MOG 2.0 Challenge Stage β
Challenge Stage – β is when the game stops pulling punches; this is by far the hardest level that combines every single enemy and boss we have talked about; even getting to the 15-minute mark is harder than beating Challenge Stage – α. (A general tip is to use your ultimate the very second it charges.)
The recommended loadout you want is a maxed-out Exia, a Revive, and Attack speed on your EX Upgrades, and you want to go for at least 3 Evolutions. The evolution choice is up to you, but the best ones are going to be Hyper Homing Laser, Shock Reflector, and Boomerang Missile.
Shock Reflector may come as a surprise because I ranked it as one of the lowest before, but the ability to freeze enemies becomes very important at this stage. The days of instant-killing enemies are over. (You can slot in the Landmine or Plasma evolutions if you’d like because they are still very strong.)
Those are the best Evolutions to get, but there are some Normal weapons you want to get your hands on. Black Hole Gun, in particular, is good in this stage and is ranked just slightly lower than the Evolutions.
In terms of Modules, the list hasn’t changed much; the best ones are still Movement Speed, Instant repair, and Size. Movement Speed has become very important because you need to dodge for the entire stage.
Challenge Stage – β lasts 30 minutes like the previous level, but this time you will be fighting for the last 15 minutes instead of waiting. Bosses will spawn every 2.5 minutes; The Normal and Revamped Types, the story bosses like Land Eater, Grave Digger, and Cinderella, and finally, it will end with Einkk and Crystal Chamber. (This means you will get a chest every 2.5 minutes or 11 in total.)
These bosses have nearly five times the health of their normal counterparts, BUT their attack patterns are the same. All you need to do to win these battles is endure for longer than you normally do using the same strategies. (I recommend speeding up the game for the first few bosses because they take a long time.)
One thing you need to get used to is that you are going to die a lot. Even with maxed-out EX Upgrades, there is no guarantee that you will get the weapons you need in time for the three Main Walls.
The Walls
You will encounter the first of these Walls when you kill an enemy and slowly realize that he didn’t drop anything. Yep, Wall 1 for this stage is that 75% of enemies DO NOT drop anything, which means 75% less EXP, Hearts, Burst Charges, and Lilith Bombs.
This is incredibly bad for the early game and makes it hard to continue even if you pick up Chests. This will skyrocket your chances of being forced into a bad item and likely end your run.
There is good news and bad news for the end of the game. The good news is that there are so many enemies that the decrease doesn’t matter. The bad news is that there are over four times as many enemies. (You will easily reach max level by the time you reach minute 25, but getting there is going to be hell.)
Wall 2 happens 2 Minutes into the stage, where I highly recommend you slow the game down because of our old friend, L-Crystals. It’s going to be nearly impossible to kill these in time.
L-Crystals are half of the reason why this stage is hard; not only do they spawn every single wave, but they also spawn in between waves. You will encounter at least 1 of these guys every 2 seconds. There is no early-game method that makes these guys any easier; you just need to try your best to dodge them because killing them is too inconsistent.
L-Crystals are not the only projectile spawners; I-Drones start spawning at 3 minutes and 30 seconds. These I-Drones aren’t the same as the normal ones; they will only fire 1 bullet at you instead of 8, and you don’t need a Lilith Bomb to kill them; in exchange, there are way more of them.
These two alone are pretty difficult to handle, but there’s one last Wall we need to talk about: The return of B-Eaters. Wall 3 is a literal Wall of Type 1 B-Eaters that spawn in a circle around your character. These function the same as before, but they have more health. (Type 2 B-Eaters also appear, but they are very weak.)
Type 1 B-Eaters become very dangerous at minute 11. It will spawn another circle, but the spawn rate of every other enemy is much higher now. You can’t kill any Projectile launchers for a few seconds. This is where 80% of your runs that make it here will die.
The only way to make this part easier is if you have an Evolution or if you save an Ultimate for this part; however, even if you have those, there is still a huge chance of dying right here.
Once you make it past minute 11, the enemies are going to continue scaling until the final boss, so you need to get evolutions fast. The projectile launchers don’t get easier until you have a weapon to take care of them faster than they spawn.
L-Crystals are the only thing that can kill you after 11 minutes, unless you mess up during one of the bosses. The rest of the stage just requires focus and a little bit of skill. It’s possible but draining to focus for that long. (You can leave the game at any time, and it will save your progress; you don’t have to do this in one sitting.)
At 27 minutes and 30 seconds, you are going to fight Einkk; she’s easier on this stage because you’re not forced to use Lilith Bombs on the I-Drones. Her strategy stays the same, but she still does insane damage, so make sure not to get hit.
Once you make it past Einkk, all that’s left for you is the Crystal Chamber. His attack pattern has not changed, but he’s the final boss: he has much more health than his normal version. His phases will last for longer because of this.
This fight is more of an Endurance test than anything else; just focus on dodging as your weapons slowly drain his health. There’s no time limit, so you can take as long as you need. You can do this. (Seriously, you have what it takes.)
That’s about it. You don’t have to follow this guide word for word, but I hope it makes your runs a little less painful.