DFFOO [JP][Act 4 Ch 3 pt 1] Are Lufenians a concern when the Fist Bump of Chaos is this powerful?
27Yep, no phase 1 piano BT theme, but phase 2 theme is still great.
Astos actually treated me well. Did not take much to get his BT/FR, and at the end of the day, who would be surprised that the one thing that needed to be pitied was the LD. I was ready either way, and Astos is ... something else.
The feeling he gives me is he is like a C100 character dropped in C90 era. Somewhat like what Cid Raines felt like when he first debut in C80 Lufenia era. He works in a more unique manner than I expected.
Poor Exdeath though, I don't think there is one boss that has dropped this fast even after taking Enna Kros into consideration. To be fair, this fight is fairly unique ... if you let the boss move that is.
Boss:
Sidekick is immune to poison/paralysis.
Force:
+4%: Player action
0%: If the player does not have 1 character at above 100% mBRV, Exdeath adds the attack "Black Hole+" following the attacks "BRV/HP/Black Hole"
*Black Hole+ (AOE BRV+HP) reduces 5T off of your buffs
50%: ATK/BRV dmg down
FA: Grand Cross (+)
- reduces enemy HP to 20% of current HP
- ignores mitigation, always trigger outside of BT/summon
- inflicts framed ATK/DEF/SPD down
+ version removes all (framed) buffs, happens if there is not 1 character at above 100% mBRV
FT: 20T
All subsequently added player buffs/debuffs lasts only 1T
Weakness: (cancel FT)
Non-elemental magic BRV FA
There are no relevant HP threshold mechanics.
General Notes:
The main problem is Exdeath. His sidekick is there mostly to be annoying and petrify your characters. It does have a HP attack that would heal itself, but is otherwise harmless if you don't let it a have a turn. Do note that it is immune to paralysis, so use evasion tactics if you want to make the stage more interesting and let the boss move.
The stage is quite unique in the sense that Exdeath does funny things to you mostly if you don't have anyone above 100% mBRV. The 5T buff duration reduction is a big punishment and hinderance. On top of that he gets to FT fast and the effect can be a problem for a long term fight.
You can however avoid most of these problems by not letting him move. Alternatively, people like Rem/Serah with BT/Ursula/Iroha would help with the BRV requirement. Obviously, Astos fit the bill as well. Keep in mind though one of Exdeath's move has a sap effect.
The FT effect can be "soft" ignored, due to the fact that only buffs/debuffs added after he enters FT will be penalised. If you have prepared and refreshed all of your important buffs beforehand and go into BT phase, you can somewhat ignore this effect.
Regarding Astos:
Astos is an interesting individual. He operates differently compared to a normal character.
The gist of his mechanic is he does not use BRV to attack. The only attack that follows the normal BRV usage is his BT finished. Otherwise all attack dmg corresponds to a multiplier and the amount of dark matter stored.
His overhead buff "Dark matter" gains value dependent on the BRV dmg dealt. Only his LD/FR/BT/BRV attack causes actual BRV dmg. You use these attacks to prepare for his operations. Getting broken would halve his storage and the amount he can store is exactly his 100% mBRV.
The multipliers are as follows:
LD/S1/S2: 250% (s1 - 10 ST; s2 - 5 AOE; LD - 4 AOE)
EX: 300% (9 ST with 1 spread)
HP+ (Cremation): 150% (1 AOE)
FR: 500% (4 AOE w/increased cap)
His BT makes it so that every attack has an increased HP dmg cap according to the amount of dark matter stored. This cap increase can go all the way up to 999,999.
There are several ways you can do to increase Astos output:
1. Increases mBRV through aura
Other than your typical mBRV spheres, passives, artifacts. You can use characters with BTs that increases mBRV as well. Ramza, Ursula, Astos' own BT are some of them.
2. Temp mBRV increase
Like Jack G, Astos want mBRV. What's different between them is that Astos does not need to have high mBRV at all times. He can maintain excess mBRV even if his mBRV drops afterwards, as long as he does not get broken. So what you can do is you can apply a bunch of temporary mBRV modifiers, like CAs/buffs/summons. If you don't want him to lose a precious BT turn, have him use BRV attack during a launch, it can also add to his "Dark matter" reserve without needing him to use a skill or move.
3. HP dmg up
It is honestly not that hard to reach 999,999 at all. I have done it in a non-synergy setting, and he was merely at around 100K-110K mBRV. Though what's the point of reaching max dmg cap while not being able to actually deliver the HP dmg? Therefore having HP dmg up support is great to ensure he hits 999,999 per hit.
4. Free skill/EX/Bahamut
In all honestly, using LD/FR for him is less optimal than just EX/S1 etc. Give him free skills with Rem LD/Vaan FR, use Bahamut for free EX if you can reach cap without Brothers.
Honestly the both of them died too early to show Astos' true colours.
I am going to put him with Jack G later.