Skalpel Might Brake Me

[Ankshious]

I've been challenged throughout the game and it's been tough, really tough. After discovering his second phase, I might just quit. His AOE + Elemental damage = maximum frustration. No matter how clean I perform, I end up with no heals before the second phase which get me nowhere. Not really sure what to do here.

[ZexxCrine]

No heals is pretty not clean tho. Dirty even.

Make small improvements instead of focusing on losing. Skalpel is clearly hitting you with stuff. Find one move he keeps hitting you with and try to do a full run without getting hit by that move. Small victories.

You got this especially if you can get to his second phase. All you have to do is survive. He kills himself for you if you are too unconfident in fighting him fairly. Granted it goes significantly faster if you meet him head on and combo him while he bleeds out.

[Zerixar]

he literally slowly kills himself in second form. that being said, when he first transitions into it is the most dangerous part as he throws out a ton of stuff you just need to block/dodge, but pretty quickly he'll pull out his slow phase 1 attacks again that you should know how to deal with/punish by now.

[Observer]

I tried to run away in the 2nd phase twice, but then I said: f it, lets dance.
And eventually I won, it felt so good and right. There is light in the tunnel, keep on going

[sgrey]

I am assuming you might be suffering from his berserk state. You can break it before he enters it if you smash him while he is riding.

[SeekerHammerdin]

Originally posted by Ankshious:

I've been challenged throughout the game and it's been tough, really tough. After discovering his second phase, I might just quit. His AOE + Elemental damage = maximum frustration. No matter how clean I perform, I end up with no heals before the second phase which get me nowhere. Not really sure what to do here.

A tip you may not know but that helped me.

When he gets on his coffin, you can knock him off of it. I was doing dual wield at the time and a whirlwind would be enough.

2nd phase I just tried to get as much distance between us as I could. I also focused more on dodging rather than blocking or parrying.

If I see him go red, and start doing bloody looking attacks, I just dipped out.

[volcz]

I was struggling with Skalpel too till I realized you can just run away and dodge everything in P2 until the bar depletes. I had no heals either. He does 1 big combo that at the end of, you can take advantage but its safer to just let him keep attacking rather than try to get 1-2 hits in and take damage for it.

Hope you get it man, the fight IMO is just P1. P2 is a pretty big joke once you realize the optimal strat is to just run away rather than engage.

[ViewtifulGene]

Try going for dodges over blocks. You can avoid many of his symbol attacks by staying close.

When he surfs on the coffin, hit the coffin with something. He gets a power up if he surfs too long.

[sgrey]

Originally posted by ViewtifulGene:

Try going for dodges over blocks. You can avoid many of his symbol attacks by staying close.

When he surfs on the coffin, hit the coffin with something. He gets a power up if he surfs too long.

You can reflect his very first strike, which break his stance and you could stun lock him for 50% of his HP, depending on what build you are running. If you play well enough, his first phase will end in 30 seconds and the only thing he will be able to do is 2 sword strikes that you will reflect and keep going pwning on him.

[ninjapug]

I found him easier fighting head on, he uses less coffin surf attacks

[Konork]

Dont let him activate his "pseudo phase 2" during the first one. Smash the coffin when he's on it with your most powerfull attacks, it's worth even if you suffer a bit of damage. Focus on block his combos and dodge the charges, you will learn the patterns with some tries. Don't ignore the plague effect since it does a lot of damage. Try to get to phase two with all heals and also the transformation, it will save you if you're in a tight spot, also it removes the plague effect.

Good luck!