Tips for Dauntless’ Escalation Mode

With the Stormchasers update Dauntless introduced a new game mode, called Escalation. It sees you (and hopefully other Slayers!) fighting multiple, random Behemoths one after the other in a chain of islands to gather super-charged aether in your lantern. After each Behemoth is killed, you charge your lantern and can choose from a list of random perks (known as AMPs) to help you in the next fight.

There are two types of Escalation available, depending on which quests you’ve completed - and what your gear score is. If you have gear at 350 or higher you can access the first Escalation which goes up to Level 13. With gear at 450 or higher you can do the one that goes up to Level 50. If you do poorly across the islands and allow the danger level to raise too much, you’ll go up fewer levels. That means not reaching Level 40, which grants you access to the fifth island and an audience with the season’s “boss” Behemoth: Malkerion.

Here are some tips that I’ve come up with to help you in Escalations, because they can be tricky!

Think carefully about your loadout

You’re unable to restock between battles, so you should think before you set off. Do you like to use a lot of pylons? Do you prefer a support role? Will you need a ton of stamina? I’m a big fan of the Ostian Repeaters (which helps against Malkerion!), so I usually bring items to heal others - and Bulwark Tonics because they reduce damage taken.

Use it to complete bounties

Completing bounties is the only way you’re going to reach the end of the Hunt Pass. It’s much easier if you’re playing through Escalations, though! Bounties that say “hunt x Behemoths” are perfect - conversely any that have “patrol hunt” or “gather” are terrible. You’re going to be fighting six or seven Behemoths in a row - if you can get a bounty for “Hunt 4 Behemoths with a Frost Weapon” or “Hunt 8 Behemoths (Axes count as 2)” then you’re laughing! Bonus, since the Behemoths are random you can complete missions, too!

Stay away from the Behemoth you’re not fighting

You’ll encounter two Behemoths together, on the second and fourth islands. You’d think this tip was obvious, but I’ve seen so many Slayers ignore the Behemoth that they’re not hitting in that moment. For instance, while you’re wailing on a Skarn you should keep it between you and the other Behemoth. If you’re lucky, the other one will launch and attack at you and hurt the Skarn - if you’re unlucky it will just push the Skarn a bit. Your mileage will vary with fast moving Behemoths.

Try to get a multi-hit

There are a couple of lantern hold abilities that will hit more than one Behemoth at a time. The Drask's Eye lantern fires a lightning bolt in a straight line, and is perfectly capable of hitting another Behemoth a short distance away. The fireball from an Embermane's Rapture will hit two Behemoths that are close together. Similarly, Pangar's Shine will cause ice damage to any that are standing still for too long. Some weapons can also hurt multiple foes if they’re nearby, like the sword’s Ardent Cyclone special attack, or the Ostian Repeater’s empowered Salvo Chamber special attack.

Unlock Eidolons as soon as possible

As you go through Escalations, you gather XP which will unlock talent points that you can put into the Talent Tree. This will power up AMPs - or unlock new ones - such as unlocking four rare Eidolon perks with one talent point. Eidolons are little balls of light which hover over your shoulder, and deals 350 damage to the closest Behemoth (or summoned minion) periodically. Depending on the Eidolon, you can speed up their attack by dodging, using a consumable, or using a lantern ability. It’s literally doing damage while you’re just running around - win-win!

Mount the Malkerion

The island which you fight the Malkerion on is bigger than the rest, as the Behemoth flies around and only rarely lands. One of its attacks opens up several aether vents on the ground which will send you into the air, allowing you to use a grappling hook to get on its back. Up there you can do heavy and light attacks which do more damage - unless you’re using the Ostian Repeaters! Those can only do normal attacks. However, if you have a lantern ability that causes damage, that will work too!

I hope these tips help you get all the super-charged aether you need, and maybe even go up some Hunt Pass levels to boot! Safe slaying.