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.
Heroes
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:
CR Manipulator:
Supports:
Healers:
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.
Artifacts
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~!