KH 0.2: Zodiac Aqua Guide (Objective 42)
Honestly this may be my favorite boss fight since Lingering Will. It’s remarkably difficult, but in a “you know what you did wrong” sort of way. There’s a little bit of chance at play, but I fully expect this is beatable without taking a single hit. To win, you need to know what you’re doing, and you need to do it well. It’s the sort of fight that teaches you how to play this game properly.
To open the mirror, you’ll need the twelve zodiac pieces hidden in chests around the game. These only appear in your second play through, so don’t bother looking for them your first time through.
Once you enter the mirror, you’ll have to fight a Darkside, a room of elemental heartless, a room of shadows/neoshadows/bats, and a Demon Tower. Dying does not kick you back to the start, so you can keep bashing your head against these guys until you win. They are no different than their story-mode counterparts, except that the Darkside spawns extra Heartless. If you’re at level 80 - which you need for another objective anyway - these are pretty trivial even on Critical.
Then the fifth and final battle: Phantom Aqua. Just as before, she’s a hard chick to pin down. There are only three places in the entire fight I could find to actually get some serious damage on her. But we’ll get to that.
They key thing in this fight is Aqua’s new red-ribbon attacks. They can’t be blocked, so you need to cartwheel away. This really breaks the strategy for the story-mode Aqua fight. At all times, if you don’t know what you’re doing, you should be cartwheeling. If you need a second to collect your thoughts and think about what to do next, cartwheel.
Never jump. Never air slide. Don’t bother locking on - she teleports too much. She will often start her attacks in front of your camera so you can read her movements.
Phase 1:
Her red attacks come in many forms, but the most common you’ll see is her 3 hit combo. This comes in two speeds (0:36 and 0:42). It sounds complicated, but you’ll get used to it very quickly. Cartwheeling usually avoids this.
She also uses red attacks as finishers for certain moves, such as her teleporting strike where she does like 15 hits. If you get caught in this combo, you will get knocked down to 1 health, but you won’t die. The red attack counts as part of the combo so Once More will save you. If you get hit, prepare to cast Curaga or use a Potion the second she finishes her attack.
She also has a system of basic attacks that can be blocked. When she teleports twice, she’s about to use a basic attack. Blocking and countering can get you a little extra damage and keep your combos going. Though this isn’t really worth the trouble, getting used to blocking basic attacks is important for landing a combo against her teleport strike. It’s worth practicing.
So let’s talk about damage.
In phase 1, there are three ways to get damage. The first we discussed: countering a two-teleport attack (0:33). But that won’t land you a combo.
The easiest way is to wait until she’s walking (2:08). This is a typical attack in her arsenal. Often, she will simply start walking slowly around the room, but when you attack her she teleports away and uses a red attack on you. However, dodging this three times leaves her open to a combo. In short:
Aqua is walking > Attack > Dodge > Attack > Dodge > Attack > Dodge > Attack.
The fourth attack will connect, allowing you to pull off two combos. This sounds hard, but it isn’t. The window for hitting her is pretty lenient. Before the second combo, make sure not to jump or move forward - simply hitting X again will reach her (2:19). After the second combo, make sure to cartwheel away or she will hit you with another red attack (2:22). This should be done for every combo.
The final way to do damage is to wait until she starts her teleport strike and block it. These can be dodged with cartwheel, but you should learn to read her movements. She will come out of nowhere, do one fast strike, and disappear (0:18). You’ll probably dodge this one. Then she will do it again. And again. At this point you should recognize that this is the teleport strike and block it. If you do, she will continue to hit your shield. Wait until she stops, which signifies her finisher is coming (0:24). Use Counter (X) and her red move will go right through you. This is because Counter has an invincibility frame. Now she’s open to a two-combo attack. Remember not to jump and remember to dodge afterward.
A lot of this is timing. A lot of this is trial and error. And a lot of it is learning the fight. Don’t feel frustrated if you are having trouble. Soon it will be second nature to you.
Phase 2 (1:15 & 3:13):
Just like story-mode Aqua, she goes into Spellweaver and unleashes hell. But there’s good news! Unlike story-mode, her attacks are completely predictable and always the same.
This transformation happens twice in the fight. Once, after she loses about two and a half bars of health, and once more when she has about two and a half bars left. (I did this on Critical so she might have different health in other difficulties?)
The first thing she does is appear in your camera (thankfully) and shoots orbs at you. Except these orbs are red. Yep. That means they can’t be blocked. You’ll want to cartwheel to avoid these orbs three times.
Then you get a second of peace. If you got hit by the orbs, this is when you should cast Curaga.
After what feels like an eternity of suspense, she’ll use a combo that will drop you down to 1HP. Timing is key here. I actually started to count down, since the duration between her orbs and this attack is always the same.
Then she teleports away a few times and does the same attack again. Whether or not you got hit by the first one, block this one immediately! You do not have time to heal and block the next attack.
Once this attack ends, block again immediately. She will do one final attack where copies of herself zoom in at you. Then they fire red orbs. Counter to invincibility through this. Timing is hard on this one, because if you counter too early the orbs will hit you (like me 1:28). If you counter too late, you can’t block the next attack.
Right after you counter, block again. She attacks you eight times. If you miss this block, you won’t die unless you’re at 1 HP. Then she uses a wall of red orbs. Cartwheel forward to dodge.
Finally, she starts the icy spinning vortex finisher. If you need to heal, do so. Make your way to the center of the room. Once her three selves slow to a stop and start rushing in toward, you, cartwheel backwards, towards the camera, and then cartwheel again forwards toward the Aquas. If you timed this right, it won’t hit you. If you are having trouble with it, cartwheel three times instead of two.
In this moment, she is open to another 2-combo. And congratulations, you finished Phase 2!
In summary:
Dodge > Dodge > Dodge > wait about 3.5 seconds > Block > Block > Block > wait about half a second > Counter > Block > Dodge forward > wait until the spinning stops and comes into the middle > Dodge out > Dodge in > X to attack
(I do this almost perfectly 3:13, except I dodge out a little too early 3:35)
After each Phase 2 change, she will use Blizzaga (1:47). She summons eight balls of ice. Heal before this if you need to. Time your block to defend the first four, then time your block again to defend the second four. During this time, Aqua will either attack you quickly with a basic attack (which is cool because that extends your block!) or she will hit you with a red attack. You won’t die - just heal afterward.
Then back to Phase 1. Then Phase 2 again.
Phase 3:
Phase 3 begins after the second Phase 2 and is exactly like Phase 1 with three exceptions: she casts Blizzaga whenever she wants, she no longer walks, and she does this stupidly unpredictable circle attack (4:25).
Cartwheel saves you a lot of the time, just like in Phase 1, but the only real way to do damage is with the teleport-strike counter tactic. Or get lucky. Hopefully, if you pulled off the second Phase 2 combo, you should only need one more solid hit on her until she’s beaten.
And there you have it! Wow, long guide…
Other Notes:
You’ll see I actually avoid going into Spellweaver (2:33). This is because Spellweaver’s Counter doesn’t lend itself to getting a combo - the animation is too long. I find it easier to stick to one control scheme and Spellweaver makes Aqua’s movements less refined.
Shotlocks can be useful when Aqua is walking and almost nowhere else in the fight. I found the dodge/combo trick to be more reliable than shotlocks, especially because you might not always have Focus when she starts to walk. But it’s up to you!
On Critical, you only get three items the entire fight. Use them wisely! I recommend Megalixirs and Elixirs since they fill your magic bar and health bar.
The last three minutes may have been the most suspenseful moment of my life. XD It shouldn’t have taken as long as I took and it shouldn’t cost as many potions. I just kept making stupid decisions, like not attacking after the first time I hit her, or cartwheeling when I should have been blocking.
HOPE THIS HELPS!!
<3 KCM

