AFK Journey is a captivating Idle RPG that boasts beautiful landscapes, fully voiced immersive storyline, and lovable characters that players can summon and use in combat. King Croaker is a powerful boss encountered during progression in the Dream Realm, and can even be seen sometimes in event battles. Defeating King Croaker can be challenging, but with the right strategy, team composition, and understanding of his mechanics, you can significantly increase your chances of success.

Understand the Boss Mechanics

One of the core things to learn when taking on this boss would of course would be the boss mechanics. The King Croaker has multiple moves which make him deadly if you are not prepared. In total, many experts have calculated that the King Croaker takes 30-34 turns in the total duration of 90 seconds the battle lasts for. Your main objective is to deal as much damage in that specific time duration. The battle will not end till all the time has passed, or your entire party of 5 heroes dies. 

When the battle begins, King Croaker will designate the player’s nearest hero as the “Tank” and will continue to target that character, occasionally pausing to attack the Backline with a Ranged AOE attack or casting his Instakill Bubble ability on the closest character. This allows us to select between two different boss movesets: Melee Tank Moveset and Ranged Tank Moveset.

Choosing a Melee Tank will cause the Boss to use his Melee AOE assault, which will damage all Frontline attackers, as well as attack the Tank directly with basic Melee attacks from his moveset. Choosing a Ranged Tank causes the boss to utilize only his basic Ranged attack twice as often, as well as the remainder of his moveset (save for melee attacks), unless the Ranged Tank dies. 

Depending on the type of tank you choose for the fight, the actions of King Croaker also change. Here are the move predictions:

For Melee Tanks:

• Melee Attack on Tank: occurs up to thrice each cycle.
• Ranged Attack: Targets the boss if the Melee Tank is at a distance, up to twice each cycle.
• Ranged AOE Attack: Focuses on the region with the most foes, usually the backline, and occurs nine times.
• Melee AOE Knockback + Stun Attack: Targets the Frontline six times.
• Instakill Bubble: Cast on the closest character three times.

For Ranged Tanks:

• Melee Attack: Only if the Ranged Tank is defeated, up to twice each cycle.

• • Ranged Attack on Tank: Can occur up to four times every battle.

• Ranged AOE Attack: Similar to the Melee setup, this attacks the region with the most foes, usually the Backline, and repeats nine times.

• Melee AOE Knockback + Stun Attack: This ability only used once the Ranged Tank is beaten.

• Instakill Bubble: This ability targets the closest character, up to three times.

Core Strategy and Heroes

Thoran is the best tank choice at any stage of the game. Thoran’s Exclusive Weapon at Mythic rarity makes him uniquely capable of surviving boss Instakill Bubble attacks, a key feature that allows him to effectively counter this otherwise deadly enemy mechanic. Consistent healing is critical, especially when protecting your Backline from Ranged AOE assaults, which may quickly decimate your team in the early stages of the game.

Because this level does not interfere with skill channeling, Smokey and Meerky emerge as crucial characters. They excel in this scenario by constantly buffing the team and delivering strong healing to the Backline, ensuring that your squad can get through the fight with little disruption. 

Sample Teams for King Croaker

Here are some core teams that can help you deal significant damage to King Croaker:

Dual Carry with Melee Tank

• Thoran

• Smokey & Meerky

• Marilee

• Odie

• Kruger

Marilee and Odie will be the primary damage dealers in this team. Thoran serves as the damage absorbing tank that can fulfil his duty as the Bubble Tech counter. Kruger can work as an amazing debuffer to ensure the boss remains weakened. If you have a Reiner, he can replace Kruger since he not only debuffs the boss but also enhances the damage of Odie and Marilee’s attacks. For the artifact, we would recommend taking Starshard Spell. 

Dual Carry with Ranged Tank

• Thoran

• Smokey & Meerky

• Reiner

• Odie

• Rhys

This team composition includes Reinier as a crucial component, making it excellent for teams that want to maximize True Damage and Magic Damage outputs. This setup rates high on dream realm leaderboards, but characters must be at least Mythic+ to fully exploit Reinier’s debuffs.

Playing AFK Journey on a bigger screen of your PC or Laptop with BlueStacks without worrying about battery drainage and smooth gameplay, is highly recommended.