The Last Story Co-op Mode Guide

What if you are facing Last Cocoon with a party that has characters with very powerful weapons? There's not much specific to say here except get in a long Chain to try to kill Last Cocoon before it transforms for the first time. If you're a non-Hybrid Mage, lay down a Magic Circle after Last Cocoon has been inflicted with Break and then run up to attack (as long as you can stay alive).

Nebirous

When Nebirous' shield is up, it either lunges at its target or shoots a linear blast. When Nebirous' shield is down, it flees in a fixed route. Looking down on the map from above, shieldless Nebirous runs clockwise through the mansion. The moment Nebirous gets its shield back, it Dazes nearby allies and then, after a brief delay, hits nearby allies for heavy damage.

Three Silver Arrows break Nebirous' shield. Once Nebirous' shield is down, Silver Arrows Paralyze Nebirous (for roughly the time it takes to fully charge a spell without casting-speed-boosting gear). Hitting Nebirous with a Silver Arrow while it is Paralyzed will renew the Paralysis duration. Also, while Paralyzed, the timer for Nebirous to regain its shield is halted. The most efficient way to fight Nebirous is to have enough Silver Arrows among the party to keep Nebirous Paralyzed so it can be defeated in one shield break using a long Chain. How many Silver Arrows is "enough" depends on the strength of the party. If you are attacking physically, you should be able to safely get in four (Normal setting) attacks, or even five if you're feeling up for a bit of a risk, before you should shoot Nebirous with a Silver Arrow. (This is different is you are using Syrenne though.) Chasing a non-Paralyzed Nebirous around is very inefficient, not to mention dangerous if some allies keep chasing Nebirous when its shield is about to regenerate. If you have Silver Arrows and Nebirous is running, if there is still plenty of time before its shield returns, consider cutting in front of it rather than chasing directly after it. If you are planning to start shooting Nebirous and Nebirous is chasing you, consider leading it somewhere without Skeleton Archers first (the large entrance room, the two corridors, and the room to the left of the entrance room when starting).

Nebirous is the only enemy in this fight to have a red target line. If you wish to draw Nebirous' attention (to lead Nebirous away from Skeleton Archers before shooting Nebirous, for example), there are two ways. Either start casting a spell or shoot Nebirous with a Silver Arrow.

Nebirous also has a Warning state analogous to the other bosses'. I don't mean when "Warning" flashes across the screen when it gets its shield back. If Nebirous is low on health and has its shield up, it changes color to red. Red Nebirous deals quite a bit more damage than regular Nebirous. But hopefully this is useless information because your group is taking out Nebirous in one shield break.

See Luring Nebirous for an advanced tactic.

What if you are facing Nebirous with a party that has characters with very powerful weapons? Nothing fundamentally changes. This just means the party as a whole needs fewer Silver Arrows to defeat Nebirous in one shield break.

Muruk

Ah, Muruk, the boss most likely to KO new Co-op players. New Co-op players have a tendency to drop like flies against Muruk. If you are new to Co-op, I recommend playing defensively for your first few matches against Muruk so you can learn to read and predict Muruk's attacks.

Muruk has three forms: Normal, Fire, and Ice.

• Attacks in all three forms:
  • Headbutt: Hits in front. Can be Guarded. Knocks down if unGuarded.
  • Body Slam: Hits on all sides. Can be Guarded. Knocks down if unGuarded. Deals very heavy damage very close to Muruk. Deals less damage a bit further from Muruk.
• "Spinning attacks":
  • Spines: Hits much of the field for small damage. Inflicts Paralysis. Deflector completely blocks this attack. Typically uses twice in Normal form.
  • Spinning Attack: Spins around the field (roughly) twice. On uses in Fire form before Warning and in both Fire and Ice forms after Warning.
  • Fire Blast: Floats above the middle of the field and launches many blasts around the field. The blasts inflict Break. Also leaves a large Fire-elemental Magic Circle (that affects characters' weapons) in the middle of the field. Uses in Fire form after Warning.
  • Ice Blast: Floats above the middle of the field and launches many blasts around the field. The blasts inflict Slip. Also leaves a large Ice-elemental Magic Circle (that affects characters' weapons) in the middle of the field. Uses in Ice form.

Fire Muruk absorbs Fire and is very weak to Ice. Ice Muruk absorbs Ice and is very weak to Fire.

The vast majority of the times I've fought Muruk, it followed the pattern I have below. Just know that it is possible for it to deviate somewhat from the below pattern.

Muruk uses several Headbutts and Body Slams in between what I call its "spinning attacks". Muruk begins in Normal form and starts with a Body Slam. Body Slam is vicious if unGuarded but it is very, very obvious when Muruk is about to use it. It then uses Spines twice (with several Headbutts and Body Slams before and after the Spines). If there is a long lag at the beginning of the match, Muruk may do its first Spines earlier than usual. It may even go straight to its first Spines if there is a very long lag. It then switches to Fire or Ice form and alternates between Fire and Ice forms for the rest of the fight. From my experience, it seems to switch first to Fire form if it is not yet in Warning at that point (and stays in Fire form for three "spinning attacks" if it still isn't in Warning yet) but often switches first to Ice form if it is already in Warning at that point. Warning happens when Muruk goes down to roughly one-third of its max HP or when enough time has passed. Before Warning, Fire Muruk only uses Spinning Attack as its "spinning attack" (I apologize for my unfortunate choice in name for Spinning Attack) while Ice Muruk only uses Ice Blast as its "spinning attack". After Warning, Fire and Ice forms use Spinning Attack immediately followed by Fire/Ice Blast as its "spinning attack". Also after Warning, there is much less time in between "spinning attacks" (typically two non-"spinning attacks").

A mage should be able to safely get off two fully charged spells in between "spinning attacks" after Warning. Three fully charged spells is possible but risky. During Spinning Attack, Muruk makes roughly two laps around the field. The corners of the battlefield and the gate near the Heal Bomb are usually safe from the Fire/Ice Blasts. There are small regions between the pillars that also tend to be safe from the Fire/Ice Blasts.

 __________________
|SSSS          SSSS|     P: Pillar
|SSS            SSS|     H: Heal Bomb
|S  PP   SS   PP  S|     B: Bomb that deals 1000 (not Fire) damage
|   PP        PP   |     S: Regions that are (usually) safe from
|              B   |        Fire/Ice Blasts
|   S          S   |
|   S          S   |
|   B              |
|   PP       HPP   |
|S  PP   SS   PP  S|
|SSS     SS     SSS|
|SSSS___SSSS___SSSS|

If you are hit by Fire Blast, try to quickly get Break removed. If you are hit by Ice Blast, don't move until Slip wears off (look at your character's feet). You can still safely cast spells or use Diffuse, though. Otherwise, just Guard until the Slip wears off. If you are a Diffuser, quickly diffuse the Magic Circles that come from Fire/Ice Blast and wait about a second or two for the element that Muruk absorbs to fade from your weapon before attacking. If you are waiting in a safe spot during Fire/Ice Blast, you can get a Diffuse ready to diffuse the Circle as soon as the Blast ends.

If you are using the Manual attack setting, you can press attack to move forward slightly without slipping when inflicted with Slip.

Deflector is especially helpful against Muruk. If you are a Diffuser with a Calista in the party, try to time Diffuses so that you put up a Deflector right as Muruk starts Spinning Attack so that the Deflector will last through the entire attack and even through the Fire/Ice Blast if Muruk is in Warning.

If there isn't a Calista in the party (or even if there is a Calista in the party, since Deflectors may be put up too early or too late), Heal Circles are a good way to avoid being Paralyzed by Spines. Characters who are inside a Heal Circle do not get Paralyzed by Spines. Typically, Muruk uses two attacks, then a Spines, then two more attacks, and then the second Spines (this is what typically happens, but not always). As Muruk is using the second attack between Spines, toss a Heal Bomb. Then stand inside the Heal Circle as Muruk uses Spines.

I've mentioned this in the Zael/Dagran/Syrenne section, but this is a mistake that can easily cause unnecessary Downs so I will mention it again. DO NOT diffuse Heal Circles in this fight. Only in the most contrived of situations can diffusing a Heal Circle in this fight be better than leaving Heal Circles alone. Just. Don't. Do. It.

If you are a mainly-casting mage (as opposed to a Hybrid Mage) and there are several mainly-casting mages on the team, don't keep making Magic Circles next to Muruk. If there are many Magic Circles next to Muruk, then the characters physically attacking Muruk will most likely be experiencing a major lag on their physical attacks.

What if you are facing Muruk with a party that has characters with very powerful weapons? There's not much specific to say here except get in a long Chain to try to kill Muruk before it changes form for the first time. If you're a non-Hybrid Mage, lay down a Magic Circle and then run up to attack, as long as you can stay alive. Don't run up to Muruk to attack only to get promptly squished by Muruk's Body Slam.

Atar

Once Atar goes down to about 60% of its max HP, Warning happens and Mitra joins the fight. Atar and Mitra have very similar attacks and do/take the same amount of damage. Atar has higher max HP. I believe that Mitra's max HP is around the HP Atar has left when Atar goes into Warning. So don't think that Atar has significantly less HP than Mitra when Mitra appears.

In this section, I will use SB (Sentinel Beast) to mean either Atar or Mitra. Atar and Mitra have different attacks depending on whether they are on the ground or in the air. Most of the time after Warning, one SB will be grounded and one will be flying. So if Atar is grounded and Mitra swoops down, Atar will quickly start flying (and vice versa). If Atar is flying and Mitra starts flying, watch Atar because it will swoop down very soon (and vice versa).

• Attacks while grounded:
  • Claw Swipe: Swipes twice in front against a close target. Can be Guarded. Knocks down if unGuarded.
  • Linear Shockwave: Creates a long-range shockwave towards a target that isn't right next to the SB. Cannot be Guarded.
• Attacks while flying:
  • Poison/Silence Blast: Launches a homing blast at each character that inflicts a status (Atar's inflicts Poison and Mitra's inflicts Silence). May be Guard Countered by any character. Screeches when starting this attack.
  • Energy Blast: Launches many blasts at target. Can be Guarded. Often uses Swoop Down after this.
  • Ground Burst: After a brief delay, many white discs appear on the field for a short while. The discs erupt to damage characters above them after a brief delay. Cannot be Guarded. Deals a fixed 2240 damage (which can be reduced with Dodge), regardless of stats or Deflector. (However, the attribute on Dragon Armour and Calista's Dress does reduce this damage when Deflector is active.) Screeches when starting this attack. Mitra starts with this when it appears.
  • Swoop Down: Swoops down on target. Often uses after an Energy Blast. Can be Guarded. Knocks down if unGuarded.
• Atar-only attack:
  • Damage Circle: Creates a Damage Circle that covers the field.

The flying SB attacks very infrequently and the grounded SB's attacks are easy to Guard or Dodge so the main thing for this fight is knowing how to deal with each attack in turn. Atar typically begins the match with a Swoop Down, so don't immediately start charging a spell as the match begins. Be prepared to Guard the inital Swoop Down. If you are attacking a grounded SB physically (who is targeting you with Claw Swipe), you should be able to get in two (Normal setting) attacks safely and be ready to guard. Three is possible but risky. (This is different is you are using Syrenne though.) The Linear Shockwave cannot be Guarded, so dive (perpendicular to the line of the shockwave if you want to evade it completely) instead to Dodge or evade it completely. Know that Swoop Down typically follows an Energy Blast so be prepared for it. When the Damage Circle is active, quickly step inside a Heal Circle. The regen from a Heal Circle prevents the effects of a Damage Circle. The Damage Circle lasts a bit longer than the regen effect from a Heal Circle so as long as you step into a Heal Circle at least once after the Damage Circle begins, you should be safe (from the Damage Circle, anyway) for most of the duration of the Damage Circle. DO NOT DIFFUSE HEAL CIRCLES DURING A DAMAGE CIRCLE. I repeat, DO NOT DIFFUSE HEAL CIRCLES DURING A DAMAGE CIRCLE. Doing that gets people Downed unnecessarily. Ground Burst may be the most dangerous attack here since it does fixed, relatively high damage. Get hit by three or four of those and you'll probably be Downed or close to being Downed. The Poison/Silence Blasts can be Guard Countered. Since Atar/Mitra screeches right before using Poison/Silence Blast, learn the timing well enough and you may be able to consistently Guard Counter them without even seeing them coming.

When a SB starts flying, it often screeches (without an accompanying attack) and then moves right afterwards. So if you are about to toss a spell at a SB that just flew into the air, wait a short moment to see if it moves.

Power/Magic Essences give a much bigger boost to damage in this fight than in other fights, so take advantage of them.

What if you are facing Atar/Mitra with a party that has characters with very powerful weapons? In this case, I don't suggest much of a modification of strategy. Atar and Mitra move around so much that my usual recommendation for non-Hybrid Mages to lay a Magic Circle and then attack physically doesn't really work that well. Just fight as you usually do.

Other Information

Hosting A Room

If you are hosting the room and everyone else is locked into a character, don't switch characters (or boss selection) and then immediately start the match. Your switching may cause others to want to make a switch as well, so give them a bit of time just in case.

Ancient Barrier

Ancient Barrier creates a psuedo-Heal Circle effect. Allies who go into an Ancient Barrier dome get status ailments removed and gain a regen effect (but only while they are inside the dome). So if you are inflicted with Poison/Silence/Death/Break/Sticky and an ally with Ancient Barrier is nearby, just enter the dome to remove the status. Or if you have an Ancient Barrier and there is an ally nearby with a negative status, you can remove that status by getting close enough to that ally with your Ancient Barrier dome. Ancient Barrier also gives a Deflector-like effect. Allies who go into an Ancient Barrier dome get a buff (indicated by a purple ring surrounding the character) that increases defence and blocks small enemy projectiles. Unlike the regen from Ancient Barrier, this buff lasts for a short while after leaving the dome. Again, if an ally with Ancient Barrier is nearby, it may be helpful to quickly enter the dome for this buff. And if you have Ancient Barrier, you can help nearby allies by giving them the buff.

Picking Up Items With Arrows

Items can be picked up by shooting them. This is very helpful for Diffusers to pick up Annihilator Arrows in the fight against Atar. Well, this is helpful in any fight, but it is especially helpful in the Atar fight since the field is so large.

Hybrid Mage

The "best" mages in Co-op are functionally physical fighters who are able to make Magic Circles and who can't diffuse Magic Circles. That is, what I'm calling a hybrid mage is one with a weapon with high physical attack and who often joins Diffusers on the front line. I don't mean that hybrid mages don't use spells (they should, since Magic Circles boost physical attacks). I just mean that they make use of the fact that physical damage outperforms magical damage in this game. A mage (with a high physical attack weapon) using physical attacks easily outdamages a mage (with a powerful magic-oriented weapon) using magic (in most situations). To further compound things, hybrid mages contribute to Chains, further increasing the damage output of the party.

The weapons of choice for hybrid mages are typically the online-obtainable weapons (Claw Sword, Trident, Eclipse, Spirale, Dragoon, Prophet, Sunflower, Squeaky Hammer, Zero Sword, Coral, and Rose) and the North/South Wings. Of course, Lowell can use any good physical-oriented weapon (except the Traive) as well.

Just make sure, if you want to play a mage this way, that your mage's weapon is upgraded at least moderately. Don't equip a mage with a North Wing+5 and then expect to do well as a hybrid mage.

If you want a high physical attack weapon (that the mages can equip) that also boosts spell-casting ability, nothing can compare to the North Wing. And I'm not just saying that because the North Wing is a red sword that can emit blue light.

A note on the North/South Wings. Because the South Wing's speed-cast attribute requires Max Spirit, it does not work in Co-op. Thus, the North Wing is strictly superior to the South Wing in Co-op.

Avoiding Shortcut Messages (Nunchuk)

When using the Wii Remote+Nunchuk online, left and right on the D-Pad are used for both rotating the camera and for shortcut messages. This can lead to a player accidentally spamming messages when rotating the camera. If you use a Wii Remote+Nunchuk online, there is a very easy way to avoid this. Simply leave at least one page of your message assignments free of shortcut messages (or, at least, the left and right shortcut messages). Then stay on that page most of time. And if you change pages to purposely say a message, remember to go back to the page with no shortcut messages afterwards.

Weapons for Co-op

In general, try to avoid using weapons that have a Fire, Ice, or Darkness element.

The important thing to understand is that the best offence in Co-op, with powerful weapons, is the basic physical attack. So when upgrading weapons for Co-op, that is what to keep in mind. And if you don't have powerful weapons, it is probably better for you to stick with mages or weapons with attributes that boost your survivability.

If you don't plan on upgrading weapons much beyond a first playthrough, or you do plan to upgrade beyond a first playthrough but haven't made much progress yet: Your damage isn't going to vary very much between weapons if you aren't/haven't upgraded much beyond a first playthrough. It's the weapon attributes that matter in this case. For your mages, I suggest a weapon that boosts casting speed, such as the Memento/Affection Dagger, North Wing, Witchcraft, and Sorcerer. Note that the South Wing and Arganan Dagger do have attributes that boost casting speed, but those attributes require Max Spirit and so do not work in Co-op. If you want to occasionally see big numbers from your spells, you may want to give the Gurak Dagger a try. As for Zael and Dagran, I highly recommend a Traive of at least +3, if you have one (or two). The Traive's self-healing attribute gives an immense boost to survivability. Fight carefully with a Traive of +3 or better and you should rarely need a Heal Circle. Just don't let it become a crutch and grow careless. Otherwise, I don't have any very strong suggestions. The Movement Speed increase from the Stranger and Zero Sword are pretty nice. As for Syrenne... Syrenne is a beast in Co-op if she has powerful weapons. But if you don't have powerful weapons, I suggest you avoid using Syrenne. Syrenne's attacks leave her open quite a bit longer than Zael's or Dagran's. Without powerful weapons, I just don't find Syrenne to be worth using in Co-op.

If you plan on upgrading a good deal beyond a first playthrough: If you want pure power, the online reward weapons give the largest increase to physical attack thanks to their shared Physical/Magical Attack x1.3 attribute. The stat differences between the online weapons are pretty negligible, so just go with whichever ones you like. As for the attributes that differ among the online weapons, only two of them really have an impact in Co-op: the Squeaky Hammer's self-healing attribute and the Zero Sword's Movement Speed increase. The Squeaky Hammer's self-healing attribute has a low activation rate so I'd say the "best" online weapon for Co-op is the Zero Sword. But like I said before, all of the online weapons give a huge increase to physical attack and you really can't go wrong with any of them. For [[Hybrid Mages]] who rarely cast, the online weapons are hands-down the best weapons for Co-op. But if you want to use a Hybrid Mage but also want a weapon that boosts spell-casting ability, the North Wing is the way to go. Keep in mind that the online weapons outperform the North Wing in physical damage by quite a bit. So only choose the North Wing over an online weapon if you specifically want a Hybrid Mage with good spell-casting ability in addition to great physical damage output. As for Zael and Dagran, you can't go wrong with the online weapons for pure physical attack, so I'll talk about some non-online weapons. If you love Slashing Kraken, consider using the Stranger. Personally, I find the Traive to easily be the "best" overall Co-op weapon for Zael and Dagran. Some weapons do more damage per hit than the Traive, such as online weapons and Guardian Fangs (on average), but that's not looking at the full picture. A Traive user rarely, if ever, needs to go to a Heal Circle. In the time that a Zael/Dagran with a stronger-than-a-Traive-per-hit weapon goes to heal, even once, a Traive user can get in many extra hits, easily outdamaging other weapons in fights where non-Traive-using Zaels and Dagrans go to heal. As for Syrenne, in addition to the online weapons, I also recommend Guardian Fangs (for the increase in Critical Hit rate).

Note that weapons get smaller and smaller stat increases per upgrade at certain milestones. By the time most weapons reach +50 or +55, each further upgrade only gives 20 more total stat points (physical plus magical attack). A weapon at around +55 has most of the stats of the +99 version while only costing a very small amount compared to the cost of getting it to +99. Keep that in mind.

Luring Nebirous

Nebirous often switches targets to a mage that starts casting. A mage can use this to purposely keep Nebirous' attention on him/her. If a mage holds A/a very briefly and then releases, that mage will float in the air for a brief moment and then fall down without tossing a spell (I'll call this a "spell cancel"). But that counts as starting to cast a spell and thus draws Nebirous' attention. This can be used to consistently lure Nebirous in certain situations. A Nebirous lurer can spell cancel at the start of the fight, drawing Nebirous' attention. As long as others don't draw Nebirous' attention, the lurer can keep Nebirous off of all other allies, allowing everyone else to safely gather Silver Arrows. Even if someone else draws Nebirous' attention, the lurer can usually (but not always) get Nebirous' attention back with a spell cancel. If the lurer is a Hybrid Mage, he/she can run around the mansion and help with defeating archers, as long as others understand not to try to attack or shoot Nebirous prematurely, which would draw Nebirous' attention away from the lurer. Otherwise, I would suggest the lurer stay in the large entrance room. It is quite simple to avoid Nebirous' attacks altogether in that large room. And then when the party is ready to attack Nebirous, the lurer can lure Nebirous into a room with no archers (the entrance room and the room with a Heal Bomb and no archers) and lay down a Magic Circle (if time permits) so that Nebirous can be Paralyzed over a Magic Circle in a room with no annoying archers.

This definitely won't work well in every party. This works best in a party where no other mages cast while Nebirous has its shield up and the lurer can successfully communicate that he/she is trying to lure Nebirous (I like to use Zael's "Maybe I can draw its attention." line when I do this). This tactic is probably a waste of the lurer's time in a party where there's another mage who keeps casting to attack archers or a party with a person or persons who immediately shoot Nebirous as soon as they get Silver Arrows.

Credits

I welcome feedback and corrections at gbhoang267(at)gmail(dot)com. If you are sending corrections or materials for me to add to this guide, please include how you would like to be credited as.

Thanks to MISTWALKER for making this absolutely amazing game and thanks to XSEED for publishing the NTSC version (and Nintendo for publishing the Japan and PAL versions).

Thanks to the awesome people I've played with in Random. I know I'll miss some, but I'd like to mention some I can remember: KINZWOLF, CARLO, LAST, ARISATO, IDIANALE, SHUYN, ILM, TELRIN D, STRYDER9, SHIRE, HAL9000, GRANJO, ALASTER, and others I've surely missed. It was nice working with you all.

Thanks to IDIANALE for telling me about the gate near the Heal Bomb in the Muruk fight being safe from Fire/Ice Blasts.

Thanks to HAL9000 for telling me about the small regions between pillars in the Muruk fight being safe from Fire/Ice Blasts.

Thanks to HAL9000, IDIANALE, and TERUKO for helping me test the specifics of how regen is lost when diffusing Heal Circles.

Thanks to PRODIGY for telling me about using Manual attacks to move forward slightly when inflicted with Slip.

Thanks to the Banana Circle Diffusers for the awesome Friends Co-op and Deathmatch sessions.

Thanks to everyone who have read this guide. I hope you have found it helpful.

Guide for The Last Story's online Co-op mode. Copyright 2012-2013 Giabao Hoang.

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