Howlex (Crimson Demon) Guide

Unlocked after completing Chapter 7 of the main story, Howlex is a Demonic Beast with a violent nature. It can be summoned by filling up the Death Match meter in Boss Battles. It is the main source of Howlex’s Ear, a material used to Limit Break heroes to Level 75 and above.

To beat this demon, it is strongly advised to bring one strong attacker and two supports that can help sustain 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, Red Escanor, and Red Nunchuck Ban, while viable alternatives are Green Escanor, Green Jericho, Red Vivian, and Red Hawk & Elizabeth. 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 the standard choice to complete your Howlex team. If surviving the attacks is a huge concern which is a common issue for beginners, you can use Green Merlin or Green Princess Elizabeth instead.

Howlex: Basic Info

• Attribute: HP
  • Weak to Strength-type and strong against Speed-type heroes
• Weak to Demons and strong against Goddesses
• Meliodas’s “Bad Blood” with the Demonic Beast Howlex decreases the boss’ damage by 30%.
• Immune to Incapacitation, Disable, and Stat Decrease.
• Decreases damage taken from counters by 30%.
• Recommended skill effects: Ignite, Weak Point, and Infect. Howlex receives an additional 50% damage from Weak Point attacks.
• Notable debuffs from Howlex are:
  • Spike - 2x Crit Damage Increase
  • Ignite - Damage taken by targets +10% (can be stacked)
  • Disable Recovery Skills (has it in all 3 phases)
  • Lifesteal - Heals a portion of the damage dealt
  • Weak Point - 3x damage against debuffed enemies
• Howlex gradually increases its stats when attacked by heroes
  • Normal
    • Phase 1: Increases Attack-related stats
    • Phase 2: Increases both Attack and Defense-related stats
  • Hard
    • Phase 1: Increases Defense-related stats
    • Phase 2: Increases both Attack and Defense-related stats
  • Extreme
    • Phase 1: Increases Attack-related stats
    • Phase 2: Increases Defense-related stats
    • Phase 3: Increases both Attack and Defense-related stats
• For all phase 1 including phase 2 of the Extreme difficulty, Howlex casts a self-buff every 3 turns which decreases the damage taken by 50%.
• In the final phase of all difficulties, Howlex gains a Brand ability which removes debuffs from self and cancels buffs on one enemy. The demon prioritizes attacking Branded enemies.

Notable info for each Difficulty and Phase

Normal	Phase 1: No Ultimate Move Gauge. Has Spike, Ignite, and Disable Recovery Skill effects. Phase 2: Has Ignite, Weak Point, Disable Recovery Skill, and Brand effects. Ultimate attacks all enemies and depletes 2 Ultimate Move Gauge orbs.
Hard	Phase 1: Has Lifesteal, Spike, and Disable Recovery Skill effects. Ultimate attacks one enemy and depletes 2 Ultimate Move Gauge orbs. Phase 2: Has Ignite, Weak Point, Disable Recovery Skill, and Brand effects. Ultimate attacks all enemies and depletes 2 Ultimate Move Gauge orbs.
Extreme	Phase 1: No Ultimate Move Gauge. Has Spike, Ignite, and Disable Recovery Skill effects. Phase 2: Has Lifesteal, Spike, and Disable Recovery Skill effects. Ultimate attacks one enemy and depletes 2 Ultimate Move Gauge orbs. Phase 3: Has Ignite, Weak Point, Disable Recovery Skill, and Brand effects. Ultimate attacks all enemies and depletes 2 Ultimate Move Gauge orbs.

Stats

	Normal	Hard	Extreme
Level	120	160	200
Recommended CC	120,000	160,000	200,000
Stamina Required	16	20	24
Attack	9,184 9,933	10,140 14,872	14,904 15,048 19,541
Defense	4,147 6,032	7,006 8,449	9,255 12,315 12,340
HP	131,000 276,760	279,950 400,520	253,200 377,400 621,120

Strategy and Team Composition

There are essentially 2 methods on how to defeat the boss. The first one involves synchronized buffs with your co-op partner to burst the demon with Ignite/Amplified attacks, a similar strategy to that of the Gray Demon guide. But instead of Green King as your damage dealer, you’ll have to use either Red Demon Meliodas, Red Escanor, or Red Nunchuck Ban. Taking the offensive stance is an effective strategy because the demon gets stronger the more turns you take -- Howlex increases its Defense and Attack-related stats when attacked by heroes. For this reason, try to avoid stalling and taking too many turns.

The other method, which is commonly used by starters, is utilizing a defensive support hero instead of buffers. Since running a burst team requires high-level stats, you can instead use an extra layer of protection from your support. Green Merlin and Green Princess Elizabeth are two of the best heroes for this role. Green Merlin does decent damage and provides barrier protection to her allies, while Green Princess Elizabeth provides cleanse, heal, and Ultimate Move Gauge increase. This method still requires your team to burst the boss on the final phase so make sure to have your ultimate attacks ready.

The most effective strategy is to build around Red Demon Meliodas since he is the strongest attacker against the Demonic Beast Howlex. On a side note, it is best to use the Infect skill on phases where Howlex has the Lifesteal ability. The demon regenerates a huge amount of HP from his AoE skill.

• Normal - No lifesteal
• Hard - Has lifesteal on Phase 1
• Extreme - Has lifesteal on Phase 2

Burst Team 1

Damage	Buff	Skill-up	Sub (Unique)

Damage	Buff	Skill-up	Sub (Unique)

Burst Team 2

Damage	Damage / Buff	Skill-up	Sub (Unique)

Damage	Barrier / Ult Charge	Skill-up	Sub (Unique)

Safe Team / Ult-Rush

*Highly recommended for starters

Damage	Heal / Ult Charge	Skill-up	Sub (Unique)

Damage	Barrier / Ult Charge	Skill-up	Sub (Unique)

Hero	Role	Details	Get From
	Attack	Deals bonus damage with type and race advantage. His Bad Blood with this demon also decreases the damage received by 30% Ignite increases your team’s damage for a potential burst Infect stops the boss from regenerating HP Ultimate inflicts Weak Point damage	Coin Shop Hero Draw
	Attack	Deals bonus damage with type advantage A damage dealer with high survivability due to his unique skill Along with Red Arthur’s buff, inflicts heavy burst damage from Amplify	Coin Shop Hero Draw
	Attack	Increases basic stats and attack power. Can also evade attacks Has an Amplify damage effect in conjunction with her buffs so she can inflict burst damage	Hero Draw
	Attack	Deals bonus damage with type advantage Has a Weak Point effect on his skill which results in 3x damage against Debuffed enemies Decreases skill ranks to mitigate damage	Hero Draw
	Skill-up	Primarily used to skill-up your buffer and attacker’s cards. Red Demon Meliodas can deal a lot of damage with a level 3 attack buff from Green Helbram / Green Gilthunder. His unique ability adds bonus damage if the Hero doesn’t take damage during the boss’ turn, especially when protected by Green Merlin’s barrier.	Coin Shop Hero Draw
	Attack / Buff	His buff is used to boost your team’s attack related stats, especially for Red Escanor His ultimate inflicts additional burst damage Increases HP-related stats on Human allies for additional survivability	Coin Shop Hero Draw
	Buff	Ideal use for burst teams Increases allies' Attack-related stats by 20% during Post-transformation	Hero Draw
	Buff	His buff is used to boost your team’s attack related stats Works hand-in-hand with Red Gowther to easily rank up his buff to level 3 Maximize buff effects by using him while the other team uses Green Gilthunder	Coin Shop Hero Draw
	Buff	His buff is used to boost your team’s attack (Provides the highest attack buff in-game) Works hand-in-hand with Red Gowther to easily rank up his buff to level 3 Maximize buff effects by using him while the other team uses Green Helbram	Coin Shop Hero Draw
	Heal / Ult Charge	Provides healing and Ultimate Move Gauge boost Works hand-in-hand with Green Merlin to rush her Ultimate Starts with 3 Ultimate Move Gauge orbs with Green Merlin on the team	Hero Draw
	Barrier / Ult Charge	Provides a barrier to protect the team and mitigate damage from the boss Adds an Ultimate Move Gauge orb for your team to provide a head start	Coin Shop Hero Draw
	Attack / Optional	A secondary attacker with a high survivability rate. His Ultimate deals substantial damage. Ignite increases your team’s damage for a potential burst	Hero Draw
	Attack / Optional	Deals bonus damage with type advantage Has a Charge effect which is strong against enemies with high defense Her ultimate deals substantial damage when timed perfectly	Hero Draw
	Attack / Optional	Ignite increases your team’s damage for a potential burst Her ultimate deals substantial damage when timed perfectly	Coin Shop Hero Draw
	Attack / Optional	The strategy is to stack her unique ability effects as you prepare to burst the boss with your ultimate. Use only if you have no Red Demon Meliodas, Red Escanor, or Red Nunchaku Ban in your Hero Box	Coin Shop Hero Draw
	Sub	Best hero for the sub-slot, increasing all allies' Attack-related stats by 10% in Death Match	Coin Shop Hero Draw
	Sub	Increases all allies' damage dealt by 15% in Death Match	Coin Shop Hero Draw

Rewards

Various rewards are given after clearing the Death Match which is necessary for Hero Limit Break, Hero Awakening, and Equipment Awakening.

Reward Rules

• Increased chance to acquire better rewards for winning while alive.
• Increases Village Friendship upon clearing a Death Match.
• Gives buff to apply discounts to all items purchased with gold in the village shop.

Death Match Victory Reward

	Normal	Hard	Extreme
Guaranteed Reward	Demonic Beast Howlex’s Ear x2	Demonic Beast Howlex’s Ear x2	Demonic Beast Howlex’s Ear x2
Party Leader Reward	3* Water of Life	3/4* Water of Life	4/5* Water of Life
	3* Demon’s Blood	3/4* Demon’s Blood	4/5* Demon’s Blood
Gold Box Chance	20%	12%	8%
Silver Box Chance	30%	28%	22%
Bronze Box Chance	50%	60%	70%
Gold Box	3* Awakening Stone x1	4* Awakening Stone x1	5* Awakening Stone x1
	2* Awakening Stone x1/2/3	3* Awakening Stone x1/2/3	4* Awakening Stone x1/2/3
Silver Box	R Treasure Chest x1/2	SR Treasure Chest x1/2	SSR Treasure Chest x1/2
Bronze Box	Demonic Beast Howlex’s Ear x1/2	Demonic Beast Howlex’s Ear x1/2	Demonic Beast Howlex’s Ear x1/2