Dragon Quest XI - Low Level (Draconian) Part 21: Barbatos & Gloomnivore

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MoogleBoss

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Published on May 16, 2020 2:29:47 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwwRGfB9cjE

Game:

Dragon Quest XI (2017)

Duration: 7:45

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21

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I remember saying we were done with solo Hero battles. Not quite true as I'd forgotten there's one more of this. It opens the video before the "proper" boss battle against Gloomnivore.

The hero is accompanied by his father King Irwin, who must be the weakest guest yet. No healing, no protection of any sort. Even his damage output is pitiful - who seriously uses Dragon Slash against demons? Dad, I guess...

The three demons here - Barbatos and his two palette swaps - pack a punch and act often enough to pose a risk that the Hero die somewhere down the line. Protecting against any given element is futile when as many as three different ones (fire, ice, wind) get spammed here, and going for a mix of omini-elemental protection robs you of physical defence. The boss can actually come close to OHKOing the hero with a charged physical when the attack isn't blocked, so phys defence isn't something to be sacrificed.

I start the battle pepped up for harder-hitting physicals and stall a little towards the end to emerge pepped up again, for the boss battle that follows.

Hero's long awaited access to Unbridled Blade is fantastic and is a great way of dealing ST damage, which he hasn't enjoyed for a long while. Quadraslash is free in terms of ability points and can always be employed when when you want MT damage.

King Irwin's damage is nice, but the Hero will have to deal most of the damage, heal and block all on his own to win. Irwin's main utility lies in being a warm body, an immortal guest like all others, tanking hits to relieve the hero's duties healing all the time. I'm still noticeably less lucky with Irwin taking attacks in the second half of the fight. Oh well, at least we don't die, which is very likely with how much damage these demons boast before most have been disposed of.

Later on, we get a chance to re-equip the hero (wristoratives away, dark equipment on) and he is rejoined by the rest of the party. The real boss battle ensues.

This is one of the healthiest bosses we've fought for sure; luckily for us, he debuffs himself all the time - raising his attack by 2 levels and debuffing defence by one. This does make him dangerous, albeit the issue is easily fixed by having Rab use the claw skill Rake 'n' Break, which, unlike the Blunt spell, is guaranteed to connect. Even when the boss has no resistance against debuffs, they're still very unreliable and never connect when you need them to.

Hendrik remains our best source of damage, with Hero's Unbridled Blade coming surprisingly close when both are under attack buffs from The Fight Fantastic, and Sylvando can always help with Gold Rush when not busy using Hustle Dance.

The boss's gimmick seems to be debuffing everybody's magical power and healing power, something not seen in a boss battle before. This does make Rab's AoE healing really weak in power, but Sylvando couldn't care less about Rab's troubles when his AoE healing uses his Charm stat instead of any magical stats. Gotta love Sylvando's contributions to this run, and to think he joined as the primary damage dealer!

The hero regains his Luminary powers after the battle and enjoys access to more abilities than ever before. Not exactly terribly useful immediately, but will come really handy later.

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