Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide: Vertus Level 1 Guardian Raid Boss. In this Lost Ark Boss Guide, I’m going to discuss the mechanics for Vertus, the fourth Guardian Raid boss you’ll encounter in the game after reaching Item Level 420. If you’re searching for ways to defeat this boss efficiently, then this guide is for you!

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide: Vertus Level 1 Guardian Raid Boss

After honing your gear sufficiently, you’ll reach Item Level 420, which will allow you to fight the fourth Guardian Raid boss in Lost Ark. Defeating Vertus will reward you with Legendary Accessories, an Epic Ability Stone, and honing materials, to name a few.

For these types of activities, it’s important to allocate the correct Tripods for your Skills. Since this Guardian is weak against lightning damage like Icy Legoros, you’ll want to select Tripods that ought to change the element of your damage. Doing so will significantly improve the amount of harm you inflict. Next, you’re going to want to equip HP Potions or those that restore a percent of your HP back since they’re the only ones allowed in Guardian Raids. And finally, given the size of Vertus’ map and the lack of shortcuts, you ought to bring Flares in order to immediately identify his location so you can save some time.

Out of all of the Guardian Bosses under Raid Level 1, Vertus is the most difficult because of his incredible mobility and hard-hitting skills, which can deal lethal damage while easily staggering you in the process. This Guardian has three phases with Phase 1 being the default stage. Phase 2 starts if you stagger him or it will begin naturally after a few minutes when he carries out a guttural roar and immediately glows red thereafter.

This is also known as the Enraged state where his damage is enhanced. Once his HP hits 30%, Phase 3 will commence. During this time, he’ll become faster and will be able to deal greater damage due to his improved combo attacks. Additionally, you and your allies won’t have the ability to stagger him any longer.

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Phase 1 and 2 Attack Patterns

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Charge

Vertus will momentarily raise his head and growl before glowing blue. This will signal his charge attack, which can be countered if you’re standing in front of him and you hit him with a Counter Skill. Doing so will stagger the Guardian, leaving him vulnerable to taking damage. Note that he can also rush towards you even if he hasn’t glowed blue. This means that you won’t be able to use your Counter Skill against him so you ought to dodge to the side instead.

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Jump

Vertus has the ability to execute a huge jump, which will send affected targets flying into the air the moment he lands. You’ll initially notice that he’ll growl a split second before this happens, providing you with a bit of space to dash out of the way, especially if you’re situated in front of him. This Guardian can also jump backward to evade Frontal Attacks while dealing damage against players who are standing near his tail.

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Claw Swipe

Compared to Icy Legoros, Vertus moves forward whether or not he executes a single or double swipe with his claws. Remember that he will always swipe with his right arm first so you can dash towards it to avoid the attack entirely. When he performs a double swipe, the initial action will be immediately followed by a second swipe using his left arm. Getting hit by either of them will stagger you.

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Tail Swipe

What makes Vertus dangerous is his ability to attack from behind with his giant tail. The moment he notices that you’re always targeting his back, he’ll trigger a tail swipe, which can stun you, leaving you open to incoming attacks. To prepare for this, always pay attention to the movement of his tail. When it moves slightly to the other side, you can anticipate a powerful swipe to take place on the opposite end where the target player is located.

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Tail Slam

In addition to tail swipe, Vertus will also slam his tail thrice to assert his dominance against Advanced Classes that often target his back. For every slam, you’ll get knocked up so be sure to position yourself by his side to avoid this attack. If he’s ever pushed to a corner, never stay near his tail, otherwise, you’ll be vulnerable to taking damage.

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Grab

Grab is the deadliest skill of Vertus where he takes hold of the player in front of him and smashes them to the ground three times. If that same player only has less than 50% HP or if he/she is a squishy class, they’ll most likely die before being released from the clutches of the Guardian. To break free as early as possible, your allies should inflict stagger damage.

After walking a few paces forward, Vertus will throw the target up in the air and he will then perform his ice breath ability to target those in front of him. This is also the next skill I’ll be discussing next.

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Ice Breath

Right before unleashing his ice breath, Vertus will take a second or two to inhale deeply to save enough energy. Compared to tail swipe, this ability is easy to predict since he’ll be stationary at the start. He will then release a massive ice breath, which deals decent damage on top of pushing you or your allies away from him. You can dodge this by dashing to the side while he’s gearing up for the attack. Note that if you get caught under his neck during the inhaling part, you’ll take low damage.

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Spinning Attack

Vertus is capable of rotating his entire body to perform a spinning strike. He will lean on one side and subsequently perform a 360-degree spin in the opposite direction to knock you down and deal moderate damage. Be on the lookout for this “lean action” to quickly dash away from him and avoid this spinning attack altogether.

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Ice Orb

The moment Vertus rears his head, you’ll have a moment to run to the side since he’s gearing up to shoot you with an ice orb. This will come from his mouth and will travel in a straight line. Since its hitbox is narrow, you don’t have to use dash so you can save it for larger AoE attacks. If you get hit by an ice orb, you’ll receive a movement speed debuff and take low damage.

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Dive and Emerge

There comes a point in the encounter where Vertus will become invincible to your attacks. At this stage, he’s preparing to crush the icy lake and dive underneath it. You and your allies will have to run around together in the same direction. After a few seconds, coordinate with one another to dash to a specific area in order to avoid the massive damage he deals when he emerges from the water. If you get hit, you’ll be knocked down.

On the other hand, Vertus may not turn up and attack you at that moment and will instead relocate to another section on the map. When you find him, he will no longer be Enraged, but he’s expected to enter this state once again after a few minutes.

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Ice Explosion

Vertus can also conjure an ice explosion after he momentarily roars, stands on his hind legs, and slams the ground. For a brief second, red markings will appear around you to indicate where the explosion will take place. If you happen to stand on top of it upon detonation, you’ll receive notable damage and become frozen, making you extremely vulnerable to all of this Guardian’s attacks.

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Phase 3 Attack Pattern

Vertus Lost Ark Boss Guide – Triple Ice Orb

In Phase 3, Vertus will now unleash three ice orbs in a fan pattern. Avoid staying near his mouth for an extended period of time, otherwise, you might get hit by all three of these orbs, which will drastically lower your movement speed.

Final Tips

Vertus has a much higher difficulty curve than the previous Guardian Raid bosses because of his crowd control skills as well as the huge damage he inflicts. Since he’s also a highly agile creature, it’s vital to keep moving during the fight.

Vertus is the first boss to introduce the part break mechanic. If you stagger him while in the Enraged state, you’ll have the chance to sever his tail to completely disable all tail skills. Simply use Weak Point skills and Destruction Bombs to do so. However, if you haven’t mastered this Guardian’s mechanics just yet, I wouldn’t recommend that you cut his tail because this will fast forward the encounter to Phase 3 where he’ll keep activating leap and breath attack abilities much more often.

If you’re playing a ranged class, you’re going to have a relatively simpler time with this boss because you don’t need to move near him. But if you’re playing a melee class, especially those that specialize in dealing Back Attacks, you need to constantly change positions right after using every skill to avoid getting hit. Staying by Vertus’ side will always be the safer option in this fight.

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Stay tuned for more Lost Ark Boss and Endgame Guides and be sure to check out our Lost Ark Wiki or drop by our Twitch Channel if you have questions about the game. You can also check out our recent endgame content including the Progression Guide, Best Ways to Get More Skill Points, and Best Combat Engravings. We also have Build Guides for the Berserker, Sharpshooter, Deadeye, Striker, and Artillerist, to name a few. What did you think of this Lost Ark Vertus Guardian Raid Boss Guide? Which bosses are giving you a hard time? Let us know in the comments below!