Hello,
This guide is meant for people to better understand when to interrupt bosses moves for smoother runs, hope you find it helpful! We'll start with explaining the terminology I will use in this guide, as well as what you're most likely to hear in a party: hold/ult active, stagger, tenacity bar.
Every character has access to a hold skill, it's unlocked at level 56 and the skill itself is not known for dealing massive personal damage, but what it does best is give your team plenty of time to do damage themselves, resulting in a smoother run. People often refer to this skill as “ult” or simply “SP”
Something not every character has is a stagger skill, these can be used to interrupt the bosses attacks and most importantly certain mechanics if done at the right time. In the skill’s description it is mention as a “stun for a short period” but in reality it's just a way to flinch/stagger the boss for a brief moment (I will refer to this as a stagger going forward in the guide)
SP skills that stagger/flinch:
- Fiona - [ Shield Charge ]
- Pillar Karok - [ Earthquake ]
- Crossgun Kai - [ Massive Impact ]
- Greatsword Hurk - [ Execution ]
- Glaive Lynn - [ Iron Flag ] and [ Flying Snow ] (with 10 marks)
- Miri - [ Slice and Dice ]
- Belle - [ Whipping Wind ]
- Lethor - [ Dragon Fang ]
- Tessa - [ Garnet Dash ] + [ Diamond Doublet ]
- Achel - [ Downfall ]
- Sou - [ Soaring Dragon ]
Tenacity bar is the blue bar beneath the health bar that every season 4 boss has, while it is full and not broken you cannot use hold skills on bosses but you can stagger, once hold skill is used the tenacity bar will fill back up, it can be destroyed by simply doing damage to the boss, SP actives often help breaking it quicker (also timed Full Force).
It is important to know that sometimes the outline of the bar glows blue, when that happens, the boss cannot be staggered or held by SP skill, this glow can happen even with the tenacity bar being broken. (GIF example of glowing bar and stagger fail)
Bosses have certain health thresholds when they either recover the tenacity bar or go immune for a moment, usually changing phase but not always, what we aim to do with hold skills is to either skip entire phases, this requires a lot of DPS, or just chip away some more health before a phase change or tenacity bar recover
Mentions going forward:
- when referring to using hold skill at “health bar x” it usually means at the transition between that number, ex: hold at bar 7 means you have to do it right before boss reaches 7 so technically very low bar 8, there are cases when bosses are stuck in their own attack animations and will only act only when those are over, thus being able to use hold skill a bit later
- fully breaking the tenacity bar usually takes x2 health bars done to the boss so keep it in mind because sometimes there will be no time to break it again for multiple holds
- staggers can be used before or after a hold attack to prolong it, your team needs to know you are doing it else it’s quite difficult to pull off
- Hurk’s Execution is a bit special, it will knock down the boss for a longer time than any other staggers but less than any other hold skill, this can be very useful for reaching health thresholds for skipping mechanics
I prepared some “labels” for certain health thresholds to better understand what’s happening and why holds/staggers are justified:
- Mechanic - either a mini game or some special move the boss will do
- Tenacity bar recover - tenacity can recover on its own on some bosses even if you never use hold
- Invulnerable mini cutscene - any sort of invulnerability or small cutscene when the boss is untargetable and cannot be damaged, it is important to know so you won't miss your damaging skills
- Stagger - boss attacks that can be stopped with a stagger
Cesar
- Health Bar x7 “Mechanic”,“Invulnerable mini cutscene”
Strategy: Recommended to use hold skill at x7 and then again whenever fire mechanic is over and tenacity bar is broken again
Nyle
- Any health bar “Stagger” - has an attack that can happen at random (video or gif demonstration) can be stopped by either stagger or hold skill (GIF)
Strategy: hold skill can be used as soon as tenacity bar is broken each time this happens, however if no stagger skills are available this will remove the ability to stop that certain mechanic. Alternatively hold skills can also be kept as ways to stop him
- Mentions:
- has “Invulnerable mini cutscene” triggered when all party members are marked by his mechanic, this move cannot be stopped
- Does not recover Tenacity bar on his own
Ragnahim
- Health Bar x8 “Mechanic”,“Invulnerable mini cutscene” - tricky to use hold skill properly because Tenacity bar breaks exactly as he hits x8
- Health Bar x4 “Mechanic”,“Invulnerable mini cutscene”
Strategy: not recommended to use hold immediately on x8, better wait for cable mechanic and do it after, then hold on x4
- Mentions:
- does not recover Tenacity bar on his own
- Between x10 and x8 he can grab you and increase his attack if successful, this move and effect can be canceled with a stagger (GIF)
Siete
- Health Bar x9 “Mechanic”,“Stagger” - she stops her attacks briefly and will then summon a red circle around her, this move and the whole marking can be stopped with a stagger, to succeed in stopping it you have to wait for the circle to show up, staggering before it appears will not stop her from doing it afterwards (GIF)
- Health Bar x4 “Invulnerable mini cutscene”,“Tenacity bar recover”
Strategy: stop her mechanic at x9 if any staggers are available
Hold skill can be used as soon as tenacity bar breaks, and then again at bar x4
Epona
- Health Bar x8.25 “Mechanic”, “Invulnerable mini cutscene” - unlike other bosses until now that have mechanics at the transition in between health bars, Epona does it slightly before reaching bar x7
Strategy: try to hold at x8.25 and then again whenever tenacity bar breaks after Lazar phase is over
- Mentions:
- Health Bar x8.25 - x4.75 Lazar phase, complete immune to holds and stagger
Tarathan
- Health Bar x8 “Mechanic”, “Invulnerable mini cutscene”,“Stagger” - the sequence of moves is at follows: small invulnerability, he jumps in the middle of the map, starts the mechanic of dodging or staying inside circles,then does the big marking circle that can be stopped (GIF)
- Health Bar x4 “Mechanic”, “Invulnerable mini cutscene”,“Tenacity bar recover”, “Stagger” - the sequence of moves is at follows: small invulnerability, starts the mechanic of dodging or staying inside circles, after this point he may or may not do the marking circle so always be ready for it (GIF)
Strategy: recommended to use hold skill to stop the first marking mechanic at x8 and stagger for the second time he does it at x4 since for the second time, his Tenacity bar might be filled up so hold isn't possible
Romel
- Bar x4 “Mechanic”, “Invulnerable mini cutscene”
Strategy: use hold skill as soon as Tenacity bar breaks and then again at bar x4, keep in mind if the team's dmg is high enough, the bar will be open for hold on 6 or less. In this case, it's advised to hold only on 4, otherwise the bar won't recover in time.
Naberius
- Health Bar x8 “Invulnerable mini cutscene” - this happens very fast and usually exactly as the tenacity bar breaks, which makes it tricky, holds can also be done after the invulnerability
- Health Bar x5 “Invulnerable mini cutscene”,“Tenacity bar recover”
- From x3 to x0 Naberius can suddenly start red attack hook mechanic, a 3rd hold can be used if tenacity bar is broken
Strategy: use hold skill at x8, then at x5 and if possible again at around x2 to prevent the red attack. Keep in mind the damage of the team, tenacity bar might not break in time for x5. Alternatively with enough damage one of the two cutscenes can be skipped. A stagger must be used after reaching bar x5 from x8 through holds, otherwise the two cutscenes will play consecutively anyway
Milo
- Health Bar X7 “Invulnerable mini cutscene”,“Mechanic”
- Health Bar x4 “Invulnerable mini cutscene”,“Mechanic”
- Any time after x7 “Staggers” - this attack can appear after the mechanic at x7, similar attack where he glows blue instead can also occur, both can be staggered (GIF)
Strategy: use hold at x7 and at x4, alternatively with enough damage the first mechanic can be skipped and only one hold can be used from x7 to x4
Cessair
- Health Bar x8 “Invulnerable mini cutscene”,“Mechanic” - it happens exactly on tenacity bar break so it’s tricky to use hold
- Health Bar x5 “Invulnerable mini cutscene”,“Mechanic”,“Tenacity bar recover”
- Health Bar x3 - x2 “Invulnerable mini cutscene”,“Mechanic”,“Tenacity bar recover” - this is a weird one, the trigger seems to happen whenever Tenacity bar is broken again and a certain health threshold is reached
- Any time after x8 “Stagger” - she will do a “roar” that will damage you (so be mindful if your class has iframe on the stagger skill) and then start a chain of attacks, this whole chain can be stopped as soon as she starts the “roar” and during the whole attack, recommended to stagger it (GIF)
Strategy: use hold skill if possible at x8, the timing is very tight and can easy miss but it can also be done after the mechanic, then at x5 and again at x3 - x2 usually whenever tenacity bar breaks again
- Mentions:
- the move where she grabs an ally seems to be happening at random after x8 so aside from that it can’t be properly predicted
Enok
- Health Bar x7 “Mechanic”,“Tenacity bar recover”
- Health Bar x5 “Invulnerable mini cutscene”,“Mechanic” - this can happen at lower health points because of the damage dealt during the pillars mechanics, look out for whenever his self stun ends
Strategy: use hold skill at x7 and again whenever pillar mechanic ends, if not enough damage is dealt during this phase, use hold at x5
Irusan
- Health Bar x9.5 “Mechanic” - can’t be stopped
- Health Bar x7.5 “Mechanic”,“Tenacity bar recover”
- Health Bar x4.5 “Mechanic”,“Tenacity bar recover”
- Stagger: every time she jumps in the middle, after that mechanic is over she will do a few more attacks then prepare to lunge forward for a red attack, this can be stopped with a stagger (will add GIF demonstration later)
Strategy: use hold skill at 7.5 and 4.5 to delay the wind mechanic more
Emmett
- Health Bar x7 “Mechanic”,“Tenacity bar recover”
- Health Bar x3 “Mechanic”, Staggers: can be done at bar x3 to stop the red attack mechanic, timing is very important (GIF)
Strategy: use hold skill at x7 then at x3 you can choose to also attempt a stagger afterwards.
- Mentions:
- If the team deals too much damage when holding at x7 you could reach x5 and fail the armor hooking mechanic, this can be avoided by using hold skill at x8 instead or stopping the damage before x5 is reached
Jarnir
- Health Bar x7 “Mechanic”,“Invulnerable mini cutscene”,“Tenacity bar recover”
- Health Bar x4.5 “Mechanic”
Strategy: use hold skill at x7 and at x4.5 to delay her mechanics where she jumps in the middle of the map and sweeps
Bres
- Health Bar x7 “Mechanic”,“Invulnerable mini cutscene”,“Tenacity bar recover”
- Health Bar x3 “Tenacity bar recover”
Strategy: use hold skill at x7 and x3 to take advantage of her own tenacity bar recover and not let it go to waste
- Mentions:
- Bres has a special bar gauge in the form of a red circle, whenever its full she will move at the north side of the map and ALSO RECOVER TENACITY BAR aside from doing her mechanic
