Defeating the bosses of the Celestial Tournament

The Celestial Tournament is the destination for tamers who’d like to test their mettle, even though it’s been a while since all those battles were released. Last week, we talked a bit about how to begin the Tournament, and strategy for the Undercard battles which rotate from week to week. This week, we’ll discuss the big bosses you’ll always face at the culmination of the Tournament.

The bosses of the Tournament are around as you zone into the scenario. Watching. Waiting. They only become active after you defeat that week’s Undercard, making the bosses an even bigger challenge just by necessity of time, and possibly also desperation. It’s extremely demoralizing to finally defeat a tricky undercard group only to get trounced by a boss and have to start over. As such, keep an open mind to alternate strategies, if your stable has the depth to allow it. Many tamers have limped their way across the finish line using a Hail Mary team, only to have that become their favored strategy in the future, or at minimum, a war story to share.

Each of the four bosses has the Boss debuff, which not only halves incoming damage, but also makes it so that they can’t take more than 35% of their HP in one attack, making certain abilities, like Ion Cannon, less desirable than they might be otherwise. They added this because the previous most difficult challenge, the Beasts of Fable, could be destroyed simply by grabbing a roach with Apocalypse and stalling. This is also the point where triage gets a bit dicey, especially if you have a pet or two die early and want to keep soldiering on.

And on the triage topic, yes Howl Bomb will work against most of these single pet bosses, but you might want to save that for when you’re in dire straits.

Chi-chi, Hatchling of Chi-ji

Speaking of alternate strategies, my favored method of dispatching Chi-chi is a little unorthodox. I’m lousy at counting, so Chi-chi’s Ethereal ability was basically made to make my life difficult. Chi-chi has the elemental offensive ability Fire Quills, which introduces an RNG element, and Tranquility healing, to add insult to injury. The center of the team I use is a slightly offbeat pet, the Sen’jin Fetish, though it’s been gaining in popularity. There are a couple other similar pets with the same moves if you’re not into jousting, mainly the Voodoo Figurine from Archaeology.

The ability I’m most concerned with keeping up is Wild Magic, because the second pet I use, the Disgusting Oozeling (again, one of many), has a very DOT-heavy moveset. Another fun sub there is a roach or another Critter with Swarm, plus the Fetish’s Rot, if you can make the timing work. The reason I go with the Fetish is because it’s Undead, so I have a better handle on exactly when it’s going to die, as opposed to using the same move on say, a Dragonkin. Like I said, I’m just awful about counting. You might have a good time with an other pet with an additive buff move like that, but I needed that Undead mulligan turn to get the job done. The Fetish also has Flame Breath, which will add an extra DOT, but that’s just gravy. Keep a pet that hits heavy with Magic as your anchor leg and you’ll mow Chi-chi down no problem.

Xufu, Cub of Xuen

Xufu hits like a bus, and has a reflexive heal that also hits like a bus. His third move is a weather effect that buffs both abilities and turns the whole shebang into a Greyhound station. The best way to destroy him is to remove that Moonlight weather effect, replacing it with something less beneficial to him, and more beneficial to your team. My favorite here is a Gilnean Raven with the popular combo of Call Darkness and Nocturnal Strike. Once Moonlight is gone, you can also add in a Mechanical to do extra damage to Xufu. I enjoyed using the Darkmoon Zeppelin with that Decoy ability to stop that bus altogether for a couple turns (try to preempt Feed with it, if possible), but something more spectacularly explode-y, like the Iron Starlette can work too.

The extra benefit of Call Darkness is that it also halves the healing Feed provides. You mainly just want that weather to make sure the accuracy of Spirit Claws is reduced as much as you can, which Call Darkness also contributes to beautifully. Call Lightning can be a good choice too, if your stable is heavy on the Mechanicals, or you used your Crow for a previous battle. Multiple pets with Launch Rocket can be good in both this battle and Zao’s, since a created Rocket can be launched by a different pet with the same ability.

Zao, Calfling of Niuzao

The strategy for Zao revolves mostly around countering two abilities–Charge and Wish. Both take a down turn to start up before unleashing a big move, either obliterating damage or a huge heal, respectively. Charge is easy to avoid with an ability like Burrow while Wish can be stopped with a stun or something of that nature. So, of course, my favorite course of action is to mostly ignore both those pieces of advice and go for the blitz. I tend to use a combo of the Clockwork Gnome with his Turret, plus Lil Bling with his Inflation and Make It Rain abilities. To really go for the gusto, drop in one of the Wild Hatchlings with Call Lightning in your pet first slot. You’ll be able to avoid that first charge with Lift-Off, and then completely destroy Zao. You may miss a Wish, but in that case you can just keep at it. Use Lil Bling’s defensive move Extra Plating for additional longevity if needed.

Yu’la, Broodling of Yu’lon

Yu’la is possibly the most straightforward of the four Celestial bosses. Not a lot of glitz, just a damage shield, a dodge move, and a typical nuke. In general, there aren’t a ton of bad choices as long as you stay with Humanoid damage dealers that can damage past the shield. I like slightly quick ones with stuns, like the Feral Vermling, as they can frequently allow you to edge in an extra turn without Emerald Presence. Yu’la doesn’t refresh her shield proactively, only after it falls off. The ones like the Anubisath Idol, which allow you to avoid the damage of Lift-Off with a dodge, are also quite popular. Bonkers, the Gregarious Grell and a few others can usually solo Yu’la, too.

After you finally, finally defeat these bosses, you’ll finish the quest Celestial Tournament. Every week you’ll gain a single Celestial Coin. Three Celestial Coins can be traded in for one of the incredibly cool Celestial pets. Luckily, Master Li takes pity on you and grants you an extra special quest, The Rainy Day Is Here, which gives you two extra coins to buy your first pet after your very first completion of the tournament. Congratulations, tamer!

One last tip for these bosses. Last week I said due to the heal restricting nature of the scenario, it’s virtually impossible to re-use a pet, so Howl Bomb won’t work more than once. I chose my words carefully at the ‘virtually’ bit. As long as a pet doesn’t actually fully die, once you get to the Celestials round you can use a pet with an AOE heal in order to heal them back up and try again. Yu’la’s first move is a self-buff, and her second move is Lift-Off, so something like the Singing Sunflower with Sunlight and an AOE heal is ideal, but that Terrible Turnip every tamer has kicking around will work well too. You can repeatedly begin and abandon battles without the usual HP hit in the entire Tournament, so doing this may take a while, but you have as long as you need. It’s kind of a toss-up, time efficiency wise, if you’re on an undercard week you find particularly easy. It’s also fairly unsporting. In any case, it’s a good idea to try and keep Yu’la for last. History is written by the victors, after all.