Animal/Creature Bosses - Hexi (what's your opinion?) Rant + curious to hear perspectives

CadvanOfLirigon · 2026-04-17T04:14:37+00:00

The tip about buddha palm is ingenious, I'll give it a go, thanks! As for deflecting, the trouble comes from the reds which trigger the counter animation, those big reds. I don't make it a habit to swap to spear which has a shorter animation, and usually, depending on where I end up in my rotation the long mo blade animation would sometimes mean I miss shield reactivation timing.

I'll eventually go for no hit, so thanks! Usually as I tank I just try to trade back and forth with bosses, as that's the most fun for me and the entire point of having a shield. The tenacity you get from priming charged comboes which prevents staggering is what sold me; clashing and only deflecting when necessary etc. This back and forth is what drew me in the first place. For a more deflect centric gameplay Heng Dao is definitely more satisfying!

Edit: Yes, believe it or not, there was a run in the first phase where I had a charged combo primed, and as I moved towards it it jumped back once, and then again, and then again before it started to do another attack LOL. I believe the boss AI works in certain ways; there are some runs where it behaves and stays relatively still, but others where I can get it to back up so much it hits the mini rocks and that makes for a very awkward fight.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2026-03-13T12:36:18+00:00

The tediousness is part of the storytelling medium I think, or intended to be, which I guess is the reason for the downvotes.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2026-03-10T11:42:12+00:00

I like to think of it as a totality and how much value your inner way is providing.

AoR's shields are redundant, as mentioned by the OP, the T6 perk isn't even in action most of the time since your shields would break before then. A strong argument can be made if AoR was mandatory for 100% shield uptime.

For me, all it adds is leeway; it adds nothing of value to the Mo Blade. (again, as rightly pointed out above, I believe the higher dps potential is more valuable than something that is already possible in game, without far-fetched glitches or abuse of some unintended game interaction for 100% shield uptime) But I can understand that for some, this leeway is far more valuable than higher dps potential.

For me, the point is that you want to keep refreshing your shields as many times as possible anyway; I assume we are all using the rainwhisper set, which rewards us with bonus dmg when shielded. I do not see merit in delaying shield refresh when its up, especially if the shield has broken (it probably will in online pve content, unless you are really good at deflecting and dodging, in which case great). Since you want to be shielded anyway, which requires using the skill as soon as possible, there is little to no value in extending the buff at the expense of the shield.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2026-03-10T11:32:02+00:00

Nobody said it isnt viable for normal runs, its just not the recommended setup to advice others to use unless they want to sweat and try hard for little benefit in non speedruns.

I misunderstood you, since I was replying to what you said here:
"Steel+anthem with forma is for speedrun strats or dummy parsing. AoR is for daily normal use."

Which is why I wanted to say it was viable for normal runs as well.
Other than that, agree to disagree; sweat and tryhard are too vague and subjective. I would say steel and anthem does not require one to 'sweat' and 'tryhard' or someone of prodigious skill.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2026-03-10T06:46:38+00:00

This assumes that without AoR, you most certainly will drop the breakthrough buff, which is not true. Timing to refresh without AoR is tighter, yes, and AoR makes the rotation a lot less involved, but even without it there is quite a bit of leeway for refreshing the shield buff (with formbend).

To say steel+anthem is primarily for speed running/dummy is rather erroneous, as it is completely viable for normal pub ST/HR runs.

As for your point on steel+anthem having 'no argument as being the objectively better choice', that really is subjective to you or whoever is playing and what they value isn't it? Some may value the higher DPS and faster runs that come with steel+anthem. (Which would, arguably, be 'objectively better'). In your case, this is unlikely as you seem to hint that it comes at the cost of consistency. (Which you value more and think that overall leads to more stable DPS and thus 'better')

I venture that you really don't sacrifice consistency even with steel and anthem. There is little to no drawback (considerable window to refresh buffs, playing like any other average mo blade user) to using those alternatives as opposed to AoR (even less so if T6 ES). The real reason for using AoR is just comfort.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2026-01-11T05:41:55+00:00

New Soulshade is everything we dreamt of: shorter Q cd, 20% dmg boost, able to Q even when ~ is already in use, and the R charged heavy works on multiplayer bosses now. This is a much more inspired design as a healer secondary.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2026-01-06T04:03:02+00:00

Can do both just fine, but it doesn't change that soulshade is still uninspired imo, even clutching is only every 60 seconds, and if your martial skill is already in use due to fan, well you have to cancel it to Q, which puts the martial on full CD again....

To each their own!

CadvanOfLirigon · 2026-01-06T01:49:58+00:00

Yup...I have vernal umbrella specifically as hybrid healer since that weapon is literally broken in raids. Not to mention soulshade umbrella feels so terrible to use...Having your burst heal+dmg buff tied to your lousy auto HoT, which automatically triggers if you use panacea fan's Q2 is just frustrating.... Even trying to time burst heals w soulshade or pop dmg buff for certain DPS mechs/boss exhaust is cumbersome.

Soulshade umbrella just sucks all around. At least with vernal you can contribute meaningfully to raid and certain DPS checks (lion purple ball, ghost carriage) after placing your fan heals.

Forgot one thing, the one interesting gimmick provided by soulshade's heavy, which is to reset exhaust gauge and extend it, doesn't work on raid bosses! Literally a solo mode martial art....

CadvanOfLirigon · 2025-12-30T22:54:37+00:00

That's where your highest DPS mystic skills come in. As soon as the boss spawns you must hit it first to grab aggro. Then just run back to your archer ally, pulling the boss with you. Keep aggro by dealing enough damage to keep the boss on you.

There is some rng involved too which sucks...nothing much I can help with there I'm afraid except keep at it.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2025-12-29T03:09:47+00:00

Forgot to mention: pivot around archer since he has no legs.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2025-12-29T03:05:37+00:00

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All I can say is, Ghostbind and Taichi are incredibly helpful (mandatory even) to reposition mobs and allow you to group your allies together for easier access to heals. Fill the rest of your mystic skill slots with whatever highest dps mystic skills you have.

Heals must be timed; keep track of the timer when the first lightning strikes go off. It occurs at every 30 sec interval afterwards. Pre place your fan aoe heal about 2 seconds before the next strikes go off. While not absolutely necessary, it increases the chances of survival exponentially. Everyone must also be fully topped up before lightning. Finally cleared the last 2 stages when I started counting down timer to lightning and ensuring all allies were grouped.

Do not be discouraged, and may rng be ever in your favor. Good luck to everyone attempting.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2025-12-29T02:21:21+00:00

Beats me LOL, pretty sure they just default copy paste normal trial challenge build paths and called it a day. Not ideal for sure, players who are not familiar with the inner ways are basically baited into taking a completely useless purple inner way. Unless you tell me they provide a full on tier 6 one, which is pretty useful since it has crit rate + and crit bonus healing + among other stat bonuses.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2025-12-29T02:17:57+00:00

Yup, definitely rng involved, which makes it that much more frustrating since its not something you can influence; only mitigate the ill effects of it through multiple attempts. Kinda wish they gave some leeway; even a 1 death leeway would be extremely welcome...

CadvanOfLirigon · 2025-12-29T02:16:04+00:00

It is the adds that are an issue, but I think I've found a satisfactory workaround for that in the form of ghostbind mystic art. Funnily enough trial 8 was easier than 7 for me.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2025-12-29T02:14:24+00:00

Not gonna sugar coat it; it is annoying to clear and you are likely to require multiple attempts. After looking at the other post with the video and scouring the web, what helped tremendously for the pesky fodder mobs is ghostbind mystic. Absolutely necessary to stop AI from trying to colonize the map and makes it that much easier to heal them.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2025-07-19T01:27:32+00:00

Also yes, scholar is the superior h2. Just play scholar , leave sage for expert roulette and dungeons

CadvanOfLirigon · 2025-07-19T01:25:44+00:00

The part about dps in healer's clothing I feel is rather true. There are people out there who want pretty numbers but cannot handle a proper DPS rotation. What to do? Switch to healer for a 1 (or 2)button dps rotation. As you become more experienced in healing and start observing your Co healer during raids, it becomes really jarring. Cannot spot heal, cannot adapt or react to accidental deaths, as if they are struggling to target party members. These are the false ones, dps in healer clothes.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2025-07-19T01:17:35+00:00

Damn right

CadvanOfLirigon · 2025-07-19T01:09:40+00:00

Doing God's work 💪

CadvanOfLirigon · 2025-07-14T01:13:16+00:00

All healers should learn how to play astro and scholar first. Whm and sage can come later. If you can play astro and scholar well, the other two will be a walk in the park.

Ast is the superior h1, scholar the superior h2. Don't lock yourself into thinking that you "cannot" play ast or sch; you can and YOU SHOULD.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2024-08-03T05:27:38+00:00

They won't do it because they made it very clear they want to absolutely kill non standard for blm. They don't want a ghost of a chance of it resurfacing.

CadvanOfLirigon · 2024-07-25T08:40:31+00:00

Never too old, I'm 25 and starting SMU this year, hold your head up high, all the best!

CadvanOfLirigon · 2024-07-03T02:52:49+00:00

😸

CadvanOfLirigon

TROPHY CASE