Special Interception: Blacksmith

This guide contains tips and team compositions specific to Special Interception Blacksmith, though most of the same concepts apply to other instances of Blacksmith.

For general information on Special Interception, click here.
For a more detailed guide about Blacksmiths’ moveset and I-Framing, click here.

General Tips

1. Blacksmith launches bombs that can bring down units if not destroyed; always destroy them ASAP or i-frame them.
2. Focus on Blacksmith’s core to deal more damage as opposed to its machine guns as the core has a larger hit box radius.
3. Blacksmith’s machine guns can deal a lot of damage, and potentially bring down one of your units. To counter that, healing is needed and Liter’s cover repairing also helps a lot. You should seek to tank 1 or 2 hits and cover 1 or 2 hits, depending on cover’s HP and units’ HP.
4. Blacksmith’s machine gun attacks can sometimes land on the same unit repeatedly, thus killing the unit early. Simply retry if it happens, this particular SI involves more RNG compared to others.

Team Composition

For this SI, the recommended team setup consists of 1 CDR buffer+1 Healer+3 DPS. Healing is necessary for this SI to make the run less reliant on RNG, thus less frustrating. Units with great single target (ST) DPS while also being to clear bombs with burst are preferred such as Scarlet, Modernia, Drake.

Noise also works for this SI, but requires manual play and more advanced gameplay such as i-framing bombs, which can be difficult to execute.

Alice, Laplace and Snow White can also be used as replacements for DPS since they have pierce and can deal damage to multiple parts when placed in the right position and played correctly. However, using these units requires figuring out optimal burst timing and also dealing with bombs manually.

Rapunzel Healing

Liter	Viper	Scarlet	Modernia	Rapunzel
Volume	Rupee	Harran	Drake

The core units for this team are Rapunzel and Liter. Rapunzel provides healing while Liter provides attack buff, cooldown reduction (CDR), and the crucial ability to repair cover. Using Rapunzel’s healing and Liter’s cover repairing, this team allows you to survive through Blacksmith’s machine gun attack.

Volume could replace Liter IF you have enough DPS to compensate for her much worse buff compared to Liter. The run would also be much more RNG reliant on Blacksmith’s machine gun not focusing on the same unit repeatedly since cover will not be repaired.

Any 20s Burst 2 should work here, with good DPS units preferred. Viper and Rupee are the top options here since they deal good damage, other options are Dolla and Centi.

Harran and Drake can replace either of Scarlet or Modernia, though you will need better skill levels and gears for Harran and Drake (especially Harran, she is really weak in single boss fights) in order to have enough DPS for a full clear. Using Modernia in this team also requires managing burst timing differently, refer to this. Using Drake also might require manually aiming burst at bombs.

The fight should go like this using this team.

1. Start the fight off by autoing at Blacksmith’s core until burst gauge is full. (You should aim its core for the entire fight.) Activate Burst 1 and Burst 2, but delay using Scarlet’s burst until Blacksmith fires bombs to clear the bombs with her burst. Proceed to damage Blacksmith until full burst ends. Blacksmith will immediately use its machine gun move after 1-2 seconds of firing bombs. You should seek to tank 1 hit and cover 2 hits to preserve HP and cover. You will heal up with Rapunzel’s auto full charge attacks while cover will be repaired by Liter.
2. After the first full burst ends, just keep aiming at Blacksmith’s core until burst gauge is full. Activate Burst 1 and Burst 2, but wait for 1-2s before activating Modernia’s burst. Aim at the bombs manually to clear them, while also tanking 1 hit and covering 2 hits from Blacksmith’s machine gun. Keep firing at Blacksmith’s core until the next wave of bomb arrives. If your Modernia’s burst timing is correct, you should be able to clear the next wave with Modernia’s remaining 1-2s of burst time.
3. Repeat step 1 and step 2 until entering stage 7, where Blacksmith will have a QTE attack. You might want to fully reload on Scarlet/Modernia and manual Scarlet/Modernia to break the circles. (Depends on whether you have full burst remaining going into QTE)
4. Try timing Scarlet’s burst for the first wave of bombs after QTE. After that, use Scarlet’s/Modernia’s burst whenever it’s available. Aim at bombs to clear them manually if you have to, while doing the tank and cover when Blacksmith uses machine gun attack. Break red circles when they appear. Continue the steps until the fight ends.

Pepper Healing

Pepper	Dolla	Scarlet	Modernia	Drake
		Harran	Laplace	Privaty

The core units for this team are Pepper and Dolla. Pepper provides healing, while Dolla is the only B2 with CDR. You do have to manual Pepper to trigger her last bullet effect more often if you need more healing.

The remaining units should be 3 DPS with Scarlet and Modernia being the top options. Privaty could be used as a replacement here if you need more healing due to weaker gears, however she does deal relatively low DPS. (Privaty cuts ammo in half, which helps Pepper to proc her Skill 1 last bullet healing effect more often)

Scarlet Helm

Liter	Viper	Scarlet	Helm	Modernia
	Centi			Drake

Centi and Guilty can replace Viper, both being 20s B2 units that provide good burst gen. Guilty is preferred over Centi, as you have enough sustain using Helm’s burst. Rupee is another option for B2, but should be paired with Drake instead of Modernia for better burst generation. Pairing Rupee with Modernia could work if the player is able to manually control Helm to quick tap Blacksmith to recharge burst gauge faster.

The fight should go like this using this team.

1. Start the fight off by autoing at Blacksmith’s core until burst gauge is full. (You should aim its core for the entire fight.) Activate Burst 1 and Burst 2, but delay using Scarlet’s burst until Blacksmith fires bombs to clear the bombs with her burst. Proceed to damage Blacksmith until full burst ends. Blacksmith will immediately use its machine gun move after 1-2 seconds of firing bombs. You should seek to tank 1 hit and cover 2 hits to preserve HP and cover. You will heal up using Helm’s burst while cover will be repaired by Liter.
2. After the first full burst ends, manually control Centi (or Helm if using Rupee as B2), fire rapidly at Blacksmith without charging to recharge burst quick, and immediately activate Helm’s burst. Aim at the bombs manually to clear them (which should be easily done with full burst), and then proceed to damage Blacksmith until full burst ends.
3. Repeat step 1 and step 2 until entering stage 7, where Blacksmith will have a QTE attack. You would want to fully reload on Scarlet and manual Scarlet to break the circles.
4. Use Scarlet’s/Helm’s burst whenever it’s available, aim at bombs to clear them manually if you have to, while doing the tank and cover when Blacksmith uses machine gun attack. Break red circles when they appear. Continue the steps until the fight ends.

Noise Taunt

Liter	Viper	Scarlet	Modernia	Noise
Volume	Rupee	Harran	Drake

The core unit for this team is Noise. A LB0 Noise at bond level 10 with level 4 T9 chest and 3 other level 0 T9 gears will have enough HP to tank through Blacksmith’s machine gun attacks with skill level of 4/4/4.

Blacksmith’s bombs will also be dealt with by i-framing with Noise. The way to i-frame bombs with Noise is to full charge an attack, hold the full charge until the bombs are about to land on Noise and release the full charge, which will switch Noise’s position from attack to cover, thus i-framing the bombs.

Constantly refreshing the taunt on Blacksmith is also important, which is done by repeatedly full charging attacks onto Blacksmith by manually controlling Noise.

Soda Healing

Liter	Viper	Scarlet	Drake	Soda
	Centi		Modernia

Basically the same way you’d play Rapunzel teams. Viper for more damage/ kick may be needed to reach stage 9 rewards; Centi for burst gen and survivability if needed. Soda will most likely need Manual play as her stacks may fall off under auto play which may result in unwanted healing loss. Modernia Bomb wiping timings also found here when using her instead of drake.