Gamers who have already powered through the available Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin extended demo in preparation for the game's launch may be familiar with the first few dungeons and the intimidating bosses at the end of each of them. After Jack and his party manage to defeat Captain Bikke, it is time to explore the Western Keep which ends with another challenging boss fight that could require some homework.
The Western Keep is a pretty exciting Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin level that challenges players to dodge large projectiles while racing around, battling monsters (like massive Griffon Queens), and eventually disabling the ballista that has been assaulting them. At the end of the dungeon, Jack and his allies find themselves face-to-face with a mounted Black Knight for another multiphase boss fight that will put their skills to the test.
The Black Knight has two phases and players will need to develop different strategies for each half of the fight. If players manage to survive the first phase and knock the Black Knight off of his mount, then they must survive the knight's long range lance attacks if they want to find their way to victory. There's a lot ot keep track of, but players who keep the following in mind should be able to survive and move one step closer to finding and battling the game's first fiend...
Black Knight Phase 1 Fight Guide
- Don't get kicked - The Black Knight has a wicked charge attack and players need to be prepared to dodge it. The best way to do this is to not over commit and mostly keep a good distance from the Knight. Watch the timing of its attacks, move in for a few strikes, and then get back out of range before getting trampled.
- Dodge the telegraphed spin attacks and ground stomp - There are some clear indicators that a spin attack is coming, so be sure to get out of melee range when that animation starts
Black Knight Phase 2 Fight Guide
- Deal with the phantoms - The Black Knight will spawn phantoms that players should wipe out as quickly as possible. There are a few good techniques for this. On easier difficulties, players can just use some kind of AoE when the phantoms appear and take them all down quickly with the help of their allies. At higher difficulty levels, players will want to take advantage of the phantoms' weakness to wind attacks.
- Keep your distance - The Black Knight switches to lance attacks on the ground, which are a little slow but hit incredibly hard and have a long range. Be sure to dodge or block these every time they come and stick to a similar hit-and-run strategy.
Players who are struggling with the fight may want to take a moment to step back, evaluate their current Job selections, and decide if they want to change anything up. Timing is also pretty crucial to this fight (and most fights going forward from here), so some additional practice with dodging and Soul Shield will go a long way. It's crucial to master those mechanics now to avoid serious hurdles in later battles.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin releases March 18th for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
