Romancing Saga 2: Revenge Of The Seven - How To Beat Noel

While each of the Seven Heroes in Romancing Saga 2 is a skilled warrior, Noel's swordsmanship is without peer. Given that he's had centuries to hone his edge, it's no surprise that he's one of the most dangerous enemies in the game when you finally face him at the Wandering Lake.

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Noel's sword strikes are capable of taking down members of your retinue in one blow, and he only gets more powerful as the fight goes on. The best way to handle him is to prepare with a build specifically designed to take him down.

How To Find Noel At The Wandering Lake

When you reach the town of Teretuva in the Melu Desert, the citizens there will tell you that their soldiers have gone in search of Noel at the Wandering Lake. The fallen Hero has also filled the town's towers with fiends; to fully liberate the region, you'll need to clear the east and west towers to get the keys within, then use them to enter the central tower.

Once all three towers are cleared, the townsfolk will give you a hint about the last sighting of the Wandering Lake; return to Melu Desert and head south.

Your party's maximum HP is halved while in the desert due to the extreme heat; bring characters with a high Speed who can strike quickly, ending fights before enemies have a chance to attack. It's very easy to get wiped here if you aren't careful - flee the moment a fight starts to turn against you.

Keep to the narrow paths of sand to avoid falling into worm nests; if you do fall, defeat the worm then climb out using the rocks. When you reach the objective marker, you'll see the Wandering Lake in the distance.

Each time you find the Wandering Lake, there is a chance that it's just a mirage. The only way to find out is to approach it. If the lake vanishes and you find yourself still in the desert, the objective marker will move to a new spot. Keep trying, and eventually you'll come upon the real lake.

Wandering Lake Treasure Chests

Noel is inside the temple at the Wandering Lake. There are no enemies inside, and the boss fight will trigger as soon as you open the door past the save point. Before you do so open the chest in the middle of the main room to get the Book of Water and Earth 2, which allows you to research the Dragon Pulse spell. Opposite the chest is a crack in the wall; squeeze through it to find a second chest, which has the Star of Ilorina, a powerful rapier.

Best Build For Fighting Noel

Builds are important for any fight in Romancing Saga 2, but the boss battle against Noel is a special case. If your retinue isn't a fine-tuned machine specifically designed to beat him, he'll slice you to ribbons.

The most important thing is to ensure that every member of your team has at least Cosmology Level 20. They need this level of Light magic to be able to cast Sword Barrier, which is essential for surviving Noel's relentless onslaught.

Noel's Weaknesses

Build your party to include the following damage types, as Noel is vulnerable to them:

• Rapiers
• Clubs
• Hydrology (Water)
• Terrology (Earth)
• Sorcery (Darkness)

Greatswords are also an excellent choice against Noel; he may not be weak against them as a weapon type, but moves like Empty Blade and Scattered Petals deal heavy Dark and Water damage, respectively.

Recommended Moves

Tech/Spell

Skill

Importance

Reason

Sword Barrier

Cosmology

Required

Makes the caster immune to sword attacks.

Life Water 3

Hydrology

Required

Heals and revives party members, reduces Fire Affinity.

Water Blast 2

Hydrology

Required

Deals Water damage, reduces Physical Defense, reduces Fire Affinity.

Bonecrusher

Clubs

Required

Deals damage, reduces Strength.

Fissure Strike

Clubs

Recommended

Deals Earth damage, can hit multiple targets.

Rockbreaker

Clubs

Recommended

Deals Earth damage, decent damage-to-cost ratio.

Mega Thrust

Rapiers

Recommended

Deals damage, increases Overdrive gauge.

Empty Blade

Greatsword

Recommended

Deals Dark damage, increases Overdrive gauge.

Still Stream

Greatsword

Recommended

Deals Water damage, increases Overdrive gauge.

Scattered Petals

Greatsword

Recommended

Deals Water damage, increases Overdrive gauge.

It's vital that you don't use any Fire moves during this fight; leave your Pyrology experts in Avalon for this one!

Our winning team consisted of the following members:

• Female Nomad (Empress)
• Male Mercenary
• Male Crusader
• Female Ranger
• Female Crusader

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Strategy For Fighting Noel

You'll need to be patient and methodical to stand a chance against Noel's fury.

Using Sword Barrier

As long as you pay careful attention to your buffs and status, you can get through the first phase of the fight relatively unscathed. In the first round, have everyone cast Sword Barrier, with no exceptions. As long as the spell stays active, Noel will not be able to damage anyone who has it.

Noel is very fast, and it's likely he will attack before everyone has had a chance to cast Sword Barrier. In the very likely event that a party member is incapacitated, get everyone's Sword Barrier up before reviving the fallen.

As the fight progresses, watch the icon for Sword Barrier above each character's portrait. If it's blinking, that means it will expire on their next turn. Forego all other priorities when that happens and make sure to recast Sword Barrier so that there are no gaps in your defense!

Noel's Shade

Early in the fight, Noel will cast Phantom Chivalry to summon a shade. It has the same characteristics as him, save for a lower HP total. As long as you keep Sword Barrier up, it won't matter that there's an extra combatant until the second phase, when it will suddenly matter a great deal.

The Shade changes positions each round; watch for it to stand directly behind Noel. When it does, use moves like Water Blast 2 and Fissure Strike that attack along a line to deal damage to both of them. Ideally, you want to get the Shade's health bar down to almost zero by the time the real Noel is at about half health. When that happens, leave the Shade alone for now instead of finishing it off.

One reason it's a good idea to keep the Shade alive is that it presents more opportunities to learn Evasions during the fight. That gives you some grace if Sword Barrier fails, and lets you keep the Evasions for later battles!

Second Phase: Red Drake Wave

When Noel's health is at about forty percent, he will power up for his second phase. This is where things can get ugly fast, and the fight can become a race to defeat him before he overpowers you.

Noel opens the second phase with two new moves: Dragonfang Blade, which shouldn't be a problem if you still have Sword Barrier active, and Red Drake Wave, which isn't considered a sword attack and can therefore penetrate your perfect-until-now defense. Red Drake Wave can deal around 700 damage to your entire party, putting you in a critical state. Don't panic; keep Sword Barrier up and stick to the plan.

As soon as the second phase starts, finish off the Shade. Noel can only cast Red Dragon Wave if the Shade is alive, so destroying it immediately buys you critical time. Noel will re-summon it in a few rounds, and you won't have time to kill it again, so use the breathing room to heal up and deal as much damage to Noel as you can before his onslaught continues.

Once the Shade is back, it's all or nothing; you can survive maybe another two Red Drake Waves, three at the absolute most. By this point, Noel's health should be almost depleted; go all-in and take him down before he has a chance to finish you off. Even if you only have one character left standing, a win is a win!

The game will proceed to a new generation after you beat Noel, so you don't need to worry about saving anyone for future battles; if you have to sacrifice a party member for the good of the Empire, so be it.

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