Elrianode Training Grounds

Elesis and Lu/Ciel players travel to Rosso in the Elrianode Training Grounds and battle with him in pursuit of information. Up to four players will fight against Rosso in a wide, flat arena with multiple sets of flat platforms, while managing mechanics that require constant attention alongside Rosso's dangerous scythe attacks.

Basic Mechanics

Elrianode Training Grounds allows use of a queue buff and up to four people to participate - keep this in mind, as Rosso's health and attack power were made with this fact considered.

In phase 1, Rosso is vulnerable to hitstun when he isn't attacking, but recover from hitstun quite quickly... and may occasionally escape hitstun at will. Don't count on this in phase 2, however, since Rosso will have permanent super armor.

Every attack Rosso uses ignores I-frames. Keep this fact in mind when determining how to evade his attacks.

Rosso may walk if near a player, or can teleport a short distance away from a player if his attacks require him to get close to someone. Be ready for his appearance when he's outside of an attack.

Attacks

Swipe - after a brief wind-up, Rosso will swing his scythe in a large upward arc, dealing moderately low damage. Anyone in front of him or above him will be launched backwards a significant distance and knocked down, or knocked back a large distance if hit while in I-frames.

• This attack will miss anyone who is behind Rosso. However, this attack also comes out rather quickly when compared to the movement needed to avoid it - it is unlikely that you'll dodge this move if you're attacking as Rosso starts to use it.
• While the damage may be low enough for some people to ignore, keep the knockback in mind regardless. If special actives you're using continually rely on being near Rosso to connect, the knockback from this attack may ruin your skill.

Reaper - after a wind-up, Rosso will cast a large scythe forward a fair distance. This will only hit players at the end of the scythe, not any players between Rosso and that point.

• In phase 2 of Hell mode, Rosso modifies this attack. After casting the scythe forward, he will drag it back to himself along the ground, dealing significant damage to any players in its path.
• If you're able to react to it, the opening part of Reaper can be largely ignored just by attacking Rosso at close-range. The second half of Reaper, however, deals too much damage to ignore - jump or get behind Rosso to ensure it doesn't connect.

Scythe Combo - Rosso will perform a short wind-up, then perform an opening slash with speed comparable to Swipe, followed by a second hit that will inflict massive hitstun and stagger players. If either of the first two strikes hit a player, Rosso will perform a third that will send players flying backwards.

• The total damage done by the whole of this combo will likely take out a large portion of any player's health bar. If you get hit by it while nearing low health, be sure to heal before it finishes.
• The first hit is fast and remains very difficult to react to (and may be impossible to react to if you're attacking at the time), but deals little hitstun. Depending on your character's commands or skills, it may be possible to get out of the combo with a fast enough response (e.g. Eve can use >>Z away from Rosso to get out of range, Aisha could teleport, Raven could Shadow Step lunge, etc.).
• Going behind Rosso is only safe for the first two swings: if Rosso is allowed to use the third swing, he is allowed to change direction if it means hitting a player with it. Alternatively, if no one got hit by the first two swings, Rosso will immediately end his attack.

Scythe Throw - after a long wind-up, Rosso will throw his scythe a significant distance away from him, his scythe spinning the whole way. Anyone hit by the scythe as it travels will be knocked back a small distance and take moderately low damage. The scythe will spin in place after it stops moving, and will trap players caught in it. Lastly, the scythe will return to Rosso (dragging any players in the path with it) as he performs a powerful angled, ending slash.

• Staying near Rosso makes handling this attack trivial. Even if you get by the opening scythe throw, by the time you land, the scythe will have already traveled past you, and you can simply attack Rosso. You only need to worry if you were distant from Rosso when he started this attack, as you need to avoid getting caught in his scythe's spin or running into his ending slash.
• The ending slash will hit people above Rosso, so stay a safe distance away from it if you weren't near Rosso. However, it also misses anyone behind Rosso: thus, Scythe Throw is an excellent attacking opportunity for anyone who can quickly get behind Rosso as it starts.

Stone Fall - Rosso will jump into the air for a short while before landing. As he does this, two rocks will fall into the arena, their locations marked by pink lines. Anyone hit by the rocks as they fall will take massive damage.

• Note that while Rosso does swing his scythe as part of the move's animation, Rosso himself doesn't generate any hitboxes. This can be a good opportunity to attack him if you can handle him going airborne and there aren't any rocks dropping nearby.
• Rosso is allowed to summon up to six rocks into the arena at a time via this move. In phase 2, however, you will never see more than four at once before Rosso's ultimate destroys them.
• The falling rocks are affected by skill delays. Be careful not to confuse yourself by stalling the rock.
• The rocks themselves remain as obstacles in the arena. They are quite durable, but not indestructible. Noticeable amounts of rubble will appear if a rock is heavily damaged. Due to Rosso's ultimate attack, it is in your best interest to avoid destroying these rocks in Hell mode.
• Note that if Rosso transitions to phase 2 in Hell mode, any rocks that were in the arena will automatically be destroyed.

Bomb Trap - Rosso will teleport somewhere in the arena, and create a flaming circle on the floor. After a short while, a fire bomb will fall and detonate in a large radius at that location. Anyone hit by the bomb will drop to around 10% of their maximum health (or die, if their health was too low), have all consumables be put on cooldown for 7 seconds, have all skills put on cooldown, and receive the Ember of Combustion debuff for a few seconds (5% of maximum MP lost per second). If a player stands in the circle, they will take very minor damage and hitstun; if that player remains in the circle long enough, the circle will disappear and no bomb will fall.

• In phase 1, the bombs are large, but the traps can be ignored if Rosso and team members aren't anywhere near the circle. In phase 2, however, these bombs cannot be ignored under any circumstance, as their explosions in phase 2 will nearly cover the entire arena.
• Note that a single player must be in a bomb circle long enough to disarm it: having multiple people in the same trap won't disarm it any faster, as the trap only cares whether or not any one player was in the circle for long enough.
• There is no relation between where Rosso is and where the bomb traps will appear. Quickly scour the arena to find the bombs. You may consider using the minimap (as they appear as red dots there), but be warned that Rosso's dropped rocks also show up as red dots, limiting the minimap's utility.
• Rosso may sometimes use this move twice in a row. Address the traps promptly to avoid problems created by this situation.
• If there are three or more players fighting Rosso, Rosso may occasionally summon two fire traps simultaneously. Ensure that the arena is clear before engaging Rosso in these scenarios.
• If Rosso transitions to phase 2, or begins his ultimate attack, any bomb traps that were on the floor will automatically vanish.

Flamma de Cinis - this is Rosso's ultimate attack. Rosso will teleport to a location in the arena and surround himself with three fire orbs, each in one of the four cardinal directions. Heavily damaging fire will approach from the three directions associated with those orbs, and must be avoided. Afterwards, Rosso will gather up energy before unleashing a lethal explosion - this explosion can only be avoided by hiding behind Rosso's dropped rocks. If you are next to a rock, with Rosso's explosion on the other side of that rock, the explosion will miss you. Rosso will enter a fatigue state afterwards.

• Either look at Rosso or the flames themselves to figure out which direction is safe.
• If the top floor is safe, once on the top floor, do not jump if there are flames under you. If you do this, you risk triggering the landing bug (the first bug shown in this video), which will cause you to take a single hit from the flames below you; this is potentially lethal given how hard these flames hit.
• There are usually four rocks on the battlefield by the time Rosso uses this (assuming players haven't destroyed them), but Rosso may sometimes perform Flamma de Cinis with only two rocks out. It is advised that you have Hyper Acceleration ready in case you have to make a long run to safety after the initial flames. Additionally, if you plan to heavily grind Hell mode, you may want to have a revival title like Forginay's Fruit, since...
• There currently seems to be a glitch related to this attack, in which it is possible to die to the explosion despite being safe behind a rock. All the examples I know details of so far have related to people being in I-frames at the time of the explosion (e.g. using special actives to set up attacks/buffs). I do not know the cause of this bug at this time, so for the time being, consider using buffing specials before the explosion occurs to minimize any risk. Any other examples of this happening would be very helpful.

Strategies and Notes

All of Rosso's direct attacks with his scythe can be avoided by getting behind him. However, this is sometimes easier said than done with his Swipe and Scythe Combo attacks due to how quickly Rosso starts them. You may consider going behind Rosso right as he starts an attack if evasion is a priority.

If you plan to be aggressive with special actives outside of Rosso's fatigue state, Rosso's Scythe Throw and Stone Fall present the best opportunities to use lengthy moves. You may attack during his scythe moves as well, but swifter moves are recommended during these times due to the potential knockback and damage you can receive. Having super armor in some fashion will greatly lower the risk of having your attacks misplaced.

With Rosso's bomb traps, it's usually best to let one player take care of a trap and have the rest of the party attacking Rosso. First, as previously stated, having multiple people addressing the same trap won't get rid of it any faster. Second, Rosso likes to teleport to a player to attack them after deploying a bomb trap; this is a problem if he tries this with the player currently trying to get rid of the trap. The rest of the party wants to be away from the bomb trap in hopes that Rosso pursues them instead, and the other player can disarm the bomb in peace.

If rocks are nearby, attack Rosso with care. Losing the rocks puts the group at much higher risk of dying to the Flamma de Cinis explosion. If you see rubble near the base of a rock, halt your attacks immediately.

A sample battle with Rosso in Hell mode can be found here. This battle also happens to be what prompted my revival title suggestion for Flamma de Cinis, due to the situation I was put in at 4:22.