Abusing Funny Zaaro Weakness

IS-S-5 CM Defender Only, No 6 Stars
Zaaro's howl is one of the strongest phase 1 boss abilities. Although in EX-8 you can perfectly counter it with Shalem + Liskarm, it's much harder to setup Shalem turbo on S-5. If I tried spamming bodies, I would just run out of DP, and there's no way my Defenders can quickly kill his phase 1. Instead I exploited a different weakness: Zaaro can't howl again so long as there's an operator alive with the howl currently active. This means I can have Friston take the howl (He has low HP so % damage is weak on him) and have Bassline keep him alive for over 60s, delaying his next Howl tremendously while also using Bassline as bait for the next howl too, giving me time to actually beat the rest of the stage.
Although it's easy in principle it was extremely annoying because it relies heavily on the specific attack cycles and a small change can affect the timings a lot. Zaaros max howl kill a unit in under 4s so if my units end up with a bad cycle they're just 1s too late with their next heal and everything gets ruined. I was annoyed doing that part of this clear, but phase 2 tank rotations + rotating to kill the cleaners in phase 1 was a fun exercise in DP management. I cut out the cycle but in order to tank Zaaro Phase 2 you need to cycle Bubble Skill - Hung Skill - Bassline Skill + Cuora Deploy - Cuora Skill - Hung Skill - Basseline Skill + Bubble Deploy. Thankfully Vulcan's module lets me handle all the cleaners so I have plenty of DP to use.
Music: Phyrnna - Of Sand and Wind

[@xdmamakkopitiam8930]

How to handle phase 1:
Normally: don't.
Vanguards: praise mumu our lord and savior
Tums: *YES*

[@DarkSoldier2140]

Wake up babe, new DefenderKnights stall just dropped.
I always wondered if that mechanic in Zaaro's howl could be abused, since I never saw anyone do it before. The standard way to deal with it's to just delete Phase 1 (edited lmaoo, mb), so it felt like a wasted mechanic that was just there for decoration. To see someone finally take advantage of it is a pleasant surprise, great clear.

[@tumsYT]

It's really hard cause the DPS is so high and kills between 4s of no heals
Meaning if your medic ever heals something else (~2.85s interval) the unit is dead

[@ArkeusWolf]

Aurora's time to shine! She handles the cleaners surprisingly well. Okay, maybe it's not that surprising considering her kit and subclass, but I just like seeing my adorable soft-spoken polar bear being used.

[@Pirototype]

Common Friston W, my goat would never lose to a cringe lord like Zaaro

[@NoManIsland99]

no way vulcan mod being useful

[@Gavin-N]

I heard people talking a lot of Sh*t on Baseline but he seems to be just fine as a unit...great job!

[@SmokuZnadPotoku]

People like to sh*t talk about anything, regardless if it's meta or not, it's better just to ignore such talking and do whatever you want xD

[@dalgona4819]

He's good tho especiallyt for a 5* MALE defender? he's like a mini Nightingale but Defender

[@shiningnightmare5616]

​@@dalgona4819 Definitely. He can be a huge savior in stages with thousands of arts damage dealer (which is very common nowadays).
I won't say he's top priority unit but damn is he really helpful.

[@shiningnightmare5616]

​@@SmokuZnadPotoku And this is so true lol. Conversation about META is practically useless outside of guiding people who to prioritize raising first.
If you're an end game players, META barely matters as long as you have a workaround to clear the stage with available units.

[@SmokuZnadPotoku]

@@shiningnightmare5616 Yes, I agree. For example I built Bassline instantly when he came out and I didn't wonder if he's good or not. I'll just find a way to use him and it'll make me happy no matter what

[@noname-tw4mm]

from the hardest phase 1 in the game to the easiest phase 2 in the game, CM btw.

[@blxnks-_-7853]

I take Tums, pull up TH-cam to see tums 🗿🍷

[@pitagor2]

Yay, Shalem s1 usage

[@kevin427]

Bro really left in Phyrnna’s intro jingle cut off halfway 💀

[@adamvegas5951]

Friston “oh no I’m dying”
Bassline “don’t worry I will play the song of my people”
Also curious how tums feels about the new defender it’s like she was designed for invitation to wine instead of the aegir event. I’m guessing she’ll be good in IS modes but I need to test to be sure

[@sweetwolf965]

Niceee 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖✨✨✨

[@caitlin-from-pokemon]

VULCAN SWEEP

[@salesberuang4448]

You must be so tired after clearing this.

[@abrahamwijaya6631]

Zaaro has the weakest phase 2 boss i ever faced
Just zumama s2 and he's gone. With good medic of course....

[@user-ec9mp9kq4o]

not used☆5…？