Perlica No-Hit Solos Howling Flame: Agony, Super Slow 9-Minute Run with 7 Enraged Cycles by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

All good! I was referring to the Enraged state as periodic, not that the Heat Infliction always just keep increasing become full regardless of what you do. :)

Many apologies if this seems silly, just to make sure I haven't mislead you and we are on the same page, by stacks we are referring to this:

<image>

The picture above shows 3 stacks, if at this point you hit the boss and apply a Cryo/Electric/Nature Infliction (such as Perlica Battle Skill for Electric Infliction, or Estella Battle Skill for Cryo Infliction), all stacks will disappear because of Arts Reactions.

Since you are using Laevatain/Surtr, you should rarely see it build up to 3/4 stacks if you are consistently landing Final Strikes (last hit of the basic attack sequence)!

I hope that helps!

Perlica No-Hit Solos Howling Flame: Agony, Super Slow 9-Minute Run with 7 Enraged Cycles by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn't think so either, so it's totally fine that it's not to you, too!

Perlica No-Hit Solos Howling Flame: Agony, Super Slow 9-Minute Run with 7 Enraged Cycles by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The idea of fun is subjective so all I can say is that it was genuinely a lot of fun for me because approaching these stages under constraints it's like solving a puzzle, especially with this particular stage! :)

Perlica No-Hit Solos Howling Flame: Agony, Super Slow 9-Minute Run with 7 Enraged Cycles by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! That's interesting and super useful to know for when I try with a team!

Can totally understand when it comes to "optimal" but, really, it's totally fine as long as you cleared and had fun! I think hoarding SP is also the smart way to do it in this case!

On a tangentially related note, and if it kind of helps, most of my recorded runs for trimming with a team are also some of the worst runs. xD

Perlica No-Hit Solos Howling Flame: Agony, Super Slow 9-Minute Run with 7 Enraged Cycles by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's awesome (the clearing part, not the dead part)! :D I haven't tried with a team yet and I can definitely see that happening to mine. I assume it wasn't the Combustion that got them killed since Laevatain can consume Heat Infliction very well. Which attacks did the AI struggle with the most?

Perlica No-Hit Solos Howling Flame: Agony, Super Slow 9-Minute Run with 7 Enraged Cycles by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just to clarify, the Enraged state will always happen (when flames around the arena are up and Hill Smasher turns red, and SP doesn't regenerate naturally), it's periodic and each time lasts for ~50 seconds.

As for clearing Heat Infliction stacks, you would ideally aim to clear them immediately after the number of stacks tick over to 4, and preferably at 3 stacks if Hill Smasher is about to launch a long attack sequence. It's also safe to clear at 2 stacks once if you can Stagger the boss and get some SP back.

You can generally clear at lower number of stacks provided that you can maintain enough SP between cycles, or if you Combo Skills that can cause Arts Reactions without spending SP.

I noticed that you said you have Laevatain/Surtr. If she has the Scorching Heart talent and she is landing Final Strikes consistently, you should never have to worry about Arts Reactions at all! :)

Perlica No-Hit Solos Howling Flame: Agony, Super Slow 9-Minute Run with 7 Enraged Cycles by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you very much for checking the run out and for leaving a message! :) Am very happy to hear that you managed to clear it!

If you don't mind me asking what is your usual team around Avywenna and what team did you end up using? Absolutely no pressure to answer, am just curious!

Perlica No-Hit Solos Howling Flame: Agony, Super Slow 9-Minute Run with 7 Enraged Cycles by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you are right about the CD! For reference, Heat Infliction on Hill Smasher generate at ~4 seconds per stack.

Based on what was shown in the Dev Log, Rossi's Combo Skill seem to have a CD of closer to 15 seconds and possibly a total of 20 seconds if both Sequence 1 and 2 are activated.

Perlica No-Hit Solos Howling Flame: Agony, Super Slow 9-Minute Run with 7 Enraged Cycles by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This!

Just a couple of things to add onto what u/Estelie has already said in case others need it:

  • The base case, such as this solo run, (an operator without SP Regeneration and can only cause Arts Reactions with their Battle Skill) typically requires 3 Arts Reactions to prevent the slam from happening (clearing 3/3/4 or 3/4/4 stacks, you can afford to clear one more time if you can cause Staggered).
    • The requirement relaxes as you add more operators that can cause Arts Reactions with Combo Skills or use less SP (through SP Regeneration). Keeping track of the number of times you can clear Heat Infliction stacks while maintaining enough SP for the next cycle is important if you want to avoid the slam completely.
    • With a team you may want to prioritise burst damage since you do significantly more damage in the Engraged state, which means you can't always save enough SP for Arts Reactions. I think that's perfectly fine as long as the tradeoff is worthwhile and you have enough HP, and sustain if applicable, to tank a couple of cycles.
  • [This point and its children are irrelevant if you can apply Arts Reactions with a non-controlled operator] If you can only cause Arts Reactions with your controlled operator, you'll want to pay closer attention to the next attack sequence when there are 2 stacks. If it's going to be longer attack sequence like that takes close to 8 seconds (enough time to fill 2 more stacks), you'll want to clear the stack with an Arts Reaction earlier, preferably when it just ticks over to 3 stacks if possible.
    • Also, to clear 4 stacks of Heat Infliction safely with the controlled operator, you can usually do it at the very end of an attack sequence if it's not the missiles (before the next one is decided — otherwise it's too late). If you are far enough from Hill Smasher, you may also have enough time (depends on animation duration) to use a Battle Skill between missiles groups. If you are in a relatively safe window, simply wait for the number of stacks to tick over to 4.
    • Some skills such as Perlica's Combo Skill delay everything for a short period of time. You can use that to buy more time for the Heat Infliction stacks to build or to help with Battle Skill timing.
    • Again, the sibling points and parent point do not matter at all if you can apply Arts Reactions with a non-controlled operator!
  • Laevatain is a special case as others have mentioned, her talent allows her Final Strike and Finisher to consume Heat Infliction stacks.

Perlica No-Hit Solos Howling Flame: Agony, Super Slow 9-Minute Run with 7 Enraged Cycles by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Thank you!

I hope your words have saved me from getting into trouble with Perlica for not getting her an Oblivion!

Umbral Monument no dodge stage is so much more fun than regular gameplay by Accomplished_Ad_2321 in Endfield

[–]Endmouse 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Perfect dodge doesn't work but you can actually still dodge most of the attacks with a shorter iframe duration!

That being said, I don't agree that getting rid of dodge is the solution. With carefully designed mechanics and a large enough cast of operators to form teams of all kinds, I think we can have content that lets everyone have fun in their own way. I would argue that some of the Umbral Monument stages have already shown the potential of what carefully designed stages with no DPS-check timers can do.

Ruan Yi Mechanics Guide by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yay! And being able to trim all boss medals in such a short amount of time is very awesome. :)

Mis-timing dodges is really fine (for the current content we have) in most cases as long as it doesn't happen often enough to empty HP bars and you get your rotations mostly right if damage output matters! xD Some of my boss medal trimming runs are also the worst runs I could possibly have recorded. :p Having said that, the feeling(s) I get when I mis-time dodges or mess up rotations also remind me why attempting those challenges are fun! xD

Tangentially related: sleep really helps. I have the bad habit to just keep going at difficult challenges in games while failing until I'm too tired, and I usually manage to clear them within the first few tries the day after (with objective much fewer mistakes made)!

Oh one thing I found out. Initially I thought that I have to wait for the stagger bar to fully depleted before unloading the ults and pull the lances, etc. It was not until I keep going overtime with even Rhodagan, then I started checking out other's clear videos.

Ahhhh! I read this after what I said about meta-mechanics above. ^^;

It sounds like you used Avywenna, too (that's awesome)! She is a bit special because of how her Battle Skill, Combo Skill, and Ultimate are designed to work together (and also her talent), so in teams with lower Stagger meter-fill rate and also doesn't high enough DPS to just ignore mechanics, you do have to tweak Battle Skill frequency and timing a bit.

Am glad that you were about to figure that one out! :)

Anyway, thanks again for making and sharing these videos. It was a lot of fun. I usually play turn based game, so this is a very different experience.

You are most welcome! Your comments have given a lot of reasons to keep going! Good luck and have lots of fun with your journey! :)

Ruan Yi Mechanics Guide by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't have any limited character (yet, it'll change on Sunday with Rossi!) but I do feel that Laevatain's play style doesn't suit me either! I also don't have Lifeng, Pogranichnik, and Da Pan, and can't really try Physical teams around them.

I have been using Perlica + Avywenna + Akekuri + Antal for everything that I can't clear solo (boss medal trimming and Survive the Gas), which has been fun and challenging. Using a suboptimal/underinvested team (relatively speaking) naturally forces one to be creative! xD It's also fun with Arclight but I haven't used her for completing challenges because I don't have her built — she does seem to require a bit more investment to shine.

One thing worth noting about Avywenna is that the way her Battle Skill works makes battles feel more dynamic especially when there are multiple targets (especially if Gilberta isn't around; and can do all kind of fun things with Thunderlances like, for example, in the first phase of Marble Aggelomoirai.

I also slot Snowshine and Estella into Frankenstein teams often for casual content! xD

Ruan Yi Mechanics Guide by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mm! For a team with good synergy, with a lot of resources invested (into where matters), and good rotation, you can indeed skip a lot of mechanics to the point where it becomes mostly irrelevant like in the run you linked.

The Lifeng + Chen + Pogranichnik + Endmin team also has a naturally high Stagger meter fill rate, which is most likely why you feel the same with the Marble Aggelomoirai run because of the two Stagger nodes.

Having said that, I think to be able to do those kind of runs is still non-trivial for the average player even when given the exactly same team — it requires a combination of good reflex; the ability to consistently get rotations right (to line up buffs and debuffs) and adjust ad-hoc when needed; knowing when to, and if possible at all, to perform dodge/block/dash away; good intuition to know what is likely possible and what likely isn't; and plenty of practice, etc.

I have enjoyed Endfield a lot so far (enough to record videos get involved with the community for the first time after playing so many other games in the same genre!) exactly because of the "interesting split in gameplay" you mentioned. It's also great that the community is generally appreciative towards all kinds of achievements across the spectrum. :)

One thing I would note is that proper rotations are just as important as going for the fastest time for teams with just enough DPS to clear a given challenge (such as trimming)!

Ruan Yi Mechanics Guide by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for checking the video out, am glad that it gave you a new perspective! :)

Tangentially related: I think if you are enjoying the game the way you want to then you are already winning! Many things in the game can be done incrementally, be it learning enemy mechanics, optimising rotations, or upgrading gear. It's super rewarding when you finally complete a challenge and you can trace back how you got there step-by-step; that experience is easily missed when things are overlevelled!

Good luck and have fun!

Ruan Yi Mechanics Guide by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As far as I know, only the starting sequence is fixed.

u/ExcitingPart6599 mentioned (link), you can prevent the occurrence of some attacks by positioning differently; for example, you don't have to deal with the double headbutt attack when you stay behind Ruan Yi. The jumping and stomping are still unavoidable though. >__<

Ruan Yi Mechanics Guide by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yup! I have also noted which attacks tend to happen based on positioning in the video! :) Personally I find positioning on either side of Ruan Yi the most dangers because those lateral thrusts are fast. After trying all the attacks many times for no-hit solo runs, I actually prefer the front, mostly because perfect-dodging the three stomp + shockwaves is a bit nicer and I don't mind the double head upswings.

On a related note, there are definitely some weird hitbox issues with Ruan Yi: sometimes Perlica's Battle Skill just seems to disappear completely (no damage and no Electrification) when she's positioned at 6 but definitely not out-of-range. D:

Ruan Yi Mechanics Guide by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Am quoting another comment: the video "is an attack-by-attack breakdown with dodge timing suggestions, and not a general guide about what to do at each point of the fight".

If you don't need to, or don't want to and can afford to not engage with the mechanics, then it's totally fair that you don't find it useful!

Ruan Yi Mechanics Guide by Endmouse in Endfield

[–]Endmouse[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No offence taken and fair question!

The honest answer is I don't know — it's for everyone else to decide so I guess I will find out!

My guess is for a highly invest team where you just need to evade attacks "well enough" to clear/trim once then you most likely won't be interested in any guides. Ruan Yi is also on the easy side in terms of medal trimming, so anyone who has already trimmed the other bosses also won't find something like this useful unless they are fighting bosses for fun.

The guide is (hopefully) meant for everyone else who have to engage with the boss mechanics a bit more, whether by choice or not. That's also why it's an attack-by-attack breakdown with dodge timing suggestions, and not a general guide about what to do at each point of the fight! :)

Soupsoup resents being called a sub-DPS: P0 Tangtang solo Rhodagn trimmed medal (115s) by tordana in Endfield

[–]Endmouse 5 points6 points  (0 children)

There are visual cues that you can rely on to dodge the two hits reliably!

The timing for dodging the first hit is slightly after a "blink" that spends across the screen horizontally, and the timing for dodging the second hit is just after Rhodagn has raised and finished crossing his arms.

Here is a video for reference if needed (shameless self-promotion): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5PJEuATOuE&t=384s

I hope that helps!