Tips for Vertex Crimson, the third Anachrony

The boss has 225k DP, 5m+ HP, a stat border of 270 and 999% max destruction rate. It only has one phase and no weaknesses. Because it has no weaknesses, 5m+ HP and a turn limit, it may not be possible to do this without both Seika ss2 + Yingxia ss1. Also note that despite having a stat border of "only" 270, the boss hits much harder than a 14k flashback with a border of 340. Resupply is very useful here as Restoration may be too slow to recover DP bars in time.

After using World End's Supernova (WES) before the fight starts, it will use it 3 more times without ending the fight. If it manages to use it a 4th time, you will lose.

The boss will have its mouth closed for most of the fight which will make it invulnerable. It will open its mouth to do WES every 5 turns and you will have 2 turns to attack afterwards. In short, you have 2 out of 5 turns to attack. You cannot build OD with it's mouth closed, but you can increase DR rate, although i think the DR rate is slower while it's mouth is closed.

You will have to fight at least 3 waves of trash mobs on your way to the boss, all the mobs are Chakrams which are weak to pierce + an element dependent on its type.

If you do not have pierce DPS, these mobs will take a while to kill. One strategy is to use a party with multiple pierce DPS, a buffer , +200% damage thunder/ice bracelets to build OD/SP and swap to your main team at the start of the boss fight. The first party doesnt need to be very strong, so you can use S ranks and stack all the big buffers in the second party.

Because the boss has 5m hp and there's a time limit, you probably need to bring a good blaster as well. Maki SS1 with the welfare's self charge skill works well for this, as it can deal +174% DR when charged.

One interesting thing to note is that skill seal debuffs seem to prevent the boss from using WES, the boss will use a normal attack instead if it was supposed to use WES but is affected by skill seal. Using welfare Kozue S's Mist Scythe attack (from her A rank memoria), I was able to delay the third WES till turn 18, giving me additional time to generate SP/DR. The third WES is typically used on turn 14 (or turn 15 after breaking it's DP bar, since that delays it by one turn). But do note that the boss has 50% resist to all debuffs so this is not a reliable method of stalling, and you will run out of SP eventually.

The timing also probably matters. The attack pattern is basically like this :

  • WES
  • Can't move
  • Closes mouth after your attacks this turn
  • Normal attack
  • Normal attack
  • WES again

So if using Skill Seal, you will want to try and time it for the turn that it is supposed to use WES.

The strategy i used for reference :

First party : S rank buffer with enhancement, some pierce AOE DPS, a healer. Build to OD 3, you can blow your SP on the final trash mob fight (the one where you see the cancers on a bridge) as this party will not be fighting the boss.

Second party : Seika SS2 with SS1 introjection (Thunder Field) + Yingxia SS1 with Wolong's (DEF down) + Maki SS1 (blaster) + Carol SS1 with Lightning Roar (self buff) + Kozue S (Thunder DEF down + Skill Seal) + Tama SS2 (healer). Tama and Kozue with Orbs of Impetus to generate OD.

Turn 1 of the boss fight : Swap the second party in. Yingxia uses DEF down, activate OD 3 before the combat animations end. +20 SP to everyone.

Bonus turn 1 : Yingxia uses DEF down, Kozue uses Thunder DEF down.

Bonus turn 2 : Kozue uses Thunder Def down, Yingxia uses EX, Seika uses Thunder Field.

Bonus turn 3 : Yingxia uses EX, Seika uses EX, Carol uses EX. DP bar broken.

For the rest of the fight, it was stalling and using Maki's self charge + EX to build DR quickly. I was able to hit OD 3 and 999% DR before nuking it again for 9m+ damage, after the 3rd WES. Total : 2x DEF down, 2x Thunder DEF down, 2x Thunder skill up on Carol, 2x Seika EX buffs and 2x Yingxia EX buffs.

For the second nuke, you want to stack 2x lightning roar on Carol before buffing her with Yingxia and Seika, to avoid wasting their buffs. It is important to not buff/heal when the mouth is open (unless you really need to) in order to generate as much OD as possible with attacks. Use the Orbs of Impetus when the mouth is closed. Also, try to time Maki's Self charge + EX and Carol's Lightning Roar for when the mouth is open.