Azure Striker Gunvolt - Defeating Bosses Without Using the Flashfield
15In this challenge, I endeavor to answer the question: how many of the boss fights in GV1 can be beaten without expending EP? The two consumers of EP are the Flashfield and the various Rings that Gunvolt can equip. Given that the Flashfield is an intrinsic ability, the designers never had to take its absence into consideration. Here, I’ll be testing both myself in addition to the limits of the game’s design by defeating the five bosses that allow for such stipulations. A pointless enterprise to be sure—I’d never recommend attempting this during a run—but the result is an interesting set of conundrums that require precise solutions.
Damage will be primarily dealt using the combo of Dullahan and the Broken Necklace, this allows for 6 damage per shot in the majority of circumstances, the exceptions being during attacks where bosses have increased defense or when battling Viper, whom I remove the Necklace for to extend the fight.
-Something I mentioned in my Viper analysis was that should players run out of EP, it’s entirely possible to avoid his whole repertoire without using the Flashfield; this fight serves as a clear-cut example of that. Viper’s explosion hitboxes are woefully undersized, with Gunvolt seemingly surrounded by bursts of flame while remaining unscathed. Engaging Viper in this fashion does act as solid practice for any S+ attempts; I’d call this battle the most pragmatic of the bunch.
-Jota's two drill attacks—Calamity Ripper and Flash Stinger—contain the entire difficulty of playing this fight under these guises. Technos proves to be the savior in both cases, its angled fire intercepting the drills within both patterns beautifully, though, it’s a bit distressing how close the trailing drill comes to contacting Gunvolt during Calamity Ripper.
-Carrera barely makes the cut of bosses doable under these restrictions. Bafflingly, the debris he pulls in is completely intangible to Gunvolt's bolts, only the Flashfield can destroy it; highly odd considering that bolts can interact with other physical projectiles. The debris follows no discernible pattern; in most cases, you'll be encircled by unworkable placements and inevitably take damage. The battle becomes a primarily fortune-dependent event as a consequence, however, there's just enough of a skill requirement in swerving between the debris during the occasional serendipitous pattern for Carrera's inclusion to be justified.
-The double-edged sword of Merak's wormholes is leveraged to full effect here; firing powerful Dullahan bolts through the portals hastens the battle considerably. His charge toward Gunvolt becomes far more exacting without the Flashfield, particularly when jumping over him against the wind.
-Serving as the "final boss" of this excursion, the Triple Elise fight mandates that players determine an effective and consistent movement loop to manipulate the direction of her constant barrage of kunai. Without a sound strategy, you'll invariably get hit at some point. After much trial and error, I was able to sleuth the following: You always want to reside in the same half of the arena as the Elise that’s rising upward—the halfway point is conspicuously denoted by the column that the crazed Elise occupies. Dashing forward from this position will guarantee that the top corner Elise will fire her kunai within your half of the room instead of at an angle toward the opposite corner where her counterpart dwells. This is absolutely crucial; the snakes born from any kunai contacting the ground are a thorough annoyance, playing the role of area denial; attempting to meander between them alongside any incoming kunai is a fool’s errand. By luring the top corner Elise into firing sharply downward, her kunai will skirt Gunvolt’s head, and the ensuing snake will be facing toward the closer edge of the screen, minimizing its time in the arena, thus completely neutralizing the threat. As soon as you’ve performed this dodge, make haste to the opposite side via dash jump and prepare to repeat the process if needed; Elise can toss one to three volleys per cycle, so getting accustomed to this rhythm is a prerequisite to a smooth fight.
As far as the bosses that didn’t appear are concerned: Copen's fight requires either the Flashfield or Blue Streak Band; Million Eater and Arrogant Fang are unavoidable otherwise. It's technically possible that he wouldn't use either attack but the length of the battle precludes such luck from occurring. Stratos falls into this category as well. Nova and Asimov are strictly impossible without using the Flashfield; dealing damage to them at all mandates its usage.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Viper
02:24 - Jota
04:47 - Carrera
05:47 - Merak
07:49 - Triple Elise
Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed this latest addition to my ever-expanding list of impractical oddities. Any comments or questions you may have are welcome as always.
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