Mortal to Immortal: When to Use Manual Combat in Boss Fights

If auto-combat is wasting high-damage abilities during a boss’s defensive phase, switch to manual combat and wait for a stagger window or dropped defenses before casting.

Time abilities around boss openings

Watch the boss’s attack pattern and hold your strongest ability through shielded or immune phases. After a heavy strike, look for a pause; if the boss’s defenses drop, use that opening to trigger high-impact skills.

The key action is to avoid spending major abilities while the boss is protected. The supplied draft describes manual timing as useful for challenging encounters, particularly when your character is below a stage’s recommended power threshold.

If you are struggling against an elite enemy, the draft also suggests replacing sustained-damage skills with short-cooldown abilities. It does not provide specific skill names or cooldown values, so choose only from abilities available to your character.