Updated Strategy for Hera Descended Using an Odin / Resist Team ​



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Hi everyone! Just wanted to clarify what I meant by saying “playing it safe with skill use” in Hera Descended. However, I realized that I have to talk about the general strategy to approaching each wave in doing this though, so I apologize for the length of this explanation >_< The OP of the other thread did not go into as much detail as I would like to on this dungeon and did not discuss the many possible subs that can be used to tackle this dungeon with this kind of team. After reading that thread and heading into Hera Descended my first time I felt as if I was not adequately prepared and don’t want you guys to have to feel that- thus this thread was born! Sorry if anything seems a bit redundant though.



Requirements:



The strategies here assume that you are using one of the more conventional Odin/ Resist teams with over ~8.5k hp consisting of:



Leader: / / / / /

At least 1 max skilled siren or orb to heart changer: /

A Rainbow Keeper or Echidna (maybe even two of either of these!): /

One of these if you are w/o Ghostring or Abyss Neptune lead: / / / / / /

Friend: ">​ ___________________________________________________________​

Lineup:

First Two Slots aka the Best Defensive Subs you've got!

The Third Slot: Your Weapon against Neptune

Last Resort for this Slot

The Most Variable Position: The Fourth Slot

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An Alternative Approach...

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First 4 Waves: Demons and Devils and Knights! Oh my! ​

:exclamation: These tend to be the most risky for Odin/ Resist teams in my opinion since you are at the mercy of the RNG! :exclamation:

The first wave especially since you do not have your skills initially charged then! ​

Worst Case Scenario : Targeting when AOE Skills are Not Charged aka Wave 1 ​

order of mobs in each wave absolutely needs to be taken into account when using this kind of team

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Charge skills on final mob

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Charge skills while defeating hardest hitting mob

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Quick Tips on Orb Matching and Defense Mobs

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In my opinion,in terms of subs. Thus, the first two sub spots on an Odin/ Resist should go to orb to heart changers- preference to ones with skill levels that are maxed (Siren, Megalodran, Angelion, CoC Healer, etc.). If you do not have two orb to heart changers, the second variable spot should be delegated to Echidna in my opinion. However, hp needs to be taken into account since a team of all healers barely makes the hp threshold with a strong Odin friend, making the first 4 waves potentially risky.If you aren't leading with an Abyss Neptune or Ghostring, this sub spot needs to be given to a poisoner (Lilith, Ghostring, Neptune), an armor breaker (Mk Golem, Shiva), or Ra. You absolutely need to bring one of these guys along unless you plan to go with the gravity grind method or plan to spend a week defeating him (seriously heard a story about a guy who spent a week grinding down Neptune since he forgot to bring a sub to use against him...). If you choose the gravity grind approach, which I, bring a Hades (or Hera if you are a veteran) along and prepare to spend a lot of time on Neptune... Details on how to tackle Neptune with these subs are explained in a later section.The new Gungnir has opened new opportunities for Odin/ Resist teams and now, even if you do not have a poisoner you can use a defense-reducing knight as a last resort to take down Neptune, making things even more affordable! Of course, their stats are far from ideal so if you happen to have a poisoner/ better armor breaker, by all means forget about this guy!The sub placed in this slot is usually very case-specific so if you have any questions or doubts about who to use here, feel free to ask for feedback!If you are using the most common method- a Lilith, to take down Neptune, I generally recommend placing a Rainbow Keeper in the fourth slot since he will increase your hp greatly, reducing your risk of dying in the initial waves. His active skill defensive stance is very useful as a last resort in the god waves. More details on active skill use are in the following sections.If you are leading with an Abyss Neptune or Ghostring, the fourth slot can be delegated to a monster with a great AOE skill or another defensive sub. I personally recommend going with another defensive sub if you are using an Abyss Neptune/ Odin team since Neptune's poison acts as an AOE skill in the early waves- it just takes longer to charge. My favorite lineup with an Abyss Neptune/ Odin team includes two skilled Sirens, an Echidna and a RK. It's practically impossible to die with such a team unless you forget to heal back up to max!As for teams with a Ghostring lead though, I recommend bringing along an Ancient Dragon (Laphroiag preferably) if you have the team cost needed to accommodate one or a ripper. Ancient Dragons would be preferred over Rippers in this case since they have a stronger AOE skill with a much shorter cooldown time. If you come across a team of synced devils/ demons with this team, Ghostring's poison won't be able to save you here, thus the lack of an AOE skill will put you at great risk during the first few waves in my opinion. The tradeoff of this would be that the dragons won't help out much with the god waves though, so if you are using a Ghostring/ Odin team, the choice between another defensive sub that helps you more in the god waves or an offensive sub that helps you with the trash waves is truly up to your discretion.I want to make it immediately clear that I do not support this approach. Unless you are IAP and heavy IAP at that, it is ato awaken an Alraune or Archangel for this Resist Team and Ama/ Odin hybrid. You will regret doing such in the future for the sake of getting a Hera; this I guarantee you. Furthermore, you will not develop the skills needed to tackle other dungeons such as Hera-Is or Goemon with Resist in the process. Aside from my condescending words though...This build utilizes a single max awoken Archangel or Alraune in place of a defensive sub- arguably two since 1500 in autoheal (1000 from Alraune/ Archangel + 500 from Odin) allows you to heal back to full on Hera as well as some other bosses without a single heart orb match. In this sense, it resembles an Ama/Odin build of sorts. However, without the pressure of healing each and every turn you will be losing out on a valuable opportunity to hone your orb matching skills- skills that are not merely relevant to resist builds alone as most spike teams (minus some hp conditional ones) require you to routinely heal each turn whilst hitting a set number of combos.For a wave consisting of, I recommend that you:1. Identify synchronized mobs and mob(s) you have resist for2. Target and defeat synchronized mobs3. Target and defeat mobs you do not have resist for4.Quickly defeat monsters that are synchronized, then defeat ones in colors you do not have resist for. This generally leaves dark monsters for last (possibly water monsters too if you are using an Abyss Neptune/ Odin team). I cannot emphasize the importance of charging your skills on the final monster in each wave enough!For a wave consisting ofThe approach to this more common type of wave is more complex than the previous one and relies upon the situation you find yourself in.Most of the targeting methods discussed earlier should be implemented, but the approach itself for these waves is really case-specific. The main difference being that I recommend that you identify the hardest hitting mob in this kind of wave, note its order and then formulate a strategy using the guidelines presented earlier to work around them.For example, here is a mixed monster wave you may encounter:When approaching a mixed mob wave such as the one above, I recommend that you:1. Identify the hardest hitting mob and synchronized mobs2. Target and defeat synchronized mobs3. Target and defeat devils that precede the hardest hitting mob according to resist4. If it applies, target and defeat devils that are after the hardest hitting mob according to resist5. Target and defeat demons preceding the hardest hitting mob according to resist6. Target and defeat demons after the hardest hitting mob according to resist6.For the wave presented in the example,1. The mystic light knight would definitely be the hardest hitting mob, so you should save him for last.2. The devils, if not already synced, will do such because they have no cooldown. Target and defeat the blood devil first.3. -4. Defeat the taur devil.5. Defeat the pyro demon6. Charge skills on mystic light knight">