HELP! 40 hours and 50 runs later - cannot beat HOTK...

[tSygna]

I need help! Love the game, but HOTK is killing me... haven't beaten him once or really even gotten close. Maybe I just suck at dodging his attacks... or maybe I am missing something completely. Either way I am starting to get very frustrated. I've already unlocked almost all the weapons and items in the game and am not close to beating it once lol.

I've tried stacking all the different talents, and tried stopping at 8/7/13 because of possible scaling issues I read about online. I've tried a lot of different strategies with weapons too, but most frequently I stack tactics and get double turrets. I already have the highest level health flask... and additionally most recently I have also tried using the Triage and 30% HP mutations together.

My latest run I had the following notable stats and gear (I was going to post a photo but doesn't seem like I can do that easily - this is my first post)... I thought the setup was very amazing but I've had several such amazing setups and failed each one miserably. When the HOTK hits me my health goes down 50%, and when get shoved into the spikes... brutal.

5 brutality
18 tactics
6 survival

Impaler III - Legendary Colorless
8372 DPS (+150% dmg)
+20% critical damage
Vicitms burn
+50% damage when you are at max HP

Ice Bow VI+
-20% damage received
Shots pierce the first target
Victims freeze other enemies for 1.8 sec
Slow down after thaw spreads to nearby enemies

Double Crossb-o-matic VI+
969 DPS (+100% dmg)
+175% damage to a frozen target
Trap spreads inflammable oil
Shots pierce first target

Death Orb V - Legendary Colorless
1480 - 3403 DPS (+175% dmg)
Generates a shield when used
+30% damage to a bleeding target
+175 damage to a frozen target
Victims burn

Sapphire Amulet VIII
-20% damage received
The damage you take is inflicted on the enemy
Emits a toxic cloud when you take damage
Gets gold as well as a cell

Pretty nice gear right! Well I only got halfway... so any useful help would be sooooo appreciated so I can beat this fugging game at least once and get on with my life lol. Thanks in advance.

[Zols]

the diminishing returns on the frost will hurt you on the last boss. ditch the ice bow for a shield for more dmg reduction. Ive never used a bow on any of my runs. a sheild with dmg reduction and parry is HUGE. If you rely on freezing get a frost nade since they come with more dmg reduction.

try to get turrets that either attach a bleed or place fire on the ground (fire on the ground being the best in my opinion). Stacking alot of dots for consistent dmg will allow u to focus more on defending. If you suck at parry, then take the sheild that does not allow parry in exchange for higher dmg reduction. Roll what you know u can roll out of and just keep up the block and let the turrets with dots do the rest.

Id write more but this is imposing on mah drinkin time, best of luck.

P.S i forgot, i do have a kill or 2 with the "shot gun" cross bow but still used a sheild. forget teh name, VERY powerful if u got bear trap so u can get off a hit during phase 3. im a big fan of teh bear trap.

[Fel]

The Hokuto's bow isn't too bad either, but a shield is definitely a big plus. You can't stop his charge with it, but you can use his bombs against him and the damage reduction is a big help.

That said, your death orb and trap could do most of the work for you while you dodge, they don't have amazing synergies going on (the best being one applying bleed/burn/poison and the other having a massive damage boost on target affected by it).

The hardest part about this boss is that you need to evade a lot, especially his charge and ground pound, and the arena is not only small but also countains hazards in the form of spikes (and even with boots you can't kick the boss into them), so health flasks help you less than learning how to time your dodges (as well as blocks and parries).

[NeedtoDie]

I made 2 videos of my fights against HotK in 0-cell difficulty to help people figure out how to proceed.

The first is done with a "bad build", only stacking %dmg reduction with no utility and a terrible weapon :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJRllFszL7U



The second is done with far better synergies and should be closer to how the fight is supposed to go if you know what you are doing :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVoU6B5GGsw

[tSygna]

I BEAT HIM, FINALLY! On the very first run that I tried the shield build. Thanks so much for the input. The shield build made all the difference for me - it was night and day. The key was damage reduction and high hp on one hand, while on the other hand I passively did damage via my tactics skills (Crusher and Wolf Trap).

This was probably my 10th time total fighting him, and I'd had awesome equipment before too, BUT I had never tried a shield build. This time I went shield and survival primary, so I had a ton more health and more damage reduction. I also used the Wolf Trap because it's a survival item actually and does hold the HOTK, and paired that with a Crusher which I would drop in the same area he was trapped to ensure he would get hit, and also because Crusher is survival too so benefited from all the green scrolls. This setup allowed me to dodge and jump a lot more so I think I only hit the spikes once or twice. But I really do think the key was more HP and damage reduction... It was so much easier this time.

Thanks again!

[tSygna]

And a little unrelated regarding weapon affixes, but helped with my gear decisions for finally beating the HOTK:

Every 2 ranks of a weapon = +25% damage
A weapon forged + = 3 bonus weapon ranks
An L designated legendary weapon = 9 bonus weapon ranks

So for example:

A normal weapon rank 2 will have +25% damage (located underneath the DPS), and a normal weapon rank 4 will have +50% damage, but a normal weapon rank 3 will have +25% damage.

A forged weapon rank 2+ will have a total equivalent of 5 ranks (2 from the weapon rank and 3 from the +), so will have +50% bonus damage, but a forged weapon rank 3+ will have a total equivalent of 6 ranks so will have +75% bonus damage.

A legendary L weapon rank 3 will have a total equivalent of 12 ranks (3 from the weapon rank and 9 from L), so will have +150% bonus damage, and a legendary L weapon rank 4 will have a total equivalent of 13 ranks (4 from the weapon rank and 9 from L) so will still also only have +150% bonus damage.

You can double-check and compare for yourself, it's been accurate for every item I've encountered so far. Let me know if you've discovered something different. I am not exactly sure how the weapon ranks and types affect the number of weapon affixes though.

Hopefully this helps you make better equipment choices so you can have every advantage heading in to defeat the HOTK.

[BronzyIsland]

two words.
crow feather

[Jarl]

Originally posted by BronzyIslandNYC:

two words.
crow feather

This so much if you're having trouble early on. Float n spam.

[CreamyT]

Dmg reduction is hugely important. It's additive, and maxes out at -75%. Think about that - if you have 5000 HP with 20% dmg redux (from one amulet) you effectively have 6,250 HP, but with 75% you have 20,000 HP.

Not all builds favor that, especially early on when you're dependent on legendary drops for higher redux %, but even on the first difficulty you can get a -20% amulet, a shield or defensive bow (ice bow is great IMO) at around -20-25%, and a grenade that offers it as well.

Also don't forget to re-skill for him! Many skills are literally useless vs bosses. Personally I think Vengeance is good, especially if you have damage redux, as you're likely going to take SOME hits, and the DPS & duration are quite good.

Also, try not to panic heal. Only heal on ice blocks when you know his current attack isn't going to hit you. Try to heal at half health at a good time rather than getting low and spamming it.

As for his attacks:

Phase 1:

Relatively easy. His sword swing has a long and slow telegraph that allows you to easily roll behind him. If you see him ready his charge attack, DON'T jump, or you can get shoved in spikes. If you see him spam 'nades, try to jump on an ice block. Don't be greedy, and don't panic.

Phase 2:

Major turn up. His 2 most challenging attacks are his slash + dive and his triple slash. The triple slash is tricky. It's easy to get on an ice ledge and just wait it out with a timed jump. But if one isn't up near you keep in mind the SECOND attack allows him to spin. The trick is to dodge THROUGH him on the first attack, jump the second, and dodge through him on the third. Just try to stay calm. If you have an ice bow or ice 'nade, try to keep him slow to make this easier.

Don't be greedy. The jump + smash is tricky because of the bizzare damage boxes. Just try to dodge away. Again - stay away if he's tossing nades, and if you see him ready a charge just roll through him. Even if he hits you with a charge the damage is minimal as long as you don't jump.

Phase 3:

Very similar to phase 2, except with 1 new "mega smash" attack that, while damaging, has a very obvious telegraph. Just get on the ice blocks.

Other than that his attacks are just faster and his charge attack has 2 phases. Just dodge through both. DON'T GET GREEDY.

Good luck!