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Mortal Shell: Virtuous Cycle - Harros, The Vassal

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Welcome!--to a series of attempts at the Mortal Shell DLC: The Virtuous Cycle.  This is the first in a playlist of runs where I attempt to complete a cycle with each Shell and each Shade. While I wanted to go down the list where the Foundling is listed first, I thought it a bit more appropriate to start with the game's first Shell considering the Foundling runs are entirely different beasts.

Heavy NOTE:  These runs will be completed using a file that has ALL of the Runic Gate upgrades maxed out, as well as the familiarity upgrades unlocked (this is required to use the other shades anyway) as it makes the runs considerably more forgiving and in my opinion, a far more enjoyable experience as a result.

===Cycle Run Details===
-Shell: Harros
-Shade: None
-Weapon: Hallowed Sword
-Riposte type: Heal
-Seed: Random (581270)
+
-Lute: Simple (HP+30)

Sections:
0:00 - Setup
1:20 - Fallgrim
28:06 - Shrine of Ash
41:11 - Crypt of  Martyrs
58:26 - Seat of Infinity
1:21:23 - Finale

Run notes:
A rather standard run in the Cycle with Harros with the exception of the heavy emphasis on exploration.  Since this is the first run, I wanted to take this opportunity to demonstrate routing for each of the levels which added quite a bit to the total run time.  Because of this, as the video clearly shows, I built up an arsenal of useful and powerful instincts throughout the run and tried to demonstrate as many of their uses as I could.  Of course, there could've been more to find in the areas, especially in the Seat of Infinity, but I definitely will not be going out of my way to find every tower and item in future runs as I did here.

As for the run itself; The beginning is always rough considering how little the player has access to.  Nearly lost the run in the absolutely packed Fallgrim camp area, but stabilized after that.  Once I got access to Heavy Attack Damage+ and Close Call instincts, the latter bosses did not stand much of a chance.  It figures I would struggle more against solo Eredrim than getting ganked by Solomon and Harros.  Regardless, the last fight went rather well.

In case anyone out there is looking for help completing runs, I'll add some general advice in this description:

1. Without a doubt, the number #1 priority for these runs is maxing out the Runic Gate upgrades.  You will see a host of colored, higher rarity instincts replacing what would be common ones once done.  There are plenty of videos on how to optimize grinding out Tar and Glimpses to do this.

2. Enemies thankfully have a massively reduced aggro/pursuit range in this mode compared to the campaign.  This allows most enemies to be easily avoided; in fact, if they're not guarding a tower, path, or item, they should just be ignored.  Certain exceptions such as pesky ranged attackers definitely warrant attention, but it's really not worth trying to farm drops/tar off of everything.

3. Do NOT neglect the other riposte types.  While the healing should be prioritized when needed, the others can perform in useful ways.  The Inflamed (awarded from Imrod) type is a very useful crowd control tool, and is instrumental in the second phase of the Corrupted Seed fight.  The Knotted (awarded from Crucix) type allows for a massive damage opportunity, specifically on enemies/bosses that do not get staggered after a riposte. The Crystalline (awarded from Tarsus) type.. Admittedly, I haven't really found much of a use for this one.  It's just damage and doesn't really have much of an edge over the other types.

4.  As for the bosses, arguably the most important part of runs to get right, a lot is going to depend on the player's experience with them.  Imrod and Tarsus can be pretty manageable as long as harden is used optimally.  Crucix needs to be taken carefully in the second phase as his attack animations (intentionally or not) cancel near the end of each one, allowing him to chain them together.

5. Which brings us to the Corrupted Seed fight.  There's a ton to say about this fight, but i'm running out of space so i'll list the most important bits:
a.  Most importantly, keep track of their harden cool downs!  The bosses are restricted the same way the player is.  They are nearly defenseless outside of roll spam when their harden is on cool down. When 1v1, the fights can be taken slowly but carefully by baiting out the seeds to use their harden, letting it run out, then letting them stagger themselves on your harden for a free punish with no retaliation.
b. 2v1 second phase will heavily depend on who is in the fight as Harros' attacks, for whatever reason, don't seem to be parryable.  Equip the Inflamed riposte and bait out these attacks for easy parries:
Eredrim: Running attack
Solomon: Heavy attack 1 or 2
Tiel: Running attack 
c. Make use of your consumables!  Scripture of Defiance will ensure you never run out of resolve provided you have 1 bar left (moonshine is a rather rare resource), and pairs nicely with Scripture of Euphoria.

Thanks for watching!

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