SAO: Alicization Rising Steel - Very Hard Cathedral Assault Guide Vol1

We were lamenting how easy the game was…. How there wasn’t much of a challenge…  Then we heard that Very Hard difficulty for Cathedral Assault Vol. 1 was coming and we rejoiced!  Finally some tough content! Now it has arrived, and as it turns out, it is….. Very Hard... Fully clearing this event yields some pretty nice rewards:

• Crystal Fragments which can be exchanged for Golden Yellow Knight Armor R4 (max limit break: increases ATK & MATK by +6% (Alice))

• a 4* Exchange Sword for weapon exchanging 

• a title for +10% critical damage in Ordinal Battle Vol. 3

• numerous diamond cubes

So it is definitely worth the challenge. Each boss defeated will reward you with a portion of these benefits. In this guide we offer tips and strategies for clearing as much of the Cathedral as possible.

Huge Time-Saver

If a battle is not going well for you, you can close the app and reopen it, and you will be able to restart that battle/wave. You will not be able to change the characters you are using, but this way you can learn the boss's attack patterns and when you can get away with not healing/enhancing to maximize damage in order to get the boss's health to 50%/66% so you can beat it in 2/3 attempts.

Non-Boss Stages

Plan out your teams for each of the boss stages first, and avoid using those units on non-boss stages if possible as each boss stage will take at least 2 attempts - 3 if your units are not strong enough. Since you may want to use overlapping units for multiple bosses, potentially all 5 uses of a character will be used on boss stages, so you cannot afford to use them on non-boss stages. Only bring 4 units on non-boss stages, charge up your incarnate, use it on the final wave, and try to heal up at the end of each stage. 3* units are great to use on non-boss stages as the stages leading up to the boss are the same element as the boss, and they will not be needed after the boss.

Boss Stages 

Towards the end of each attempt, start counting and planning out the final few turns. Remember that the boss turns count towards the limit as well, and try to heal up so you can start the next attempt healthy (unless you plan to use recovery items).

3* Units

Do not underestimate 3* units whose elements are advantageous to the boss. The elemental advantage damage/damage reduction multiplier is 50%, making these units quite powerful and resilient.

Charge/Break Yell + Link Mechanic 

If using charge/break yell, use it on the last unit in a charge/break link as the yell multiplier multiplies the successive charge/break link multiplier (e.g. Alice -> Kirito(yell) will break more than Alice(yell) -> Kirito).

Madness the Kobold Lord:

Recommended Units: 1 Wind unit, Physical Res. buff (Selka / Kirito / Alice(Wind)), 3 breakers (Eydis/Ronie can substitute as 1), AOE Healer.

Note: Non-Wind units must have high HP & DEF: 7500+ HP and ~2500 DEF

Note: Units with 45% break may not be sufficient unless you are using Eydis/Ronie for their Break Yell.

Good Units: Kirito (-10% physical damage debuff), Wind units

Notable 3* Units: Selka (AOE healer), Golgorosso (breaker + damage), Leafa (charger)

Notable 2* Units: Egome (-10% ATK debuff)

• The boss’s incarnate only needs to be broken once per attempt, so you can sub your breakers in and out (may want to heal them for future attempts) just when you need them if they are not your strongest units. Make sure you link your breaks and use extra assaults if necessary.

• Make sure a wind unit is left with the highest HP after the boss's AOE to take the follow-up attack. This should usually be the case, but if not, one thing you can do is modify equipment to change units’ Max HP.

• The Physical Res. buff is not needed until the boss buffs his own attack, so remember when that is (usually after you incarnate, indicated by a boss normal turn + danger turn) or reset the battle if necessary to maximize damage before then. At that point, hopefully your units can survive the AOE with the physical res. buff (make sure to heal to full). The boss will eventually buff his own attack again, but the battle should end before he gets to attack.

• Remember that Selka(100)'s buff lasts for 3 turns; she should be charging otherwise.

• You can probably get off 1 incarnate attack per attempt. Don't bother charging after that if it's clear you can't get another one off. Heal up for the next attempt or squeeze in extra damage.

X’rphan Inferno:

Recommended Units: 2 Water units, 3 breakers (Eydis/Ronie can substitute as 1), AOE Healer (put as sub to dodge the boss’s initial attacks)

Good Units: Kid Alice (heal over time mitigates burn), Kirito (-10% physical damage debuff, physical res. buff), Water units

Notable 3* Units: Azurika (AOE healer + breaker), Volo (breaker + damage)

• The boss’s incarnate only needs to be broken once per attempt, so you can sub your breakers in and out (may want to heal them for future attempts) if they are not your strongest units. Make sure you link your breaks and use extra assaults if necessary.

• You need 2 Water units in at all times to take the 2 follow-up attacks after the boss's AOE attack.

• Play around the burn by having your healer Stay until after everyone else has taken their action and burn damage.

• You can probably get off 1 incarnate attack per attempt. Don't bother charging after that if it's clear you can't get another one off. Heal up for the next attempt or squeeze in extra damage.

• Towards the end of the battle, your non-water units may die to 2x Blaze Wing attacks. You may want to use recovery items to revive those units for the next attempt.

• To complete the no-deaths mission, you can whittle the boss down to a sliver of HP, run out of turns, then finish the boss off early on the next attempt.

Blackiron Sword Golem

Recommended Units: 3 Chargers (Leafa can substitute as 1), AOE Healer

Good Units: Kirito (-10% physical damage debuff, Physical Res. buff), Light units (subs for when incarnate is ready), units with Physical Res. buff (probably safe to bring as sub, and reset the battle if needed), Alice (Non-elemental) (Provoke)

Notable 3* Units: Yuuki (Provoke), Agil (Provoke)

Approach 1 (Leafa Required): With Leafa + 2 chargers, you can Incarnate often enough to never let the boss use his strong attack. Your 4th unit is a healer (Leafa is always enhancing). Subs can be units with strong Incarnates to be used when ready.

Approach 2 (No Leafa): You still charge as much as you can, but the boss will kill one of your units when you are unable to Incarnate in time. You can have units with the Provoke ability sub in and take the hit to preserve your powerful units a bit longer.

• After you Incarnate attack, he will reset your Incarnate back to 0% on his next danger turn, so don't bother charging before then. Instead, Heal and Enhance (Charge Yell for use after the boss’s turn, ATK/MATK buff, Physical Res. buff, etc).

• You may need a Physical Res. buff to survive the boss's normal AOE attack + follow-up attack.

• To complete the no-deaths mission, you can whittle the boss down to a sliver of HP, run out of turns, then finish the boss off early on the next attempt.