Ryvern bosses are frustrating/cheap.

I've recently completed Ryvern in Agni. And guess what? We haven't saved Karl yet. Freaking Mare. In other news, Lugina's gonna be adventuring with us! Wait, WHAT?!

Ryvern follows the pattern back in Mistral and Palmyna, so no more of that 'each map has more than one element' nonsense. In exchange, though, some of the bosses in Ryvern are just plain CHEAP. I'm talking about the end-of-area bosses.

So, for those bosses, we have the 4* forms of Aisha's batch as enemies. The boss of the final area is Gramvaln, a light-elemental dragon that can inflict paralysis. But, in order of annoyance, this is how I'd rank them...

Note: All of these bosses (except Gramvaln) gain an ATK buff at approx. 75% HP.

7. Drake Lord Aisha (Glomore Hollow)

She only has a regular attack, an AOE attack, and an AOE BB. Nothing too severe here. Double ATK boost build is recommended, and Tiara is especially useful if you're running a rainbow team.

6. Bolt Pike Amy (Azura Ruins)

She has a regular attack, an AOE attack that nullifies all buffs (that includes seals/ores, ATK/DEF/REC/CRIT boost, Spark damage boost, gradual recovery, increased BC/HC drops, and gradual BB gauge fill, among others, or maybe I listed them all), and an STBB that can inflict injury and weakness. It's only frustrating if she nullifies the buffs, but other than that, she's not very intimidating. Mono-earth teams with Gaia Armor/Holy Arms/Holy Earth leads can easily blaze through her.

5. Gramvaln (White Tower)

I placed him here since he only has a regular attack an AOE BB. Granted, the BB can hurt a lot AND can inflict paralysis, but he doesn't gain an ATK buff in the middle of the battle. Also, it may be just me, but it's less likely to run into a totem in the Tower compared to anywhere else. Some more info from you guys regarding totem appearance rate and Gramvaln's BB(s?) is heavily appreciated...

Also, while he might be able to dish out the damage, he's pretty squishy. So give him all you got with a double ATK boost build and bring Stimulants.

4. Blade Storm Sefia (Ryvern Mountains)

Just the fact that she inflicts paralysis AND gains an ATK buff in the battle is annoying. She has a single-target attack, another single-target attack that deals roughly twice the damage her single-target attack deals (either that or an ignore DEF attack, since Elimo and Lance are both capable of giving DEF buffs), and an AOE BB that can inflict paralysis. Dark units beware: she hits very hard. My Magistra Lira (Lord, lvl 76 w/ SJ at the time) died pretty early on, leaving Aisha and Serin as the only units that can dish out strong attacks. Lance's attack (without SJ) just pales in comparison to Aisha and Serin.

3. Twin Flash Rickel (Snow Area Khelne)

She has a regular attack, a random-target attack that deals slightly more damage per hit, and a strong STBB that can inflict poison AND paralysis. Twins, Reeze, and Elsel leads are highly recommended, or you could bring a Melchio. Lodin is also recommended for rainbow teams. Also, her single-target BB is more deadly compared to Amy's one, so be careful.

2. Earthly Il and Mina (Stokhelna Forest)

Though they arguably deal less damage compared to the other bosses, it's their attacks that are annoying. They have a single target attack, an AOE BB, and an AOE attack. Now, the AOE attack is the annoying one. It can inflict injury, weakness, and sickness, sometimes a combination of two of those, or ALL THREE AT ONCE. Twins or Reeze leader/helper is highly recommended, or you could bring a Melchio, as the one time I did the dungeon with a Grah helper, I lost after running out of Tonics.

1. Goth Kikuri (Abyss Cave)

...come on. You were expecting it.

Kikuri is the definition of OP back then, maybe even now due to the advent of Death Idol Kikuri. Just need to wait until November/December for full Selha teams with Uda lead to screw Arena players over. Or rainbow BB spam teams with Empyreal Drake Lodin leads, which will come next month, after the 6* forms of the 12 Guardians are released.

But I digress.

Kikuri can use a regular attack, an AOE attack, and an AOE BB. She inflicts curse, poison, AND paralysis. If you treasure your items, you'd be wise to bring a healer and a Twins/Reeze/Elsel lead. Also have Grah with you if you don't want to use a Divine Gale leader, but be warned, you'll be wasting a whole lot of items.

I used my main squad (cut a few levels) with a Grah helper (brought Antidotes and Stimulants), and lost Lira, Lilith, and Aisha to the boss, in Global. In JP, I used my main squad (swap Elimo with Blade Hero Zelban (L, 39)) with a Twins helper. I STILL lost Alyut, the twins, and Zephyr.

So yeah. The bosses after this area are pretty tame so far (in the Earth area, the map isn't released yet in Global) tame though, I wonder why...

...I also pretty much spoiled the end-of-area bosses in Ryvern. Forgive me.

All my rage...

...it's directed at Mare. This will get a bit 'ranty' in nature, so be warned! Also, SPOILER ALERT!

For those who haven't reached the Agni Region yet, the mysterious woman who appears in Ryvern is called Mare. And why is all my rage directed at her?

There's a list we can go through, and I'm sure there are more reasons, but here's what I can come up with right now. I'm still at Ryvern Mountains, the light area of Ryvern, and I'm waiting for energy to recharge...as well as finding ways to make sure my Magistra Lira won't die quickly.

The first thing that comes to mind is the second time we get to see her on-screen, in the water area of Ryvern. She just comes up, introduces herself, and STARTS PISSING OFF KARL. Like, how...

Now, I see Karl as one of the calmer people in the storyline, bested only by Paris, Elder Grahdens, and the player character (who doesn't show emotions anyways, unless verbally noted by another character). So, how does Mare piss Karl off?

Let's start with the basic things. She talked sh!t about Elder Grahdens, who took care of Karl when he was a baby. YES, Karl was an orphan. Then, she proceeded to talk about how the Elder BRAINWASHED him into thinking all that he knows is not the truth, and says that he must 'follow her to see the truth'. Karl was freakishly pissed off and CHASED AFTER HER. Oh wow.

I felt like punching her in the face right then and there. I also heard that she could be FARMED like Zebra in a future map. Great...

Second thing: she kidnapped Karl. Not gonna lie, she kidnapped Karl. She kidnapped one of the strongest extra bosses in the freaking game. Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but STILL. This is KARL we're talking about. She's holding him hostage in the final area of Ryvern.

Third thing, she injured Seria pretty badly just to give a message to us. Mare's probably like 'Hey, it's nice to see you protecting your friend, but I'm gonna be a total @$$ and send a group of minions after you while I take blue-haired guy here! Oh, and I'm keeping you alive, but you better tell his friend that I took him hostage! Toodle-loo!'

And now Seria's back in Elgaia, recovering from her wounds, and we're venturing into the mountains. ALONE, since Tillith went with Seria. At least we meet Elder Grahdens near the mountains. And he seems pissed too, but doesn't show it much.

And final, rather odd thing. Why in the name of Gaia is she called MARE?! (facepalms)

And...I guess that ends my rant. I don't know why I got a bit worked up over her (understatement of the century), but maybe it's because Karl IS my favorite NPC in Brave Frontier. I really, really want him in my squad.

Bye guys!