DFFOO [JP][Reno IW] Machina + Auron Counter Combo inside Sherlotta FR is pretty insane
28I did an Ashe + Caius + Gabranth clear before, but here I thought that if the stage is intended for letting boss having turns, why not have a bit of fun with Machina + Auron counter?
One thing I noticed is, during FT if you hit the bosses with an attack, and said attack triggers a off-turn HP threshold attack and break the character you were using, the HP bonus still increases but the FT turn does not seem to go down, as if the characters' turn isn't over yet. Not sure if it is a bug or something that I never realized until now.
Boss Info: Shelke LC helicopter x2 without adds
Force Mechanics:
FG: 40/60/80%: Player iBRV/mBRV down (increase with FG%)
(Possibly to counter WoL shield I presume?)
FA: Just a standard guaranteed hit, break recovery, BRV gain + AoE HP attack
FT: 5 turns
- 200% HP dmg reduction
Weakness: Lightning Melee FA
Threshold Mechanics;
When push below 20/50/80%, the bosses automatically use a normal version of the FA to attack you.
When a boss dies, if you are not inside summon/BT phase, they will do a +version of the attack that is 100% AoE HP dmg as a kamikaze last attack before dying. This attack can potentially one shot one or more of your characters if you are not prepared.
At 30%, the bosses would enter enrage mode. It does not do anything crazy, but it does have passive ATK up and action delay down. So expect them to gain some momentum and turns.
Overall:
The bosses' normal behaviour is ... really ordinary. Compared to the Shelke LC version they don't summon adds, they don't one shot you.
The two main obstacle they pose are that the FT render them practically impervious to your dmg, unless you stack some insane amount of HP dmg up or bypass it with its force weakness FA; and they can kill you or make you fail the low HP requirement (8000) really easily due to AoE HP spams.
If you block their BRV acquisition with freeze debuff, or simply use mitigation or no HP dmg debuffs, you should be able to blow through their HP thresholds in quick succession without much concern.
One thing to note though, one of the boss's 6 BRV hit attack is randomly targeting, so if you are having tough luck, don't be surprised to see one of your counter characters not reacting to the attack.
My approach:
My intend was to basically kill them without letting them enter FT. Apparently I have underestimated Machina + Auron that my Cid Raines LDCA didn't even get a chance to be used.
For preparation of the counter fest, I have removed every bit of Auron's speed boost and avoided putting on his speed buff with his S2. Machina delays himself with HP (burst) outside of his actual BT phase, so it should ensure maximum amount of enemy turns for a prolonged Sherlotta FT session.
Steiner LDCA + Auron dmg reduction is all you need to push all of the thresholds without actual healing or turn spamming for Auron + Sherlotta + Steiner LDCA regen to cover up all of the AoE off-turn spams from the boss. I put it on Machina such that the duration is extended with his self-delay.
Then all its left is really just use HP+ attacks to boost the HP dmg bonus early on, including Auron. Sherlotta S1 also helps with early boosts. I also spent her LD very early on so that I can use her HP+ for 6x% gain and dmg at the same time during FT.
Break them "wrongly" and push their thresholds one by one does help earning some extra counter triggers, as the dmg x HP dmg bonus accumulate and get bigger and bigger, it is possible to set up a domino of threshold pushing, thus trigger more off-turn dmg on both their end and mine. Light the fuse and watch the fireworks explode.
Just don't forget to perhaps use a summon at the end to stop the last kamikaze attack.
I actually thought about enlisting the help of Galuf because he is more of a HP+ attacker than Auron is, but ultimately I am too lazy to realize his gear at this time of the night lol.