Clearing Valtan Phase 1 and 2 is currently the most challenging task in Lost Ark and this complete guide will help you clear it. Valtan is an 8 player raid, split between 2 phases. Clearing both Phase 1 and Phase 2 includes great gold rewards, and is vital for upgrading to relic gear in the future. Contrary to Argos, Valtan allows players to see the boss’ exact HP at all times.
To clear Valtan Phase 1 in Lost Ark, players need to go through the boss’ total 50 HP bars. In this guide, we’ll go through the necessary preparation to clear Valtan and all the mechanics that players will have to face in the different parts of Phase 1.
Find out our guide for Phase 2 here:
Valtan Phase 2 Complete Guide in Lost Ark
Looking for more Lost Ark guides?
- How to Make Gold in Lost Ark
- Lost Ark Currency Guide
- How to Teleport and Move Fast in Lost Ark
- Lost Ark Guild Guide
Preparation for Valtan Phase 1
It is important to come prepared for Valtan, as it is the most challenging content so far. Bring the right items, understand the new mechanics introduced, and organize your team for the unique wipe mechanics. The required ilevel for Normal Mode is 1415 and for Hard Mode 1445.
Items
In general, the items are fairly standard and players should bring the following for Phase 1:
- HP potions (preferably purple ones if you aren’t experienced with the raid)
- Whirlwind or Clay Grenades for the two important stagger checks
- Panacea or Sacred Charm to remove Bleed stacks
- Dark Grenades (optional – only 1 or 2 players should bring those, in case the party is lacking DPS)
Sidereals
As mentioned in Lost Ark’s official guide, sidereals are a new mechanic introduced with the Valtan raid and will be available for future Legion Raids too. They can be seen at the top left of your screen. These charge slowly with time, after completing mechanics, and after successfully performing counterattacks. Sidereals are essential tools for clearing Valtan Phase 1 and Phase 2. There are three sidereals available and, since they recharge very slowly, players should use them carefully only when necessary. Keep in mind that these can only be used by the raid leader. If the raid leader dies early on, they should transfer the raid lead to someone who is still alive.
Thirain (Ctrl + Z)
King Thirain and his soldiers in Lost Ark
Thirain is preferred for its raw damage and armour destruction. It deals almost double the damage of Wei and, in Phase one, can be used to safely go through some DPS checks like from 35 to 30 HP bars in the Red Wolf fight (we’ll explain this later).
Wei (Ctrl + X)
Wei is the go-to option for stagger. In general, Wei is the best option for Phase 1 since there are 2 stagger checks which, if failed, will result in a team wipe.
Balthorr (Ctrl + C)
Balthorr reduces damage and crowd control taken and makes the team immune to certain wipe mechanics. It can be used to avoid certain strong attacks in Phase 1, but usually is not recommended since the other 2 sidereals are better options. However, Balthorr is extremely useful in Phase 2.
Positions
Lastly, before starting the raid, the team should set positions for the 2 wipe mechanics that occur at 30 and 15 HP respectively. Imagine that the arena is a clock; players should stand at 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, and 11 o’clock respectively. The raid leader should be at number 1, followed by classes with the highest stagger (ideally gunlancer/artillerist on the next few positions). While the mechanic will be explained later, keep in mind that it can be cheesed. If you choose to do so, you can skip setting up positions.
The positions that players should take when orbs spawn at 30 and 15 HP in Phase 1
Valtan Phase 1 Part 1 Guide – Purple Wolf (50-45 HP)
Part 1 is the introduction to the Valtan Raid. Players are faced with the Purple Wolf which has no major mechanics. Since the majority of its attacks are on the front, its backside is considered a safe spot. After reaching 45 HP, the boss creates two portals and moves to Part 2. When it transforms, stay away from the portals as they will damage you.
Valtan Phase 1 Part 2 Guide – Red Wolf & Blue Invader (45-30 HP)
The raid begins fighting the Red Wolf. After doing enough damage, the Blue wolf will also join the fight. When the Red and Blue Wolves are both in the arena, two random players will be marked; one with a blue marker, and one with a red. The one with the blue marker is targeted by the blue wolf and should move to the South side of the arena. The one with the red marker is targeted by the red wolf and should stay on the North side (the wolves take reduced damage if close together, which is why splitting is essential).
As for the remaining players, 3 will be able to damage only the red wolf, and 3 only the blue. If you have a yellow buff, you can only target the blue wolf. Without a yellow buff aim for the red. If unsure, hit both of them and see which one you can damage.
Valtan’s Arena in Lost Ark
Red Wolf’s Bleed
It is important to note that the Red Wolf’s attacks apply bleeding stacks. At 3 stacks, the boss targets you with a strong attack. To try and keep your stacks below 3, it is recommended to use Panacea. This is why Panacea is considered a key item in this complete guide for clearing Valtan Phase 1 in Lost Ark.
Red Wolf’s Fear
After dealing enough damage to the Blue Wolf, it will leave the arena and all players should focus on the Red Wolf. During this part, Red Wolf applies a darkness debuff to players randomly. At 5 stacks, the player gets feared and the boss teleports to them and grabs them. This usually results in the player being killed. It is important to DPS the boss to 30 HP as soon as possible, before losing too many party members. If you are going to use the Thirain sidereal, now is a good time to do it. However, keep in mind that this will block you from using Wei in the next part.
The raid team getting ready for the Valtan fight in Lost Ark
Valtan Phase 1 Part 3 Guide – Orb Wipe Mechanic (30 HP)
The boss teleports to the middle and starts channelling a spell which requires a stagger check. Players should take positions as mentioned in Preparation. One orb will spawn on each of those positions and will start following the closest player. To complete this mechanic, players must take these orbs in turn (similar to the Illusion Sword in the Hall of the Twisted Warlord Abyss Dungeon). Whenever a player takes an orb, they must run to the boss and start using stagger skills (this is why high-stagger classes should go first). If someone picks more than 1 orb, or the team fails to stagger the boss in time, the party gets wiped.
Since this is the hardest mechanic of the raid, it is recommended to use the Wei sidereal (this is why the raid leader goes first). In addition, to understand when you should take the orb based on your position, keep an eye on a purple debuff on the boss. This debuff gains a stack whenever an orb is picked up. For example, if you are the 5th player that should take an orb, you can take it when the boss has 4 stacks of the purple debuff (which means 4 orbs have already been taken).
Cheese Strategies
Having each player take an orb requires extreme coordination and can be challenging. However, this complete guide includes two more ways to make Valtan Phase 1 in Lost Ark much easier.
Only First Four Take Orbs
According to this strategy, only the first four players take an orb and then rush to stagger the boss with the use of the Wei sidereal. The remaining four players juggle their orbs at the edge of the map without ever picking them up. This limits the room for error and makes the mechanic easier since not everyone has to pick an orb.
All South
In this strategy, all players except the raid leader head to the far South side of the arena. The raid leader goes to the middle and immediately uses the Wei sidereal (when the stagger check begins, before the orbs start moving). After doing that, the raid leader runs to the North side of the arena while juggling all 8 orbs (they can pick up 1, but not more). This allows the remaining 7 players to run straight at the boss and use all their stagger skills without worrying about orbs. This is a much easier method, requires minimal coordination, and is based primarily on the raid leader juggling the orbs.
For more details and visual examples of these strategies, check the video below.
Valtan Phase 1 Part 4 Guide – Blue Wolf & Red Invader (30-15 HP)
After succeeding in the stagger check, the Blue wolf enters the arena. After taking some damage, the Red Wolf joins and this fight is similar to Part 2: 2 players are targeted, Blue Wolf should be moved to the South Side, and 4 players can damage each wolf.
The only difference is the yellow buff. In Part 2, having the yellow buff meant that players can only damage the blue wolf, while now it’s the opposite; a yellow buff means you can only target the red wolf. Similar to Part 2, eventually the Red Wolf will disappear and everyone should focus on the Blue Wolf until it reaches 15 HP.
Valtan Phase 1 Part 5 Guide – Orb Wipe Mechanic (15 HP)
Part 5 is the same as Part 3. Use your preferred strategy, and ideally have Wei sidereal ready, and you should be fine. Also, after succeeding in the stagger check, the boss will do a huge AOE attack. The safe spot will be the far South side of the arena.
Valtan Phase 1 Part 6 Guide – Purple Wolf (15-0 HP)
The last phase includes all attacks from the previous parts, as well as a new wipe mechanic. By now you should be familiar with Purple Wolf’s attacks since they are the same as the Blue/Red Wolf’s. However, the new wipe mechanic requires teamwork.
Purple wolf fight for Valtan Phase 1 in Lost Ark
One random player (usually one that is positioned far away from the boss) will get feared. After a few seconds, the boss teleports to that player and starts a stagger check. If players fail to stagger the boss, the feared player gets grabbed which will lead to that player’s death (unless they have a significantly higher ilevel). The boss will keep repeating this mechanic. If players fail the stagger check a second time, the whole party will be wiped. To counter this, do not go too far from the boss (which will make it harder for your teammates to help you in case you get feared), and when you get feared, spam pings on yourself. As long as players are prepared, this can be countered.
Congratulations! If you’ve read this guide so far, you have either just cleared Valtan Phase 1 in Lost Ark, or are fully ready to do so. In either case, you should start preparing for Phase 2 with our next guide, which introduced even more unique and challenging mechanics. In case you are looking for a tl;dr of this guide, a Reddit user has summed up Phase 1 in a cheat sheet.
