point blank AoE under Raiden, slightly bigger than the size of his hitbox. Hits hard and inflicts a Mark of Mortality.
What to Watch Out For
The main mechanics to watch out for are:
- Ame-no-Sakahoko into Whirling Zantetsuken.
- Lateral Zantetsuken & Ball Lightning.
The first mechanics are very simple, but as there is an instant-KO, it is important to deal with appropriately. Once you see Ame-no-Sakahoko being cast, you can start running away from Raiden. After the cast, he will do a backflip, repositioning himself at the edge of the AoE, following it up immediately with a Whirling Zantetsuken cast. Simply step into his hitbox to be safe.
Lateral Zantetsuken and Ball Lightning are where most deaths happen, mostly due to being afraid of the instant K.O. more than the Ball Lightning damage.
A safe way to deal with this combination of mechanics is as such: Go to the middle of the arena and look for Raiden, his reappearance will be marked with the sound of lightning striking. Face towards Raiden, and as soon as you see the Ball Lightning puddles appear, run towards him. After dodging the puddles, you will have ample time to look at where he is pointing his sword for Lateral Zantetsuken, and run the opposite direction of that.
Timeline
| Order of Appearance | Ability in Use |
|---|---|
| 1 | Spirits of the Fallen |
| 2 | Shingan |
| 3 | Thundercall |
| 4 | Ame-no-Sakahoko |
| 5 | Whirling Zantetsuken |
| 5.5 | If not below 70%, Raiden will repeat Ame-no-Sakahoko and Whirling Zantetsuken once more |
| 6 | Lateral Zantetsuken and Ball Lightning |
| 7 | Spirits of the Fallen |
| 8 | Lancing Bolts |
| 9 | Ultimate Zantetsuken |
| 10 | Spirits of the Fallen |
| 11 | Booming Lament |
| Loop Start | |
| 12 | Cloud to Ground |
| 13 | Bitter Barbs & Silent Levin |
| 14 | Whirling Zantetsuken |
| 15 | Spirits of the Fallen |
| 16 | Cloud to Ground |
| 17 | Levinwhorl |
| 18 | Ame-no-Sakahoko |
| 19 | Whirling Zantetsuken & Silent Levin |
| 20 | Booming Lament |
| 21 | Spirits of the Fallen |
| 22 | Lateral Zantetsuken & Lancing Bolts & Ball Lightning & Silent Levin |
| 23 | Ultimate Zantetsuken |
| 24 | Spirits of the Fallen |
| 25 | Shingan |
| 26 | Ame-no-Sakahoko |
| 27 | For Honor |
| 28 | Whirling Zantetsuken & Silent Levin |
| 29 | Booming Lament |
| 30 | Spirits of the Fallen |
| 31 | Spirits of the Fallen |
| Loop End | Loop 12-31* |
*= Fight will loop from now on until Raiden or the raid is defeated.
Trivia
- Raiden is a name oft-given to the Japanese god of lightning, also including: Raijin, Kaminari-sama, Narukami, Raikou and Kamowakeikazuchi-no-Kami, and is in general a common name used for Lightning deities in pop culture.
- Raiden is often depicted alongside Fujin, the Japanese god of wind.
- Ame-no-Sakahoko is regarded as another name for Ame-no-Nuhoko, the spear used to create the first island in Japanese creation myth.
- Raiden mentions Odin in his aggro shout, "O mighty Odin - forlorn hero! In thy hallowed name, I shall strike at the wicked empire!", likely referring to the Allagan Empire.