Game:

Labyrinth of Touhou 2 (2013)

Duration: 6:59

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00:00 Using Aya, Reisen, Chen and Suwako to tank Great Darkness
00:24 Miko debuffs while Kanako maxes out Sacred Authority
01:00 Miko, Kasen and Sanae tank / heal while Ran backrow buffs ATK/MAG
01:36 Waiting for Sauron to use Envelope
02:04 Meiling hits for 40M, forcing first use of Great Darkness at 90% HP
02:17 Swapping in Aya, Reisen, Chen and Suwako to tank GD
02:29 Swapping in Miko, Kasen, Sanae and Ran and waiting for Envelope again
03:00 Forcing use of Great Darkness at 80% HP, swapping in GD tanks, then swapping in A-Team
03:32 Rinse and repeat for third and fourth uses of Great Darkness at 70% and 60% HP
04:13 Reaching the 50% HP mark and forcing the first use of Ruinbringer
04:41 The rest of the fight

Ring of Great Power (aka the One Ring) is a rather annoying boss. First off, it's very important to note that the Wiki has outdated information about this fight. It sounds as if the old version of this fight had a 7-turn loop (in which Envelope gets used once) but in this version, it is an 8-turn loop (in which Envelope gets used every four turns).

The Ring has two main gimmicks: the first is Great Darkness (both the skill and the passive). The skill is a relatively weak DRK attack that inflicts a passive of the same name and if a GD-afflicted character gets hit with Envelope, they die. It's basically a fancy Terror Eater, but because Great Darkness is an EX-buff and not an ailment, it CANNOT be removed during the fight (not even Akyuu's Invincibility will save you). It starts the fight with it, and then uses it at 90%, 80%, 70% and 60% HP for a total of five times. If you want to actually make it to the halfway mark, you will need to have dedicated "Great Darkness Tanks" to take one (or specifically, five hits) for the team.

The second gimmick is Ruinbringer. It's a DRK, group target attack that inflicts a permanent, stackable debuff on the front row. It's used up to 3 times (first at 50%, then 30% and finally at 10% HP). I probably shouldn't have to explain why it's bad to have a front row with -144% to all stats (I actually don't know if the debuffs stack that high, since most characters won't survive having -96% to all stats)

As previously mentioned, the Ring has an static 8-turn loop. It goes like this:
1. Ring Wave (group targeting attack, inflicts TRR)
2. Ring Possession (single target attack, inflicts PAR)
3. Gate of Hell (group targeting attack that inflicts SIL and DTH)
4. Envelope
5. Ring Possession
6. Ring Wave
7. Gate of Hell
8. Envelope

If you hit a HP benchmark, the loop will be paused so that the Ring can use Great Darkness or Ruinbringer. If you activate the conditions for both at the same time, Ruinbringer will take priority over Great Darkness. Note that the Ring cannot use Great Darkness multiple times in a row. It will either use Ruinbringer or advance its normal loop before it uses Great Darkness again.

Sauron's Ring isn't threatening by itself. It has low HP for its level and it's raw damage is pitiful without Great Darkness or Ruinbringer. What it does have is absurdly high defenses and a barrage of ailments. Potions will protect your tanks from ailments (except for TRR), and +100 resistance to DTH and SIL will work for stay-out attackers. The high defenses, however will filter out most offensive options.

Due to its collection of affinities (it's only weak to FIR, and neutral to MYS, SPI and PHYS, while resisting everything else) your options are either the hardest hitting characters (like Yuugi, Nitori) or characters with piercing capabilities (Iku, Utsuho, Meiling, Eiki, the Eientei characters, Miko, Alice). Physical attackers have the edge since you can inflict only HVY (and DEF + MND debuffs). I'd say Alice is probably the intended option (she has the piercing capabilities AND the perfect attack, Artful Sacrifice) but as seen in this video, Meiling and her (broken) Mountain Breaker skill is probably the most practical.

The hardest part of this fight is honestly the UI. You can bumrush the first half, but if you go too fast, you won't know if it's going to use Great Darkness. Swapping in my normal tanks, after Gate of Hell, only for them to eat Great Darkness instead, happened a lot. Hence my conservative strategy of only forcing Great Darkness right after Envelope every four turns.

Moriyas vs Sauron
-Since Warrior sucks, Suwako was a dedicated debuffer
-Kanako was second phase attacker. I built Sacred Authority BEFORE Ran's buffs so it wouldn't activate Great Darkness. She could do good damage... but only if HVY proc'd.
-Hexer Alice. Meant for HVY (but it failed a LOT)
-Meiling returns, Awakened. No Gambler so I didn't progress too quickly
-Elementalist Aya for GD tanking
-Reisen for Grand Patriot Elixir shenanigans (it has 9800 ATB, so it's good for GD + Ruinbringer tanking). I recommend you use Healer Reisen, so her GPE spam will also heal.

Unedited version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0__gM8gHx6E

Music is "Minas Morgul" from Lord of the Rings

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