After several rounds of Digimon Vital Bracelet Raid battles, this guide is based on my experience and what I learned taking part in them.
Unlike Arena, which is purely PvP in a traditional sense, Raid is a competitive PvE mode. Players fight against a Raid Boss which increases in level and HP. These Raid Bosses can reach upwards of hundreds of thousands of HP, usually requiring the combined effort of multiple players to take it down, similar to raids in most MMORPGs.
Why Raid?
The biggest reward for taking part in Raids is storage capsules. Storage capsules give an extra slot for players to store their Digimon. Considering that Bandai will be releasing more and more Digimon for the Vital Bracelet in the future, a storage capsule is a must-have for Digimon lovers.
Only the top 10 players will receive 2 storage capsules. At the time of writing, players ranked between 11 – 1000 will receive 1 storage capsule.
Note that in the game’s first Raid (Diaboromon), only the top 500 players won storage capsules. This was since changed to 1000 in the second Raid (Black WarGreymon). Be sure to check what are the requirements for each Raid reward as they may change from Raid to Raid.
The other noteworthy reward is the Raid-exclusive profile plate. Profile plates are banners that you can display at the top of your screen while in the Vital Lab app. So far, these profile plates are unique to the Raid Boss that rewards them. Other than its purely aesthetic purpose, profile plates do not provide any gameplay benefits. At the time of writing, if you are satisfied with just the profile plate, then you will need to be within the top 4000.
Besides the two previously mentioned rewards, you can also earn V-COINs either by selling Archives or getting the MVP reward in a Raid battle.
Note that this guide assumes that you are planning to win at least 1 storage capsule from the ongoing Raid in the Vital Bracelet companion app. As I have never been in the top 10 myself, I am unable to advise on any specific tips or strategies to win 2 storage capsules.
Raid Tickets
At the start of each new day, 00:00 JST, players will have their 3 free Raid battle entries restored. After using the 3 free entries, every subsequent Raid battle will require a Raid Tickets to be spent.
Raid tickets are obtainable via Daily Tasks. Every alternate day, winning one battle, be it Raid, Arena or on the Vital Bracelet (and transferring the Digimon to the app) will reward players with a random number of Raid tickets, ranging between 1 – 5. Be sure to claim these rewards.
The other method of getting Raid tickets is purely based on luck. Winning or losing a Raid battle has a chance of giving players 3 Raid tickets.
Finally, Raid tickets have replaced Evolution Timers as Arena Rank rewards now. Players who rank higher in the Arena will obtain a larger quantity of Raid tickets as compared to players who rank lower.
Since many players have a stockpile of Raid Tickets in their inventory, if you only have a few Raid Tickets, it is recommended not to aim for the top 1,000. Instead, save your Raid Tickets for the next Raid, where you have a higher chance of getting to the top 1,000. If you have less than 30 Raid Tickets, I would recommend saving them for the next Raid. Note that it is entirely possible to be in the top 1,000 with fewer tickets than that, but it requires a lot more luck.
Understanding Raid Mechanics
Just like in Arena battles, your score, which determines your rank, is completely dependent on how much damage you dealt to the Raid Boss in a single battle and the multiplier for that battle. The multiplier for Raid battles depends on the level of the Raid Boss. To unlock a higher Boss Level, you will need to clear the one before it.
At the first few levels, you will notice that fighting a Raid Boss is barely any different from fighting an Ultimate level Digimon. However, the Raid Boss’ HP increases dramatically the higher its level. Taking the Vamdemon Raid as an example, Vamdemon at level 1 only has 3,000 HP, but a level 50 Vamdemon already has 150,000 HP. However, as a level 50 Vamdemon has a multiplier of 2.0 as compared to level 1 Vamdemon’s 1.0 multiplier, the score you get will be 2x more (assuming you deal the same amount of damage in both Raid battles)
Raid battles are not a 1v1 between you and the Raid Boss. The Raid Boss is actually fighting against you and other players who have taken part in the same level fight. Other players who damaged the Raid Boss will reduce the Raid Boss’ HP of that particular level. This is indicated by the Support Attack visual popping up.
Do beware that you are locked to a specific Raid Boss level until it is cleared. If you lose a Raid battle, you are unable to change levels until the Raid Boss HP is reduced to 0, either by you or any other player taking part in the Raid battle of that particular level.
Damage and Score
To maximise your score, you will want to deal as much damage as possible to the Raid Boss. Just like in the Arena battle guide, the easiest way to do this in Raid battles (other than using stronger Digimon) is to use the items available in the Vital Bracelet app shop.
The recommended items to use are:
- EVA Chip 5t_050
- ATK Chip ALL 1t_150
- DEF Chip ALL 5t_030
- ATK Chip xxx 1t_200
- DEF Chip xxx 5t_050
Note: Replace xxx with the attribute of the Raid Boss you are facing.
I recommend using Reboot Chips from level 60 onwards, as the chance of dying, even with EVA and DEF Chips, is notable at these levels.
As for the battles themselves, ideally, you want to hit the Raid Boss all 5 turns with critical hits. Also, be sure to use a Digimon with type advantage over the Raid Boss for increased accuracy. For the best Digimon to use for each attribute, refer to this list on humulos.com.
Home button trick
Usually, your Digimon cannot stay in a fight indefinitely. If you do not tap the STOP button, after a while, your Digimon will automatically attack. In a fight against a Raid Boss with tens of thousands of HP, you will usually not be able to clear it in a single battle since you will automatically lose if 5 turns pass and the Raid Boss’ HP is higher than 0.
The home button trick is an exploit used to keep your Digimon in a specific Raid battle for extended periods of time. This is useful for conserving Raid Tickets, especially when you are aiming to unlock higher Raid Boss levels. Doing this stops time from passing in the battle, which lets other players perform Support Attacks which increases the chance of you winning the battle.
To perform this exploit, simply head to the home screen of your phone in the middle of a battle without quitting the app. This exploit is useful for grinding higher Raid Boss levels. Simply perform 4 attacks and if the boss is still alive, head to the home screen. After enough time has passed, if you are confident that other players have defeated the Raid Boss, perform the 5th attack.
Be sure to check in on your app every 30 minutes or so. If you leave the app unattended for too long, the app will reset, wiping out your progress in the battle. Also, make sure that your phone settings allow the app to run in the background.
Where to grind
With the home button trick, it is possible to win most Raid Battles, even those at higher levels. However, higher level Raid Bosses not only have higher HP, but they are also harder to hit and more accurate. As a result, it is preferable not to grind at high levels, like level 60 and above. Even though there is a higher multiplier at these levels, the Raid Boss’ higher evasion does not make it worthwhile.
Grinding at lower levels also has its own weaknesses. As the Raid Boss’ HP is lower and more players have access to them, there is a higher chance of the Raid Boss being defeated even before you perform all your attacks, lowering your overall score.
Thus, I recommend grinding at mid levels, with 50 being the best balance between the Raid Boss’ multiplier and evasion. However, do be aware that in the final hour before a Raid ends, level 50 can be extremely packed with players grinding at the last minute. In this case, you may want to grind at level 51 instead.
Closing Thoughts
Note that Bandai may release different Raid Bosses with different HP, attribute and rewards with every new Raid. As a result, the strategies and tricks in this guide may not be entirely effective, but the core ideas and mechanics will largely remain the same for Raid battles in the Vital Bracelet.
For more Vital Bracelet-related guides, check out:
- Vital Bracelet Arena battle guide
- Understanding Digimon Vital Bracelet stats and personality
- Tips and tricks to get the Digimon you want
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