8-Colors Star Guardians + 100% Achievement and Boss Guide

This guide will explain how to defeat all bosses and unlock all achievements in 8-Colors Star Guardians +

Story Mode Chapter 1 Achievements

These achievements are unlocked by playing through Story Mode Chapter 1 and can't be missed.

Bye bye, One-Eye!

Eye lasers mean nothing to you

Defeat Kchko

Sharknado who?

Sink Bramba's ambitions

Defeat Bramba

Kill them with fire!

Space insects ain't welcome, Zawas

Defeat Zawas

The Duaxorcist

Rest in peace, Vesper

Defeat Vesper

The Root of All Evil

Uproot Planz

Defeat Planz

Born to Burn

Fight fire with fire, *especially* against Becue

Defeat Becue

Bickering Duo

Show Dragato that two heads aren't better than five

Defeat Dragato (a.k.a. Drgt-L & Drgt-R)

Shell Shock!

And that's when Crawbo realised that a carapace protects you only so much

Defeat Crawbo

Unsuitable Suitor

You’ve shown a pesky space prince who’s the real deal

Defeat Barion

Story Mode Chapter 2 Achievements

These achievements are unlocked in Story Mode Chapter 2. Three of these achievements are missable depending on whether you win or lose certain fights. Missable achievements are marked with an asterisk (*).

Danger Trio

All good things come in threes. All bad things too

Defeat Trigato (a.k.a. Drgt-L, Drgt-C, & Drgt-R)

A White Guardian?!

Beat the mysterious guardian for the first time

Defeat ??? in the first encounter

The People's Champ from Another Dimension*

Some creatures aren’t bound by logic or even narrative universe

Defeat Evolobster (a.k.a. Champ)
*The story still progresses if you lose this fight, but you're able to challenge Evolobster again to get the achievement without playing through Story Mode Chapter 2 again.

AND SHE'S A CATGIRL?

Beat the mysterious guardian for the second time

Defeat ??? in the second encounter

40X*

Wake up!

Lose against Echo in the first encounter
*The story progresses differently depending on whether you win or lose this fight. If you defeat Echo in the first encounter, you'll need to play through Story Mode Chapter 2 again to unlock this achievement.

In the Court of the Nightmare Queen*

Farewell, ward 40X

Defeat Echo in the optional second encounter
*If you defeated Echo in the first encounter, you will not encounter her again, and you'll need to play through Story Mode Chapter 2 again to unlock this achievement.

Burn, Baby, Burn!

Never let Bree touch a MEMORIAN ever again, please

Defeat Pyrom

Those who don't learn from their mistakes...

Defeat Barion for real

Defeat Barion

Arcade Mode Chapter 1 Achievements

These achievements are unlocked in Chapter 1 of Arcade Mode Classic or Extra.

Eight Ball

Defeat the basic 8 bosses in Arcade Mode within the turn limit

Nine Breaker

Beat Barion in Arcade Mode

Arcade Mode Chapter 2 Achievements

These achievements are unlocked in Chapter 2 of Arcade Mode Classic or Extra.

Around the World, around the Wooorld...

Defeat 12 bosses in Arcade Mode Chapter 2

Defeat 12 bosses in Arcade Mode Chapter 2 within the turn limit

Thirteen Reasons Why You Suck

Poor Barion cannot catch a break, not even in Arcade Mode

Defeat Barion in Arcade Mode Chapter 2

100% Achievement

If you unlock all of the achievements listed above, you'll also unlock:

Full Course

Get all other achievements

Congratulations!

Chapter 1 Boss Strategies

WARNING: I recommend referring to these boss strategies only if you're completely stuck. They are not just hints or tips; I wrote many of them as turn-by-turn walkthroughs where possible. They are intended for players who are really struggling to defeat particular bosses or complete Arcade Mode within the turn limits.

These strategies are for Story Mode and Arcade Mode Classic. If you're struggling with Arcade Mode Classic, achievements can be unlocked in Arcade Mode Extra instead, which allows you to use the bonus character, Zareh.

Arcade Mode exploit: If a fight isn't going well or is taking too many turns, you can close the game window to get out of the fight with the number of turns you had prior to starting it. That way, you don't have to restart from the beginning of Arcade Mode. If you react quickly enough, this even works when your whole party gets KOed.

The bosses in Chapter 1 can be challenged in any order, but specific moves are required to defeat some of them, and this is the order I found to be easiest. The party I used for each boss is listed below its name.

Planz

Rhea | V’iri | Bree
This fight is as easy as it gets. Just spam Emerald Saber, Eternal Blue, and Red Sun until the boss dies. Even if Planz KOs one of the guardians, the remaining two should have no problem finishing it.
skill learned: Juni - Faraday Cage

Bramba

Rhea | Juni | Dua
Use Aurora Neon, Red Sun, and Electro Ride before the enemy drains your party’s SP with Slimy Water. Continue to attack with  whatever SP the guardians have left, and finish Bramba off with basic attacks if necessary. This fight is pretty straightforward, but sometimes it can get close if the boss focuses its attacks on one guardian or you get unlucky with missed attacks.
skill learned: Bree - Bubble Shield

Zawas

Rhea | Juni | Bree
This enemy’s Napalm Flare attack will one-shot a guardian if they’re not protected by Bree’s Bubble Shield, so use it on each of her turns while the other two guardians attack with Electro Ride and Red Sun. Only attack with Bree if everyone still has the Bubble (BBL) effect and plenty of HP. Zawas can be harmed by fire, but don’t waste SP on Eternal Blue unless you’re sure you can get away with it toward the end of the fight.
skill learned: Dua - Purge

Vesper

V’iri | Dua | Bree
The boss’s Ghost (GHS) status makes it invulnerable to most attacks, so use Dua’s Purge to remove it, and then attack with Aurora Neon and Emerald Saber to make quick work of the vulnerable Vesper. Bree should focus on keeping the party alive with Bubble Shield.
skill learned: Rhea - Searing Crush

Kchko

V’iri | Rhea | Bree
Use Emerald Saber, Eternal Blue, and Searing Crush to deal damage. If anyone’s HP drops below 100 or so, use Bubble Shield to heal because Kchko’s Evil Gaze attack sometimes hits twice, which can really hurt.
skill learned: Dua - Inversion

Becue

Dua | Rhea | Bree
Use Bubble Shield to defend the party against Becue’s Burning Pyre, then use Inversion so that the boss will hurt itself instead of heal if it uses that attack again. Even though Eternal Blue will deal around 400 damage to the boss after Inversion, Bree should prioritize using Bubble Shield to heal and protect the party while the others use Aurora Neon and Red Sun. Only use Eternal Blue if Becue’s HP is low enough that you can finish it off before its next turn.
skill learned: V’iri - Sharpen

Drgt-L & Drgt-R

Dua | Rhea | V’iri
This fight can be tricky because Drgt-L can revive Drgt-R, and they both have an attack that hits the whole party. First, use V’iri’s Sharpen to boost the power of her next attack, and then use Aurora Neon to hit both heads. Hit the left head with Red Sun and a boosted Emerald Saber, and another Aurora Neon should take it out. Now that it’s defenseless, finish off the right head.
skills learned: Rhea - Energize, Juni - Energize

Crawbo

Dua | Bree | Juni
To defeat this boss, you need to wait for an opening. Start out with basic attacks to conserve your SP. Use Bubble Shield to heal if anyone’s HP gets dangerously low, and use Purge if the enemy uses Sharpen. When Crawbo uses Shell Shock, it becomes extremely vulnerable to attacks, but it will wipe out the whole party on its next turn. Use Faraday Cage to give yourself more time to finish it, and then use any remaining SP on Eternal Blue, Aurora Neon, and Electro Ride.
skills learned: V’iri - Energy Engine, Bree - Energy Spark

Barion

Once you’ve reached the final boss in Arcade Mode, there’s no turn limit, but you’ll have to start all over if you lose, so play it safe. Barion’s Emerald Wave hits the whole party and inflicts Weaken, which reduces everyone’s attack power and healing power by half, so you won’t be doing much damage most turns, but that’s okay. Barion can’t heal at all, so you just have to outlast him. Bree and V’iri should focus on keeping the party’s HP and SP topped off with Bubble Shield and Energy Engine while the other three use Aurora Neon, Searing Crush, and Electro Ride to deal damage. If Barion uses Emerald Fusion, use Faraday Cage to delay his turn and Purge to remove his ATK 3X buff. If multiple guardians get KOed at any point, priority for reviving should be: Rhea/Juni so that they can revive the others > V’iri if Rhea or Juni need SP for Energize, or Bree if they have plenty of SP > Dua last. As long as you don’t get too unlucky with Barion spamming his stronger full-party attack Emerald Savior, you’ll wear him down eventually.

Chapter 2 Boss Strategies

The bosses in Chapter 2 are fought in a fixed order and with all guardians. Story Mode has a couple optional encounters in Chapter 2 that aren't included in Arcade Mode, and they aren't covered in this guide.

Kchko & Bramba

Focus on Bramba first because it will go down faster, and its ability to drain SP can be annoying. Use Faraday Cage to delay its turn, and then use Sharpen to boost V’iri’s next attack. Bree can’t do much damage to Bramba, so have her restore Juni’s SP with Energy Spark instead. Dua should use Aurora Neon for the whole fight. With Rhea, use Red Sun against Bramba. On Juni’s second turn, use Electro Ride against Bramba, and then finish it off with a boosted Emerald Saber. Kchko will most likely use Evil Gaze on its turn, so top off the party’s HP with Bubble Shield. Now that it’s just Kchko, use Electro Ride, Aurora Neon, Searing Crush, and Eternal Blue to take it down, using V’iri’s Energy Engine to restore the party's SP on her turn.

Zawas x3

Bree needs to use Bubble Shield on each of her turns to keep the party alive here. V’iri can use Sharpen and then Emerald Saber on her first two turns to help get the first Zawas out of the way, and then she should stick mostly to Energy Engine to keep the party from running out of SP. The rest of the party should use Red Sun, Electro Ride, and Aurora Neon, focusing on one Zawas at a time.

Drgt-L, Drgt-C, & Drgt-R

Drgt-L and Drgt-C have the ability to revive the other heads, so you need to take them both out first and in quick succession. Also keep in mind that the left head resists Juni’s electric attacks, and the middle head resists Emerald Saber. Start by using Electro Ride on the center head. Use Sharpen, and then use Eternal Blue on the center head. Dua should use Aurora Neon each turn to hit all three heads. Use Red Sun on the center head. After the heads attack, use Faraday Cage to delay the center head’s next turn, and then hit the left head with a boosted Emerald Saber. If anyone was KOed, revive them on Rhea’s turn. The left head’s HP should be very low after the boosted Emerald Saber, so finish it off, and then take out the center head before its next turn so that it can’t revive the left one. Use Bubble Shield and Energy Engine as needed to restore the party’s HP and SP. When only Drgt-R is left, the party should have no trouble finishing it off.

???

This enemy will begin the fight by using Phase Shield to give itself the Phasing (PHS) status, which makes it invulnerable to attacks until its next turn, but you can also use Purge to remove it before then. When it has the PHS status, use basic attacks to effectively skip a guardian’s turn if they have no other options. The enemy also has an attack called Stun Slash, which inflicts Stun (STN), causing the afflicted guardian’s next turn to be skipped, so keep in mind that a guardian with the STN effect will not get to act on their upcoming turn. When the enemy is vulnerable, use Faraday Cage to delay its turn, and attack with Red Sun, Aurora Neon, and Electro Ride while Bree and V’iri focus on restoring the party’s HP and SP. If multiple guardians get KOed at any point, priority for reviving should be: Rhea/Juni so that they can revive the others > V’iri if Rhea or Juni need SP for Energize, or Bree if they have plenty of SP > Dua last. When the enemy’s health gets low enough that the number turns yellow or red, it will often use Quartz Slasher on its next turn, which will most likely KO the whole party, so try to find an opening to take ???’s HP from around 500-600 to 0 without it getting a turn in between, even using Bree’s Eternal Blue and V’iri’s Emerald Saber instead of healing if you see an opportunity. Sharpen followed by Emerald Saber can be really useful here, but it requires some luck to pull off due to the enemy’s PHS and STN effects.

Rando

This fight is really simple. Use First Aid Kit to revive Juni, and then go all out attacking Rando with Crescent Kick and Fury Fists, and finish him off with basic attacks.

Champ & Ref

This fight can be tricky because it has a few unique mechanics. You only need to take out the Champ, Evolobster, so focus your attacks on him. If you hit the Ref, he will use his Warning attack on his next turn if he isn't KOed, which deals a tiny amount of HP and SP damage to the whole party. The Ref will give you two Warnings, and on the third time, he will instead use DQ, which instantly KOs your whole party. So if you attack him, make sure you KO him before his turn so that he doesn't use Warning and DQ. After being KOed, the Ref will get back up after a couple of the Champ's turns. When the Champ uses W. M. Piledriver, it will KO the targeted guardian and apply the Pinned effect. When a guardian is Pinned, they cannot be revived, and the Ref will begin counting on his turns; if his count reaches 3, you will lose the match, but you can knock him out to stop him from counting. When a guardian is Pinned, the Champ can either continue to keep the guardian Pinned on his turn instead of attacking, or he can use another attack, which will remove the Pinned status. He can also Pin a guardian who was KOed by regular attacks. Luckily, only one guardian can have the Pinned status at a time. The Champ has high defense and resists fire and electric attacks, and his defense is increased even further when he's keeping one of the guardians Pinned.

Searing Punch, Crescent Slash, Emerald Saber, and Aurora Neon will do solid damage, but you should avoid using Aurora Neon unless you want to KO the Ref too. Bree should focus on healing with Bubble Shield and Energy Spark, and use V’iri’s Energy Engine to restore the party’s SP as needed. Pay attention to when the Pinned status is lifted from a guardian so that you can revive them. If the Champ uses Absolute Lobster, it will increase his attack and decrease his defense, giving you a chance to deal a lot of damage. It can feel like you’re not getting anywhere in this fight due to his high defense, but if you keep the special mechanics in mind and keep chipping away at him, you’ll wear him down soon enough. But if he happens to have Rhea or Juni Pinned and then decides to KO the other, there's not much you can do.

Becue & Rosen x2

First, focus on taking out one Rosen at a time with Crescent Slash, Emerald Saber, and Red Sun. Keep Bubble Shield up to defend against Becue’s attacks. Dua should avoid using Aurora Neon at first, as it will heal all of these enemies. Instead, she should use Inversion on Becue so that it can’t heal itself with its Burning Pyre attack, and then use basic attacks on the Rosens. V’iri should alternate between Emerald Saber and Energy Engine as needed to restore the party’s SP. When the Rosens are out of the way, take out Becue with Aurora Neon, Red Sun, Crescent Slash, and Eternal Blue, but prioritize keeping Bubble Shield active over attacking with Bree until the enemy is almost dead. Do not attack Becue with Emerald Saber, Electro Ride, or Faraday Cage after using Inversion, as those attacks will heal it.

Chapter 2 Boss Strategies (continued)

Crawbo & Gramba

Use Faraday Cage on Gramba to delay its turn, and then use Sharpen to boost V’iri’s next attack. Bree can’t do much damage here, so have her restore Juni’s SP with Energy Spark. Use Aurora Neon, and then hit Gramba with Red Sun, Electro Ride, and then a boosted Emerald Saber to finish it off. Bree should now stick to using Bubble Shield to keep the party’s HP up. Use Energy Engine on V’iri’s next turn to restore the party’s SP, and use basic attacks with everyone while you wait for Crawbo to use Shell Shock. If it uses Sharpen, use Purge to remove it. When it uses Shell Shock, hit it with Faraday Cage, and then go all out with Emerald Saber, Eternal Blue, Aurora Neon, Searing Crush, and Electro Ride to knock it out before its next turn.

Vesper & Nosfer x2

In my experience, this fight was more reliant on luck than probably any other. If multiple enemies use their Drain Nightmare attack that hits the entire party, or if Emerald Saber misses Vesper, it can go south really quickly, and it can become almost impossible to recover due to the turn order. These three all have the Ghost (GST) status, so they can’t be harmed by most attacks until you use Purge on them. First, use Juni’s basic attack to effectively skip her turn. Use Sharpen, and then use Energy Spark to restore V’iri’s SP. Purge Vesper, and use Rally on V’iri if she was hit or on whoever else needs it if she wasn’t. Skip Juni’s turn again unless she needs to revive anyone with Energize, and then use a boosted Emerald Saber to take out Vesper. Keep the party healed with Rally, Bubble Shield, and Energy Engine while Dua uses Purge on one of the Nosfers, and then take it out with Red Sun, Crescent Slash, and Emerald Saber. Repeat to KO the second Nosfer. If multiple guardians get KOed at any point, priority for reviving should be: Rhea/Juni > V’iri/Bree > Dua.

??? & ??? x4

For the sake of clarity, I’ll refer to the main enemy as ??? and the others as Adds. This is a lot like the first ??? encounter. The main challenge of this fight is that ??? can apply PHS to the entire enemy party, making each of them invulnerable until their next turn. The Adds don’t do much damage, but it can add up because they take their turns one after another. ??? can also use Not Alone Again to revive all KOed Adds, so focus your attacks on ??? as much as possible. V’iri should use Energy Engine most turns to restore SP, but use Sharpen on her first turn because a boosted Emerald Saber can take a huge chunk of ???'s HP. Bree should stick to Bubble Shield to keep the party alive. Dua’s Aurora Neon will often KO some of the Adds in one hit when they don't have the PHS effect. If you see an opportunity to finish off ???, take it even at the cost of healing your party because the Adds are virtually helpless on their own. If multiple guardians get KOed at any point, priority for reviving should be: Rhea/Juni > V’iri/Bree > Dua.

Echo

This fight is pretty simple because you only have one guardian to manage. You basically just need to spam Aurora Neon, and use Patch/Energy Spark to restore HP/SP whenever one of them falls below about 100. If Echo uses Third Eye, use Purge to remove its ATK 3X effect. Her All Gone attack will inflict Blind, Deaf, and Mute, which remove your ability to see anything (including your HP/SP, so try to keep track of those), hear anything, and use moves other than Dua’s basic attack. She can also inflict each of those effects individually. Fortunately, her status-inflicting attacks do very little damage, so they're not much of an actual threat. Aurora Neon does a ton of damage to Echo, so it won’t take long to finish her off, even while managing HP, SP, and status effects.

Pyrom & Flame x3

This fight can seem really difficult at first, but it’s actually pretty easy if you understand the boss's unique mechanics. Pyrom’s Pyromania attack consumes all of its SP, dealing damage proportionate to the SP it had. When Pyrom is out of SP, it draws energy from the Flames to restore SP for its attack, so the key to this fight is to make sure two of the Flames are KOed before Pyrom’s turns (when it’s out of SP) so that it can only recover the minimum 500SP, enough for the weakest version of its Pyromania attack. If all three Flames are KOed, the boss will just revive them all, and its next turn will come soon after, so you won’t get much breathing room to attack the boss. Pyromania also revives all of the Flames, so you’ll need to keep knocking them out. Its only other attack is Jet Exhaust, a fairly weak multi-attack.

Pyrom will open the fight with Jet Exhaust, only doing a little damage. Since the boss starts the fight with full SP, don’t worry about the Flames yet. Begin by using Crescent Slash, Emerald Shine, Bubble Shield, Aurora Glimmer, and Searing Crush, targeting Pyrom with all of the attacks. It will then use Pyromania++, doing huge damage to the whole party, but it generally won’t KO anyone if they’re all at full HP. It will then need to Cooldown on its next turn, so don’t worry; Bree will have time to heal the party before its next attack. Use Energy Engine on V’iri’s turn to restore everyone’s SP. and make sure you KO two of the Flames before Pyrom’s next turn. Juni and Rhea’s basic attacks will generally KO a Flame, so those are good options for taking them out. Electro Ride is also a good option for taking out Flames because it one-shots them and makes Juni’s next turn come a little sooner. You can also use Dua’s Inversion on the Flame that you leave alive, making the boss’s next Pyromania attack KO that Flame, saving you the trouble until the following Pyromania revives it again (because Inversion is unfortunately reverted when it’s KOed). From here, the fight is pretty straightforward: keep knocking out two of the Flames, and hit the boss with Searing Crush, Crescent Slash, and Aurora Glimmer when you have the opportunity. Bree should use Bubble Shield every turn to reduce incoming fire damage and heal the party, and V’iri should switch between Emerald Shine to attack Pyrom and Energy Engine to restore the party’s SP as needed. The fight is over when Pyrom is KOed.

Chapter 2 Boss Strategies (final)

Barion, OPN-L, & OPN-R

Again, there’s no turn limit while fighting the final boss, but you have to play this one even safer than the previous Barion fight. Focus on OPN-R and especially OPN-L whenever they’re alive because they’ll make things harder on you. OPN-L can inflict Stun (STN) on one of the guardians, causing them to lose their next turn, and OPN-R can heal Barion for a small amount.

When Barion uses Countdown to End, he will apply the Channeling (CHN) effect on himself, which indicates that he will KO your entire party on his next turn with Void Scream. To survive this attack, you need to use Zareh’s Phase Shield on someone to give them the Phasing (PHS) effect, making them invulnerable until their next turn. Target either Rhea or Juni with it so that they can then start reviving the rest of the party with Energize, and make sure that Rhea/Juni’s next turn doesn’t come until after Barion’s turn so that the PHS effect doesn’t wear off before he uses Void Scream. Zareh’s Twin Tails can also be useful during this time, as it will usually bump her next turn up to right before Barion's so that she can use Phase Shield at just the right time. When the attack KOs everyone but Rhea/Juni, priority for reviving should be: Rhea/Juni > V’iri > Zareh/Bree/Dua. Energize revives with full HP, so Bree won’t need to heal the party as much as usual during this fight. When she isn’t using Bubble Shield, take advantage of her new Burning Ardor to give someone else the ATK 3X effect to attack Barion on their next turn.

When Barion is Channeling, it’s also a good opportunity to attack, as he takes double damage from Emerald Shine, Aurora Glimmer, and Red Sun while he has the CHN effect; this is a good time to use Burning Ardor on Rhea, V’iri, or Dua to boost one of those attacks even further. Another great opportunity to attack him is when he uses Emerald Fusion, which gives him the ATK 3X effect but also makes him vulnerable to Faraday Cage’s turn delay, giving you time to do some serious damage to him. But make sure Dua uses Purge before his next turn comes because he will likely KO the entire party with his boosted attack power. As long as you pay attention to the turn order and Barion’s CHN and ATK 3X effects, you’ll be able to stay alive and get through his 11,000+ HP before you know it.

Credits and Thanks

Credit to Andrea Jens, the developer of 8-Colors Star Guardians +, for sharing information about some of the bosses' mechanics.

Thank you for reading my very first guide! This started as just a bunch of notes that I was taking while trying to beat Arcade Mode, and I decided to turn it into a guide to hopefully help others. I hope it was helpful to you!

Please leave a comment if you have any questions, notice any errors in the guide, or would like to share your own strategies. I'd love to hear your feedback!

[Andrea Jens]

Oh right, something worth mentioning in the Final Barion guide: Bubble Shield and Phasing are mutually exclusive and will "kick" each other out, since there is room only for one defensive buff. This means that using Bubble Shield will remove Phasing, if it's already applied and might cause a party wipe.

[Andrea Jens]

Using Juni's Electro Ride or Faraday Cage at the wrong time can, indeed, mess up the turn order for the final boss BADLY...

[lizardmang]

Like your turns aren't playing out in the order described in the guide? If you're following my steps exactly, I honestly have no idea what could be causing that. In my testing, the turn order was always the same if I chose the same series of actions for everyone.

[CandevilCollector]

what do i do if the turn order is COMPLETELY whack

[Andrea Jens]

I was recalled here by a comment notification and, one year later, I am still super grateful to you for having taken the time to put together this guide. Seeing someone enjoying my games to the point of using their valuable time to put together such a detailed resource is truly heartwarming 🙏

[lizardmang]

You're welcome! Thank you for your comment; it means a lot!

[Lukinhas]

THANKS!

[lizardmang]

Thank you! I'll add that to the guide!

[Andrea Jens]

Very thorough guide, thanks a lot for putting this together! Just one note:
* the Ref will Warn you 2 times, then DQ, but only if he survives an attack. If you KO him every time, he will not Warn you. So, either go and KO him as fast as possible or don't touch him!

Also, if you need guidance for the gimmicks of the extra bosses in the 40X path, let me know!