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October 27, 2024 10:33 am
This guide assumes you have found most if not all of the mods/beats/patches before you hit the point of no return (the giant gate in Hoho that advertises that it is, indeed, the point of no return). I used a similar build fighting Volmax at max level (20) but I believe the patches and a couple of mods were different. Volmax did make me sweat a little and my only game over during my play through happened here, so take that with a grain of salt.
If you're having issues with Volmax specifically try this guide:
Is this Deathbulge canon? Maybe, I don't make the rules
During my time playing Deathbulge I didn't really experiment very often with the classes as the default classes seemed to work very well for me. To be fair DBB:BotB isn't exactly a hard RPG but with a little min/maxing it becomes a bit too easy.
Ian did, for a brief stint, become a headbanger; this was mostly so he could use Zero Hertz cheaply and quickly. After some late game mods are acquired, the "Performance" ultra attack becomes more important for throwing down massive damage/healing especially when you're up against rival bands with multiple targets you can attack while they are limited to one frontman at a time (much like how your band works).
The default classes offer the best amount of glam from their attacks, even before the ultimate mods, and the unique performance of each class gives you options to choose from depending on the situation you're in when you can use it.
Performances:
Show off - melody damage, super amplify + hype regen, and 3 bars of pain to enemy
Well toned - noise damage, super fortify, clears all negative player effects
Tuner - healing, super healing over time, fills player bar with mad soothe
In the next section you'll see my loadouts but as I mentioned above, these classes have some of the highest glam points per mod, especially if you're equipping the ultimates on Faye and Ian, so you'll be ripping a performance every 5-8 turns on average. The real final boss has a counter for this and we will get into that in a second.
I am sure that there are better builds to min/max with but I enjoy that the "default" i.e. canon classes are the ones that have great synergy (like a killer band would). Therefore, I have decided that this is indeed canon and the only correct way to win the tournament.
**NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT**
Faye
Beat: Nauseating Belch (Multiple targets and 2 bars of random negative effects to enemy)
Class Mod: Axe of Annihilation, 20 Glam (deals heavy Melody damage to all targets and inflicts pain x3 to enemy bar. 50% chance of being EXTREMELY SICK and inflicting obscene Melody damage as well as empowering pain x3 to enemy bar)
Mod: Dazzling Shred, 10/15 glam (10 for first attack, additional 5 if second attack lands)
Mod: Dead Inside, signature move; 0 glam
Patch: God Brain (Melody damage buff)
Patch: Barry Club (free chance of healing on attack, you could also use the )
Class Mod: Axe of Annihilation, 20 Glam (deals heavy Melody damage to all targets and inflicts pain x3 to enemy bar. 50% chance of being EXTREMELY SICK and inflicting obscene Melody damage as well as empowering pain x3 to enemy bar)
Mod: Dazzling Shred, 10/15 glam (10 for first attack, additional 5 if second attack lands)
Mod: Dead Inside, signature move; 0 glam
Patch: God Brain (Melody damage buff)
Patch: Barry Club (free chance of healing on attack, you could also use the )
Strategy:
Faye's high speed is intregal to this build but you need to switch out to Ian/Briff so they can tank the damage that will likely break her. Her low amount of hype is good for her ultimate (66% of hype bar) and Axe is probably the best ultimate mod in the game damage wise; it will almost entirely overwrite the enemy's bar with pain.
Dazzling Shred is an easy way to grind glam between performances and it won't touch your effects like Dead Inside does. Shred has a 50% chance ot a second attack that will award an additional 5 glam on top of the 10 for the base attack, for a total of 15.
The other side of the low hype is that you'll almost always be out of it for using her other mods, so I equipped her with Belch (dropped by the beach ball before you fight Pokalyps) so I have something to overwrite enemy bars with in a pinch if they have haste. The multi target damage is nice too I guess.
Dead Inside is a good tool to have in the belt for removing player status bars if needed. It does heavy Melody damage to one target and because it's a signature move it's one of the cheapest hype:damage attacks you can give Faye. I didn't use it much and I'm sure there is a better mod for this spot so consider it your freebie.
For the patches, God Brain was obviously pumping up Faye's Melody damage. Barry Club could be sub'd out for Power Wizard (better hype regen) or purple lightning if you wanted to max her speed/melody damage but because Faye was my most used character Barry Club came in super handy with free healing.
If you want to lay down HUGE damage, start your performance with Faye and then slam down Axe to piggyback on the melody damage buff and an instant 20 glam.
TL;DR: Show Off Faye is a glass cannon with huge Melody damage. Practice swapping her in and out so you can benefit from her speed between turns but be careful if she's under 350HP as end game enemies who triple tap attack will likely kill her. Economize her hype for massive damage opportunities.
Ian
Beat: Cuttlebuddy (weakens enemy bar)
Class Mod: Beefcake Bassquake, 20 glam (heavy Noise damage to all targets, fortifies player bar, added damage if Ian is active character for most of a turn beforehand)
Mod: Hammer Jamming. 15 glam (moderate Noise damage to all targets)
Mod: Robin Hunk Special, 3 glam (heavy noise damage to single target)
Patch: Fat Punch 5 (30% Noise damage buff)
Patch: Chuckridge Cuttlebrander (damage buff and shield for pet measure on player bar)
Class Mod: Beefcake Bassquake, 20 glam (heavy Noise damage to all targets, fortifies player bar, added damage if Ian is active character for most of a turn beforehand)
Mod: Hammer Jamming. 15 glam (moderate Noise damage to all targets)
Mod: Robin Hunk Special, 3 glam (heavy noise damage to single target)
Patch: Fat Punch 5 (30% Noise damage buff)
Patch: Chuckridge Cuttlebrander (damage buff and shield for pet measure on player bar)
Strategy:
Well Toned is to Noise as Show Off is to Melody, but more of a tank. Ian can survive two of the late game triple attacks even at ~2/3 health. His speed is really, really slow though. His ultimate mod Beefcake can be charged up if you keep Ian as the active character for a full turn so I would wait until his Hype is full, hit the baddies with Hammer Jamming to get some sweet Glam, and still have enough Hype to hit them with Beefcake in fully charged state.
Robin Hunk is an adequate one tap to use in combo with Faye's Shred late game for one-two tapping some enemies as well as funneling damage at priority targets (final boss fights). There are better mods for this if you use the Savant patch so you don't get dinged with the hype penalty but that was being used on Briff.
I didn't want to burn a mod slot somewhere just to be able to apply weaken, nor did I want to burn a turn using one of the other beats to cast weaken every time the enemy resets its bar with amplify or fortify. So I added a companion to do it for me. The pet patch isn't necessary but keeps it from being overwritten when I'm spamming haste via Briff because of the shield.
Ian's performance might? be longer lasting than Faye's and is great for some breathing room. It clears your status completely (positive and negative) and super fortifies you so you can take more hits than usual while you heal/revive/recharge hype. It's niche and you likely won't use it over Faye's or Briff's but it's still a special tool for a special situation that you have in your toolbox nonetheless.
TL;DR: Well Toned is very much a "Jack of All Trades" class but the HP pool and resistance to noise attacks makes him very useful to tank damage away from Faye or Briff.
Briff
Beat: Beakbox (heals one player and adds two measures of haste to player bar)
Class Mod: Aggressive Rejuvenation, 10 glam (moderate healing to player party)
Mod: Good Vibe Preservation, 4 glam (shields all positive player status effects and fortifies bar)
Mod: Pulse of the Possessed 3 glam (minor Melody damage to single target and inflicts 2 measures of slow to enemy bar)
Patch: HELF (passive healing)
Patch: Savant (all non-signature mods have reduced hype cost)
Class Mod: Aggressive Rejuvenation, 10 glam (moderate healing to player party)
Mod: Good Vibe Preservation, 4 glam (shields all positive player status effects and fortifies bar)
Mod: Pulse of the Possessed 3 glam (minor Melody damage to single target and inflicts 2 measures of slow to enemy bar)
Patch: HELF (passive healing)
Patch: Savant (all non-signature mods have reduced hype cost)
Strategy:
Good Vibe Preservation is probably the most OP mod in the entire game, and I love that it's a support mod. It seems overpowered leading up to end game but almost becomes necessary from Hellblivion onward and is practically required for the final bosses.
I stuck with Aggressive Rejuvenation as the tuner class keeps Briff as a sort of White Mage character. He has decent speed (almost the same as Faye once haste is involved) and a decent HP pool.
Pulse of the Possessed is immensely useful in the final battle with K-Kwak, as well as most of the end game bosses (especially Volmax). It will buy you time between attacks.
Savant helps immensely with hype cost but I didn't explore other classes as I didn't really have to. I also wasn't sure what stats effected "support" mods (if any) and since Tuner wasn't broken, I didn't want to fix it. Tuner also affords you the healing/regen Performance as a huge get out of jail free card... not that you'll need it with this build. But hey, we all do something stupid every so often and it came in clutch for me a couple of times.
The HELF patch likely isn't necessary but it was nice to not need to worry about Briff tanking damage as he would regen ~20% HP per turn.
TL;DR: I liked keeping Briff as a full support character. GVP turns the battle of the bands into easy mode after using Beakbox. PotP buys you twice as many turns and you can spam them almost every turn because Savant keeps their hype cost low.
Tactics for Battle of the Bands through to K-Kwak
Start with Faye active to jumpstart your attack. Use her to run down the timer whenever possible between player turns. Briff is going to be your Swiss Army Knife for the next 3-5 turns, depending on your strategy.
Briff should use Beatbox x2 for a full bar of haste. If you're quick with swapping Faye in you might get this done before the enemy even attacks once. If you know the enemy is going to use a negative status and wipe out your haste. now is the time to use Good Vibe Preservation to lock in your haste and hunker down with Fortify.
Alternatively, if you know you can squeeze in 4 turns before getting hit with negative stats you should unleash Cuttlefish so you have a passive pet constantly casting weaken on the enemy. I usually go Briff - Beakbox x2, Ian - Cuttlefish, Briff - GVP.
At this point keep an eye out for your shields protecting your status. Any time the enemy chips those away or dispels your Fortify bar status, burn some hype and hit GVP again. You shouldn't need to use Briff for anything else other than healing so he should always have at least 50 hype in the bank. If not, use Quakstak Burgermuffs before you get any negative measures. Be careful as they will also reinforce negative effects.
If you can wait on your Performance, wait until Faye has full hype. Let the performance loose and then hit the enemies with Axe of Annihilation. Switch to Ian once he's full hype and use Hammer, then wait out the full turn until he's empowered (a green orb will glow around him) so you can use Beefcake Bassquake for full damage. Go back and forth between Ian and Faye (your glam will be adding up quick).
FINAL BOSS SPOILERS
K-Kwak
The real final boss version wasn't hard for me at all with this build. The only thing you need to worry about is his Hype status. It seems to be a damage, haste, and healing buff all in one and he adds them to his status bar one at a time. There is also a super hype version near the end of the battle.
It's important to get these off his bar ASAP. Use Faye's Belch to throw random negative effects at the problem (it doesn't cost you anything but time), merch that strips the enemy bar of effects, or Briff's Possessed slow attack.
K-Kwak also can cancel your performance. This is automatic; his next attack will always cancel it. To get the most out of it, you'll want to have a full bar of haste, time your attack to happen immediately after K-Kwak attacks so his attack counter has just reset, and ideally have his bar as full of empowered slow as possible. Faye's Performance is high damage but will apply 4 bars of pain, overwriting any slow you've applied. Ian's Performance will deal less damage initially but won't overwrite the slow status, giving you an extra attack.
As always, keep your HP topped up and your positive effects shielded.