My first guide.. bear with me. Add your own strats/tips to the mix if you'd like :) Constructive comments/critiques are welcome as well.
Intro
So... you're sick of dying at blood lord, and you want some help. Or maybe you're not sick of dying but you wanna see how people complete the mission with that camp buff still active. "All they do is blink/HS/slip all the time! That's why they don't die!" Probably.. but hey, maybe they're actually not?
Part 1: How the heck do I dodge his "insta blink strikes?"
A) As a preparation, break all the objects on the map as soon as you can. This ensures that you don't get stuck when trying to run
B) When he disappears, immediately WALK backwards (yes, backwards, unlike your standard right/left on most bosses like Red Tyrant) WHILE moving your mouse to the left at a constant rate. It's better to have high sensitivity on your mouse for this. So yes, essentially you are running in a circle counterclockwise.
C) When he appears, immediately RUN to your right while keeping the camera faced on him. Your next step is determined by what attack he does.
1. Downward strike from the air: Here, you can stop running and walk in circles around him until his next attack
2. Bear Hug attack (the one where he lights his hands on fire and does a charge at a medium distance): Continue running to the right until his attack finishes. Then follow up with an LLR. Do no hop after. As, this leaves you temporarily immobile for him to do a quick Glide Fury. If he does do a glide fury, blink away. If he doesn't, resume running circles around him until his next attack. *****The reason for part B's tip is strictly due to this attack. By running in circles and backwards, you get to see exactly what he's doing to do (he ALWAYS spawns behind you) AND you create a good enough angle that he'll miss. Simply running backwards and then to the right does not effectively dodge this attack.
3. He puts his head down. Keep your distance (you can walk now) until trigger animations which include:
- Rises in the air: Either run away from him at a large distance and drink a pot, repair, eat pizza, chat w/ guildies OR run just under him and do an LLLLR immediately. Make sure you don't run into his body, as this damages you. Wait till there's enough distance between you and him that you don't touch him. When doing the Bloody Thread sequence, have your first swing go in one direction, and the 2nd swing in the exactly opposite direction, third swing in the same direction as first swing, etc. This ensures you hug his center relatively closely so you don't get hit by the fireballs being blown up all around you. Once you've gotten Bloody Thread and hopped, cast it immediately while walking around him circles again. Wait for his next attack move.
- Stationary fury swipes. Do an LLR or LLLR depending on how good your reaction time is. But keep your distance. Takes a bit of practice to know his reach (and also your reach too).
- Gliding fury swipes (Similar to Lann's furious seven SP attack)- Not much you can do here. Ready a spear if you have em and throw it when he screams after his attack set. Get a headshot for extra credit.
4. Single Gliding Fury: Continue running right until he finishes his attack. Immediately shift the camera to face him again, then approach him again and run in circles. There may be time to do an LLR, but it's a gamble.
5. Single Gliding Fury PLUS
- Bear Hug attack: you know he's doing to do a second attack when he continues to hunch over after his first attack. When you realize this fact, charge up a fire mine while running right and slightly SOUTH. After he finishes his hug, change your direction to face him and cast that immediately blows up or blows up when he turns to face you again. The timing of the fire mine cast and also running in the precise direction(s) is tricky, but the result is a blown up fire mine that does more damage vs. LLR. Of course, substituting LLR is fine too if this strat is too technical.
- A second Gliding Fury: The same applies here except run right and slightly NORTH.
Part 2: Other Battle Tips
1. When he does his stationary double swipe, LLR.
2. When he does his firebreath, teleport NE so that you're to the right of him. Run a little bit more so that your facing his backleft (His fire breath attack angle changes midway in the 70-90 degree range so you need to compensate) And do a LLR MAKING SURE you keep enough space between him and you so that your body doesn't touch his when you land the attack.
3. When he hunches over at a 90 degree angle (this is different from putting his head all the way down), hit him at close range with either LLR or LR+Life Drain. This is the Blood Lord move that makes the screen go white.
4. When he grunts, you have enough time to do a LLLR. If he attacks right away, blink out. If he teleports out, Mark of Death it. There isn't enough time to Mark of Death him if he attacks right away.
Some other things to note:
- When you charge up your fire mine. You WILL ALWAYS cast it as long as you hold the right mouse button and an arrow key. Situations include: You've just been knocked down, you're hopping, you're teleporting, whatever. It's a pretty cool effect to get knocked down and then have Evie suddenly be up again casting the mine.
- Watch your stamina. The last thing you want is do an awesome LLLLR + Bloody thread when he's knocked down, and then realize afterward you don't have enough stamina to blink from his subsequent bear hug.
Hope these tips help, and send that Blood Lord back to Hell!