Operation guide: Curse of Cognition

Operation

Guide

The default Dreadful Foe and the last node of the 5th floor in Mizuki & Caerula Arbor, Curse of Cognition pits the player against the transformed Highmore, "Paranoia Illusion", as the final boss with average stats but has Low-Altitude Hovering which can be taken out by disabling it, multi-targeting attacks that inflicts Corrosion Damage and can hit one target multiple times if there are not enough targets in range, and an ASPD-reducing aura. Should the Illusion's HP drop to 0 for the first time, it will revive itself, regaining its Low-Altitude Hovering if it's taken out beforehand, having an extended range (including its ASPD-reducing aura that also becomes stronger), and hits more targets/times in each attack! As usual, the Paranoia Illusion deducts no less than 30 Life Points upon entering a Protection Objective, resulting in an instant failure if the player have less than 31 LP at the moment.

Compared to previous final boss Dreadful Foes, Curse of Cognition is not as difficult especially as the other enemies do not pose much of a threat (aside of their large numbers), but nonetheless a solid team, a good set of Collectibles, and a significant amount of luck when building said lineup is required to stand a chance against the Paranoia Illusion. As with other final boss Dreadful Foes, the preparations start from the beginning of the run, as it is imperative to build up a solid defensive lineup and coherent strategy over the course of the entire run before taking on Curse of Cognition.

Strategies

General

• Sources of Negative Statuses are very helpful to disable the Paranoia Illusion's hovering ability and allow more units to attack it, and can also help defeat the Skimming Sea Drifters that approach from the side lanes. The Sea Drifters in particular will move over holes in their path, making it possible to instantly defeat them by disabling them on top of a hole. As the Illusion will heavily damage anything in its range for too long, on-deploy Stuns like those of certain Executor Specialists or Support Mr. Boom are highly effective.
• Defeating the Illusion quickly should be the top priority on the level, as the remainder of the enemies are not particularly threatening without the Illusion's ASPD debuff and attacks.
• A source of area damage is recommended due to the large number of Bone Sea Drifters that appear at once. They will circle around the top of the map several times before moving, so they provide ample time to shoot them down.
• Ranged attackers that outrange the Illusion excel at taking it out due to being unaffected by its extremely debilitating ASPD debuff. Fortress Defenders in particular can do massive damage to the Illusion while clearing out its accompanying enemies, but note that they cannot damage the Illusion unless it has been knocked to the ground already.
• The Illusion will deal significantly higher damage if not enough targets are in range and it attacks one target with all of its shots. If one's strategy revolves around a single unit, it may be advisable to deploy decoys to spread out the damage.
• The Illusion's high RES and comparatively low DEF make Physical damage a good choice to deal with it.

Recommendations

• One of the most effective combos against the Illusion is Texas the Omertosa w/ Torrential Sword Rain and Horn w/ Ultimate Line of Defense: Deploy Horn right under the Protection Objective facing up; she would be able to attack the Illusion without being caught in its ASPD-reducing aura unless if the Illusion itself comes close, and use the Omertosa to knock the Illusion out of the air with Torrential Sword Rain's Stun (which can also help in clearing the swarms), then immediately activate Horn's Ultimate Line of Defense to blow it to kingdom come. Repeat this after the Illusion enters the second phase.
• W with D12 right beside the Protection Objective can deal massive damage to the Illusion and knock it out of the air, especially if it has 3 mobs near it to multiply the damage from the overlapping explosions.