Ardyn Izunia brings us new skills and levels up from 100 to 400 in the greatest jump we’ve ever seen! You will also be able to use him in the Guild Adventure Hall with two brand new Dark attacks against the monsters. Furthermore, you will be able to dominate in the Disputed Realms with some of the boosts in his Mastery Skills. So, let’s discover how this antagonist will improve your empire to be the greatest in all of Eos.
Hero Skills Overview
Since he starts off leveling at 101, a lot of his skills are available at a low level compared to the heroes that went from 300-400. All except for Monster Tactics: Dark Monsters which requires Ardyn level 351 and is mastered with one click, they are available at 101 to 111. As a result, they level up pretty slowly since they max out at 400. But, the boosts are worth it, as we will see below. Remember that at VIP level 141 you can remove Hero Skill Points to customize and change your Hero’s abilities at any time. Otherwise, you can use a Hero Skill Reset to completely zero out the points and rework Ardyn’s Hero Skills Tree with all the points you have.
Ardyn Hero Skills Tree
Monster Tactics: Dark Monsters: Unlocks the ability to attack Dark Monsters while Ardyn is active. Requires Ardyn hero level 351. Dark Monsters are level 8 and 9 monsters. If you have Noctis’ Mastery Skill for Monster Tactics Level 8, you could already hit level 8 monsters with any hero.
Max MP: Increases Ardyn’s max MP up to a max of 300%. Requires Ardyn hero level 101.
Hero Streak: Increases your Hero Attack Streak up to a max of 2. Requires Ardyn hero level 101.
MP Recovery: Increases Ardyn’s max recovery when Ardyn is active up to a max of 50,000%. Requires Ardyn hero level 111. Every little bit helps, but I think with the Anniversary Gear, we need MORE REGEN!
Hero Critical Hit: Increases your hero critical hit up to a max of 5%. Requires Ardyn hero level 101. It might seem like a small number, but they all add up. The useable max would be 100%. As a result, EVERY hit would be a critical hit!
Hero Attack: Increases your hero attack bonus up to a max of 5,000%. Requires Ardyn hero level 101.
Hero Critical Damage: Increases your hero critical damage up to a max of 50%. Requires Ardyn hero level 101.
Dungeon Dark Bonus: Increases your Dungeon HP bonus up to a max of 800,000%, Dungeon Physical Damage bonus up to a max of 2.5M%, and Dungeon Healing Bonus up to a max of 15,000%. Requires Ardyn hero level 111. Healing bonus means how much a Health Potion will add to your Health bar. Not how much a Healing ability works.
Dark Mage: Increases your Dark Mage attack by up to a max of 63.5M%, Dark Mage HP by up to a max of 28M%, and Dark mage armor by up to a max of 84.5M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 101.
Dark Core Troop Attack: Increases your Dark Warrior, Dark Mage, and Dark Cavalry attacks by up to a max of 113M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 104.
Dark Core Troop Armor: Increases your Dark Warrior, Dark Mage, and Dark Cavalry armor by up to a max of 113M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 101.
Dark Core Troop HP: Increases your Dark Warrior, Dark Mage, and Dark Cavalry HP by up to a max of 37.5M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 103.
Dark Mercenary with Hero: Increases your Dark Mercenary attack with hero up to a max of 177M%, Dark Mercenary HP with hero up to a max of 29M%, and Dark Mercenary armor with hero up to a max of 88M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 104.
Dark Mercenary Attack Focus: Increases your Dark Juggernaut, Dark Guardian, Dark Mech, and Dark Airship attacks by up to a max of 200M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 104.
Dark Mercenary Armor Focus: Increases your Dark Juggernaut, Dark Guardian, Dark Mech, and Dark Airship armor by up to a max of 87.5M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 101.
Dark Mercenary HP Focus: Increases your Dark Juggernaut, Dark Guardian, Dark Mech, and Dark Airship HP by up to a max of 29M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 103.
Dark Earth Elemental: Increases your Dark Earth troop attack by up to a max of 63.5M%, Dark Earth troop HP by up to a max of 28M%, and Dark Troop armor by up to a max of 84.5M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 104.
Dark Elemental Troop Attack: Increases your Dark Elemental attack up to a max of 88M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 104.
Dark Elemental Troop Armor: Increases your Dark Elemental armor up to a max of 44M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 101.
Dark Elemental Troop HP: Increases your Dark Elemental HP up to a max of 14.5M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 103.
Dark Astral Attack: Increases your Dark Astral attack bonus by up to a max of 25M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 101.
Ebony Chocobo Attack: Increases your Ebony Chocobo Attack bonus by up to a max of 1.7M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 105.
Could Ardyn be the next defensive hero? With the Mercenary boosts along with the Elemental and specific Earth Elemental troop boosts, he certainly could be! Just like every other hero that has leveled up in the Dark World, his monster hunting stats get a significant boost. This matches the boosts from the newer Anniversary Gear. Although the MP Regen could be a little better (hint, hint).
Mastery Skills Overview
With basically the same skills as his Hero Skills Tree, the Mastery Skills also adds Disputed Realm boosts for your troops as well as Mirror Troop stats increases. Of course, there are no monster-hunting skills in the Mastery Skills Tree. You can’t unlock the first skill until your hero is at level 350, so if you have one of the Instant Ardyn Level 350, that will come in handy!
Ardyn Mastery Skills Tree
Disputed Realms Dark Assault Armor: Increases your Disputed Realms Dark Assault armor by up to a max of 90M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 351.
Dark Mage: Increases your Dark Mage attack by up to a max of 113M%, Dark Mage HP by up to a max of 15.5M%, and Dark Mage armor by up to a max of 47M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 350.
Dark Core Troop Attack: Increases your Dark Warrior, Dark Mage, and Dark Cavalry attack by up to a max of 375M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 353.
Dark Core Troop Armor: Increases your Dark Warrior, Dark Mage, and Dark Cavalry armor by up to a max of 37.5M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 351.
Dark Core Troop HP: Increases your Dark Warrior, Dark Mage, and Dark Cavalry HP by up to a max of 12.5M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 350.
Disputed Realms Dark Assault HP: Increases your Disputed Realms Dark Assault HP by up to a max of 30M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 352.
Dark Mercenary with Hero: Increases your Dark Mercenary attack with hero up to a max of 235M%, Dark Mercenary HP with hero up to a max of 39M%, and Dark Mercenary armor up to a max of 117M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 351.
Dark Mercenary Attack Focus: Increases your Dark Juggernaut, Dark Guardian, Dark Mech, and Dark Airship attacks by up to a max of 250M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 357.
Dark Mercenary Armor Focus: Increases your Dark Juggernaut, Dark Guardian, Dark Mech, and Dark Airship armor by up to a max of 87.5M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 355.
Dark Mercenary HP Focus: Increases your Dark Juggernaut, Dark Guardian, Dark Mech, and Dark Airship HP by up to a max of 29M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 354.
Dark Earth Elemental: Increases your Dark Earth troop attack by up to a max of 53M%, Dark Earth troop HP by up to a max of 9M%, and Dark Troop armor by up to a max of 26.5M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 352.
Dark Astral Attack: Increases your Dark Astral attack bonus by up to a max of 40M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 353.
Dark Elemental Troop Attack: Increases your Dark Elemental attack up to a max of 110M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 357.
Dark Elemental Troop Armor: Increases your Dark Elemental armor up to a max of 55M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 355.
Dark Elemental Troop HP: Increases your Dark Elemental HP up to a max of 18.5M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 354.
Disputed Realms Dark Assault Attack: Increases your Disputed Realms Dark Assault attack up to a max of 150M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 353.
Ebony Chocobo Attack: Increases your Ebony Chocobo Attack bonus by up to a max of 1.7M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 363.
Mirror Hero Ardyn: Dark Mercenaries Bonus: Increases your Mirror Hero Ardyn: Dark Mercenaries bonus up to a max of 50M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 353. Research for this is only a 4M% bonus, so this is a significant increase!
Mirror Hero Ardyn: Titan Bonus: Increases your Mirror Hero Ardyn Titan bonus up to a max of 75M%. Requires Ardyn hero level 353. Research for this only gives a 1.88M% bonus, so this boosts your Titan immensely!
While most of the skills are similar to Hero Skills, many of the stats increased are different. Most of them are higher, but some are lower. But this still stacks when you have him active. His Mirror hero bonuses are pretty high compared to the original research available in the University. Hopefully, the Disputed Realms continue so these other skills will be of good use for a while.
Dungeon Abilities
Here is a list of his abilities in the Guild Adventure Hall:
Chancellor Ardyn Izunia
Be sure to take advantage of the many events giving out his medals and hero exp. Since he was first released, we saw the beginning of the hero exp in the KT numbers. As a result, you will find him difficult to level up unless you can gather as much hero exp as you can!
Certainly you can just get packs to get what you need, but Luna Gifts, Realm Bosses, and Events are a worthwhile way to get what you need without spending a dime. His specialty in the Disputed Realms seems to fit with game lore if you have played any of the Final Fantasy series.
What Say You?
Heroes seem to be one of the ways players customize their offense and defense. How has he benefitted you in combat? Come join us on Line or Discord and share a few battle reports!
