Giant Boss Gruff

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Giant Boss Gruff, or simply Gruff, is a massive, skeletal dragon who randomly appears within any Dark Elf Ruins dungeon. He will only appear if the dungeon's difficulty is 3★ or higher. He is considered one of the hardest bosses in the game, as he tests the player's ability to both deal damage and stay mobile due to his punishing attacks and thick defenses. He can randomly appear once a run in any room (aside from the first and last room).

Successfully defeating Gruff will yield bonus rewards at the end of the dungeon. In addition, Gruff himself will drop Soul Shards, Dimensional Fragments, Lumps of Dimensional Fragments, and sometimes either level 20 to 70 legendary accessories on 3★ difficulty or level 20 to 80 legendary accessories on 4★ difficulty.

In the room before Gruff, Alisha Arden will appear and allow players to instead skip fighting Gruff entirely.

Move List

Gruff has three distinct phases in which he uses a different set of abilities.

Phase 1

Gruff will begin by crawling out of a portal and situate himself near the right side of the room. This initial phase is when his defenses are at his highest, so damage dealt during this period will largely be stunted. He will also make an effort to stand in front of the player by moving back and forth.

Raises either his left or right hand before slamming it on the ground, dealing massive area of effect damage. His right hand (which is behind his head) will hit the upper part of the room, while his left hand will hit the lower part of the room.
Lowers his body before shooting a massive laser through the center of the room. In addition, several thunderbolts will appear behind his body.
Whenever he moves, his hands will deal damage as his body moves.

The next phase is triggered by dealing enough damage to one of his hands, at which point he will stumble onto the ground.

Phase 2

While Gruff's defenses decreases, he will gain significantly more offensive power during this phase.

Summons thunderbolts at a small delay which will chase the player. Thunder will also strike horizontally from the right side of the indicator. He will usually spam this for awhile before he stops.
Summons Gruff's Servants which will eventually pile onto the player and self-destruct if left alone.

The next phase is triggered by dealing enough damage to his body.

Phase 3

Gruff is completely helpless during this phase and loses most (if not all) of his defenses. He eventually regenerate his limbs at which point he will cycle back into the first phase so players should take this opportunity to injure Gruff as much as possible.

Phase 1 (After one loop)

After he recovers from the third phase, he will cycle back to the first phase. However, when Gruff does so, he will become slightly more powerful compared to the beginning to the fight and boasts new moves. He will still cycle into his second phase as usual.

He possess all moves present in the first phase.
- His slam attack will now create a small, electric field on the ground on impact which will damage the player.
Summons thunderbolts at all times behind Gruff's body, which will make an effort to target the player if they are behind him.
If the player uses a cube skill, he will arch his body upwards and start raining boulders from the ceiling.
- He his entirely invincible during this attack.
- This can be triggered during his other attacks.
- Even if no cube skills are used, he will still eventually use this ability.

Strategy

Equipment that directly shreds health, such as Silent Mayhem: Swiftness or Bone Red Dragon, can deal a large amount of damage to Gruff through his defense.
Equipment effects, such as those from pieces of the the Natural Guardian Set, also severely damages Gruff through his defense.
The usage of Sacred Blessings can allow players to revive constantly, even past the Life Token limit.
Immortality Formulas can allow players to ignore Gruff's attack altogether.

The only observable difference in Gruff between 3★ and 4★ difficulty stat-wise is that he has slightly more health in the latter.

Phase 1

Gruff's moves are clearly telegraphed, so players should not have too much of an issue regarding dodging.
It is suggested to keep Gruff as far to the right as possible in order to maximize breathing space against him.
Due to Gruff's invincibility during his cube reaction in the second loop, it's advised to use non-cube skills, as Gruff will, in most cases, dodge all damage that would've been dealt.

Phase 2

When Gruff begins summoning lightning bolts, players should move in an "8" pattern, since this will dodge both the direct impact and horizontal attack.
Skills with long cast-times are not recommended, as they can expose the player to consecutive lightning bolts.
Deal with the servants as fast as possible, as their hits can stun the player briefly, which can set up a death by lightning bolt.