Own
Moderator
I'm typing this because Arcade Mode is difficult to get far in, and understanding the enemy attack patterns can be trickier still. Also, with any luck, using these notes I can figure out some other build that can consistently get to Winter.
This build is centered around getting into the room, doing the quickest damage possible in the shortest amount of time, stunlocking the enemies you can kill and kiting those you can't.
Suggested Perks: Improved 1-handed sword, +Max HP, +Max HP%.
Skill Requirements: Shadow Clone, Spirit Slash. Never, ever charge Spirit Slash if you use it, just tap it for a split second and run.
Talent Options: +2% Attack Damage, +2 Attack Speed, +3% Crit Chance, +% Crit Damage.
Ideal Equipment: Attack Ring, Attack Speed Ring, Carrot Sword, The Stinger, Devil Horns, Red Bow, Crit Bandana, Phaseman's Boots, Pumpkin Head, Royal Crown, Barrel Shield, Green Slime Vest, Chainmail, Brawler Plate. Any combination of these ought to do you good. Don't be fooled by the shirt that gives you +60 HP. More defense is better than more HP, especially when it comes time to heal at the nurse. Anyone care to do the math on this one, comparing damage taken with Chainmail, Greenslime and HP shirt?
Build order:
If you're not confident in your ability to take on enemies, 1 point in Shadow Clone and 1 in Spirit Slash, then max Shadow Clone.
If you are confident, max Shadow Clone immediately and ignore Spirit Slash until Pumpkin Woods or Flying Fortress.
Talent options are up to you, among the four. All four increase your ability to kill. As a matter of preference, I prefer either the first two or the latter two in a pair. I've been going +Damage, +Speed and finally +Crit Chance.
General Strategy:
The very instant the room loads, locate the enemy that most threatens your ability to control the room and kill it ASAP. Shadowclone will typically stunlock that enemy to safely kill it before any other enemy gets near you. If there are too many dangerous enemies in the room, remove your Shadowclone and put what you learned against GUNDAM in Story Mode to good use. You'll be weaving around the room, spamming Spirit Slash whenever you get a window to do so. Spirit Slash can stunlock enemies just like Shadowclone, even if the damage isn't quite as good. Rooms that require Spirit Slash are a battles of attritition, doing whatever damage you can until the room is in a state you can control.
Enemy Survival Guide:
MOUNTAINS
Green Slime - No threat. Group these together with bunnies, run up against them and slash into them over and over while holding down the directional arrow where you're facing. Your attacks will push them back and your arrow key will inch you forward between attacks pixel by pixel, closing that distance so they have no chance to leave stunlock and retaliate. Elite: Maximum threat. Slime will slow you down and put you at risk.
Rabby - See Green Slime. Rabby's attack and move quicker than Green Slimes, though, so if your stunlock fails they will lunge at you quicker. Elite: No threat. Slightly quicker, but just as easy to stunlock.
Bees - Potential Threat. Bees can't be stunlocked or controlled, you can only manipulate their attack patterns. You'll want to kill them first if possible, but they will usually be left for last. Walk up or down in front of the be while gathering the Slimes/Rabbies of the room into a cluster, when the bee dives you'll have enough of an open window to destroy the enemies on the ground. If you're facing multiple bees, just put your back to the trees to deal with just one dive direction, shield up and wait for them to stun themselves. If you're facing NUMEROUS bees, do the same but slowly walk up and down along the treeline with your shield out, spreading out the stunned bees so you have a window to attack some of them. Elite: Decent threat. Dives and movement are quicker, stun is shorter. Still easy to avoid if you keep an eye on it.
Vilya - No Threat. Most predictable attack pattern in the game. Walk right up to her, pummel her with shadowclone for a second or two, then shield. She'll whap your shield. Repeat the attack, shield. Whap. Sneak in another hit, then run away. She'll dash, stun herself and she's dead before she can exit the stun.
Helloweed - No threat. As predictable as Vilya, but does more shield damage. Just don't let it break your shield. Walk up to it, hold your shield up, inch backwards. When it pops up and dings your shield, attack. Shield before it swipes at you, repeat. If your shield is about to break, just run away and let it recharge a little bit. You can also bait out attacks by running back before it swipes, but just shielding gives you less downtime between swipes.
Beehive Boss Battle - Dangerous. Beehives impede your ability to control the room, making them always threat #1. Immediately run to the left hive, break it before it can spawn a single bee. The slimes/bunny have caught up to you by now, but ignore them and run right. The remaining beehive has spawned a bee, but you can force it to dive by getting in it's way on the walk over. Kill the other beehive before it can make a second swipe at you and then treat the room like a normal room.
FORESTS
Beehives - Maximum threat. See Beehive Boss Battle. Sometimes these spawn immediately next to one or two flowers, if that's the case you will likely take some damage while trying to kill them ASAP. It's alright to take a hit if that's the case, do anything you can to prevent them from spamming the roomwith bees. Elite: Ten times as worse as normal. Rush them down, no matter what it takes.
Red Slime - Treat as Elite Green Slime. Elite: Same, but much longer jumps.
Bloomo - Treat as an immobile Helloweed, so even less of a threat. Elite: Same.
Boar - Slight threat. Many people treat the boar as if it's a bigger danger than it actually is. They're actually very easy to manipulate, getting some practice in in story mode may be helpful. Just treat it like a bull fight. Walk past in front of it to make it lunge at the air, stunning itself for a second or two. You can attack it then, but you can't stunlock the boar, so back up and repeat the process until it dies. Shield it instead of walking past if you need to. If you see it charging, just back up and give it a wide berth, try to angle it's charge to damage some other enemies or take out some thorns. It's much easier to kill after you let it stun itself on the wall. Kill this enemy at your leisure. Elite: Maximum threat. You can't attack this until the rest of the room is cleared. It charges and moves incredibly fast, with little downtime. Only engage after it self-stuns against a wall. If you have Spirit Slash, this is the best time to use it.
Gigaslime - No threat. If you have Silver Charge Shadowclone by now, Gigaslime won't have any opportunity to perform an attack. Move to it's bottom left or right corner (to avoid being easily hammered) and start wailing on it. When it jumps, just move down and continue pummeling. It will quickly spin. Just move to the left or right side of it farthest from the trees and put your shield up. If you have good timing, you can keep it stunlocked in place by chaining perfect guards. I prefer to take no risks, just hold your shield up and walk backwards slowly, keeping you undamaged and your shield from breaking. NOTE: Gigaslime is your first boss that has special attacks at certain HP activators. Learn to identify at what HP amounts it's Spin Move triggers.
Black Ferrets - Somewhat threatening. You can't fight Vilya until the mooks are down for the count. One only ever attacks from above, the other only attacks vertically, the other horizontally, but if you move carefully enough you can get them side by side. Wait until Vilya stuns herself, then stunlock the mooks by hitting them both together until they drop. Then just treat Vilya as a slightly quicker, shorter stunned version of her normal self. Just put your shield up quicker than you normally would and run away sooner. If you're worried, you can just wait and attack her whenever she stuns herself. Spirit Slash may be useful in here if you can't control and kill the mooks together.
The Zoo - Large threat. Too many enemy varieties and attack patterns in here to keep tabs on at once. I never use my bow anywhere else, so I prefer to start this battle off by spamming arrows into the fray. That typically weeds out the slime, rabby, sometimes Bloomo and rarely the boar. The bee you'll likely kill last, just trick it into diving. If the boar is alive, just let it charge and kill most of the enemies for you. The Elder Rabby is your main threat, it's the second boss with an HP Activator attack. It enters Rage Mode at, I believe, 66% and 33% HP? If you see a berserk icon, run away until the Elder Rabby stops steaming. While in Rage Mode it can't be stunlocked and will do rapid damage to you. Spirit Slash is great for this room if you have it.
This build is centered around getting into the room, doing the quickest damage possible in the shortest amount of time, stunlocking the enemies you can kill and kiting those you can't.
Suggested Perks: Improved 1-handed sword, +Max HP, +Max HP%.
Skill Requirements: Shadow Clone, Spirit Slash. Never, ever charge Spirit Slash if you use it, just tap it for a split second and run.
Talent Options: +2% Attack Damage, +2 Attack Speed, +3% Crit Chance, +% Crit Damage.
Ideal Equipment: Attack Ring, Attack Speed Ring, Carrot Sword, The Stinger, Devil Horns, Red Bow, Crit Bandana, Phaseman's Boots, Pumpkin Head, Royal Crown, Barrel Shield, Green Slime Vest, Chainmail, Brawler Plate. Any combination of these ought to do you good. Don't be fooled by the shirt that gives you +60 HP. More defense is better than more HP, especially when it comes time to heal at the nurse. Anyone care to do the math on this one, comparing damage taken with Chainmail, Greenslime and HP shirt?
Build order:
If you're not confident in your ability to take on enemies, 1 point in Shadow Clone and 1 in Spirit Slash, then max Shadow Clone.
If you are confident, max Shadow Clone immediately and ignore Spirit Slash until Pumpkin Woods or Flying Fortress.
Talent options are up to you, among the four. All four increase your ability to kill. As a matter of preference, I prefer either the first two or the latter two in a pair. I've been going +Damage, +Speed and finally +Crit Chance.
General Strategy:
The very instant the room loads, locate the enemy that most threatens your ability to control the room and kill it ASAP. Shadowclone will typically stunlock that enemy to safely kill it before any other enemy gets near you. If there are too many dangerous enemies in the room, remove your Shadowclone and put what you learned against GUNDAM in Story Mode to good use. You'll be weaving around the room, spamming Spirit Slash whenever you get a window to do so. Spirit Slash can stunlock enemies just like Shadowclone, even if the damage isn't quite as good. Rooms that require Spirit Slash are a battles of attritition, doing whatever damage you can until the room is in a state you can control.
Enemy Survival Guide:
MOUNTAINS
Green Slime - No threat. Group these together with bunnies, run up against them and slash into them over and over while holding down the directional arrow where you're facing. Your attacks will push them back and your arrow key will inch you forward between attacks pixel by pixel, closing that distance so they have no chance to leave stunlock and retaliate. Elite: Maximum threat. Slime will slow you down and put you at risk.
Rabby - See Green Slime. Rabby's attack and move quicker than Green Slimes, though, so if your stunlock fails they will lunge at you quicker. Elite: No threat. Slightly quicker, but just as easy to stunlock.
Bees - Potential Threat. Bees can't be stunlocked or controlled, you can only manipulate their attack patterns. You'll want to kill them first if possible, but they will usually be left for last. Walk up or down in front of the be while gathering the Slimes/Rabbies of the room into a cluster, when the bee dives you'll have enough of an open window to destroy the enemies on the ground. If you're facing multiple bees, just put your back to the trees to deal with just one dive direction, shield up and wait for them to stun themselves. If you're facing NUMEROUS bees, do the same but slowly walk up and down along the treeline with your shield out, spreading out the stunned bees so you have a window to attack some of them. Elite: Decent threat. Dives and movement are quicker, stun is shorter. Still easy to avoid if you keep an eye on it.
Vilya - No Threat. Most predictable attack pattern in the game. Walk right up to her, pummel her with shadowclone for a second or two, then shield. She'll whap your shield. Repeat the attack, shield. Whap. Sneak in another hit, then run away. She'll dash, stun herself and she's dead before she can exit the stun.
Helloweed - No threat. As predictable as Vilya, but does more shield damage. Just don't let it break your shield. Walk up to it, hold your shield up, inch backwards. When it pops up and dings your shield, attack. Shield before it swipes at you, repeat. If your shield is about to break, just run away and let it recharge a little bit. You can also bait out attacks by running back before it swipes, but just shielding gives you less downtime between swipes.
Beehive Boss Battle - Dangerous. Beehives impede your ability to control the room, making them always threat #1. Immediately run to the left hive, break it before it can spawn a single bee. The slimes/bunny have caught up to you by now, but ignore them and run right. The remaining beehive has spawned a bee, but you can force it to dive by getting in it's way on the walk over. Kill the other beehive before it can make a second swipe at you and then treat the room like a normal room.
FORESTS
Beehives - Maximum threat. See Beehive Boss Battle. Sometimes these spawn immediately next to one or two flowers, if that's the case you will likely take some damage while trying to kill them ASAP. It's alright to take a hit if that's the case, do anything you can to prevent them from spamming the roomwith bees. Elite: Ten times as worse as normal. Rush them down, no matter what it takes.
Red Slime - Treat as Elite Green Slime. Elite: Same, but much longer jumps.
Bloomo - Treat as an immobile Helloweed, so even less of a threat. Elite: Same.
Boar - Slight threat. Many people treat the boar as if it's a bigger danger than it actually is. They're actually very easy to manipulate, getting some practice in in story mode may be helpful. Just treat it like a bull fight. Walk past in front of it to make it lunge at the air, stunning itself for a second or two. You can attack it then, but you can't stunlock the boar, so back up and repeat the process until it dies. Shield it instead of walking past if you need to. If you see it charging, just back up and give it a wide berth, try to angle it's charge to damage some other enemies or take out some thorns. It's much easier to kill after you let it stun itself on the wall. Kill this enemy at your leisure. Elite: Maximum threat. You can't attack this until the rest of the room is cleared. It charges and moves incredibly fast, with little downtime. Only engage after it self-stuns against a wall. If you have Spirit Slash, this is the best time to use it.
Gigaslime - No threat. If you have Silver Charge Shadowclone by now, Gigaslime won't have any opportunity to perform an attack. Move to it's bottom left or right corner (to avoid being easily hammered) and start wailing on it. When it jumps, just move down and continue pummeling. It will quickly spin. Just move to the left or right side of it farthest from the trees and put your shield up. If you have good timing, you can keep it stunlocked in place by chaining perfect guards. I prefer to take no risks, just hold your shield up and walk backwards slowly, keeping you undamaged and your shield from breaking. NOTE: Gigaslime is your first boss that has special attacks at certain HP activators. Learn to identify at what HP amounts it's Spin Move triggers.
Black Ferrets - Somewhat threatening. You can't fight Vilya until the mooks are down for the count. One only ever attacks from above, the other only attacks vertically, the other horizontally, but if you move carefully enough you can get them side by side. Wait until Vilya stuns herself, then stunlock the mooks by hitting them both together until they drop. Then just treat Vilya as a slightly quicker, shorter stunned version of her normal self. Just put your shield up quicker than you normally would and run away sooner. If you're worried, you can just wait and attack her whenever she stuns herself. Spirit Slash may be useful in here if you can't control and kill the mooks together.
The Zoo - Large threat. Too many enemy varieties and attack patterns in here to keep tabs on at once. I never use my bow anywhere else, so I prefer to start this battle off by spamming arrows into the fray. That typically weeds out the slime, rabby, sometimes Bloomo and rarely the boar. The bee you'll likely kill last, just trick it into diving. If the boar is alive, just let it charge and kill most of the enemies for you. The Elder Rabby is your main threat, it's the second boss with an HP Activator attack. It enters Rage Mode at, I believe, 66% and 33% HP? If you see a berserk icon, run away until the Elder Rabby stops steaming. While in Rage Mode it can't be stunlocked and will do rapid damage to you. Spirit Slash is great for this room if you have it.
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