Nests

Powerful beings in Altera can create areas of influence where their power is absolute. These areas are known as Nests and cannot be entered by other beings without permission, though this can be circumvented with specific items that serve as keys.

During the main story players witness and interact with the Nests of the Gold Dragon Gerrant and the Black Dragon Velskud, but more monstrous entities have created their own Nests all over the land. Monsters in these areas are much stronger due to being infused with the Nest Boss's dark powers and are an incredible threat to all but the strongest of adventurers at the same level.

Nests are the final challenge for players who reach the level cap in the update that introduces them. They start at Abyss difficulty and subsequently offer an even fiercer Hell (Hardcore) difficulty (not available for the Minotaur Nest) with better rewards. Players will have to run both versions multiple times if they wish to craft the signature equipment and claim the Nest Boss's powers.

=Existing Nests= Each Nest features its own unique Boss' set, which comes with bonuses when equipping more than one piece of the same set. Crafting materials, or even a complete piece itself can be obtained upon completion of its respective Nest.
 * Minotaur Nest
 * Manticore Nest
 * Cerberus Nest
 * Apocalypse Nest
 * Sea Dragon Nest
 * Archbishop Nest
 * Titan Nest
 * Green Dragon Nest
 * Typhoon Krag Nest
 * Professor K Nest
 * Desert Dragon Nest
 * Guardian Nest
 * Mist Nest
 * Arendel Trial Nest
 * Black Dragon Nest
 * Volcano Nest
 * Volcano Trial Nest
 * Red Dragon Nest
 * Daidalos Nest
 * Creator Nest
 * Ice Dragon Nest

Entering a Nest
To enter a Nest, every player in the party must have its associated Nest Pass, which can be obtained from any Dimensional Rabbit's Box. This allows access to the Abyss version of the nest. To access the Hell version, each party member needs the Rare version of the Nest Pass from the Abyss difficulty Reward Chest. Any player who does not have either version of the Nest Pass will find an impassable black miasma blocking the entrance.

Level 40 and below Nests no longer require a nest pass for Abyss and Hell mode. However, Archbishop and Titan nests still require passes. (Note: The passes have been reimplemented in the Chinese and Korean versions, and might return to the North American and SEA versions at a later date)

Every Nest can only be entered a certain number of times a week, recorded by the Nest list in the 'Dungeon' tab to the left of the Social Panel (opened with the 'O' key). All Nests can be accessed from the portal chamber in North-west Saint's Haven.

During the Nest run

 * Materials that are needed to craft its respective Boss' signature equipment set.

From the score screen

 * One piece of the Boss' signature set.
 * One or more pieces of 'regular' Epic equipment. All equipment that drops in a Nest is furthermore already sealed and ready for trade.

From the final chest

 * One or more pieces of 'regular' Epic equipment. All equipment that drops in a Nest is furthermore already sealed and ready for trade.
 * Epic Powders, Extracts or Crystals that would otherwise needed to be refined from Rare versions.
 * Epic Crests.
 * Epic Accessories.
 * (Raid nests only) A unique grade weapon, armor, or accessory.

Hell Mode
Sea, Green, and Desert Dragon Nests have a Hardcore mode instead of a Hell mode.

From the score screen

 * Special Skill Crests that allow a player to use one of the Boss's attacks as an Active skill.
 * Special badges used to purchase a mount from Lindsay (Apocalypse, Manticore, Archbishop only)
 * Lustre (Diamond, Onyx, Altheum)

From the final chest

 * Unique Crystals.
 * Epic Crests.
 * Epic Skill Accessories.
 * An entrance pass to a raid style nest:
 * Sea Dragon Nest from Apocalypse and Manticore
 * Green Dragon Nest from Archbishop and Titan
 * Desert Dragon Nest from Typhoon Krag and Professor K
 * (Raid nests only) A legendary grade (L-grade) weapon, armor, or accessory.

Minotaur Nest contains all the rewards mentioned above in its Abyss Mode, due to the lack of Hell Mode.

Nests also offer more gold than any other dungeon and the Boss's unique 'trash' drops can be sold to NPC for a hefty sum.

General Tips

 * Having enough people with Lifesaver to cover the whole final boss fight can eliminate the need for a healer but proper coordination is needed.