Game:

Labyrinth of Touhou 2 (2013)

Duration: 11:58

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Hoo boy this one was a doozy. Before I get into it, the music is "Yin-Yang-Shi Serpent" from Riverbed Soul Saver.

Anyway, I had to overhaul most of my party setup for this fight. The Moriyas (except for Sanae, who I used for healing + her "stats up on death" passive) were removed; Reisen and Eirin also had to be removed. Yuugi had to be completely repurposed (going from Gambler to Guardian). Renko and the Yakumos were mostly untouched, though I was forced to give Ran a bunch of defensive special items (with Futo's tendency to throw out Shredded, I *really* needed her backrow buffing ability for this one). I also made Aya a strategist, for some reason (I honestly don't remember this).

I brought in a ton of new characters like Tenshi (for her buff removing ability, which is a necessity for this fight), Momiji (for Instant Attack) and Nitori (with Yuugi playing Guardian, I needed a new big hitter). I also had to bring back Wriggle (who I used once, for the Yuyuko fight) and Reimu (who I used in the Ame no Murakumo fight). At least with both characters, no Library Upgrades were necessary (I just put all points into Wriggle's SPD. And with Reimu, upgrades were unnecessary since I was relying on her "full heal on death" passive skill). Characters on the shortlist for this fight were Shiki (I wanted to use her damage reducing passive and her debuffing skills), Yuyuko (for her ATB drain), Shou (for her Bishamonten Wrath passive + her counter ability) and Satori (for her buff ignoring passive)

Shiki and Yuyuko were both way too slow for this fight. Shou was basically useless; I was hoping to rely on her Bishamonten's Wrath passive as a tank, but it's too finnicky (it doesn't activate if Shou doesn't take any real damage) and Futo could also nullify the boost with Shredder anyway. What a joke. ​Satori, I would have used but I just didn't want to grind for more Library Upgrades.

The Touhou Wiki has a full breakdown of this fight, so I'll just get into my thoughts on this fight: I hate this fight. I know the fight's meant to be tough for story reasons, and I actually don't mind the general design of the boss (both the speed and cup stacking gimmick). What I hate is the sheer amount of attacks Futo has. Three different elemental AOE's. Two elemental generic attacks with low delays. A self-heal. An MP draining attack that also self-heals. Shredder. Dear God, Shredder is what puts this fight over the edge. Victory feels like it's really up Futo remembering to use Shredder. I've had runs where she doesn't use it at all. I've had runs where she'll use it twice in a row right after getting all her buffs and then I get wiped. I'm getting off-point though. What I'm trying to say is Futo has way too many attacks to account for, and it sucks.

I also can't say I liked how necessary Tenshi was here. Sure, there are buff ignoring characters (like Maribel, Momiji and Satori) and also debuffers (like Reisen and Hina) but with how fast Futo gets, Tenshi feels like the only practical option for this.

The actual strategy was as follows:
-Renko, Tenshi and Yuugi as tanks. Yuugi and Tenshi are key to this fight. Yuugi's counters were my way of controlling Futo's stacking. Tenshi was there to remove Futo's inevitable buffs. Renko was there for first battle shenanigans, though I kept her around for Charge (either as backup for Shredder or as pseudo-heal)
-Wriggle was my main, "hassle-free" way of doing damage to Futo via PSN. I gave her Toxicologist and a LOT of SPD + EVA boosting equipment.
-Reimu was expendable, meant to boost Yuugi's Last Fortress and give the front a free heal with her death passive. I'm a bit miffed that in this run 1) Futo didn't kill Reimu in one turn and 2) Futo killed Reimu with a single target (instead of an AOE) effectively wasting her death passive.
-Sanae had a similar role, though I made better use of her than Reimu.
-Ran is there to backrow buff. Yukari is there to support her with the Yakumo passive, and occasionally MP share or use Spiriting Away.
-Gambler Momiji was one of my main attackers. I'm actually surprised at how good her damage was in this fight. My tip is to give her the Main Equip that reduces ACC but increases damage. Momiji's passive ACC boost seems to cancels that effect.
-Transcendent Nitori was my other attacker. I was actively trying to clear Plus Disk without relying on her. The fact that I ended up going to her should tell you a lot.
-Herbalist Chen and Strategist Aya are there for support.

As for the actual run; I'm fairly happy I won at all. I only feel like I screwed up with Reimu and Yuugi; I really should have put Renko in front when Reimu died (just so she could get a heal). As for Yuugi, I forgot she needed Last Fortress to be more durable. If I were to do the fight again, I probably would have sacrificed Yukari just to give Yuugi's Last Fortress more juice. It worked out in the end though.

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