In the Mirage Arena , you can fight various bosses that you’ve encountered in the main story and some bosses that are exclusive only to the Mirage Arena’s Arena Mode.
A few of these boss fights are some of the hardest in the game, especially once you get to the final few stages you can challenge.
Worry not, however, as here we’ll show you all the best Command Skills and Abilities you can get in the game that’ll help you beat Arena Mode bosses in no time!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Best Command Skills For Boss Fights
Listed below are some Command Skills that we recommend you put in your deck before fighting bosses in the Mirage Arena.
Command Skill #1: Thunder Surge
Thunder Surge can be considered the best offensive Command Skill in the game as it renders you invincible upon usage—giving you a way to deal damage without the threat of being interrupted or countered by a boss.
In fact, one of the easiest ways to beat an Arena Mode boss is to just spam Thunder Surge whenever there’s an opening, then heal with Curaga whenever you receive damage!
Command Skill #2: Mega Flare
For mob stages where you’ll need to beat a lot of Unversed mobs to proceed, Mega Flare will have your back as it allows you to eliminate a ton of Unversed in one go.
It is by far one of the best (if not the best) AoE commands in the game, and putting it on your deck is a good decision—especially if you’re seeking to farm a specific Arena Mode stage.
Alternative Command Skills: You can use either Magnega or Sonic Blade to fill Mega Flare’s role in your deck, which is dealing damage to multiple enemies at once.
Command Skill #3: Curaga
Curaga is the best healing-type Command Skill in the game, so it is only natural that you should consider putting at least two copies of it on your deck before fighting a boss.
You’re vulnerable while healing, however, so remember to get Leaf Bracer to take full advantage of Curaga’s healing capabilities!
Alternative Command Skills: You can use either Cura or Cure as a temporary replacement for Curaga, but note that they’ll be less useful once you get to the harder stages and encounter tougher bosses in the Arena Mode.
Command Skill #4: Vanish
Vanish is a Friendship-type Command Skill that allows your character to turn invisible—making it harder for your enemies to target you.
You can still be hit by attacks while invisible, but Vanish becomes very useful against tougher bosses like Iron Imprisoner II and III by confusing their targeting systems and allowing you to dodge their attacks more easily.
Command Skill #5: Firaga, Thundaga, Blizzaga
These three ga-skills are among the best offensive Command Skills you can equip on your deck. They’re quite easy to meld too, at least compared to other top-tier commands on this list.
Bringing along Firaga, Thundaga, or Blizzaga will allow you to deal specialized elemental damage, which should help you exploit elemental weaknesses.
Alternative Command Skills: Feel free to use lower-tier versions of these skills, such as Fire and Fira, Thunder and Thundara, or Blizzard and Blizzara instead.
However, do note that you’ll be dealing much less damage compared to if you were to use Firaga, Thundaga, or Blizzaga instead.
Command Skill #6: Action & Shotlock Commands
Equipping any of these Block-type Action Commands is important if you want to minimize the amount of damage you take while fighting both mobs and bosses in the Arena Mode:
| Recommended Block-type Commands | Character Restriction |
| Barrier | Aqua |
| Confuse Barrier | Aqua |
| Renewal Barrier | Aqua |
| Stop Barrier | Aqua |
| Block | Ventus Terra |
| Renewal Block | Ventus Terra |
| Stun Block | Ventus Terra |
| Poison Block | Ventus Terra |
Do note that you can protect yourself by using these commands against some of the Arena Mode bosses’ attacks, but not all of them, as some of their moves are unblockable.
You may also attach counters to your blocks, but remember that using them in some instances might leave you vulnerable to a boss’s follow-up attacks.
The best way to avoid taking too much damage from Arena Mode bosses is to equip and use the following Dodge-type Action Commands:
| Recommended Dodge-type Command Skills | Character Restriction |
| Dodge Roll | Ventus |
| Thunder Roll | Ventus |
| Cartwheel | Aqua |
| Firewheel | Aqua |
| Slide | Terra |
| Sliding Dash | Terra Ventus Aqua |
We recommend using Cartwheel for Aqua and Dodge Roll for Ventus specifically, as these provide them with i-frames (invincibility frames) upon usage, which means spamming them will allow you to evade most attacks unharmed.
Unfortunately, you do not get the same invincibility effect while dodging as Terra, which makes him the hardest character to use in Arena Mode.
The only way to remedy this is to be extra mindful of your attack timing, positioning, and healing while playing as Terra.
You can equip any Shotlock that you feel most comfortable with, but we recommend picking the ones that you can fire projectiles afar, so you don’t have to worry about being punished by the boss’s melee attacks while using it.
Great examples of these are Ragnarok, which you can get pretty early from the Command Board, and Bio Barrage, which deals poison damage and is one of the best Shotlocks in the game for general use.
Best Abilities For Boss Fights
Listed below are must-have abilities that’ll help you survive boss encounters in the Arena Mode
| Recommended Abilities | Required Synthesis Material | Description |
| Second Chance | Pulsing Crystal | Ensures you always retain 1 HP after an attack that would otherwise finish you off, unless you are already down to 1 HP. |
| Leaf Bracer | Pulsing Crystal | Prevents you from taking damage while using Cure commands. |
| Once More | Wellspring Crystal | Ensures you always retain 1 HP throughout a combo that would otherwise finish you off, unless you are already down to 1 HP when the first attack hits. |
| Cure Boost | Shimmering Crystal | Increases the amount of HP you recover with Cure commands. Multi-install the ability to recover even more. |
| Damage Syphon | Soothing Crystal | Restores some of the Focus Gauge when you take damage. |
Optional Abilities #1: Attack Haste and Magic Haste are great to have as well since being able to use your Command Skills faster means you’ll be able to deal more damage and heal more often.
Optional Abilities #2: The same goes for Fire Boost, Thunder Boost, and Blizzard Boost, which aren’t really a requirement but are still incredible to have if you want to maximize the damage of your element-type Command Skills.
