You can encounter nine different bosses in the Mirage Arena ‘s Arena Mode—each with their unique strengths, weaknesses, and skill sets.
In this guide, we will go over all the information you need to know about the Arena Mode bosses—including their movesets, strengths, weaknesses, and strategies that’ll help you beat them.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
All Mirage Arena Bosses & How To Beat Them
Listed below are all the Mirage Arena bosses that you can fight in the Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep’s Arena Mode, their stats, movesets, and some tips on how to beat each of them.
Cursed Coach
Story Mode Stage Encountered: Castle Of Dreams (Aqua)
Arena Mode Stages Encountered: Wheels of Misfortune, Villains’ Vendetta
| Cursed Coach Moveset | Description |
| Thornbite | The Cursed Coach spawns Thornbites around the arena which attacks players. |
| Vine Whip | The Cursed Coach attacks the player with vines. |
| Vine Spin | The Cursed Coach spins around, damaging nearby players in a circular area. |
| Swallow | The Cursed Coach sucks in a nearby area. When a player is caught, it will chew on them until the “X” button has been pressed successfully multiple times. |
| Bounce | The Cursed Coach bounces around the arena, sending out shockwaves that damage players. |
| Pumpkin Bomb | The Cursed Coach flies around in the air while firing bombs at players. |
The Cursed Coach is the easiest boss to beat and is one of the very first bosses you’ll encounter in both the story and the Mirage Arena.
You’ll be able to beat this boss quickly just by staying back and throwing either attack, magic, or shotlock commands at it from afar.
Firaga should do the job just fine, although feel free to use any type of offensive Command Skill as this boss doesn’t have resistance to any element.
You can also attack it at melee range if you want to, just keep Curaga at the ready in case you take too much damage.
Trinity Armor
Story Mode Stage Encountered: Radiant Garden (Ventus, Terra, & Aqua)
Arena Mode Stages Encountered: Combined Threat, Villains’ Vendetta
| Trinity Armor Moveset | Description |
| Hexa Cannon | The Trinity Armor launches three bullets that split into three smaller shrapnels. |
| Trinity Buster | The Trinity Armor encircles the arena and then fires a laser in the middle. |
| Trinity Charge | The Trinity Armor dashes forward, damaging players it collides with. |
| Satellite Buster | The Trinity Armor flies up, fires a laser downward, then crashes into the ground. |
| Swing Punch | The Trinity Armor throws a right hook in front of it, then a left hook with its massive arms. |
| Somersault Break | The Trinity Armor rises and somersaults, damaging nearby players. |
| Knuckle Walk Attack | The Trinity Armor walks around with its hands, damaging players it comes into contact with. |
| Reflect Rush | The Trinity Armor dashes all over the arena, bouncing off walls and damaging players it collides with. |
| Triangle Laser | The Trinity Armor separates its remaining parts and fires a laser between them. |
| Touch & Go | The Trinity Armor flies around randomly, damaging players it collides with. |
| Flame Rain | The Trinity Armor summons multiple fireballs into the arena. |
| Spinning Beam | The Trinity Armor spins around and fires off a laser beam continuously. |
| Ultima Impact | The Trinity Armor smashes the ground, creating a shockwave. |
| Stomp Attack | The Trinity Armor smashes the ground, creating a small shockwave. |
| Voltek Shoot | The Trinity Armor fires multiple bullets that ricochet around the arena. |
| Ultima Berserk | The Trinity Armor fires a large laser beam around the arena, dealing heavy damage to any player it hits. |
Despite having the most extensive moveset out of all the Mirage Arena bosses, the Trinity armor is not that hard to beat if you focus your attacks on one armor part at a time.
The Trinity Armor is made up of parts (i.e. the head, torso, and limbs), which then come off one at a time if you destroy them. The more parts it has left, the more moves it can execute.
Targeting its limbs (either the legs or arms) with either melee or ranged attacks should be your priority, as taking them out will reduce the Trinity Armor’s moveset drastically, making it less of a threat as the battle drags on.
Do watch out for Ultima Berserk once its head is its only remaining part though, as it deals high damage and may take out your character in a few hits. Make sure your HP is always above at least 50% with Curaga.
Mimic Master
Story Mode Stage Encountered: None
Arena Mode Stages Encountered: Dead Ringer, Copycat Crisis
| Mimic Master Moveset | Description |
| Bite | The Mimic Master flies around and snaps up players with its book. |
| Hit | The Mimic Master slams its book into the ground, creating shockwaves. |
| Magic Gyro | The Mimic Master surrounds itself with light and dark beams that either push players away (light beam) or make them partially blind (dark beam). |
| Imitation | The Mimic Master sucks in the player and creates one hostile copy of them—two copies if its remaining HP is less than 50% |
| Mimic Master Moveset (Ventus) | Description |
| Combo | Mimic Master (Ventus) attacks multiple times, stringing up to three combo hits. |
| Rush | Mimic Master (Ventus) lunges toward a player with its keyblade. |
| Finish | Mimic Master (Ventus) executes a series of combo attacks that may overwhelm a player. |
| Strike Raid | Mimic Master (Ventus) throws its keyblade toward a player, potentially hitting them from afar. |
| Aerora | Mimic Master (Ventus) summons a gust of wind that can suck in players, rendering them unable to move in the air for a few seconds before they’re blown away. |
| Blackout | Mimic Master (Ventus) renders the player partially blind by forming a dark fog around the screen. |
| Mimic Master Moveset (Terra) | Description |
| Combo | Mimic Master (Terra) attacks multiple times, stringing up to three combo hits. |
| Sonic Impact | Mimic Master (Terra) lunges towards a player while being invincible. |
| Guard Impact | Mimic Master (Terra) jumps up into the air and then slams its keyblade into the ground, creating a shockwave. |
| Finish | Mimic Master (Terra) jumps multiple times, swinging his keyblade for a multi-hit combo. |
| Brutal Blast | Mimic Master (Terra) beats players down with a spinning attack before sending them flying away. |
| Blackout | Mimic Master (Terra) renders the player partially blind by forming a dark fog around the screen. |
| Mimic Master Moveset (Aqua) | Description |
| Combo | Mimic Master (Aqua) attacks multiple times, stringing up to three combo hits. |
| Barrier Surge | Mimic Master (Aqua) surges forward while invincible, damaging players it collides with. |
| Finish | Mimic Master (Aqua) fires multiple magic bullets from afar. |
| Fira | Mimic Master (Aqua) launches a fireball from its keyblade that follows a player to a certain extent. |
| Blizzara | Mimic Master (Aqua) launches a spiked icicle from its keyblade that potentially damages players multiple times. |
| Blackout | Mimic Master (Aqua) renders the player partially blind by forming a dark fog around the screen. |
The Mimic Master is certainly the most unique boss you’ll encounter in both the story and Arena Mode, as it has the ability to copy your character and attack you with them.
The best strategy to beat this boss is to either block or evade its attacks while it’s airborne, then overwhelm it with shotlock, attack, or magic commands as soon as it lands on the ground.
Whenever it uses Magic Gyro, make sure to go into the air quickly by jumping repeatedly or gliding to avoid this move more easily.
Do not get hit with the black beam, as it blinds your character partially—as shown in the image above. Hold off on attacking until the Mimic Master stops this move.
When its HP has been reduced to a certain level, the Mimic Master will then try to copy your character by opening its book and trying to get the player inside it.
You can avoid this move by spamming dodge while moving away from it. If you get caught, you’ll have to defeat your copy to bring back the Mimic Master’s true form.
At lower health, it will instead summon two copies, and you’ll have to destroy the pages scattered around the arena in addition to defeating the copies to bring the Mimic Master out again.
Wheel Master
Story Mode Stage Encountered: Enchanted Dominion (Terra)
Arena Mode Stages Encountered: Weaver Fever, Villains’ Vendetta
| Wheel Master | Description |
| Swing Arm | The Wheel Master sweeps its lanky arms from left to right aggressively. |
| Jump Attack | The Wheel Master jumps high up in the air and then slams its body into the ground, creating a shockwave. |
| Angry Stomp | The Wheel Master becomes invincible and angrily stomps, damaging players below it. |
| Gallop | The Wheel Master dashes after a player, damaging and knocking them away if they connect. |
| Wheel Shoot | The Wheel Master launches its wheels, dealing damage from afar. |
| String Of Death | The Wheel Master releases a thread that captures a player, which can only be escaped by successfully pressing the “X” button multiple times. It cannot use this attack if its Spindle has been broken. |
The Wheel Master is a tough boss to beat, but it should be manageable if you stay away from it the whole fight and just spam Thunder Surge or ranged commands (Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga) whenever it shows an opening.
If you’re planning to keep your distance, watch out for Jump Attack, Gallop, and Wheel Shoot. Avoiding Wheel Shoot successfully will leave the boss open, allowing you to attack it without resistance for a few seconds.
After taking enough damage, the Wheel Master will then be temporarily stunned, which should allow you to get a huge amount of damage in.
Just make sure to get away from it as soon as it wakes, as it will immediately do a sweeping AoE attack to push players away.
Zack & Hades
Story Mode Stage Encountered: Olympus Coliseum (Aqua)
Arena Mode Stages Encountered: A Time To Chill
| Zack Moveset | Description |
| Jump Downswing | Zack jumps up, then slashes downward. |
| Continuous Sword | Zack strings together a series of attacks, executing a continuous combo. |
| Blade Beam | Zack slams his sword into the ground, creating multiple shockwaves that scatter upon impact. |
| Avenger Tornado | Zack performs a counter after blocking a hit meant for an ally with a spinning attack. |
| Meteor | Zack summons multiple meteors that damage players upon impact. |
| Reverse Omnislash | Zack hits a player multiple times, following them by teleporting continuously for several seconds. |
| Hades Moveset | Description |
| Flame Claw | Hades swipes in front of him with his burning claw multiple times, damaging nearby players. |
| Firaga Ball | Hades summons a fireball and slings it towards a player. |
| Blaze Cross | Hades turns red from anger, becoming invincible and firing two beams of fire from his sides that cover the entire arena. He then spins around slowly, damaging all players that come into contact with the fire beams. |
Zack and Hades aren’t exactly bosses, but mid-bosses that show up right before you fight the Ice Colossus in “A Time To Chill”. Nevertheless, they can be a problem if you’re not prepared for them.
The easiest way to beat this duo is to focus on Zack first, as his moves are way harder to deal with than Hades’s moves.
Use Vanish to keep your distance and bombard Zack with ranged Command Skills. He’s quite hard to get away from even with Vanish, however, so spamming Thunder Surge on him might be your best option.
Once Zack is defeated, Hades should be an easy kill as long as you avoid him whenever he turns red (he’s invincible while in this state). Try not to use Fire, Thunder, Dark, or Blizzard attacks on him, since he’s resistant to them.
Ice Colossus
Story Mode Stage Encountered: Olympus Coliseum (Aqua)
Arena Mode Stages Encountered: A Time To Chill
| Ice Colossus Moveset | Description |
| Stomp | The Ice Colossus stomps its leg, damaging players below it. |
| Ice Missile | The Ice Colossus throws ice projectiles towards a player. |
The Ice Colossus might be one of the biggest and most intimidating bosses in the game, but it is by far easier to defeat than most of the bosses on this list.
You can easily defeat this boss by spamming aerial melee attacks and then activating any Fire-type Attack Styles, which should boost the amount of damage you deal to it exponentially.
The Ice Colossus is weak against Fire attacks, so even staying away and attacking it with Firaga from afar should take it out relatively quickly, as long as you stay alert for any attacks that may come your way.
Iron Imprisoner I
Story Mode Stage Encountered: None
Arena Mode Stages Encountered: Day Of Reckoning, Villains’ Vendetta
| Iron Imprisoner I Moveset | Description |
| Charge | The Iron Imprisoner attacks players with its chains two times—six times if its HP is below 50%. |
| Spiral Rage | The Iron Imprisoner covers itself with flames as it spins around, dashing around the arena before executing a jumping attack three times. |
| Beam Trigger | The Iron Imprisoner fires multiple beams downward. If one beam connects with a player, all the other beams converge and summon a flame pillar on the area where the player got hit. |
| Volcano | The Iron Imprisoner burrows itself into the ground, locating the player before jumping out from right underneath them. |
| Imprison | The Iron Imprisoner summons a prison that binds a player, preventing them from moving unless they destroy the prison. |
Iron Imprisoner I may be the weakest form of the Iron Imprisoner, but it is still a harbinger of harder battles to come. It’s the first boss you fight in the Mirage Arena, but not necessarily the easiest.
Even in this weakened form, the Iron Imprisoner I has better moves that are harder to avoid than most other bosses in this list.
Still, you can beat this boss relatively easily by attacking it with shotlocks, Thunder Surge, or ga-skills (Firaga, Thundaga, or Blizzaga) from afar, as it has no elemental resistance whatsoever.
It’s also slower than its more improved forms, so you don’t have to worry about being countered or taking too much damage before you escape its Imprison move.
Iron Imprisoner II
Story Mode Stage Encountered: None
Arena Mode Stages Encountered: Sinister Sentinel, Villains’ Vendetta
| Iron Imprisoner II Moveset | Description |
| Swing Charge | The Iron Imprisoner attacks players by swinging its hammer horizontally once, followed by one upward swing and up to two downward swings. |
| Spiral Rage | The Iron Imprisoner covers itself with flames as it spins around, dashing around the arena before executing a jumping attack three times. |
| Beam Trigger | The Iron Imprisoner fires multiple beams downward. If one beam connects with a player, all the other beams converge and summon a flame pillar on the area where the player got hit. |
| Volcano | The Iron Imprisoner burrows itself into the ground, locating the player before jumping out from right underneath them. |
| Imprison | The Iron Imprisoner summons a prison that binds a player, preventing them from moving unless they destroy the prison. |
You can use the same “hit and not get hit” strategy to deal with Iron Imprisoner II just like you did with Iron Imprisoner I, as the only difference between them is that Iron Imprisoner II can now use its hammer.
The only move it gets from wielding the hammer (Swing Charge) should be no problem as long as you keep your distance and use ranged attacks or execute Thunder Surge while it’s not attacking.
Just watch out for Volcano, Spiral Rage, and Imprison which can target you from afar. Using Vanish and spamming evade should help you avoid these moves easily.
Iron Imprisoner III
Story Mode Stage Encountered: None
Arena Mode Stages Encountered: Harsh Punishment, Keepers Of The Arena, Villains’ Vendetta
| Iron Imprisoner III Moveset | Description |
| Swing Charge | The Iron Imprisoner attacks nearby players by swinging its hammer horizontally once, followed by one upward swing and up to two downward swings. |
| Berserk Charge | The Iron Imprisoner charges forward while covered in flames, swinging its hammer upwards two times and downward three times. |
| Spiral Rage 2 | The Iron Imprisoner covers itself with flames as it spins around, dashing around the arena for an extended duration. |
| Volcano | The Iron Imprisoner burrows itself into the ground, locating the player before jumping out from right underneath them. |
| Imprison | The Iron Imprisoner summons a prison that binds a player, preventing them from moving unless they destroy the prison. |
Fighting Iron Imprisoner III is where the difficulty level spikes up by several notches. In this form, its legs are now free, allowing it to move significantly faster compared to its first two forms.
You can still bombard it with ga-skills or shotlocks from afar or cheese it with Thunder Surge, but you have to be more careful to not get countered.
This is also where Vanish would come in handy the most, as you can use it to dodge Spiral Rage 2 pre-emptively, which is now a bit harder to avoid normally with Iron Imprisoner III’s improved speed.
Iron Imprisoner IV
Story Mode Stage Encountered: None
Arena Mode Stages Encountered: Keepers Of The Arena, Villains’ Vendetta
| Iron Imprisoner IV Moveset | Description |
| Berserk Charge | The Iron Imprisoner attacks nearby players by swinging its hammer horizontally once, followed by one upward swing and up to two downward swings. |
| Spiral Rage 2 | The Iron Imprisoner covers itself with flames as it spins around, dashing around the arena for an extended duration while taking less damage. |
| Volcano | The Iron Imprisoner burrows itself into the ground, locating the player before jumping out from right underneath them. |
| Flame Prison | The Iron Imprisoner summons a flaming prison that binds a player and deals damage over time, preventing them from moving unless they destroy it. |
| Explosive Fire | The Iron Imprisoner fires off a massive explosion before disappearing, then reappears underground near a player with a small vortex that sucks them in before it explodes. This repeats up to three times. |
| Red Wall Flying Bullet | The Iron Imprisoner vanishes from the arena before launching panels toward the players, which then explode after moving back and forth two times. |
Iron Imprisoner IV is the hardest boss to beat in the Mirage Arena’s Arena Mode. It’s incredibly fast and tough, and can also stun-lock you with its moves. It’s relentless with its attacks and rarely stays at one location, making it hard for players to find an opening.
If you want to beat this boss, you must chip away at its health little by little with ranged attacks (i.e. ga-skills or shotlocks) while moving around as often as you can—preferably by spamming dodge-type action commands.
The most powerful of Iron Imprisoner IV’s moves that you’ll need to watch out for are Explosive Fire and Red Wall Flying Bullet, which you’ll need to either evade or even block if you’re confident with your timing.
Also, try to avoid Flame Prison, Volcano, and Spiral Rage 2 by moving around as much as you can with dodge-type action commands. Don’t try to block them, as they’re either unblockable or really hard to block consistently.
You can still use Vanish to help your character avoid these, but keep in mind that Iron Imprisoner IV’s improved movement speed and AoE range will make it harder for you to take advantage of this skill.
Prepare at least two copies (four if it’s necessary) of Curaga for this boss fight. Getting Leaf Bracer for Curaga is also a requirement, as the added invincibility will prevent your healing from being interrupted.
