Raz's NG Nightmare Boss Thread... The 3rd (spoilers obviously)

[HunterRassius]

Yes, i'm back... and still as crazy as ever. It should be known that The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is perhaps one of if not the most incredibly intense experiences on it's hardest setting inside a new game. It sure isn't for the faint hearted but I enjoy the journey with my fellow travellers and for this reason I make this thread. Here for all your boss destroying needs these strategies will be tested on Trails hardest setting and thus be nearly foolproof on any lesser difficulty. I wll get to all of the bosses and I do mean ALL of them.

Note: NG Nightmare runs aren't exactly easy to do in the first place so the thread creator recommends first finding yourself a nice full BP perfect save to transfer over to The 3rd as you get these great bonus items:

• 200 of every sepith
  
• Solar Seal (Str +10/Def -10/Auto CP Up)
  
• Lunar Seal (Str +5/Def -5/CP Recovery Up)

Prologue Boss Fight: Gilbert

Stats:

Lvl: 90 HP: 11,912
STR: 1177 DEF: 539
ATS: 311 ADF: 218
SPD: 51 EXP: 99

Drops: Tear Balm, Insulating Tape, Smelling Salts

G-Apache

Stats:

Lvl: 90 HP: 15,616
STR: 1535 DEF: 469
ATS: 0 ADF: 759
SPD: 40 EXP: 512

Drops: Tear Balm, Insulating Tape, Smelling Salts, Purging Balm, EP Charge, Curia Balm

Notes: This Gilbert fight certainly isn't the test most coming from SC were expecting... Gilbert's ~2k regular attacks are generally pathetic. Gilbert will start every fight with Condensed Ice Pulverization Blast which is a line based freeze that hits for ~1k and will always freeze you. Gernade is a ~1.6k AT Delay. Gilbert's "idiot attack" is a Str + Def Down 0 damage move. Gilbert's Bullet Barrage is a ~2.2k damage AoE while G-Apache's will hit for ~3.5k. G-Apache's Breaker Cannon can hit for almost 4k and has a Def down attached. Lastly, G-Apache can go Critical Mode for a large Str and Adf boost.

Recommeneded Lvl: Kevin (91), Ries (90)

Orbment Setups:

Kevin - Line Orange: Action 4, EP 4, HP 4, Mind 4, Defense 4, Information
Line Blue: Action 4, Cast 2

Ries - Line Orange: Haze, Attack 3, HP 3, Mind 3, Shield 3
Line Blue: Haze, Evade 3, Action 2

Recommended Gear:

You have no further gearing options so you're stuck with "the basics". Also your orbment setups are largely untouchable. Kevin's can be swapped around for worse performance and Ries' setup is untouchable.

Recommended Items: You really shouldn't need to use any. Try to save your EP Charges and Teara Balms regardless (you never know and this is one hella easy boss).

Positioning: Make sure Kevin is in the top row on the far right (as you look at the tactics box) as this makes it hard for Gilbert to hit the both of your characters with his line based 100% freeze shot opener.

Lowest on the Pole Strategy:

Gilbert is largely one of the easiest guys you fight throughout the series. There is no exception here. The only real problem you have to worry about is having both characters get hit by his freeze attack. There are 2 ways to counter this: good positioning prior to the fight or use of Kevin's Grail Sphere at the very beginning of the fight. Getting an early Clock Down on both Gilbert and the G-Apache can make this already easy fight even easier. Stacking said Clock Down with Clock Up EX should be illegal. It should be noted that there are a few ways of finding yourself with a Def down debuff. You will take considerably more damage with said debuff on. Keep your HP high just in case. The G-Apache's Critical Mode gives a nice Adf buff to the roflcopter so spells might not be the best source of damage in that regard.

Gilbert should be taken out first like the minion he is.

Note: Ries can pitch Kevin 50 CP at a time with Holy Blessing making the fight complete joke tier (as if you were suprised).

[Hagen2900]

You are living in a high-price US city HunterRassius? In any event I wish you all the best.

I'm currently replaying CS1 and rebalancing it as I go. Recently, I ran into a really hard fight for the first time so it's going OK. Unfortunately, it is not so easy. I think I have got a good handle on the Arts/Craft table now but the items/quartz and master quartz tables still are a mystery. Maybe Walke has some idea how they are structured?

[Walke_893]

Depends on what you are looking to change in them. I've been meaning to document the files for a while now but never got around to it. If you are looking for a general structure breakdown I could see about writing something up and posting it on the CS1 board.

[Hagen2900]

Well, that's kinda tricky. I don't want to tax your time too much.

The most important part are the Master Quartz as they are presumably quite complicated. I can probably figure out quartz and equipment on my own.

There are two immediate questions you may be able to answer:
Is there a way to change the evasion value of the Insight status?
I managed to remove the delay from the Impede 1 quartz but there was only a value of 01 in the hex file not 03 (for 3 delay). I suspect that these are levels of 'Impede' encompassing both the art canceling chance and the delay. You know anything about that?

[Walke_893]

I've gotta double check the master quartz stuff since it's slightly different in CS1 compared to CS2 but much more straightforward. I'll post something about it once I've checked it on the CS1 board.

In regards to your other two questions:

Insight: Currently, it isn't possible to edit the evasion value for it. I believe this is due to insight being programmed as a static status effect like burn, etc. I think this info is actually stored in the exe file itself thus changing it via hex editing is more difficult.

Impede 1:
00 7B 00 CA 08 FD FF 53 4C 00 AA 05 00 00 00 85 FF FF FF FF 00 FF FF 4A 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 D0 07 00 00 63 D2 00 0A 00 FF FF

Impede 2:
00 7B 00 CB 08 FD FF 53 4C 00 AA 05 00 00 00 85 FF FF FF FF 00 FF FF 30 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 88 13 00 00 63 D3 00 28 00 FF FF

I've highlighted in bold the values of note. These 2 hex values act in conjunction to calculate a delay value and are stored in little endian format. I'm not sure of the actual math but this is a possible calculation for it:

little end: 0x4A01 = big end: 0x014A = dec: 330
Delay = Hx value in decimal / 11

Thus 330/11 = 30 delay or 3 as shown ingame.
Impede 2: 0x3002 = 560 / 11 = 50 or 5 ingame.

Would require further testing to confirm this but I don't have completed saves currently to do so.

Hope this helps Hagen.

[Hagen2900]

This is amazing. I set the two values to zero. Attacks with Impede 1 now cause negative delay, they make enemies jump my characters in the turn bar.

Edit: It appears that the 85 9 places before the delay value indicates that the quartz is an Impede/Delay quartz. If set to 0 the weird behaviour above disappears but the Impede functionality also doesn't work anymore. That's what I wanted to do. Remove the delay but keep the Impede in place. It doesn't seem to be possible though.

I will stop now. This is not the place.

[Walke_893]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that all hex values in Cold Steel (and perhaps Sky as well) use a two's complement hex system to code both negative and positive numbers. Anyway we can continue this over in the CS forum.

Edit: https://steamcommunity.com/app/538680/discussions/0/1729828401674499258/

[HunterRassius]

Originally posted by Hagen2900:

You are living in a high-price US city HunterRassius? In any event I wish you all the best.

*grins*

Well... something like that.

In other news, apologies to those waiting for updates as I was testing out more quartz combinations when I was editing the other posts (now finished). Turns out I reminded myself of why I set up my party as I do. I could make a post on it if anyone's actually interested otherise *shrugs*. Anyways...

Finale Annoyance Boss #2: Beelzebub

Stats:

Lvl: 134 HP: 79514
STR: 4677 DEF: 2864
ATS: 1795 ADF: 1800
SPD: 130 EXP: 128

Drops: Kaleido Armor+3, Schwarz Silk+3, Superior Shoes+3, Spiritual Boots+3, Celestial Balm, Reviving Balm

Dullahan (x6)

Minion Stats:

Lvl: 134 HP: 29421
STR: 5669 DEF: 3074
ATS: 1218 ADF: 1594
SPD: 114 EXP: 99

Drops: Carnelia Bracelet, Amberl Bracelet, Sapphirl Necklace

Notes: Beelzebub's "regular attack" is Swarm of Evil which hits for ~11k + seal or mute. Divided allows Beelzebub to create a clone while halving it's total health. Great Collapse is an incredibly long charge craft that when used is a battlefield wide suicide AoE that hits for roughly 24k minimum (ouch!). Dullahan's "regular attack" is Demonic Lance a ST move that his for ~14-15k + a rather high proc rate deathblow.

Recommended Party: Kevin, Joshua, Richard, Kloe

Recommended Lvl: 132ish

Recommended Support: Mueller (Spd +5%, Def +5%, Agi -10%)

Orbment Setups

Kevin - Line Orange: Time Gem, Mirror, Water Gem, Gold Gem, Topaz Gem, Wood Gem
Line Blue: Time Gem, Onyx Gem

or

Kevin - Line Orange: Time Gem, Septium Vein, Water Gem, Gold Gem, Topaz Gem, Wood Gem
Line Blue: Time Gem, Onyx Gem

Joshua - Line Orange: Onyx Gem, Wood Gem, Gold Gem, Cast 2, Silver Gem
Line Blue: Onyx Gem, Water Gem, Ruby Gem

Richard - Line Orange: Carnage, Cast 2
Line Blue: Carnage, Move 3, Silver Gem, Water Gem, Onyx Gem, Divine Eye

Kloe - Line Orange: Water Gem, Yin-Yang, Onyx Gem, Sapphire Gem, Gold Gem, Wind Gem, Cast 2

Recommended Gear

You're still looking at the same gear as before aside from maybe double up on Super/Regular belts on Josh for our usual tactics. Quartz wise we're still at: Kevin = Guardian, Richard = Boss Slayer, Josh = Support Slayer and Kloe = Main Healer.

Recommended Items: The same as usual.

Positioning: Largely doesn't matter this fight. Position in the back row if you want to stay away from the Dullahan horde.

"You Might Poke Your Eye Out With That!" Strategy

I'd say just hit the number corresponding to Josh's s-craft till the screen is cleared of adds but if you want to pretend this fight requires any effort at all you can also use a Dark Matter EX + Evil Eye spam strategy to lock down all the Dullahan adds (you're welcome Hagen). Regardless, cast Clock Up Ex, Zodiac, healing, etc. as necessary (it's unnecessary). There's only 2 real ways to stop Great Collapse which Beelzebub will start to use when lowish on health: killing Beelzebub before he can get it off or just blocking it with Earth Guard. Face tanking it isn't recommended.

Congratulations it takes less effort to beat this boss than for me to type up this post.

[Zelphair]

Yay, more strategies! I did eventually end up just leaving the arena be for now, and finishing the game (those final bosses with some underleveled parties were a bit challenging, too). I've got a save from before going to Phantasmagoria, though, so when you do get to the arena, I'll give it another go.

[HunterRassius]

I'm slowly getting there...

Finale Annoyance Boss #3: Aka Manah

Stats:

Lvl: 135 HP: 84521
STR: 7686 DEF: 3015
ATS: 3286 ADF: 2065
SPD: 137 EXP: 255

Drops: Kaleido Armor+3, Schwarz Silk+3, Superior Shoes+3, Spiritual Boots+3, Celestial Balm, Reviving Balm

Flying Knight (x4)

Minion Stats:

Lvl: 135 HP: 5488
STR: 4390 DEF: 2406
ATS: 0 ADF: 1227
SPD: 127 EXP: 64

Drops: Carnelia Bracelet, Amberl Bracelet, Sapphirl Necklace

Notes: Aka Manah hits for ~21k+ with it's "regular attack" Demonic Claw which inflicts poison or seal. Aka Manah can cast Cocytus for ~13-14k damage + freeze proc. After taking any damage Aka Manah will nearly always open with Super Recovery for 666 healing in an incredibly low delay action (in other words he'll always take a second action). Flying Knight hits for ~11k + morph with it's "regular attack" Darkness Curse. Flying Knight can use EP Drain for ~12=13k -50 EP. HP Drain is a ~10k drain attack.

Recommended Party: Kevin, Joshua, Richard, Kloe

Recommended Lvl: 132ish

Recommended Support: Mueller (Spd +5%, Def +5%, Agi -10%)

Orbment Setups

Kevin - Line Orange: Time Gem, Mirror, Water Gem, Gold Gem, Topaz Gem, Wood Gem
Line Blue: Time Gem, Onyx Gem

or

Kevin - Line Orange: Time Gem, Septium Vein, Water Gem, Gold Gem, Topaz Gem, Wood Gem
Line Blue: Time Gem, Onyx Gem

Joshua - Line Orange: Onyx Gem, Wood Gem, Gold Gem, Cast 2, Silver Gem
Line Blue: Onyx Gem, Water Gem, Ruby Gem

Richard - Line Orange: Carnage, Cast 2
Line Blue: Carnage, Move 3, Silver Gem, Water Gem, Onyx Gem, Divine Eye

Kloe - Line Orange: Water Gem, Yin-Yang, Onyx Gem, Sapphire Gem, Gold Gem, Wind Gem, Cast 2

Recommended Gear

You know the drill by this point. +Spd gear is still as always king along with any additional stats you may need. Quartz setups are the same as the last boss and basically nothing has changed.

Recommended Items: See previous post.

Positioning: You can be out to lunch here and it still won't matter.

Still Wasting My Time I See... Strategy

1 battlefield wide s-craft ends this fight. I mean yea sure Aka will still be alive but the vast majority of his actions will be Cocytus casts which can be impeded. He can be debuffed as well so it's basically over. Optional casts are still optional. Maybe throw up earth guard for less annoyance? Sub in a punching bag for the boss and I doubt you'd notice. He really is that easy.

Gilbert would likely want a word with this boss...

[HunterRassius]

Finally! A boss that isn't a complete pushover... though still pretty easy.

Abyss Depths Boss: Tempest Pom

Stats:

Lvl: 135 HP: 7305
STR: 5574 DEF: 5430
ATS: 9948 ADF: 2525
SPD: 236 EXP: 512

Drops: Kaleido Armor+3, Schwarz Silk+3, Superior Shoes+3, Spiritual Boots+3, Celestial Balm, Reviving Balm, Carnelia Bracelet, Amberl Bracelet, Sapphirl Necklace

Shining Pom (x6)

Minion Stats:

Lvl: 133 HP: 2085
STR: 4594 DEF: 5405
ATS: 10 ADF: 1853
SPD: 143 EXP: 256

Drops: T-Anklet+, Crest Charm+, S-Tablet

Notes: Tempest Pom has utterly insane stats: 5430 Def, 9948 Ats and 236 Spd is absolutely bonkers!! It should also be noted that Tempest Pom takes 0% damage from ANY element (including time, space and mirage). The Shining Poms aren't much better taking only 50% damage from any element as well as a measley 5405 Def. Tempest Poms hits for ~15k damage with a 10 CP drain. Cosmo Explosion is Tempest Pom's "Giga S-craft" doing roughly 40k damage (yes that's four zero thousands) in a battlefield wide AoE. If your party gets hit they will all die. Shining Pom hits for ~12k with a 10 CP drain. Shining Pom will also occasionally gain range to sparkle *mightily* (doing absolutely nothing). Shining Poms can flee but will rarely do so (unlike normal engagements with them).

Recommended Party: Kevin, Joshua, Richard, Kloe

Recommended Lvl: 133ish

Recommended Support: Agate (Str +5%, Dex +20%, Agi -10%)

Orbment Setups

Kevin - Line Orange: Time Gem, Mirror, Water Gem, Gold Gem, Topaz Gem, Wood Gem
Line Blue: Time Gem, Onyx Gem

or

Kevin - Line Orange: Time Gem, Septium Vein, Water Gem, Gold Gem, Topaz Gem, Wood Gem
Line Blue: Time Gem, Onyx Gem

Joshua - Line Orange: Onyx Gem, Wood Gem, Gold Gem, Cast 2, Silver Gem
Line Blue: Onyx Gem, Water Gem, Ruby Gem

Richard - Line Orange: Carnage, Cast 2
Line Blue: Carnage, Move 3, Silver Gem, Water Gem, Onyx Gem, Divine Eye

Kloe - Line Orange: Water Gem, Yin-Yang, Onyx Gem, Sapphire Gem, Gold Gem, Wind Gem, Cast 2

Recommended Gear

You're looking for +Str and +Ats gear this time around. Your offense will be greatly "nerfed" for this fight and you'll need every advantage you can get. It's still not wise to skimp on +Spd gear however. You might want to switch a Super Gladiator Belt off of Kevin for this fight and place it on Kloe for offensive purposes. You're running a different support this time in the form of Agate. Offense is key to this fight and should be remembered. The quartz setups are the usual.

Recommended Items: Beastly Stews and Swingwiches are your bread and butter for this fight. Without them you might not even have an offense due to the CP drain on the attacks of the poms. Blood Extracts, Wobbly Rainbows and Celestial Balms all might come in handy. It's unlikely you'll need EP Charges though...

Positioning: The back row to keep from getting clobbered the first turn.

The Depths of the Abyss... Are Kinda Cute Strategy

The first thing that should be noted is that you will be unable to apply damage to this boss without s-crafts. The defenses of it and it's minions are just too high to put out any reliable amount of damage. They are all also completely immune to any status efffect or debuff so you are unable to cut down on their massive defensive stats as well. The good news is that all of the poms have incredibly low HP. When you do pierce their defenses they can fall in short order.

Your top priority is to land either a Zodiac or a well placed La Forte to buff up your Str enough to get some viable s-craft damage. Without that Str buff you might just waste a 200 CP s-craft. At 200 CP and Zodiac buffed a True Phantom Raid and Sakura Morning Moon can take the Tempest Pom out of the fight. Kloe can wipe out nearly the entire enemy "party" with her Sanctus Nova assuming the right gearing. "Free" actions should be relegated to CP regen, healing and defenses and buffing. Cosmo Explosion is the only really nasty move to look out for. It's a fight ender but is only used if the fight has dragged on for some time. It should be noted that Mirror can reflect some significant damage back onto the attacking poms. As long as you keep a cool head and whittle away with s-crafts this fight should be yours for the taking.

[Zelphair]

Ironically, the Poms were by far the easiest Abyss boss for me.. All I did was set Kloe up for as much Arts as possible, and come into the fight with 200 CP. Usually, someone was fast enough to have a turn before the boss, but if not, running and restarting the fight were quite possible. As long as one of your party members goes first, Kloe can S-Break while the boss is still in the center, and is thus able to hit and (with enough Arts) wipe out the entire enemy party, ending this fight before it even begins.

[HunterRassius]

Man you don't even let them get a turn? That's even more ruthless than I am! Oh wait... there's 7 of them. I completely forgot about my favorite method of disposing of problems in numbers 7 or more. Whoops... goes to show how much rest i've been getting. It's too bloody hot. Edit eventually incomming.

In other news, the game crashed on me while I working on getting Nightmare Arena damage numbers. It's probably going to be the weekend before I can finally get that strategy up that you want. After that... ugh. It's going to be some serious effort to compile 4 "perfect" partys for the last 4 final boss battles.

[HunterRassius]

This took nearly a day and a half of fighting, testing, freezing and writing to get this compiled. I seriously want a COOKIE for this one...

Alright, everyone's been waiting and waiting and it's finally here. The hardest fight in the game:

Sun Door #3: Nightmare Arena

Round 1: General Morgan, Warden of the North

Stats:

Lvl: 134 HP: 82524
STR: 5987 DEF: 2609
ATS: 0 ADF: 1442
SPD: 131 EXP: 128

Drops: Tear All, Celestial Balm

Philip Runall, the Sword Fox

Stats:

Lvl: 134 HP: 58507
STR: 4785 DEF: 2549
ATS: 0 ADF: 2131
SPD: 139 EXP: 128

Drops: EP Charge, Insulating Tape, Smelling Salts, Purging Balm, Softening Balm, EP Charge II

Duke Dunan

Minion Stats:

Lvl: 134 HP: 37212
STR: 3880 DEF: 2786
ATS: 0 ADF: 1492
SPD: 123 EXP: 128

Drops: Teara Balm, Insulating Tape, Smelling Salts, Purging Balm, Softening Balm, Tear All Balm

Notes: Morgan hits for ~15k damage. Hurricane Wave is a line based AoE that hits for ~15k with a faint proc. Raging Cyclone is a PBAoE that hits for ~15k. Great Cleaver is a single target attack for ~18.5k + faint. Beast Dance is Morgan's "s-craft" and it hits for ~20k damage + faint in a small AoE. Philip hits for ~11.5k damage. Flying Swallow is a single target attack that hits for ~11k + -agi. Cicada is a single target ~11k AT Delay attack. Esmelas Hearts is Philip's single target s-craft that can hit for as high as 19k+. Duke Dunan hits for ~8k + AT Delay/Faint. "Go Forth!" is a large str + spd buff for Morgan and Philip (expect a 2-3k damage increase). Teara Balm is a 5k self heal.

Round 2: Orgueille Mk. II

Stats:

Lvl: 135 HP: 95820
STR: 5350 DEF: 2824
ATS: 1546 ADF: 1517
SPD: 139 EXP: 512

Drops: Jormungandr, Celestial Balm, Curia Balm

Notes: Orgueille Mk. II can run you over for ~14k (x2!). Jammer Missiles is a small AoE that can hit for ~12.5k + a small chance seal proc. Orgueille Mk. II can ram a single target for ~12k + knockback. Machine Gun is a small AoE for ~12-13k. Hellfire is a weak cone based AoE for ~6-7k. Tri-Cannon is a quick charging craft that slams you for ~8-9k (3 times!).

Round 3: Walter the Direwolf

Stats:

Lvl: 136 HP: 77820
STR: 6086 DEF: 2630
ATS: 0 ADF: 1711
SPD: 172 EXP: 128

Drops: Proxy Puppet, Emergency Puppet, Zeram Powder

Kilika Rouran, Taito Master

Stats

Lvl: 136 HP: 56940
STR: 5507 DEF: 2719
ATS: 0 ADF: 1834
SPD: 162 EXP: 128

Drops: Gold Gem, Silver Gem, Onyx Gem, Zeram Powder

Notes: Walter hits for ~15k damage. Sonic Shot is a small AoE for ~14-15k damage. Infinity Combo is a single target attack for ~15k damage. Lazer Bullet is a line based AoE for ~16k. Zero Impact is a massive single target attack for 2--21k damage. Ultimate Blow is Walter's nasty s-craft for ~20k+ damage along with faint. Kilika hits for ~14k damage and can basically hit anyone on the field due to her basic attack having a move attached. Petal Spin is a PBAoE for ~14k damage. Zero Impact is a single target move for ~15k+ damage. Dual Dragon Helix is Kilika's battlefield wide s-craft that hits for ~17-18k damage.

Final Round: Cassius Bright, the Divine Blade

Stats:

Lvl: 138 HP: 104400
STR: 6222 DEF: 2834
ATS: 0 ADF: 2112
SPD: 199 EXP: 512

Drops: T-Anklet+, Crest Charm+, Master Beads+, Tornado Fan+, Moonglasses+, Lebensborn+, Varja+, Umegae

Loewe, the Bladelord

Stats

Lvl: 138 HP: 101976
STR: 6403 DEF: 2686
ATS: 2285 ADF: 1407
SPD: 179 EXP: 512

Drops: Proxy Puppet, Emergency Puppet, Zeram Powder

Notes: Yes, it's the 2 Zemurian monsters you'd NEVER want teaming up. Sky high stats all around and over 100,000+ health... Cassius hits for ~15k damage. Armor Rend is a line based AoE for ~15k + AT Delay that can ruin your day. Lightning Flash is a LARGE Aoe for ~16k+. Hundred Blows is a single target attack for ~15k with lowish delay (watch out for them after Quilingong!). Quilingong is a MASSIVE str + spd boost for an enemy that needs neither. Expect 3k+ more damage from each of his attacks (nearly 20k Armor Rends are *not* fun). Phoenix Wave is a battlefield wide AoE for ~23-24k damage (watch out for 26k+ with Quilingong up!). Loewe hits for ~16.5k. Zero Storm is a line based AoE Impede that deals ~6-7k damage. Silver Thorn is a AoE art that can hit for ~9k with a 90% Confuse proc. Earth Guard is exactly like your own. La Teara is an AoE 6k heal. Body Split creates a slightly weaker 50k health clone. Clones hit for ~11k damage. Demon Flames is a medium AoE s-craft that hits for ~21k or more + faint proc. Sword of Abaddon is a large AoE s-craft for ~21k or more with a freeze proc.

Recommended Party: Kevin, Richard, Anelace, Kloe or Kevin, Richard, Joshua, Kloe

Recommended Lvl: 134-135+

Recommended Support: Mueller (Spd +5%, Def +5%, Agi -10%)

Orbment Setups

Kevin - Line Orange: Time Gem, Septium Vein, Water Gem, Gold Gem, Topaz Gem, Yin-Yang
Line Blue: Time Gem, Onyx Gem

Richard - Line Orange: Carnage, Cast 2
Line Blue: Carnage, Move 3, Silver Gem, Water Gem, Onyx Gem, Divine Eye

Anelace - Line Orange: Absorb, Nothingness, Water Gem
Line Blue: Absorb, Cast 2
Line Green: Absorb, Wind Gem, Onyx Gem
Line Pink: Absorb, Ruby Gem

or

Joshua - Line Orange: Onyx Gem, Wood Gem, Gold Gem, Cast 2, Poison 2
Line Blue: Onyx Gem, Water Gem, Ruby Gem

Kloe - Line Orange: Water Gem, Yin-Yang, Onyx Gem, Sapphire Gem, Gold Gem, Wind Gem, Cast 2

Recommended Gear

This is the fight for all the marbles so there's no holding back for today. You're looking to equip as much +spd gear as you can get here. Your average party speed should be somewhere in the ~150 range though ideally you'd probably like to get it to 160+. Ninja Garb, Kitty Suit, +3 boots or vests, you name it. Farmed gear is KING here. You've amassed quite a few emblems and crowns likely by now as well. I like throwing the Shining Emblem on Kloe for additonal enemy wiffs. Kitty Slippers on Anelace allows you to drop a Move 3 quartz and instead run Nothingness as she'll be able to trek across the entire arena anyway. Brilliant Crown is excellent on Kevin and the Super Gladiator Belts are still top priority on Kevin and Richard for a mix of offense and defense. No Mirror today as there's a rather nasty bug involved with it on the final fight of this arena "tour". Kevin's slotted to run Athelas as this might be the only fight that it might come in handy. Kevin's also still running the usual support arts (Gaia Shield and the like). Richard's still running high damage on the setup with support versatility. This might be the only boss fight(s) you'll ever get to use most of it however (aside from just Zodiac). Anelace is primed to run Clock Up EX, Slyphen Guard and if need be Saint "patch ups". She'll be your prime buffer in regards to getting the proper amount of actions (Clock Up EX) as she'll be perhaps the only one with freedom to truly cast them. She's running Chaos Brand for the first round as well. Kloe's still main healing as always. Josh should take the place of Anelace in all regards with the exception of him being slightly more "defensive" in nature.

Recommended Items: Bring your everything. Blood Extracts, Celestial Balms, Beastly Stews, Tear All Balms, Bloody Meatballs, Zeram Powders/Capsules you name it!

Positioning: Four corners. You'll need the distance.

The Nightmare's...OVER Strategy

It should be noted that for round 1 Philip is susceptible to Confuse. With that in mind, the fight becomes that much easier. Round 1 is also the only fight that has bosses that can have debuffs applied to them. Anelace should start casting Chaos Brand right out of the gate. Clock Up Ex, Gaia Shield and Zodiac casts should all be prime priority in order to get into good habits for later fights. Once all 3 targets have been properly Clock Downed, Duke Dunan should be your first target and he should rapidly fall with the help of his own butler. Go Forth! can be a nasty buff and we don't want to see it despite it likely making little difference. Richard will be doing the vast majority of your damage with crafts being chained like a gattling gun. Manage HP, CP and EP respectively. After you finish an arena round you'll get full HP and EP making things almost broken easy for the majority of the fights. Once Dunan is down Morgan is next. It's basically over after the old general goes down.

Round 2 involves only a single boss you have to fight: Orgueille Mk. II. It hits fairly hard but the only real threat it brings is running over your party members. If you have no Earth Guard up they will go down due to 14k+ hits x2. Buff up as you did during the last fight with a heavier priority on Clock Up EX. It will be your bread and butter on the latter 2 fights. With the spd buff up damage from the tank should be more than manageable. Tri-Cannon, however, should be avoided at all costs as it's another party killer. Earth Guard or getting the "h" out of dodge are your 2 options. Keep pumping damage into the tank by any means necessary and it should go down in relatively short order.

Round 3 involves a pair of rather strong and quick individuals. Kilika likes her opening action or second action to be Dual Dragon Helix. It's ideal to pop a 200 CP s-craft with Kevin immediately to negate the otherwise nasty attack. Once that is done get the usual buffs up. Clock Up EX is even more important because (like the tank) neither Kilika nor Walter can be debuffed. Kilika is priority #1 on your list. As long as you've kept your move stat high on both Richard and Anelace you should be able to follow her across the arena no matter where she goes. Chain as many Richard crafts as you can into her as fast as possible. Cutting through her 56k+ life before a second Dual Dragon Helix is ideal. Once she's down the fight should be more than manageable. Keep your defenses up, however, as Ultimate Blow can still be somewhat nasty even after she has fallen.

The final round involves a pair you would never, ever want to see together. You do however, have a few things in your favor. For one, there are no opening s-craft shenanigans right off the bat. Because of that first fact you should be able to get your feet out under you as you leave the "gate". Number 2 Loewe's "bugged" in this particular PC version but even if he wasn't he won't use Body Split till you start pumping some damage into him. Three, they both don't hit as hard as you'd expect and you've gained even more great gear since you last played "tag" with these two. Lastly, I suspect Cassius' use of Quilingong goes up the more damage you put into him so you can slightly "control" when he will use it.

Buffs are your first and foremost priority as without them you won't stand a chance. Clock Up EX is your #1 priority. You'd better have at least 3 of your 4 party members with it up when Cassius gets his Quilingong up or be prepared for Hundred Blows + Armor Rend back to back nastiness. All 4 of your party members should be able to cast Tear All. You'll need to be keeping everyone topped off for this fight. Watch your casts as Zero Storm can influence the fight simply due to Guard removal. Any enemy critical turns (especially on Cassius) should be stolen to pump yet more damage into your opponents with Richard or used for breathing room with Kevin or Kloe. When the Quilingong phase hits chain Richard crafts like there's no tommorow. An empty Richard tank can be completely filled with a Zeram Capsule or mostly filled with a Powder. Just keep hammering away while enduring the onslaught. Most of Loewe's cast should be ignored as they'll set him back quite a pace after the cast however, if it's going to eat all your guards and Cassius still hasn't dropped his Phoenix Wave BE AWARE. An impede might be the much more preferable option. Cassius usually likes to drop his s-craft around 60-50% health though not always (sometimes it can take quite a bit longer). Loewe's will generally follow a few turns after that. Once Cassius drops the rest of the fight should follow in short order.

The final phase of the final round will have you pitted only against Loewe. Just like before this means you should have things well in hand thereafter. This is the phase to juice up with EP Charges. Loewe can't put any true AoE pressure on you without clones or Silver Thorn and as the latter can simply Impeded it is mostly a joke. Loewe won't start using Body Split till the very end of the fight if at all. Keep hammering away as you did to Cassius and you will have found yourself with an especially well earned victory.

The true power of "victory" is the mindset that this whole arena was over before it had even started.

Edit: I wonder if anyone will catch the "joke" I threw in this post...

[Hagen2900]

You have Divine Eye equipped twice in your alternate party (with Joshua over Anelace).

This battle is much easier if you just keep your party really far apart (4 corners of the battle field) as that neuters most of their attacks. This requires Athelas on 1-2 characters.

[HunterRassius]

What the hell...? Let me correct that...

Edit: The setup in this case doesn't really allow that as you have 2 physicals for damage (in other words they'll automatically group together to do reasonable damage).

For those that don't know I posted a strat with Anelace because if you beat all 4 rounds with her Jinu will GREATLY strengthen basically giving her one of the best swords in the game.

Edit 2: Also Kevin does run Athelas for "damage control" in this setup.