DFFOO [JP][Sice LC] Tornado/counter triggering desperado while enjoying Chaos -BRV
15This is actually a more complicated way than just clearing, but I wanted to try out a some kind chain reaction comp with Sice, so here it is.
Colour me amazed, I totally expected the wait for additional explosion, tornado proc and the associated lag to prolong the run much longer, but it didn't. My Laguna does not have FE, so it took a bit longer to get to 100% FG.
The wait for enemy FR is deliberate. You will see why. Also I did pull for Sice, but no FR was given. I did get her EX to make her functional though.
Boss info:
Force mechanics:
0/30%: SPD up I/II
50%: Action delay down
FA: Curse Skull++/+++/++++
Ordinary ++version is a simple AOE BRV+HP attack.
It inflicts HP dmg down on all player characters just like the normal version.
After the first FA however, if you hit its weakness (i.e. Sice FA) before it FAs again, it upgrades to the next version.
On +++, it additionally buffs them with BRV dmg up.
When it reaches ++++, you die.
In all honesty though, since the boss does not have any special charging criteria, I don't see how they would reach 3 FAs, unless you are doing some crazy FRless run.
FT: 2 turns
Player self delay by 1 turn after action.
Weakness: (negate FT effect)
FA that deals Dark BRV dmg and delays a ST by 3 turns excluding break
Normal mechanics and thresholds:
Two most notable features for this boss are:
1. It has annoying debuffs (e.g. HP dmg down from normal Cursed Skull, poison, SPD down and Dark imperil)
2. Other than FA, most attacks are BRV only other than the basic HP hit.
It has quite high defence and combined with HP dmg down, your damage can suffer considerably. Also the BRV gain/consumption cap is 30%. (looks like it is becoming the norm)
Otherwise the boss is mostly harmless. It does have a move that gives them BRV gain, so without shaving you can take a sudden HP hit.
In terms of thresholds:
80/50/30%: Boss would rearrange turn queue such that boss and player would form an alternating pattern. This is not limited to bosses delaying themselves either. They rearrange individually however.
80/40%: Boss would gain a 1m HP shield.
Comp design rationale and difficulties:
The idea of dealing with the shields is to use Sice's tornado to trigger Laguna's Desperado explosion. Since Sice's trap triggers individually like Ace does, the number of triggers corresponds to the number of bosses. So two bosses means two tornados and two Laguna explosions. With the bosses rearranging turn queue, Desperado lasts much longer than it normally would in a "let the enemy move" kind of situation.
This run can be accomplished by either Sice or Machina FR. Sice FR has the same 50% HP dmg cap increase as Machina does, but hers is not limited to melee dmg. So you can swap Jack for anyone else and it would work. The only requirement is hitting elemental weakness. So the person that wants to benefit from the cap up does not even have to be dark enchanted. Obviously having an additional dark enchanted off-turn attacker would help.
Since I only found a 3 turn Sice friend and I don't have her FR, I resorted to Machina's instead. Sice's tornado is melee based, so it both contributes to Machina's FR% and enjoys its 50% cap increase. They are a pretty good combo, especially when Sice tornado procs on field turn and lasts for 15T.
Put them in this counter meta and let the tornado break the shield.
Jack here is mostly to provide damage and -BRV. Since the boss actively delays themselves and every HP dump can benefit from his BT, having 4 other off-turn attack procs would net you a considerable amount of DPS gain when the bosses are not resetting themselves.
There are 2 main problems with this setup. The debuff slots are just enough that I could not use something like a Seymour CA to delay and get some additional support in. It also means that I had to rely on other means for debuff evasion.
The other one is that the boss's threshold queue rearrangement can lower counter comp's FR efficiency when they move some of their turns away. That is why I had them FR first to self delayed for a few more counter procs/tornado/explosion.
Also it should be common knowledge, but just to give a reminder that once the master of the proc is out of the team, the procs no longer provide FR%. That is why the tornados after 5 FT did not contribute anymore to Machina's FR.
Few notes on Sice FR:
I actually think it is decent. The FR% looks low, but it is accompanied by a 50% HP dmg cap increase and the requirement is easy to attain. The good thing about it is almost anyone can enjoy the cap increase because it is directed at hitting weakness, not dark dmg specifically. Some of the off-turn characters have non-elemental follow-ups, like Minwu's LD proc. He may not give full%, but he can still contribute to some degree.
I think as long as you have two dark enchanted off-turn characters, her FR should work quite smoothly already.