Talk:Nightmare King Grimace/@comment-30470597-20181024141504

I finally beat him using a build I haven't really seen mentioned here: Grimmchild (required for the Dirtmouth version), Sharp Shadow, Dashmaster, Sprintmaster, Dreamshield, and Dream Wielder.

At first I was trying the Quickslash/Unbreakable Strength build that I used to beat Troupemaster, but there just weren't enough opportunities to hit him and he just seemed too fast for me. It was amazing how much more nimble and capable of avoiding damage I felt when I switched to the above build. This is because Dashmaster and Sprintmaster interact to increase your overall speed by an additional 37%, not counting what Sprintmaster already does. With Sharp Shadow/Dashmaster, not only do you get more maneuverability, you also get the same damage boost to Sharp Shadow as you do to your nail with Unbreakable Strength (1.5x normal nail damage). This, coupled with the Dreamshield, which was increased in size and regen speed by Dream Wielder, let me deal consistent and pretty significant damage just by dodging NKG's attacks (without any extra damage from nail strikes you get it you're generally dealing either 1.5x nail damage or 2.5x nail damage if the Dreamshield hits, which it often does - even on the dive attack you generally get at least 1x nail damage, as NKG will more often than not hit the Dreamshield at some point during the attack).

After that, it just became getting good enough at dodging and timing the nail hits that I did use (usually these were once I got close enough during the firebats attack or a quick hop-upslash during the flame pillars before jumping, reversing direction, and shadow dashing through NKG as he was floating there to do what was ultimately 3.5x nail damage if I got all the hits in). The one problem I ran into with this build is that by doing most of your damage via Sharp Shadow and Dreamshield, you are gaining a lot less Soul. That makes it really important that you hit NKG as much as possible during the firebats and flame pillar attacks so you can heal during the cape spikes or when NKG explodes into bats.

Obviously, this strategy relys a lot on learning NKG's moveset and getting really good at anticipating and dodging him, but to be fair, I don't think there's a build that really lets you avoid that. Plus if you want to fight the tougher versions of him in Godhome you're going to have to learn his moveset really well anyway.