Part 76: Just Deserts.
Overview: DesertMan is a boss with a cool concept and weakness. It's only a shame the whole "melt into the world" thing was never fully utilized. Just imagine if he could pop out of walls and the floor. SANDMAN, SON.
There are a couple of different ways to approach DesertMan. You can rely on one-hit wonders or soak him with an Aqua chip, which lets you follow up with multiple attacks very quickly. GeneralYeti showed the latter early on in this LP, but as a reminder, the basic premise is to use a water chip, then power up Tornado. DesertMan's own sand panels will double the hits on the Tornado chip, letting you rack up tons and tons of damage. Your biggest concern in the fight is the damn sand whirlpools. You have no way of knowing where they will pop up. Many times, they can generate under you, instantly ruining your S-rank. Bring a Shadow chip to nullify this problem.
What you need to be careful of is the sand panels underneath you. Here is what the field looks like:
S = Sand Panel
H = DesertMan's hand (with sand underneath)
P = DesertMan's pillar(with sand underneath)
D = DesertMan
// = space between the panels
[S][S][S]//[H][P][S]
[S][S][S]//[S][S][D]
[S][S][S]//[H][P][S]
For this reason, I highly suggest bringing a Repair chip or some stage changer. You may even want to set that chip as your regular for good measure. But if you're doing this, then you have the issue of speed. With no FullCust or FstGauge being preset, your turns are now 8.5 seconds each. Make up for this with the FstGaugeNCP. One important thing to note is that if you make holes, DesertMan will have a hard time switching locations. Something to keep in mind.
TopTier
: These chips do EVERYTHING for you. Block the hands, hit through all of DesertMan's defenses and deal good damage. Plus, if you can plan your attacks right, you can get a double hit with Totem2 or 3.
: With proper usage of these chips, most of the Library avoids the lowest tier for this. If you want to use ANY multi-hit chip, use this like they are going out of style.
: FANTASTIC. You could also make holes with these to prevent DesertMan from doing a whole lot. Great damage, fast, and goes through DesertMan's defenses. What's not to like?
: Just put one of these in DesertMan's area. You are now safe from just about everything.
: Hits through everything, deals good damage. Yum, yum.High-Average Tier
: Sextastic damage and great utility for this fight. The only flaws are that DesertMan and you need to have a clear line of sight (no damn hands or pillars in the way) and BubbleMan causes DesertMans mercy frames to activate. Meaning if you want to follow up with another attack, you have to wait out the frames. Waiting is bad when it comes to S-ranking, obviously.
: Spit flame, break everything. BURN THE SANDCASTLE!
: STRIKKKKEE!!
: DesertMan's AI just SCREAMS "use throwing chips!" IceBall even has the bonus of soaking him, allowing consecutive hits.
: A throwing chip and good damage. Use.
: Can be used defensively to clear the hands, or offensively to reset DesertMan's position.
: Just as effective as BigWave, only the slow start-up time prevents it from being top tier.
: Requires another chip to be effective, but still delivers orgasmic damage.
: The great thing is that you don't really need Aqua-element chips to make these work, it would just be a bonus.
: The only reason this isn't Top Tier is because these guys don't do shit on Sand Panels, thus they need another chip work work properly.
: With holes, DesertMan gets especially screwed over since he can't run to the other panels. But beware of his hands suddenly deciding to smash into you.Suck Tier
: Absolutely needs another chip to do anything meaningful. The long hang time is way, way too risky.
: It will be hard to use these when you want to due to pillar placement and such. Try not to use these.
: Okay, so you destroyed the hands for 7 seconds. Whoopie.
: Causes mercy frames to activate. Shitty compared to BubbleMan and even the Bubbler series.
: When DesertMan's own hands turn into stones, these can be used. Not worth the risk, however.Kicked Over Sandcastle Tier
: The hang time for this chip is TOO long. That, and DesertMan's setup could easily block this.
: MOMMY! HE KICKED OVER MY SANDCASTLE
: DON'T WORRY BABY, I'LL GET HIM!
: AW SHIT THE BULLY IS BEATING ME UP NOW!
: NOOO MOMMY!
DON'T WORRY GUYS WE'LL BEAT UP THE BULLY
: NOW MY GIRLFRIEND GOT STOLEN!
This setup uses FstGauge for my speed needs. That's because every folder I used for DesertMan had Repair* or GrassStage* set as my regular.
Here are the folders in order.
This is the folder I used to get the V3 chip.
Geyser C can be gotten very easily. Equip Untrap and go to Undernet 1, grab the Geyser W's located there. Repeat until you have 3 Geyser W. Chip Trade them. Go to Higsby's Chip Order system and purchase 3 Geyser C. Congratulations.
CannBall * is located in a post-game area's final area inside a green mystery data. Psst, use Untrap.
Repair is very easily gotten from Undernet 3's Green Mystery data.
BigWave J, RockArm3 C and RockArm 1 * and 2* are Custom Style S-rank rewards. Totem 3 should be obvious, as well as Condor.
This folder focuses on one-hit wonders instead of using Aqua chips to deal damage.
Throwing chips galore. Once again, this folder is more of a one-hit wonder with some water thrown in. This is what I used to get the V2 chip. Spice 3 F is an S-rank from Moshy viruses. Although, Spice 1* does the job just as well. FlamMan is here due to GrassStage synergy.
Only half of this folder is shown since it's otherwise the same as the V3 chip folder. AntiDmg C can be gotten from Higsby's Chip Order service. Go to the post-game area's final area, get plenty of AntiDmg S. Chip Trade those and order AntiDmg in C code from Higsby's Chip Order. Sensor 1 C is simply an S-rank in Blue version. Replace with RockArm C or some other filler if you're playing on White version. Tornado C is inside that purple mystery data Epee Em skipped in his updates. Do yourself a favor, go back and grab it. Now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqUJmZfqPII
Professional bully.
