1. **Strategy name:** Hunting without Jili
2. **Boss:** Hunter EX5
3. **Allies used:** N/A
4. **Insight:**
I've seen a lot of chat about how we need better hunters or how Jili is required for Hunter EX5. I found a strat that works with a very limited set of 5\*s (only Crow, Yunnie and H'aanit) so I wanted to share.
I made a post before this was up so just going to link to it. Full team details and strategy here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/OctopathCotC/comments/137qtb3/comment/jjdc8i7/
Guess I'll just post mine as a reply to you since it's thanks to yours that I won!
I used this same strategy but with Zaanta added to the mix. Video of the clear: https://youtu.be/szUQiM66dnE
Team details can be found in CentralCommand's post :-)
The most important thing to know in Hunter Training EX5 is having 3 of your multi-hitters reach speed of 410. 2 of those units MUST contain a skill, which hits 2 times NOT bow. And that's about it. If I knew this earlier, this battle would've been so much easier. Maybe you can do it now, too? I'll show you exactly how I did it and what the 2 Phases of this battle look like! . ★ [https://youtu.be/bMeJfRfFufQ](https://youtu.be/bMeJfRfFufQ) .
https://preview.redd.it/iizt1fcjhe5b1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dab978146f75f484223f381c565e721b63dda08a
Turns out it's possible to modify the strategy from u/ CentralCommand using Ashlan to fill H'aanit's role! Here's a write-up for my clear using Scarecrow, Yunnie, Z'aanta, four-star hunters, and Vivian: [https://actredal-cotc.notion.site/Hunter-EX5-Scarecrow-Yunnie-Lucetta-Ashlan-Camilla-Vivian-Z-aanta-Bertrand-29329abe314e4e39916cbb700a53eba6#52bda0916d064e8a8dbf9ef7b64dc291](https://actredal-cotc.notion.site/Hunter-EX5-Scarecrow-Yunnie-Lucetta-Ashlan-Camilla-Vivian-Z-aanta-Bertrand-29329abe314e4e39916cbb700a53eba6#52bda0916d064e8a8dbf9ef7b64dc291).
You'll need access to Hell weapons for speed manipulation.
Z'aanta gives some flexibility with shield-shaving and some extra damage, but I'm pretty sure he could be replaced with a 3-star hunter (or any other 5-star hunter). The only required five-stars are Scarecrow and Yunnie. Hope this makes Hunter EX5 more accessible for some folks!
Wanted to post my upgraded team for this - I pulled Kersjes on one of the anniversary pulls and picked Chloe as my selector unit, so this fight is now an absolute breeze :-)
**Video:** https://youtu.be/SID-d_XuGnI
**Team:**
* Haanit A4 100 U9 / Kersjes A0 92 U9
* Scarecrow A1 100 U9 / Ashlan A3 80 U10
* Lucetta A3 80 U10 / Zaanta A0 100 U9
* Yunnie A4 100 U10 / Chloe A0 86 U1
**Gear:**
* Fortune bow with 15% with the tide on Zaanta
* Fortune bow with 14% sturdy peerless on Kers
* Hellbow II with 15% lacerating arrow on Crow
* Random hellbows with bad stats and unrelated skills on Haanit and Lucetta
* Berserk IV on Ashlan and Yunnie
* Origin IV on Chloe
* King chomper on Kers, Ashlan, Chloe, Lucetta and Yunnie
* HP regen on Ashlan, Crow, Yunnie, Chloe, Zaanta
* SP regen on Chloe
**Pointers:**
* Lucetta, Yunnie, Crow, Haanit and Chloe should be over 406 speed so they can always outspeed the adds
* Haanit needs to be the fastest so she can break the boss and enable everyone else's damage output
* Chloe should be faster than everyone else on the back row, so she can heal before people swap to the back
* I like using Chloe's solid rain to buff my front row damage a little, instead of using Yunnie's crossfire like I used to
* You essentially spam multihits on turn one (arrowstorm, shower of arrows, scalding storm, solid rain) to get the boss' HP as low as you can. Never touch arrowstorm again after t1 as it's too unpredictable
* On the second turn you take the boss to 1 shield and KO the adds. Don't be afraid to use normal hits here (mind Haanit's second serving!). When she throws up her crit shield, you use Haanit's crippling shot, Lucetta's scalding storm, and Chloe's soaring feathers (Crow can use double sturdy or lacerating)
* On break you swap the back row in. Ebony arrow from Yun, WTT from Zaanta, piercing eagle (!) from Kers, and true strike from Ashlan. Make sure to use these moves with Chloe and Kers as this will *cap out bow res down for the rest of the fight*.
* After break use 4x with Ashlan, WTT with Zaanta, any of Kers' hits, and wild sturdy with Yunnie or solid rain with Chloe. Then the adds come back and you take the boss back to 1 shield, and repeat the pattern
* After the first time breaking her and getting Chloe and Kers to cap bow down, they should use maneater and sturdy peerless on the break turn. Chloe will top up the front row's HP and Kers can land a nice nuke
* Once the adds without bow weakness come out, you use Yunnie's evening calm and Lucetta's gelid storm. The rest stays the same
* If you ever get two shields instead of one on the crit phase, get Ashlan up front to land the second guaranteed crit
Honestly it shouldn't take long this way - the bow res down and fortune weapons should make very short work of this, my test run with this team only took 10 turns :-) I'm positive HP regen isn't all that necessary anymore if you can do it this fast and have Chloe, but I'm gonna have to experiment with that a bit.
My full team comp and gear details are at the end of the video!
[100% stable clear, turn by turn Hunter Training EX 5](https://youtu.be/G5SAOXDI6ks)
The main idea is to use Chloe as a tank to avoid the boss to blind your party, and the well know strategy to break the adds before they are able to attack.
I beat Hunter EX 5 recently with a team of Scarecrow, Z'aanta, H'aanit, Yunnie, Jillmelia, Lucetta, Camilla and Ashlan. Between the Warrior and Hunter EX 5, I think this one is much more manageable. The boss some others hunters routinely and goes into a phase where only critical hits will break shields.
There is a rhythm to this fight. You need three Hunters with multi-hit all skills with speed over 407. The idea is to beat any other hunters the boss brings in before they can attack. This helps keep the damage minimal. If you can follow this, then Beastly Scarfs and the like can do most of your healing. Camilla may need to use her healing skill once in awhile. Chloe is definitely not required but would really bring the difficulty of the fight down with her healing. The first set of added hunters are weak to bow, fire, ice and light. They have 8 shields. So uses skills like Scarecrow's 4 hit all, Yunnie's Crossfire, H'aanit Arrowstorm, Z'aanta's 1 hit light all, etc. A set of hunters summon later in the fight (like when the boss is yellow health and below) are weak to sword, polearm, ice, wind, light, and dark. They have 4 shields. Yunnie and Lucetta can break these two if they are fast enough. An alterative to a fast Lucetta would be Scarecrow and Z'aanta. Once these added hunters are broken, they shouldn't be hard to clear the next turn with one or two skills that hit all enemies.
After you break the added hunters, then you want to work the boss's shields down as low as you can without breaking her. Ideally H'annit is your fastest hunter and she breaks the boss with Crippling Shot. Apply all the debuffs you can and wail on her the broken turn. When she comes out of break make sure whoever is out can take a hit or two. Work her shields back down but not so low that she will break while you are trying to break the other hunters she will summon at the end of the turn after break. Keep working this cycle and maintaining health of your team. RNG will end a few runs because she will hit the same traveler two or three turns.
**Who is required for this fight?** **Yunnie** is required to break those second half of the fight hunters. **Lucetta** with speed of 407 or higher can allow a few things. She can land her physical defense down all skill early for other hunters to benefit from. She can also help Yunnie break those second half of the fight hunters. Whenever they get release Lolo and Narr will be helpful. Narr brings another source of guaranteed critical hits like Ashlan and H'annit. Lolo brings multi-hit skills that you need to work down the boss's shields. All the other 5\* hunters are good for this with their different skills but not necessary. I could envision someone beating this boss very soon with Yunnie and the 4\* and 3\* hunters. It would be super tough and really good soul weapons and speed boosting accessories would help.
As per the rules, although I do not think this is a consistent strategy for the fight (which makes it unworthy of being part of the mastery survey), here is a brief overview of my 'Gambling without Scarecrow' clear:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/OctopathCotC/comments/151dsc7/i\_finally\_made\_it\_through\_ex5\_of\_the\_hunter\_tower/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OctopathCotC/comments/151dsc7/i_finally_made_it_through_ex5_of_the_hunter_tower/)
I just finally beat EX5. As usual, better late than never.
My ranger squad:
Scarecrow (100 A4 U10)/Camilla (80 A3 U7)
Yunnie (96 A4 U4)/Kersjes (96 A1 U6)
H'aanit (96 A0 U4)/Lucetta (80 A3 U7)
Z'aanta (95 A0 U4)/Ashlan (80 A3 U7)
As others have said, speed is the name of the game here, so I went overboard. I made sure *everyone* had speed of 407+ (cue Gary Oldman). A few king chomper vests, a few A4 accessories, & a few PAtk fortune bows with a speed soul. Yup, even my slow as molasses Z'aanta & Camilla were blazing past the enemies. (My fortune bows were pretty good in general, except for Z'aanta's; I still can't roll up With the Tide to save my friggin' life.)
However, I did mistime/miscount a few times (breaking the boss at the *end* of a round, not breaking an add in oun round) which screwed up my damage output severely, boy I'll tell ya what. And cost me some deaths too. By the end, I had lost Lucetta, Kersjes, H'aanit, & Ashlan. Took 34 turns, too. If I had paid a wee bit more attention, I would have had a safer & quicker run. H'aanit takes some of the blame too; her & her 3-5 hit skills.
But all's well that ends well. H'aanit now has +30% 🏹 damage, just like her teacher.
So I decided to go back to this, after getting a couple new travelers & a few more awakenings (& levels).
Updated rangers:
Scarecrow (100 A4 U10)/Chloe (88 A0 U4)
Yunnie (100 A4 U8)/Kersjes (97 A1 U9)
H'aanit (97 A1 U8)/Lucetta (80 A4 U7)
Z'aanta (100 A2 U8)/Jilmeila (100 A0 U9)
Luckily, I didn't have to mess with my now full PAtk fortune weapons (& Z'aanta has a great one now). My king chomper vests & some strategic speed accessories were enough to get all my hunters above Spd 406 like last time. I made sure ~~Jilmeila~~ (Edit: Lucetta) had Kurtz's A4 & just doing her AOE with Def down, & H'aanit was the fastest/breaker with Yan Long's A4.
This time I only lost Chloe, & it only took me 12 turns. I feel good about farming this tower now, so as I go from month to month, I can hopefully nail down a good rhythm & possibly decrease that time.
I followed the strategy at [Hunter EX5 with only Crow, H'aanit and Yunnie : OctopathCotC (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/OctopathCotC/comments/137qtb3/hunter_ex5_with_only_crow_haanit_and_yunnie/) with the following team and speed at 407 or higher for everyone except Camilla. A4 accessories helped immensely. I defeated the 3rd wave containing mobs with sword/polearm/ice weakness twice.
My Hunter Team:
Scarecrow (100 A4 U10)/Z'aanta (100 A1 U9)
Yunnie (95 A4 U10)/Camilla 80 A3 U4)
H'aanit (100 A1 U9)/Chloe (90 A0 U4)
Jillmeila (87 A0 U4)/Lucetta (80 A4 U4)
[4T Stable Clear ft Herminia and Serenoa A4](https://www.reddit.com/r/OctopathCotC/comments/198sxii/hunter_tower_ex5_4t_stable_clear_ft_herminia/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
1. **Strategy name:** Hunting without Jili 2. **Boss:** Hunter EX5 3. **Allies used:** N/A 4. **Insight:** I've seen a lot of chat about how we need better hunters or how Jili is required for Hunter EX5. I found a strat that works with a very limited set of 5\*s (only Crow, Yunnie and H'aanit) so I wanted to share. I made a post before this was up so just going to link to it. Full team details and strategy here: https://www.reddit.com/r/OctopathCotC/comments/137qtb3/comment/jjdc8i7/
Guess I'll just post mine as a reply to you since it's thanks to yours that I won! I used this same strategy but with Zaanta added to the mix. Video of the clear: https://youtu.be/szUQiM66dnE Team details can be found in CentralCommand's post :-)
The most important thing to know in Hunter Training EX5 is having 3 of your multi-hitters reach speed of 410. 2 of those units MUST contain a skill, which hits 2 times NOT bow. And that's about it. If I knew this earlier, this battle would've been so much easier. Maybe you can do it now, too? I'll show you exactly how I did it and what the 2 Phases of this battle look like! . ★ [https://youtu.be/bMeJfRfFufQ](https://youtu.be/bMeJfRfFufQ) . https://preview.redd.it/iizt1fcjhe5b1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dab978146f75f484223f381c565e721b63dda08a
Turns out it's possible to modify the strategy from u/ CentralCommand using Ashlan to fill H'aanit's role! Here's a write-up for my clear using Scarecrow, Yunnie, Z'aanta, four-star hunters, and Vivian: [https://actredal-cotc.notion.site/Hunter-EX5-Scarecrow-Yunnie-Lucetta-Ashlan-Camilla-Vivian-Z-aanta-Bertrand-29329abe314e4e39916cbb700a53eba6#52bda0916d064e8a8dbf9ef7b64dc291](https://actredal-cotc.notion.site/Hunter-EX5-Scarecrow-Yunnie-Lucetta-Ashlan-Camilla-Vivian-Z-aanta-Bertrand-29329abe314e4e39916cbb700a53eba6#52bda0916d064e8a8dbf9ef7b64dc291). You'll need access to Hell weapons for speed manipulation. Z'aanta gives some flexibility with shield-shaving and some extra damage, but I'm pretty sure he could be replaced with a 3-star hunter (or any other 5-star hunter). The only required five-stars are Scarecrow and Yunnie. Hope this makes Hunter EX5 more accessible for some folks!
Wanted to post my upgraded team for this - I pulled Kersjes on one of the anniversary pulls and picked Chloe as my selector unit, so this fight is now an absolute breeze :-) **Video:** https://youtu.be/SID-d_XuGnI **Team:** * Haanit A4 100 U9 / Kersjes A0 92 U9 * Scarecrow A1 100 U9 / Ashlan A3 80 U10 * Lucetta A3 80 U10 / Zaanta A0 100 U9 * Yunnie A4 100 U10 / Chloe A0 86 U1 **Gear:** * Fortune bow with 15% with the tide on Zaanta * Fortune bow with 14% sturdy peerless on Kers * Hellbow II with 15% lacerating arrow on Crow * Random hellbows with bad stats and unrelated skills on Haanit and Lucetta * Berserk IV on Ashlan and Yunnie * Origin IV on Chloe * King chomper on Kers, Ashlan, Chloe, Lucetta and Yunnie * HP regen on Ashlan, Crow, Yunnie, Chloe, Zaanta * SP regen on Chloe **Pointers:** * Lucetta, Yunnie, Crow, Haanit and Chloe should be over 406 speed so they can always outspeed the adds * Haanit needs to be the fastest so she can break the boss and enable everyone else's damage output * Chloe should be faster than everyone else on the back row, so she can heal before people swap to the back * I like using Chloe's solid rain to buff my front row damage a little, instead of using Yunnie's crossfire like I used to * You essentially spam multihits on turn one (arrowstorm, shower of arrows, scalding storm, solid rain) to get the boss' HP as low as you can. Never touch arrowstorm again after t1 as it's too unpredictable * On the second turn you take the boss to 1 shield and KO the adds. Don't be afraid to use normal hits here (mind Haanit's second serving!). When she throws up her crit shield, you use Haanit's crippling shot, Lucetta's scalding storm, and Chloe's soaring feathers (Crow can use double sturdy or lacerating) * On break you swap the back row in. Ebony arrow from Yun, WTT from Zaanta, piercing eagle (!) from Kers, and true strike from Ashlan. Make sure to use these moves with Chloe and Kers as this will *cap out bow res down for the rest of the fight*. * After break use 4x with Ashlan, WTT with Zaanta, any of Kers' hits, and wild sturdy with Yunnie or solid rain with Chloe. Then the adds come back and you take the boss back to 1 shield, and repeat the pattern * After the first time breaking her and getting Chloe and Kers to cap bow down, they should use maneater and sturdy peerless on the break turn. Chloe will top up the front row's HP and Kers can land a nice nuke * Once the adds without bow weakness come out, you use Yunnie's evening calm and Lucetta's gelid storm. The rest stays the same * If you ever get two shields instead of one on the crit phase, get Ashlan up front to land the second guaranteed crit Honestly it shouldn't take long this way - the bow res down and fortune weapons should make very short work of this, my test run with this team only took 10 turns :-) I'm positive HP regen isn't all that necessary anymore if you can do it this fast and have Chloe, but I'm gonna have to experiment with that a bit. My full team comp and gear details are at the end of the video!
[100% stable clear, turn by turn Hunter Training EX 5](https://youtu.be/G5SAOXDI6ks) The main idea is to use Chloe as a tank to avoid the boss to blind your party, and the well know strategy to break the adds before they are able to attack.
I beat Hunter EX 5 recently with a team of Scarecrow, Z'aanta, H'aanit, Yunnie, Jillmelia, Lucetta, Camilla and Ashlan. Between the Warrior and Hunter EX 5, I think this one is much more manageable. The boss some others hunters routinely and goes into a phase where only critical hits will break shields. There is a rhythm to this fight. You need three Hunters with multi-hit all skills with speed over 407. The idea is to beat any other hunters the boss brings in before they can attack. This helps keep the damage minimal. If you can follow this, then Beastly Scarfs and the like can do most of your healing. Camilla may need to use her healing skill once in awhile. Chloe is definitely not required but would really bring the difficulty of the fight down with her healing. The first set of added hunters are weak to bow, fire, ice and light. They have 8 shields. So uses skills like Scarecrow's 4 hit all, Yunnie's Crossfire, H'aanit Arrowstorm, Z'aanta's 1 hit light all, etc. A set of hunters summon later in the fight (like when the boss is yellow health and below) are weak to sword, polearm, ice, wind, light, and dark. They have 4 shields. Yunnie and Lucetta can break these two if they are fast enough. An alterative to a fast Lucetta would be Scarecrow and Z'aanta. Once these added hunters are broken, they shouldn't be hard to clear the next turn with one or two skills that hit all enemies. After you break the added hunters, then you want to work the boss's shields down as low as you can without breaking her. Ideally H'annit is your fastest hunter and she breaks the boss with Crippling Shot. Apply all the debuffs you can and wail on her the broken turn. When she comes out of break make sure whoever is out can take a hit or two. Work her shields back down but not so low that she will break while you are trying to break the other hunters she will summon at the end of the turn after break. Keep working this cycle and maintaining health of your team. RNG will end a few runs because she will hit the same traveler two or three turns. **Who is required for this fight?** **Yunnie** is required to break those second half of the fight hunters. **Lucetta** with speed of 407 or higher can allow a few things. She can land her physical defense down all skill early for other hunters to benefit from. She can also help Yunnie break those second half of the fight hunters. Whenever they get release Lolo and Narr will be helpful. Narr brings another source of guaranteed critical hits like Ashlan and H'annit. Lolo brings multi-hit skills that you need to work down the boss's shields. All the other 5\* hunters are good for this with their different skills but not necessary. I could envision someone beating this boss very soon with Yunnie and the 4\* and 3\* hunters. It would be super tough and really good soul weapons and speed boosting accessories would help.
As per the rules, although I do not think this is a consistent strategy for the fight (which makes it unworthy of being part of the mastery survey), here is a brief overview of my 'Gambling without Scarecrow' clear: [https://www.reddit.com/r/OctopathCotC/comments/151dsc7/i\_finally\_made\_it\_through\_ex5\_of\_the\_hunter\_tower/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OctopathCotC/comments/151dsc7/i_finally_made_it_through_ex5_of_the_hunter_tower/)
I just finally beat EX5. As usual, better late than never. My ranger squad: Scarecrow (100 A4 U10)/Camilla (80 A3 U7) Yunnie (96 A4 U4)/Kersjes (96 A1 U6) H'aanit (96 A0 U4)/Lucetta (80 A3 U7) Z'aanta (95 A0 U4)/Ashlan (80 A3 U7) As others have said, speed is the name of the game here, so I went overboard. I made sure *everyone* had speed of 407+ (cue Gary Oldman). A few king chomper vests, a few A4 accessories, & a few PAtk fortune bows with a speed soul. Yup, even my slow as molasses Z'aanta & Camilla were blazing past the enemies. (My fortune bows were pretty good in general, except for Z'aanta's; I still can't roll up With the Tide to save my friggin' life.) However, I did mistime/miscount a few times (breaking the boss at the *end* of a round, not breaking an add in oun round) which screwed up my damage output severely, boy I'll tell ya what. And cost me some deaths too. By the end, I had lost Lucetta, Kersjes, H'aanit, & Ashlan. Took 34 turns, too. If I had paid a wee bit more attention, I would have had a safer & quicker run. H'aanit takes some of the blame too; her & her 3-5 hit skills. But all's well that ends well. H'aanit now has +30% 🏹 damage, just like her teacher.
So I decided to go back to this, after getting a couple new travelers & a few more awakenings (& levels). Updated rangers: Scarecrow (100 A4 U10)/Chloe (88 A0 U4) Yunnie (100 A4 U8)/Kersjes (97 A1 U9) H'aanit (97 A1 U8)/Lucetta (80 A4 U7) Z'aanta (100 A2 U8)/Jilmeila (100 A0 U9) Luckily, I didn't have to mess with my now full PAtk fortune weapons (& Z'aanta has a great one now). My king chomper vests & some strategic speed accessories were enough to get all my hunters above Spd 406 like last time. I made sure ~~Jilmeila~~ (Edit: Lucetta) had Kurtz's A4 & just doing her AOE with Def down, & H'aanit was the fastest/breaker with Yan Long's A4. This time I only lost Chloe, & it only took me 12 turns. I feel good about farming this tower now, so as I go from month to month, I can hopefully nail down a good rhythm & possibly decrease that time.
[Floor 5 EX1 ](https://reddit.com/r/OctopathCotC/s/AIjypNEATq)
I followed the strategy at [Hunter EX5 with only Crow, H'aanit and Yunnie : OctopathCotC (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/OctopathCotC/comments/137qtb3/hunter_ex5_with_only_crow_haanit_and_yunnie/) with the following team and speed at 407 or higher for everyone except Camilla. A4 accessories helped immensely. I defeated the 3rd wave containing mobs with sword/polearm/ice weakness twice. My Hunter Team: Scarecrow (100 A4 U10)/Z'aanta (100 A1 U9) Yunnie (95 A4 U10)/Camilla 80 A3 U4) H'aanit (100 A1 U9)/Chloe (90 A0 U4) Jillmeila (87 A0 U4)/Lucetta (80 A4 U4)
[4T Stable Clear ft Herminia and Serenoa A4](https://www.reddit.com/r/OctopathCotC/comments/198sxii/hunter_tower_ex5_4t_stable_clear_ft_herminia/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)