Whether they’re optional to fight or mandatory to defeat to progress within the story, Tales of Symphonia has been notorious for having many of the most difficult boss challenges in the franchise. Many of these bosses have caused numerous players to grind for several hours, even more so on the harder difficulties in order to stand toe-to-toe against the more formidable foes.
In this ranking, we’re counting down the most challenging boss battles you’ll likely have encountered or have yet to face in this long and arduous journey.
10 Kratos (Tower Of Salvation 1 & 2)
Kratos is a boss fight that surprises many fresh players since he becomes a party member-turned-antagonist. When you face him at the Tower of Salvation both times, he can prove a dangerous foe to be reckoned with. Kratos sprints, attacks, and casts his artes much quicker as an enemy than when he’s a team combatant. It goes without saying that he also hits much harder and can potentially be the first boss who does the highest damage output when you face him on the first visit to the Tower of Salvation.
You battle Kratos a total of three times throughout the game. The first two fights against him are at the Tower of Salvation and don’t require you to win, but if you do, you are awarded an EX Gem Lv. 3 and an EX Gem Lv. 4, respectively. However, the fact that you do not need to defeat him to progress within the story places him last on our list of the most challenging bosses in the game.
9 Kuchinawa Azumi
Kuchinawa can be a tough boss fight, primarily since you’re restricted to using Sheena in this one-on-one duel against him and without the aid of items. Kuchinawa is notorious for being able to move and attack much faster than Sheena, with the added fact of having more extended range with his weapons. Kuchinawa’s leading equipment consists of his short dagger and shuriken, which he heavily uses when following up his combos. To have a slightly easier time with this boss fight, it’s best to equip Sheena with EX Skills that increase her speed and Elemental Defense.
Similarly to the Tower of Salvation Kratos fights, you don’t have to defeat Kuchinawa to progress the story. Due to heavier restrictions of characters and items in this fight, though, the ninja ranks ahead on our list at number nine.
8 Dragon’s Nest
This fight involves fighting three dragons (two Baby Dragons and one Winged Dragon) simultaneously. Though not technically a boss fight, these three foes prove to be just as challenging as other bosses for many players. All three dragons can deal devastating damage to your entire party if you aren’t mindful and packing healing items.
As mentioned before, this can be an immensely frustrating battle for the party, even if you have them at a balanced level. Unless you spam unison attacks, the Winged Dragon will always crush its head against you from above at the worst possible time, interrupting your combo chains. The go-to team for this match is to use three of your heaviest physical attackers (Presea, Regal, Zelos/Lloyd) while having Raine provide nothing but healing artes.
7 Sword Dancer
Not only does the Sword Dancer serve as the first optional boss, but it is also the only missable boss challenge in the game. To make matters even worse, you have to fight this monster three times throughout your adventure, with each fight being more excruciating than the last, to obtain one of the strongest weapons for Lloyd.
Sword Dancer can be a perilous enemy for you if you’re not well-prepared with items and the proper party setup. It’s pretty much essential to have Raine and Colette in all your battles against it, as it’s weak to light-spell attacks. The fact that you have to face this arduous foe multiple times to be satisfied and properly rewarded is enough to propel it to the spot of number seven.
6 Maxwell
This guy is called the Ancient Ruler of the Elements for a reason. Even though Maxwell appears to be that of a frail-looking elderly man, don’t be fooled by the awesome might of his magical prowess. Though you aren’t given a chance to face him until the endgame, Maxwell is another optional boss that ranks moderately on our list.
What sets the character at number six is his ability to cast many of the game’s high-level artes in quick succession. His advanced spells range from Ranging Mist, Dreaded Wave, and Thunder Arrow. His most deadly attack of them all, however, is his Meteor Storm, which can potentially wipe your entire party out if their Magic Defense is lacking. So equip EX Skill and fighting gear that increases your Magic Defense stats to stand tot-toe against this awesome Summon Spirit.
5 Living Armor
What makes this scary suit of armor a nasty challenge is the high amount of damage output it can deal onto you and the rest of your party. Even with decent Defense stats and guarding, Living Armor’s regular blade attacks can still deal roughly six to eight hundred (or even more) points of damage, allowing it to eliminate your group in a few blows.
Luckily for you, though, Living Armor is slow on its feet. As long as you maintain some distance while closing in on it to attack, your mages can safely cast their offensive and supportive magic artes without interruptions. Using this strategy, the boss should go down without too much hair-pulling difficulty. Because Living Armor is one of the first bosses you face in the optional dungeon, Niflheim, it is awarded a safe spot on our list at number five, especially since many of the more challenging bosses show up on the later floors.
4 Grand Cardinal Trio
The Grand Cardinal Trio consists of Shadow Magnius, Shadow Forcystus, and Shadow Pronyma, which are fought on the later floors of the Niflheim dungeon. This fight is brutal for many players because you fight three of the more challenging Grand Cardinal members at once instead of individually, like in the game’s story segments.
Pronyma acts as the heavy magic caster in the group, while Magnius and Forcystus serve as the physical attackers. It goes without saying that in this fight, your best bet is to go after Pronyma if you want to stand even half a chance against the other two enemies. While this trio is a lot tougher than their original counterparts, they don’t have any added advantages compared to the later trio boss battles, justifying their place in fourth.
3 Legendary Trio
The Legendary Trio is one of the game’s most difficult optional trio challenges, earning their spot at number three. Fought at the end of Niflheim, the Legendary Trio consists of Mithos, Yuan, and Kratos. Even more excruciating is that you fight them using a team containing only three combatants. In this fight, you will have to bring your A-game and utilize your best three fighters to their maximum potential.
As Mithos spams his strongest light elemental artes, Kratos and Yuan rush the front lines with their speed and physical skills. The best combatants to utilize are Lloyd, Zelos/Kratos, and Genis. Loyd and Zelos/Kratos will serve well as your physical attackers, with the latter providing the occasional healing. Keep Genis in the back spamming his potent magic artes, and maybe you’ll stand a slight chance.
2 Cameo Trio
The Cameo Trio Boss battle proves to be one of the most brutal optional fights in the entire game. The individual characters in this challenge feature Garr Kelvin from Tales of Destiny, and Farah Oersted and Meredy from Tales of Eternia.
In this intense brawl, your opponents can access the same healing artes as you. This means they can spam the Nurse and Resurrection artes depending on the situation – so you have your work cut out for you in this war. Just like with the Legendary Trio, you’re restricted to using only three party members in this fair three-on-three duel. With these severe player constraints and enemy advantages, it’s no wonder why this trio is second on our list.
1 Abyssion
Arguably the most difficult boss and optional challenge in the entirety of Tales of Symphonia, Abyssion makes his way to number one on our list. Depending on which console version of the game you play, Abyssion will either be hard or harder. Abyssion can be faced in combat upon obtaining all the Devil Arms and reaching the lower depths of the Temple of Darkness.
Abyssion is a brutal and unique fiend as he can utilize most of the party members’ (save for Raine and Sheena) artes through the Devil Arm weapons. This fight is even more absurd because the valuable go-to item, All-Divide, no longer works against him in the PS2 and later remastered versions of the game. If you’re skilled enough to get Abyssion’s HP down to half in the PS3 version of the title, then consider yourself unlucky, as at that point, he will become immune to all Unison Attacks and will spam his strongest artes like there’s no tomorrow. You’ll need an extreme amount of skill, luck, and healing items to take this monster down, and it clearly shows, given his highest placement on our list.
