Operation guide: Fate's Favored Child

Operation

Guide

The alternate Dreadful Foe in the 5th floor of Mizuki & Caerula Arbor which replaces Curse of Cognition when the player has the Breath of the Tide and had ensured the Tide-Hunt Knight's survival up until clearing the 4th floor, "Fate's Favored Child" pits the player against the legendary Seaborn-slaying Kazimierzian knight and Terra's counterpart to Don Quixote on Earth, The Last Knight, as the final boss, who notably has colossal HP and RES, massive ATK, and titanic DEF which renders Physical attacks all but redundant against him, not to mention anyone who hurts the Last Knight will be inflicted by a short-lasting Cold (and eventually Freeze if they damage him again) that lasts longer once his HP falls below half, and the Last Knight himself deals more damage when attacking Frozen targets! Should the player drops his HP to 0, the Last Knight will survive with critical HP and mounts Rocinante for a final charge where he is unblockable (and thankfully won't attack friendlies in his way because of this) but moves slower. If the player fails to stop the Last Knight regardless, he will deduct no less than 30 Life Points upon entering the Protection Objective, resulting in an instant failure if they have less than 31 LP at the moment.

The Last Knight is escorted by strong enemies such as Bloodboil Knightclub Elites, Remnant Principal Violinists, and Retching Broodmothers which can cause some trouble before The Last Knight shows up, and once the Last Knight enters his second phase, the last wave of enemies made up of more Bloodboil K.C. Elites and Remnant Principal Violinists as well as Leithanian Psalmists can further the pressure to stop the Last Knight lest the Operators are overwhelmed. There are also three Rubbles that blocks the Last Knight's path, who will move through them and be rendered useless once he starts charging since he cannot be blocked at this point.

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 Last Knight. 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 Fate's Favored Child.

General strategies

• Try to obtain The Knight's Corpus from "The Knight Persists" Encounter, especially if most of the present damage dealers are Physical. With it, the Last Knight's DEF is cut by 80%, making the fight much less difficult. On the other hand, teams that rely on Arts or True damage don't need to prioritize this as much, although his high RES still encourages sources of RES ignores or debuffs.
  • Keep in mind that The Knight's Corpus also affects the Tide-Hunt Knight, making it harder to protect him. On higher Surging Waves levels, it may be outright infeasible to obtain The Knight's Corpus, as the significant buffs to enemies may result in the Tide-Hunt Knight being swiftly taken out, particularly by Retching Broodmothers.
• There is only a single lane leading to the Protection Objective, so building up a solid choke point will often be sufficient. However, as ranged enemies will be attacking from multiple directions before converging on the main lane, it may be advisable to also bring means to dispatch them early.
• Try not to rely on Operators that specialize in attack speed or other forms of multi-hit damage, as they will be permanently Frozen from the Last Knight's passive. Units that deal high damage per hit will usually be more effective.
  • Certain attacks such as Pozëmka's Typewriter and/or Mech-Accord Casters' released drones will be able to freely attack the Last Knight without retaliation, even if the Operators themselves are Frozen.
  • Kirin R Yato is immune to Negative Statuses including Cold while executing Blade Dance and can deal heavy damage when paired with The Knight's Corpus and DEF debuffs. On the same note, Lessing can use Oathbreaker to become immune to Negative Statuses, allowing him to damage the Last Knight without the risk of becoming Frozen.
• The Last Knight is vulnerable to debuffs (except Silence) and Negative Statuses, which can keep him almost indefinitely locked down as well as interrupt his attacks. Many Specialist and Supporter Operators particularly excel at this.
• The Last Knight's massive damage output makes it very difficult to block him, so fast-redeploy units are usually more effective at holding him off. If one wants to try blocking him, it is advised to use a very bulky Defender and/or sources of ATK debuffs.
• Save powerful burst options for the Last Knight's second phase, as he will become unblockable.
• Remember that if the player have at least 31 Life Points (Objective Shields included), one can simply let the Last Knight into the Protection Objective and deal with the remaining enemies somehow, and still clear the operation (and reaching the Age of the Silence ending). However, doing this is not recommended as obtaining that many LP/Objective Shield is difficult to achieve normally.