Monster Train 2's Corruption Seraph Nerf is a Game Changer

Seraph Aeternus is the final boss that players will encounter during a standard run in Monster Train 2, and he comes in three forms. One of those forms is known as "The Dominant," and its primary interest is applying the corruption status effect to a player's units. This debuff in Monster Train 2 causes afflicted units to take damage at the end of every turn, equivalent to the number of corruption stacks that are applied to them, and it can be quite punishing.

Indeed, corruption is fully capable of bringing a solid run to a quick end, particularly one that relies heavily on low-health units, and it made The Dominant the most difficult Seraph form to beat upon release. While corruption Seraph can still be quite deadly, a recent update has made a significant change to the form, which should put the power of The Dominant closer to that of the boss's other two forms.

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By William Parks

How Monster Train 2's May 28 Patch Changed Corruption Seraph

On May 28, Monster Train 2 received an update that contained numerous fixes and adjustments, including a noteworthy tweak to Seraph Aeternus - The Dominant. Specifically, the patch made it so that corruption Seraph no longer applies his action trigger during Relentless, making the end of the fight much easier.

Fights with The Dominant prior to Relentless are exactly the same as they were before the update. As such, the change will not be apparent to players whose primary strategy when fighting corruption Seraph is to kill him before Relentless begins, and, indeed, that is a very good strategy to use.

For full clarity, Relentless is a state that occurs when the final wave is deployed, and it causes rounds of combat to continue until all of a floor's friendly or enemy units are destroyed. By contrast, combat that occurs prior to Relentless ends after every unit gets one turn, at which point enemies move up one floor. Relentless thus gives fights inevitable conclusions, as Monster Train 2 players will have just three rounds to deal damage to, and hopefully eliminate, the stage's boss before it reaches the Pyre and starts attacking it.

Prior to the update, corruption Seraph would perform his action every time he got a turn during Relentless. That action applies two stacks of corruption to every friendly unit on Seraph's floor, and the original version of The Dominant would do this repeatedly at the end of the battle. This rapid building of corruption stacks would cause low-health units to fall extremely quickly, and players who did not prepare specifically to deal with this scenario might not have many good options available to them.

How to Deal With Corruption Seraph in Monster Train 2

While the update's adjustment to The Dominant definitely makes fighting the form easier, players still need to be ready to deal with some amount of corruption. Indeed, corruption Seraph still applies the debuff to friendly units on its floor every turn before Relentless, and he even doubles corruption stacks on units that he strikes. Fortunately, there are several ways to handle the damage dealt by corruption, and players that employ some of the following Monster Train 2 strategies should be able to reach Relentless and bring down the nerfed version of The Dominant:

There are several unit upgrades in Monster Train 2 that are very useful against corruption Seraph. Titanite, for example, is great on front-line units, as it allows them to withstand the doubling corruption stacks due to The Dominant's strikes. Endless can also work wonders on a tank, as it allows players to repeatedly deploy the unit after it succumbs to the debuff. Additionally, simply putting health improvements on squishy units can dramatically increase their chances of surviving the corruption applied by the boss's action.
Certain clans in Monster Train 2, like Underlegion and Lazarus League, have units that are inherently strong against corruption. While players will not know that they are fighting The Dominant until after clan selection, those who are lucky enough to be using one of those clans may find the fight to be quite easy.
Spells that heal, apply armor, or give units damage shields are good for fighting back against the effect, and players should look for some on their way towards fighting corruption Seraph.
Spells that ascend, descend, or daze targets can also be helpful, as they can prevent The Dominant from using its corruption-inflicting action on key floors. This strategy is particularly effective when all the most important units are placed on the same floor.
If a player does opt to use that type of placement during Monster Train 2's deployment phase, they should put units that they do not care about losing on the other two floors. This will cause corruption Seraph to travel to those floors more often, giving the important units additional turns of reprieve.