How to Cheese Arch-Tempered Vaal Hazak (Monday Musings 50)

Arch-Tempered (AT) Vaal Hazak (VH) is upon us! Like the AT Kirin, AT VH hits very hard and can 1HKO, so I was surprised that I was able to defeat her on first attempt, though I carted twice.

General Guiding Principles
I would face AT VH solo as her health bar is reduced. In group, her health will be 2.5 times, and invariably, your teammates will faint three times, leading to defeat.
 
Whatever build you use, Effluvial Negate level 3 is a must. You simply don't have time to use Nulberry to get your life bar back to normal, and then heal after. By then, the Effluvial surrounding you would probably eat the rest of your health bar possibly killing you before you're able to heal.

Defense is absolutely crucial. Your armor should be fully augmented at maximum, because AT VH hits extremely hard. Despite my defense being 500s after all the food and item boosts, she has 1HKO with her Effluvial doing extra chip damage, leading to 1HKO before I can heal. Without the extra food and item boosts, I bet one of her attacks can easily 1HKO (even without effluvial damage) with my defense level in the 480s.

I would eat for Defense Large (to avoid 1HKO), and bring in the usual demon/armor drug, demon/hardshell powder, and might/adamant seeds.

The general combat strategy is to be very conservative since she can 1HKO, and remember you have 50 minutes which is more than enough time. Trading attacks doesn't work and can get you killed. 

What I did is after each of her attack, perform ONLY one combo, and then stop and guard (or roll/dodge if you're using other weapons) when she's about to attack again, in a plodding, methodical manner.

It's important to not get greedy and do not trade blows if you don't have your mantles on, because her swipes and when she runs over you were both able to 1HKO at vitality 150 when my powders and seeds ran out. This is the exact same method I use for Tempered and AT Kirin (regular Kirin you can kind of tank). 

Of course, if Vaal is stunned/paralyzed, or you have either the Temporal or Vitality Mantles on, you should spam your most powerful attacks.

When your health is very low, you may not have time to heal using the Mega Potions, before the Effluvial chip damage carts you, so I would just Farcast back to camp to regroup, or use max potion for the near instantaneous heal. I would abuse Farcasters and/or Max Potions for all of your healings. We're now in the big leagues, so Mega Potions don't quite cut it. Don't be stingy with your Farcasters and Max Potions, you can always replenish at the camp.

I actually have Farcaster or Max Potion ready, so I can just press Square (X on Xbox) to use for immediate access. I start out with using up the Max Potions, and then the Farcaster. Of course, if I Farcast, I replenish supplies.

I highly recommend the Lance. For me, when in doubt, I default to Lance, being easy mode. Indeed, I don't know how anyone can fight AT VH and Kulve Taroth with a shield-less weapon. If you can block AT VH's attacks, she's not that hard as long as you're not greedy. Further, with the Lance, you can be under her belly the whole time, shield up to guard, and when you attack, it invariably lands on her weak points.

If you're proficient with the lance, I found Guard level 3 and Guard Up sufficient, so you don't need to waste slots going to Guard level 5. However, if you don't use the lance, I would use your highest damaging weapon, and if possible one that has Health Regen augment, which really helps with viability.

It's highly recommended that you have Health Boost level 2 or 3, giving you more viability. I found at health 150, I've been fainting more than I'd like to, and actually failed a mission with a lower health bar.
If you're a Lance or Insect Glaive user, try to mount. AT VH is rather easy to mount, I usually get one in, most of the time 2 mounts.

Bring Mega Bombs x 2 and Small Bomb for the last phase. Astera jerky is vital in this last phase (see details below in Combat Specifics).
 
Mantles
Realize that if we're facing AT Tempered Elders (TE), we probably have high-end gear including the amazing Temporal Mantle. If you don't have the Temporal Mantle, I would bring in the Rocksteady Mantle instead.

I brought in the Vitality and Temporal Mantle (if not available, substitute Rocksteady) and switch between the two in an aggressive manner. It's amazing how helpful they are, mitigating all damage so you can aggressively tank VH. Of course, if mantle's not on, abuse the conservative method of attacking only after she attacks, spamming only when she's incapacitated.

Palico Gadget and Weapon
Most likely your Meowlotov Cocktail is at level 10. I found this incredible in the VH fight since my Palico Niki's Mewlotovs have staggered her rather frequently, and the fire element cuts down the Effluvial miasma surrounding her, even more than my usual high elderseal Nergigante weapons when I was battling regular Tempered (T) VH. Even though AT has even more Effluvial than T VH! I may consider using Meowlotov whenever I want to grind T VH for stream stones in the future.

In other words, you should use your most powerful weapon even if it doesn't have Elderseal! 

I would equip any paralysis or sleep weapons. Obviously, when she's asleep, you can sleep bomb.

Combat Specifics
Once you have these preparations in place, you're ready to face Vaal Hazak.

1. Spawn at Central Camp.
2. Pick up the Slinger Torch which is right by the Supply Box.
3. Vaal spawns in area 8 then moves to 9, so climb up the vines that are to the left of Supply Box and head to 8.
4. Once you see VH, consume your item buffs, equip mantle. Odogaron will invariably show up during this first phase, and they'll engage in a turf war. Attack and/or mount when your mantle is on. Sometimes, the turf war is near the Palico who will trap VH if you mount her in area 9. But if both mantles are on cool down, use the conservative combat methods, or even safer, just watch, letting Odogaron attack VH.
5. Once Vaal's health is lowered sufficiently, she will move to area 12 or 14 depending on how much damage you and Odo inflict. Your camp will be on the way there, so replenish supplies on the way if needed.
6. If she moves to area 14 and you forgot to pick up the torch pod at camp, there's a pile of stones that you can equip right before entering the area. This is vital! Slowly creep up into the area, she will be sitting directly under a boulder (they look like large VH cracked fangs). You can snipe the boulder, doing a massive 928 damage! I would not attempt the second, b/c positioning and luring her to the other boulder, I can see myself fainting, as that has happened to me many times when luring Lunastra and T Kushala Daora to the Elder Recess boulders, and AT VH is even more dangerous than them.
7. Once her health is lowered enough, she will move to her nesting area 16. Unlike the other VH variants, she will nest in the acid pool! If your vitality mantle is on, it's safe to just sleep bomb her with your Megabombs x 2 and using Small bomb as ignition.
8. If you do NOT have Vitality mantle ready, you still can sleep bomb, but almost all of your health will be red by the time you do so and get out of the acid pool. Therefore, make sure you have your Astera jerky equipped so you can immediately press Square (X on XBox). Astera jerky will regenerate all the red portion of your health bar.
9. At the last phase, again, tank if you have mantle on, if not, use the conservative method if both of your mantles are on cool-down.

This worked really great with Lance, but non-Lance users, do you have any further recommendations against AT VH? 

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