Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is an action role-playing game that heavily focuses on hardcore, and sometimes extremely challenging, battles. You play as Jack, a strong warrior with a devotion to seeking out and destroying chaos. Alongside your allies, you must find a way to restore the light of the crystals to save Cornelia from the darkness.
At the end of your quest to find the Earth Crystal, you will come across the Earth Fiend Lich. This boss battle can be tricky as Lich uses a variety of magic-based attacks that can have draining effects on your health and break gauge. Also, they can summon Skeletons to help them, and you can find yourself being overwhelmed very quickly. However, it's not a fight that is impossible to win.
In this guide, we are going to show you how to beach Lich.
How to Beat Lich
As with most bosses in the game, the fight with Lich happens in two parts. We strongly recommend equipping the Mage and Ronin Job before starting. You can also have the Lancer or Swordsman Jobs if they are past level 23. You can use another team variation, but we found Sophia and Neon to be the most effective against Lich.
Focus On Lich - Part One
The majority of Lich's attacks are magic-based, though it can deal a lot of damage if it catches you in one of its melee attacks. However, this can make the fight very easy if you know what to do. This also means that you can block a few of their attacks too, but we strongly recommend dodging where possible.
Some of Lich's attacks can be stolen by your soul shield and you can use it against them. Lich seems to be vulnerable to its own attacks. Also, any weapons that have a long reach work well against this boss as you can damage them without getting too close. That being said, Mage attacks with Aeroga (charged Wind) work best at this stage.
Be careful, it can be extremely easy to lose track of Lich, especially when it summons a horde of Skeletons to throw you off. When they appear, activate Neon and Sophia's resonance states. They will take care of the Skeletons for you while you focus on Lich. If you stop focusing on Lich, there is a high chance that they will ambush you.
Watch Lich carefully and you can learn which attacks they use. If they pull their arms into their chest, be prepared for a melee attack. If their mouth starts to glow purple, be prepared for a magic attack. One of the toughest parts of fighting this boss is that they can vanish. However, you can judge where they are going to reappear as the ground starts to glow. Once you see this, make sure you are far away from it as this is usually where Lich appears. You can also use this to time your magic attacks. If you know where they will appear, you can charge a magic attack (like Aeroga) and release it once Lich spawns.
If you alternate between Mage and Ronin (or long weapon) attacks, then you should wear their break gauge down quickly. Once their break gauge is down and their health bar has been reduced by half, head to Lich to use Jack's Soul Burst on them. This is the end of the first half of the fight.
Don't Stand There! - Part Two
Lich becomes more predictable in the second half of the fight, but they are much stronger too. You cannot get too close to them as they can create a large area around them where the floor is rotting. If you stand in this, your movements will become slower and your health can be affected. When this effect is active, do not step in anything that is brown.
Mage attacks can come in useful in this half, and Aeroga seems to work the best. However, Lich can now dodge them too, so you will need to combine them with your weapon-based attacks. The best way to wear Lich's health down in this half is to use your command abilities (especially Lightbringer), use Neon and Sophia's resonance states, and to constantly bombard them with attacks. Lich seems to be quite slow when it comes to switching between attacking Jack and the others, so use this to your advantage. Attack Lich when they are distracted.
Lich's break gauge is quite big but once you wear it down and wear down its health bar to nothing, you can end the fight. When they are vulnerable (and you are prompted to), use Jack's Soul Burst to bring the fight to an end.
- Protect your Progress: Read our Saving Guide for Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin.
Once you defeat Lich in Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, you can continue on your quest to restore the light of the crystals. As you work your way through the game, you will pick up a lot of different pieces of equipment. Find out how to upgrade them or store them in our equipment guide. Also, your Job can make battles easier or harder in the game, which is why it's important to know as much as possible about them. You can learn all about them in our Jobs and Job Trees guide.