General tips, special boss encounters and builds for the final boss of each game mode in Cauldron are detailed in this guide.
Combat Guide: Best Builds, Boss Strategies & Battle Tips
Unlock the full potential of your party in Cauldron with this comprehensive combat guide. Learn optimal builds, boss fight strategies, and effective spirit tree setups to conquer even the toughest enemies.
Essential Combat Tips for Beginners
Mastering the basics is crucial before diving into advanced tactics. Here’s how to get started:
- Understand Status Effects
- Use the in-game “Battle Help” menu to familiarize yourself with all status effects.
- Pay attention to enemy immunities, resistances, and behavior using the “Check” command during fights.
- Manual Combat Adjustments
- Turn off auto-battle and reduce the battle speed (e.g., from 32x) when struggling with a fight.
- Examine enemy stats like high armor or dodge and adjust your strategy accordingly.
- Party Management Tips
- With auto-party build enabled, your party members receive pre-built configurations and auto-spent talent points.
- Don’t rely blindly on auto-AI — some character AI presets are intentionally suboptimal to encourage manual customization.
- Victory Conditions
- A pyrrhic victory (where both your team and the enemy die simultaneously) still counts as a win.
Optimization Tips for Battle and Auto-AI
- Ring Effects
- Rings enhance not only basic attacks but also multi-hit and area-of-effect (AoE) skills.
- AI Behavior Fixes
- Example optimizations:
- Set Cleanse to always use special attacks
- Set Huntress to always use skills
- Tankston’s special ability can be critical in prolonged fights
- Healing Strategy
- Set your healing threshold above 50% to ensure survivability in multi-wave battles.
Thor Mechanics Explained
Understanding Thor’s unique combat mechanics is key to using him effectively.
How Thor Works
- Skill: Transforms himself into another character.
- Special: Transforms the entire party.
- Recommended Setup:
- Set Skill to “Always”
- Set Special to “Never”
- Use the Copy feature in the auto-battle menu to choose who Thor replicates.
Optimizing the Spirit Tree
Maximize your spirit investment by following these guidelines:
- Flat vs. Spiky Distribution
- A flat (broad) distribution of spirit is generally more effective than a spiky (narrow) focus—unless targeting specific effects.
- Reallocate your spirit tree when facing specialized challenges.
- Spirit Fishing Tips
- Spirit fishing offers infinite rewards but yields diminishing returns.
- Most players find that stopping at 20 cumulative spirit is efficient.
- Don’t grind beyond 200 spirit unless you’re still enjoying the process.
Leveling and Difficulty Scaling
- Mini-games provide reliable experience boosts.
- If you’re struggling against a “green” enemy, it’s likely a hidden boss encounter.
Auto-party builds may require significant grinding to brute-force boss fights, but with smart strategy, you can save hours.
Boss Encounter Strategies
Armored Slime (Right-Center Map)
- Replace Ticktock with Buffy
- Equip Bleed Ring to Huntress (Unlock via Chop)
- Set Huntress to “Always Skill” and Cleanse to “Always Special”
- Respec spirit tree for Bleed and Basic Attack Damage
- After victory, reset spirit tree to a more balanced build
Healing Slime (Bottom Right)
- Equip Bonus Stack Staff to Nyx
- Follow the same steps used for the Armored Slime
Necromancers
- Strategy A: Use Froggy’s Special with Buffy + Thor to wipe them simultaneously
- Strategy B: Respec into Lightning Stacks to kill summoned adds instantly
Ghosts
- Use Cleanse’s Special to apply Chill, which prevents their dodging
Vengeance-Type Enemies
- If the fight is a single wave, dying simultaneously is still a win
- Prepare for high-damage death effects
Dragons
- Equip Elemental Rings:
- Lightning on tanks
- Single-target statuses on Hearth
- Set Huntress to “Target Most Health”
- Use Froggy’s Special to eliminate adds
Arena Fight Tactics
Armored Slime + Bleed Build
- Replace Ticktock and Nyx with Buffy and Thor
- Equip:
- Stack-boost Staff to Buffy
- Damage Rings to Froggy and Huntress
Giant Ghost (Cold Ring, Self-Healing)
- Respec spirit tree to Elemental Statuses
- Unequip elemental rings for better resistance management
- Keep Cleanse set to “Always Special” to outpace healing
Massive HP + Vengeance
- Use Buffy + Thor with Froggy’s Special to kill all enemies at once
- For multi-wave battles, keep Revival Draught on Hearth
Jake Fight Loadout Strategy
Prepare differently based on the game mode:
General Spirit Strategy
- Maintain 200 Spirit in most modes
- For Evil mode, consider grinding the 50-floor arena for extra Spirit using the same Jake build
Standard & Tougher Enemies
- Set Thor to copy Hearth
Double Trouble Mode
- Spirit tree: Focus on Bleed and Poison, spread across first four columns
- Watch out for Vengeance waves—adjust Hearth’s talents for maximum Dodge
Evil Mode
- Spirit tree: First four columns flat, rest into Lightning
- Expect multiple Vengeance waves
- Manually spec Hearth for Dodge and Survivability
