Scarab King — guide (Borgoth)

In short

Scarab King (Borgoth) is a Doom Tower boss floor and one of the most annoying fights in the tower: he takes less damage the less of his MAX HP you have destroyed, and he punishes any team that does not keep Shields up. He drops the floor chest — artifacts and accessories, glyphs, silver and a shot at legendaries. On high floors and in Hard mode he is a steady gear source, so it is worth learning the fight early.

Mechanics

• Damage-reduction passive. The less his MAX HP has been destroyed, the less damage he takes. On high floors, without Destroy MAX HP effects your damage barely lands.
• Main AoE. Hits the whole team, applies Decrease ATK and Decrease SPD, and lands an extra hit on champions without a Shield, which also applies Provoke.
• Buff-stealing AoE. He adds extra hits for each buff on your champions: buffs are stolen from champions without a Shield and removed from champions with one, then he hands out Fear and True Fear.
• Counterattack passive. He counterattacks anyone who hits him without a Shield.
• Immunities. Stun, Freeze, Sleep, Provoke, Block Active Skills, Fear, True Fear, HP exchange, HP balance and cooldown increase do nothing to him.

What your team needs

• Permanent Shield uptime: a Shield set plus support skills. Shields are not just defence here — they switch off his counterattacks and buff theft.
• Destroy MAX HP on higher floors, otherwise the passive eats most of your damage.
• ACC around 200–250 on normal floors and 300+ on high floors (depends on the floor) for Decrease DEF, Weaken, HP Burn and Poison.
• SPD 170–220+, a tank with 40–60k HP or 3k+ DEF, and a cleanse for Fear and the ATK/SPD penalties.
• Useful effects: Decrease DEF, Weaken, HP Burn, Poison, Decrease ATK, cleanse, heal.

Teams

• Budget: Kael, Geomancer, Doompriest, Mausoleum Mage, Whisper. One or two champions in a Shield set, Doompriest passively cleanses debuffs, Geomancer brings the main damage and HP Burn.
• Mid-game: Underpriest Brogni, Geomancer, Dhukk the Pierced, Doompriest, Rector Drath. Brogni keeps Shields on everyone, Dhukk strips defence, Rector Drath heals and revives.
• Endgame: Underpriest Brogni, Marius the Gallant, Gnut, Mithrala Lifebane, Duchess Lilitu. Shields plus max-HP shred plus fast burst before the boss snowballs.

Common mistakes

• Going in without Shields: every hit without one triggers a counterattack and a stolen buff, and the team folds in a couple of turns.
• Ignoring Destroy MAX HP on hard floors — the passive then cuts incoming damage drastically.
• Wasting Stun, Freeze, Provoke, Block Active Skills or Fear on him; he is immune.
• Stacking three or four buffs on champions without a Shield: his buff-stealing AoE adds a hit for each buff.

Tips

• On auto, switch off extra skills so Shields, cleanse and Decrease DEF stay on cooldown rotation.
• Damage dealers: Lifesteal, or Savage and Relentless; give the tank Stoneskin to survive the opening turns.
• Support: Speed and Accuracy sets — a missed Shield or debuff usually costs the run.
• HP Burn and Poison tick reliably and ignore his defence, so keep at least one source.
• Short on damage? Check accuracy and max-HP shred before you touch ATK.