[Ideas] Impossible Dungeons, Challenge Mode! (Part 1)

Hey guys! Time to actually write blogs lol

This time, I'm going to write out my ideas in making Challenge Modes for Impossible dungeons. Of course this will never happen but it will be nice to theorize them.

Part 1 will feature the first round of Impossibles: Izanami, Kushinada, Yamato Takeru, Izanagi, and Tsukuyomi.

Premise

My view on these new versions is to tweak the dungeons up a few levels. But I want to keep the main strategy or the intended strategy in tact. I will also just not increase the damage or limit the monsters you can bring. Say goodbye to limiting Wood monsters for Izanami or having three 4-5* monsters in Kushinada.

I want to change the viable monsters and make some of the non-top tier monsters be the new top tier for that dungeon.

IF they make it a thing, I would at least want a 100% No-Continue drop.

Netherworld Creator - Izanami

Well the first Impossible, Izanami. Most people will find this one of the easiest Impossibles in the game. People can practically bring any Water NGB monster and will make it out alright. Challenge Mode Izanami will not make those "tactics" doable.

First off is the pinch and match shots. The infamous head pinch on the first Izanami boss bar is any farmer's paradise to one-shot her. Also the head pinch on the last bar is very easy to do now. The easiest way to prevent it is to add a shield on top of her head, just like Okita Soji in the Wellspring Time Trial. I think the match shot on the legs should be still there, more like it is impossible to prevent unless they change the hitboxes. However, I would want to remove the shields around Izanami on the 3rd boss bar. It will also remove some priority on Romeo and his Chain Meteor SS.

The second thing I want to change is to add Laser Barriers. The main reason is to move down the top monsters in the tier lists. I would only add them to 2 things, the zombies and Izanami herself. This will shift the priority to Homing and Spread Shot bump combos in order to clear the Zombie Loop and to damage to Izanami.

So if this happens, who will be on top? Basically NGB non-Laser bump combo monsters will be viable. Nanami will be in the same class as Napoleon. Odin will most likely get more play to help clear the zombie loop better and for good damage to Izanami. Sirius will also be helpful in clearing the shields for your other monsters to get the pinches. Monsters that will fall off will be Oruga, Margarite, Romeo, Verdandi, Undine and Bishamonten. In terms of max luck monsters, Fox Metal and Tiger might move up above Queen Butterflight just because of the bump combo difference.

Orochi's Forest Prize - Kushinada

Oh Kushinada, why are you so easy yet so strong as a monster? People will just stack Izanamis and be done with her. So yeah, my idea for this dungeon is to nerf Izanami to the ground!

Before we go nerfing Izanami, there is something worst than a team full of Izanamis: a team of Asc Smopol. NA players don't have him yet but the main farm team and strategy is clear everything with Homing Pierce-struction from Smopol. Of course, the simplest way is to add Homing Absorbers. They will replace the Shadowgaffs but have the same attacks.

Now for the meat, Izanami. Easily to just add a Laser Barrier around Kushinada. Since the model of Kushinada is pretty big, the Laser Barrier will block lasers towards the mobs as well. 

So Ryoma and Gilgamesh will still be top tier in the dungeon. However, I nerfed their best companion, Izanami since she can mob clear throughout the whole dungeon. Most likely, you will want to deviate from Fire monsters since there are like 0 viable Fire NGB+NW monsters in this new version. Evo Aramis will work really well and Liu Bei's Short Spread will deal some good damage to mobs. 

The Water Walking Prince - Yamato Takeru

Well Yamato itself is hard enough, especially if you don't know how to pinch or position. But there are some monsters that make it super easy. I'm looking at Ibaraki Doji. She is basically the Smopol of Yamato. Her bump combo clears all the mobs without having to pinch between them. Of course placing a few Homing Absorbers will do the trick but that's just too boring. 

I'll be taking a page out of the Tower of Champions. On the 31st floor, minions of each set will revive their partner if one of them is killed. Therefore you have to clear them in one shot. This will prevent high power bump combos like from Gabriel, Ibaraki Doji and Apollo X from whittling them down. As for the 3rd stage with the circle of mobs, I would want them to be all Demons with a 5 turn CD on their Volatile Blast. So you can only miss one pinch but you can use bump combos to clear them within the time limit. As for the Giant Demon stage, the giant demon will recover the smaller demon's HP to full every turn. 

Now that we forced players to pinch instead of using bump combos, there is still one more problem. That is it pretty easy to pinch Yamato between him and the wall. My idea is to make normal bounces be nullified onto Yamato himself. However, bump combos and strike shots that don't rely on hitting him for damage will deal normal damage. 

The dungeon will be more skilled based in not only pinching but in positioning as well. Doji and Oryo will fall off since their kits are not powerful in the new version. Hunter King will fall off a bit since his SS will be useless onto Yamato. Mustang and Kushinada's Command SS will be useless as well. Apollo X will might be the new #1. Some monsters that will raise in popularity will be Heracles since his SS will be more desired onto Yamato. Also Aramis' Meteor SS will be really viable in mob clearing and dealing Yamato at the same time.

Creator of Earth and Sea - Izanagi

Izanagi is pretty much a flip for players. Some think he is really easy, some think he is really hard. Although this dungeon has floors from the previous 3 Impossibles, I will not be importing the new versions from the above 3 into this one. 

One big change that has to happen is the damage you take from the Damage Walls. It was just too low to make a difference. Players will bring Null Warp only monsters which made the dungeon really easy. Of course we are going to increase the damage from Damage Walls so NDW+NW monsters are more favourable.

The next problem is the few Null Damage Wall only monsters that are great in the dungeon. Mainly Lucy, and the slayers like Oda Nobunaga. The thing they have in common is that their kits are very prominent in dealing damage to not only the boss himself, but the minions around them. So I am going to punish that very aspect. This is mainly for the Izanagi stages. We are going to add a Skull onto the Fellmane and Visceron. Once it procs, it will deal a Gravity attack which will shave off 50% of your max HP. So if you clear both at the same time (like with a Command SS), that is instant death. And to add more, on the final stage if you enrage Izanagi, it is instant death instead of a 1 turn buffer.

On this new version, you will want all NDW+NW monsters. Also you might want to bring some monsters that have less RNG in their bump combos. So monsters like Yamato Takeru, Avalon, and Daikokuten might be on the bottom tier. As for the better monsters, the original OPs for the dungeons will make a comeback. Seigfried with his powerful (and controllable) laser, Aladdin with his just as powerful laser and Eclipse with his Meteor SS for mob wipe outside of the Izanagi stages. Newcomers will be Evo Sindbad because his SS can one-shot Izanagi, Lady Shizuka with the immediate heal if you proc a Skull, There is Undine with her Immune SS. I'll leave it up to the readers if it should block the Gravity damage or not.

The Moon's Eternal Dreamer - Tsukuyomi

Last but not least, we have Tsukuyomi. Unlike the other 4 dungeons, there is no team or method that ignores the main strategy for the dungeon. So my idea is to just make it harder for you to one-shot the mobs and to punish you more if you don't. 

I'll tweak the punishment since it ties into making it harder for you to one-shot afterwards. I want the players to clear ALL the mobs, not just some of them. So I turn my attention to the Viscerons. Boy they are not a threat if you leave them up. So instead of the ATK Down or the Short Spread if you leave them up, I want them to do a Bump Combo Lock like in Kushinada Zero's dungeon. This will prevent your monsters to Speed Up other allies or use your bump combos to deal damage to the boss like for Light Murasame or Liu Bei. In the end, it will make it harder to one-shot mobs and to deal damage later on which can lead to more damage to your team.

The viable monsters won't change in this new version since it didn't really need to be. There might be a shift in the power balance between Bounce and Pierce monsters since Bounce monsters are more popular than Pierce monsters right now. 

Summary

So how did you guys like my ideas? The rewards for completing the new dungeons might not be as rewarding than bringing a few Max Lucks in the original version. However, it will be a nice challenge for players who got bored with the originals. It might be great for players who just can't get that one drop for their box.

Next Part will be the second round of Impossibles. Who knows if there is anymore after that. The Zero series and Bakuzetsu series are already hard. Making it even harder will just be too sadistic on my part.