Ghost King Finale (Brutal)

Ghost King Finale (Brutal) is the fourth and final stage in Invasion of the Swamplord. This No Continues stage is guaranteed to drop Maize Cat when cleared for the first time.
==Battleground==
*3 Gabriels spawn after 10 seconds300f, delay 40~43.33 seconds1,200f~1,300f.
*2 Celeboodles spawn after 13.33 seconds400f, delay 33.33~36.67 seconds1,000f~1,100f.
*Infinite Sir Rels spawn after 20 seconds600f, delay 133.33~136.67 seconds4,000f~4,100f.
*Infinite Relic Doges spawn after 23.33 seconds700f, delay 33.33~36.67 seconds1,000f~1,100f.
*1 Angelic Gory spawns after 36.67 seconds1,100f.
*10 Sir Rels spawn after 533.33 seconds16,000f, delay 2~5.33 seconds60f~160f.
*When the base reaches 99% HP:
**1 Kappy Kawano spawns as the boss.
**1 Golem Sunfish spawns.
**2 Sir Rels spawn, delay 20~23.33 seconds600f~700f.
**2 Gabriels spawn, delay 43.33~46.67 seconds1,300f~1,400f.
**1 Gabriel spawns after 3.33 seconds100f.
**12 Celeboodles spawn after 20 seconds600f, delay 30~33.33 seconds900f~1,000f.
**1 Kappy Jr. spawns after 53.33 seconds1,600f.
**Infinite Relic Doges spawn after 66.67 seconds2,000f, delay 30~33.33 seconds900f~1,000f.
**Infinite Sir Rels spawn after 113.33 seconds3,400f, delay 66.67~70 seconds2,000f~2,100f.
==Strategy==
The main difficulty of the stage stems from Golem Sunfish freezing, cursing, damaging your assault units at extreme range and wiping out your meatshields while the Kappy father and son deal heavy damage and spam surges. Obviously you would want surge-immune attackers that can get by even under fire from Golem Sunfish for this particular stage. The strategy is trying to take down Kappa Kawano as fast as possible before the small Kappa's participation to prevent the synergy from two of the bosses with the Golem Sunfish, which is overwhelming and can quickly result in a brutal defeat. 
===Recommended Units===
*Talented Gato Amigo: Essentially a requirement for this stage, being the most accessible Surge Immune meatshield makes this the prime pick for a meatshield for all strategies. Albeit vulnerable to Golem Sunfish, he still serves as filler for your other defensive units.
*Cat Cactus: An amazing anti-Surge meatshield that's spammable, has great bulk to survive a few hits from the incoming Relic and Angel peons and can deal good damage against Kawano and the peons themselves.
*Tea Master Cat: Tea Master is an Anti-Relic ranged meatshield that's strong against them with immunity to curse and surge. Though with these perks, this is often a last resort option, as Cactus is a much better choice due to having better overall stats and cooldown.
*Can Can Cat: Can Can requires all the talents you might have at this point, abusing its high damage to quickly remove strong peons like Sir Rel, Relic Doge, Celeboodle (for additional resources), Gabriel and Angelic Gory. Can Can is also pretty tough, able to survive at least one of the surges while being knocked back which allows it to get a successful hit in and change the whole course of battle.
*Bullet Train Cat: Mainly to take out the Peons, especially Celeboodle quickly for a huge boost to cash, and chip against the bosses.
*Talented Li'l King Dragon: With Surge Immunity and other talents such as Survive and Mini-Wave, this unit is notable for being able to outrange Kawano and deal stackable DPS against him, though he needs a lot of investment and + levels to be a viable choice if the player doesn't have good Uber Rares.
*Hitman Cat: Even despite Hitman having no surge immunity, Kawano has a lot of downtime between his attacks which allows Hitman to get in and deal an insane amount of burst damage onto Kawano. He can also work against Kappy Jr. but his lack of surge immunity makes him risky against him.
*Cop Cat: A very bulky unit with good DPS against Traitless. Unlike Hitman, he leans towards the more defensive side with his Strong ability, though do note he is still vulnerable to Surges.
*Ape Lord Luza: Ape Lord Luza gets a notable mention due to its combination of abilities, with curse and surge immunity as well as massive damage and resistance to Relics. Luza's high stats and range allows it to consistently hit the Kappy variants while its resistance means Golem Sunfish will not be able to destroy it quickly. Lower-ranged Relic peons that walk into the line of fire are immediately reduced to oblivion when the attack hits, and since Luza's LD hits up to 550 range with essentially no blind spot, it can even potentially snipe them. Once the Kappy variants are gone, Luza remains useful in fighting Golem Sunfish as it's usually one of the last threats remaining.
*Slime Cat: Slime is one of the few consistent ways of hitting Golem Sunfish in the back due to its level 5 Wave Attack. As the peons tend to spawn a bit frequently while Kawano has a somewhat long attack cycle, Slime does have some opportunities to shine by crippling peons and getting some chip damage. In True Form, Slime works even better due to an increased Wave Attack range to level 7, as well as increased speed and range.
*Stone Cat: Stone may cause Kappy Kawano to generate multiple surges, but its extreme health and surge immunity means when boosted by research combos, it can be a great source of defense by walling the nasty peons, and its freeze immunity prevents Golem Sunfish from disabling it. Stone should not be used alone, but it does greatly assist with meatshielding.
*Metal Cat: He's great at tanking any of Kappy Kawano or Kappy Jr.'s attacks, though he will be shredded in seconds if sent out with Sir Rel or Angelic Gory on the field. As long as you can deal with the peons, he will be a good choice.
*Macho Crystal Cat: Though he must be timed properly, he is a great choice to CC both Kappies. If combined with Stone Cat and Metal Cat, they can pretty much control the level.
===Recommended Ubers===
Most EPICFEST exclusives work well here, as they do massive damage to Traitless enemies and outrange the Kappies; however, you need to use Curseblast (cannon and foundation) and time it well so their effects are not disabled. They are also not immune to surge. Any surge immune Uber that outranges both of the Kappies are recommended if they can tank Golem Sunfish’s hits.
*Lasvoss Reborn: His extreme damage and immunity to surges allow him to cripple Kappy Jr. Against Kappy Kawano, Lasvoss requires some timing to sneak an attack in.
*Greater Balrog Cat: Similar to Lasvoss in that he can basically cripple everything easily. Requires a lot more levels, as unlike Lasvoss, Balrog is NOT surge-immune.
*Issun Boshi: This unit's piercing Omni Strike, Surge Immunity and Anti-Traitless/Angel abilities can be put to good use for burst damage, especially in its first form.
*Lucifer the Fallen: If you have decent amount of anti-surge units to evade counter-surge, Lucifer will be your great generalist who can outrange the majority of enemies, whilst enduring the attack of Golem Sunfish thanks to his Strong ability, which can also be boosted with Cat Cactus.
*Kasli the Bane: Among all the EPICFEST units, Kasli is notable for her surge immunity and range that keeps her away from everything but Golem Sunfish while her surges can deal lots of damage, able to cripple Sir Rel, Gabriel, Relic Doge and Celeboodle. And since you will be using many other surge-immune meatshields as well, Kappy Kawano's ability to dupe her surges matters little, as the meatshields will simply dismiss the surges, making them useless. Her average cooldown means if you support her well, you can get another deployed in time. While Kasli won't be able to solo this stage, she definitely makes things much easier.
*Izanami of Dusk: With Insane Damage against Traitless, Surge and Curse Immunity and high range and bulk, she is an extremely potent Legend Rare that will demolish Kawano and his son. However, she will struggle against traited peons due to her mediocre damage against them without Savage Blows.
*Mad Doctor Klay: If you’ve unlocked his Ultra Talents at this point, Klay will be immune to every Surge, Curse, and Freeze dealt by any enemy in the stage, and will only attack Traitless enemies, making him a great unit to quickly dispatch of the Kappies. His health and range also keep him safe from the Sir Rel’s, and can easily tank Golem Sunfish, allowing him to stick around long enough to make a huge difference, as each hit from a level 60 Klay will take a huge chunk out of the Kappy duo’s health.
*King of Extinction Phono: This unit, though primarily useful for briefly slowing the threats, does have Curse and Surge Immunity, along with LD and enough DPS to hit even Golem Sunfish from afar.
===Strategy 1===
Having Surge Resist and Relic Resist is highly recommended. The former increases the likelihood of Can Can being able to land a hit on Kappy Kawano, and depending on how much stronger your Pizza Cat is, it may take a second surge as long as Golem Sunfish has not chipped them down considerably. The latter is as mentioned, besides weakening the Relic peons, it reduces overall chip damage inflicted by Golem Sunfish, which is primarily essential for Gato Amigo (depends, Read below), Pizza Cat, and Cop Cat. Your Base Health is important as you will be pushed, and Golem Sunfish will slowly chip it down. For this lineup, it is not recommended to bring Doron's True Form just for him due to Kappy Kawano's Surge Reflect.
The top row features a +10% HP Combo and a +10% Attack Combo. Jiangshi should never be sent out. Li'l King Dragon is invaluable here as your highest source of damage dealt, and his Survive Lethal talent will maximize the cash spent on him. Dancer Cat is a huge cash sink that can potentially cause trouble by accidentally triggering Kappy Kawano's Surge Reflect, but invaluable if not sent out too often and only for the worst peon waves, it is recommended to only send him out after Kappy Jr has fallen.
Gato Amigo is your most important meatshield to minimize any potential gaps, but you must ensure that he can take a hit from Golem Sunfish's third hit without being knocked back. This depends on your final lineup, so make sure you calculate this beforehand. Various combinations to allow this include 'Gato 50 + Lvl 5 HP Talent', 'Gato 50 + Lvl 2 HP Talent + Lvl 20 Relic Resist Base', 'Gato 50 + Lvl 3 HP Talent + 10% HP Combo', and anything else you have such as Defense Floating Orbs.
Future Cat is there to halt the rapid push of any Relic peon waves without costing much. Cactus Cat is highly recommended as your other Surge Immune meatshield with decent bulk and average damage that helps with chipping peons.
Pizza Cat is a strong source of damage that is guaranteed to take at least one surge without dying, outranging all the peons and Kappy Jr. Can Can is a solid choice with enormous bulk for killing peons. Pre-Kappy Jr and post-Kappy Jr, his Speed Talent can allow him to actually land a hit on Kappy Kawano.
Hitman Cat is a powerhouse with the speed for killing bulky Celeboodles, Kappy Jr, and Kappy Kawano himself. It is recommended that you save up almost all Thunderbolt Freeze Cannon shots to ensure Hitman Cat lands a hit on Kappy Jr. Once Kappy Jr is dead, besides Can Can and Li'l King Dragon, Hitman Cat is your other source of damage that has to be timed to land a hit on Kappy Kawano.
Cop Cat is a bulky anti-traitless specialized to chip Kappy Jr down. He can initially take a Surge without being knocked back, but for him, it is especially recommended that you have fully upgraded both the Surge and Relic Resist Bases as he can get chipped quite easily. Do not send him out when there is only Kappy Kawano and Golem Sunfish, or you are very likely to trigger all 3 of his Multihit Surges.
With this lineup, it is highly discouraged to bring Luza here as his range difference from Kappy Kawano is considerably small, and it is very easy for him to get hit and become a waste of lineup space. You are much better off focusing on Li'l King Dragon, who has the bulk to take one surge and wields survive lethal. Your attackers such as Pizza and Can Can are much more consistent sources of damage for the Relic peons.
Battle: As for the actual stage, the startoff is a simple one. There is only one Angelic Gory, so do not bring any specific counters for him. Stall with your meatshields, Pizza, and Can Can, but ensure all Can Cans die before finishing off the wave. There should only be Pizza Cats left for a good while, which is ideal for stalling maximum cash. When you're ready to hit the base, make sure your entire line of cats approach it on time before doing so in order to maximize your initial distance in the stage. Send out Pizza and meatshields first, then Li'l King Dragon when you're 60% across the stage distance, followed by Can Can and Hitman shortly after. Do not send out Cop yet. Do not send out Dancer yet. Do not send out Jiangshi at all.
The following step is the most crucial part of the stage. By observing who will deal over 20,000 damage to the enemy base first, you must pre-emptively time Thunderbolt to immediately strike the base when everything spawns, because a Gabriel will immediately rush out of the enemy base when it happens, and if you fail to do so, you immediately lose significant distance, and in the long run, that means Golem Sunfish will be doing more significant chip damage to your Base. It isn't mandatory for beating the stage, but highly recommended.
If executed correctly, you should have Kappy Kawano pinned on the base before Kappy Jr spawns, and on a good run, you will be able to knock back Kappy Kawano once here. Start sending out Cop Cats about half a minute after Kappy Kawano spawns.
Once Kappy Jr spawns, this will become an endurance match until he dies. Keep sending out everything immediately as their cooldowns finish, except Dancer and Jiangshi. You are unlikely to have enough cash to afford Dancer in the long run until Kappy Jr dies. Look out for your Hitman Cats and both Kappies' attacks and time your Thunderbolts accordingly, with the +10% Attack Combo, every Hitman Cat lost is 98k traitless damage lost.
Once Kappy Jr dies, stop sending out Cop Cat. While Li'l King Dragons will provide constant damage, you will need to time your Can Can Cats and Hitman Cats to rush down Kappy Kawano before Golem Sunfish destroys your base. You can send out Dancer Cat sparingly for peon waves, but be warned that he can potentially create a lot of surges from Kappy Kawano's Multihit, and especially be prepared if Dancer Cat surges directly on him. Once Kappy Kawano dies, you simply need to rush down Golem Sunfish with everything you've got, and you'll be victorious.
The last thing to take note of is that from the start of the battle, there is a 9 minute timer that sends out 10 Sir Rels between short intervals. You do not have to wait this timer out in the startoff, but it is crucial that you hadn't wasted any time throughout the stage and have ideally killed Kappy Kawano by then. Prepare your Dancer Cat if you think it's about to happen.
==Trivia==
*Ghost King Finale is the first and currently only Advent Stage to include two different Advent Bosses.
==Reference==
*https://battlecats-db.com/stage/s01348-04.html
Category:Event Stages
Category:Advent Stages
Category:No Continue Stages