Welcome to Gaia! ::

In the Cathedral, all doors leading out are blocked. Head up the set of stairs and examine the Pride of Lion. One of the doors will open, so head through.

Outside is the Bridge area, called the Broken Bridge. Remember that name, because this area will be revisited later. Cross the bridge and examine the center structure before heading back. Do not fetch any of the red stones and you will get a pleasant surprise later in the game.

Attempt to return to the Cathedral and you will drop to the water below. Below, step on the circle in the center and six Sargasso attack you. Use the Shotgun to dispose of them.

Avoid getting hurt, since a Boss fight will be the next thing you face.

Once they are all dead, step onto the center platform to warp back to the bridge above. The bridge is now broken, but you are on the Cathedral side. To get back to the other side, you need to jump all the platforms or head down and defeat the six skeletons again.

Return to where you left the Pride of Lion. Grab it and the first boss appears . . .



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Phantom - Medium

This is a pretty difficult boss for the beginning of the game. You will need your Alastor and Shotgun for this evil boss. Start attacking it by jumping and then slashing down.

This boss has several attacks, and you need to know them and when to expect them to win this fight. His primary attack is a sweep with his leg/pincer. He will do this if you are near, so just expect it. He will put his head into the ground, and 4-6 lava geysurs will erupt. Just keep walking or running to avoid them. His signature move is his fireball, which he will charge in a white hot orb in his mouth, then release momentarily. Just roll out of it's way. If you are feeling lucky, and are at some distance, you can reflect it with Alastor. Don't try to jump over it, as he will aim it and hit you. If you are on his back, he will try to use his scorpion stinger on you.
It's not to hard to avoid.

The last attack, which I find most deadly, is his jump. He will jump at you, and land where you were. My best tactic is to jump, and keep hitting triangle so as to jump off of him while he's in the air. Then you will land on him, and it's all good.

To beat him, primarily you need to use melee attacks. The best way to get him is up on his back. Get up there, and start slashing away. Remember that only his attacks hurt you, he's not one of those bosses from Mario who will hurt you if you even touch him. Disregard the demo at the beginning of the game that shows Dante shooting him, as shooting does little damage. If you have it use, Air Raid. If you have Ifrit (only on a replay game) then you can use the blazing jump to jump off of him repeatedly, then jump kick him. When he's at some distance, feel free to blast away at him with whatever you've got.

These strategies apply for all appearences of Phantom (yes, there are many) because he never really changes. The one thing he learns later on is a meteor attack, where fire comes out of his back, then rains down. As with the lava pillars, just keep running to avoid it. Once Phantom disappears, return through the doors to the Long Hallway from the last mission.

The mission ends!

NOTE: Secret Mission number 1 must done after defeating Phantom but before you end this stage!