Battle Arena/Lance Strategies

This section is incomplete. You can help Epic Battle Fantasy Wiki by adding required information to it.
To do: Flesh out Lance's wave-specific strategies

Lance has an especially dangerous status build for the Battle Arena: the "Death Laser." By equipping the Captain's Hat, the Spine Snapper, and either the Flame Suit or the Captain's Coat, his Weapon-elemental skills will gain a high chance of inflicting Instant Death, and he's got some great skills to take advantage of that. Hyper Beam hits all foes at once with boosted status chance (pair it with the Pocket Watch to mitigate the Charge turn), but Double Shot and Unload are useful alternatives, especially against smaller groups of foes. Lance can also learn Shredder for another source of multi-target Death; unfortunately, his solo challenge has quite a few foes immune to Instant Death, requiring more diverse tactics.

The status build also makes Ion Cannon a viable Limit Break for Stun purposes; it also gives Lance a free Charge for Hyper Beam, allowing him to spread Instant Death to anything that survived the Limit Break (and isn't Death-immune).

Lance is one of two characters who can't learn Revive, which means that his best option for using the Companion C*be, the Dog Tags, or the Narutomaki is to Defend himself with the Fairy. He's also the only character who can't learn Heal More or Purify; Health Strike combines their effects, but it has a longer cooldown. He also can't learn Heavenly Shield, depriving him of an efficient defensive buff; watch out for physically-inclined foes, since Lance can learn Barrier, but not Protect or Reflex.

With "Weather Remix" enabled, you'll also have to worry about random Airstrikes. On one hand, quite a few of the enemies in Lance's solo challenge are weak to Bomb damage, and he can equip Bomb-resistant gear to reduce the risk of being blown up in turn. On the other, you'll have to weigh the chance of getting a Medipack against the risk of the foes getting one.

Battle 1: Weeding Out the Gluttons

Three Chompers to take care of: two Seaweed, one Leafy. They're highly Death-resistant, so the "Death Laser" might have some trouble; throw out Firecrackers to increase the odds in your favor. Their Freeze and Stun resistance is slightly lower, so using the Sub Zero or the Thunder Core is a possibility (especially since both have an auto-Charge effect); the former is recommended over the latter, since Ice works much better than Thunder against these foes. If you want to take them on the hard way, the Vortex Cannon will hit their shared Wind weakness; pair it with skills like Shockwave and Power Metal for maximum effect.

The Biohazard Blaster's Bio absorption can greatly hamper the Leafy Chomper's damage output and slightly weaken all three enemies' Chomp attack (although this won't affect the amount of HP they heal), but make sure to pair it with a status-changing Flair or take out the Leafy Chomper immediately; Virus will just give it a strong Regen effect.

Alt Battle 1: Weeding Out the Other Gluttons

In Foe Remix, the opposition consists of two Magma Chompers and a Mutant Chomper. The status strategies remain unchanged, but keep in mind that the Mutant Chomper is neutral to Wind if you're trying to kill it conventionally; on the other hand, its Fire weakness is easily exploited by the Flame Titan once the Magma Chompers are dealt with.

Battle 2: Fire and Thunder Friends

An interesting combination of Dogs (Tanuki, Rescue, and Zap) and Sprites (Fire and Thunder) await Lance in this wave. None of them resist Instant Death, so the "Death Laser" build should make short work of them.

Alt Battle 2: Freezeflame Slime Friends

Foe Remix completely overhauls this wave to feature a Big Lava Slime and a Big Icecream Slime. Unfortunately for them, they're even worse off against Lance's status build; Shredder should end the battle before the Big Slimes even get a chance to act.

Battle 3: Burning Bonehead

No, your eyes do not deceive you; there is, in fact, a Blaze Hydra in this challenge. The good news is that it only has one head (so no revival shenanigans) and its base HP is halved; the bad news is that its attacks are as strong as ever, it's immune to Instant Death, and Lance is poorly equipped to exploit its elemental weaknesses.

With this in mind, Lance may want to consider a Virus strategy; the Hydra is neutral to Bio, and Lance's Biohazard Blaster can both inflict and heal off of the status if it spreads back to him (the gun must be at Level 4 or 5 for the latter). Additionally, the Biohazard Blaster works with the Flame Suit and the Captain's Hat to greatly weaken all of the Blaze Hydra's elemental attacks; the Flame Suit also prevents it from inflicting Scorch on Lance. Adding the Pearl Necklace, the Silver Cross, and the Iron Cross Flairs will make Lance immune to all of the foe's elements, but this does little against its (Triple) Bite and nothing whatsoever against its Tail Crush. As such, utility Flairs like the Green Cross or the Fairy may be more important, especially since Auto-Revive strategies work a lot better when there's only one foe to worry about.

Be ready to re-apply Virus if "Weather Remix" is enabled, since the random Medipacks can clear the status off of Lance and the Hydra.

Alt Battle 3: Crystal Carnage

If you thought Foe Remix's version of this fight would be any easier, think again; the game uses the opportunity to sic a Crystal Hydra on Lance instead! Luckily, it still has the same restrictions as the Blaze Hydra in the normal version of this round; only one head and significantly reduced HP.

Status strategies aren't too effective here, since the Crystal Hydra resists or outright nullifies most of Lance's best options; fortunately, he can easily exploit most of its elemental weaknesses with his natural skills. Bullet Hell works best unless it gets decapitated; at that point, Antimatter Flux will do even more damage while Lance works to finish the beast off. To survive the Hydra's attacks, Lance should focus on high Defence and immunity to Syphon and Instant Death; if he can get some elemental resistance on top of that, focus on Ice, Wind, and Water until the Hydra is decapitated, after which the latter two can be discarded in favor of Holy resistance. Remember to use Lock On if Lance is having trouble hitting his target; if he gets a Limit Break, Nuke will tear through the Crystal Hydra (and almost certainly decapitate it if it survives).

EXAMPLE: Combining the Crystal Wing, the Scottish Cap, the Santa Outfit, the Nano Machines, The Tr*force, and the Fairy gives Lance a good amount of bulk, Holy absorption, immunity to Ice, Syphon, Chill/Freeze, and Instant Death, resistance to Wind and Water, automatic Heal More to keep himself healthy, Surprise Present to occasionally add some automatic Bomb damage and Bad Luck, the ability to give himself Bless, Morale, and Auto-Revive on Defend, halved cooldown times on his bigger skills, and automatic Limit Break charging. While he won't be doing a lot of damage, he can tank a lot of the Crystal Hydra's attacks while giving himself some safety nets against its physical attacks and status effects; his relatively low damage output can even work in his favor by making it harder to hit the Hydra's decapitation threshold. If he does end up decapitating the foe, he can switch the Scottish Cap for the Santa Hat, giving himself even more Ice and Holy resistance in addition to a Food boost and a second Surprise Present auto-skill.

Battle 4: Dark Defender

You've seen a Red Flybot plenty of times, but not its robotic companion: the Prototype 9X, a nasty new version of the Defenders. Keep in mind that both of these foes resist Instant Death - and the Prototype 9X is straight-up immune - so the "Death Laser" build will be minimally useful.

Both of these foes have ways to lock down Lance's skills and dish out critical hits - the Flybot can do both at once with its Syphoning Signal, while the Prototype 9X's wave gun attacks have a naturally high crit rate and a chance to inflict Disable. Automatic skills can help work around the former - especially Bomb-based ones that can hit the robots' shared weakness - and gear that can apply Brave will keep the damage flow down. The Red Flybot should be taken down first to stop its annoying status shenanigans - the fact that it's also much frailer than the Prototype 9X helps too.

Amusingly, the Red Flybot will occasionally use Set Target against Lance, despite Target status being completely redundant in the Battle Arena.

Alt Battle 4: Dual Defenders

Foe Remix removes the Flybot from this wave, but at the cost of doubling Lance's Defender woes; specifically, he'll be faced with a Bubbler MX-01 and a Defender Mk III. It might be easier to focus on their shared Bomb weakness, since each foe absorbs what the other is especially vulnerable to; Lance also has plenty of options for automatic Bomb attacks, allowing him to spend his turns keeping himself alive against the dual assault. Bomb, Thunder, Wind, and Water resistances are the most important emphases here; also consider some Accuracy boosts or Lock On to mitigate the Defenders' use of Flare.

Battle 5: Flybot Fleet

Here's another Red Flybot to trash, but this one has backup from a Blue Flybot and a Yellow Flybot. All three of them have 50% Death resistance and the ability to reverse buffs and inflict annoying status effects; as with the previous fight, automatic skills are useful to keep up the offensive when Lance is Syphoned, Stunned, and/or Confused. Bomb attacks are the most efficient way to wreck them; the Blue Flybot is weaker to Thunder and the Yellow Flybot is weaker to Water, but they absorb the opposite elements. One option is a magic-based offensive with the Nitro Bomber XL; not only does it have some automatic Bomb skills, it empowers Hand Bombs in case Lance gets Syphoned.

Alt Battle 5: Bad Reflections

Looks like Foe Remix switched a wave between Natalie and Lance's solo challenges; instead of Flybots, the gunner will confront a quintet of Mirrors (two Haunted Mirrors, two Angel Mirrors, and a Wise Mirror) this time. None of them are Death-resistant, so the "Death Laser" build can wipe them out in one fell swoop if Lance can survive the Charge turn; this also bypasses their Reflection gimmick and breaking-induced Bad Luck.

Battle 6: Cats and a Creep

The Kitten Army seems to be diversifying its ranks; two Cat Snipers and two Cat Bombers are backing up a Thorny Creep here. The "Death Laser" build should easily slaughter the cats, but the Creep is 50% Death-resistant and weak to elements that Lance doesn't have much proficiency in. Giga Drill is probably his best bet (especially if the Creep Defends itself), but Sand Dune is a fine alternative; just mind you don't get Stunned while you wear it down.

Alt Battle 6: Ninjas and Turtles (But No Teenage Mutants)

The Foe Remix version of this wave has three Cat Ninjas and two Red Creeps. The same strategies apply from the normal version of the wave, but Lance can also opt for an offensive build that exploits the foes' shared Thunder weakness; alternatively, he can use the full status build to off the Ninjas with Shredder before switching to a Thunder or Earth-based build to take down the Creeps.

Battle 7: Size Matters

A War Mammoth and a Slime Bunny seems like an odd combination, but it can be quite a headache to overcome, depending on whether the Slime Bunny decides to help Lance or the Mammoth. Consider forgoing the Captain's Hat and Flame Suit in favor of debuff-boosting gear like the Cardboard Box and the Coat of Teeth; the Slime Bunny's negative Death resistance will let Lance pick it off with the Spine Snapper alone before stacking debuffs and status effects on the War Mammoth. Sand Dune is particularly useful; it hits the Mammoth's Earth weakness and the Accuracy debuff will improve Lance's longevity (especially with a double or triple debuff boost). Using the Tentacle Flair is another option to exploit the Mammoth's weaknesses to Bio, Poison, and Virus; in this case, Lance should lead off with Shredder to remove the Slime Bunny and stop it from casting Cleanse on its ally.

On higher difficulty levels, you'll also have to worry about the War Mammoth's self-revive ability. Capturing it in a solo challenge may be easier said than done, but Lance's main options for inflicting Weaken and Tired are the weapon-elemental attacks of the Soul Pistol and the Green Goliath, respectively; as with the Tentacle Flair, Shredder should be used to deal with the Slime Bunny before it can Cleanse the War Mammoth. Pairing the Soul Pistol with the Bitey Badge is especially efficient, as its Blessed Arrow unleash will allow Lance to maintain his Weaken infliction and slowly cripple four of the War Mammoth's stats at once; Tired also complements Sand Dune's debuff while increasing the Mammoth's Bio weakness. The Soul Pistol also lets Lance restore his HP on hit, and its counter attack lets him do all of this on the Mammoth's turn if it hits him.

Weather Remix becomes especially annoying in this battle; if the War Mammoth gets a Medipack, it'll heal a decent chunk of HP and remove any status effects it may be suffering from.

Alt Battle 7: Big and Small Beast Besties

If Foe Remix is active, this wave features a Camel Mammoth backed by a Rescue Dog. In some ways, this is actually easier than the normal version, since the Rescue Dog can't support its allies quite as well as a Slime Bunny; it also shares the Mammoth's Bio weakness, making a Virus strategy quite effective. As a bonus, Virus also bypasses the Rescue Dog's buffing abilities, allowing Lance to focus on survival and maintaining status effects and debuffs.

Since neither the Mammoth nor the Dog resists Virus, Lance can forgo status boosts in favor of Bio-resistant gear (such as the Hobo Clothes and the Pumpkin Head, neither of which resists Virus) or bulky equipment to help him increase the healing he gets from the Biohazard Blaster or just endure the Mammoth's attacks more easily. Alternatively, using the Tentacle Flair with the Soul Pistol allows him to apply Virus and Weaken simultaneously to wear down his enemies and stop the Mammoth from reviving on death; bulky gear remains important, with the Surgical Mask preventing Virus from affecting Lance if his other gear doesn't already cover that. As with the normal version of this battle, beware of Airstrikes in Weather Remix; the Mammoth will become much harder to wear down if it lucks out with Medipack drops.

Battle 8: Bugging the Big Guns

This battle pits Lance against a full array of Turrets... And a Fuzzy Worm, for some reason. Shredder off of a full status build should wipe them all out, but Lance can also neutralize the Laser Turret and the Cannon Turret by using Bubble Ring to Syphon them; unfortunately, the Harpoon Turret and the Fuzzy Worm won't give up so easily. Try not to leave the Fuzzy Worm alone in the wave, lest it call for reinforcements; if it does get more Worms into the battle, Shredder, Double Shot, or Unload can pick them off quickly.

Alt Battle 8: Boulder Brigade mk.2

Foe Remix gives Lance a trio of Boulders to smash in this round; Marble, Obsidian, and Dirt. They're all weak to Bomb, and the Marble Boulder's high Magic Defence may encourage a physical build built around the Heavy Claw, the Dragon Helm, and the Flame Suit; this gives Lance a power boost for Big Bullet and Machine Guns (and Oblivion, if you want to use a Limit Break), as well as great resistance to many of the Dirt and Obsidian Boulder's attacks. Syphon and Tired-resistant Flairs can help deal with the enemies' most annoying status effects.

Battle 9: Mechaniquarium

Three Fishes are ready for battle in this wave: a Steam Fish, a Jet Fish, and a Gold Fish. Lance will need shared skills to exploit their common Wind weakness; for maximum effect, use Shockwave and Power Metal (or even Death Metal, if you want to use a Limit Break) with the Vortex Cannon. The "Death Laser" build can also kill them efficiently, since none of them are Death-resistant; equipping the Iron Cross along with the Captain's Hat should keep Lance safe from their final attacks.

Alt Battle 9: Playing With Dolls

Looks like Foe Remix is at it again; the trio of a NoLegs Doll, a Matt Doll, and a Lance Doll has moved from NoLegs's solo challenge to Lance's. Thankfully, Matt and NoLegs are (possibly) unharmed during this fight, but Lance himself must be careful to avoid getting KO'd by hitting his counterpart too hard. With the full status build, Bubble Ring is a great opening move to Syphon the Lance Doll; afterwards, Lance can fire off Shredder or charge up a Hyper Beam to wipe out all three of the enemies.

Battle 10: Booming Business

To round out the mess of mechanical menaces in Lance's Arena Challenge, the gunner will face the daunting task of taking on all four Bombs (Nuclear, Earthquake, Acid, and Shockwave) at once! Syphon off of a full status build would trivialize these rogue weapons, but since that skill's locked to Natalie, Lance is going to have to get creative.

Despite their resistances to the most debilitating statuses, none of the Bombs are outright immune to Freeze, Stun, Syphon, or Instant Death (unless "More Foe Resistance" is on), which Lance can exploit with a full status build. Even without the Pocket Watch, Lance will have enough time to Charge and fire two Hyper Beam attacks; coming off the "Death Laser" build, each is guaranteed to destroy the Nuclear Bomb while having a 60% chance to take out the other three.

An alternative strategy is to equip Lance with the Biohazard Blaster, the Flame Suit, the Scottish Cap, the Angel Pin, the Fairy, and either the Pixel Glasses or The Tr*force. As long as the Flame Suit, Scottish Cap and Angel Pin are maxed and the Biohazard Blaster is at least Level 4, Lance will be completely immune to Bio, Fire and Wind; then, all he has to do is Defend himself on the turn the Bombs go off. The Pixel Glasses or the Tr*force-granted Morale will let Lance survive the Earthquake Bomb's fall, the Fairy-granted Auto-Revive lets him endure its subsequent detonation, and his elemental resistances will nullify the other three Bombs' attacks. The Dispel inflicted by the Shockwave Bomb's explosion will not be an issue, since the Earthquake Bomb launches before it.

Additionally, Lance can use Bubble Ring to try and disable a Bomb; since the skill inflicts two stacks of Syphon, he can force up to two Bombs to Surrender on their Launch turn. This can supplement the above strategy if Lance can't get one of his elemental resistances high enough to negate a Bomb's explosion; even with a single status boost, Bubble Ring is guaranteed to Syphon the Nuclear Bomb while having a 90% chance to afflict the rest. The most efficient target is the Earthquake Bomb; if it's neutralized by Syphon, Lance only needs to be immune to one of the other Bombs while letting the "Fairy + Pixel Glasses/Morale" combo handle the other two.

"Weather Remix" has little effect on this battle unless you're trying to stall the Bombs with Freeze or Stun; in that case, beware of Medipacks curing their ailments.

Alt Battle 10: Bats and a Dragon mk.4

The Battle Arena's penchant for pairing Bats and Dragons continues in the Foe Remix version of Lance's (possibly) final wave; this time, it's two Snow Bats and a fearsome Omega Dragon. The Bats should be taken out immediately (Plasma Wave or Plasma Field work well), turning the fight into a one-on-one affair; at that point, Lance can stall the Dragon out with judicious use of the Fairy.

Building resistance to the Omega Dragon's diverse offensive arsenal is extremely difficult, but remember that everything aside from its basic Bite attack is magic-based, and it stops using Bite after losing half of its health. At this point, the Fairy can be replaced with the Shell Armor's on-Defend Enchanted for defensive purposes; alternatively, the Fairy can be paired with the Headband, which adds a strong Magic Defence buff to Lance's Defending alongside Holy and Fire resistances to dampen the Dragon's Megaflare attacks. Virus is another option to wear down the Dragon and hit its Bio weakness, which may prove safer than trying to go on the offensive against its more severe Dark weakness; if "Weather Remix" is active, be ready to reapply Virus whenever your enemy receives a Medipack.