Super Mario RPG Switch Remake - Low Level Part 25: Count Down
17Challenge playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbSv8zSDR9c1MMIPTlZnOvI4eiDzyABR_
After having to redo the previous boss battle against Exor multiple times, I realised... Exor isn't all that easy of a battle! I may have been lucky during the couple times I tried it before the recording and definitely the video I ended up sharing, but the same cannot be said about my following attempts as I went for the Exp 0 Lucky Time bonus.
The same experience was repeated once more for this battle. My first recording was an effortless 3-minute victory with the enemies failing laughably at being a threat, healing itself on the first turn and whiffing AoE magic on the two characters who are actually OHKO'd by it. Some nice timing on those blocks on my part, too. Compare that to this attempt, where everything that could've possibly gone wrong did.
And Count Down does turn out to be a formidable boss when its full range of tools is utilised in the battle. Its arsenal of unblockable magic, elemental and nonelemental, makes it seem like a mini Culex battle all over again, and it is fairly healthy for an endgame boss in the final dungeon.
Peach was the recipient of the Lazy Shell armour in this battle, though Bowser's bulk was deceptive without it - nonelemental magic always led to his untimely demise, and even an unblocked physical was enough to wipe it out. This means the loss of turns, resurrection of the fallen - should we choose to do that! - not to mention having to reapply buffs.
At the very least, however, you see what a 'raw' attempt may look like. I still insist that a fight like this doesn't warrant any Red Essence usage, and we should hold unto to the ones we have amassed until Smithy.