KCGemini | Grounded: Infused Mantis solo [NG+4 Whoa! difficulty - No damage] @KCGemini | Uploaded May 2024 | Updated October 2024, 43 minutes ago.
Official Release v1.4.2.4535

Is the Mantis not playing fair? Well, neither will I.

Its Infusions:
Increased Movement Speed
Increased Attack
Increased Max Health
Projectile Bomb
Fresh Magic Attack
Shockwave
Sour Magic Attack

I decided to change this description from a reply that I gave to karoly2865:

For this strategy to work, one should start the battle by charging a Whittle Wizard enhanced Sour Staff shot to the max to inflict high stun damage.

Second, one needs to run up to the Mantis with a salty-infused club that uses Finale Goo to slow down the Mantis's attacks long enough to build up the rest of the needed stagger value. If one's not beside it when it gets out of its beginning animation, it will likely jump and ruin the chain that comes next. It should try doing one or two normal attacks before doing an overhead lunge or triple slam, which gives one enough time to reliably stun it if the Sour Staff's shot hits it.

Third, once one can see that it's visibly stunned, they should quickly throw that infused club, as this will equip the second salty-infused club, which should have a modifier relating to +Boss damage, +Mantis damage, or +Salty damage, which will pair with the Barbarian mutation from a different mutation set. One could alternatively open their inventory to switch to the other infused club, but throwing the previous one is quicker and deals an additional hit. (In this game version, one can't switch to another club via the hotbar, as it considers the clubs to be the same item.)

Last, the combined damage of those two boosts amplifies the player's power so much that even its increased defense values reached at 50% and 25% of its health do little to prevent a quick death.

It's possible to do this with just one powered infused club, but I wanted to reduce the luck element needed.

Note: For mild/medium players, you will want to throw two max-charged Sour Staff projectiles to get the stun value right for the setup.

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Items and Equipment:
Sour Staff Lv. 15 - With Whittle Wizard, the starting charge fills up a good chunk of its stun gauge, and the stun buffs that clubs have received from this patch enable one to fill it completely before it screams.

Infused Club Lv. 15 (salty, Finale Goo) - This club is used initially to build up more stun and slow down any of Mantis's attacks that could go through and potentially ruin the chain.

*Finale Goo - Applies the same effect as Giddy Goop, giving the enemy a -20% movement and attack speed debuff for 10 seconds.

Infused Club Lv. 15 (salty, +Mantis Damage) - To reliably get the kill before the Mantis can either jump or scream afterward, one must switch to this club while switching their mutations, as when added with Barbarian's damage increase is where this club truly shines.

*Mantis Damage - Increases damage against the Mantis by 30%

Glowbasa Necklace - Salt Damage Up Best / Implant Weakness: Salt / Quickcharge

*Salt Damage Up Best - Increases salt damage by 50%

*Implant Weakness: Salt - Adds a debuff that gives an enemy 50% increased damage to salt

*Quickcharge - Increases the speed of charged attacks by 20%. One can charge slightly earlier and still nail the max charge from the Sour Staff even without this ability

Eyepatch Lv. 0 - Adds 10% more to one's attack but at the cost of taking 25% extra damage.

Termite Armor Lv. 9 (Sleek) - This armor piece has a 10% chance to kick up dust upon hitting the enemy. While inside the cloud, the enemy's attack and movement speed are lowered by -20% until the effect ends. It also grants you immunity to the same dust cloud.

Fire Ant Legplates Lv. 9 (Sleek) - This armor piece has a 10% chance to inflict corrosion upon striking the enemy, which reduces defense by 15% for 10 seconds.

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Food and Drinks: (due to the cooldown for using buffs, I skipped recording these actions)
Perfect Toast - +5% crit chance and +40% to critical hit damage
Boss Sauce - +5% crit chance
Liquid Rage - +10% attack
Green Machine - 20% faster stamina recovery
Boost Juice - +20 stamina

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Mutations (A):
Whittle Wizard Lv. 3 - This adds additional stun damage to the Sour Staff, which was necessary to build enough of the Mantis's stun gauge to trigger at the right moment.
Parry Master Lv. 3 - Every perfect block recovers 100 stamina, although this becomes less useful after a certain point.
Buff Lungs Lv. 3 - Increases stamina by 50.
Coup De Grass Lv. 2 - 5% crit chance, stack all the crit.
Trapper Peep.R Lv. 3 - 60% more damage from critical hits, pairing nicely with the other buffs.

Mutations (B):
Barbarian Lv. 3 - Increases club damage by 25%, but one can no longer perfect block.
Cardio Fan Lv. 3 - Decreases the exhaustion timer by 30% and grants 30% faster stamina recovery.
Buff Lungs Lv. 3
Coup De Grass Lv. 2
Trapper Peep.R Lv. 3

Lastly, the Mantis mount was used for an extra 20% damage increase.

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Whenever Obsidian smoothes out this fight, I'd like to do it in a more proper manner.