On each and every solo Vana run, it looks of though I have to die at least once during the big fight. I can get through the levels just fine, but I think of new things but they just never seem to work.
My loadout is: Vog coat, Seerus Mask, Crest of Almire, Levi blade, Blitz, and Shiv.
What I do?
How laggy are you? How many bars is your connection?
When I was starting out, I used to put out the fires on the floor of the Vanaduke fight diligently. Then I realized that I was spending all of my time on that, while Vanaduke and his slags slowly wore me down. Nowadays I ignore floor fire until it's really a problem --- meaning, I can't get a Blitz shot in. Then I throw water, which puts out tons of fire, and I'm back in the game.
At least psychologically, it helps to know how many Blitz charges you need to finish off each stage. This can also help practically, for example in guiding your decision whether to kill slags or just finish off Vanaduke.
There are many videos of Vanaduke on YouTube. You can also learn a lot from them. Cheers.
It can take some time to perfect soloing Vanaduke. But here are some pointers that I use when soloing.
Make sure to take out the zombies and slags first, this will save a lot of hassle dodging and allow you to concentrate on Vanaduke, and with constant Blitzing you should be able to move on to the next stage before they respawn.
As Bopp said don't worry about putting out much fire until it becomes hassle and gets in the way. I like to leave the fire be until the mask phases, as this grants you some time to easily put out the fire with little danger.
In the start of the final phase make sure to drop a Shiver in such a position that it freezes Vanaduke and one of the slags. Then charge your Blitz and take out the other slag as it spawns. Drop another shiver and take out the other slag. If you aren't confident in dodging everything at once this is a great way to control the situation.
Don't over use Shiver when soloing it will just waste time. Best to save it for the start of the phases and for sticky situations when you want to freeze everything to take a breather and get safe.
A good way to hit Vanaduke if you're confident enough is to stand infront of him and Blitz him, then when he smashes move just out of the way to the left or right then Blitz again and move when he smashes. This way you won't have to worry about him charging and you only have to move a little bit at a time. Although as he will be doing a lot more smashing this way a lot more fire will spawn, but hopefully you will be hitting enough that he will go down before it becomes a big issue.
Also, use poison vials to deal more damage and speed up the phases. Stun and shock vials can be life savers in tricky situations allowing you to dodge hits when your doom would have been certain.
But yeah, as Bopp said again, there are plenty of youtube videos of people soloing Vanaduke, you should be able to pick up some good techniques from there.
@Bopp:
Let's get one thing clear. I have a powerful PC and I don't lag AT ALL, regardless if I see a lot people people admitting it, I guess I'm lucky. I can also run the game at high detail super smoothly.
@Rich-Tbiscuit: Sometimes I'll put out fire, then when the mask phases come, I tend to dodge the bullets and clear out all the fire for the next phase.
I also do the slag thing at final phase, but I seem to not have enough time to take out the other slag because I'm afraid of getting Mace'd. BTW: I've had those moments of Blitzing him at point-blank range and him charging. Especially with those orbiting fireballs.
@Everyone:
Admittedly, it's the giant slags that get to me. I run around leaving a trail of shivs behind me while putting out the fire only to have more spawn.
As soon as he summons the first pair, I shiv him and one and blitz the other one down, leaving only one.
I also try to bait them to charge at me so i can dodge to Blitz but I'm afraid of getting Mace'd. because where I'm looking at to focus.
If you're struggling to take out the other slag in the final phase with a blitz it might be best to just use a few leviathan charges, to save you being stuck in the spot like blitz does.
Try freezing Vanaduke in one of the top corners of the room. This will let you bait the slags far away from him so you can take them out without risking getting smashed/dashed.
A good way to practice soloing is by taking an alt with you if you can. It sounds like your computer could easily handle running two game clients at once. This will give you access to twice as many vials/capsules and if you make sure the alt is always revved when dead you have a 'back up' supply of health to rev you incase you go down. It will take you longer to kill Vanaduke with an alt, but you may be less likely to have to rev using CE, and double crowns and tokens are always nice.
I would just keep blitzing at 1st and 3rd stages, don't worry about slags. For the mask phases, just water, blitz charge, and water right again after it reverts back so you don't have to worry about the bullets everywhere. For the final stage, I HIGHLY recommend killing slags first and foremost. They are fast and hit hard, and have a tendency to snipe you from the bottom of the screen. After they are gone, just keep blitzing until he's dead.
Summary:
Stage 1: Blitz, ignore skags
Stage 2: Water, focus more on damage
Stage 3: Blitz, ignore slags, watch for shadow fire
Stage 4: Water, focus more on keeping mask down
Stage 5: Kill slag guards first, then focus on vana, watch for shadow fire
Tips:
-Use the range of the blitz. It doesn't have to be too close to hit all shots.
-You can freeze the mask if you wanted to
-Gun dmg bonus trinkets work very well, as well as poison vials
-Use your pills if you fall under 20%; I usually use 1 pill at stage 4 or before, and save 2 pills for final stage for slags and shqdow fire emergencies.
-Shield after vanaduke dies: post-boss deaths are so trollish
-Contrary to popular belief, fire does not heal you
-If on fire, use remedy if in middle of stage, use water if near one
-If you are in a tight spot, you can just shoot blitz regularly for more safety: damage is damage, no matter the denomination
-Don't be an idiot and play Vanaduke in negative colors like I did, it really messes you up
These are the ways I usually beat vanaduke solo, which is why I didnt incorporate shivermist into the picture. It should help with slags and preventing shadow fire spawn, and it will be made easier to do so with your blitz at ctr VH.
PS:
I don't mean to be that grammar d***, but the thread should be called "How do I do Vanaduke without dying,"'since FSC is the entire 5 depths. Sorry again, just felt like pointing it out. Happy Vana-ing!
Seriously though, if you've got shiver and blitz, Vana is no trouble at all. Freeze him, kill the slags,. refreeze him and blitz him square in the back.
For the final phase, place the shiver on the right side of the stage so you can freeze vana and a slag guard at the same time. Blitz the unfrozen slag guard, refreeze vana and the guard, blitz the other guard, go back to blitzing vana.
The fight will eventually go faster solo without shiver; simply blitz after dodging attacks. If you blitz before Vana's attack, he'll hit you.
If you die so often....
Do you use Blitz or it's charge when there's spike wheels up ahead that could kill you?
Do you use a dangerous weapon? Or a part of it like the second swing of a DA? That can leave you extremely vulnerable hence low HP/death.
It might also be your gear. Do you bring Skolver? Chaos? (because of statuses) or any other gear that isn't shadow/fire resist?
Do you only have a few weapons? Like perhaps you have an Acheron, Blitz and Gravitation Vortex or something?
If you use a piercing weapon, the 2nd and 3rd swing can also leave you quite vulnerable.
Or your teammates might keep on dying and If you revive them you lose quite a lot of your HP depending on how much you have.
^ He said he only had trouble with the fight, so wheels aren't his issue. And h also said solo, so other party members arent an issue either.
Shield bumping+fire resist
know when to walk away..know when to RUN!!!
~Luke
new slags r derpy and u have to keep an eye open for both of them
heres some general tips(i exploit every single 1 of them), that will make the fight rather easy, if we dont count the 2 dashing slags
usually everybody, ive joined while heating random gear, soloed it just blitzing
i wonder if they ever have trouble with slags o.O
I've attempted to solo the whole run yesterday. It turns out that I died at Phase 3 for Vana.
You stay alive by not relying on Blitz. I see too many silly people walking around holding Blitz charges during the fight only to get owned by a mace in the face or tripping on shadow fire. If what it takes in the final phase is to slowly chip at him with another gun, that's what you can do until you master timing your charges. Don't use Blitz on the second guard in the last phase, that's a quick ticket to death.
For the record I only die once. Twice if I'm dumb... The other day, for the first time ever I got trapped in fire and GM Coriolis had to free me. I want to make it perfect.
Do you use heart trinkets? I know they are expensive to get but if you have two Pentas that's 12 health right there, and if you have a vita that's a 24-27 health boost. And with the 15 health you already have that should equal 39-42 health.
I'm almost done crafting a 5* heart pendant and I'm gonna use a trinket slot after I do that.
Prioritize, and have gear that focuses on offense, not defense.
Prioritizing: Since you have shiver, this will be fairly simple. At the start of Phases 1, 3, and 5, use shiver to freeze both Vana himself, and all his spawns. Finish off the spawns quickly while keeping Vana frozen, and then once the field is clear just alternate a blitz charge and putting down another shiver to keep him frozen.
Gear: A great set would be Chaos and Swiftstrike with a penta or two. Even if your blitz has no UVs, if it's full heated it will get CTR max, damage VH, and ASI high. ASI on a blitz is very important, it allows you to complete a charge attack much faster, and so you can avoid a lot more potential damage. Another main thing is choosing the right vials to bring. Throughout the run, you should try saving up HP Caps, Remedy Caps, and Poison vials. The 4th vial spot is up to you, I personally just bring along shock because I no longer use shiver for Vana, but a very good 4th vial slot would be Stun vials.
Little things: use the Dash ability in the mask phases (2 and 4) to jump through the bullets after you've successfully watered the mask, or save it to jump out through the bullets after the mask reignites. It's up to you which you should do, choose depending on if it's harder to do one or the other. If you're set on fire, only use the Remedy capsule if you're nowhere near one of the water orbs. By throwing a water orb against a wall you're standing very close to, you can put yourself out. With HP caps, try to only use them if you get very low, the hearts from killing the spawns can heal the minor bumps and bruises. With the Poison vials, save them until the last phase, they'll be most helpful then.
Practice.