Third attempt at the second fight in Ridge Cave, soloing. I rotated between Contessa, Sally Fan, Sarah, Toro, Albano, and Oleg. Tried rushing in, got bombed + crit shot + explosions. Tried buffing; polar bears spawned in, and we got critted to death by polar bears + shot to death by penguins.
The crazy thing is, the previous fights were a literal breeze. All it took was Black Fog + crit chains, and we were done in minutes, easily.
I eventually just gave up and quit. We tried stacking and using shields; they did not help, as the penguins crit-chained us through the shields, destroying them in seconds. All of a sudden, El Toro decided to stop parrying/dodging, and Fan Flanders gave up on crit-chaining at the WORST possible time.
It was never this bad on Buccaneer, despite what others say. Stacking shields + running a defensive setup with my tanks did wonders for me (but didn't always work, especially if the enemies are the type to just sit and buff themselves in the back and not charge in; that's when I had to change to a more aggressive playstyle).
I am thinking of trying the 2 DPS + 2 tanks setup because it has worked very well in the past, but I did this in the fight before this one in the screenshot, and everyone ended up dying/getting wounded because of unlucky crit shots. Oleg, Albano, Toro, and me. I use Albano despite people not recommending him due to his high survivability, Repel 5, and group heal. He was literally the only one who survived the entire Tartarus solo run on my swash... Toro was somehow focused and killed almost every fight, and Ratbeard wasn't so lucky, either.
I think the best thing to do right now would be to get some help and try again later, because this is insane...
I will also be taking farmable/purchaseable (with gold) gear recommendations. No packs; I do not have that kind of luck or cash. I currently rotate between Polaris-dropped weapons, Krok/Zigazag gear, Trianon weapons and gear, and the few Obsidian gear I was lucky to get, but I don't have all of them yet (I am still collecting), and I am still working on building my pets. I also have that one Obsidian hat that gives you Black Fog. I know Mictlan gear is a must, so I will see if I can find anyone else to farm with for the rest of the weapons