SH Humilias for HU's w/o Protects

[Bennyhucast]

Hi, I've been lurking for a while, but have never felt the need to register and post
a response...until now.

For the record, my character is a 94 HUcast. I have only logged a little over a
hundred hours, so I do not claim to be an expert, but I feel I can still share my
knowledge on this subject since I CAN beat him.

How to Beat Humilias on Super Hard as a Hunter

THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO EQUIP SLOW AND ICE PROTECTS.
AFTER THAT YOU ARE FREE TO FILL IN THE OTHER TO SLOTS IN YOUR 7 STAR
ARMOR WITH WHATEVER YOU WANT. I PREFER TO USE A DIVINE/too_rare_for_u
AND DIVINE/I'm_so_leet. FOR A WEAPON, YOU CAN USE JUST ANY OLD THING
WITH Celeb 5 AND +75% MACHINE.

Joking aside, do check out the other guides.
Pokerealm's: http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172498
King_Yoshi42's: http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171975

Both recommend Slow and Ice Protects, of which I have neither.
I hoped it might be helpful for those having trouble with Humilias (particularly the newbies to SH)
if I shared my tactics and insights.


Now, let's begin!

Regrettably, you must first grit your teeth and jump right into the fight. (Put any
Scape Dolls in the bank for now, please.) The key is to learn his attack patterns
and how to avoid them. Take note of the details, for instance, how long is the
"aim" animation between the time he stops hovering and when he fires his first
shot? How long does it take him to switch from one arm cannon to the other?
Keep in mind that this is Super Hard mode and not Walk_in_the_Park_Free_Loots
Mode. The designers intended for this to be a challenge. You can't be slacking off
just because you beat Normal and Hard.

After clearing the Plant, you can jump directly into the boss battle as many times
as you care to tolerate. The only cost of this that I can tell is that each death
lowers your Mag's Synchro. Yes, your Mag may hate you by the time you are
done. If your little buddy is max level, you can bring his Synchro back up later by being
an all-around badass, i.e. killing hostiles. Since you have made it to Super Hard, I
should hope Meseta isn't an issue, so restocking on Mono- and Di- mates and
fluids (and Heal Traps for Casts) should be a non-issue. (Hold on to your Trimates
for now, please, unless you’re loaded, in which case have at it.)

Now Practice Practice Practice!

When you feel you have a good grasp of the fight, and are ready to make
serious-face attempt, take out a Scape Doll or three and use all health restoring
items freely (remember that Star Atomizers are still +50% HP whether it hits your
teammates or not...use them as needed. Casts, PLEASE do not forget your Heal
Traps AKA SolMoonStarScapedoll Atomizers.)

And now some useful information / tips:

- Naturally, whenever Humilias is hovering you should be chasing him to hide
underneath/behind him. Keep in mind that he will try to turn and face you later in
the fight.

- After he punches the ground, he (usually) jumps straight backwards. Use this to your
advantage and have a charged PA waiting for him. (Besides, if you are in melee
range when he does his punch you will get hit / knocked down, not to mention
quite a ways away when he starts hovering again.

- Later in the fight he will sometimes NOT punch the ground after the lasers and
immediately start hovering again.

- Dodge Roll can be your friend here, but don't use it if too far away: the
cooldown lag on it can make you an easy target. When you know the
timing/startup lag on his attacks, you can save the roll 'til the last second.
Remember that you are invincible at the very beginning of the roll, so you can
resist a laser hit. This is not the case at the end of the roll.

- If the Tard Squad is with you, make sure to issue the "Safety First" command.
(You only need to issue it once per dungeon, not each fight.) This will make them
good for a Resta or two. (Maybe an Anti if you’re lucky, but don’t count on it)

- WHEN the Tard Squad dies (not IF,) don't try to revive them*. This is a waste of
time. The risk you put on yourself is not worth the small benefit they provide.

*However, I do usually find ample time at the beginning of a split phase to use a
Moon Atomizer from the pause menu. (L-trigger + Pause takes you directly to the
item screen) Star Atomize if desired, but Sarisa and Kai usually pop an Alresta as
soon as they are up.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Have a shield! (preferably with Bull Smash)
With a shield equipped, holding the L trigger causes your character to raise it in
front of him/her. This will turn any frontal* attack or spell into a guard, at the cost
of a small amount of PP (about 10-50, depending on the absorbed attack's
strength.)

*Direct hits will always be absorbed (PP permitting). But note that after the first,
Humilias' lasers may meander off target - lasers aimed at the shoulder region will
bypass a raised shield.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

- For the first half-ish part of the fight, use your weapon of choice. Pokerealm's
guide recommends a Claw with Serpent Air – I have seen it used to great effect on
a free play run…use it if you got it. I happen to have an Ainsraiffe with Over-End.
Whatever floats your boat.

- At the beginning of the second split phase, swap your weapon for a shield. You
can survive a hit from Chaos and Mobius. You cannot survive a full endgame laser
barrage. (R trigger + Start takes you directly to the equip menu.)

- Having said that, the beginning of the split phase is the best time for any
necessary “housekeeping” tasks. Weapon swaps and single-use items have
already been mentioned, but this is also the best time for an emergency Palette
switcheroo. (e.g. you have used up all of your Monomates, so take this time to
swap in Trimates.)

- As hinted at above, the less HP Humilias has, the more laser shots fired per
attack. Mother Trinity help you if he catches you with that first frost shot. It is
still a OHKO on me if every shot hits (1044 HP – 0 HP.)

- Musical Tiles. Try to stay near an unlit square as the attack charges, then shuffle
over to it when the angry tiles start flashing.

- Safety Dance! When he sets off all 9 tiles at once, they are not in sync. (did you
take note of that during the practice runs?) A skilled player (not me) can find a
premature blaster and hop to it before the one underneath goes. Getting
knocked over or frozen by these in the endgame means Humilias can get away
from you which means you'll soon be feasting on lasers which usually means
death. If you don't dance then you ain't no friend of mine...and you die...UNLESS...


- A raised shield will absorb a tile blast.

to reiterate,

- Holding L with a shield equipped (and at least 50-ish PP remaining) will
protect you from the flashing tiles.

“So I saved myself from the floor's wrath, he STILL got away and I'll soon be
dining on a feast of lasers...so much for that.”

- If Humilias has gotten away from you and you know you can't make it to safety
in time, back up a bit, face him head on, and raise your shield. If the positioning
gods favor you, strafing can keep you from avoiding all the lasers. If they hate
you, you might take a laser to the shoulder, which can bypass a shield's area of
happy. I find shoulder hits to be rather rare, though, and if you can block at least
a couple lasers, you will probably live to munch some 'mates.

IMPORTANT: Take note of the cooldown lag on your attacks and dodge roll.
You can't defend yourself until any previous animations are finished. Give yourself
ample time to raise your shield when you anticipate taking a hit.

- Do keep an eye on your PP. No PP means no Happy. I normally hotkey Difluid
before the fight in case of emergency. You can still access the “R Palette” while
defending with L, but this will also activate your Photon Blast if it is charged.
While you are untargetable in Photon Beast form, you can still take damage in
the summoning bananagram. Exercise caution.

- To finish him off, just attack as before. Bull Smash is nice here because of its
200% attack power modifier, wider area of effect, and rather short charge time. It
hits twice, so that's four solid hits if you hit both legs.

- When he goes kamikaze, don't rely on your shield to save you. You will be in
melee range so he can easily swerve around behind behind a raised shield and
blast ya. I usually try to run away from him while mashing my Dimate or Trimate
button.


That’s pretty much all my observations on the fight. My apologies for the course
tone at the beginning, it’s just advising the protects seems less “guide” and more
“How to make the Humilias fight easy mode.”

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

In Summary:

1) Take time to learn Humilias' movement and attack patterns before making a
"serious" attempt. It took me about 7 tries to get all the timings right.

2) Right after he splits into Chaos and Mobius is a good time to access your
start menu. Be quick though, you will still be taking damage.
L + Start = Items
R + Start = Equip

3) Swap to a Shield midway through the fight. (2nd split phase is when I do it)

4) Hold L to Shield block.
- A raised shield will defend you from the tile blasts. (Direction unimportant)
- A raised shield will defend you from direct hits by lasers. (Front only)
- Blocking consumes PP: About 10 for a weak attack and up to 50 for strong attacks.

5) Don't get your hopes up for a Milias Breaker to drop. The more you want it, the less likely it will appear.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


Thanks for all corrections/feedback!


Regards,

Benny