The First Descendant: Storm Hanger boss guide

The First Descendant’s latest Void Abyss challenge brings Storm Hanger, a boss hanging out of the sky within the arena. It is similar to the Hanged Man boss fight, but without the wipe mechanics. However, a lot of its attacks can easily one-shot you, making high HP and resistance a requirement, especially if you’re running solo.

That said, let’s find out the attack patterns for Storm Hanger and how to defeat it without a squad wipe.

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Storm Hanger boss mechanics in The First Descendant explained

Storm Hanger boss arena in The First Descendant (Image via Nexon)

Fighting the Storm Hanger will be a challenging task. At the moment, it is unknown whether the boss provides any form of buffs like the Ice Maiden. However, the brute force method using Toxic-based weapons with Ultimate Freyna or other strong Descendants is working.

The boss is weak to Toxic damage, so everything ultimately comes down to how much damage you can deal while surviving the attacks. After the rage bar fills up, the boss will enter an alternate phase or rage mode.

Break the spheres to create a purple dome shield (Image via Nexon)

Alongside the base abilities, it will start using new and stronger attacks in the rage mode that you cannot dodge. To prevent damage from them, you must break floating spheres and stay inside whenever the Storm Hanger telegraphs an attack.

The orbs for creating shields only spawn during the alternate phase and also have a lot of HP. Focus on breaking them first to have the shield up as soon as the rage mode starts.

Note: The abilities don’t have an official name and are descriptions of each attack.

Here are all the abilities used by the Storm Hanger:

Head Stomp

Storm Hanger stomping the arena in The First Descendant (Image via Nexon)

While the Storm Hanger may not have feet to stand on, it can still perform a head stomp. Wandering in the middle of the arena for a few seconds will prompt the boss to do this attack and send you flying outside the radius.

Minion spawn

Storm Hanger can spawn minions (Image via Nexon)

The boss will constantly spawn squid-shaped minions called KingFisher. These will become your primary source of replenishing ammo, MP, and health during the fight. We recommend picking up resources only when they are needed.

Electric ball attack (Blue)

Electric ball attack (Image via Nexon)

The Storm Hanger will fire several slow-traveling electric balls that will track you throughout the arena for a short duration. Keep moving to avoid getting hit or hide behind a structure. If the balls hit the floor, they will create a shock zone that lingers for some time.

Missile barrage

Missile barrage (Image via Nexon)

Storm Hanger shoots missiles from its shoulders. While the tracking on them isn’t as good as the electric balls, they are fast, so try to grapple away when the boss uses this attack.

Artillery Barrage

Artillery Barrage (Image via Nexon)

Similar to the missile barrage, this time, the boss will use its arm cannon to shoot a volley of multiple projectiles. They are fast but don’t have tacking capabilities, making dodging an effective counter.

Annihilation beam (alternate phase)

Annihilation beam (Image via Nexon)

Similar to the Hanged Man, the Storm Hanger will also charge up a long-range cone-shaped beam to fire from its mouth. To avoid the beam, shoot the floating orbs in the arena to create a purple dome and get inside it.

Electric ball attack (alternate phase)

Red electric ball attack (Image via Nexon)

Similar to the blue electric balls, the boss will shoot red ones during the alternate phase. They are much faster and deal more damage, but you can avoid them by staying inside the purple dome shield.

Lightning strike

Lightning strike attack (Image via Nexon)

The lightning strike is similar to one of the Hanged Man’s attacks that will target players with random lightning strikes. Before the strike, there will be a small window to get out of the AoE.

Overclock (alternate phase)

The arena will glow red during the boss overclock explosion (Image via Nexon)

This attack is similar to the Hanged Man’s wipe mechanics, where it charges up a static blast while spinning its mechanical arms that can wipe the entire team. Only this time, the purple shield or having a large HP/shield buffer can prevent a wipe.

Arm Laser (alternate phase)

Storm Hanger shooting lasers in The First Descendant (Image via Nexon)

The Storm Hanger will charge another beam from its mechanical arms and mouth, and shoot it across all directions, starting from the middle of the arena. However, staying inside the purple shield will negate all forms of damage from this ability.

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Blue orbs in the arena may take the boss out of rage mode (Image via Nexon)

The boss may not use all of the attacks during the fight, which may happen if your build is strong enough to take it down fast, or the Storm Hanger comes out of the rage mode. Additionally, an unconfirmed theory suggests that collecting the blue orbs within the arena provides a buff that you can use to get the boss back to the normal phase faster.

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