I’m currently [taking part in the Nexon PEAK Post Challenge].

The Succubus is one of Mabinogi’s major characters. Back in Mabinogi online, you could only meet her by taking on Rabbie Dungeon alone as a male character, while in Mabinogi Mobile, you face her in a raid. So when the Succubus raid was added, my friends and I were excited. The Succubus finally has a raid! Let’s jump right in!

But the Succubus was anything but easy. At the time, our classes were Fire Mage, Warrior, Swordsman, and Dual Blade. Our lineup was a little shaky without a healer, but we had plenty of confidence, so we went for it—and quickly failed. We didn’t have the combat power to clear it right at release, and the lack of a healer didn’t help. Still, we wanted to beat the Succubus raid with just the four of us.

So we started learning the mechanics one by one. Okay, roses show up here, then suddenly we’re pulled into a dream... We talked things through, looked things up, and each brought along elixirs, bandages, and the best potions we could get. We died so many times. Sometimes it was a full wipe, sometimes we failed the dream mechanic and died when the black Succubus descended, and sometimes we burned through every revive we had. But in the end, we did it.

Break, Break, Break!

The key to beating the Succubus was Break. To clear the raid, we had to trigger Break before the time limit was up. We decided the Fire Mage and Warrior would make up Team 1, with the Swordsman and Dual Blade on Team 2.

The first rose usually flew toward me as the ranged Fire Mage, so Team 2 would move away from the Succubus while the Warrior ran over to me. Once inside, the Warrior and I threw fire grenades and used skills with the interrupt tag as much as we could, doing everything possible to trigger Break on the Succubus in there.

Outside, my Swordsman and Dual Blade friends on Team 2 worked to bring down the shadows on either side of the Succubus as quickly as possible. The faster they took those shadows out, the easier it was for Team 1 to trigger Break on the Succubus inside.

Once Team 1 triggered Break on the inner Succubus, we had to head back out and, with all four of us together, trigger Break on the outer Succubus to stop the twin Succubi from descending. The Succubus raid’s mechanics really did begin and end with Break.

Finding the Right Partners

That meant we had to think carefully about who would go in together, since every class had its own strengths and weaknesses. Fire Mage was great at handling multiple enemies, but average at best when it came to triggering Break. Warrior was one of the best classes for the job, while Swordsman and Dual Blade were better at it than Fire Mage but couldn’t quite match Warrior. So we paired Fire Mage + Warrior on Team 1 and Swordsman + Dual Blade on Team 2.

Stock Up on Everything You Can

We each stocked up on the highest-grade potions and bandages we could use, along with advanced mixed enhancement elixirs (Landslide) to boost our heavy hits and multi-hits. Of all the grenades available, fire grenades added the most to the Break gauge, so everyone brought those too. To get as much as possible out of our food buffs, we ate food that restored our ultimate gauge, then followed it up with food that boosted attack and defense.

We saved up gold from dailies and weeklies, grinding hunting grounds and dungeons to upgrade our gear. We picked up better runes too, working out combinations that would help us trigger Break more easily or deal more damage against the Succubus. With Warrior being our only particularly tanky class, we also looked for ways to keep the rest of us alive.

What’s Left? Practice, Practice, Practice!

Next came practice. We had our Team 1 and Team 2 pairings, but getting each pair to move in sync and enter at just the right moment took practice, as did coordinating a quick Break once inside. If a rose hit another teammate on its way to the intended target, that teammate would get pulled in instead, so everyone needed to know exactly where to move.

We worked out when to throw our grenades and when to use our ultimates to bring down the shadows quickly, along with which direction each of us should move, since we all had different skills. The Swordsman’s ultimate, for example, dealt damage in a long rectangle, so we adjusted the positioning to catch both shadows in its range at once. The Fire Mage’s ultimate also fired in a straight line, so I took on the same role as the Swordsman.

While the pair inside worked on triggering Break, the Dual Blade and Warrior handled luring the outer Succubus away and keeping her occupied so she couldn’t attack them. That meant keeping her purple flowers and poison zones away from the people inside, giving them cover while they worked.

Finally, a (Tearful) Clear

That first clear of the Succubus raid was such a thrill. We finally got her—and we did it without any of us changing classes. Sure, it took a lot of attempts, a lot of potions, and a lot of elixirs, but we had finally pulled it off. Our combat power had climbed a huge amount along the way too, since we’d each put so much into upgrades to take her down.

The rewards for defeating the Succubus weren’t much compared to everything we’d put into it, but I still remember the thrill of that first clear so clearly. Wow, we got her. We finally got her. We did it! The four of us had talked it all through on Discord, adjusting our plans as we went, and finally clearing the Succubus raid together was an incredible dopamine rush.

I should’ve gotten the Succubus statue in the shot ㅠㅠ

Conclusion

These days, we can clear the Succubus raid without much trouble, and it’s become another routine task. But we still remember all the effort we put into it, putting our heads together to figure out the fight and prepare. Whether we’re studying guides or jumping in and talking things through as we learn, there’s a real joy in finding our way to a clear, and those memories stay with us. And we’ll have fun taking on the next challenge, too.