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| Death Crow | ||||||||||
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Death Crow is the boss of Simile Spring in Lento Cemetery. It appears before the party as they visit the spring to collect Simile water for the Simile flower picked by the young girl in Andante. It is accompanied by two Light Antique monsters.
Story[]
Death Crow menaces the party in the Simile Spring.
- Viola: "You know, we did kind of just barge in here all of a sudden. Now that I think about it, it may have just been protecting the graveyard against intruders."
- Allegretto: "Well, I'd feel kind of bad about that then."
- Falsetto: "Don't worry. The spring guardian is a spirit, so even it's gone temporarily, it'll go back to normal soon. Come on, let's get the Simile water and start heading back."
- — Falsetto reassures the party following the battle with Death Crow.
While visiting Andante, Allegretto, Falsetto and Viola meet a young girl who picked a flower that turned out to be a rare Simile flower. The flower is wilting because it needs water that can only be found at Simile Spring, a spring within the Lento Cemetery adjacent to Andante that is guarded by monsters. The party agrees to visit the spring in order to retrieve the water and solves a series of puzzles in order to reach the spring. At the spring, they are confronted by Death Crow, the spring guardian. After defeating it, Viola and Allegretto express regret, since it was simply guarding the spring, but Falsetto assures them that as a spirit, the Death Crow will soon return to normal.
Attacks[]
Eternal Sonata PS3 - Death Crow (Encore)
Video of the battle with Death Crow (PS3, Encore Mode, HD)
The Death Crow's normal physical attacks are a claw attack on all in range that can cause knockdown, or a double stab with its claws. It employs a range of powerful Special Attacks. Sweeping is a two hit tail attack on a single target that it can use when facing the opposite direction of the target. This is probably the easiest of its attacks to Guard against. Curdle is a powerful energy attack on all in range that can cause Stop status. Intake is a powerful close-range energy attack on all in range, and it can also hit targets standing behind it. Finally, it can use Warder's Call to revive a Light Antique for 10700 HP.
Strategy[]
Falsetto, battling the Death Crow, marked for damage by Viola's Hawk Eye
As the Light Antiques carry some powerful attacks of their own, they should be defeated first. The Death Crow may revive them, but this causes it to waste time it could otherwise be used for attacking, and they can easily be defeated again, since they are revived at low HP. The player is stuck with one party for this battle - Allegretto, Falsetto and Viola. As a new Chapter will begin following this battle, and the player will be switched to a new party, it is generally advisable to remove all but the junkiest accessories from the characters. Equipping the Hellstriker to Allegretto to place him in a powerful continuous Burst status is a good idea, and Falsetto should be using the Power Stroke, as this weapon carries a chance to inflict Slow status on opponents, including the Death Crow.
The battlefield is mostly in darkness, but unlike most areas of Lento Cemetery, there is a large swath of light across the middle, as well as the floating spirits that provide light. The item set should consist mostly of Angel Trumpets and Club Clovers, but it is a good idea to bring in a Poison Whitecap to poison Death Crow (use it once the Light Antiques are defeated to avoid accidentally targeting them). The Death Crow is rather resistant to poison, but not immune, and will take over 5000 damage per turn once the poison takes effect. If it fails, then reset and try again.
When not needed for Heal Arrow, Viola should be using Hawk Eye to mark the Death Crow for damage. The player should then build Echoes until they are at least 24 or 32. Once this target is reached, the player should then unleash a Special Attack using Allegretto, as his will do the most damage with his Burst status. Using this strategy, the Death Crow should fall in no more than three to four rounds. The main challenge is that there is only small location where it can be attacked, meaning that melee attackers, particularly Falsetto, must move in very close to attack. Viola's distance arrow normal attacks are likely to simply fail, but it is generally recommended to keep her at a distance anyway in order to avoid the potential catastrophe of having all three characters getting hit by the Death Crow's attacks. Some FAQs recommend levels as high as 26, but with the right strategy it can easily be defeated at level 21 or 22, or at even lower levels by a skilled player.
In Encore Mode, all of Death Crow's Special Attacks have the potential to be devastating in just a single hit. Build up Echoes to 32 prior to the start of the battle in order to be able to take out a Light Antique immediately with Falsetto. Bring in two or three Poison Whitecaps to increase the chance of poisoning it, as well as an Odd Chocolate and Fish Incense. If the poison status refuses to take effect, even with the extra Poison Whitecaps, reset the game and try again, but make sure to build the Echo count back up first. In Encore Mode, the poison status will do over 6000 damage per turn and is also extremely useful for causing the Death Crow to stagger at the beginning of its turn, sucking away time that it would otherwise be using to move and attack. If the party is overleveled, however, then it may not be necessary. Try to keep only either Allegretto or Falsetto close to the Death Crow at any one time to avoid the possible calamity of having them both fall at once. While it may be tempting to equip a character with the Onyx Bracelet to prevent Stop status, it is generally recommended to save it for the next Chapter. If the Stop status is a concern, then bring in a couple of Time Feather items instead. With this strategy and proper application of Guarding, a skilled player can defeat it at around the same levels as in a normal playthrough.
Trivia[]
Death Crow uses its Intake Special Attack on Allegretto and Falsetto.
- For winning the battle, the player is rewarded with an extended series of cutscenes, as well as third part of Frédéric François Chopin's life story sequence, "Fantaisie-Impromptu."
- In the original Xbox 360 version of Eternal Sonata, Falsetto makes no mention of the Death Crow being a spirit and simply states that she's sure things will be okay.