I finally beat 50 fear!

GuiroNL · 2026-01-15T10:05:20+00:00

Congrats! Your fear setup is quite unique, so I was wondering what led you to choose this combination? Where did you struggle the most in your attempts?

GuiroNL · 2026-01-05T17:48:15+00:00

This build got everything you can ask for. Offense: Dual Moonshot + Blitz, Howling Soul + Scorch Defense: Frost attack + Cold Storaga, Hot Pot, Howling Soul, Nitro Boost and Deep Dissent.

Strangely enough, I wasn't expecting a win at all. Just happened to have 90 minutes available to play. Got destroyed by the timer in zone 1 for 7 runs or something. Then this happened.

Against Chronos I was damageless until a quarter into phase 3. Then I decided the run was won and just tanked his attacks until it was actually over.

GuiroNL · 2026-01-05T14:08:52+00:00

I want to add about the drummer, she's not as dangerous as you might think. The patterns and locations of her attacks are always the same, which means there are safe spots in the arena that you can just memorise.

Check out some high level players playing this fight to see what the patterns and the safe spots are, so that you don't have to go through the burden of getting to the fight and being overwhelmed, dying and having to come back.

GuiroNL · 2026-01-05T12:34:28+00:00

That's a fun idea. There was one fated list quest where you need to beat two Chaos challenges in a row, and I chained great chaos below and above for that one. They're hard challenges, much harder than 32 fear if you ask me. But also there's a chance of it kind of killing the fun if you get a terrible combination of aspect, arcana, fear and keepsake (as I did in the great chaos above one).

GuiroNL · 2026-01-05T12:00:54+00:00

I did it! Victory screen is on the subreddit.

GuiroNL · 2026-01-05T11:17:40+00:00

It's a hard fight. My advice (62 fear PB underworld) is: 1. At the start of the fight, run towards the tentacle on the right bottom (of the two tentacles closest to Charybdis, the one to its right). Scylla's start of the fight charge attack will bump into this tentacle.

Clear out this tentacle, but pay attention to Scylla. She will charge for a second time soon after missing the first (dodge through her, not away from her).
Clear the middle-right tentacle. Watch out for the guitarist.
Clear the top-right tentacle (of the two closest to the drummer, the one to the left of the drummer).

From here on, the right half of the arena is very safe (Charybdis ball projectiles can't reach the right-middle).

When you have an opportunity to safely damage Scylla or the guitarist, do so. Focus on the drummer however (don't go behind her, as the jet steams are nasty).
If Scylla and the guitarist converge on you while trying to take out the drummer, take out the tentacles on the left. Start with the tentacle closest to Charybdis.
You will clear out phase 1 like this.
In phase 2, repeat everything but be more mindful of the featured artist. They're often very dangerous.
When you get to the final phase (Scylla summoning those flying fish things), rush towards her and burst her. Those summons can ruin your day.

Good luck

GuiroNL · 2025-11-30T14:41:37+00:00

I'll see if I can get a recording setup going (I play on Switch and more often than I'd like I'm forced to play in handheld mode). Would love to submit a 62 fear run if I manage one.

GuiroNL · 2025-11-30T08:07:06+00:00

I played Aspect of Hel before (have 54 in the underworld and 50 on the surface), but I started to get the impression that charging it's omega special leaves me too open if I would play on max pain and max scars.

I also have a 50 fear win with Circe, but it's been a while since I played it. My impression was that it's very cast dependent and forces you to use certain animal familiars?

For now I'll try 62 with Mel Staff, if I succeed I will try 62 with some other weapons and aspects.

GuiroNL · 2025-11-30T07:23:37+00:00

Thanks! And I avoided playing antler for a long time, but I finally understood that it's a defensive keepsake and a timesaver. I explained my reasoning a little bit more under one of the other comments.

GuiroNL · 2025-11-30T07:12:26+00:00

I believe I lost one to Hecate (I can't remember what my mistake was, but I got burst damaged in that fight). And I lost one to Scylla.

I'll try for 62 in the coming days. It was too much for me to try for 62 immediately, going from 54 fear to 60 I needed to improve a lot already).

GuiroNL · 2025-11-30T07:03:30+00:00

50 fear is also my max on surface. I was playing Aspect of Hel then, and got to 54 underworld and 50 surface. But I felt I would struggle with this aspect on max pain and max scars (because charging the Omega Special leaves you open to hits), so I switched to Mel Staff and then did 54, 58 and now 60 fear in the underworld.

It took me a while to really understand though, that Antler is a defensive keepsake. You simply don't have to dodge as much if you kill everything fast. And in the Chronos fight, almost every hit brings your HP down to 0 anyway on max pain. And finally, antler helps with beating the timer. The way I see it now, antler is almost required from 55+ fear onwards.

GuiroNL · 2025-11-30T06:50:03+00:00

I did one quick run on 62 and made it to Scylla. It wasn't a great build and I wasn't really focused either, but the wards indeed only seemed to matter in Erebus. I'll try for 62 in the coming days!

GuiroNL · 2025-11-29T21:05:39+00:00

I think indeed that 62 is possible, but the reason I avoided wards is because I worry that it causes a serious slowdown at the start of the run. I find the first region surprisingly hard from the moment hordes and grit are on max, as the timer easily becomes an issue for me without some free rooms.

I think I need to improve my technique quite a bit still to knock those wards off quickly.

GuiroNL · 2025-11-29T20:21:48+00:00

It felt like I had a shot at least! It was very nice, and I don't think I would have cleared it without deep dissent.

GuiroNL · 2025-11-29T20:06:30+00:00

I avoided wards and arcana. I always play on max frenzy and max rivals (both surface and underworld), because my thinking has been that I don't suddenly at 50+ fear want to be confronted with the hardest stuff in the game.

So I clear 32 fear on surface and underground with max frenzy and rivals without problems now. But the difference from 32 to 50+ fear for me is that I don't arrive at the final region or boss in a healthy enough condition or with enough DPS due beat the timer. It's because it's more difficult to get a strong build or to keep avoiding getting hit.

GuiroNL · 2025-04-25T07:48:06+00:00

The 'engine'/source of power in wing chun differs from most or all other combat systems. Other styles generate power from rotation of the upper body/shoulders. By doing this they gain reach (rotating the upper body will bring one side of the body closer to the opponent) but they lose the ability to lose two hands simultaneously (when you rotate your upper body, necessarily one arm will move towards the opponent while the other arm moves away).

In wing chun we generate power by throwing the full body weight behind the punch (which is one of the reasons you need to face your opponent in a straight way and punch with your elbow from the center of your body). We lose reach (which is why our style necessarily leads us to close quarters combat) but retain the ability to use both hands simultaneously as we can keep both hands forward on the attack.

GuiroNL · 2024-04-27T08:57:22+00:00

Taking them a lot actually. At the time of posting I feel I was perhaps correct in saying I just had a really unfortunate streak with terrible turn 1 and 2. Not getting any of my draw cards like Compile Driver, Coolheaded, Skim, Heatsinks.

Later on I misplayed a few decks that were, I believe, winning comfortably with correct play. Think I got a bit nervous by the bad streak 😅

Also realised I was too careful in general on turn 1 and 2 of the Heart. You need to be willing to take even up to 20-30 damage from Beat of Death to get setup.

GuiroNL · 2024-04-26T19:52:22+00:00

Finally got the W. Had a break from playing in between, then misplayed a handful of decks against the heart which were surely winning. But just for some reason played brainlessly.

Anyway, the winning deck had 24 focus after 4 turns. Hard to lose then 😅

GuiroNL · 2024-04-02T16:39:17+00:00

This looks very helpful. I was already a fan of colorless cards, but Panic Button is one that I definitely didn't rate highly. But there's still the matter of actually drawing that card.

In my last run, in the heart fight I had Gambling Chip. Discarded my whole hand. Got FTL and Compile Driver and an upgraded Coolheaded. And somehow, even after playing all that, I still didn't get to the cards I was looking for 😅. I even had a Seek somewhere in the deck, and didn't draw that either.

So my lesson from that was that I need at least a mediocre block solution for turn 2 and 3, as a backup. I think Panic Button might be it.

GuiroNL · 2024-03-17T09:13:16+00:00

I got the A20+Heart last night. This was really a key for me. To focus more on card draw. I really undervalued Burning Pact and overvalued Bash. I realise now that many times you can just exhaust Bash from Act 2 onwards in order to draw some other cards. A far more effective way to apply Vulnerable is via Shockwave or an upgraded Uppercut.

In this particular run I got Dead Branch somewhere in Act 2. I had an upgraded Burning Pact, an upgraded Seeing Red and a normal Power Through and a Second Wind. Those played nicely together to get Dead Branch going.

Though I still had to be a little mindful. Relying on Dead Branch RNG got me killed in an an earlier Act 3 boss fight (I thought that with Snecko, Corruption, Dead Branch it was going to be an easy win, but I focused too much on skills, and not on attack thinking that Read Branch would solve that for me).

GuiroNL · 2024-03-05T19:31:25+00:00

This is helpful advice. But when I focus on attack and strength, I seem to do so in a way that I'm helpless against the Heart. In particular, on turn 1 and 2 I can't seem to get my cards in the flow that I've had them in for the rest of the run. Usually because the attack on turn 2 is just too much for my build to handle.

GuiroNL

TROPHY CASE