User blog:Linathan/Squad Spotlight & Guide: Trial EX6 - Breaking Barriers

Trial EX6: Breaking Barriers is a trial released on March 31, 2016. This trial features both Grahdens and Owen. Their power and strength are forces to be reckoned with and should not be taken lightly. With them adventuring with each other and the Ishgria Recon Squad decades ago, their power is unlike any other.

This trial features some interesting mechanics, such as bringing the status ailment triggers back from Trial EX3, limiting BB usage, and even disallowing the usage of items from any battles you’ve had with Owen in Ishgria. Of course, there is quite a bit of RNG and timing that may mess you up. Not only that, this trial is very tedious and time-consuming.

Also, if you thought this trial was bad, you’re not going to like Trial EX7 either. You’ll see soon enough.

Advisory
Status ailments are a huge thing in this trial. Without them, you’ll be facing deadly nukes that are probably almost impossible to survive in the current state of Global.

Pay VERY close attention to what you’re doing in the trial. This is a long trial and you’ll regret wasting all of that time you spent just on one attempt of the trial.

Guide
Battle 1 - Owen and his Squad



Stats and Resistances
 * 5,500,000 HP / 3,500 Atk / 2,000 Def
 * 50% resistance to Injury & immune to all other status ailments
 * 50% resistance to buffed critical hit rate multiplicatively
 * 10%/100% resistance to base/buffed critical damage
 * Base elemental weakness damage reduced to 40%
 * 100% resistance to buffed elemental weakness damage
 * 50% boost to buffed Spark damage multiplicatively
 * 1.3% boost to Atk per 1% HP lost. Total 130% boost at low HP

Normal Attack Priorities
 * 15% chance of targeting earth units
 * 20% chance of targeting units over 50% HP
 * Else, random

Important Notes Battle 2 - Grahdens and his Squad
 * This battle is actually Auto-Battle friendly and the thresholds don't seem to be too deadly or fatal to nuking your team.
 * Owen summons Duran at 80%, Lilith at 50%, and Reviora at 30%.
 * I highly recommend focusing on the units that Owen summons. Focusing on Owen will push him to lower HP thresholds, summoning more units. Additionally, if his summoned units are still alive and Owen is at low HP, Owen will tell his units to Overdrive.
 * The units' UBB attacks aren't too deadly, but can become a huge threat to your squad if the units aren't handled carefully.
 * Owen can also be inflicted with Injury, which will cut his damage drastically.
 * Take note of the usage of items. Using them before Owen hits 80% HP will cause him to buff wipe and attack your squad with an AoE along with DoT.



Stats and Resistances
 * 4,000,000 HP / 5,500 Atk / 2,000 Def
 * 70% resistance to Injury & immune to all other ailments
 * 50% resistance to buffed critical hit rate multiplicatively
 * 10%/100% resistance to base/buffed critical damage
 * Base elemental weakness damage reduced to 40%
 * 100% resistance to buffed elemental weakness damage
 * Base Spark damage reduced to 37.5%
 * 50% resistance to buffed Spark damage multiplicatively
 * 25% chance to recover 10~25% damage taken

Normal Attack Priorities
 * 15% chance: Light unit
 * 20% chance: Units over 50% HP
 * Else, random

Important Notes
 * Grahdens punishes the player for using any specified amount of BB/SBB/UBB.
 * If less than 4 BB are used, you're safe.
 * If 4 BB are used, Grahdens will use Svate Rauben.
 * AoE that reduces BB gauges by 75% and provides a -50% BB fill rate debuff for 5 turns.
 * If more than 4 are used, Grahdens will use Solitus Call.
 * AoE that disables Leader Skills and provides a -50% BB fill rate debuff for 5 turns.


 * You have the first turn all for yourself. Carefully provide buffs by using only three units to BB. Remember that you can use items for this battle.
 * My biggest recommendation is to Overdrive your 100% status inflictor (like Isterio, Tora, etc.). You will need to ensure 100% infliction of Sickness to cancel out Grahdens's nuke. Though, take note that Grahdens is 100% resistant to Sickness on the first turn.
 * Grahdens will say "Now, show me that strength, will you?" on his first turn.
 * This is a warning that he will buff wipe your squad and reduce their HP to 1. Inflict Sickness to Grahdens the next turn to cancel the nuke.


 * Similar to Owen, Grahdens will summon Febros at 80%, Reud at 60%, and Drevas at 30%.
 * Keep a close eye on Febros. You will need to kill Febros after Grahdens reaches below 50% HP to cancel out a nuke. Also, keep in mind that Febros is susceptible to Poison, which will wither his HP down a lot faster.
 * Reud isn’t much of a threat unless accompanied by two or more other units. He has high hit count attacks that are easily sparkable.
 * Drevas will likely be alone if you focused on killing whatever units Grahdens summons.
 * All three of these units have the ability to Overdrive and use UBB. They’re not too painful, but should not be taken lightly.

Battle 3 - Grahdens and Owen



Here is where the real battle begins!

Grahdens’s Stats and Resistances
 * 7,000,000 HP / 6,500 Atk / 2,500 Def
 * 90% resistance to Sick, 40% resistance to Injury & immune to all other status ailments
 * 20%/50% resistance to base/buffed critical hit rate
 * 10%/100% resistance to base/buffed critical damage
 * 20%/100% resistance to base/buffed elemental weakness damage
 * Base Spark damage reduced to 37.5%
 * 50% resistance to buffed Spark damage
 * Base BC/HC drop rate reduced to 31.5%/9% respectively
 * 50%/20% resistance to buffed BC/HC drop rate
 * 20% boost to Atk when HP is < 50%

Owen’s Stats and Resistances
 * 7,500,000 HP / 8,000 Atk / 3,000 Def
 * 70% resistance to Injury, Sick & immune to all other ailments
 * 10%/50% resistance to base/buffed critical hit rate
 * 10%/100% resistance to base/buffed critical damage
 * 20%/100% resistance to base/buffed elemental weakness damage
 * Base Spark damage reduced to 37.5%
 * 50% resistance to buffed Spark damage multiplicatively
 * 10% resistance to all BC drops
 * Base HC drop rate reduced to 8.5%
 * 25% resistance to buffed HC drop rate multiplicatively
 * 15% boost to Atk when HP is < 50%

Important Notes
 * Here is the part where everything matters.
 * Take note of all of the mechanics that occurred in the first two battles of the trial.
 * Owen will punish you by removing all buffs and nuking your squad at anytime you use items, except for the following:
 * When “Owen is deep in meditation.”
 * During the 50% threshold
 * When items are used when 2-3 units in your squad are alive
 * This will trigger Owen’s Medblare Roar, which is a strong AoE attack
 * The turn Owen uses Overdrive
 * Grahdens will punish you if you do any of the following:
 * Using UBB before Grahdens reaches 50% HP
 * Grahdens will invalidate all Leader Skills for 999 turns and completely drain BB gauges.
 * Using more than 3 BB after Grahdens reaches 40% HP
 * Grahdens will invalidate all Leader Skills for 3 turns and inflicts a -50% BB fill rate debuff for 5 turns.
 * Owen will buff himself with 25% boost to Atk, Def, Rec for 3 turns

First and foremost, focus on Grahdens first.
 * At 70%, Grahdens will go through concentration state.
 * If you deal more than 50,000 damage, Grahdens will use his SBB, Chrono Ishrion, giving both Grahdens and Owen a 10,000 HP Dark barrier. This is the safer alternative.
 * If you deal less than 50,000 damage, Grahdens will invalidate all Leader Skills for 3 turns and inflicts a -50% BB fill rate debuff for 5 turns. This is the same thing as if you’re being punished for using more than 3 BB after Grahdens reaches 40% HP.


 * Once Owen reaches 80%, Owen will start using Stalwart Wall every 6 turns from the start of Battle 3. This gives Owen a 10% reflect buff.
 * This will also lead to Owen’s meditation state, allowing the usage of items for this one turn.
 * If you deal more than 50,000 damage, Owen will inflict your units with 15% damage modifier DoT (this is much stronger than you think!)
 * If you deal less 50,000 damage, Owen will inflict your units with 5% damage modifier DoT.
 * I recommend guarding this turn if you’re afraid of the high damage that Owen’s DoT debuff inflicts.


 * Once Grahdens or Owen reach 50%, they will go through a 4-turn phase in preparation to wiping your whole squad out.
 * Focus on Grahdens. Throughout these four turns, Owen will provide himself with 80% damage mitigation, which won’t be nice to handle in terms of dealing 50,000 damage to either Grahdens or Owen.
 * To cancel the nuke, inflict 50,000 damage to Grahdens AND inflict a status ailment on him on the same turn. Then, on the next turn, you have to deal more than 50,000 damage on Owen on the next turn.
 * If you have Isterio in your squad lineup, use his Overdrive on the turn you push Grahdens below 50% HP. Then, use Isterio’s UBB on the next turn.


 * Once Grahdens reaches 40%, Grahdens will go through concentration state. This is the same exact phase as Grahdens’s 70% HP threshold.
 * If you deal more than 50,000 damage, Grahdens will use his SBB, Chrono Ishrion, giving both Grahdens and Owen a 10,000 HP Dark barrier. This is the safer alternative.
 * If you deal less than 50,000 damage, Grahdens will invalidate all Leader Skills for 3 turns and inflicts a -50% BB fill rate debuff for 5 turns. This is the same thing as if you’re being punished for using more than 3 BB after Grahdens reaches 40% HP.


 * Once Grahdens reaches 15%, Grahdens will use Overdrive.
 * Use your 75% mitigator’s Overdrive on the turn you cross the threshold.
 * Grahdens will use his UBB two turns after he uses Overdrive. Time your UBB mitigation correctly!
 * Finally, you can proceed to kill Grahdens. Though, it may take a little while due to his 3-turn 99999 HP heals.

Now, you can focus on Owen.
 * Once Grahdens dies, Owen will buff himself with +1 hit count (his normal attacks will become really deadly!), 10% BB Atk, 5% Atk and 50% Def, Rec.
 * Once Owen reaches 15%, Grahdens will use Overdrive.
 * Like Grahdens, use your 75% mitigator’s Overdrive on the turn you cross the threshold.
 * Owen will use his UBB two turns after he uses Overdrive. Time your UBB mitigation correctly!
 * Owen’s UBB will inflict a super strong DoT debuff on your units (30% damage modifier). Unless you can tank and handle the damage very well, kill Owen as soon as possible.

Congrats! Now, you have access to some of the most powerful units in the game! They’re also F2P too!

Squad Recommendations

 * Status inflictor
 * Isterio (best pick), Tora, Semira (take note that she does not inflict Sickness), Balgran, Bonnie, Mirfah, Reeze, Avani (high pick)
 * Mitigator (recommended to use two mitigators)
 * Laberd (best pick), Krantz, Gazia, Dolk, Elimo, Edea, Adel
 * BB gauge recovery when attacked
 * Paris, Carrol, Reud, Laberd
 * Def buffer
 * Laberd, Tridon, Paris, Carrol, Lugina
 * Def converter (not required, but recommended)
 * Reeze, Gazia, Aurelia, Dolk
 * Burst healers
 * Krantz, Paris, Charla, Rinon
 * HoT buffers
 * Tridon, Selena (best in her Omni Evolution), Adel, Elza, Charla
 * Status negator
 * Reeze, Semira, Drevas

Squad 1: Linathan Clear
I have to give huge props to Yap for recommending this squad after I struggled so hard with RNG. I lacked Ravenna so I used Reeze in place for her so I can use status immunity.

Overall, very tanky, especially with Tridon. With Tridon’s ability to provide a shield overlapping the normal HP bar, I was able to counter DoT rather very easily. If I was in fear of not getting his Def buff, I would use Laberd’s BB to actively get the Def buff up.

Randolph was primarily used as the lead to provide the stat buffs. They were always active thank to the BB utility that Laberd provides. On the topic of Laberd, his Leader Skill was able to help mitigate a huge portion of the damage taken, especially the 20% mitigation, which was stackable with normal mitigation.

Isterio was my status inflictor, which was a huge help for majority of the fight. Being able to inflict Sickness at the perfect times was an absolute blessing as he was able to save the squad from all of the nukes that Grahdens and Owen would’ve stomped me with.

Squad 2: Zestna Clear
Zestna’s Profile: Link

Squad 3: Mich Clear
Mich, Michele & Kuhla’s Profile: Link

Squad 4: Blake Xi Clear
Blake Xi’s Profile: Link

Squad 5: Linathan Clear (No GE/OE Challenge)
After being bored throughout today, I decided to do the trial again by challenging myself to use my initial setup. Thankfully, RNG was in my favor for this one time and I managed to clear it once again, but this time without any Global Exclusive or Omni Evolution units.

Note that Charla's UBB was used to tank Grahdens and Owen's UBB.

Conclusion
Boy... what an annoying trial. Who agrees? I'm sure the April 5 Weekly Poll answers that question. Have you cleared Trial EX6: Breaking Barriers yet? Yes! No!

Excited for the Tilith EX Trial? Yes! No!

Check out my list of analyses in [http://bravefrontierglobal.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Linathan/Spotlights:_Table_of_Contents! Spotlights: Table of Contents!]