Horntail’s Left Head Attack: A Necessary Change for Bishop Survival

Hey everyone,

I wanted to open a discussion about an issue that affects the survival of Bishops during Horntail (HT) runs, specifically related to the Left Head’s physical attack. Currently, Bishops, who are essential to the party’s success in Horntail, face an unavoidable and frustrating mechanic: a combination of high-damage physical attacks with dispel that essentially offers no counterplay and no reliable way to survive in certain situations.

The Issue:
The problem arises when the Left Head uses its physical attack in combination with dispel. Under normal circumstances, a Bishop can use Magic Guard to mitigate damage by reflecting it onto MP, allowing them to survive powerful hits. However, if perfect frame timing occurs — meaning the dispel and physical damage happen simultaneously — the Bishop has no opportunity to recast Magic Guard, resulting in them being hit by damage well above their HP threshold, which leads to an instant KO.

This issue is particularly problematic on our server, where the HP Challenge was introduced to raise players’ HP to a minimum level, ensuring everyone can participate in endgame content like Horntail. However, even with the HP Challenge, Bishops are still extremely vulnerable to this attack pattern, as they rely on Magic Guard for survival. In situations where dispel strips that defense, they’re left with no options.

The Suggestion:
To resolve this, I propose we change the Left Head’s attack from physical to magical. By doing so, the damage dealt would be reduced by 50% for Bishops, thanks to Elemental Resistance, making these hits survivable, even in the unfortunate event that they get dispelled at the same time. This change would maintain the challenge of Horntail but give Bishops a fair chance to recover and continue contributing to the fight, rather than being unfairly wiped out.

Why This Change Makes Sense:

1. Bishops Have No Counterplay: Currently, there’s no way for Bishops to reliably survive if the physical attack and dispel happen at the same time. The combination is too punishing, especially given Bishops' essential role in the run.
   
   
2. Essential Class Shouldn’t Be an Instant Target: Horntail is already one of the toughest bosses in the game, and Bishops are vital for most parties to complete the content. Having them die without a chance to react puts the entire party at risk and discourages Bishops from even wanting to participate in these runs.
   
   
3. Magic Guard Should Be Enough: In any other situation, Magic Guard offers Bishops a reasonable chance to survive, shifting damage to MP. But when combined with dispel and physical damage, it becomes ineffective, making survival based purely on luck rather than skill or preparation. A change to magical damage ensures even HP Challenged Bishops can survive.
   
   
4. No Impact on Other Classes: Switching the Left Head’s attack to magical won’t significantly affect other classes. They already rely on avoidability or sheer HP to tank these hits, and this change would specifically address the unique vulnerability of Bishops, while leaving the challenge intact for everyone else.
   

How This Benefits the Server:

• Keeps Runs More Stable: By making Bishops less vulnerable to unavoidable deaths, runs will become more consistent and enjoyable for everyone involved. Teams won’t have to deal with sudden setbacks or wipes due to a Bishop being unfairly knocked out.
  
  
• Encourages More Participation: Knowing that they have a fighting chance, more Bishops will feel confident in joining or leading Horntail runs, which would help the entire server’s endgame community. Currently, some Bishops may avoid HT due to the high risk of instant death.
  

Conclusion:
In summary, changing the Left Head’s physical attack to a magical attack would offer a much-needed balancing for Bishop players. It wouldn’t make the fight easier, but it would remove the element of pure RNG that causes Bishops to die with no chance to react. With the HP challenge in place, survival already requires significant investment, and this small change would ensure that Bishops have a fair and balanced chance to survive without relying on luck.

I’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on this. Do you think this change is reasonable? Would it improve your experience running Horntail? Let’s discuss!

TL;DR: The Left Head’s physical attack, combined with dispel, often leads to unavoidable Bishop deaths. Changing the attack to magical damage would allow Bishops to survive using Magic Guard and keep runs more consistent for everyone.

Note: If you disagree and don't share your reasoning, we might assume you're asking for a gentle nudge to the shin.