Fallen Legion Revenants’ fourth Chapter really heats up the narrative whilst also nudging the mechanics up a couple of notches. Between floating castles crashing down to earth, trials, and literal deities, everything is all go, all of the time. It all starts with a bizarre callback to Chapter One, however.
Spring Heel Jack is very similar to a boss you have already defeated – New May Leader. What makes Spring Heel Jack so dangerous, however, is that despite having an exploitable elemental weakness, this guy is practically unkillable if you don’t know what you are doing, and he is the only boss thus far who is completely immune to Rushdown. He’s quite the tinker.
Spring Heel Jack’s Attacks
Spring Heel Jack is pretty straightforward for the most part. He is based on New May Leader, who in turn, was based on the basic Slaugh Gunner – a monster you have killed possibly hundreds of by this point. That doesn’t mean he isn’t a pushover.
| Attack | Explanation | Counter |
|---|---|---|
| Rifle Shot | This is Spring Heel Jack’s most basic attack. He fires his gun. | It’s nothing new, you’ve parried gunshots before if you’ve made it this far. Parry his shot, but don’t counterattack. |
| Elemental Change | Spring Heel Jack changes the elemental properties of his shots. He starts Neutral but can imbue himself with any of the three elements. | This will make Spring Heel Jack more (or less) dangerous depending on the Exemplar tanking any failed parries. You can’t stop it, just be prepared to tighten up your parries, or rotate your party so your frontline is not weak to whatever element Spring Heel Jack is peddling. |
| Spring Heel Swoop | This attack is Spring Heel Jack’s most dangerous attack. It deals a massive amount of damage and comes out quickly. | Spring Heel Swoop can be parried, but the timing is incredibly tight. It is directly tied into defeating Spring Heel Jack (more on that in Mechanics) so you need to practice the timing if you want to come out on top. |
| Fake Shot | Spring Heel Jack occasionally fakes a shot and then cancels into Spring Heel Swoop. | This attack is just Spring Heel Swoop with a dash of deception. This version of the attack seems to come out faster which can mess with your timings. |
Spring Heel Jack’s Mechanics
The big gimmick with Spring Heel Jack is that he is practically immune to HP damage and he is incredibly resistant to BP damage. Not only that, but Spring Heel Jack also regenerates his BP at an alarming rate. From our testing, we are fairly certain it is impossible to Break Spring Heel Jack, which means you can’t rely on Rushdown attacks for damage.
The only way to damage Spring Heel Jack is to Perfect Parry his Spring Heel Swoop. This will briefly (very briefly…) stagger Spring Heel Jack. Any attacks whilst he is in this state will do increased HP damage. You have enough time to land a few attacks – maybe a Deathblow or two – before he recovers. You will need to Perfect Parry Spring Heel Swoop constantly if you want to beat Spring Heel Jack.
Which Exemplars To Use
Spring Heel Jack is weak to Shock, so any Exemplars that can deal with this element are ideal. At this point in the game, you should have access to Kali, who is an excellent DPS. Zulfiqar is also a great frontline (as per usual). Your backline can be anyone as most of your damage will be coming from Kali and Zulfiqar.
Remember to take Radiant Smite on Zulfiqar as it is one of his best Deathblows.
Battle Strategy
This fight is difficult if you can’t get the time down, and a cakewalk if you can. This fight is heavily tilted towards parrying – more so than usual. The trick is to not attack Spring Heel Jack unless you have landed a Perfect Parry on Spring Heel Swoop. Every other Perfect Parry will simply not stagger him, and he tends to counter melee attackers with Spring Heel Swoop, which can catch you off guard.
Once you have nailed the Perfect Parry on Spring Heel Swoop, you have a short amount of time to deal as much damage as possible. For this, you want to immediately counter with a Shock-infused Elemental Edge from Kali or Zulfiqar and then follow this up with Shock-based Deathblows. Our go-to was Radiant Smite.
Whilst this is happening, attack with basic attacks to build up some mana. You won’t have a lot of time as Spring Heel Jack recovers from Stagger incredibly quickly. If you are finding yourself low on mana, then consider filling your backline with an Exemplar who can summon a Mana Regeneration tile. This will provide passive Mana Regeneration, which will remove the need to make risky Mana Chains during the fight.
