Tharsix

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Tharsix is a brown bear wrestler, who was sold into slavery and is currently owned by Vanu. He is one of the 8 finalists of the tournament. After the events of 'A Deadly Plot' at Mount Milos, Tharsix faces off against Volga in the quarter finals. Tharsix is confirmed to be a romanceable companion.

## Bio

The main reason Tharsix joined the tournament is because his master promised him freedom in exchange for winning the tournament. Though that was probably a ploy of Vanu to boost visibility and acquire more clients for his slave trade. As a slave Tharsix has learnt to be quiet and to obey his master no matter what. When speaking to others, he is quick to assume a submissive role, and he never gets angry or yells at anyone. Tharsix has had to endure so much abuse and depravity at the hands of his current and former masters, that nothing much phases him anymore. Desensitized as he is, he seems to have a constant sullen or bored look. Tharsix is likely the slave name his current master gave to him, like '36' and many other slave names he had before. With his strength, one has to wonder why Tharsix has never tried to escape or rebel, and why he is so resigned to his fate.

Tharsix' greatest strength is his endurance to receive punishments, and to grapple his opponents. Before being sold into slavery, he liked watching wrestling matches with his brother; an interest which he clearly developed further. People have also noticed him reading books alone in the pub.

Despite being a loner, Tharsix recognizes Volga's kindness, and slowly opens up to him. He has little shame, feeling completely at ease being nude around people. However, he goes to great lengths to hide himself right before his tournament match, as though not wanting to be recognized by someone.

## Strategy

Tharsix has 3 full HP bars, each with its own unique armour bonuses. His kit revolves around boosting his already powerful physical attacks with [Physical Boost] every time he heals, while shutting you down with [Rock], [Agility Bind], and [Paralyze] in preparation for his ~~hugs~~ grapples. He also has access to [Panic], which has a chance to redirect any of your match effects. Remove [Earthen Shackles] as quickly as possible before it creates more [Rock] gems. [Agility Bind] is the most annoying one, as it locks you out of potentially extra action points while it is active. It is reinforced, however, so you might as well wait out its 2 turns. Having some Guard Gauge can prevent [Agility Bind] from being created.

Tharsix becomes immune to damage immediately when you have depleted any of his first 2 HP bars, and you cannot continue damaging him during your turn. He also disenchants any Body Debuffs on him. On the first turn of his new HP bar, he creates a unique Grapple gem, which acts as a countdown and cannot be destroyed. The only way to get out of the hold is by matching a certain amount of gems within 3 of your turns. Otherwise, it's GAME OVER.

Your physical skills are sealed, so you can't use them to destroy the gems (the one instance where that's ever useful). There are some magical skills that can convert gem colours, like Healing Tide and Magic Salvo. [Bubble] also helps immensely due to cascading matches. The second phase [Ursus Spadle] only requires 32 gems to be matched, or 11 matches of 3 gems. With a few extra actions from 4-gem matches, it shouln't be too challenging to break free. During the grappling phase, Tharsix can't take any actions, so use this opportunity to heal up, charge your skills, and fill your Rage meter (but don't trigger it yet!). Tharsix can finally be damaged again after clearing 32 gems.

The biggest challenge is the third phase [Final Ursus Spadle] requiring 64(!) gems to break free. No matter how you turn it, you will need RNG on your side to make it through. If you have saved up your Rage meter, wait until you have one action point left before popping it, therefore getting an additional 3 actions. Unlike phase 2, you probably will need all 3 turns to break free (if you're lucky). If possible, make sure your Guard Gauge isn't empty after breaking free.

After surviving that last grapple, you are not entirely safe yet. Those 3 grapple turns probably have charged up all his physical skills. Be prepared for the scariest final HP bar, doubly so if Tharsix has a full Rage meter. It is not uncommon for him to destroy a full HP bar per turn during this phase. The longer the battle takes, the more [Physical Boosts] he pumps out. He swaps Vitality Burst for an upgrade of Ignore Pain in the last phase. Destroy its gem asap as it acts as a damage shield for Tharsix.

**Strategy 1:** Shut him down with [Strength Bind] and [Paralyze] before he can do the same to you. Make 4-gems matches for extra actions, and focus on charging your skills so you can disable him first. If you can manage, try to squeeze in [Paralyze] just before you destroy the Grapple gem.

**Strategy 2:** Equip Witch Potpourri, Kris Knife, and Power Bangle/ Steel Gauntlets to create [Poison] and [Bleed] gems that scale with STR on matching 4 or more white gems. DoTs bypass the targetable damage immunity. Forward Dash helps to convert blue to white gems, but isn't usable during the grapple. Miasma helps to reinforce the DoT gems.

### Armour Bonus

 Inner Armour

[Full Guard]: resist all targetable damage until [Ursus Spadle] has been created.
Once per battle on turn start:
Create a friendly 4-turn [Ursus Spadle] Grapple gem.
[Tharsix Drives Away His Pain!]: disenchant all enemy Body Debuff gems.

[Ursus Spadle]
Unmatchable. Destroy itself when the opponent destroys **32** gems.
While active, seal the opponent's physical skills and resist all damage.
Per turn, charge all physical skills by 2.
Skip the owner's turn.
 Body

[Full Guard]: resist all targetable damage until [Final Ursus Spadle] has been created.
Once per battle on turn start:
Create a friendly 4-turn [Final Ursus Spadle] Grapple gem.
[Tharsix Drives Away His Pain!]: disenchant all enemy Body Debuff gems .

[Final Ursus Spadle]
Same as [Ursus Spadle], but destroy itself when the opponent destroys **64** gems.

### Skills

First and second phase

[Earthen Shackles]
On opponent's turn start, create 2 friendly [Rock] gems on opponent's possible moves.
 Hunting Leap
 Ursus Lariat
Reduce the opponent's Guard Gauge to 0.
 Ursus Hurricane
Create 8 friendly 4-turn [Panic] gems.
If there's a friendly [Agility Bind] gem, this move is unguardable.
Destroy any [Agility Bind] gems afterwards.

In the third phase, Vitality Burst is exchanged for Ignore Pain.

Afterwards, enchant a random green gem to a friendly 3-turn [Ignore Pain] gem if one doesn't exist.

[Ignore Pain]
When receiving damage, absorb and store 80% of the damage from its owner.
On expiration, deal all stored damage to its owner.
This damage cannot destroy the owner's current health bar.