Trouble with Prince Zote?

I won't lie, this boss got the worst out of me, so I thought someone might be interested in what principles to respect when duelling the so-called Powerful, Beautiful, Terrifying, Gorgeous, Passionate, Overwhelming, Diligent, Vigorous, Enchanting, Mysterious, Sensual, Fearless, Invincible lad. High time we kicked off.

In case you haven't met the boss. (Several Spoilers)

After rescuing Zote from Deepnest, you'll encounter him in the Colosseum of Fools, at the end of the first trial. He'll attempt to attack you, but he can't damage you and by that moment he seems rather cute. However, the very same moves he attempts in the arena are reproduced at larger scale later on. If you wish to meet him right after that, head to Dirtmouth, where he'll be boasting to the lady bug-Bretta. (with the 57 Preceps of Zote)
Enter Bretta's house, descend and find the altar dedicated to him, then use your Dream Nail and the fun starts.

Charms I recommend.

You ought to have Shade Cloak and the Monarch Wings already when fighting him.
I highly recommend also having the Pure Nail and as many Mask Shards as possible.
Here's a quote from the Hunter's Journal so as to comprehend who we're fighting: "Figment of an obsessed mind. Lacks grace but becomes stronger with every defeat."
I fought the boss up to level 4 with : Mark of Pride, Long Nail, Sharp Shadow,Steady Body, Wayward Compass(didn't care), Sprintmaster (+ Void Heart)
For Levels 5-7, you may throw Long Nail and Steady Body, Sprintmaster and the Compass, these levels require healing and acting quickly. Therefore, Quick Focus and Baldur Shell shall work perfectly in this case.
The boss relies on heavy hits that come at relatively-regular intervals. Quick Focus enables you to heal two times faster, whereas Baldur Shell is a miracle-charm, denying any first hit that receives and protecting you upon being shattered. It can help you up to 3 consecutive times, but it will break for good if you abuse it in short periods and you won't be able to use it for the remaining fight. Used wisely, you'll have a huge advantage, and be safer.

Tl;Dr: Baldur Shell, Quick Focus, Mark of Pride, Sharp Shadow.

Breaking down his mechanics

His 6 moves are the following:
1)Flail
2)Zotelings Spit
3)Shadow Slam
4)Nail Slam
5)Leap
6)Summon Bombs

Let's group Zotelings Spit and Summon Bombs. This is a combo he will occasionally use, Zotelings spit implies him launching smaller Zotes which fly or jump like the frogs in the colosseum. They are incredibly annoying. He may launch up to four of these, they are one-shots and they are truly dangerous when he also uses Summon Bombs or Flail. They deal half the damage that Prince Zote does, so up to 3(.5) masks. Zote can summon up to 4 bombs, but they deal as much as Prince Zote's damage. They explode shortly after being summoned, you can trigger them faster by walking near them or burst them with 2 nail hits.
Leap: "Grey Prince Zote will leap around the arena. Grey Prince Zote can string together multiple leaps up to 3 times in a row. He can chain this attack into a Shadow Slam Attack. Every time Grey Prince Zote lands, he sends out two small shockwaves in either direction that cross the arena."
One important addition to Leap: he mostly jumps shortly, but he WILL, at least once, jump over a long distance, and he will aim for your future position if you're running from him. Beware of the long jump, it's similar to the Shadow Slam.
Nail Slam: "Grey Prince Zote will leap into the air and slam his Nail down. This attack targets the Knight. Grey Prince Zote will slam his Nail down where the Knight was when he reaches the apex of his leap, just before he flips. When he slams his Nail, two shockwaves will erupt from the impact point and travel across the arena. The one in front of Grey Prince Zote is larger than the one traveling behind him."
If you are sprinting under him when he jumps, he can redirect the nail slam 180 degrees to your new side. He can do Nail Slams more than once, I believe up to 2 times. The 3rd has to be a Shadow Slam. Shadow Slam is basically a fake jump. It is like a long Leap, but doesn't hit the ground (yet he gets close enough to hit you), and then launches into the air. He will follow you and will try to guess your future place. Try to predict where he lands by the screams he alaways makes when landing. When shadow slam hits, 2 high shockwaves erupt.
You can dodge Short Waves with a simple jump, High Waves require full-jump or fast double jump. Also, they get faster with the distance travelled.
Flail: This is your golden chance. You must keep above him as he attempts to hit you horizontally, and hit him as many times as possible. Try to hit in the last moment, because he can fall any time and if you miss you'll be just in time for a shockwave hit. Also, he can fake the flail and just crash with a shockwave emission and he can swing 180 degrees in a frame if you try to dash through him and you are unlucky.

The key Principles. My lessons.

I've spent 12 hours duelling them all. It was excruciatingly painful and there are some things I wish I knew earlier.
1. I've seen comments telling people not to heal. With Baldur Shell and Quick Focus, I strongly encourage you to heal. It's a matter or vision and of learning his moves.
WHEN TO HEAL OR HIT: If he is KNOCKED DOWN, and you are down in the shortest time, 2 heals are safe bet, the third one is gambling. Try to be as far away from him as possible. He can be knocked down 3 times, after aproximately 17 hits. (Talking about the Invincible one). When he gets up, he may either Leap to you (if you are far enough you may have time to heal the 3rd life and then dodge), or Shadow Slam (which is longer). IT'S WORTH HEALING, trust me. It's also worth knowing you can come back from 1 hp to full in a match, otherwise you won't make it. It's also psychological from my perspective.
If he summons bombs, or smaller Zotes, you can generally heal 2 lives. RELY ON THE BALDUR SHELL, BUT DO IT WISELY. If you heal when you only have 1 life missing, the baldur shell will cancel upon healing and you will be vulnerable and most probably hit. It's 100% tilt-inducing, I pray it doesn't happen to anyone else.
If he summons Zotes, you can land a good number of hits on him
2.VERY IMPORTANT: THE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ WALKING[/i]: It's the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ part of the fight. It's more dangerous than a leap or a slam. He may walk to you spontaneously after landing. And boi, he is fast and tilting. It can be a short walk or a long one. Either way, you should try to hit then retreat and see what he does.
3. Targeting the little ones: Try to hit them as they're spawned, if they open their legs they will be immune for 0.3 seconds.
THE FLAIL: They are trouble when you're airborne and trying to hit the guy. Here, it is your choice. You can risk and lose 3 lives (at level 7), or you can attack them and not be in time to keep above the guy (-7 lives yohoo). When they're timed with the bombs, just ignore them if they aren't running to you. You've got greater problems.
4. The bombs: It's about luck sometimes. Learn to destroy one if it gives you vital room for dodging. The ones close to the ground will damage you upon exploding or if you walk into them. Try to go into the corner, it works 80% of the time (also look at No. 8).
Also a great idea: Keep your eye and ear focused on Zote, I've had the best performances when hyper-focusing the Prince's every little move. The bombs, more than anything, conceal his movement and the sound with their explosion. That's the trick about them. They OBSTRUCT.
5. I feel like it's almost sentient. Meaning they improve his stats with every level. I'm quite adamant. Not only about his damage and hp, but also intelligence and speed. I compared it with the AI in Alien-Isolation. They made an excelllent game, and the bosses live up to the evilest standards.
6. (CRUCIAL TO THE MORAL PART): Try to count the hits. WHILE BEING ABOVE and him flailing, if he is knocked he will jump a bit in the air and it can hit you. That is guaranteed tilt there. So, know how much before he is knocked, and if you are very close to that, than try to hit and be above as much as possible, it shouldn't hit you if you are at the highest point and you deal the knocking blow.
7. BE AGGRESSIVE, HIT AND RUN: It might be harsh until you get used, but there's no point in ♥♥♥♥♥-footing him. The openings are little and the slightest stroke of bad luck is more than surely the end. I will link 4 videos to how I beat him, just so you see what I mean by that. You must try to land 2 hits after every jump or animation. You need confidence, and you don't gain confidence by dying by bad luck while attempting to wait for his flail.
8. Learn the Shadow Dash by heart. One reason why you can be aggressive or heal is that you can shadow dash. It. Is. Indispensable. Try to memorate exactly when it reloads, if you get cornered it is your only way out. Equally important, try to dash into the zotes, it will kill them and boost faith in victory. Also don't shadow dash if the Prince is almost knocked, he will fall on you and you'll get hit.
9. Fearless Grey Prince Zote has a tendency to walk from my experience, whilst Invincible likes to leap a lot.

My Fights (Levels 4,5,6,7)

The whole "Saga" took some good 12 hours.This is my first guide and I hope it will prove useful to you. The whole purpose was to share my way of managing it, because I believe nobody has gone in such depth with this particular boss. Also, you don't get anything besides the first achievement. That was quite the disappointment, but I had fun, didn't I?

[LeWolfLegend]

Are there one or two tiers after invincible? I just did it but I already forgot (I was kinda tired of the fight and didn't keep track at the end)

[John Helldiver]

The chad Grey Prince Zote vs the virgin Vessel

[superkirbymon555]

Bretta leaves after you beat GPZ 4, because apparently by then he looks so shrivelled up and small she doesn't care anymore. However, she says in her diary "and the white savior revealed as beast", which means she still doesn't like you

[<Grand Theft Autism 4>]

Will Bretta actually start caring about you again if you defeat him?

[hedgr]

instructions unclear, beat radiant gruz mother

[DustyTheOrange]

i spent 5 hours trying to do this in PoH but i gave up and did another 30 hour save file just to skip him (now i need to kill AbRad)

[Minilla Gaming]

[Mr. Something]

also, another tip i can think of is after shadow slam or nail slam, do the down special because it gives you a frame of invincibility and it does some damage to him too.

[Mr. Something]

I dont think you covered the one where he entirely yeets your health by one attack or him just walking into you, also another tip (maybe) is at the beginning be within 4 steps of him so that right after his animation you can get a good 2-3 hits in

[Quite curmudgeonly of you]

12 Hours?! That's some serious dedication. Just watching the final fight shows how well you learned his attacks. Great guide!