Sortie Basement Solo Collection

For Botulus, I make Liquefaction SC + 3K tp Shining strike for fusion. I got charmed maybe 4 times out of maybe 60 runs. It happened today. I sleep II it. Run to basenent. Go back after putting trusts back on and start again.

How often are you getting the metal from Botulus?

Having at least 1 light resist in the equipment screen (See link below) is critical to fully activate Magic Evasion statistic you are wearing to resist charm spell.

I do my Sortie AE run on BLU/RUN and always keep LUX rune with Malignance set again Botulus and rarely I got charm. Neck, earring and ring would be a nice addition to increase resistance. Without /RUN I would definitely wear the Wuji Ring during this whole fight.

BG-Wiki Magic Evasion explanation

I get metal every run.

When you watch videos of people doing successfully botulus you pretty much always observe:
-people standing in close range of botulus pretty much the entire time
-Damage dealers positioning behind botulus
-primarily magic based WS used sometimes with regular magic casting mixed in (Magic Bursting)

I do throw in physical WS occasionally, for instance to get Mythic Aftermath going and to open/close skillchains to MB with burst affinity but then go back to magic WS.

The exact chest condition is afaik not 100% known but if you follow the 3 key criteria listed above the chest should usually spawn.

Just make sure to not haste to boss right after without opening the chest, it's easy to miss because the botulus model covers it completely.


I said it before, I really think it's worth it to pivot strategy to Dhartok solo once you finished your mains empy +2 set because those Ra'Kaz. Starstones become a serious bottleneck if you don't.

For comparison I have around 6 starstones saved up while saphires must be close to a full 99 stack despite having switched to dhartok strategy a long time ago.

I missed maybe 3-4 days farming sortie during free campaign and I didn't see a single starstone despite doing Dhartok + the easy blue chests in F, G and H (if enough time was left).

You just fighting it from behind? You bursting or just doing the SC? I've had bad luck with metal when doing magic bursts.

Yes, deal damage from behind. Using magic WS ensures your trust tank can hold hate.

I'm doing it on BLU so my magic bursts are limited to like once every 90 seconds anyway.

I don't know what job you use but there are plenty of videos on the first page for different jobs.

In the SCH video for example he does most damage with club WS, I think he uses seraph strike. He deals around 50% damage that way then gets charmed.
Afterwards he continues with primarily SCing and MBing with strategems, since trusts are dead he faces botulus from the front but still gets the chest at the end.

I always had some issue getting Metal with other players in a lowman setup with trust but I have no issue solo on BLU/RUN.

For BLU/RUN solo with trusts (Qualtada, Joachim, Koru, Sylvie and Monbereau) I switch Qultada for Valaineral. I place Valaineral again a wall and try to move Botulus so I have a wall behind me.

Then, behind Botulus, I get AM3 with Tizona and spam Expiacion without any skillchain. I cast Tenebral for defence down without magic burst. I do get the coffer every time doing that. If Val loose hate I start to use Sudden Lunge to stun, move behind and do Expiacion. If he start to resist I use Unbridle + Absolute Terror that hold him for multiple Expiacion in the back.

Recently done duo run with SCH and make everything a breeze with Animus and Caper Emissarius. But with multiple DD drop rate is an issue.

Would really like to nail what are the real requirement for Metal #E.

Did the SCH stay in close range of botulus/behind it or did he keep his distance?

If you still consistently get the metal despite spamming expiacion then magic WS apparently isn't necessary and only used for low hate generation.

Damage from behind seems key and maybe distance/staying close range.


I once lost trusts due to charm, died to resummon trusts while botulus went back behind the gate that closed at that point. I took the exit from E and reentered E to face botulus again, made sure to do everything I usually do but still didn't get the metal. Means there is either a time limit or the chance for metal is lost once E has been left.

My observations have been 50% dmg of any source from behind. However, I question if while it's casting and hate shifts if that causes a disconnect between the target he's currently targeting and what is "his back". Me (SAM) would open with a 2-3 step shooting for about 60-70% hp remaining. Then we had the Seraph Blade RDM and Leaden COR blowing it up form the rear. Based on my enmity generation or lack thereof if I didn't pressure it enough sometimes the COR would rip hate near the end. There have been times where I know I never did more than 50% even considering Masa AM3 melee time where I turn and I think the casting plays a roll in that enmity shift.

Or I just failed. It's not the easiest thing to track with 3 DD on it.

The second player on SCH stayed at close range and behind Botulus with me. I can confirm I killed Botulus doing only Expiacion without any Magic WS many time and never had issue not getting the Metal #E.

This also confirm that the one with most hate doesn't need to be the one giving final blow because I got it with SCH securing hate on Valaineral and also by doing solo with hate on me at some point (30-50% HP left on Botulus) and going behind Botulus using Absolute Terror or Sudden Lunge.

I agree that close range and majority of damage (WS or magical) from behind look required. But I also suspect that stable enmity control maintained with a real tank (or trust) for some time like the first maybe 50%HP (Have also read at least 30 second) might be a key factor. When we had multiple player and Botulus bouncing between people it failed pretty much all the time...

When I solo I don't rush damage and give Valaineral time to build hate while I buff and get TP for AM3. Then I start spamming Expiacion.

I can only speak to doing the AE solo route on RDM. But for dealing with the botulus, I summon two tank trusts, AAEV and Valaineral. I pull with bio iii and then drop sabo frazzle iii, addle ii, silence, distract iii, and para ii, slow ii, and blind ii, even though those three probably aren't all that important at helping the trusts keep hate. I park myself behind it and use crocea to sanguine blade it to death. Each sanguine at 1k tp does 5% of its health so it dies rather fast. While hate can bounce a little between the two trusts, at no point do I pull hate.

I've never failed to get the chest this way either. The jp wiki claims the condition is just doing 50% or more of its hp from behind, for what it's worth. As for slimy proposal, between tping in malignance and sabo addle ii,(no actual light resist or charm resist gear) it has never once landed on me. Of course, the floor is never 0%, so presumably it'll get lucky and get me one day.

I suspect the move isn't all that accurate to begin with, since despite the presumed level difference between them, lamia in besieged have a much easier time charming me through malignance and sabo addle ii.

I get Valaineral as tank and I use double clubs. I make liquefaction immanence skillchain then I hit it with Shining strike at 3k TP. Shining does about 45k damages and fusion SC over 60k. It goes down pretty quick. I timed it at 4:30 mins today and got metal. I permit myself 1 MB of about 38k on it during the fight.

I'm not sure how long botulus takes for me but I'm pretty sure I get 2 burst affinities off before he dies. The first chain affinity + burst affinity combo drops him between 75-85% I believe. The SC damage must be rather low <10k I'd guess, I usually do expiacion -> thrashing assault = fusion sometimes I add savage blade for light but usually finish with Blinding Fulgor magic burst which lands for around 50-60k.

Maybe it's because my initial SC damage is low cause chain affinity is so weak that I can do 2 SC + MB / fight and still get chest. Have you ever tried to do more than 1 MB?

You can fully resist without 1 light resist. You only need The specific elemental resists to get the 1/8th resist on Damage spells hitting you.

I agree we can fully resist enfeebling magic without elemental resist. However getting at least 1 in the element do increases Magic Evasion effectiveness on enfeebling spell casted on you and help get more full resists or reduce duration of landed one.

This has been tested and is the main reason some tanks often keep Carrier's Sash on them.

PLD Sash resist on Enfeebling magic