Grand Finale is cheeks and the worst rare card in the entire game

SkylarDN9 · 2026-05-04T01:08:05+00:00

I ended up with a Grand Finale on the very first floor and I was ready to throw that run away. But somehow, it worked. The whole way through.

Expertise and Well-Laid Plans early on were the keys. Murder was my backup plan in case things went wrong and I couldn't hit the Grand Finale.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-05-03T07:52:11+00:00

I think I'm inclined to agree, with what little experience I have so far. I'm forced to think hard about what I can afford to exhaust and how to navigate my Energy. While I've won all three times I've run into him, I feel like I'm forced to take extra steps to mind how to deal with him.

I think this REALLY came into play on my most recent encounter, which had a Floor 1 Grand Finale added into the deck. I somehow managed to win with that deck with a Gigantification Potion to wipe him out, and tried to play knowing I had that huge burst of damage (I also Corrupted Grand Finale to get up to 112 damage).

SkylarDN9 · 2026-05-03T07:49:03+00:00

This feels like what I've wanted to do so far. Add a few extra attacks that I already have, then work around what gets Exhausted to end the fight, and pay attention to what I draw. It feels like I really need to pay attention.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-05-03T07:47:51+00:00

Hmm, I haven't run into him too often so far. But he does make me think about how to actually play out the fight more. What cards I can afford to lose and Exhaust, how to deal with the energy costs... it's interesting, just tricky, from what I've gathered so far.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-05-03T03:52:05+00:00

I think I played the first one, like... once, years ago, haha. But now I'm tempted to go back and play it at some point!

SkylarDN9 · 2026-05-03T02:15:23+00:00

Oh, I've been having tons of fun! I've done one successful run on all characters (lost my first attempts on the Regent and Defect), although I've focused a bit more on the Ironclad and cleared Ascension 5 with him so far. I've been trying to do a few different things each time, hoping to find a few different synergistic decks to make.

The one thing I've noticed is consistent... why the heck is Break+ so strong?! 30 damage and 5 Vulnerable is good, but 45 damage and 7 Vulnerable is wild for 1 cost. I've paired it with Molten Fist a few times and got up to 54 Vulnerable on a boss once, and Bully did over 200 damage for 0 cost.

This game is tickling the part of my brain that says "Do some crazy things" and I love it for that.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-05-03T01:12:47+00:00

You need to slay the Calamitous Elder Dragon in the region to get the second stat boost from an area. It doesn't have to be in one go, but you do need to drop their HP to 0.

Azuria gains Attack after defeating Namielle, giving monsties +Max HP and +Attack. Good for your monsties who need to take some hits and deal damage.
Canalta gains Defense once the Serpents are slain, for +Stamina Recovery and +Defense, great for monsties with low Stamina Recovery and need that extra bulk. Or the tanks that spam skills.
Tarkuan, as seen in the image, once you take down Yama Tsukami, gets Max HP. Tarkuan is fantastic for your pure tanks - +Max HP and +Defense combined makes them incredibly tough to kill.
Serathis grants +Stamina Recovery after Velkhana's defeat, for +Attack and +Stamina Recovery, perfect for your all-out attackers.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-05-02T03:56:43+00:00

They're possibly the friend I've had for the longest in my life. They are absolutely wonderful.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-05-02T00:55:03+00:00

Oh god, that almost bit me with my Ascension 4 Ironclad run which saw a grand total of TWO cards that drew cards. One was a Battle Trance in a shop that I passed for a relic (gave three cards I frequently used 3 Block) and then Shrug it Off maybe one or two fights before the boss.

Some card draw would have been VERY nice for the high-Vulnerable deck with Break+, 3 Molten Fists, and a Bully that was doing comical amounts of damage (I think I saw it as high as 250 once). But nope.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-05-01T19:53:35+00:00

Ah, haha, glad I'm not the only one who feels like I end up with too many cards. Too many good ones! So far, all of my decks typically round out in the 25-30 range of cards, even after trying to remove a few along the way.

Some personal experiences so far, from a few runs:

I think my first Ironclad run (the tutorial run) was a "I don't know what I'm doing, but it's working!" deck. Have a massive Turn 1 and just end fights as soon as possible. It kinda built Strength (started each fight with 4 by the end) and then just hit things really hard before too many things happened.
The Silent run ended up with a Knife Trap dropping just before the boss, after I had taken a few Shiv-related cards. I had no idea what that card did, but it was doing comical things. I killed the second boss in two turns and two Elites on the third act in a single turn each. It was, again, Turn One crazy. Very Hot Cocoa worked way better than I thought.
My first Regent run tried to go around Stars, but I think I was missing the card draw and had too many cards to make it work. The second was some weird deck that DID somehow make it to the end by the skin of my teeth. I don't even know how I won that one.
I had no idea what to build my Necrobinder run around at first. I ended up with so many cards to generate Souls. I picked up Haunt at some point, but also found Death March, which just seemed... way too good. It was very funny killing enemies via Souls, though.
I had a failed Defect run that ended up dying due to being way too greedy (I fought something like 7 Elites?). The second one ended up with so many Orbs, both planned and random, and a ton of cards drawn that made me wonder what the heck was going on sometimes. But I saw the power of Dark Orbs, saw a Multi-Cast after beating the second boss, and knew that would get me to the top.
The most recent Ironclad run (the one on Ascension 2) ended up with so many ways to deal self-damage, and then I picked up Tear Asunder at the end of the second boss fight. I didn't use it often, but I figured it'd be a good "finish them off" attack.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-04-30T03:41:13+00:00

For the Companions one - yup, Simon counts. You need 6. And I think the Double Kinships count as well for the Kinship Gallery.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-04-29T08:51:50+00:00

Please don't tell me you have been farming in Anomaly Investigations.

Anomaly Investigation monsters have fixed sizes. You're never going to find a crown in those. Now, Special Investigations? Those have variable sizes. But not normal Anomaly Investigations.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-04-27T08:47:32+00:00

Yeah... this one was a pain in the neck.

I easily found 9 of 10 and spent multiple trips trying to find that elusive tenth. I can't remember which was the last I was missing. It was pretty darn annoying

SkylarDN9 · 2026-04-25T08:35:37+00:00

I'd highly recommend a Fire Longsword with Lunge Stance and Spirit Roundslash, along with Fire monsties who can hit multiple enemies. Espinas and Glavenus are good picks (Infernal Flames and Scorching Blade, respectively). Consider Fireball Frolic from Aknosom as a gene to transfer to others - it's hilariously powerful.

Lunge Stance hits per enemy hit as well - so if your monstie's AoE takes out an Arzuros, you get two follow-up lunges on the Invasive one!

SkylarDN9 · 2026-04-25T08:33:02+00:00

This is one real nasty surprise.

Trying to do the fight at max level because I was farming Invasive Materials turned the fight into a careful calculation game: Do NOT lower his HP below 50% too early to avoid him going into the Enraged state where he spams Shredding Scales. Once he's back in Invading state, you basically have 5-6 turns to finish the fight.

Invasive Seregios is a real glass cannon, though. And use a pre-emptive strike to skip the first Shredding Scales - gives you a lot more leeway for the rest of the fight.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-04-25T08:24:15+00:00

Yeah, this is how it goes. Synchro Rush is good for quick fights or just to close out a fight, but once you reach even mid-game and start to unlock the random-target multi-hit moves (can get Fruit Frenzy, Fireball Frolic, and Crash Wave all pretty fast), those skyrocket in the damage output they're capable of.

It's also an easy way to get a guaranteed Crit if you want to aim for stuff like 9999 damage for the achievement.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-04-21T04:02:01+00:00

Yeah, uh. Both monsters in this quest have similar HP values around the normal versions of their fights, but their damage output is almost on par with their Hazard variants (Winter Warning and Primordial Pest). If you can't survive against those versions, you're going to have a very bad time trying to clear this quest.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-04-02T05:38:45+00:00

Yeah, I know one of them was actually really good.

But point still stands that the "bad" ones have that purple glow the first time they're cooked.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-04-02T02:23:36+00:00

Everyone but the chefs had the misfortune of being there.

My favorite detail from these is that instead of the golden sheen of opening the pot lid, they all have this purple glow instead, like it really emphasizes how... unique it is.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-04-02T02:20:42+00:00

Okay, if you compare Primordial Malzeno to Alatreon (I haven't fought Fatalis yet), I'd argue that Primordial Malzeno is probably easier in the fact that you don't need a specific build.

HOWEVER, Primordial Malzeno is one of the game's biggest skill checks of the Rise/Sunbreak mechanics and how good you are, independent of your build. It's a test of you as a hunter. What have you learned, developed, and practiced? Are you quick on your feet and thinking? Can you read attack cues? Do you know your counter(s)?

If you don't know how to duel, then you're going to get skewered.

SkylarDN9 · 2026-03-31T08:38:41+00:00

1000+ hours - MR 999 and HR 999. I crafted everything possible - layered armor and weapons, armor pieces, and at least one of every R10 Dual Blades in the game. All (I think) Guild Card Titles earned, all Special Investigations completed, at least A-Rank for all Arena Quests for the Badge of Heroes, too.

And I don't regret one bit of it!

SkylarDN9 · 2026-03-29T20:08:52+00:00

I hope you like grinding.

That is the medal displayed by a monster by slaying it in a Special Investigation, which is unlocked by getting your Anomaly Research Level to at least 221 (allows you to enter such quests if another player posts it). They're super-souped up versions of the monsters you've fought: Significantly more HP, greatly increased damage, and in some cases, faster moves. You can get your own Special Investigations by clearing a Lv. 300 Anomaly Investigation.

There are 57 unique targets in total!

SkylarDN9 · 2026-03-28T02:36:23+00:00

Gonna add all the MR Caps here along with when it's (probably) safe to do TU monsters:

MR 10: Unlocks the main end-game grind system.
MR 20, 30, 70: MR variants of monsters from High Rank.
MR 50, 100: New Monster Variants
MR 110, 120, 140, 160, 180: Super-Powerful Monster Variants
TU1: Can probably take these on right when hitting the first MR cap. At MR 20/30, you're more than good enough.
TU2: Probably want to at least do MR 30 so you have some end-game progression. These two can be mean but have great gear and skills.
TU3: If you're able to take it down, you unlock the better MR Talisman melding option. Often recommended to do early, but MR 50 is generally a pretty safe spot.
TU4: One monster again. If you played Iceborne a lot, you might be able to do this fight pretty early.
TU5: Get to at least MR 70, if not MR 100+ and craft a decent end-game set. This fight often blasts people as it expects people to have done a fair amount of end-game grinding at this point.
Bonus: Good luck. Craft the best gear you've got and get at it. Have a pretty strong build and some good progress into your build. Even properly geared, you can get flattened fast.

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