General

Its a lot easier if you used a controller (i personally use an xbox controller and i got the hang of it after a few seconds of practicing).

@bxtduy: Best of luck. I feel it makes Phantom bossing more interesting actually.

@trollburt: http://imgur.com/yar90Sa
My key config is shifted because I haven't been bossing on my Phantom but yea, this should be similar to what it used to be.

Nothing spectacular. I use my index, middle, and ring finger on my left hand quite comfortably.

@Cherrytigers, great I'll try this out right now

Also, do you mind screenshotting a picture of your keyboard layout? Would probably help to see which key are best for hand placement. Thanks!

@trollburt: This comment I'm making goes along with the first reply I made on this thread when I said that most bowmasters/phantoms don't understand the capabilities of arrow blaster.

Most of my friends had an issue with their jump button. My recommendation is to simply tap the jump instead of holding it. That should fix the problem.
Make sure to continue holding the arrow blaster button. Tapping the NPC chat button should finish it off.

Other recommendations for you are to also add the left or right button to the jump. Arrow blaster is somewhat redundant when just jumping for the sake of jumping. It's used to re-position yourself in a more favorable position in a boss fight.

Also, when you are used to jump + casting, I urge you to do other practice things such as going on the top of a cliff, jumping off while casting arrow blaster, summoning the turret, and flash jumping back on the ledge so you don't fall off. It's hard, but it gives you true mastery of jump casting.

Finally, after you are used to that, the last part of arrow blaster that many people lack is quick casting. It's easier than jump casting actually, but quick casting is useful when you're in a rush and need to inflict fast damage. Basically, as you are flash jumping towards something, the moment you land on the ground, you hit arrow blaster, then a split second later, hit NPC chat, and you'll quickly summon a turret without much delay, and afterwards, continue your flash jumping pattern.
Very useful in things such as gollux where you need to cast a quick turret on the bottom row to stop the mobs.
Also, VERY useful in Dojo if you are trying to increase your time.

These will all be in a video sometime in the future. Prob will be in a whole month or so LOL considering how slow I am with YouTube lately.

Hope this helps! Cheers!

@CherryTigers Why do I find myself considering every post you make pure gold? srsly tho no nuthug

Forreal tho, can you explain how to cast arrow platter in mid-air? I've done it several times using my arrow platter key (r) then jump then ctrl but after attempting like a couple of times. I assume that if I fail to cast it at the right moment and instead get stuck, ill die against a boss. Plus I find that for some reason I lag a bit when playing this darn 2-d game so I sometimes get the timing off -_-

Any help would be appreciated

@bxtduy: Shroud Walk does have application in chaos vellum. If he's taking a deep breath, it might be strategically useful. Also, if you're cornered and Vellum is shooting 3 fireballs, you can time your shroud walk and get past him before a fireball hits you. Also useful if spikes are about to fall and he's about to do a wide jump on you and you need a quick escape.

Shroud walk has absolutely no application in chaos pierre or von bon.

In queen, you theoretically could use it to escape her flame attack, but penombre does a better job. Same for magnus. Penombre would be better.

Shroud walk is useful in gollux to climb up the second row and 3rd row for the eye/forehead.

@tecul1: Penombre should not be looked at as an attacking skill, but rather, as a teleport. It is the instantaneous movement that allows you to go between chaos vellum if you're in a sticky situation (which should occur every 30 seconds at least)

In chaos pierre, when hats are falling and pierre is about to get in front of you to hit you, you need penombre to teleport between the hats and him.

You're in gollux, breath is coming, Rapier Wit and flash jump will make it so you get hit. You need penombre to [b]teleport[/b] to safety.

Hard magnus, he's about to knock you back into a blue ball. He's rushing you. Penombre to jump behind the blue ball and away from magnus' sword. Follow that up by a jump, mid-air arrow blaster cast, and mille him.

Chaos queen. She key reversed you, and you're in a pit of damage over time that she casted, then she's bent over in her "I'll destroy you all," mode. Penombre to safety. Penombre is used in queen and pierre to fix the problem of them key reversing you.

Chaos von bon, He launched a 1 hit OP ball of light at you. Penombre to get behind him and continue attacking him. This is a necessary skill to keep the clock at 10.
He teleports and is about to do the tornado attack. Penombre to back off, and proceed by a jump cast of arrow blaster and normal blaster.

Name a boss, and I'll tell you how to properly do it on a Phantom.
If it's "too slow," then you're doing it wrong. It's an insanely fast escape which increases Phantom survivability and bossing by so far. The fact that Phantoms have this skill put them on top.

[quote=CherryTigers]It's not a trick. It's a necessity in Phantom/bowmaster bossing.

This is very necessary while dancing with hard magnus, chaos pierre, von bon, vellum, and dojo.

Most phantoms/bowmasters cannot attack properly. Will upload video about this topic later after I get a new external hard drive.
Phantoms need to use Penombre (as displayed in this video. EXCELLENT control)
And bowmasters need to use their [b]2nd[/b] job jump back and shoot arrows attack to avoid things. Most bossers do this painfully incorrectly.[/quote]

Fixed js. Also Penombre is too slow for my tastes. I'd rather just stop and walk instead of incorrectly placing myself.

Covering Fire is great for movement, but again can accidentally cause deaths if not careful enough.

And, some people just live toofar away from the servers to jump cast turret.

@wingless666: It's not about increasing height. Only in vellum would you need to increase height.

The necessity comes in casting speed and movement speed.
Arrow blaster is associated with being a stationary skill. Stand and shoot, which is obviously not good in many of these bosses. By having the ability to "move" and shoot, you've increased the usefulness of the attack.

Also, by being able to cast it in mid air, you will be able to re-cast it faster, escape faster, and overall, increase your survivability.

It's what some consider a minute detail, but in these tough bosses, every little detail counts.

[quote=CherryTigers]It's not a trick. It's a necessity in Phantom/bowmaster bossing.

This is very necessary while dancing with hard magnus, chaos pierre, von bon, vellum, and dojo.

Most phantoms/bowmasters cannot attack properly. Will upload video about this topic later after I get a new external hard drive.
Phantoms need to use Penombre (as displayed in this video. EXCELLENT control)
And bowmasters need to use their 3rd job jump back and shoot arrows attack to avoid things. Most bossers do this painfully incorrectly.[/quote]

I honestly didn't even know that was possible, tried it this afternoon and realized i'm not to
good at jump attacking in general. I can understand all the bosses except chaos pierre. When
do you need the increased height for him?

ahhh, didn't know that applied to platter, pretty cool and useful for a lot of bosses then. thanks!

It's not a trick. It's a necessity in Phantom/bowmaster bossing.

This is very necessary while dancing with hard magnus, chaos pierre, von bon, vellum, and dojo.

Most phantoms/bowmasters cannot attack properly. Will upload video about this topic later after I get a new external hard drive.
Phantoms need to use Penombre (as displayed in this video. EXCELLENT control)
And bowmasters need to use their 3rd job jump back and shoot arrows attack to avoid things. Most bossers do this painfully incorrectly.

Yeah, its like jump casting any other skill that can't normally be done mid air. Press both jump and arrow blaster at the same time and if you see the start up animation for blaster, press NPC chat before you land. I discovered this on accident a few months ago and it takes a bit of practice but once you get used to it its fairly easy.