Thursday, February 2, 2012

Buddy Rush: Raid Mode, Bangbang

The Sixth Wave introduced a new Raid with Bangbang as the motorcycle-riding Oblin armed with a double-barreled shotgun. The raid is available to characters of level 94 and above. As with the other raids, the player brings along a main character, two of his/her buddies, and another two character of his/hers that meet the level requirement, randomly chosen among those of the highest level.

Update 13 March 2012:
The Seventh Wave allows the player to select the additional characters that he/she has to bring along.

Update 4 December 2012:
The mini-wave update 1.7.2 on 30 October reduced Bangbang's HP to 4.0M and made the raid available to characters of level 87.
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It is fortunate that he has only 4.5M HP.
The raid takes place in an arena with the Questern theme. Conspicuously missing are the marble torches, replaced by native totems. The ground texture, however, has the pattern present in the early raids.
Someone dropped a flashbang in Bangbang's pants!

There are no gems to help in this raid. That means no 'Wake up!! Buddy!' to save the player from a bad move.

The pillars/totems are still there to help the player. Activating a totem by running into it may cause:
* a yellow cloud that does damage to targets in a large area.
* a frost field with snowflakes that slows (Wizz's Freeze).
* an expanding white cloud effect that does damage to targets in a large area (Flow's Earthquaker).
* spinning blades (Aikilu's Blade Typoon).
And of course Bangbang may activate the totem too.
Skully admires her hi-tech guns.
Bangbang fires two shots in his regular attack, which may inflict Stun.

His center of rotation is at the front wheel. This is relevant in close fights when he spins to face a different target. When that happens, his hit area moves to an entirely new area - something to note for range attacks. But more importantly, Bangbang could active a totem next to him when he spins.
Boorseye's hat is on fire!
Bangbang has two special skills. Unlike previous Raid bosses, Bangbang's special skills have a much shorter warning period - there is usually no time to run. Either Stun him or interrupt him in order to buy more time to Stun him. Or get ready to use a healing potion.

Bangbang's first attack skill is the flamethrower, which does lots of damage over a period of time. He will brandish his gun as warning before using this skill. Unlike YA-86's version of Burping Fire, Bangbang's fire attack does not Stun. However, Bangbang does correct his aim during the attack. This means no dodging out of the way.

If the main character is the target of Bangbang's flamethrower, consider moving away from buddies to avoid them getting fried. Or if one of the buddies is the target, stay away from him to avoid sharing the heat.
He's going to attack.. ooh, treasure chest!
Bangbang's other special skill is a ground slam with the front wheel of his chopper. The attack does significant damage to buddies in a large area and may Stun.
Target rich environment.
Unlike the previous Raids, there are more extras in Bangbang's. First, the regular extras are two pistol-wielding Oblins. They do not have much HP and may release a single red HP or blue MP orb when KO-ed.

The other extras are many Oblins on motorcycles (who seem to have a problem with balance). They spawn from the back and sides of the arena and ride straight towards the opposite side, unless Bangbang is in the way.

These Oblins on motorcycles do signficant damage when they hit a buddy. Then they are KO-ed. Much like a dumbfire missile. Even if a melee buddy knocks them down first, they may still do damage to that buddy.

They have low HP - one attack is usually enough to KO them. I have not seen them releasing orbs.

Update 3 June 2012:
The extras on motorcycles now release orbs on KO. Also, the regular extras may release more than one orb.
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Grabbing totems is a good way to KO motorcycle Oblins as the totem effects an area and lasts for a while (different area and duration for different types of effect).
I have the power!
With lots of damage being dealt, it is best to bring buddies with at least some defense, especially since there is no 'Wake up!! Buddy!' gem available. Buddies with area effect skills that last for a duration, like Wizz with his Fire and Aikilu with her Blade Typoon, are also helpful in stopping a few motorcycle Oblins.

It is a good idea to bring Worrier along to increase the chances of Stunning Bangbang. And hopefully nullify his special skills.

The large number of available targets allow additional activation of skills that depend on critical (Nagne, Vivich) or on KO-ing something (Nagne, Aikilu). If such a buddy is the main character, that character can activate his/her skills with the totem, which deals lots of hits, each with a chance to critical. And the totem activation can KO motorcycle Oblins with one hit to active the skill that depends on KO-ing something.

Update 17 February 2012:
Range buddies may have trouble hitting BangBang from the side - their regular attacks just pass through. This is probably because BangBang's hit area is around the front wheel while the buddies aim for the back. Botherella has more trouble with this than Boorseye.

For range buddies, hang near the left side of BangBang's front wheel so fired projectiles will hit (especially with Boorseye or Skully and their ammo spamming skills). That position is within the hit area and is not the side where BangBang's gun is.

Betty Jr's 'Nobody can stop me' has trouble hitting BangBang since it aims for the raid boss' back. That is in addition to the usual problem of hitting a target if Betty Jr uses the skill to close to that target.

Range buddies cannot hit the motorcycle extras.
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Update 28 February 2013:
BangBang's contact area and center of rotation has been fixed. BangBang now rotates around the center of himself (previously, he rotated around the front wheel). His hit area now covers his entire self, making it easier for range attacks to hit him.

Also, he does not seem to have any collision - buddies can walk through him. This makes it easier to run. 
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Nagne in action.
Needless to say, I find Nagne really good as the main character.

Nagne's Leaf Slash covers a large area, clearing it of motorcycle Oblins in addition to dealing damage to Bangbang and the other extras. The extra hits may activate his Forgetful Nagne skill and recharge all his skills. In addition to that, the extra KOs may activate his Pray for the enemy, replenishing his HP and more importantly, his MP. Activating totems also help those two skills to activate more often.

The point of this tactic is to spam skills, especially Kiss of Death, on Bangbang.

And there is loot for finally beating Bangbang:
A ball! A ball a ball a ball a b...
The following is the loot I have received from the chest after beating the raid (the number after is the number of tries):
Bangbang's Motor Oil (purple!) - 8
Dragon Quiver (blue) - 6
(Updated 28 January 2012)


The following is the loot I received after the introduction of Arena:
Dragon Quiver (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 6 (And I thought green was bad!)
Hulusi (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 5 (...)
Soccer Ball (green) - 6

Bangbang's Motor Oil (purple!) - 6
Shield of Courage (green!?) - 7
Prayer Beads (red) - 6 (? got disconnected at win.)
Bangbang's Vest (purple!) - 6

Lamp of Discipline (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 6
Shield of Courage (blue) - 6
Inventor's Robot (blue) - 7
Healing Yarrows (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 5
Healing Yarrows (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 6 (Again!!?)
Lamp of Discipline (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 6
Shield of Courage (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 6
Inventor's Robot (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 6 (Colorless again. -_-!!)
Inventor's Robot (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 6 (Again!!?)

Stilettos (red) - 6 (Finally, not a colorless!)
Feather Pen (blue) - 6
Dragon Quiver (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 6

Bangbang's Bandana (purple!) - 5
Bangbang's Bandana (purple!) - 6 (Not complaining - it's a purple!)
Bangbang's Gloves (purple!) - 5 (Completed Bangbang's set! 20 February 2012, 24 tries.)

Inventor's Robot (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 6 (Back to colorless -_-!!)
Shield of Courage (green!?) - 5
Dragon Quiver (blue) - 5
A-frame (red) - 5
Prayer Beads (green!?) - 5
Dragon Quiver (green!?) - 6
Gentleman's Cane (green!?) - 5
Gentleman's Cane (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 5
Imperator's Pants (green!?) - 5

Gentleman's Cane (green!?) - 5
Blonde Wig (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 6
Ancient Cannon (green!?) - 5
Dragon Quiver (blue) - 5

(Updated 12 March 2012)

The following is the loot I received after the Seventh Wave:
Healing Yarrows (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 8
Bangbang's Motor Oil (purple!) - 3!
Feather Pen (green!?) - 4
Lamp of Discipline (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 4
Bangbang's Vest (purple!) - 5
Imperator's Pants (blue) - 4
Blonde Wig (blue) - 4
Imperator's Pants (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 5

Inventor's Robot (red) - 5
Healing Yarrows (green!?) - 5
Ancient Cannon (green!?) - 4
Imperator's Pants (green!?) - 4
Feather Pen (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 4
Gentleman's Cane (blue) - 4
Prayer Beads (green!?) - 4
Imperator's Pants (green!?) - 4
Hulusi (blue) - 4
Bangbang's Bandana (purple!) - 4
Healing Yarrows (blue) - 4
Prayer Beads (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 4
Feather Pen (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 3!

(Updated 19 April 2012)

The following is the loot I received after the mini-wave update that introduced Ivardark:
Soccer Ball (green!?) - 4 (...)
Hulusi (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 3!

Blonde Wig (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 3!
Gentlemen's Cane (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 3! (May 25-28 Raid Epic Drop x2 Event)
A-Frame (green!?) - 3! (May 25-28 Raid Epic Drop x2 Event)
Bangbang's Motor Oil (purple!) - 3! (May 25-28 Raid Epic Drop x2 Event)

(Updated 28 May 2012)

The following is the loot I have received after the second mini-wave of the Seventh Wave:
Prayer Beads (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 3!
Blonde Wig (blue) - 3!
Lamp of Discipline (blue) - 3!
Inventor's Robot (green!?) - 3!

Stilettos (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 3!
Bangbang's Bandana (purple!) - 3
Imperator's Pants (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 3!
Shield of Courage (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 3!

Shield of Courage (blue) - 3!
Prayer Beads (green!?) - 3!

(Updated 2 July 2012)

The following is the loot I have received after the third mini-wave of the Seventh Wave:
Bangbang's Motor Oil (purple!) - 2!
Prayer Beads (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 1!
Inventor's Robot (green!?) - 1!
Ancient Cannon (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 1!
Blonde Wig (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 2!
Healing Yarrows (green!?) - 1!

Feather Pen (red) - 1!
Hulusi (green!?) - 1!
Hulusi (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 1!
Bangbang's Vest (purple!) - 1!
Bangbang's Glove (purple!) - 1! (Completed Bangbang's setx2! 23 July 2012, +61 tries.)

(Updated 23 July 2012)

The following is the loot I have received after the Daily Quest mini-wave of the Eighth Wave:
Imperator's Pants (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 1!
Ancient Cannon (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 1!

Inventor's Robot (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 1!
Blonde Wig (blue) - 1!
Shield of Courage (green!?) - 1
Shield of Courage (red) - 1

Shield of Courage (red) - 1
Feather Pen (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 1
Lamp of Discipline (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 1

(Updated 18 January 2013)

The following is the loot I have received after the Ninth Wave:
Blonde Wig (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 1
(an insignificant item I forgot to note) - 1
Bangbang's Bandana (purple!) - 1
Blonde Wig (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 1
Prayer Beads (blue) - 1
Imperator's Pants (red) - 1
Healing Yarrows (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 1
Lamp of Discipline (blue) - 1
Prayer Beads (colorless!!!?!?!?) - 1
Inventor's Robot (green!?) - 1
Bangbang's Bandana (purple!) - 1

(an insignificant item I forgot to note) - 1
Gentleman's Cane (blue) - 1
Dragon Quiver (blue) - 1
Prayer Beads (red) - 1

(an insignificant item I forgot to note) - 1
(an insignificant item I forgot to note) - 1

(Updated 18 April 2013)

Buddy Rush: Contents
Inept Oblin mechanics connected the exhausts to the wrong end!

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