I tried the helpful solution provided by james bogart. I think the initial setup of that guide is great and the way to go. However, after numerous attempts I always seemed to get stuck at the final fight, either being trapped by Loombirds or blocked by a Shackle while not having high enough attack power to clear a path in time before the owl cornered me.
I finally managed to get the achievement with an alternative setup for the final boss. Keep in mind that it is very much RNG and therefore luck-based:
STARTING GEAR- Double Candle (pick Hermit's Tiara as starting gear)
- Weightless
When you start the first round and you do not get Weightless, restart the game. It takes around 1 minute to clear the first floor. Repeat until you get it.
STATSGet you speed to 21. In case you get a stat boost where speed is not an option, choose to increase attack or life points. I aimed for life around 30 and put everything else in attack. I tried to keep defense neutral or slightly negative (-1/-2). Clarity I tried to have around 8.
SOULSThe goal is to collect as many souls as possible so that once you reach the legendary gear (golden chests) you can reroll more so that you have a higher chance to get the desired gear. For that you should always try to clear all enemies (except for monsters resistant to ice). In addition, always try to choose alternative paths, preferably those that involve combat. Even the path Chills I would recommend to take if you can manage 1-2 hits and it is the only alternative path available. Normally, the Chills path spawns two minion ice monsters and 1 boss ice monster.
SCROLLS- Soul craft (rarity: purple)
Destroy an equipped item. Gain its primary stats and Soul costYou have to be lucky to find the scroll Soul craft, which does not spawn very frequently. Once found, you should remove Weightless to get its stats and have a slot available for more powerful gear. Please note that it is not possible to remove Double Candle with Soul craft (I tried).
- Final form (rarity: yellow)
+1 to all stats and +5 Splash Damage for this DungeonSometimes it happens that you come across this scroll at one of the last floors. If you can, save it up for the final fight with the owl. At this point, you most likely have 5 items equiped when carrying the scroll so you will have to fight 1-2 floors without the freezing power of the Hermit's Tiara.
END GAME GEARAfter removing Weightless with Soul craft, you should have two open gear spots. You need the following:
- Bolster (golden chest)
Item gains +1 to all primary stats for each empty inventory slotThis will be a huge stat boost and will help you power through the boss battle.
- Banishing Mace (golden chest)
Attack targets get randomly teleportedThis will help keeping the owl at a distance. This does NOT avoid the attacks of the owl but it keeps the boss at a distance and your stats should be high enough to take a hit. One melee attack of the owl is 30 damage. His ranged attacks are 15.
THE BOSSThe idea is to always keep one passive card between you and the owl. Keep the following in mind:
- Never create a situation where you have a loombird at one side and the owl at the other. The same applies to a Shackle and the owl.
- Try to avoid the owl's ranged attacks. The ranged attack either take two turns (two targets) or 5 rounds (multiple targets) to take place.
- After awhile, the owl will spawn two pillars with 75 HP. Prioritise to destroy those two. After destroying both, the owl will be stunned for three rounds giving you the opportunity to unleash your attack power on him. This pattern repeats itself.
I entered the final fight (including the Final form scroll) with the following stats:
Health: 54
Attack: 57
Defense: 26
Speed: 34
Clarity: 24
Critical hit chance: 18%
Dodge chance: 22%
Stealh chance: 17%
Gear:
1. Double Candle
2. Hermit's Tiara
3. Bolster
4. Banishing Mace
In addition, you will also earn the following achievement:
Hope this helps anyone out there!