Death Match

Published May 11 2020

Last Updated June 22 2022

* Red Demon Guide
* Gray Demon Guide
* Howlex (Crimson Demon) Guide
* Bellmoth Guide

Performing boss battles can sometimes trigger a Death Match, which are high reward but high difficulty battles.  The probability of triggering a Death Match is increased by each subsequent boss battle.  Once triggered, there is a time limit of one hour to enter and defeat the Death Match boss.

To help you make the best use of your time in Death Match, we’ll cover the following topics below:

## Joining a Death Match

You can either be invited to a Death Match by a friend or you can invite a friend to help support you in your Death Match.  Being invited to a Death Match costs no stamina, whereas starting your own Death Match costs stamina to join.  The harder the Death Match that you select, the more bosses you will need to defeat to get your rewards.  The rewards are better for higher levels, but make sure you don’t choose something that is too difficult for you, or you will waste your time.

 Hard
 Extreme

If you accept the Death Match, you will be automatically moved to the area that the Death Match boss is located.

**Invitation Example:**

If you have the time to spare, accept these as quick as they pop up!  Otherwise, someone else might accept and you’ll miss your opportunity.

**Personal Trigger Example:**

## Preparing for Death Match

Before starting your Death Match, you’ll want to prepare yourself from this screen.

1. Here is where you can select friends to help you out.  You can either select someone who is online (with the green button) or select an AI-version of someone (with the orange button).  If you select an AI version, you need to ensure that you are able to sufficiently beat the bosses without needing to rely on other peoples’ skills.
2. Here is where you set your team, eat a meal, and/or change equipment.
3. Optional step - this is the only place in a Death Match where you can use text to communicate.  If you want, you can discuss with your friend a strategy or just send a message to say hello.  This step is totally optional and not necessary for success in the Death Match.

Once you’re done with setting up the above three items, click “Preparation Complete” and then “Start Death Match” and you’re ready to go!

## Communicating in Death Match

When you’re in the Death Match, you can only use Stamps to communicate.  Here’s an example from a recent Death Match:

In the above image, the Stamps used from top to bottom indicate the following:

1. Me: Yay! Something exciting has just happened
2. Friend: Requesting you to attack
3. Friend: Has a skill rank-up ability available
4. Me: Petrify ability available
5. Me: Petrify ability available again

As you can see, using these Stamps is a great way to tell your friend what skills you have available so you don’t waste any moves.  If you’re trying to freeze or petrify the boss, you want to make sure that your friend knows you have that available so that you get the last move from the turn.  Otherwise, if he/she attacks after you, it releases the boss from being held back.  Also, chibi Elizabeth and Diane are super cute so I like throwing in a cute “Yay!” and “Thank you!” from time to time!

## Battling in Death Match

If you select AI, your AI-friend will always make their first three moves immediately.  If you are playing with a real person, you’ll each get three turns.  There are three bosses currently available to fight in Death Match, which are the Red Demon, Gray Demon, and Howlex.

### Red Demon

The Red Demon boss is unlocked during Chapter 5 of the main story.  My favorite team to use for the Red Demon boss includes:

* Blue King (for his petrify ability on rank 2+ of the Spirit Spear Chastiefol, Third Form, “Fossilization” skill) to keep the boss from being able to attack when on his turn
* Red Gowther (for his ability to rank up the skills of his allies through Invasion Arrow)
* Holy Knight Gustav (for his Freezing Field skill) or Great Mage Merlin (for her Frozen Factor skill) also to keep the boss from being able to attack when on his turn

The general strategy is to always make sure the turn ends with a freeze or a petrify skill, to keep the enemy from attacking as shown in these two examples of Merlin’s Frozen Factor skill and King’s Spirit Spear Chastiefol, Third Form, “Fossilization” skill, both of which have prevented the boss from attacking me and my friend during his turn.

### Gray Demon

The Gray Demon boss is unlocked after completing Chapter 6 of the main story. At the start of the battle, the Gray Demon will be invulnerable to melee attacks for 3 turns while it is flying. Unlike the Red Demon, the Gray Demon cleanses all debuffs at the start of its turn which renders Merlin/Gustav's freeze and King/Helbram's petrify skills ineffective for use.  To kill the Gray Demon, the most effective strategy is to use a Green King since he gains bonus damage against the Gray Demon due to his race and his attribute advantage.  An alternative damage dealer would be Green Meliodas and Green Jericho, however, make sure your supports can hold out until the demon stops flying and can be damaged.

### Howlex

Howlex is unlocked after completing Chapter 7 of the main story.  To beat Howlex, you should bring one strong attacker and two supports that can help sustain oncoming attacks and boost your attacks. Like the Gray Demon, Howlex is also immune to CC, which makes freeze/petrify/stun moves useless. Notable damage dealers are Red Demon Meliodas, Blue Nunchuck Ban, Green Jericho, and Red Elizabeth & Hawk. Red Gowther is always the primary choice to fill up your first support slot since his Invasion Arrow skill provides so much offensive and defensive utility.  Lastly, utilizing Red Arthur, Green Gilthunder, or Green Helbram is a smart choice to complete your Howlex team.

## Victory Goodies!

After you’ve killed the final heart, it’s time to celebrate your win!  You will get two types of rewards for victory:

1. A Gold item discount for items purchased with Gold at every shop in the respective village
2. Gold Chests and other items necessary for Evolution and Limit Break