The basics: The Monolith’s requirements
Divine Beasts are hidden by default in Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris. They’ll only show themselves once you’ve fully activated a Monolith. These structures, likewise, won’t appear on your map unless you’ve spawned the Divine Beast, to begin with.
Note: Then again, you’ll be given a hint if you’re close to a Monolith’s location because the game will tell you (with an accompanying warning sound) that you’re in an area with “super high-level enemies.”
Anyway, once you find a Monolith. You’re told that you need to engrave seven seals — aka. kill seven specific elite/relic/mutant-type beasts in specific zones. For instance, the Monolith in Cordea Plains tells you that activating it requires seals from:
- Cordea Plains (Norlangarth)
- Mildea Plains (Wesderath)
If you’re following the requirements per Monolith, you can easily get these tasks done. However, if you’re going to random locations killing stuff, well, let’s just say you could get confused because you won’t know which Monolith those kills were for. That’s why our guide is categorized based on a Monolith’s requirements.
Finding those elites using map icons
A Monolith’s requirements — elites, mutants, relic mobs, “Clandestine Beasts,” “Head of a Violent Clan,” and so on — are shown on your map as a grey or yellow eight-pointed icon. Some call it the “spider” or the “eye.” I just call it the “eight-pointed star” due to Warhammer 40K vibes.
The “cattle skull” (aka. “The Rock’s Brahma Bull”) icon on your map doesn’t count. Similarly, Clamps/Clamp Clusters are also not counted. It’s just the “eight-pointed star’s” objectives. You can see this example in the image below:
You’ll also know the mob is the correct one because a pop-up tells you as you’re adventuring whenever you’re close to these locations.
Alternatively, you’ve probably spotted some high-level ant while roaming around in beginner zones like Cordea Plains. It’s so out of place so it must be one of the targets.
Some elites are readily seen as you’re exploring. Others, meanwhile, are cloaked (aka. clandestine beasts) and will emerge to surprise you once you reach that location.
Defeating these mobs will earn you rewards. Some of these elites might give you weapons while others provide you with items/resources for crafting.
Note: Don’t forget that some of these monsters will respawn after some time, so you could farm for the same drops. However, killing the same enemy will no longer add another Monolith tally so you’ve gotta pick different targets.
Fighting elites/mutants and Divine Beasts
Be prepared with your sword skills and your chain bursts. These elites require you to fight them within a particular area as well, so you’ll need to stay close to them.
It also bears mentioning that Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris only has a level 50 cap, and some elites and Divine Beasts will be significantly higher. The disparity between your level and that of your opponents will lead you to miss a majority of your attacks unless you’ve got the accuracy bonus.
I would advise you to unlock the BUF (Buff) tree’s “Hawkeye” passive (+10% accuracy) or, better yet, the Rapier’s “High-Precision Machine” passive (+15 accuracy; seen below). You don’t even need to have the Rapier equipped while you’re fighting Divine Beasts, but you would want to have that passive added to your skills palette. Of course, improving your proficiency with specific weapons (by using them often) will greatly boost your accuracy with those weapons as well.
As for your Sacred Arts, Wind Lv. 2: Magic Mirror and Lv. 3: Accelerator are the two best options. The former creates a large barrier that stops all projectiles (perfect against Divine Beasts or elites that shoot out fireballs or lasers), and the latter greatly boosts your squad’s speed. Meanwhile, Steel Lv.2: Strong Body, buffs your attack and defense.
With regards to healing, your Light spells like Lv.1: Luminous, remain helpful. Also, you might want to have a dedicated healer (ie. Asuna), so make sure you’ve unlocked your classes/Ex skills via warrior statues.
Then, once you’ve obtained some healing or buffing abilities, check out her Records menu (seen below) so you can customize and edit her AI tactics that will trigger during battles.
Regarding attack patterns of elites, remember that these are still the mob types you’ve encountered before. They’re just souped-up versions that can quickly burst you down. Divine Beasts, meanwhile, are also similar to certain bosses and they’ve got some nasty attacks due to being at ridiculously higher levels. Some regular attacks could drop your HP by 50 to 75%.
For best results, you could go ahead and join up with other people via Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris‘ online multiplayer feature — just watch the video below from YouTuber CGInferno where he was joined by another player (who brought their own companions) for the Divine Beast fight.
A note regarding multiplayer
Fighting Divine Beasts when you’re with another player will be drastically different compared to playing solo. Not only will you have more companions along for the encounter, but human players will be able to focus on dedicated roles. For instance, instead of relying on an AI companion to heal or buff at specific percentages of your health, one player can simply become your dedicated healer and buffer throughout the fight, while the other does their best to DPS the boss (along with the other AI squadmates).
Just remember that the game’s multiplayer is very wonky. You could even encounter quest bugs that leave you with no other choice but to restart a chapter. You could just try the multiplayer after beating the campaign or you could wait for the upcoming patch.
In any case, the Divine Beast that CGInferno’s team fought is called Sunhorn the Vanished. Let’s go ahead and check out how to spawn this enemy via Cordea Plains’ Monolith.
Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris is available on Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.
