WuWa. Inferno Rider Wuthering Waves Boss Guide. Mechanics.
The open world version of Inferno Rider can be found in the Port City Guixu. The hologram version can be found in Norfall Barrens.
Reward – 
Rage Tacet Core
Echo – 
Fusion – Transform and perform three consecutive attacks. After the final hit, increase the current character’s Basic Attack and Fusion Damage by 12% for 15 seconds. Hold down the button to mount the Inferno Rider’s bike and ride it for a short duration.
This guide will show mechanics based on the Hologram Challenge VI, which may be different to other versions of this boss.
Before you take on this boss, there are some preparations you can make:
- Inferno Rider is resistant to Fusion Damage, avoid using a Fusion DPS character.
- Characters that float or are ranged are preferable due to the amount of meteors that can litter the floor around the boss, making it hard to interact with it.
- Quick-swapping compositions can take advantage of the Intro buffs while also allowing you to evade attacks by timing the swaps into unclear or delayed animations.
Special Mechanism
When fighting the Hologram boss, there are some extra effects at higher difficulties. At difficulty 5 and higher you will want to keep these in mind.
- Intro Skills increase the ATK of all characters by 10% for 15 seconds, stacking up to 3 times.
- When you are above 80% HP, gain 20% ATK.
Mechanics
Fusion Burst Effect – Many of Inferno Rider’s attacks will apply a debuff to you if they hit. This deals damage over time and if stacked to the maximum of 10 it will trigger and explosion to deal great damage to you. Make sure to dodge attacks to avoid accumulating too many stacks.
Phase 1
Wheelie – During the first half of the fight, Inferno Rider is on top of his motorcycle and will perform only a few delayed attacks. These can be dodged, but since their animations are a bit delayed, timing is more important than reaction speed. The boss will either lift the front or back end of the motorcycle and then after a couple seconds smash the ground with the wheel.
Meteors – Throughout the encounter, orange circles will spawn around the platform to signal where a meteor will fall. Dodge these orange circles one second after they appear to avoid the meteor impact which deals heavy damage, but afterwards they will leave a lingering fire field. This field does nothing while you are in it, but after another few seconds it will glow and explode for a second impact for a lesser amount of damage. Try to avoid standing in one area for long or these lingering explosions can become too much to handle. Lure the boss away from the meteors as he is mostly melee and will follow wherever you go during this phase.
NOTE: Characters that float will avoid the impact of the meteors entirely while they are above the ground. This includes both the first and second explosions.
Melee Attack – Occasionally the Inferno Rider will attack with its weapon in a series of three attacks. The final attack is a wheelie into a lunge at the floor. This final attack summons multiple extra meteors on you, so prepare to dodge multiple times or move away.
Phase 2
When the boss health reaches zero, they will regain a second health bar, get off their bike, and start phase 2. As soon as the boss health reaches zero they will kick their motorcycle at you so watch their health bar when it gets low and dodge at this time.
The boss will perform faster attacks with its weapon now that it isn’t riding the bike, but it will also bring back the bike for certain attacks. Timing is less important than reaction time during this phase.
Parry Flurry – Sometimes the boss will perform multiple fast melee attacks in a row. A parry may be possible to interrupt, but simply dodging these attacks will suffice if you don’t have a reliable parry available.
Watch for the charge attack that Inferno Rider does after leaping backwards.
Ranged Attack – While in Phase 1, Inferno Rider does not use any ranged attacks, but that changes in Phase 2 when the boss leaps into the air and shoots fiery projectiles at you.
The boss will also summon the bike as a projectile attack at you sometimes. It will spawn in the distance giving you some time to see it coming as long as you keep your camera leveled between the ground and sky.
Aerial Attack – Another different ranged attack begins with their weapon glowing before the boss leaps into the air and then swiping to shoot a ranged projectile at you. After dodging this, prepare for the boss to summon their motorcycle and ride it back down at you and then drive around in circles. You must dodge the impact of the bike whenever it approaches you during this animation.
Leap Attack – A less dangerous but common attack when the boss leap into the air and then lunges into the ground. This will summon meteors just like the similar animation done in phase 1.
Other than a few fast animations in phase 2, the difficulty of the encounter does not come from any specific mechanics; rather it is the combination of constant meteors pressuring you while handling the boss mechanics that creates the danger. When using a quick-swapping composition, you can perform your intro/outros to evade while in danger of the meteors. For compositions with more support, lure the boss away from the meteors during your Sub DPS or Support rotations. Also you can utilize DPS characters that float or do their damage from range so that the meteors don’t affect your rotation as much.
