Game:

Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand (1995)

Duration: 3:21

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Translation patch by Aeon Genesis: http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=ys5
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfjut10T8wsbl02jXyHtmZvl_2pzrS_f_

Boss 9: Commander Karion

As Adol pushes through the castle and closes in on the control room, his path becomes impeded by Karion, the first of Rizze's lieutenants that he had run into back in Niena's shop. Short on words, the Kefinian swordsman, ever so slightly taken aback by Adol's decision to not heed his earlier warnings, allows the adventurer to continue to walk his own path, a path that ends at his blade.

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Along with the final boss and maybe Hydorr, Karion's definitely one of the hardest bosses in this game. Despite not being a giant beast like the majority of bosses, his speed and variety of difficult to anticipate attacks initially makes him much more imposing than anything else.

This is also the fight where sweet spots become relevant and most noticeable. The main goal is to goad out his lengthy attacks that leave him open, and attacking him from the side or preferably behind. Since Adol has access to the Isios equipment (the final set) attacks for me did around 70~80 from the front, ~120 from the side, and 150~170 from the back, making the objective clear. Despite his incredible movement, a few of his attacks leave him open enough for one sweet spot strike and maybe a second normal one as he recovers.

Being from Kefin, his attacks are all based on alchemy, and he glows the color of the element as he attacks but not really before, making anticipating his attacks based on position and not really what color outline he has:

Red/Fire:
Probably his most common attack when in close range, Karion swings his mace in a very violating arc in front of him. If standing directly in front of him, you can only block it if you are standing in front of the arm he swings with. Because he can attack from 3 directions depending on whether he's facing up, down, or left/right, it takes a hard read to risk blocking it head on. If you're not directly in front of him, it's not too hard to walk away but blocking becomes a bit more of a chore since you have to know what angle the tip/side of the mace will hit you at. The best solution for this attack in general is to jump over him before he strikes, giving you plenty of striking time.

Green/Wind:
A basic sword slash, but in conjunction with his dark and fire attacks and its speed it can be pretty difficult to respond to. The blocking works the same as his red mace attack, but he recovers much quicker. Unlike the mace it can't hit you if you are in front of him but not in front of his swinging arm, and he likes to use this mostly after teleports.

Blue/Ice:
Karion lunges his mace forward. He rarely uses this.

Purple/Dark:
Karion fires off his mace which snakes towards Adol. This is the bane of the entire fight. It can't be blocked, can hit multiple times, he can use it AT CLOSE RANGE which messes up any reads you may have, and Adol isn't suited to handle its travel speed and turning radius given his own walking speed. It is possible to loop it or run it into a wall, but doing that from afar while Karion is facing you requires good positioning and reaction.

Yellow/Light:
His mace fires off into orbs which circle the arena and go back to him. Also another annoying attack because he rarely uses it, yet it provides a much different hitbox than any of his other close range attacks. He'll use it at any range, and though the orbs can be blocked it can be hard to see them coming at close range.

Overall the fight boils down to baiting his swinging mace and attacking him during the time. Despite the off chance he'll use the snaking or splitting mace up close, it's best to stay as close to Karion as possible. You can get him in a pseudo-pattern by baiting the swinging mace, jumping over him, attacking, and so on, and it actually becomes very manageable to come through unscathed, albeit a bit dull imo. I didn't do that here because I honestly liked this take's ending (and I didn't try it until better takes after this), and that I'll hopefully be revisiting this in Expert mode's time attack.
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With Karion finally defeated, the way to to control room is all but clear for Adol, the end drawing near.

Game: Ys V: Kefin, Lost Kingdom of Sand / イースV 失われた砂の都ケフィン
Release Date: 29/12/1995
System: SNES
Recorded with ZSNES

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