The strength in 1 gaping is it requires less work and less resources to manage. Most mobs that will hit your cades will aoe them and if the cades are not gapped then they will likely hit 2-3 cades. With one gapping, you will be able to limit it to 1 usually. 1 gapping does not come without limitations tho. You can only start 1 gapping on the layer shown above and the layers behind it. If you attempt the 1 gap cades 1 layer ahead of this, the mobs will walk through. The reasoning for this has not been fleshed out, but has been tested.There is also the issue that with 1 gapping, small mobs may walk through from time to time, but most of them should be pushed back by fts.

Aggro cades: aggro cades are useful for delaying cyclops. Tho most of the time with a good team the cyclops will be constantly headshotted, aggro cades is a good safety net. Aggro cades will only pull aggro from cyclops that are running and not those that are walking.

Mob aggro: Mob aggro is the best way to theory proof your build. If you understand how the mobs path then you will know how the mobs will interact with any build. The mobs will path based on its calculation of what is the shortest distance between it and the tower, but this ai cannot discern where there are cades and where there are not. That is the reason why funnel build works is because it manipulates the fact that the mobs will path to the center where the cades are because it judges it as the shortest distance even though if it pathed as the yellow line indicates, it can bypass the cades altoghter. The red line indicates the pathing of pond side mobs centering.

This is the proper way to funnel the mobs. As you can see from this build, the mobs will all center into the black circle. There is another aspect of the ai that should be noted. The mobs will initially travel linearly to a certain point then it starts to path based on the ai explained earlier. This is a useful means of creating a loop build. For example you can make the start point of the loop where the mobs will travel to and then they will have to repath based on its ai on what path is the closest to the sealed tower. The white line show examples of the linear movement of the mobs.

Example 1 of the pathing with this funnel build

1Example 2 loop build

The reason why the mobs path between these two points is because it distinguish that there exist a path that is shorter distance, but these two points are close to equidistance from the sealed tower, hence why they path between them. The right side is closer tho, so you will notice mobs funneling more in that area.

Rift Building for Dummies

in 5 easy steps

1. Start right, build 3 diagonal solid barricades at the spot shown. Then build 1-spaced cades all the way to the left.(edited)

2. Make sure to seal the lake at this spot (takes 9 barricades, 135pts to finish 1 line of defense)(edited)

3. Start building Flame Towers around wave 10 (keep in mind after patch monsters aggro to FT, so leave a space between FTs and cades)(edited)

4. Build a 2nd layer of cades before wave 16. Leave the middle funnel open, close the other gaps. (funnel spot at arrow)(edited)

5. After Bheg, fortify the 1st layer and the funnel cades. And complete the build with 6-8 FTs. You may decide the FT placements to fit your unique build.(edited)

Note: Since the 11/1 patch, you can no longer seal off the lake completely. There are ways to reduce lakeside leaks to minimum: 1. Add diagonal cades to the gaps at left (seem to aggro mob now) 2. Drop a cannon at round wave 15 3. Use a deep funnel build to pull mobs (shown by Sento below)(edited)

Deep Funnel Build to Prevent Lakeside Leak – inspired by Silvery 1. Start with three cades at right. then build next two barricades that are coloured in blue and green. (ignore the rest of barricades and fire towers.)(edited)

2. Finish building the choke. Remember to leave a space between top and bottom to maintain the barricades longer. When waves come in following the black arrows, have two or more gunners to watch the choke at the orange lines.(edited)

3. Left side, build the cades diagonally all the way to the lake. Building the cades in diagonal will help eliminate leaks. IMPORTANT, stay away from the lake except when you are building or the mobs will go around the cades and cause leakage.(edited)

4. Once the barricades are done, start building fire towers one by one. I’ve numbered the fire towers to give you an idea of what to build first and where. You can also have your own placements with fire towers.(edited)

final build(edited)

Current efficient & OP build – Funnel aligned with base tower. – 1 FT in front – 1-2 Hwacha in back – Left 2 barricades shifted front, reduce cades needed. Also allow easy passage for bosses. (it’ll run to the back towards base / hwacha. have a tank stand-by to intercept it) – Players should group at my spot behind funnel after Giath (wave 11). Only go out to front for harpies and cyclops. – Drop a cannon at wave 20, in case of Saudil at wave 21 – Drop a hwacha 2 space up from FT at wave 23, as bait for big waves.(edited)

4

Wide funnel build – low maintenance costs 1. Start from the rock on the left next to the river (bosses can pass from that side) 2. Leave 2 blocks opening alligned with the crystal 3. Continue all the way to the wall 4. Position 2 flame towers on the right next to each other 5. Position 2 hwachas about the same distance from the crystal Most important: 6. Have minimum 3 members lined up in funnel (mobs get blocked, cades don’t take damage) Notess: Drop front hwacha with excess points as bait Place cannons when going against catapaults Go front for harpies and cyclops

Boss Spawn Time: (keep in mind the wave number above screen is the next wave countdown, so always subtract 1 except the last)

Red Nose - Wave  5 around 4:30
Gaith    - Wave 10 around 4:00
Bheg     - Wave 15 around 4:30
Titium   - Wave 20 around 4:30
Org      - Wave 25 after timer's gone

Tanking for Org is optional, but is preferred for Saunil Captain. Boss spawning time may vary for a couple seconds. Give yourself time to switch to your weapons, get out of flame tower and run to portal. You do not need to run to the portal at beginning of the wave, unless you dont mind being surrounded by mobs. Assign quick slot to your weapons will help to swap weapon faster.

Skills for Taunt/Tanking:Heaven’s Echo – Valkyrie’s taunt (Q+Space in awakening or hotkey)

Valk has stronger defense in lancia mode. With a decent DP (230 or above), it’s not necessary to dodge. When your shield runs low, you can use skills to refresh shield quickly. Some nice skills you may want to use are as follows:Verdict: Lancia lustitiae- aoe+cc skill. Use it to make mobs float. There is a target limit with this skill. For titium, if there are too many mobs on you and you fail to hit titum within a time period, you may lose aggro on him.Wave of Light-You can also use this to relocate mob.Shield Chase and Hastiludium are two skills you can use to move around. However, you do stuck between mobs with Hastiludium.———————————————————–Crouching Wolf – Striker’s/Mystic’s Taunt (space or hotkey)(edited)

This skill does damage while it taunts, so striker/Mystic is actually easier to hold aggro for titum. Spam it a lot on boss to make sure you don’t lose aggro. Striker does not have a constant block by simply pressing Q. Thus you will need to either dodge or use skills with frontal guard/super armor. Mystic has lots of skills that have foward guard and she doesn’t move as much while using some of those skills. To some degree, she is easier to tank than striker.(edited)Sprial Cannon – a decent blocking skill and it relocates your toon.

You can activate it right after crouching wolf by pressing rmb.(edited)Fall out , Infernal Destruction and Ultimate Crush – three awakening skills with forward guard. Effect is nullified during cool down.(edited)Adamantine – pre-awakening block (RMB). It does have cool down and its block effect only lasts for 1 or 2 secs.Striker’s shift+directional key is really effective to move around and catch boss. Different from Valk, he does not stuck in between mobs. Time striker’s forward guard/super armor skills correctly and combine with some dodges.

You will survive fine even with low DP.(edited)If you do not want to worry about all his skills, keep spamming crouching wolf then dodge a lot is one way of doing it. However, we don’t want boss to move too much and potencially damage builds. Thus a striker/mystic tank needs to keep practising and limit boss’s movement.(edited)BossesRed Nose and Giath are easy to catch. They spawn near mid left portal. Keep using taunt skill on Gaith so he doesn’t run to cades.(edited)

For Bheg, you can choose to wait at mid left portal if you are striker/mystic. For other classes, it’s easier to wait for bheg near tower with current discord build ( boss will run around cades near the lake).(edited)

If you do not have a decent DP, it is recommended for you to dodge away from bheg when he turns red. He whips twice when his hp is high, and whips 6 times when his hp is 50% or below. Run back to him after he stops his aoe so that he does not move around and hit other players.

Titum is probably one of the trickiest boss to catch due to his fast speed and numerous mobs come in with him. It’s a bit more challenging for striker/mystic to catch him near portal but still doable. It is recommended for other classes to wait and taunt titum after he circles around the lake and approaches the tower. Titum does jump backward with certain moves, thus tank need to make sure to keep him into wall or other structures so that it doesn’t do major damage onto cades. It is recommended to have 230 or above DP to tank boss with ease. However, 200+ DP will work if you use your block/dodge correctly. Besides valk and striker/mystic, warrior, berserk, wiz/witch and DK are also nice classes for tanks.

This is going to be a quick guide for optimizing the koi fishing event. Now by koi, I actually mean the Pearl Mullet that we have available during this event time. The Elli’s Water Festival summer or spring water event features a plethora of daily quests as well as a couple one time quest for some decorations. There are a couple of fishing areas where you can get a vendor item that sells for 500,000 silver and stack in your inventory.

It isn’t the first time we’ve had this event, and it probably won’t be the last. If you want to know what you can do to make this a more optimal experience for you while you AFK and get all these fish, I’m here to give you a few pointers towards that.

Pearl Mullet, Koi or Octobois Fishing Location

Pearl Mullet, Koi or Octobois are located and can be caught at the Terrmian Beach(north-west of Olvia) or the Demi River by Heidel.

So to start with if you hit p and go to your character and his battle stats, you’ll find fishing. The more ticks you have in this the faster you reel fish. You want to have it at level 5 at all times, that should be your first priority.

How Do You Get Fishing To Level 5?

Most guilds in this game that is well-established or have like a large or extra-large size will have at least fishing level +3, and if you’re not in one of those, you may want to look to find one during or before this event.

Silver Embroidered Fishing Clothes and Balenos Meals

The easiest way to get the last two levels is to get a +2 Silver embroidered Fisher’s close which is likely sold out in the marketplace at this time or multiple +0 and smash them together. This in conjunction with the pay to win fishing outfit would work as well. If you’re a super high roller and somehow have + 5 fish cloth it gives +3 fishing ability bonus. If you do think it out of you while the +2 for silver if you buy this early on in the event it will certainly pay for itself if your AFK fishing.

If you don’t want to go with either of those routes can go to the Central Market Place and Pull up Balenos meal, and it will give you the extra plus two fishing bonus that you need. However, it will not work overnight if it has to be refreshed every 90-minutes or 110 minutes depending on which one you purchase alternative will you could do a Cron meal however it is the same bonus only lasts slightly longer and it costs much more.

Spirit Stones/Alchemy Stone

The Spirit Stones shown here only cost about 800K they give +2 fishing bonus and last for fifty charges. Each charge lasts for 10 minutes, that is to say, you get 500 minutes of buffs, which is 8 hours and 20 minutes per stone. The spirit stones will pay for themselves if you’re using them to AFK fish overnight during the koi-event to get your extra couple of fishing levels. Although if you do this, make sure that you go to your inventory and tick the little box to make sure that that is automatically reactivating every time it goes off. If you do opt to use Spirit Stones, don’t forget that after they are out of charge, you can’t charge them, unlike alchemy stones which can be recharged.

Coconut Cocktail

Now if you’re an overachiever like me here and you can get your + 5 bonus, there’s the coconut cocktail, this also applies if you’re using a life Spirits stone for that extra plus two with the Guilds plus +3. If you don’t have to eat the Balenos meal or anything, you want to be drinking one of these; it is going to reduce your auto fishing time by 5%. The Green version lasts for 60 Minutes whereas the Blue version last for 75 minutes it’s a very small but it’s also very cheap, and you can pop up whenever before you go AFK or anything like that.

Fishing Rods

Moving onto fishing rods next our first choice and the AFK choice is the Balenos Fishing Rod, at +10 gives you a 25% auto fishing time reduction making it the best option for AFKing.

Next up, the Triple float rod. If you’re active fishing and you have one of these saved up, or maybe one of your by orders goes through you’re going to want to purchase the triple float fishing rods. There’s a lot of purchase orders for them, and the price is already at its ceiling, so it’s doubtful that you’re going to get many of these. People are not selling them currently; however, if you already have some from events, it makes you catch three fish instead of one every time you fish.

Increase Durability With Item Brand Spell

Rod durability is being affected by your fishing life skill level. The higher you are, the less likely you are to lose durability every time you catch a fish. If you are looking at the Brand Stone, cost about four bucks give or take. It makes it so every time you would have lost their ability on the item has a 50% chance to negate that durability lost effectively doubling your durability, in case you’re interested in that. It is certainly not a necessity, but this is one of those convenience items. You’ll never need one of these when you are higher fishing level unless you’re fishing for multiple days straight.

Maple Float Rod

Next we have floats and I chose the +10 Mable float is I already had one of these is this gives a plus 5% chance to catch rare fish, unfortunately, Pearl Abyss hasn’t told us if these event items apply to this buff, we don’t actually know if this affect koi or other event fish. Grunt I have right here doesn’t be considered a rare fish as it actually in the description you can see it says there fish in the middle there, however, but it is a yellow grade fish. That being said, it’s also a particular vendor item that a trade good and it’s getting to this event, so we don’t know if this affects the catch rate of mullet or not.

This is rather expensive, the bonus is negligible I would highly recommend a cocktail though while this is awesome a relatively small bonus it is very very cheap to do.

Pets

Next, we have pets and as we know the penguin, polar bear or other special event pets do have a special of Auto fishing time reduction. I do believe that these do not stack. That is to say, if I have a dragon out and I and pulled out the marmots which also has a lot of fishing time reduction they would not stack it would only use the higher of the two bonuses. Therefore you want to have whatever most top tier pet that has Auto fishing time reduction enabled.

As a quick mention any time if you are active fishing or if you’re setting up your AFK fishing, you want to check the box “useless throwaway items caught during Auto fishing.”

Inventory Space

Inventory space is definitely important while fishing and well during this event these fish do stacking definitely you’re still going to get other fish-friendly spots and they are going to eventually clog up your inventory. Therefore I do recommend having a pretty decent amount of inventory space to continue fishing effectively for long amounts of AFK time.

But I do want to give a quick mention to the event quests. You’re probably going to be wanting to do at least some of these every day; rewards include a Valks cry, Cron stone, and a 30-minute item collection increase scroll that does get stored in your inventory.

I hope you enjoyed this guide.