Swallowtail is an Anomaly Hunt boss added in the Neverness to Everness 1.0 release. It lives inside a projection room at Floe Cinema and rewards the S-rank Solid arc Reality Refuge, plus the Colorful Ticket Stub material used to ascend Espers. The fight is gated behind a specific Anomaly Commission, and its mirror-image phase is the one moment that decides whether the run is fast or frustrating.
Quick answer: Unlock Swallowtail by completing the Let's Go See a Movie Anomaly Commission in the New Herland District, then enter the projection room down the hallway to the left of Floe Cinema's ticket booth on Camelot Avenue. Bring an Anima-damage main DPS, parry its attacks during the mirror phase to break it, and collect Reality Refuge from the boss drops or arc shop.
Where to find Swallowtail in NTE
Swallowtail is located at Floe Cinema on Camelot Avenue in the New Herland District. The challenge entrance is not the main lobby. From the ticket booth, follow the dim hallway to the left and step into the projection room at the back. That doorway loads the Anomaly fight once the boss has been unlocked.
The boss appears on the world map under Anomaly Hunt markers, so tracking it from the Anomaly Hunt menu places a waypoint directly on the cinema. If the marker is missing, the unlock commission has not been completed yet.
How to unlock the Swallowtail boss fight
Swallowtail is gated behind the Let's Go See a Movie Anomaly Commission. Appraisers can pick it up at any time from the Anomaly Commissions tab on the map screen. After clearing the Common version, a level 45 High-Risk variant unlocks for players at Hunter Level 24 and above, which raises the difficulty and the reward tier.
Step 1: Open the map and switch to the Anomaly Commissions list. Filter by the New Herland District and select Let's Go See a Movie to set it as your active commission.
Step 2: Travel to Floe Cinema and follow the commission objectives until the projection room door becomes interactable. Completing the commission permanently unlocks the Swallowtail anomaly entry.
Step 3: Return to the projection room whenever you want to refight Swallowtail. The encounter then runs as a repeatable Anomaly Hunt rather than a one-time story event.
Swallowtail boss profile and weakness
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Boss type | Anomaly Hunt boss |
| Region | New Herland District |
| Location | Floe Cinema, Camelot Avenue (projection room) |
| Unlock commission | Let's Go See a Movie |
| High-Risk level | 45 (requires Hunter Level 24) |
| Element weakness | Anima |
| Signature mechanic | Mirror dive (water) phase |
| Featured arc drop | Reality Refuge (S-rank, Solid) |
Swallowtail is weak to Anima damage, so any party built around Anima damage dealers and Attachment effects clears it faster. Most of its melee strings are telegraphed and parry-friendly, which means the boss does not punish methodical play outside of one specific phase.
How to beat Swallowtail
The opening phase is straightforward. Swallowtail uses sweeping melee combos and short lunges that can be perfectly dodged or parried for a critical opening. Use that window to drop your strongest Anima rotation and build Ultimate energy.
The decisive moment is the mirror dive. Swallowtail "submerges" into a water-like mirror and attacks from the reflection. Damage still lands, but the boss takes reduced damage in this state, so trying to brute force through it slows the fight down significantly.
Step 1: The instant the mirror image appears, stop attacking and watch the reflection. Swallowtail's strikes come from its mirrored position, not the visible body.
Step 2: Parry the mirrored attack rather than dodging it. A clean parry forces Swallowtail back out of the mirror and applies a short vulnerability window.
Step 3: Burn that vulnerability with your highest-damage skill or Ultimate. The window closes quickly, so commit to the rotation as soon as the boss reappears.
Repeat that loop through each mirror dive. With Anima damage and consistent parries, the encounter ends well inside the soft enrage timer.
Recommended teams for Swallowtail
| Role | Anima-focused team | Charge cycle team |
|---|---|---|
| Main DPS | Nanally | Hathor |
| Sub-DPS | Esper Zero | Jiuyuan |
| Support | Skia | Mint |
| Support | Edgar | Edgar |
Nanally is the most efficient main DPS option against Swallowtail because her kit converts the Anima weakness into clean burst windows. Pairing her with Esper Zero and Edgar enables the Blossom interaction for added damage, and Edgar covers healing during the mirror phase. Adding a Lakshana unit, such as Skia, activates the Charge Esper Cycle, which keeps the team's Ultimate energy topped up.
The alternative team leans harder into the Charge cycle. Hathor takes the front line while Jiuyuan, Mint, and Edgar feed her with Attachment damage, healing, and energy. Jiuyuan in particular pairs well with the boss's own arc drop, since Reality Refuge directly buffs her Lethal Rose Pact attachments.
Swallowtail rewards and arc drops
The Anomaly Hunt version of Swallowtail returns standard hunt rewards alongside boss-specific items. Higher difficulty tiers scale the same drops upward.
| Reward | Quantity | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Hunter EXP | x300 | Hunter rank progression |
| Beetle Coin | x6,000 | Arc and character ascension currency |
| Water Moon Pick | x4 | Anomaly material |
| Coal Lump's Gift | Variable | Container that can yield Colorful Ticket Stubs |
| Colorful Ticket Stub | Variable | Esper ascension material |
| Reality Refuge | Arc drop | S-rank Solid arc with the Swallowtail effect |
Reality Refuge is the headline reward. It maxes at 570 base ATK with a 30% ATK substat at Level 80, and its Swallowtail skill increases Anima DMG by 15%, raises the wearer's Attachment DMG by 10%, and pushes that Attachment bonus to 20% for 6 seconds after the wearer casts an Ultimate. The effect does not stack. Beyond the boss drop table, Reality Refuge can also appear in the Miracle Box banner and the Tri-Key Arc Selection shop.
How to confirm the unlock and clear worked
You know Let's Go See a Movie is complete when the commission entry switches to a finished state in the Anomaly Commissions list, and Swallowtail starts appearing under Anomaly Hunt markers on the map. After a clear, the rewards screen lists Hunter EXP, Beetle Coins, Water Moon Pick, and any Coal Lump's Gift or arc drop earned in that run, and the Anomaly Hunt entry refreshes its cooldown for the next attempt.
If the projection room door fails to load the fight, the most common cause is that the unlock commission was started but not finished. Returning to the active commission marker and completing its objectives restores access. Keep an Anima damage dealer on the team and treat the mirror dive as a parry check rather than a damage race, and Swallowtail becomes one of the more predictable Anomaly Hunt clears in New Herland.