DFFOO [JP][Crevasse 1] Aurio countering counters (Auron FR) (3 Black Greatsword)
8I am actually not too sure what to do with this months BT pulling. As predicted, no lucksacking Auron BT, but his FR still dropped for free at least. I may see what happens with Braska and Dorgann's banner first, but most likely I will end up skipping unfortunately.
The Crevasse debut in JP is here and it does have some changes compared to the GL version. The multipliers are not as high and you don't need as much points as well. Devs added a perma "HP dmg up" rule there, but it comes with a -3 penalty. It is possible to include it and still have surplus points, but I don't think realistically there is a need for it in this one.
There is also no featured character restrictions tied to the rewards, so use whatever fits the rules you so choose.
There are 1 Chaos/3 Lufenia/2 Shinryu stages in JP Crevasse I.
The Shinryu stage bosses have updated stats. So don't go in thinking the crabs in Crevasse 2 are still what they were in Ursula LC.
Regarding my completion roster, check my community posts. I will just list a few notable facts and pointers:
1. Only 4 stages can have max points
There are 4 x3 crystal colours with a few more x3 weapon types. Naturally it means there can only be 4 stages with both sets of x3 for maximum amount of points.
If you are looking for x3 on both sides, they will most likely come from Staff/GS/Spear/Sword with some kind of black/blue/red combo.
White Sword/Staff is also possible for Shinryu, but it will be a bit unlikely to finish quickly.
2. Max the Lufenia stages, but approach from the Shinryu first
Lufenia stages are easy points gathering hotspots. Bosses die really fast and you would likely to have enough DPS to ignore the conditions even without slipping in a FR/BT unit in the team.
That being said, do beware the conditions without off-turn dmg would most likely result in net orb count loss. Prepare CAs or burst dmg to deal with the issue accordingly.
Since Lufenias are easy, you just need to focus on assembling a team for the Shinryus. You don't need perfect teams for both, even a second best (58) + a third best option (54) team will get you the full rewards if you max all the Lufenias and use the remaining best option for the Chaos stage.
The bosses are largely the same, but updated to present Shinryu standards with more HP, and the little things like the 30% BRV refund limit etc. Refer to their respective debut info if you must, I will just include the key points and what the specific strat with the team designated by the rules.
For Crevasse 1, the Orgres are from Act 3 Interlude (Neon FR/BT debut).
1. Basically what their gimmick is they absorb more elements as their FG goes up. First Water/Ice/Thunder, then Earth/Wind and finally Holy and Dark. Very easy to remember. Fire is never absorbed because this stage is for Neon.
2. During 70-90/0-40%, bosses have blue auras that reduces a large chunk of BRV dmg and AOE HP counter anything that attacks them with anything other than fire.
3. The ogres ALWAYS AOEs. This is why any cover/counter team will work without obstructing each other.
Team chosen: x3 Black | x3 GS - Auron / Gladio / Squall
Only Squall has BT, both Auron and Squall have FR echo.
The Aurio counter:
Auron and Gladio normally work against each other if the boss has any kind of ST attack. For this boss, everything works because they only AOE. Auron's FR require enemies to take turns. Since his debuff is a melee weakness one, both Squall and Gladio would be able to satisfy that conditions. Gladio's counter would also count towards Auron's FR bonus. Therefore they work well together in this case.
The main gimmick I used in this run is to bait them to counter us, so Aurio can counter their counters. By using Minwu's LDCA and enchanting ourselves with holy while the FG is not yet at a level that absorbs it, we can farm a lot more counters and FR%.
The great thing about the boss counter is that not only they break your characters, but also delay them by 1T. herefore making them counter you
is even more vital to make counter units go from nice to excellent.
In fact, there are so many counters in this stage that even with the modern boss HP standard, only Squall BT is needed to finish this in 1 FR.
The one big problem remains is, since Crevasse has HP/turn requirement built on top of the rules, endless amount of HP AOE counters from the boss would still hurt Squall enough to fail the HP condition for the prefect. As a result, WoL CA is used to protect him and Alexander is used in case a last minute heal is needed.
This team in theory should also work in Crevasse 2, since the boss there is also very fast with properties of delaying your team.
An alternative I first tested with was actually a x3 Blue | x3 GS team with Paine/Ashe/Jack G. Ashe's Thunder/Holy can cause the boss to counter, but Paine's HP silence will stop them from doing anything. So this team also works.
Final thoughts:
Auron + Gabranth is very cool.