Birth by Sleep > Side Quests

Hidden Boss: Vanitas’s Lingering Sentiment

Before entering this battle, it is important to make the following changes to your Command Decks: First, remove all Cure, Cura, and Curaga magic from your Deck, as this spell will not come in handy during this fight. Vanitas will be able to heal himself if you use these Magic Commands in battle. Instead, fill your Command Deck with Potions, as these will keep your HP up enough to keep fighting. You should have four Deck slots filled with Potions. Second, fill the remaining slots with Aerial Slam Commands and Mine Shield Commands. You can’t block his attacks anyway. These two attacks will be very useful in this fight. Third, remove Block/Barrier Commands from your Action Deck, as this will prevent you from accidentally blocking when you go to evade his attacks. Fourth, use a Salvo-type Shotlock Command in your Deck such as Flame Salvo or Dark Volley. Shotlocks that last longer are best in this fight. Finally, make sure that your HP Boost, Attack Haste, Magic Haste, Item Boost, Second Chance, and Once More Abilities are equipped to their highest level. Now that you’ve made the necessary preparations, get ready for a true test of your skills.

It’s important at the very beginning of the fight to show no fear! Charge right in using your evasion maneuver and get in a few hits. Back off before you commit to a full combo though, as this will leave you wide open for attack. If at any point in the battle, Vanitas curls up into a dark ball, begin charging your Shotlock immediately! This attack is easily his most powerful and most deadly, and there’s really no hopes of dodging it. However, unleashing a Shotlock right at the moment when he begins launching his shadowy clones will provide invulnerability that lasts pretty much the entire attack, minus maybe one hit at the end. It should be noted that your Shotlock is strictly in your deck for the purpose of dodging this attack, and cannot actually deal any damage to Vanitas. Do not go around wasting it trying to get on the offensive. Any time you take damage is typically enough to fully recharge your Focus Gauge, so don’t worry about Ethers.

Another rather devastating attack of his occurs when he thrusts his Keyblade into the air and a massive power surge charges all around him. This means he’s about to unleash a rather deadly barrage of combo-attacks. These are usually pretty easy to evade, but don’t get too cocky. Be sure to keep him in check at all times. Usually after he finishes this attack, he’ll pause for a split second or so. This is a good opportunity to let out an Aerial Slam. This Command allows you to deal pretty decent damage while remaining invulnerable. However, you need to know when to, and when to not use it. Aerial Slam is only good for those few moments when he’s not on the offensive, and should not be used as your primary means of attack.

One of his other rather crippling attacks involves him slashing through the air and leaving energy pillars in his wake. These pillars will then rush in and fill the gap left behind by this slashing attack. If you are caught in the blasting zone, not only will your HP be reduced to 1, but your peripheral vision will be significantly diminished, as this attack causes the majority of your screen to go black. At that point, you’re pretty much as good as dead. This attack is really easy to avoid though, so this shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Typically at the end of this attack, hell drop to the ground and start simply running toward you at a relatively slow speed. This is the perfect opportunity to lay down a Mine Shield. He’ll run right into it and be launched skyward. While he’s airborne, feel free to hit him with an Aerial Slam, as this will provide some extra damage while he can’t really retaliate.

His final attack to watch out for is essentially a Shotlock command that unleashes an enormous beam of energy in a straight line. This attack is the easiest of his onslaughts to dodge, and you can sneak around behind him and let out an Aerial Slam to deal some damage while he’s occupied.

The rest of his attacks are simply more powerful and more deadly versions of attacks you’ve encountered by fighting Vanitas in the main stories. Be on the lookout for those as well, and deal with them in a similar manner to how you did during the game. Victory over this overwhelming foe gets you the Void Gear Keyblade, as well as the opportunity to fight an even scarier adversary!

Hidden Boss: Mysterious Figure

Before entering this fight, you’ll want to make some changes to your Command Deck. Your Deck should contain 8 commands: 4 of them should be fully maxed Cure spells, and the other 4 should be fully maxed Thunder Surge Commands. Cure is almost better than Cura or Curaga in this instance, as all of his attacks will reduce you to 1 HP anyway, and Cure reloads faster. Your Shotlock Command does not matter in this fight, as you will not be using it at all. Make sure that the Attack Haste, Magic Haste, HP Boost, Thunder Boost, Second Chance, and Once More Abilities are all equipped to their highest level. You should be using the Keyblade with the strongest ATK for this battle, as you will not be using offensive magic. When you’re ready to go, land in the Land of Departure. As soon as you touch ground, you’ll be pulled into the battle, so be ready to fight for your life!

The Mysterious Figure is a very difficult foe to take on. You won’t get to unload too many full-blown combo attacks on him, so you’ll have to solely rely on your Thunder Surge Commands to deal damage to him. You may spend the majority of this battle mashing the Square Button to avoid his attacks with your evasion maneuver, and that’s perfectly okay. Actually, the best strategy is to simply dodge around the area until he presents one of his two openings.

The easiest opening to exploit is right after he winds back and launches his X-shaped energy attack. He’ll fall to the ground after this and remain motionless for a split second. Use this opportunity to unload a Thunder Surge. His other opening is a bit more difficult to take advantage of. After he uses his Collision Magnet-type attack, he’ll drop down to the ground and take a split second to touch down. Right as he lands, hit him with a Thunder Surge. Just be careful not to get hit by this attack, as there is no surviving it!

The only move he makes that you really need to address right away is when he pauses to create five clones of himself. The instant he stops to do this, Thunder Surge into the crowd to take out the majority of the clones in a single hit, then use your evasion maneuver to get away from him until one of his openings appears. DO NOT rely on Glide or Air Slide Commands to avoid attacks, as this method does not provide immunity to attacks while dodging.

Eventually, the Mysterious Figure will become invisible during his onslaughts, so you’ll have to do a bit of blind fighting, randomly launching Thunder Surges around the arena in the hopes that, by some fluke, you manage to hit him. Following this method, eventually, you should be able to take him down. Victory against this mighty foe earns you the No Name Keyblade.