ARES: THE IRON VANGUARD - How to Defeat Phondus in Chapter 5-1

To defeat Phondus in Chapter 5-1 of ARES: THE IRON VANGUARD, maintain mid-range positioning to bait telegraphed melee attacks, press the parry command right as incoming strikes make contact to stagger the boss, and cycle through your suits during those stagger windows to unleash switch-in bonuses and off-cooldown skills.

Position and Read Attack Telegraphs

Phondus relies on wide sweeping strikes and charging lunges that deal high combo damage. Managing space effectively is the first line of defense:

• Maintain mid-range spacing: Standing at medium distance prevents getting caught by sudden point-blank sweeps while remaining close enough to bait predictable attack animations.
• Watch visual wind-ups: Look for glowing visual indicators and extended attack animations before a strike connects.
• Listen for audio cues: Phondus's heavy attacks feature distinct audio wind-ups that signal when an attack is about to land.

Avoid relying on auto-combat for this encounter, as high-damage multi-hit strings require manual positioning and defensive responses.

Land Parries to Stagger Phondus

Parrying negates incoming damage entirely and interrupts multi-hit boss combos. Successfully parrying an attack also forces Phondus into a staggered state, creating safe damage windows.

1. Wait for impact: Input your parry action exactly when the boss's attack hits your suit's hitbox, rather than at the start of the wind-up animation.
2. Avoid button-spamming: Rapidly tapping parry can lock your suit into animations, leaving you vulnerable to follow-up hits.
3. Initiate damage output: Once Phondus staggers, immediately shift from defensive timing to your burst rotation.

If a parry input is missed, use a dodge to clear space and reset your positioning at mid-range.

Execute Suit-Swapping Rotations

Suit switching allows you to bypass individual skill cooldowns, apply switch-in buffs, and preserve suit health over an extended fight.

• Save switch-in bonuses for staggers: Swap to high-impact damage suits after landing a parry to land ultimate abilities and off-cooldown skills without interruption.
• Rotate to manage suit health: If your active suit takes heavy damage, switch to a backup suit with high mobility or defensive buffs to allow inactive suit health to recover or passives to refresh.
• Maintain continuous uptime: Cycling suits systematically prevents downtime caused by waiting on single-suit skill timers.