Darkest Dungeon II – Master the Mountain: Defeating the Seething Sigh

“Master the Mountain: Defeating the Seething Sigh” is a comprehensive, in-depth guide that aims to fully equip players for one of the most challenging boss battles in Darkest Dungeon II.

Preparation

Note: Credit goes to James Jedi

Knowing that the Seething Sigh is located in The Mountain, use this predictable location to your advantage. Invest in inn items like “Apples and Cheese” (which gives you +20% max health and 5% Debuff Resistance) and “Restorative Herbs” (which increases the amount of healing you receive). Also, don’t forget to bring along combat items that heal health, reduce stress, or remove negative tokens.

• Trinkets that increase damage: High damage output can help quickly clear ‘Inhale’ tokens from the lungs and reduce the Seething Sigh’s health.
• Trinkets that increase debuff resistance: To resist the Blind and Stress debuffs from the boss’s Blind Rage and Hysteria attacks.
• Trinkets that increase speed: High speed characters can attack the lungs before the boss has a chance to use Sundering Exhalation.
• Healing items: Having a good stock of healing items will ensure your party can sustain through the boss’s attacks and keep ‘Inhale’ tokens in check.
• Stress healing items: These can help manage the stress caused by Hysteria and Sundering Exhalation.

Dealing with the Lungs

The lungs, while inanimate and immune to damage over time effects, are key to this battle. They accumulate ‘Inhale’ tokens, which empower the Sigh’s Sundering Exhalation. To prevent this, regularly deal damage to the lungs to remove these tokens; for the front lung, you need to deal 12 damage, and for the back lung, 9 damage. The lungs cannot be moved, so make sure to have some back-line hitters to take care of the rear lung.

Balancing Damage

Balance is crucial for victory in this battle. Make sure you are damaging the Seething Sigh’s core as well as its lungs. Neglecting the core will slowly whittle down your party with regular attacks. Conversely, neglecting the lungs risks being hit by the devastating Sundering Exhalation attack.

Utilizing Status Effects

Despite the Sigh’s high resistances, status effects can still be your friend in this fight. For example, blight or bleed attacks can steadily damage the Sigh’s core, giving you more time to concentrate on the lungs.

Countering Special Attacks

• Sundering Exhalation: This move is triggered when a lung holds an ‘Inhale’ token at the end of a round. To counter this, prioritize attacking the lungs to remove these tokens. The front lung needs 12 damage, and the back lung needs 9 damage to remove a token.
• Blind Rage: The Seething Sigh uses Blind Rage when its core health is 50% or less, blinding your heroes and setting up combos. Keeping a hero with debuff-removing abilities can mitigate the Blind status.
• Hysteria: This attack causes Stress and can shuffle your team, which can be disruptive to your strategy. Make sure to have a hero with stress healing capabilities, and try to maintain a formation where shuffling has a minimal impact.
• Dying Light: This attack is strong against heroes with combo tokens. Avoid setting up combos when the Seething Sigh’s health is low, or prepare to heal a large amount of damage.

Phase Breakdown

• Phase 1: At 100% to 70% health, focus primarily on damaging the core while keeping an eye on the lungs. They will only use ‘Shallow Breath’ which adds one ‘Inhale’ token to a single lung.
• Phase 2: At 70% to 30% health, the boss starts using ‘Deep Breath’ which adds ‘Inhale’ tokens to both lungs. Be vigilant about damage distribution during this phase.
• Phase 3: Below 30% health, the boss will use ‘Deep Breath’ continually. Damage mitigation and rapid removal of ‘Inhale’ tokens becomes critical here. ‘Blind Rage’ will also start applying combo effects if the core is at or below 50% health.

Tips and Tricks

• Stress Management: Having a hero with stress management skills in your party is crucial to combat the stress damage from the Sigh’s attacks.
  
• High Single-Target Damage: Prioritize heroes that have high single-target damage to rapidly deplete the health of the lungs and prevent Sundering Exhalation.
  
• Keep Health High: Be prepared to heal often. Keeping your party’s health high can prevent sudden knockouts from the Sigh’s powerful attacks.
  
• Turn Order: Pay attention to turn order. Try to damage the lungs just before the Sigh’s turn, leaving it less time to accumulate Inhale tokens.
  
• Item Usage: Save your most potent items for the latter half of the fight when the Sigh’s core drops to 50% and it starts applying combo effects.
  
• Defensive Abilities: Utilize defensive abilities or items that increase your party’s resistances to counter the Sigh’s status effects.
  
• Status Removal: Have skills or items ready that can remove negative statuses like Blind and Weak, which the Sigh frequently inflicts.
  
• Stun Resistance: Although the Sigh has high stun resistance, it’s not immune. If you have a hero that can consistently apply Stun, it could be worth trying to interrupt the Sigh’s actions.
  
• Backup Strategies: Always have a backup strategy. The fight against the Sigh can be unpredictable, and being flexible with your tactics can be the difference between victory and defeat.

Team Composition Suggestions

• Tank, Healer, and Two Damage Dealers: The Tank character can absorb the majority of the Seething Sigh’s attacks, preventing them from reaching your more vulnerable heroes. Meanwhile, the Healer can keep your team’s HP topped up, and the Damage Dealers can focus on destroying the lungs and damaging the core.
• Bleed and Blight Focus: Although the Seething Sigh’s lungs are immune to damage over time effects, its core isn’t. Having heroes that can apply these effects can be incredibly useful, allowing your team to continuously damage the Sigh’s core while they focus on managing the lungs.
• Stress Management Team: Stress can be a significant problem during the fight with the Seething Sigh due to its stress-dealing attacks. A team with heroes that can reduce or manage stress, such as the Jester in Darkest Dungeon, can help keep your party from reaching their breaking point.
• High Speed Team: Characters with high speed can take more actions before the Seething Sigh, allowing them to damage the lungs and remove ‘Inhale’ tokens before the boss can use its Sundering Exhalation attack.
• Debuff/Control Team: Although the Seething Sigh has high resistance to debuffs, any that manage to land can be quite beneficial. Heroes with abilities that lower the Sigh’s attack, defense, or other stats can provide your team with the edge it needs to win.