The Pyromaniac boss in The First Descendant presents a significant challenge, known for its relentless fire-based assaults, flamethrower bursts, and burning chain attacks. Many players find themselves overwhelmed by this fiery foe. However, with the right strategy and approach, victory against the Pyromaniac in both Normal and Hard difficulty is achievable. This guide will equip you with the essential knowledge to overcome this brutal encounter.
The key to defeating the Pyromaniac lies in a combination of robust defense, leveraging Chill-element damage, and maintaining a safe distance to exploit its vulnerabilities. The Pyromaniac is primarily a close-range combatant in The First Descendant, making distance your greatest ally in this battle.
Essential Tips for Defeating the Pyromaniac
Here’s a concise overview of crucial strategies to effectively combat the Pyromaniac in The First Descendant:
- Chill Damage is Key: The Pyromaniac is significantly vulnerable to Chill-type damage. Exploit this weakness to maximize your damage output.
- Prioritize Defense and Health: Don’t solely focus on fire resistance modules. Enhancing your overall health and defense is crucial for surviving the Pyromaniac’s relentless attacks.
- Maintain Long Range: The Pyromaniac’s attacks are less effective at a distance, especially against agile targets. Engage from afar whenever possible to minimize damage taken.
- Grapple for Survival: The grapple ability is indispensable for evading the Pyromaniac’s chain attacks and quickly repositioning.
- Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: In group play, designate a fast Descendant to draw the Pyromaniac’s aggro, allowing other team members to focus on targeting weak points.
- Weapon Selection Matters: Opt for weapons that excel at dealing high weak point damage and rapidly inflict Chill or Frostbite status effects. Sniper rifles and pistols are excellent choices, as are machine guns capable of delivering consistent Chill damage.
These tips provide a foundational understanding for tackling this demanding boss encounter. Let’s delve into more specific details, starting with exploiting the Pyromaniac’s inherent weaknesses.
Exploiting Pyromaniac’s Weaknesses
The Pyromaniac’s primary vulnerability is to Chill-type damage, making it your top priority. Toxic damage serves as a secondary option, but focusing on Ice-based powers and Chill effects will yield superior results. If you have access to Viessa, she stands out as one of the best Descendants for this encounter due to her Chill-focused abilities. Alternatively, equipping your chosen Descendant with a weapon imbued with Chill damage, alongside modules like Chill Enhancement and Snowflake Conductor, can be highly effective. Upgrading these modules at Albion is highly recommended to amplify their impact.
Weapons that excel against the Pyromaniac fall into two categories: those with exceptional weak point exploitation capabilities, such as sniper rifles and pistols, and those capable of consistently applying Chill damage, like certain machine guns.
Furthermore, the Pyromaniac possesses several readily identifiable weak points: its shoulders, eyes, knees, and the heart. Given its relatively slow movement speed across the battlefield, there’s no excuse for not consistently targeting these vulnerabilities to maximize your damage output.
Strategic Combat Tactics Against the Pyromaniac
Prior to engaging the Pyromaniac, optimize your loadout by equipping as many Fire-resistant modules as possible, especially enhanced versions of the Heat Antibody module. However, your build strategy should extend beyond fire resistance. Prioritize a robust defense, maximizing fire resistance, increasing Max HP, and bolstering shield capacity. The goal is to transform your Descendant into a resilient tank. The Pyromaniac’s attacks are often difficult to dodge, making survivability paramount. Inevitably, you will take hits, and minimizing the damage taken is crucial for survival.
During the encounter, adopt a long-range combat approach. Similar to the Executioner boss, the Pyromaniac is slow-moving. While it can teleport and pull you closer with certain attacks, maintaining distance remains the safest strategy. Utilize available cover to shield yourself from the fireballs it launches. When the Pyromaniac unleashes its flamethrower, strafe laterally with speed or use your grapple hook to swiftly escape its reach.
The Pyromaniac also employs summons, deploying both smaller Hummingbird/Kingfisher robots and expanding circles of chains that inflict damage upon contact. Assign at least one player to consistently eliminate the robots, as they can inflict significant damage over time. Simultaneously, remain vigilant for the chain attacks. When these chains appear, the most effective countermeasure is to grapple to elevated positions, such as towers or floating debris, to avoid them entirely.
Mastering Frenzy Mode
In Frenzy mode, the Pyromaniac temporarily becomes invulnerable to standard attacks, taking no damage except from a specific weak point: the tube located on its back. Reaching this weak point can be challenging. The optimal tactic is for the player being targeted by the Pyromaniac to focus on evasion, drawing the boss forward while avoiding its attacks. This maneuver creates an opening for the rest of the team to position themselves behind the Pyromaniac and target the vulnerable tube. This principle of focused evasion and rear weak point targeting is generally effective against the Pyromaniac, and indeed many bosses in The First Descendant, but it becomes absolutely critical during Frenzy mode.
Conclusion: Fire and Ice Strategy for Pyromaniac Victory
By understanding the Pyromaniac’s weaknesses, prioritizing Chill damage and defense, employing strategic long-range combat, and mastering the grapple for evasion, you can effectively conquer this formidable boss in The First Descendant. Remember to coordinate with your team, focus fire on weak points, and adapt your tactics to overcome the Pyromaniac’s fiery onslaught. With preparation and strategic execution, victory is within your grasp.
