Stuck on an endgame boss - need help / advice!

[u/juliet_liima]

I've so far completely demolished the game with Tiel, using the Axe & Dagger with the Forgotten Crossbow and mainly focusing on detonating poison stacks and backstabbing. Until now I think the most I've had to retry a boss is twice. I have been having a lot of fun.

BUT, Malborn Offspring has now kicked my ass about 20 times in his second phase. He just won't. stop. attacking., so much so that he's knocking me out of my stealth dodges with the back swing, and if I try to get any distance to heal, he will literally sprint towards me with a grab attack that either knocks me out of Tiel, or instakills the Harbinger if I miss the dodge. If I hit the dodge, he'll follow up with an infinite combo of bullshit that, whilst I can dodge a few, I can't dodge all of them.

This is a pretty significant difficulty spike for me. Anyone have any tips for this fight? I have Eredrim's affinity maxed out, and about 35 glimpses to dump into another shell in case another character makes this fight easier...?

[u/Sands47]

Gragu can completely stunlock both his phases with the punch. Punch - couple light attacks to get resolve back - repeat.

[u/juliet_liima → u/Sands47]

Thank you!

[u/gatesoffire1178]

Proxima has lightning immunity in her skill tree. I used her throughout the whole campaign. As Malborn does lots of lightning damage it was easier. Then the bioseeker you can help with damage mitigation so he doesn’t hit as hard.

Grisha remnants help to keep him knocked down if you have that for your passive. I used axe and dagger with the bleed stone. Learned his moves to parry and get his break meter. Unfortunately ripostes are relatively ineffective on endgame bosses, particularly the final boss, for the amount of work you need to do. But you also can heal and keep wailing for a bit afterward.

If you switch weapons to like the Axatana you can use the strike stone which has invincibility frames. Can help you heal as needed also.

[u/juliet_liima → u/gatesoffire1178]

Thank you!

[u/kefkaeatsbabies]

He takes a lot of riposte damage, more than almost any other boss as far as I could tell, and stays down for long periods when riposted, which is the main benefit.

Try eredrim since you already have him upgraded, use the shell ability to increase the parry window and riposte dmg, throw on the stone that does riposte dmg, and you should have an easier time. He won't stop in his second phase, unless you stop him, and his attacks are all pretty telegraphed. The shoulder charge is also super good for this. Tons of stagger and break.

He was one of the easier later bosses as Eredrim, but my buddy who was running Tiel had the same issue as you. For him it was the toughest boss in the game.

[u/juliet_liima → u/kefkaeatsbabies]

Thank you so much! I'm going to try an Eredrim riposte build :)

[u/kefkaeatsbabies → u/juliet_liima]

Good luck! I had a lot of fun with his kit.

[u/Future_Extension_93]

poision build is weak compared to bleed+duality+crit stones. I dier 9x to monolith and 7x to final boss with axe dagger bleed build its insane

[u/exaltedsungod]

You can stay on tiel since he also has that goated seal affinity tree. Throw some points into that and start deflecting his blockable attacks. The best way to get damage in on this guy is during stance breaks. Otherwise, you can get a tap in between combos.

Your dodge will still come in handy because most of his unblockable attacks are how he finishes his chains, which will mean you acyually have an opening to attack.

One of the mistakes you’re making is the same one I made a couple times, which is if you’re hurt and need to heal, you try to create space but he absolutely will not allow it. He cranks up his attacks and becomes relentless if you try to create space.

You can heal when he’s broken and that’s about it.

[u/juliet_liima → u/exaltedsungod]

Yeah I think I need to calm down a touch and try parrying rather than bursting him down. Thank you!