annihilation is horrible

[kaincypher]

I'm a half decent player, but I've joined dozens of different groups. Nobody has beaten this ♥♥♥♥ boss. The first half is easy, even if the boss attacks are cheap as hell (in that even with light armor and full dodge bonus traits fail to actually dodge their AOE attacks). I've gotten past this, so many times. Phase 2? Pure ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. They basically put you in a tiny box where the boss can one-shot the entire party. Not fun, not well thought out.

[FDru]

My first kill was with medium armor (yellow), and no equipment to help with dodging or i-frames, and by the time I learned the fight I could almost 100% of the time get through first phase with zero damage taken. I'd even argue 1st phase is one of the easiest bosses in the game. It is just so easy to apply damage with all the time he gives between attacks where basically nothing else is going on.

Yes 2nd phase is insane. Also I don't know how co-op affects this since I have only done solo.

[Magical_JiJii]

I am not sure why ppl can’t win the fight. Do it alone if you are confident. No lags, boss has less heath. Small room needs precise dodging and positioning.

There are also sound effect before the boss does some big move. Not hard if you are really an experienced Souls player.

[$unwish]

Originally posted by FDru:

My first kill was with medium armor (yellow), and no equipment to help with dodging or i-frames, and by the time I learned the fight I could almost 100% of the time get through first phase with zero damage taken. I'd even argue 1st phase is one of the easiest bosses in the game. It is just so easy to apply damage with all the time he gives between attacks where basically nothing else is going on.

Yes 2nd phase is insane. Also I don't know how co-op affects this since I have only done solo.

it is harder in coop, it adds more health, and if somebody dies it is unlikely that you will be able to res
also in case of my friend he lacked damage because his build wasn't so good probably. Many public players are the same most likely. Basically i had to deal a lot more damage for us to have a chance, and i am 20 power level, it was veteran.
So imo best to do in solo, with a build that does a lot of damage, the less you have to fight it the better your chances are

[Ixamesh]

Turn the music off and listen for sound cues to dodge. IIRC only swipe and wave attacks in dragon form are delayed after cues. Neutral dodge seems to have more iframes and lower recovery. Don't get greedy, focus on dodge during boss combos. Play solo or with someone you know, because latency will kill you as mentioned above. Use cat ring, challenger or handler for extra rez. We used Game Master's Pride + medic shield in duo nightmare run. GM ring allows to survive some oneshots as long as only one person gets hit. Shield relic and Samoflange can help too if you have enough lifesteal/regen.

[Sundowning, even in Arcadia.]

I totally feel you. Same issue. 2nd phase is extremely chaotic. I feel forced to do adventure mode to get some materials and maybe a new weapon/rings, because right now my damage isn't enough.

[Galactus]

If you can find the artifact that gives you 3% ranged life steal damage it can help mitigate some of the unfair aspects of the fight. In phase 2 it always starts off by slamming a sword down on where you are at so you want to be able to time the dodge for that sword smash. The lasers that show up go from side to side not all at once so whatever it starts on it will explode first on, stay on the other side of the room and roll whenever it starts into the explosion. The sword that spawns with the explosion and goes from side to side should always go first in the boss attack pattern so you need to focus on avoiding that then the explosions. As in phase 2 it will switch between phase 1 and phase 2 periodically. When this happens the boss will always launch an attack. The phase 1 swap is the same in phase 2 but it just looks chaotic due to all the visual happenings. Also when the boss swaps phases back and forth in phase 2 whatever attack it was about to do when you swapped it will be holding that and be waiting for you when you go back to it. So if the phase 2 fight is triggering explosions and you go back to phase 1 for 10 seconds the explosions will be there waiting for you when you back in during the phase glitching so be prepared to dodge. There is also a phase 3 but its mainly just a few mobs, make sure not to let your guard down.

[OldWhovian]

imho he's way easier solo than with other people. I struggled when I had two of my friends in my world, took a break, came back, tried solo, and it was much easier. 90% of my dodges were pure audio cue

[amyen]

turn down music for the 2. phase, that helps alot.

in 2. phase keep in mind: attacks of both realms will be on hold, until you come back from the glitch-room to the dragon, and vice verca.
- meaning: if the dragon is going for a swipe or wipe-attack and you switch back to the red-room, you need to keep the dragon-swipe or wipe attack in mind, as this will continue when you get back into that "reality". same when you exit the red-room. if a sword was layed down and you switch back to the ashen-world, this attack will be continued, when you come back into the red-room.

so you need to remember what each bosses was up to, just as you left their realm, to dodge that specific attack when you come back.

also, in the red-room: the sword swipes come after a sound-cue, so just turn music down completeley and as soon as you hear the sound-cue you need to dodge. it seems more hectic than it is, because at the same time there are exploding things on the ground, which you are usually dodging automatically when you dodge the sword-swipe, but you see explosions everywhere.

also red-room: when you see that grid forming in front of you - just duck down. no dodge, as doding needs to be timed, instead you can just duck immediately and wait for the attack to go over your head.

i did the boss in a coop run with 1 mate, who was downed in the middle of the first phase. the boss definetely has more hp in coop, since it scales with the number of players. what helped me was
- challanger prime trait
- medic shield
- light armor // very low encumbrance for quick dodges
- bleed weapon and mutator, or the refund ammo mutator. i found merciless (weapon of the ravager for one of the alternative kills on him) very useful here, to just keep bleeding the targets constantly. also the mod on it hits very hard as well.


hope this helps somewhat. if i think of anything else, ill edit the post.

[Jack Sparrow]

"im a half decent player"

*Cant beat the last boss*

Maybe you are quarter decent bro

[Diktatorpanda]

My main issue with phase 2 is that the arena is red, the walls are red mist, the boss, tentacles, attacks and all effects are red. Makes it pretty damn hard to keep up with what is happening, the glitch effects don't really help with visual clarity either.

[wakey wakey]

The boss is actually easy as hell and one of the few which stays the same on every difficulty I think. The only time he's really bs if he got shock and/or rat swarm. Just get to fast roll have at least 30% movement speed and the fitness perk. You can now dodge every single attack of his 100% of the time.

In mp it's a different thing everyone has 1-4sec delay so ppl except the host are most likly dying all the time because he has 5 skills which are all insta kills.

[kaincypher]

Originally posted by Diktatorpanda:

My main issue with phase 2 is that the arena is red, the walls are red mist, the boss, tentacles, attacks and all effects are red. Makes it pretty damn hard to keep up with what is happening, the glitch effects don't really help with visual clarity either.

this too. The glitching affects and everything make it hard to see what's happening. I've steamrolled every other boss so far with almost zero difficulty (except the labyrinth rocks, but that just took a while to learn the rhythm) so it's weird that this one goes from easy 1st phase to pound-my-head-into-the-wall difficulty in phase 2.

[johnwick]

I find first phase easier solo. Much easier to focus and predict what it will do and where it will go. With people it flies all over the place and it's disorientating and hard to know what or when to dodge.

On Vet solo PL20 i can drop phase 1 before my second dodge combo. the moves and timing are telegraphed and predicable.

Phase two is harder to get used to as you have to get through 1 first but again it's pretty routine.

Immediately go left, get used to the timing of the left to right, right to left swipes.

As said before, lots of sound queues, predictable mechanics and regular timings.

For example, when phase 2 toggles between phase 1 again, you know you must dodge right away. You have plenty of time to see it phase and a good full second after it transitioned to see the move coming and dodge.

Play it solo and learn the move set. It will make it much easier to play in coop.

[Videl]

To be honest its best boss in a long time. Very very nice fight.

[Marshal Amim Kagori]

Originally posted by kaincypher:

I'm a half decent player, but I've joined dozens of different groups. Nobody has beaten this ♥♥♥♥ boss. The first half is easy, even if the boss attacks are cheap as hell (in that even with light armor and full dodge bonus traits fail to actually dodge their AOE attacks). I've gotten past this, so many times. Phase 2? Pure ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. They basically put you in a tiny box where the boss can one-shot the entire party. Not fun, not well thought out.

You could be like me and have the game glitch on you during the transition phase and be no longer able to actually beat the game without rerolling the campaign. But hey, at least it registered as a win and I got the achievement anyway.