Okay, got something that seems workable in fighting the midboss.
I just need to keep track of when Wind blows away Block-s so I can tell if the special mechanics of the fight are working right or not.
85 days ago(+1)
Blue Boss will always cover allies when he's Blocking, and otherwise will only cover allies at low health.
85 days ago (+1)
I think Blue Boss's heal is variable healing instead of fixed-value healing...
But I seem like I can survive forever by Brill blocking. This seems like a stalemate with my current no-potion strat. Blue Boss can be brought down to low HP, but the shielding is too much to take him out since he can heal too quickly? I guess I'll have to use potions?
Is the Protect Cape supposed to cause 2 shield icons, and the cape icon? When my block gets deflected, I lose one icon, but I guess it's the weaker one of the 15 and 60 Block Strength blocks?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sXYadvTx5S4WTTy4ljdedFk8h0KUPXBS/view?usp=shari...
I guess I'll try to think of what potions to throw and when. hehe! Pepperevenge a gogo? Not that good with my current -5 Attack... Probably gonna use Auto-tonics to handle some healing.
Wait, I can't Pepperevenge and Auto-tonic at the same time? So, since they and Catch Up are all Doesn't Stack, only 1 of the three are worth putting on? Catch Up is too important to react quickly to not use?
...
Switched up my loadout, but Vantus deflected Blue's shield then I Star Bursted, where even not-blocking and every enemy at full HP, Blue took all 3 attacks?
And I thought I saw him block some healing when he protected Brill once... Hmm. Could just be my mental mistake.
Phoenix Phormula: Revives Brill from Inventory. But when I used it, it healed the party to full, even though only Vantus fell?
Well, dinner...
85 days ago (+1)
Blue Boss's healing is based on user DEF, so a Rock Wall will boost the healing. Doesn't look like I left in any Variance on it.
As for the second shield icon, it looks like it's your Shinobi Helm; the first is your Block, and the cape is how long your higher-strength Block will last with the Protect Cape. (I really should make some more icons.)
Unfortunately, you can only have one counterattack at once, and Auto-Tonic is a counterattack. You'll have to pick one.
EDIT: Aha, I see the problem! Deflecting removes Block, but isn't removing added Block states. That's why the second shield icon (Brill's On-Block Haste) was sticking around, too. This should be fixable; it was usually a rare occurrence before, so it slipped under the radar, but it should be easy enough once I have some time to spare.
85 days ago (+1)
Thanks for explaining! Soften doesn't seem the way to go to stop that, since even the best only takes out 8 DEF.
And I didn't even notice I had 999 Pure and Frozen Droplets. Gotta leave and sell them to the Cave Alchemist for ingredients to build up my Thunder Damage stocks.
Brill and Vantus can both block for the other. Not exactly sure how damage is distributed in that case, seems like it's like they're not blocking at all. I try to avoid that since Vantus sucks at taking damage compared to a properly equipped Brill.
In other things, probably shouldn't be able to walk here?
84 days ago(+1)
Thanks!
A big thing / question: Should the area around the Forma village be cleared of Void Mercenaries and stuff? Or is there some explanation on why the Breachers and others are still around even after their boss is defeated? Is it just because I ran past all of them?
84 days ago(+1)
The Breachers should still be there, that's intentional. In the absence of clear orders, they'll continue to do what they've been told to (which is to fire on intruders).
84 days ago (+1)
Yaay... I'll have to carefully navigate to the metal chest that might have an equip that I really want. Ha!
Having to do it all without Vantus's help! heh. Tomorrow.
84 days ago(+1)
Good luck!
I just discovered a minor bug with Guard Down that I'll just real quick release a patch for overnight. Should still work fine, though- and actually, now I think about it, it removes the side effects of Blocking now as well. I could spend time to revert this, but it's probably a fair buff since Guard Down is already competing pretty hard with Thunder potions.