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Part XXIV: The Advent of an Aurora, Part 1

Six Points of Light

Heldalf! It's time to settle this!

*begins walking toward everyone* A world where all who live know pain... It is indisputable that every creature yearns to be liberated from this senseless suffering. Why do you fight back, Shepherd?

It may be that the world you strive for would free us all from suffering and anguish. But I still don't think it's the right solution.

We don't WANT to avert our eyes from pain.

Only in knowing hardship can we celebrate and feel enlivened in the good times.

That's right! We want to be able to feel that we're alive.

The peace that only comes from fighting against suffering... Surely you don't think the world should consider that a blessing.

We're not saying it's a bad thing to run away from it.

Just that WE don't plan to do that.

I merely speak of the laws of nature.

You mean to live is to obey the laws of nature?

What else would it be?

You're wrong! All that is, is not being dead. You of all people, ought to now just how painful that can be!

Let me ask you one more time, Shepherd Sorey. Join me.

*everyone gets ready to fight*

The Lord of Calamity and the Shepherd... So they are this world's light and dark. But I will not succumb to light!

I won't give in to darkness!

Heldalf here fights fundamentally similar to how he did back at Aifread's Hunting Grounds. While he's not particularly fast, he does have a good variety of attacks, including harder to punish ones like Palm Strike or a water laser attack he'll fire from his right palm after a short charge-up. He doesn't have many tricks at this particular stage of proceedings, so just get him to about 80% to get the cutscenes back rolling.

But of course. No matter how strong you get, you cannot abandon the one who raised you.

Sorey?

Although the perspective on the particular shot kinda didn't make it clear, this is why Sorey stopped attacking just now, not Heldalf catching his sword in his claws.

Gramps...

What?!

*stands up* You said you wouldn't give in to darkness. Then what is it you feel this very moment?

He's absorbed Zenrus?!

Sorey, stand back--

Sorey!

Lailah! If we purify him, we can save Gramps, right?

...

Lailah!

*yell of pain*

Gramps!

Do you feel it? The pain of hurting one's beloved children?

*gets back up* Heldalf!

Go on, save him. If you can.

So Heldalf here will use his full suite of his attacks, including, probably, his Mystic Arte if he nails you with Hellfire Release, but thanks to a couple lucky stuns and some Divine Phoenix Blades, I mulched an insane amount of his HP while the characters were talking with each other. Mulching so extreme, actually, that I held back for a bit just to make sure I didn't lose any voiced conversations here because I beat him so fast. As far as other gimmicks, Heldalf will also spawn in some mook backup, but that shouldn't really be a concern. Rose and the other seraph will probably aggro against them, keeping them off your back while you're fighting with Heldalf. Fire!Form, as always, is your go-to in situations like this.

If he has other tricks during this particular phase of the finale, I drained his HP way too fast to see them. And yes, this is on Chaos. In fact, for the remainder of the LP, just assume I'm on Chaos unless I say otherwise. All that upgrading really paying off, eh?

The White, White Light

I won't ask you to understand, or ask you not to hate me. So please... Let me do this.

But Rose...

Please! There must be... There must be some other way!

You can't stand the thought of losing your own family... Isn't that precious. *stands up*

Screw you!

*Mikleo stopping her* It's all your fault!

(in Sorey's head) Yeah. They're not the ones who suffered for such a foolish decision.

*breaks free of Mikleo, begins charging again* I'll work it out somehow! That's what I promised!

This is not the place for a Squire.

This... This is something that I have to do myself! Thank you, Rose. For everything.

Sorey...

Idiot.

Sorey...

Stand back, everybody.

I won't let you carry this by yourself.

Hmph... You're not fit to save anyone.

Walk the path you believe in and live your life to the fullest, and I know you will not go astray.

Gramps...

Haaaaaahhhhhhhhh!

*screaming*

Your resistance is such that you would dirty your own hands? So be it. I shall grant you true loneliness.

Oh boy...

Man, bet when we fought Laphicet back on the Hellawes Docks, that that little kid would kiiinda be the final boss of these two games, eh? A lot has changed since then. Yes, for all intents and purposes, Armatized Heldalf is Zestiria's final boss. There's a lot going on in this fight, that is for sure, and it's actually one of my favorite Tales final bosses, just because the rules here are entirely different than how anything else in the game operates.

Think not to lecture me, urchin!

So the most important part. Yes, Heldalf cannot technically chase you around the arena or anything like that. Rather, in his armatized form, he's anchored to that far corner of the field, but he can lean over for swiping attacks, and he also has a large variety of elemental-themed attacks to throw at you. To attack him safely, you'll want to armatize with Mikleo or Lailah and stand about here. This keeps you safe from most of his damage, but very crucially, not all of it. You will have to watch him carefully to avoid getting hit by the stuff that you just can't really dodge.

Make sure you pull the trigger when he stumbles so you don't miss!

It'll take stones to pull it off. Can you handle it?

I'll be supporting you, too! We can do it, Sorey!

Yeah!

Yes, this is one of the major gimmicks with this fight. Heldalf, armatized with Maotelus, is overflowing with so much malevolence, that we need Siegfried to defeat him. Sadly, thanks to Zaveid's foolishness from earlier in the game, we don't have any ammo to use against him to forcibly sever the link between the Dragon of Light and Heldalf, which is what we're trying to do here - defeat Heldalf while sparing Maotelus. We have no ammo except...our four seraphim allies. However, you can't just bust out Siegfried and fire whenever you want. You have to do enough damage to Heldalf that he'll stagger massively, in a special Stunned state, *THEN* you can fire, which is what everyone is talking about here. Goes without saying many of the game's major combat mechanics, such as stunning, inflicting status effects on enemies, Mystic Artes, and power combos, are simply not applicable to this fight.

However, do keep in mind that only Sorey has Siegfried, so he has to be the one to fire.

There are few better test cases for Wind!Form's Cloudburst spell than Heldalf here. He is the perfect size for the entire volley of lasers to find their mark, and Heldalf can't be staggered or anything, so basically any successful cast anywhere near him, he's taking the entire hit.

One thing I do really like about this fight is, you know that whole thing in RPGs where you're constantly feeling the need to hold back, because you don't want to spend your resources going whole hog on something, only to be caught dry when it really counted? Not the case here. You really do have to go all-out on Chaos, which only ups the ante to me.

When you see this banner pop up at the top of the screen, it's time to stop messing around. Don't heal, don't do anything except attack attack attack. What Heldalf will do is stop attacking, and he'll begin chanting. The full chant is...

My consciousness extends to the depths. Thou dwelt in the depths of despair. I command the heavens and earth! Thou art but void and nothingness. Where the heavens shine, there am I! Thou wait at the gates of Hell! Come, thunder of the gods! This is your end! INDIGNATION! Feeble ones, return to nothingness.

Yes, when I coyly hinted in Berseria that Indignation was in Zestiria, but in a...different form, this is what I was referring to. Heldalf is the only character in the game who can use it, as a change of pace, and its form is also different. Instead of a massive bolt of divine lightning, Heldalf will, at the end of his chant, fire a massive, endless wave of debris and damage. This spell will never stop affecting the field and will continue until your entire party is defeated. If he is allowed to fire Indignation, the battle is simply over. You have 100% lost.

So how do you stop him from doing that? Going all-out. When you see the red banner flash at the top of the screen, don't heal, don't back off, don't do anything except attack Heldalf. The only exception to this rule is reviving the other human to get them back into the fight to contribute damage. Heldalf, for his part, will not do anything to you except start reciting the above speech. You'll also know he's getting close to firing, if you can't hear him talking because of the music / sound effects, because the little magic sigil in front of his face will get bigger / more threatening. You have to drain enough of his HP so that this happens.

Heldalf!!

The white flames of purification!

And what has it earned you? Nothing. A meaningless death.

I... WE'RE... Going to stick to our beliefs right until the very end!

Yes, at each stage of the fight, you'll have to choose one seraph, the one tied to Sorey, to take out of the fight. I did the whole appropriate thematic thing and went Lailah->Mikleo->Edna->Zaveid, in order of when they first permanently joined the party, but I'd recommend firing Edna first, since Earth!Form is the worst at DPS here and if you fail at the first checkpoint, it's the easiest restart. Really, as long as you keep Rose and the seraph tied to her fighting, you can honestly go in what order is your pleasure. Also, note that, upon stunning Heldalf, you'll get a full refill of BG for the entire party, if you need extra healing to continue the fight. And goes without saying, armatized healing is going to be most of your HP recovery here.

If he does have an attack queued up here during this brief little interlude in the fight...somehow, don't worry. You're completely invincible here.

Heldalf!!

The azure vortex!

Futile!

We're all still fighting!

That's right! Don't you get that?

You fools...are blind to reality!

Should also note that, at each stage of the fight, Heldalf will add in new attacks, but nothing beats the sheer potential DPS of his massive claw attacks. Those are the ones you most gotta look out for.

Cutting that one a bit close...

Heldalf!!

The strength of an earth titan!

Don't be so sure of that!

Neither of you cherish your lives...

You just noticed? We were ready for this AGES ago!

For this last stage of the fight, since Rose can't armatize and is much more fragile as a result, if she gets KO'd, I'd recommend you don't revive her until you're ready to go all-out. The worst timing you can manage is that you revive her, she immediately gets KO'd, you go into the "Stopping Indignation" part of this last fourth of the fight, then you have to wait a long time to use a Life Bottle or Elixir to get her back in the fight and adding to the attack, especially if you're on Chaos. Again, just stay right about here as much as possible to stay out of the range of most of Heldalf's attacks, throw in Cloudbursts whenever you can, whittle him down. No matter what part of this fight you're in, the middle of the field is the worst place to be, since I think all of his attacks will hit there.

Heldalf!!

The wind that shall lead the way!

The Shepherd

Sorey?

Sorey! Why?!

You idiot!

No more words, I take it.

Well, just the one...

So this is technically the final battle of Zestiria, but as I said, for all intents and purposes, Armatized Heldalf is the actual finale. Only thing you need to do here is build up enough BG so that you can launch any of your Mystic Artes. All of Sorey's normal attacks are Void-elemental, which Heldalf won't stagger from, so you'll need to connect with any of your Hidden Artes and activate a Mystic Arte to finish the game. That's it.