Desolate Lands Guide & Teams

Complete guide to Desolate Lands and the best teams to defeat Shadowfire, Shadowgale, Shadowstream, and Shademother to obtain a lot of rewards!

Bosses within Desolate Lands reward Relic Boost Stones, which are items used to increase the secondary stats (also known as ‘sub stats’) of Relics by varied amounts, depending on the Relic Boost Stone rarity.

Desolate Lands Event Guide

• Unlocks for Squad Lvl 50+ players. Players can enter the Desolate Lands from the Trials panel.
• The Desolate Lands has 4 instances, with Shadowgale, Shadowstream, and Shadowfire available for now. Shademother will be unlocked later.
• Players must fight enough turns to get the final victory.
• Each of the bosses always always use their skills in a certain order (First skill → Second skill → Third skill → and so on.)
• After the stage is complete, player ratings will be based on the total amount of damage dealt to the Boss within the given amount of turns. Players can get rewards based on their ratings.

Desolate Lands Tips:

• The key is to survive to the end. Your actual damage is not really important as you only need 4M damage for the SSS rank. If you tune the team SPD good enough, you could get 18x damage multiplier, easy SSS.
• Sander is a great captain for SPD bonus. All AP boosters are great in Desolate as well: Dhalia, Asenath, Unas, Clara, etc. Ideally, you want to gear them Ocean Waves, or high SPD gears.
• Clara and Unas are excellent for Desolate.
• Eira, Fabrice, Celine are good but not great for auto battles.
• Put at least 1 DEF% relic on each front-line Esper.
• Consider switching Support Resonance to DEF% If you seriously want to try-hard this mode.
• Speed is the key in Desolate Lands.
• Ocean Waves + Avatara is the best combo for Unky Chai.
• Celine with Dispel & DEF/SPD Buff is super useful.
• Berenice and Asenath’s Lotus are super useful as the boss hits hard at the end.

Best Desolate Lands Teams

Tap on the boss icon to get to its guide section.

Shadowfire

Shadowfire is the Inferno-attuned Desolate Lands boss, specialized in summoning minions during the battle that apply a debuff which increases the damage your Espers receive if they’re not defeated quickly enough.

The main strategy to defeating Shadowfire is to utilise Espers who have Area of Effect (AoE) damaging abilities, which helps quickly defeat Shadowfire’s Fiery Eyes minions.

There are two aspects that have to be balanced during the fight against Shadowfire; the damage dealt to Shadowfire and its minions, and maintaining your team’s HP.

Each of Shadowfire’s Fiery Eyes minions have high HP that each need to be quickly defeated within a short amount of time, whilst your team’s HP has to be kept healthy throughout the fight — especially near Turn 8 — so that at least one Esper will survive against Shadowfire’s last ability: Searing Hurricane.

Recommendations:

To tackle Shadowfire, you will need:

• Up to four Espers that can consistently deal damage with Area of Effect (AoE) abilities.
• Up to two Espers who can heal allies;
• An Esper or two that can reduce the cooldowns of other Espers’ abilities.

Shadowfire’s Turn Order

Below is the turn order that Shadowfire follows. Note that Turn 6 activates directly after Turn 5 with no delay, when Shadowfire casts Burning Dust Storm.

1. Falling Flames
2. Flutter of Wings
3. Flamelight Wheel – Shadow Flower Petal Phase starts
4. Falling Flames
5. Burning Dust Storm – Shadow Flower Petal Phase ends
6. Boss is Stunned – Multiplier Phase
7. Flutter of Wings
8. Searing Hurricane

Shadowfire’s Mechanic

Shadowfire summons 8 Fiery Eyes to assist in battle. If any minions are left alive at the start of Turn 5, they’ll each apply one stack of Raging Flames, which increases damage taken. All Fiery Eyes minions summoned can only attack once at the start of Turn 5 to apply their Raging Flames and some damage, before dying. All Fiery Eyes minions cannot be damaged by single-target attacks, or targeted manually. The Raging Flames debuff cannot be resisted, blocked by the Immunity buff, or removed through an Esper’s death. This includes Hyde (Hades)’s passive, Reaper, which also cannot block Raging Flames.

This is an example of a free-to-play working team with Li Ling is the captain:

• If you cannot survive the first hits, consider using 2x Adamatine sets.
• Dhalia needs 1 Ocean Wave to deal with the adds.
• Apollo & Li Ling should have max Crit Rate for more consistency.
• Chloe should have around 150 SPD for A2/A3 on the multiplier phases.
• Apollo or Mona should have around 130 SPD so they can attach twice during the Adds phase to clearn up.
• If you don’t have Li Ling, use Mona as Captain.
• Any AoE DPS is useful here.
• Jiang Man is very useful against Shadowfire.
• Recommended attack order when adds spawn: Jiang Man > Apollo > Chloe > Li Ling

Shared by indez_tv

Shadowfire has unlimited HP. Players must fight enough turns to get the final victory. Falling Flames attacks the enemy front line first. The lower the enemy’s DEF, the higher the damage. The damage is shared among targets. Players can place Espers with high DEF on the front line to reduce damage taken. Flamelight Wheel summons 6 Fiery Eyes. After Shadowfire casts Burning Dust Storm, Fiery Eyes attack all enemies. Destroy Fiery Eyes as soon as possible and collect more Shadow Flower petals, so that you can Stun Shadowfire and get a higher Score Multiplier. Searing Hurricane ignores all DMG Mitigation effects and deals a powerful attack to enemies. After casting this ability, Shadowfire will run out of energy, and the battle will end.

Skill	Description
Falling Flames	Prioritizes attacking all enemies in the front line. Deals damage 1 time. The lower the enemy DEF, the higher the damage dealt. Damage is shared among all targets.
Flamelight Wheel	Attacks all enemies 1 time. Deals bonus damage to the front line. Summons 8 Fiery Eyes to assist in battle.
Burning Dust Storm	Attacks all enemies 1 time. At the end of casting the ability, surviving Fiery Eyes attack all enemies 1 time and inflict Raging Flames. If a Fiery Eye is destroyed, Shadowfire will be Stunned for a short time.
Flutter of Wings	Attacks all enemies 1 time. Deals bonus damage to the front line.
Searing Hurricane	After dispelling all buffs from all enemies, deals massive damage 1 more time, ignoring all DMG Mitigation effects.
Shadow Prayer (Passive)	Shadowfire is immune to all debuffs. When its enemy doesn’t have any Espers on the front line, the enemy back line takes more damage.
Raging Flames (Debuff)	Increases damage received.

Shadowstream

Shadowstream is the Flow-attuned Desolate Lands boss, specialised in reducing the maximum HP of enemy Espers with its debuff, Venom Smear, during the battle.

The main strategy to defeating Shadowstream is to utilise Espers who can increase the AP of allied Espers, or apply the SPD Up buff so that allies can take turns to remove Venom Smear stacks.

There are three aspects that have to be balanced during the fight against Shadowstream; the damage dealt to Shadowstream, the increase of ally SPD or AP to take turns frequently, and maintaining your team’s HP.

Your team’s HP has to be kept healthy throughout the fight to ensure that allied Espers don’t die, as well as making sure allies are healthy near Turn 8 so that at least one Esper will survive against Shadowstream’s last ability: Cyclone Rush.

Recommendations:

To tackle Shadowstream, you will need:

• Up to four Espers that can increase AP of themselves, or allies with AP Up. Note that AP Steal or AP Redistribution does not work.
• Up to two Espers who can heal allies;
• Up to two Espers who can deal high damage.
• (optional) an Esper or two that can reduce the cooldowns of other Espers’ abilities;
• (optional) an Esper that can apply the SPD Up buff to allies.

Shadowstream’s Turn Order:

Below is the turn order that Shadowstream follows.

Note that Turn 6 activates directly after Turn 5 with no delay, when Shadowstream casts Impact Storm.

1. Venom Sting
2. Fluttering Pose
3. Burst Nimbus – Shadow Flower Petal Phase starts
4. Venom Sting
5. Impact Storm – Shadow Flower Petal Phase ends
6. Boss is Stunned – Multiplier Phase
7. Fluttering Pose
8. Cyclone Rush

Shadowstream’s Mechanic

Shadowstream’s main mechanic is the ability to inflict a debuff called Venom Smear on all enemy Espers on Turn 3.

Venom Smear temporarily reduces the maximum HP of all Espers by a percentage. Each time an Esper gains an active turn, a stack of Venom Smear is removed from that Esper.

On Turn 5, Shadowstream attacks with Impact Storm, detonating all remaining stacks which turn any temporary maximum HP reduction into permanent for the remainder of the battle.

Only active turns reduce Venom Smear stacks, meaning Tang Yun (Six-Eared Macaque)’s Pursuit mechanic, or similar effects do not work.

The Venom Smear debuff cannot be resisted, blocked by the Immunity buff, or removed through an Esper’s death. This includes Hyde (Hades)’s passive, Reaper, which cannot block the debuff either.

This debuff’s maximum HP reduction also cannot be healed through Ahmed (Geb)’s passive.

• Give your Espers as much SPD as possible, including DPS. SPD is the key. The more turns you have, the more multiplier you get. Getting 10-14x Multiplier can easily give you SSS.
• Asenath, Dhalia and Pandora are very useful against Shadowstream. If you don’t have them yet, you can replace with any SPD/AP Booster. They are very easy to get however.
• Put DEF% on front-line Espers. Ideally you want at least 1 DEF% relic on each. If you want to farm Shadowstream seriously, switch Resonance of your Supports to DEF.
• If you use Unky Chai, Ocean Waves + Avatara combo is best for him!

Shared by indez_tv

Shadowstream has unlimited HP. Players must fight enough turns to get the final victory. Venom Sting attacks the enemy front line first. The lower the enemy’s DEF, the higher the damage. The damage is shared among targets. Players can place Espers with high DEF on the front line to reduce damage taken. Burst Nimbus inflicts Venom Smear on all enemies. When Shadowstream casts Impact Storm, it detonates all enemies’ Venom Smear effects, dealing massive damage. Venom Smear can only be cleared after players take action turns. Before Shadowstream casts Impact Storm, clear as many Venom Smear stacks as possible and collect more Shadow Flower petals, so that you can Stun Shadowstream and get a higher Score Multiplier. Cyclone Rush ignores all DMG Mitigation effects and deals a powerful attack to enemies. After casting this ability, Shadowstream will run out of energy, and the battle will end.

Skill	Description
Venom Sting	Prioritizes attacking all enemies in the front line. Deals damage 1 time. The lower the enemy DEF, the higher the damage dealt. Damage is shared among all targets.
Burst Nimbus	Attacks all enemies 1 time. Inflicts Venom Smear. Deals bonus damage to the front line.
Impact Storm	Attacks all enemies 1 time. Deals bonus damage to the front line. Detonates current Venom Smear stacks. Increases the damage dealt based on the remaining Venom Smear stacks. After casting this ability, if the required number of Venom Smear stacks are cleared, Shadowstream will be Stunned for a short time.
Fluttering Pose	Attacks all enemies 1 time. Deals bonus damage to the front line.
Cyclone Rush	After dispelling all buffs from all enemies, deals massive damage 1 more time, ignoring all DMG Mitigation effects.
Shadow Defense (Passive)	Shadowstream is immune to all debuffs. When its enemy doesn’t have any Espers on the front line, the enemy back line takes more damage. The fewer stacks of Venom Smear the enemy removes, the higher damage Shadowstream deals.
Venom Smear (Debuff)	Reduces max HP by a certain percentage temporarily. Each time carrier gains an active turn, a stack will be removed. Upon detonation by Impact Storm, the max HP reduced will remain deducted throughout combat.

Shadowgale

Shadowgale is the Wind-attuned Desolate Lands boss, specialized in dealing damage to Espers at the start of their turn with its debuff, Wind Chain.

The main strategy to defeating Shadowgale is to utilise Espers who can cleanse debuffs, or apply frequent buffs to remove Wind Chain stacks.

There are three aspects that have to be balanced during the fight against Shadowgale; the damage dealt to Shadowgale, the removal of Wind Chain stacks through buff application or cleanse, and maintaining your team’s HP.

Your team’s HP has to be kept healthy throughout the fight to ensure that allied Espers don’t die – not only against Shadowgale’s debuff that constantly damages allies, but also near Turn 8 so that at least one Esper will survive against Shadowgale’s last ability: Roaring Hurricane.

Recommendations:

To tackle Shadowgale, you will need:

• Up to four Espers that can cleanse debuffs; or Espers that can apply buffs regularly, making sure that they don’t reapply buffs that have not expired;
• Up to two Espers who can heal allies;
• Up to two Espers who can deal high damage.
• (optional) an Esper or two that can reduce the cooldowns of other Espers’ abilities.

Shadowgale’s Turn Order

Below is the turn order that Shadowgale follows.

Note that Turn 6 activates directly after Turn 5 with no delay, when Shadowgale casts Rolling Dust Storm.

1. Tempest
2. Dance of Wings
3. Roaring Nimbus – Shadow Flower Petal Phase starts
4. Tempest
5. Rolling Dust Storm – Shadow Flower Petal Phase ends
6. Boss is Stunned – Multiplier Phase
7. Dance of Wings
8. Roaring Hurricane

Shadowgale’s Mechanic

Shadowgale’s main mechanic is to inflict a debuff called Wind Chain on all enemy Espers on Turn 3.

Wind Chain deals damage based on a certain percentage of maximum HP at the start of an afflicted Esper’s turn. Wind Chain stacks can either be reduced by applying buffs or by cleansing the stacks of the debuff during Turn 3 to Turn 5.

Re-application of existing buffs does not reduce Wind Chain stacks. This includes stacking buffs, such as Ahmed (Geb)’s Supporting Song buff, or Hyde (Hades)’s Breath of the Deep buff.

The Wind Chain debuff cannot be resisted, blocked by the Immunity buff, or removed through an Esper’s death. This includes Hyde (Hades)’s passive, Reaper, which cannot block the debuff either.

Shadowgale could be hard if you don’t have Catherine, Clara, or Jin Yoyao.

This is an example of a working team: (Captain Sander).

If you don’t have Asenath, you can absolutely use Berenice instead.

If you don’t have any great dispeller, the best strategy is to boost AP as much as you can. With the simple team as above, you can easily get up to 10x Multiplier, which is more than enough to get SSS.

Shared by indez_tv

Shadowgale has unlimited HP. Players must fight enough turns to get the final victory.

Tempest attacks the enemy front line first. The lower the enemy’s DEF, the higher the damage.
Roaring Nimbus inflicts Wind Chain on all enemies. At the start of each turn, damages enemies based on max HP. When Wind Chain is detonated by Rolling Dust Storm, it deals massive damage to targets. Wind Chain can be removed through dispelling and granting buffs. Before Shadowgale casts Rolling Dust Storm, remove as many stacks of Wind Chain as possible and collect more Shadow Flower petals, so that you can Stun Shadowgale and get a higher Score Multiplier. Roaring Hurricane ignores all DMG Mitigation effects and deals a powerful attack to enemies. After casting this ability, Shadowgale will run out of energy, and the battle will end.

Skill	Description
Tempest	Prioritizes attacking all enemies in the front line. Deals damage 1 time. The lower the enemy DEF, the higher the damage dealt. Damage is shared among all targets.
Roaring Nimbus	Attacks all enemies 1 time. Inflicts Wind Chain. Deals bonus damage to the front line.
Rolling Dust Storm	Attacks all enemies 1 time. Deals bonus damage to the front line. Detonates current Wind Chain stacks. Increases the damage dealt based on the remaining Wind Chain stacks. After casting this ability, if the required number of Wind Chain stacks are cleared, Shadowstream will be Stunned for a short time.
Dance of Wings	Attacks all enemies 1 time. Deals bonus damage to the front line.
Roaring Hurricane	After dispelling all buffs from all enemies, deals massive damage 1 more time, ignoring all DMG Mitigation effects.
Shadow Blessing (Passive)	Shadowgale is immune to all debuffs. When its enemy doesn’t have any Espers on the front line, the enemy back line takes more damage. The fewer stacks of Wind Chain the enemy removes, the higher damage Shadowgale deals.
Wind Chain (Debuff)	At the start of each turn, deals damage based on a certain percentage of max HP. When a buff is dispelled or applied, a stack will be removed. Upon detonation by Rolling Dust Storm, the current stacks will remain and can no longer be removed.

Desolate Lands Rewards

Upon completing a battle in Desolate Lands, the total damage you deal to a boss correlates into a rating that determines the quality of rewards you’ll receive.

Bosses reward a random assortment of items and currency – including Relic Boost Stones, which increase the secondary stats (also known as ‘sub stats’) of Relics by varied amounts depending on the Relic Boost Stones’ rarity.

There are currently four different rarities of Relic Boost Stones: Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary.

Each Relic Boost Stone has the ability to increase any one of these following secondary stats: HP, ATK, DEF, HP Bonus (%), ATK Bonus (%), DEF Bonus (%), and SPD.

Below is the minimum damage requirement for each rating:

• F — 0
• C — 50,000
• B — 200,000
• A — 600,000
• A+ — 1,500,000
• S — 2,000,000
• SS — 3,000,000
• SSS — 4,000,000

Note that if your team doesn’t survive the battle, the highest rating you can achieve is an A+, regardless of if your score is higher than 1,500,000.

Below are the drop rates for Relic Stones within each rating:

• F — No Relic Boost Stones
• C — 100% Uncommon
• B — 50% Uncommon, 50% Rare
• A — 30% Uncommon, 60% Rare, 10% Epic
• A+ — 80% Rare, 20% Epic
• S — 70% Rare, 26% Epic, 4% Legendary
• SS — 55% Rare, 38% Epic, 7% Legendary
• SSS — 35% Rare, 55% Epic, 10% Legendary

Shadowgale Relic Boost Stones

Below is a list of Relic Boost Stones that can drop from Shadowgale, for the Relic sets:

• Hades;
• Abiding Panacea;
• Ocean Waves;
• Fiery Incandescence;
• Sword Avatara, and;
• Adamantine.

Shadowstream Relic Boost Stones

Below is a list of Relic Boost Stones that can drop from Shadowstream, for the Relic sets:

• Hammer of Thor;
• Tyranny of Zeus;
• Astral Witchcraft;
• Immensus Peak;
• The Enchanter, and;
• The Light Above.

Shadowfire Relic Boost Stones

Below is a list of Relic Boost Stones that can drop from Shadowfire, for the Relic sets:

• War Machine;
• Wind Walker;
• Snow Dowager;
• Master Grove;
• Stoneveins, and;
• Apollo’s Bow.

Story

The renowned geology professor in Gyrate entered the Desolate Lands for the first time while leading his students to the Grandis Rift Valley on an expedition. Unlike in the rest of the world, every object in the Desolate Lands emits Divine Waves. The Union members can take advantage of the 4 Miramon within the Lands to greatly boost their Esper powers!