Moon Hunters: How to Fight Filiu (Spirit Tongue & Spirit Guardian Achievement)

• This is a randomly generated event on an available space
• The event is called “Spirit Gate”, and is represented by a blue gate icon
• Must be on a forest space
• Space cannot be on fire, or else the event will not trigger even if you go into the level

• Start as the mountain tribe (probably a placebo, but I found the Spirit Gates 3x this way in short succession, compared to many failed runs starting in desert or forest)
• Look across the map to see copses of trees – you want the distinct trees, not the “background fill” trees. Mark a path that connects you to as many of these as possible to increase the chance of generating the “Spirit Gate,” and go quickly, as the forests will start burning as time goes on
  
• You’re looking for the “Spirit Gate” icon on a forest space – if a forest space doesn’t have it, skip the level (unless it’ll help connect you to more forests). You’ll most likely be able to find plenty of merchant spaces while looking for the “Spirit Gate”
  

• It’s probably best to choose a nighttime activity at each camp for maximum stats, though I actually cooked alone every night when I got this achievement and had fairly low stats (I was trying to get the cookbook achievement…)
  
• Try to get as many merchant upgrades as possible before entering the level, while keeping in mind the time pressure from forest burns
• Once you’re in the level, a red skull will mark where Filiu is on the minimap. You’ll have to interact with him to start the event, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally getting pulled in before you’re ready like in the arenas
  
• Make sure you’re full health before starting the event, and do not break any of the pots in the event area beforehand (you’ll need them in the fight itself!)
• When interacting with Filiu, choose the “Enter” option to start the fight (do not pick “Obey” – based on other guides, “Obey” apparently gets you a pet, but you will not get the achievements)

• Filiu will chase you for melee attacks – he’s very fast and resistant to most (all?) crowd control, so you won’t have time to charge up your attacks
• Filiu will summon mobs groups of little ghost spirits, which die in one hit but can quickly become overwhelming. Make sure you have a way to clear large areas at once so you don’t get stunlocked by them
• Prioritize your life above all else – use dashes between hits and break the pots on the side to heal up when you can

• Filiu will stand still on a column and target you with an attack
• The attack takes time before it’s done charging, so you can attack his column in the meantime
• Make sure you have enough stamina to dash out of the way of the charged attack when the reticle changes color

• You’ll get the “Spirit Guardian” achievement if you beat Filiu
• If you want the “Spirit Tongue” achievement as well, you’ll need to enter through the gate

• I didn’t play with him for this, please comment tips! His goal is probably to do a couple slashes before dashing away
• Upgrades: ?
• Primary: ?
• Special: Filiu most likely won’t get stunned by this, but it’ll probably help clear mobs
• Dash: ?

• I didn’t play with her for this, please comment tips! You’ll likely have to take this fight extremely slowly. This video of someone completing the trial as the Ritualist could help you!

• Upgrades: Flat damage increase (150), larger/faster grav (75), longer teleport (15), reduced cost teleport (75?), longer grav (15), and creating grav on teleport (150) are probably all good options
• Primary: ?
• Special: Filiu does not appear to get stunned by her grav, but it could at least help you clear mobs. Note that you will not have enough time to charge this due to Filiu’s speed
• Dash: You’ll likely be using this constantly to dodge his melee attacks

• I didn’t play with him for this, please comment tips!
• Upgrades: ?
• Primary: ?
• Special: Filiu most likely won’t get slowed by this, considering his resistance to other characters’ crowd control abilities
• Dash: ?

• I won with her, so I would recommend her!
• Upgrades: trident (150), flat damage increase (75), stamina on hit (15), less stamina usage on dash (75?) are all great options, but I had gotten most upgrades at that point
• Primary: While usually this move innately pushes you & the enemy back, Filiu doesn’t get affected by this crowd control. However, the range is good on this, which helps you stay out of range – I would poke Filiu 2-3 times, then dash away
• Special: I didn’t use this at all since it takes too long to charge
• Dash: Good crowd control for the mobs since it has a hitbox

• I didn’t play with her for this (generated the gate event, but died to 6 ice crystals in an arena 🙁 ), please comment tips! I probably wouldn’t recommend her as a solo pick, as she does too little damage and her songs will take too long to cast against Filiu’s speed
• Upgrades: 3 attack notes (15?) is a must, unsure if the stun or slow will affect Filiu
• Primary: It might be worth it to cast her damage over time song, or just constantly run around Filiu with basic attack song
• Special: Her shield song will likely help you a lot, but you also probably won’t have time to cast it during the fight itself – you could cast it before interacting with Filiu. however
• Dash: The speed song could potentially help you dodge attacks

• I didn’t play with him for this, please comment tips!
• Upgrades: Increasing your own attack if you cast meteor on yourself (15), meteor storm (150?), reducing stamina cost for meteor (75?), and increasing base attack (75?) are probably all good options
• Primary: You probably will not have time to hold this for charge
• Special: You will not have enough time to charge this due to Filiu’s speed, so you’ll probably just have to cast it on yourself and run away
• Dash: You probably will not have time to hold this for charge

• I would not recommend her – I died pretty immediately when I fought Filiu with her, even though I normally find her the easiest character to play
• Upgrades: ?
• Primary: You do not have time to charge your snowpiercer due to Filiu’s speed
• Special: Filiu does not get stunlocked in freeze with your ice dance or snow puppets, and he moves too quickly for you to create new snow puppets while in battle. You can create up to 3 snow puppets in advance before starting the battle, but I wouldn’t count on them. That said, killing the little spirits with chain freezes does provide you AoE cover, so that could help
• Dash: because of Filiu’s speed, this doesn’t buy you much distance, unfortunately, but could at least help you get out of range of an attack

By SAmaryllis