Entropy 1 Eight Solo Guide
Writeup by Vayne Novus of our Tonberry Troupe!
Finally! Ever since Eight came out, I have been trying to solo him on every entropy stage possible. From his release, only Pandemonium boards have been added so it definitely helped in the run overall. Also with the recent weapon gloss on GL, I like how his weapon Killer Knuckles looked like wolverine claws =)) Lastly, as most solo runs go, there is an RNG factor that will be present. Though unlike Shadow solo runs which is in my opinion 99% RNG dependent, this one is very much less than that and requires skill as well. The name of the game is skill conservation when playing Eight solo so the goal is to minimize skill usages in any place possible. Having said that, let's proceed with setup & strategy.
I. SETUP
Removed Speed Passives:
None
*Most will remove his c10 passive which is perfectly fine but for this tier, the enemies you'll be facing are very fast and you'll have to match their speed in order to get your rotation going.
Spheres:
1. Eight - Raises own ATK by 20% for 3 turns when evading enemy attack
2. King - Raises ATK by 20% for 3 turns when inflicting Break
Future: Leo
Artifacts:
3x ATK+108 & Righteous Martial Artist Boost★★
Eight EX Recast
2 Skills + 1 BRV/HP+
*The extra 1 BRV/HP+ is very important. This is your "breathing room" to get your ex ready, have your evasion and live another day. The key here is to look for opportunities where you can BRV+ into EX and not get HP damage on that particular turn.
Summon: Ifrit
II. STRATEGY
Wave 1
Skills Available: 6/6
You want to spend zero (0) skills for this wave. Goal is to kill the Mini Dragon first. You do this by HP+ all the way but you need the perfect turn order. Ah the first RNG - you are looking for enemy turn order BAC or BCA - Mini Dragon has to be first. This turn order allows you to get two turns in a row after your initial HP+. Before entering the next wave, you want to have your EX ready so keep on using BRV+ until it is charge and kill it with a regular HP Attack.
Wave 2
Skills Available: 6/6
With your EX up, you won't have to expend any skill on this wave and it will be a breeze with Eight's counters. On your second turn just BRV attack and you should be on your way to the next wave.
Wave 3
Skills Available: 6/6
Here comes the second RNG. With zero buffs on, you'll be slow. But luckily, most of the first few attacks of the Prominence & its adds are BRV attacks. Start of with S1 to ramp up your speed and hope you don't get an HP Attack. When successful, your EX should be back up. Now this is where the skill part comes in. You can go ahead with his normal rotation: 2 alternating skill use then 1 BRV+ into EX. However, you want to make sure that when you about to use his EX, the Prominence will actually get at least 2 turns to maximize your EX use. It is not simply a blind rotation you follow - you'll have to skip your rotation every now and then if the Prominence won't get a turn in between yours. Note that when the Prominence is in its biggest form, it will use Big Bang and wipe you instantly. Know when he is about to go in this state. When you break him, he will shrink back so don't be so quick to use AA - limit it to 1 use for this wave. There is of course RNG in the turn order to allow Eight's breathing room to kick in. You can take zero HP damage if everything aligns. Lastly, you want to end with at least 6 skills. I have tried with 5 but you'll have to rely on more RNG on the last wave in this case. If you want a much safer run, try to aim saving 6 skills. If possible also, try to end the fight with the use of your EX or your EX ready.
Wave 4
Skills Available: 3/3
Now I've restarted this wave a number of times and you can't seem to have a turn order where you can break the Mini Dragon with the "All" attack and get two turns in a row to kill it. So to handle this, you either want your EX ready by this wave, or have 2 turns of Evasion buff (your last hit from last wave was your EX attack), or rely on the good oh RNG miss (which i happened in my run). Once you survive, just play with BRV+ and HP+, no skills necessary.
Wave 5
Skills Available: 3/3
The main threat here is the Humbaba. You need to understand its attack pattern to better counter it. Normally it starts off with 2 BRV attacks then follows up with Humbaba Breath (5 Turn Delay) and Needleshot (BRV+HP) respectively. You want to have your Evasion buff up on these two deadly HP Attacks at all times. The Behemoth is least threatening. It also has a turn that it buffs iteself so you want to time your "breathing room" so you'll only have to tank Humbaba's BRV Attacks. Once you've got the rhythm, keep on going. Use 2 AAs wisely preferably on the latter part where you know you'll get broken even if you BRV+. When you run out of skills, summon away and alternate with BRV+ and HP+ to do more damage and reserve our EX after the summon.
Enjoy Eight!