PSO2NGS ARKS Records: Drill: An Even Chillier Chase

Finally a use for my 1000 hours of floating board experience :)

Once all the teething problems were resolved, this quest became pretty fun to route and invent ways around obstacles, much more than a bog-standard cocoon. The floating board is still an enigma that I wish didn't erase my buffs every time I got on it, but I'm so used to its jank by now that I adapted to its bullshit pretty quickly.

If it wasn't for that lone Yedi I couldn't reach at the end, this probably was a 4:38.0. However I could not manage a run that got better than this due to the reliance on good AI.

My decision to use Force sub was immediately locked in as soon as I realised how anal the head hitbox on the big Yedi is, and how much it flails around with every attack. Luckily Force literally just got expanded upon, and with it, it received a skill that increases Rod's overall output by some very silly percentages, and most importantly works even as a sub class. Most notably it gives 20% extra Elemental Down, which is more than even Bouncer sub gives. I use Type 3 Foie to have a ridiculous elemental down output, and Tri-Shield to ensure I can cast it safely.

The elemental down threshold is so low in this quest that it is well worth the time investment of 2 CFoies and 1 Foie (all to the head) - or 5 CFoies at the end - to induce a long down that raises my crit chance and ensures everything is hitting the weak point. Technically Gu/Sl could do the same, but you'll never get the RNG right.

Wave 1
I prep the down with 2 CFoies and try to navigate towards the barrier, since I want to be able to run through it as soon as it goes down to minimise time loss to travelling (a common theme here). A lot of AI patterns will fail to follow me and as such a massive amount of resets happen here due to stalling or bad crits. When the position is favorable enough I try to land a Foie to his head to start the down and blast him. He should die during the second chain.

Boards
It has been a while since I had to sweat at floating boards, but the same rules apply:
Be on the flattest ground possible at all times
Avoid all red jump ramps unless they are required
Avoid every bump, rock, pebble, pile of snow
Jump before every boost/red ring if you won't crash into the above
Hit as few enemies as possible
Take the shortest path you can

Wave 2
It was easiest to execute this wave by jumping as high as possible to avoid aggro, then dropping down behind the boss to engage. This ensured a completely blue photon blast every time, and basically gave him only time to do one attack, and zero if I'm lucky. The other adds just die to incidental damage mostly. I have to ensure I have Hail of Bullets nearly or fully charged for the next wave though.

Wave 3
I have to hope he throws a rock at me as his first move, if so, the same number of techs will cause a down and I just blow him up. I did try to employ similar assassination strategies as the last wave to spend less time running, but never got a run to be faster than this while doing that, even though it probably should be - because he can just turn towards me as his one and only move, which makes him face the exit, which puts me closer.

Wave 4
There's a 50/50 chance the Banser will run at me instead of play his aggro animation, if so, this gets more sloppy. But I'm prioritising getting to the end of the bridge over killing him quickly here, using Blaze Shot Type 2 (3 also works) to move closer then a tiny chain to do damage and charge Hail up. Ideally the Banser dies without having to use MARS to finish it off.

MARS???
I use MARS to move to the last wave here, because it is faster than the floating board under the right conditions. Scylla's Meteor Rider has a burst of movement if tapped, and with today's PP values can be used 5 times in a row. Fenrir-boosted sprinting is just slightly slower than the floating board but the distance is already made up by then - and then the two forward thrusts at the end seal the deal as you'd be forced off your floating board at a further distance than that. I finish the Banser off with MARS to be able to walk back faster after he dies. I think MARS will always end up being faster than the board here if you ensure you have 500 PP. It also reduces the risk of missing the final Blastisigne as it's way easier than hitting a ramp jump.

Wave 5
There are so many fodder enemies that I just pump and dump as fast as possible. Ideally I don't have a straggler man-standing at me at the end though. The AI can be sort of pacified by targeting something other than the boss, causing him to pace around, or even cancel his triple slam move which I do briefly at the very end.

Overall, a really deep quest, with REALLY good loot too - a shame I had to dodge all the crisp meat though.

0:00 Wave 1
0:37 Wave 2
1:46 Wave 3
2:49 Wave 4
3:53 Wave 5