Hell Mode

Hell Mode is a special mode in DFO/DNF that allows you fight extraordinarily hard enemies for a chance at some pretty good rewards, most notably, Epic equipment. Outside of some special methods, this is the only way to obtain Epic equipment.

Nexon has recently put up a guide concerning Hell Mode: http://dungeonfighter.nexon.net/Magazine/Content.aspx?boardNo=600&contentNo=007wa

How to Encounter

Hell Mode can be encountered in one of two ways:

• Random: The first way is to simply encounter it randomly. The chances of encountering it increase with more party members.

• Forced: The second way is to force Hell Mode. This is done through quests given by Grandis, which upon completion, will unlock Hell Mode for a set of dungeons.

Hell Mode will only appear in dungeons from Sky Tower onwards (meaning they're not in Grand Flores and Lorien, with the exception of Vilmark).

Forcing Hell Mode

In order to force Hell Mode, you first must unlock it via quests given to you by Grandis. These have you going through and defeating the bosses of the general area (Sky Tower, Behemoth, and Aphelia). After that, you can then enter Hell Mode by having the appropriate Stone. Otherwise, you can have the Stone, but not be able to force Hell Mode.

In order to get a stone, you'll need either Demon Scrolls or Invitations. These drop off bosses and come in three varieties.

Region	Required Stone	Stone Materials
Sky Tower, Behemoth	1 Evil Quelling Stone of Water	Water Demon Scroll & Miasma's Invitation
Aphelia Post, Mt. Thunderime, King's Relic	1 Evil Quelling Stone of the Earth	Earth Demon Scroll & Nightshade's Invitation
North Myre, Moonlight Tavern, Coastal Junction, Vilmark, Screaming Cavern	1 Evil Quelling Stone of the Cosmos	Cosmos Demon Scroll & Darksteel's Invitation
Empyrean (Antwer Canyon)	1 Evil Quelling Stone of Mastery	Demon Scroll & Invitation of Dignity

• Water Demon Scroll & Miasma's Invitation - 12 Invitations/Scrolls = 1 Evil Quelling Stone of Water
• Earth Demon Scroll & Nightshade's Invitation - 15 Invitations/Scrolls = 1 Evil Quelling Stone of the Earth
• Cosmos Demon Scroll & Darksteel's Invitation - 15 Invitations/Scrolls = 1 Evil Quelling Stone of the Cosmos

The Invitations are untradable, but the Demon Scrolls can be traded to other players. You can also trade in the Demon Scrolls for other scrolls (Fire > Water > Earth). Both the Invitation and Scrolls can be traded in for Stones that will allow you to force Hell Mode. After forcing Hell Mode, the Stone is used up. You can also do this in a party, but everyone needs the appropriate stone.

What to Expect

If you've encountered Hell Mode, you'll get a notice at the start of the dungeon. A pink boss symbol will appear on the map, indicating where the Hell monsters are located. You'll also see a box with "Sealed Gate Progress" and a number. If you get hit more than the number listed (say 50 times), you'll be unable to break the Sealed Gate, and no goodies for you. Once in the room, you'll notice a sealed container. After all the normal enemies have been cleared in the room, you can choose whether or not to hit it. Basically, Hell Mode is optional. After hitting the Sealed Gate, it'll react, and some Fallen Guardians will pop out of it. After defeating them, hit the Sealed Gate some more. Eventually, the Hell Demon will pop out, and you'll do battle with it. If you're lucky, it'll drop some nice items upon defeat.

The Demon that pops up depends on the stage (Sky Tower, Behemoth, Aphelia, Mount Thunderime, and so on).

Hell Monsters

Fallen Guardian

Appear when you hit the Sealed Gate. These guys should be your first priority as they can cause major issues. Can summon a staff that deals constant damage if you get close, but it can be destroyed. Fallen Guardians can also put you to Sleep. Can also become immune to damage for a short period; it'll turn black when this happens.

Blaze

Likely the first Hell Demon you'll come across. Specializes in the Fire element. He appears in Sky Tower's Hell Mode. Interestingly enough, if you save one of your GSD quests, you can have him fight Blaze instead. Later patches will fix that issue however.

Movelist

• Flame Aura: Special Aura that causes Burn status and deals damage if you stay to close Blaze for too long.
• Meteor Drop: Summons a meteor to crash into the battlefield. The meteor's landing zone is marked by an orange spell circle. Landed meteors continuously spawn Adors until destroyed, and causes periodic fire damage (Burn status) to any players within its vicinity.
• Ador Kamikaze: The Adors summoned from the Meteors can home in on a character and blow up.
• Flame Bullets: Blaze shoots Flame Bullets from his hands that can home in your character. However, these do have a limited range and can be avoided.
• Flames of Vengeance: A fire-nova like attack. Casts an expanding ring of fire that propagates from Blaze, knocking everything in range away from him and inflicts a high level Burn status.

Strategy

• Avoid staying close to Blaze for too long, as his melee attacks are strong and his Flame Aura will cause you to burn continuously.
• Dodge falling meteors whenever possible: These are capable of inflicting upwards of 1000 fire damage if they crash into you upon landing. Also, you can actually get stuck in the Meteors if they land directly ontop of you, burning you to death AND leaving you extremely vulnerable to Blaze's attacks, until you manage to free yourself by destroying the meteor. Meteors can hit you while they are airborne as well, don't try to dodge them by jumping as the direction they come from is random. (50/50 chance to get hit)
• Destroy meteors as soon as possible as they can cause major problems; These block your way, hinder your vision, damages you when you are near it, and will spawn Adors periodically until destroyed. The more meteors that are dropped on the battlefield, the harder it is to get rid of them, as the Adors may be spawned faster than you can kill them.
• In addition to the above, Blaze can force Adors to home in one character and explode on them. Does not do alot of damage, but the damage adds up VERY quickly if there's about 10 Adors on the battlefield. A potential 1-hit kill.
• Upon casting Flame Bullets, Blaze cannot move for the duration of the spell. Take this brief moment to dodge and reposition yourself to a better position to attack him from. He cannot turn around during this move as well, so it's better to avoid this attack by moving behind him if possible.
• Blaze almost always casts Flames of Vengeance upon getting up to push everything away from him. Move out of the way quickly after you've knocked him down.
• Items that increase fire resistance (such as the charms that can be bought from Canna) are extremely useful in reducing the amount of Fire damage you receive from his attacks. Burn recovery potions help as well.
• Blaze is highly resistant to fire damage, but weak against water and ice damage.

Miasma

Likely the second Hell Demon you'll come across. Specializes in Water and Thunder attacks. Appears in Behemoth's Hell Mode.

Movelist

• Vapor Aura: Decreases Attack Speed by 10% when close to Miasma.
• Summon Dark Cloud: Summons a Thundercloud that will hang over a targeted area. If your character gets within the area of the cloud, it'll launch Thunderbolts at your position. Simply try to stay away from it. May cause electrocution when struck by thunder.
• Haze Mass: Launches a mass made of steam that homes in on your position. Has no hitstun, but will inflict continuous damage and slow your attack speed if it hits your character. Your only option to avoid damage is to try and run from it or hit the mass with a Fire or Water attack.
• Water Drop Prison: Throws a water drop that can trap you. It's imperative to try and escape quickly, as it can cause 30% HP damage when it bursts after 7 seconds.
• Summon Aejorines: Miasma summons Aejorines (Succubus-type monster) that will attack you with ranged attacks.

Strategy

• Salamander Flasks are exceptionally helpful in this fight, as they allow you to destroy Miasma's Haze Mass. Miasma himself and his summons are all weak to fire damage as well.
• Destroy any summoned Aejorines as soon as possible as they increase Miasma's HP regeneration rate.
• The Water Drop Prison can be destroyed by other players, otherwise, you'll be forced to take damage.
• Haze Mass's speed reduction stacks, so the more it hits you, the slower you get. Multiple Haze Masses will amplify this effect even faster, so you must quickly destroy them with fire attacks.
• A prolonged battle with Miasma is deadly, as he can potentially cover nearly half the battlefield with Thunderclouds (as these last very long), hindering your movement and limiting your attacking opportunities.
• Items that give water resistance are extremely helpful (such as Ice Charms, that can be bought from Canna).
• Being caught in a Water Drop Prison while under a Thundercloud means you will be repeatedly struck by thunder over and over for the duration of the prison. This most likely results in death, so try your best not to fight near or flee into the direction of a Thundercloud as it has deceptive range - It covers a slightly wider area than its actual sprite.
• The best way to deal with Miasma is to rush him down and repeatedly attack him, not allowing him to cast any of his offensive spells. His spells are all extremely difficult to avoid and come out very fast.

Nightshade

The Hell Demon that resides in Aphelia. Generally the most melee friendly of the bunch. Specializes in using Plants to attack.

Movelist

• Drain Aura: Decreases MP Regeneration to 0 when close to Nightshade
• Summon Aukuso: Summons a Hellflower Aukuso; Can shoot out Confusion Gas and Poisonous Insects, as well as attack from range.
• Shoot Bug: Shoots a bug from his hand; easily avoidable as flies in a straight line. Will explode after a certain duration
• Vine Capture: Can summon vines that immobilize you in place. These can be destroyed.
• Seed Spread: Nightshade sprinkles seeds in an area around him that grow into Hellflower Aukusos. After about a minute, if they haven't been killed, they will then become Meinahrut (Succubus-type monster) whose attacks can immobilize you.
• Summon Sun: Summons a large Sun; it can accelerate the growth of Nightshade's seeds. Nightshade will only use this attack once he's fallen below 1/2 of his max health.
• Attacks can cause Immobilize. Nightshade's Immobilize status has an added effect of draining health for the duration of the effect.

Strategy

• Nightshade is slightly easier than his predecessors, so you should not have too much trouble soloing him.
• Meinahrut can cause major problems if you are a class that uses alot of Light or Ice attacks (e.g. Nen Master) as they absorb Light and Ice elemental attacks.
• Destroy the Hellflowers as quickly as possible. If they overpopulate the field, it will be very difficult to maneuver and attack Nightshade. You will also be confused or poisoned constantly if there's too many Hellflowers on the field at once.
• The sun reduces the growing time of Hellflowers greatly, making them hatch into Meinahrut more quickly. When Nightshade reaches this point of the battle, he tends to spam Seed Spread more often in an attempt to overwhelm you with Hellflowers. Keep the number of Hellflowers in check.
• Nightshade's vines will cancel the attack used to destroy them (e.g Gun Dance, Wild Shot). Use a weak attack to free yourself to avoid wasting the cooldowns of powerful spells.
• Nightshade and his plants are weak against Fire damage.
• Consider bringing items that provide Immobilize tolerance (such as The Blue Grails found in GBL-type dungeons). Many of Nightshade's and his summons' attacks can cause the Immobilize effect. You may be immobilized repeatedly and unable to move if he has alot of summons active on the field at once.

Dark Steel

The Hell Demon that lurks in North Myre. The most melee-unfriendly of the bunch. Specializes in debuffs and extremely hard-hitting close range attacks.

Movelist

• Gravity Aura: Slows movement speed & jump strength when close to Dark Steel.
• Steel Beam Drop: Dark Steel leaps into the air drops Steel Beams onto the ground. After a short while, Dark Steel then drops down on a player's position as a flaming meteor, causing an explosion on his landing zone and may inflict burn status on hit.
• Summon Thundercloud: Summons a Thundercloud; similar to Miasma's attack, but unleashes much larger Thunderbolts periodically and they hit random spots under them regardless of whether a character is in it's general area.
• Shockwave: Dark Steel slams his beam into the ground and creates 3 round shockwaves that go forward a distance. This attack juggles, and causes an extra hit if he hits you directly with his beam.
• Wide Swing: Dark Steel's normal attack; swings his large beam forward and reaches behind him. Has pretty good range on it.
• Thunderbolts may randomly strike areas around his position for a few seconds after he has summoned thunderclouds.
• Casts a debuff that slows down players' speed drastically. Especially dangerous if he follows up with a Steel Beam Drop. immediately after.
• Cannot be grabbed
• Dark Steel is permanently super armored
• Extremely fast HP regeneration

Strategy

• Melee classes will have an extremely hard time fighting this demon as he is permanently super armored and has extremely powerful close-range attacks. Being in his melee range also means you will be slowed down, making it difficult to flee from him when he uses his more powerful attacks.
• Dark Steel has absurdly high physical defense. If you are alone, you may not be able to outdamage his HP regen if you do not have a decently upgraded weapon. You must keep up the assault or Dark Steel will heal the damage he's taken in a matter of seconds, especially on King's Road.
• When Dark Steel uses his Steel Beam Drop, you can track his location by looking out for the red boss aura on the ground. The Steel Beams do not have any yellow circle markings to indicate their landing zones, but you can see their shadows and predict where they'll land. Dark Steel may use this attack over and over until he decides to stop, so be ready to dodge.
• Unlike Miasma's thunder clouds, Dark Steel's ones shoot extremely big thunderbolts that cause extremely high damage. You MUST avoid fighting under his thunder clouds. The clouds last shorter than Miasma's ones as well, so Dark Steel can change their location more often. These cause electrocution as well.
• Dark Steel's close range attacks cause fire elemental damage and can cause Curse status.
• Certain attacks (e.g. a fully charged Extruder) can knock him down.

Hell Party

For more information, read this: http://dungeonfighter.nexon.net/Magazine/Content.aspx?boardNo=600&contentNo=00B3M

This is a revamp of Hell Mode that comes out in a later patch. It generally replaces the Hell Demon encounters with enemy APC parties. It also has different difficulties, with the Hell Demons now appearing on the hardest difficulty. Enemies may drop materials you can use to trade in for Epic equipment at Grandis.

Hell Party APC List

Name		Level	Location	Skills	Notes
File:Aaa.png	???	19-28	Sky Tower	???	???
File:Aaa.png	???	19-28	Sky Tower	???	???
File:Aaa.png	???	19-28	Sky Tower	???	???
File:Aaa.png	???	19-28	Sky Tower	Dash Attack, Smasher, Lucky Straight Punch	???
File:Aaa.png	??? x4	31-39	Dendroid Jungle (K) Second Spine (K) Chamber of Blood	G-1 Corona
File:Aaa.png	??? x7	39	Outer Temple Walls (K) Chamber of Blood	Gore Cross	Spams Gore Cross repeatedly
File:Aaa.png	??? x7	39	Outer Temple Walls (M,K) Second Spine (K) Chamber of Blood (K)	Hammer of Repentance, Blades of Purity, Light of Divinity	Will cast Light of Divinity on themselves and spam Hammer of Repentance.
File:Aaa.png	???	49-54	Scoria Core (K) Bwanga's Camp (K) GBL Laboratory Brigand City Hamelin	Mount, Sand Throw, Heaven's Net, etc.	Brawler-type APC;
File:Aaa.png	???	49-54	Scoria Core (K) Bwanga's Camp (K) GBL Laboratory	Mount, Sand Throw, Heaven's Net, etc.	Brawler-type APC;
File:Aaa.png	???	49-54	Scoria Core (K) Bwanga's Camp (K) GBL Laboratory	Mount, Sand Throw, Heaven's Net, etc.	Brawler-type APC;