Seething Sigh



"The Seething Sigh, stertorous avatar of ill-concealed rage!"

- The Academic

The Seething Sigh is the final boss of the Resentment confession of Darkest Dungeon II.

Description
The Seething Sigh appears to be a serpent-like windpipe connected to a large pair of wing-shaped lungs—not unlike the form of a dragon. The Sigh wears a metal collar of the Iron Crown around its 'neck'.

Skills
Note: the cooldown of Wrath and Rancor, as well as Hysteria, get reset when a lung dies as the multi-hit variants are technically seperate attacks.

Lungs
The Lungs are seperate segments of the Seething Sigh. They are inanimate, and as such do not have any turns so are entirely immune to taking damage through damage over time effects (if you can bypass their abnormally high resistances)

Strategy and advice
It is recommended to use a large amount of inn items, with exceptionally helpful items being "Apples and cheese", which give +20% maximum health and 5% resistance and "Restorative Herbs" which increase healing received. It is also recommended to bring a variety of combat items, with ones that heal health, stress or remove negative tokens being exceptionally useful.

The Seething Sigh is a balancing game between attacking the lungs and the core. Neglect attacking the core and the boss will slowly whittle you down with its regular attacks until your party is unable to continue fighting on, meanwhile if you neglect attacking the lungs to remove inhalation tokens, you will be the recipient of one of the most damaging attacks in game.

Dealing with Sundering Exhalation:
Sundering Exhalation is the biggest threat in the Seething Sigh fight. Managing to prevent SE properly is the difference between losing or winning the fight as SE can do devastating health and stress damage to your party. In order to prevent SE, you must damage lungs with for 6% of their maximum health (For the front lung, this is 12 health meanwhile for the back lung this is 9 health).

Plague Doctor

Plague Doctor somewhat suffers to deal with the lungs by herself, and is best used to aid with finishing off lungs rather than dealing with them by herself. While the lungs are practically immune to blight, "Plague Grenades" can do a miniscule amount of damage to the back lung while also applying blight to the core of the boss. "Incision" can be used to deal supplementary damage to the front lung, being an exceptionally strong option on her "Surgeon" path. tokens applied by "Blinding gas" can also help other heroes damage the back lung, while simultaneously blinding the core of the boss, even though this is not a reliable option of application. Additionally, Plague Doctor can assist other heroes with removing lung tokens with from "Emboldening Vapours" meanwhile with the "Physician" path "Disorienting blast" can apply  tokens.

Grave Robber

Grave Robber is an option for removing, however is not a reliable pick for single handedly dealing with. This is because while Grave Robber can deal with, she is somewhat unreliable. With her "Deadeye" path's enhanced skills, "Thrown dagger" and "Pick to the Face" can be used to deal damage to lungs, however in order to ensure consistent critical hits, which are important due to her wide damage ranges, you need to apply. Meanwhile, her "Nightsworn" hero path's enhanced skills cannot reach the back lung with her "Lunge" and "Pirouette" skills and requires GR to use "Shadow Fade" to self apply in order to ensure maximum consistency in dealing enough damage to remove  from the front lung. However, it is important to note that "Pirouette" can be useful to damage the front lung and the Sigh's core at the same time.

Highwayman

Highwayman is a very solid pick for the Seething Sigh fight. His "Rogue" path almost guarantees that "Point Blank Shot" will do enough damage to the first lung to remove. However, the "Sharpshot" path, and the skills it enhances, are very powerful and versatile. "Pistol shot" can remove from the back lung meanwhile HWM can use "Grapeshot blast" to damage the front lung while also damaging the Sigh's core. Highwayman can also use "Take Aim", an incredibly powerful skill for this fight as it simultaneously clears and self applies 2 tokens. While this does require a turn to be invested as setup which means another hero has to deal with for a turn, the  tokens ensure that "Pistol Shot" will always clear  from the back lung, and with damage trinkets or the "Sharpshot" path, guarantees "Grapeshot blast" does enough damage to clear  from the front lung as well. Highwayman can also use "Wicked Slice" to do damage directly to rank 1, however this skill is penalised by the "Sharpshot" path, so this option is best used for HWM of the wanderer or "Rogue" paths.

Man at Arms

Man at Arms isn't a reliable pick for single handedly dealing with, however can do significant damage to the front lung with skills like "Crush" or "Rampart", especially with the "Vanguard" or "Bulwark" paths. Man at Arms can also use "Command" to apply and clear from an ally, aiding another ally in attacking the lungs, or use the "Bolster" skill to remove from an ally while also healing  and.

Hellion

A raw damage oriented Hellion in rank 1 is an incredibly powerful asset for this fight, especially with the "Ravager" path. Hellion can utilise "Howling End" in order to be almost guaranteed to "pop" the front lung, with "Wicked Hack" doing very high and consistent damage to ranks 1 or 2 as well, without the cooldown or generation of Howling End. If Hellion has Hellion, she can also use "Toe to Toe" to remove from herself while dealing supplementary damage to the front lung as well as self applying  and. Hellion also has access to "Iron Swan", a high damage skill that targets rank 4 and generates a token on hit, which can be helpful for aiding other heroes such as Grave Robber in doing damage to the back lung. Bleed focused Hellion builds are better oriented at directly damaging the main body of the boss from rank 2 as they cannot use If It Bleeds in rank 1, and Bleed Out is only capable of targetting the enemy rank 1. This could potentially be used to pop lungs occasionally, however due to it stacking winded, and the dot immunity of the lungs, is not a largely viable strategy.

Runaway

Runaway isn't a good pick for dealing with the lungs singlehandedly as she is a DOT oriented character, however similarly to Plague Doctor can do supplemental damage to aid in clearing if needed. "Dragonfly" can be used to deal miniscule damage to the front lung however requires Runaway to be in ranks 1 or 2. However, Runaway can use "Smokescreen" to apply and  simultaenously in order to aid another hero in damaging a lung if required. Additionally, Runaway can use "Backdraft" to damage the back lung if the Sigh's core has sufficient burn applied.

Jester

Jester is a very potent pick for dealing with lungs despite his mostly lackluster damage by himself. This is because he is able to apply and  tokens through "Battle Ballad" while also moving an ally forward 1 rank, with this spell being enhanced by the "Intermezzo" path. The most powerful skill in Jester's kit for this however is "Encore", which allows him to transfer his turn to an ally. This means that you can use Jester to aid other heroes like Highwayman or Hellion in dealing with. Jester also has the capability to apply through "Razor's wit" and "Fade to Black" while dealing supplemental damage. Finally, Jester also has the capability to use "Finale", a high damage skill which is practically guaranteed to deal enough damage to remove a from a target, however this requires Jester to be in ranks 1 or 2, and moves Jester back to rank 4 while also applying negative tokens to himself. The "Soloist" path can be used to increase Jester's damage dealt, although due to how damage buffs are additive, Soloist is best used with Slice Off to apply and  to the bosses main body rather than attacking with Finale.

Leper

Leper is a decent pick for dealing damage to the front lung, however would likely be better utilised attacking the Sigh's core. Leper can do significant damage with his "Chop" skill, especially on his "Tempest" or "Monarch" paths. Leper is also capable of clearing from himself and increase his  resistance with his "Reflection" skill and increase his damage through the "Ruin" and "Revenge" skills. Additionally, "Monarch" Lepers can apply to the front or back lungs with "Intimidate" while self applying  and dealing supplemental damage.

Occultist

Occultist is a decent pick for dealing with. He can damage the front lung with his "Sacrificial Stab" and "Binding Shadows" attacks, enhanced by the "Aspirant" path or deal damage to the back lung with "Abyssal Artillery" or "Daemon's Pull", which can be empowered by the "Warlock" path. Occultist can also apply tokens with "Vulnerability curse" to aid other heroes in damaging lungs. With tokens however, Occultist unlocks access to "Burning Stars", a skill which deals enough damage to always clear (Assuming Occultist does not have a damage debuff present). Occultist can generate large quantities of through "Chaotic Offering", or can generate  independently through "Sacrificial Stab", "Binding Shadows", or the "Warlock" hero path.

Vestal

Vestal is a very good support pick for the Seething Sigh, as she has many ways to help deal with. She is able to do damage to the lungs through "Judgement" and "Mace Bash", with enhancing the damage of these skills further (Important to note, Judgement is changed to applying 2 at 3 as opposed to gaining +100% DMG at 2  on other Vestal paths.). Vestal also has the capability to apply offensive tokens through "Consecration of Light", a skill which applies a token to a specific rank which can apply either or  on turn start to the hero in the given rank. On her Seraph path, Consecration of Light, along with its defensive counterpart "Consecration of fortitude" generate for Vestal on activation as opposed to how other paths generate, allowing Vestal to generate up to 2  a turn, enabling her to more consistently do higher damage to lungs. Seraph also increases the duration of Consecrations, meaning that Vestal has to use them less frequently.

Flagellant

Flagellant, like other DOT oriented heroes, is not a good pick for removing. However, due to his above average raw damage on his attacks for DOT heroes, is very good at dealing chip damage to finish off removing if your main  clearer didn't do enough damage. Flagellant is also a very self reliant hero, who has a variety of options for self healing and aiding teammates. Due to Flagellant's special toxic state when reaching 10, the player also has to worry about his less than other heroes, and reaching 10  can often be advantageous due to. This is especially true on his "Scourge" path, where toxic leaves him with extra health than usual and gives him a application buff. Flagellant's "Maniac" path can be useful to remove the negative tokens the boss creates from more important team members and can then place these tokens back on the boss itself. In addition, Maniac's "Acid Rain" has a chance to apply, which can aid some heroes in dealing additional damage to the back lung or main body.

Dealing with the Sigh's attacks:
While dealing with tokens, the Sigh will attempt to inhibit your party's ability to attack the lungs with its normal attacks, which specialise in disorienting your party by doing things such as applying  and  while also attempting to disorganise your party by moving heroes while whittling your heroes down with comparatively minor damage to the threat of Sundering Exhalation. It is important to mitigate this in some way in order to ensure that your ability to deal with tokens is not hampered.

In order to deal with the negative tokens, it is recommended to use either hero skills like "Command", "Reflection", "Take Aim", "Confessor" Vestal 3 "Mantra" and "Indiscriminate Science", or combat items like "Milk-Soaked Linen", "Holy Water" or items that can apply.

In order to prevent the Sigh's movement skills, you can buff your resistance in The Inn with the "Ceremonial Drum" Inn item or use trinkets that increase resistance. You can also utilise tokens generated by skills like Hellion's "Toe to Toe" or Leper's "Bash" in order to lock a given hero in a specific rank. You can also use skills with movement parts like Jester's "Battle Ballad", the aforementioned "Toe to Toe", or Man at Arms' "Hold the line" in order to reposition moved heroes.

The Sigh's "Dying Light" is a skill which is only effective against targets with. This means that you can mitigate it in a few ways if you so wish. You can remove through various methods, such as the "Holy Water" combat item, as well as hero skills like MaA's "Hold Fast", Leper's "Reflection" or Jester's "Battle Ballad" and "Play Out". However, by using with moves like MaA's "Guard" or Vestal's "Sanctuary" on a target with, you can divert "Dying Light" to a hero without , removing the negative effects of "Dying Light" entirely and mitigating the damage received. This is valuable as it not only prevents or delays having to deal with the negative effects of being hit by "Dying Light", but also means that the Sigh spends a turn only to do 4-7 damage instead of using other attacks which also have other significant effects.

Killing a lung:
Killing a lung means that the Sigh cannot apply to it anymore. This means that killing one lung prevents double "Sundering Exhalation"s meanwhile killing both means that the Sigh cannot use "Sundering Exhalation" at all. However, killing lungs has two significant downsides.

Firstly, killing lungs means that you more than likely have spent more time than necessary to clear attacking lungs, wasting damage that you could have used on the core of the Sigh, prolonging the fight. Additionally, when one lung is dead, the Sigh gains the capability to attack multiple heroes at once with its normal attacks, increasing the health and stress damage the player party receives alongside increasing negative tokens received.

Due to this, it is rarely recommended to kill the lungs, however it is not the end of the world if a lung is to die mid fight as long as you have made decent progress into killing the Core itself. In fact, it is preferable to kill a lung than to have to withstand a "Sundering Exhalation". However, it is still recommended to avoid damaging lungs when unnecessary.