Ebondrake Citadel in Blade and Soul

As the challenging new Blade and Soul dungeon, Ebondrake Citadel demands thorough preparation. Based on extensive player testing and community feedback, this guide consolidates the critical knowledge needed to succeed where many groups struggle.

Before attempting this content, your team must have completed both Sogun’s Lament and Shattered Masts. Attack power requirements are substantial: approximately 550 AP for 6-player groups and 600+ AP for the more demanding 4-player version. Unlike earlier dungeons where skilled players could carry weaker teammates, Ebondrake Citadel requires every member to perform their role flawlessly. The final boss mechanics eliminate the possibility of carries, meaning any single player’s failure will result in team wipes.

One of the most punishing mechanics involves periodic boss debuffs that reflect 50% of incoming damage for 30-second durations. This reflection is mitigated exclusively through specific bracelet effects: Phantom Brand Reduction from Python/Asura Bracelets or Phantom Brand Resistance from Awakened/True Python Bracelets. Attempting this content without the proper bracelet will cause you to literally kill yourself through damage reflection, making this gear non-negotiable.

Class composition is equally critical. Your team must include either an Assassin or Summoner, as these are the only classes providing essential stealth party iframe abilities. Additionally, all non-Assassin, Summoner, and Warlock players need Second Wind Tier 3 Stage 2/3 with Knockdown/Daze capabilities, since Sin/Sum/WL classes lack CCs on their Trinket skills. Alternatively, classes with specific Daze resistance skills like Destroyer Hongmoon Emberstomp, Hurricane, Blade Dancer Vortex, or Warlock Sanctum can fulfill this role.

Unlike previous content where developers provided shortcuts, NC West has designed Ebondrake Citadel to require precise execution of all mechanics. This represents a significant difficulty spike that demands both proper gear and class synergy.

The initial approach involves navigating a short empty corridor leading to the first boss, who is currently restrained by Ebondrake Illusionists. Your initial priority should be eliminating all aggressive red Bonemask adds before targeting the passive yellow Ebondrake Illusionists that activate the boss encounter.

The Bonemask Brute boss features 12 million HP with a tight 6-minute enrage timer. Resembling the Colonels from Soulstone Plains, this boss lacks self-damaging mechanics but demands consistent execution of standard Bonemask attack rotations.

Approximately every 60-120 seconds, the boss creates Dark Chi Circles on the battlefield. The critical mechanic here involves limiting these circles—if ten accumulate simultaneously, it triggers an immediate team wipe. At every 10% health interval, the boss randomly executes special attacks that require precise crowd control responses.

Failure to properly CC during these windows causes the boss to repeat the attack twice more without additional CC opportunities, while also generating two extra Dark Chi Circles beneath random players. Successful CC application applies a debuff preventing the boss from using the same ability consecutively.

One specific pattern involves the boss channeling power to its shoulders, followed by a field-wide area of effect roar and then a spin2win attack. This sequence requires immediate double Daze interruption during the spin phase to prevent catastrophic damage.

Zakhan initiates combat with a rapid double arc swipe that inflicts daze status, identifiable as a yellow attack indicator. This opening move is particularly dangerous as it can chain into his spinning saw blade technique where he curls up and delivers multiple consecutive strikes, also causing daze with red attack markers. His ranged capabilities include a swift wide sweep that projects a crescent-shaped energy wave, resulting in knockback effects. Another distance attack involves dragging his blade across the ground to launch a long-range energy wave that causes knockup, requiring immediate positioning adjustments.

At 90% health, Zakhan demonstrates teleportation abilities similar to Fujin and Sekjin, relocating away from the current aggro holder. He summons six explosive dark circles in surrounding areas that cause knockback upon detonation. The boss undergoes significant transformation at five health thresholds (90%, 70%, 50%, 30%, 10%), revealing his “true self” by converting his right arm cloak into a monstrous appendage. During these transitions, he marks the most distant player with a distinctive red swirl, signaling the need for immediate group consolidation beneath the boss.

Coordination becomes critical as Zakhan launches an area-of-effect projectile targeted specifically at the marked individual. All non-marked players must cease attacking immediately to enable the Assassin or Summoner to deploy group stealth capabilities—Protection Decoy or Stealth Smokescreen for Assassins, Enhanced Seed Shroud for Summoners. The marked player bears responsibility for either breaking stealth instantly or evading the incoming projectile through precise movement.

Following the initial marker attack, Zakhan unleashes four additional projectiles targeting random visible players. This sequence underscores why Assassin or Summoner presence is non-negotiable, as protective abilities from other classes like Blade Master’s Winged Protector, Blade Dancer’s Maelstrom, and Force Master’s Frost Sheath prove completely ineffective. Unmarked players struck by these projectiles suffer approximately 30,000 damage and enter a 10-second lockdown state with escalating damage-over-time effects.

The designated marker must deliberately absorb all four projectiles, which deal no damage to them but grant the powerful “Demonic Energy” buff providing 20% attack power enhancement. Strategic positioning near your group ensures this valuable buff transfers to the entire party. Failure conditions include inadequate stealth application, the marker failing to exit stealth, or any non-marked player becoming visible prematurely.

Once Zakhan raises his arm and commences projectile firing, the targeting sequence concludes and normal combat may resume. The Demonic Energy buff persists for two minutes but applies continuous damage to the bearer. Upon expiration, the affected player enters a 10-second lockdown with extreme damage-over-time and vulnerability to additional attacks.

Zakhan subsequently executes “Heaven’s Breach,” mirroring Jinsoyun’s World Breaker attack. Players possessing the Demonic Energy buff become rooted but immune to the effect. Those without the buff face 30,000 unavoidable damage unless a Blade Master preemptively casts Winged Protector before the lift occurs. Standard invincibility frames prove insufficient against the force lift, and survival still results in substantial downtime—accumulating to over one minute across all five mechanic repetitions if consistently failed.

Beyond 90% health, Zakhan introduces a new rotation: positioning centrally to cast “Dark Void,” creating a field-wide vacuum followed by a one-shot area-of-effect preparation. The vacuum cannot be avoided through conventional iframes except with specific daze-resistance skills, necessitating that all non-Sin/Sum/Warlock players utilize Second Wind CC to interrupt the area-of-effect, or having a player resist the vacuum and execute double CC independently.

He generates dark exploding circles and seizes the most distant player (this grab cannot be iframed), stealing their buff to enhance his own power. However, Zakhan suffers 3 million damage (approximately 8% of his maximum health) when the stolen buff expires after one minute. Ideally, the marked player or the Assassin/Summoner should be targeted to prevent post-debuff lockdown during subsequent mechanics.

The grab mechanic, while susceptible to crowd control, should not be interrupted. Protective abilities like Blade Master’s Winged Protector, Blade Dancer’s Maelstrom, and Force Master’s Frost Sheath can mitigate the approximately 20,000 grab damage. This sequence repeats every 40 seconds or when Zakhan’s buff reaches 20 seconds remaining, ensuring expiration even without post-Dark Void grabbing.

At the 50% health milestone, Zakhan activates “Demonic Seal,” enveloping the perimeter walls with a purple energy field. A persistent damage-over-time effect blankets the entire battlefield for the remainder of the encounter, compounding with Demonic Energy damage-over-time. Crucially, Demonic Seal prevents chi recovery upon death from this point forward.

Zakhan modifies his marking strategy, targeting the two most distant players but designating one as a decoy. The authentic marker is consistently the second furthest player, while the furthest serves as bait. Zakhan captures the fake marker before initiating his primary mechanic, with the grab functioning as a linear area-of-effect attack. The damage component also operates as an area-of-effect that eliminates markings from all players, necessitating careful positioning to avoid its trajectory.

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