Welcome to our Hopeless Symaqus Guide! This guide seeks to comprehensively cover the mechanics of the Ice-element Expedition Boss!

Please check out our Gigantes (Dark), Lich (Earth) Expedition and Pherus (Fire) Expedition guides as well~

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Expeditions can be accessed through the Hunt menu, or Garo in the Lobby whenever your friends or guildmates have begun an Expedition.

One of the 3 Expedition bosses, defeating the Hopeless Symaqus will grant Expedition Depot Reward Points, which will accumulate over each period. 2,100 points are required for all rewards, averaging around 40 clears.

The goal of each Expedition entry should be to maximize the number of points gained, as while each member in the party is given 3 entries, they cost energy and do not provide additional rewards. Ideally, each member should be able to contribute ~1/6th of the damage, so that only 1 run is needed per player.

Hopeless Symaqus Mechanics

Hopeless Symaqus has 3 different levels, which scale its stats and mechanics. Each level is more difficult, with Level 1 oriented around newer players, Level 2 suitable for midgame players, and Level 3 currently being difficult for even endgame players.

Hopeless Symaqus is a straightforward fight, with only one main mechanic that requires attention. At the start of the battle, and when off cooldown, Hopeless Symaqus will lock down your highest Attack Hero and place it into Fatigue, preventing the Hero from gaining CR until it gains it’s turn through CR increases.

 

Hopeless Symaqus Stats

Level 1:

  • Health: 900,000
  • Speed: 165
  • Effect Resistance: 70%

Level 2:

  • Health: 1,650,000 (1.65 million)
  • Speed: 180
  • Effect Resistance: 100%

Level 3:

  • Health: 1,800,000 (1.8 million)
  • Speed: 210
  • Effect Resistance: 100%

Effect Resistance scales with levels, starting at 70% (Level 1), 100% (Level 2), 130% (Level 3). As such you’ll need 55% (Level 1), 85% (Level 2), 85% (Level 3) Effectiveness to maximize your chances of debuffing.

Hopeless Symaqus is immune against the typical CCs and like other Expedition bosses immune to %HP based damage.

At the end of its 11th turn, Hopeless Symaqus will enrage and on it’s following turn, wipe your team and inflict Extinction, preventing Revive. 

The Elemental Advantage passive is extremely strong, starting at 60% (+10% per Level) increased damage vs non-Earth Heroes, and taking 50% increased damage from Earth Heroes. As such, Earth Heroes are heavily incentivized.

Hopeless Symaqus begins the battle at 50% CR. 

At Level 2 and 3, Hopeless Symaqus will attack with Frenzied Attack if hit more than 6 times per turn.

Devil’s Arm is a basic attack that targets the front row first, and deals damage scaling to the target’s current HP.

Hopeless Symaqus’ S2 is a simple AoE, decreasing its own debuffs by 1 turn.
At levels 2 and 3, it gains a 30% CR Decrease.

Hopeless Symaqus’ main mechanic. Used at the start of the battle, Standardized Destruction is an AoE attack inflicting 3 one turn bleeds, and inflicts an uncleansable Fatigue condition on the highest attack hero on your team. In addition, at level 2 and 3, this will reduce your highest attack hero’s CR by 80%. 

Fatigue lasts for one turn; reducing your Hero’s speed to 0, and increasing its damage taken by 30%. In order to counteract this mechanic, Speed Buff or CR Increases need to be used to enable the Fatigue condition to wear off.

A more niche way to manage this mechanic is to bring an Invincibility buffer and to let the hero inflicted with fatigue tank damage, as Fatigue will prevent Invincibility from wearing off.

General Strategy

A relatively simple fight, the only complexity comes from managing the Fatigue debuff. As such, it is important to bring CR Manipulators to free the afflicted unit. Otherwise, the fight is a straightforward race to do as much damage as possible before Hopeless Symaqus enrages.

Hopeless Symaqus heavily favours Earth element Heroes. However, Tamarinne is a notable off-element exception, as her strong CR Increase allows her to excel in Level 1/2. For level 3, mono-Earth teams are highly encouraged.

Tanks:

F. Kluri, Charles, Armin

The primary tank should be an Earth Knight, to keep the damage taken to a minimum. However, due to the lack of Earth Knight options, off element choices such as Krau can be viable as well.

F. Kluri: The most accessible option, F. Kluri brings a Defense Break and additional healing, helping to sustain your team. Her S1 can occasionally help with pushing a Fatigued Hero. However, her fast turn cycling can trigger additional attacks.

Charles: The highest damage option, Charles can stay alive through his self-Defense buff and outputs damage comparable to a dedicated DPS Hero. However, he is less viable at Level 3 for tanking.

Armin: A purely defensive option, Armin brings a barrier, sustain, and additional mitigation to keep your team alive.

Aside from these, other options for those lacking these units include Krau, Crozet, and Chaos Inquisitor.

Chaos Inquisitor: As he can only take 35% of his maximum health per attack, he can be a useful option here for a functionally immortal front line with a fast cycling healer.

DPS:
Celine, Yufine, Baiken, Charles, Alencia, Cidd, Bellona
 
Earth DPS are numerous, each bringing their own specialty. Most options are viable, however, a few stand out above others.
 
Alencia/Cidd: These two Heros bring a reliable Defense Break and strong single target DPS. 
 
Bellona: While her %HP damage is not useful here, her reliable Defense Break makes her a strong choice.
 
Yufine/Celine/Baiken: These Heroes are strong DPS options, and have strong nukes.
 
Most Earth DPS are viable for this slot, pick one that best suits your roster.
CR Manipulator:
Destina, Lots, Roozid, Adlay, Tamarinne, A. Lots
 
Destina: A healer and a CR manipulator, Destina is capable of increasing 95% CR through her S3 and S2. As such, for levels 2/3, she requires Idol’s Cheer in order to reliably clear Fatigue. Her healing is top-notch and can easily sustain the team.
 
Lots: A strong turn cycler, his S2 can single-handedly clear Fatigue. His S3 provides strong sustain and CR manipulation as well.
 
Roozid: His S3 brings Speed buff, which counteracts the Fatigue buff and allows the Fatigued Hero to gain CR by itself, in addition to providing Continuous Healing and a strong CR Increase.
 
Adlay: His S2 passive allows him to bring himself out of Fatigue without the need of another CR manipulator while being a strong DPS.
 
Tamarinne: A very strong pick for Levels 1/2, where Hopeless Symaqus does not have additional CR decrease. Her full cleanse and heal, dual attack and attack buff, on top of her CR manipulation, make her a very strong choice. However, she must be paired with Iseria and is significantly squishier due to her off-element typing.
 
A. Lots: An off-element pick and an offensive version of Lots. His S2 can also single-handedly clear Fatigue while adding DPS through Attack Buff. With Spirit’s Breath, he can continuously cycle your DPS.
Supports:
Iseria, M. Helga
 
Iseria: A very strong support, her S3 and S1 both have Defense Breaks. As a Ranger, Iseria can carry Song of Stars, Infinity Basket, or other strong DPS artifacts
 
M. Helga: A solid Defense Breaker and Attack Buffer, M. Helga helps supplement your DPS, while being able to do decent damage herself. Her Effectiveness buff is unique and lets your team more easily hit the required Effectiveness thresholds.
Healers:
Destina, Lots, Ray, Roana, Elena
 
Destina: The strongest pure healer Earth has to offer, with cleanse for the Bleed debuffs and additional CR manipulation.

Lots: While his healing is worse than Destina’s, his fast turn cycling coupled with Rod of Amaryllis allow him to sustain the team reliably.

Ray: Much like Destina, he has strong heals. However, Ray’s lack of CR manipulation makes him a less efficient choice.

Roana: While Roana’s S3 has a long cooldown, the extra attacks from triggering Hopeless Symaqus’ Frenzied Attack can easily sustain your team and supplement CR manipulation.

Elena: Her Invincibility buff and S2 allow her to keep the team healthy despite being off-element.

NOT Daydream Joker: The % Health Damage of Daydream Joker does not work on Expedition bosses.

Victorious Flag/Uberius Tooth/Kal’adra/Portrait of the Saviors/Ancient Sheath: These artifacts are easy ways to scale damage as an alternative to Daydream Joker.

Sword of Ezera: The strongest damage mitigation artifact, and is a very strong choice for Level 2/3.

Idol’s Cheer: Idol’s Cheer provides additional CR manipulation to help clear Fatigue, and is particularly notable on Destina for level 2/3.

Team Compositions

Requirements:
  • Knight Frontline Tank (Earth Preffered)
  • CR Manipulation/Speed Buff

All teams need a Knight tank, and a way to reliably clear Fatigue.

A notable exception is through the use of an Invincibility buffer to create an Invincible tank. However, this comes at the cost of having only 3 effective units.

Recommendations:

  • Attack Buff
  • Defense Break

Attack Buff and Defense Break are recommended for dealing additional damage, as the short time-window makes DPS important for clearing efficiently.

Choose a team composition that best fits your Hero roster. Below are some examples of viable teams.

Example Teams

Baiken/Charles/Iseria/Tamarinne

Lots/Yufine/F.Kluri/Alencia

Acknowledgements

Thank you for reading! Thank you to my proofreaders and guildmates who have helped me collect information~!