Quick Links
- Skinshank's Stats
- Attacks
- Preparing For Battle
- Battle Strategy
Up until this point, Death end re;Quest 2 has had an interesting relationship with bosses. The early bosses were way too easy to be considered an actual threat. This was followed by three bosses that have slight variations on the same idea. It’s time to throw some new ideas into the mix.
Skinshank may look like your standard abomination, but he has some sneaky tricks up his sleeve that make him a standout among the pack. He’s big, he’s mean, and he’s a total eyesore. But go into this fight expecting the same old boss fight, and he will smack you around something rotten (Rottie?).
Skinshank's Stats
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| HP | 1470000 |
| ATK | 1050 |
| DEF | 1550 |
| MAT | 1190 |
| MDF | 1550 |
| AGI | 330 |
| Weakness | Star |
|---|
It’s been a while since you were thrown into a boss fight, with the last one being two Chapters ago. With time, scaling has well and truly kicked in. Skinshank is rocking a massive health pool and defenses that are equally disturbing. Thankfully Skinshank’s ATK and MDF are a little bit lower – but even they are dangerously high.
Skinshank being weak to Star should be your primary in, and since his defenses are equal, you can go in with Magic or Physical without much issue. Skinshank isn’t as straightforward as his statline suggests, however.
Attacks
Skinshank doesn’t do much special in terms of actual attacks. He hits hard, he has some AoE in his pool, and if you aren’t packing some kind of buff, he might one-shot a party member. This is all standard stuff that can be dealt with – revives do the trick.
Skinshank also doesn’t heal, which is a nice change of pace. This means, unlike Mother Fearest, Succubus, and Kidnapper, every pip of damage you do is permanent. This makes his monstrous health pool less of an issue in the long run.
What makes Skinshank different is his ability to counter. Skinshank can apply the strategy-destroying buff, Counter Weakness, to itself. What this little bugger does, is allow Skinshank to counterattack every time he is struck with a Star-element attack. This can seriously hamper your offensive, giving Skinshank more opportunities to kill everyone.
Preparing For Battle
Corruption
As is always the case, go into this fight with as much Corruption as you can. There are plenty of Bugs in this battle, but you want to be as stacked as possible for when you start throwing hands.
The bugs in question are your standard ATK, MAT, DEF, and MDF buffs in an ever-expanding square pattern. Every corner of every square holds a powerful All Stats Up buff – this buff stacks with individual Bug buffs too.
You will want to get into Glitch Form as soon as you can, but don’t be hasty when it comes to destroying bugs. We want to use their buffs as effectively as we can, and that requires some planning (more on that in a bit).
Equipment
You will want to be decked out in the best equipment money can buy. If you’ve been overkilling your encounters, then money shouldn’t be an issue here. Stack your ATK and MAT stats as high as they can go, and you should be ready to brawl.
Skills
For this fight, you will need to have the strongest Star skills at your disposal ready to go. These will ensure you are doing as much damage as you can, every turn. To counter his, well, counter, you want Rottie to have Valley Fresh. This skill removes ALL buffs and debuffs in play, from EVERYONE. This will strip Skinshank of his Counter, but it will also remove all of your gathered Bugs.
Finally, Liliana casting Physilight will help keep your party alive. Of course, Valley Fresh will strip this buff, so make sure Liliana is the last to activate, and Rottie is the first. This will give you plenty of time to gather Bugs and reapply buffs before Skinshank can react.
Battle Strategy
Because you don’t want to accidentally waste your Bugs by knocking Skinshank into them, lure him towards the edge of the arena. Make sure you cast Physilight to tank his damage during his approach.
Once he’s in position, pick up relevant Bugs to boost your stats and transform. Remember, Rottie will be stripping these buffs every time Skinshank activates his counter. Any Bugs she breaks will be wasted as a result. Try and get her into Glitch Mode efficiently, then keep her there as long as you can with effective breaks.
A standard turn will be Rottie using Valley Fresh, followed by two Star attacks or some heals. Mai and Liliana will follow up with Star attacks, and in Liliana’s case, Physilight. You should always aim to use Knockback skills to launch Skinshank into the wall for bonus damage.
As a final precaution, make sure your party isn’t bundled together. You want Skinshank to work for his party sweep.
Once Skinshank is down, you are free to move on to the next Chapter.
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