Game:

Labyrinth of Touhou 2 (2013)

Duration: 5:14

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aka Awakened Kanako deletes another SPI-weak boss

Anyway, the Hollow Orochi is a condensed version of the previous Orochi fight. It's not quite the rematch I was expecting (I was actually expecting the first fight again, but with higher stats, fewer phases and no blessings) but with how little story buildup there is to this fight I guess a smaller, less epic fight makes more sense.

Rather than a fight with two distinct sections, this fight is just one boss with specific behaviors at certain HP benchmarks. I'm not going to explain EVERYTHING this boss does, partly because the Wiki exists, mostly because I didn't learn this fight all that well (because Awakened Kanako is just busted for this fight). All you need to know is that the boss resists every ailment (except for debuffs), is weak to SPI, neutral to MYS and slightly resist everything else, and that the HP benchmarks are at like... 60-70% HP and 30/40% HP. That's my guess (just from eyeing it)

At the start of the fight, it'll use its arsenal of moves (mostly DRK element attacks, including some HP reducing moves, though it has one PHYS attack and a self-buff). At 70% it'll summon two random heads like from the original Orochi fight, all with different weaknesses and moves. This part is the most random and potentially the most difficult part of the fight, especially if you can't tell the different heads apart. While the heads start at 0 ATB, you'll want to finish them off quickly as possible since the main boss can still act (and is even capable of buffing its fellow heads). If you're extra unlucky, you might even run up against the head that can group heal.

There is a chance of H.Orochi re-summoning any heads you've killed, though the good news is that these heads don't have that much HP, and the re-summoning isn't guaranteed like with Shadow Ran and her Shikigami. They're manageable if you know what to hit them with, the problem is really just figuring out what you're looking at

At 30/40% HP, Hollow Orochi will use Concentrate. If it gets its turn, it will use this really dangerous triple hitting, tri-element attack that targets MYS, SPI and DRK. And I have to admit, even my busted team couldn't survive this one (not Miko, even Kasen's Guts wouldn't kick in for this attack). Between the Hollow Orochi's HP reducing attacks in Phase 1, its Heads in Phase 2 and this move in Phase 3, you can effectively think of this as a damage race.

As for how my party dealt with this, yeah this wasn't hard. The hardest part for my really was the second phase with the heads, and it was purely because I couldn't tell these heads apart. In the end, I just kinda brute forced that section with Marisa and Kanako (even then, I got lucky because the left head was weak to SPI). This specific run is actually the "handicapped" attempt. I originally did it at level 475 (the Touhou Wiki recommends anywhere between 450 and 500, and 475 seemed like a good middle ground) but Kanako deleted the boss so quickly that it felt like cheating. While Kanako still deleted the boss at 450, Hollow Orochi was at least capable of giving my supports some trouble.

As for the specific party:

Sanae (Enchanter), Ran (Enchanter), Kasen (Healer), Miko (Elementalist), Aya (Strategist) and Kanako (Transcendent) didn't change much, though everybody got some fancy new equipment from the Corridor and the rest of B10F.

Suwako didn't do too much other than be in active party for the Moriya synergy. I was expecting to have to give her Holy Blessing again (like the previous Orochi fight) but Kanako ended up being more than enough. Suwako had her moment with the other Orochi, so it's all good.

Poor Mamizou had a poor showing in this fight. She performed a lot better in my practice runs (during the second phase, with the extra heads) but I swapped her in a bit too early (I misjudged how much HP Hollow Orochi had, then she got Shreddered/Refreshed and I didn't want to spend time rebuilding her buffs). I brought her in specifically to deal with the heads and she did well in a few practice runs (depending on the Heads it spawned. She definitely would have been helpful with the Fire Head that spawned in this run).

Marisa was another attacker added specifically to deal with the extra heads. As mentioned before, she was brought in so I could brute force the section with the heads.

Mystia became an Oracle because Hollow Orochi's buffs were too annoying to deal with. I tried Herbalist Yukari but she didn't work so well, so I resorted to using Chen again. Yukari became Strategist to sub in for Aya.

Music is "Poppet of Nemesis" from Servants of Harvest Wish

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