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You have finally reached the top of the Grand Regalith Cathedral. It’s time to put an end to this madman necromancer’s city-wrecking schemes inMetaphor ReFantazio’s first big dungeon boss battle. As can be expected, he’s a capable foe. But not so capable as your team can be.
We’ll tell you what Zorba can do, and how to counter it with ease. With a few important tools at your disposal, you’ll have Zorba beaten down in just a few turns. Here’s how we did it, including the Archetypes we selected, the skills they inherited, and the turn-by-turn rotation that sent Zorba six feet under.
Pre-Battle Prep
Although it’s possible to reach theGrand Regalith Cathedral’sbosses in a single session, it’s alsoprettyhard. We’d recommendresting and coming back for a second(or even third)day, unless you havean ample supply of items and/or MP.
Note that we said “items and/or MP.” In other words,you won’t need plenty of MP for offensive spellcasting. What you do need isa reliable way of topping off everyone’s HP.
Unless your MP is at an extreme low, but you don’t want to return to town to remedy it, we’d recommend thatyou bring either a dedicated healer. That can be in the literal sense, via theHealer class, or it can be someone who has inherited Medi.
Mediis your best bet. It willheal all allies for “weak HP”,butthat designator is still enough to keep everyone’s HP at or near maximumat this point in the game.
Regardless, your other goal should be toensure one party member has ample physical firepower and Hulkenberg is in her Knight class. We’ll be using her to absorb some blows.
Recommended Party Setup
For the protagonist, we had him set as aMagewho has inheritedMedi from the Healer class. The Mage’s Endurance is a bit better, but ther’s no pressing need to swap to it; Healer is perfectly fine as-is.
The Healer class must beRank 3before it learns Medi.
As is often the case in the early game, Hulkenberg is best left to her default kit. That is to say,keep Hulkenberg set as a Knight, as we’re going to want her to useKnight’s Proclamationconsistently while having the Endurance to take the hits she draws.
For Strohl, we went withBrawler. You can useWarriorinstead, butBrawler’s Attack is a tad higher,andPerfect Punch will do fairly high damagefor this point in the story so long as your Brawler’s HP is kept high. You’ll have a Healer for that, so it pans out.
Mage
Back
Healing with Medi most turns. On “free” turns, when everyone’s health is high, coordinate with Strohl for the Energy Ray skill.
Brawler
Front
As long as the protagonist is busy healing, use Perfect Punch. When he isn’t, use Energy Ray.
Consistenly cast Knight’s Proclamation. Backup healing if mandatory.
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Moveset
Corpse Puppetry
Zorba summons a Corpsethrall. He’ll do this until two are on the field with him at any given time.
Madness Curse
Having summoned his Corpsethralls, Zorba inflicts them with Rage, raising their attack stat considerably.
Casts an Electric magic spell on the target.
Battle Strategy
Kick things off byhaving Strohl team up with the protagonist for a Synthesis skill casting of Energy Ray. On the first turn,your only target will be Zorba, so this will get a good hit in right off the bat.
Despite appearances to the contrary,Zorba isn’t actually weak to Light. What matters here is thatEnergy Ray is classified as heavy damage. It’s a lot of bang for your buck against an enemy like Zorba.
Hulkenberg’sfirst turn needn’t be wasted with Knight’s Proclamation, as the only thing Zorba will do on turn one issummon the first of his two Corpsethralls, which will then attack weakly once.
Instead, have her strike Zorba with her weapon for a bit more damage. Better yet,if you have any 100-damage elemental items, toss one at Zorba. Why not, right?
On the second turn,Zorba will summon his second Corpsethrall, and then both will attack. This time,have Hulkenberg use Knight’s Proclamationin preparation for it.
Strohl should use Energy Ray, and the protagonist should pass his turn to ensure enough actions for all this.
Keep targeting Zorba; never bother with the Corpsethralls. It will simply prolong the match.
From there, things progress pretty straightforwardly.Zorba will inflict the Rage status on his Corpsethralls so that they do more damage, but it will soon wear off, forcing him to do it again. He’ll try toinflict Paralysis on your team, andcast an Electric-based spell.
Your protagonist shouldkeep casting Medi whenever everyone’s HP dips below half. Strohl should continue to use Energy Ray, and Hulkenberg can alter between Knight’s Proclamation and basic support duties. Zorba ought to go down soon enough!
