Your Favorite Raid Boss!

[Altiea]

With Deus ESC-A out, pretty much all of the raid bosses for this Episode are out! Except for whatever that boosted raid boss is that they're teasing on the road map. Across the entire game so far,

What's your favorite raid boss?

[Qualia]

Dark Falz Loser is my favorite by far. I really like the design of the boss, and the fight mechanics are pretty neat. Too bad it's pretty much irrelevant now.

[Cyber Meteor]

I would put the raid booses impressions i had in 2 categories : 1st run impression, and "In the long run" impression

As for 1st impression, my favorite was Loser when it came out, and i haven't seen any other raid bosses since then that gave me such a feeling of "ultimate/final" battle than this one, maybe Magatsu, i know he gave me a very good impression the first time.
As for in the long run, though Loser could have a spot there, i would put Magatsu, wether it was the 1st version without AIS but tremendous HP or new version with HP/3 and the AIS part, it's an EQ i always enjoy doing especially the AIS part, and barely got fed up by it.

It's honestly hard for me to only have one favorite, i tend to have multiple favorite i put at 1st place :p, so my favorites are : Loser and Magatsu mainly

[Dualdiamond]

If I were to rank them.

1. Magatsu - A better god than Deus Esca.
2. Luther - Best NPC.
3. Yamato - A.I.S battle was really fun the first time I did it. YMT!!!
4. Profound Darkness - Not last boss.
5. Mother - Hated rideroid. Recycled Falz designs. Nothing personal against Mother.
6. Deus Esca - Too overly designed and the screeching voice in his final form is a no.
7. Elder - No comment.
8. Apprentice - Meh, so when do we get to fight her flying moth form?
9. Double - I hate Double

[echofaith]

Only really like Loser and PD. Rest are either boring or annoying.

[Anubaly]

1) Mother, rideroid timewaster aside.
2) Apprentice
3) Yamato
4) Loser/Luther
5) Magatsu
6) Elder
7) Double + PD
8 ) Deus

Not a fan of "you can only hit this glowing spot to do some damage". Screams of lazy design to me. Moreso when you can be waiting for ages just to do damage again. Double + PD would be higher if not for double being the start of that nonsense. Also not a fan of forced cutscenes. Deus ticks off all my dislikes in one EQ. Very cinematic, but that's about it.

[Kiboune]

1. Yamato
2. Deus
3. Profound Darkness
4. Luther
5. Magatsu

[loafhero]

My Top 3:

1. Loser
2. Magatsu Phase 1
3. Deus Esca

[TehCubey]

Slightly edited after I gave it some consideration:

HIGH TIER
1. Loser - great aesthetics, great battle mechanics, too bad the fight is a cakewalk now (but even now people can make it harder for themselves than it needs to be)
2. PD + Double - really has that final boss feel, and yes I count the two together because you always fight them both as a single quest
3. Deus - very grandiose, the last phase feels really exciting

MID TIER
4. Yamato - easy and a real no-brainer once you know what to do, but the presentation of the fight is cool
5. Mother - on one hand the fight is pretty technical so between cubes and Mom's flailing in the last phase it offers a decent challenge, on the other it just doesn't feel satisfying somehow; I don't mind the rideroid section though, it's fine with me
6. Magatsu - not really a boss fight per se, just a damage check with a moderately hard to reach target and environmental dangers to dodge every once in a while, Maggy itself is a good design but the quest is just learning the pattern and then executing it

LOW TIER
7. Elder - I've put him on the very bottom first but that was a bit unfair, after all it's the first real boss the game used to have and really felt like it back in the day - but nevertheless, the fight is just really basic and simple nowadays
8. Apprentice - once again not really a boss fight but everyone brings her up anyway, just slam the core (and then the big black penis) with your AI's sword, if the MPA is decent you'll win, if not you lose, boring

[Zanverse]

1. Magatsu: No boss reveal trailer will ever get me as hyped as I did when I saw Magatsu's trailer. I remember staying up super late to watch the livestream, and just when I though it was over, they showed Ultimate Naberius, and I was like "meh, looks cool" and then... Magatsu showed up, and I instantly was like "Whooooaaaaaa!!!!". Same thing with the Magatsu-Sai trailer. The music is still hype, the boss design is cool as heck, and the quest is still fun.

2. Deus Esca: Playing Deus for the first time today, I was totally in awe at everything in the quest. The cutscenes are great, the boss design is flashy and gaudy, and just the intensity of the final phase is what makes it so good. The music could've been better (the only section that I truly like is the one that plays in Phase 3 and the Whole New World remix), but otherwise, it's phenomenal, imo.

3. Dark Falz Loser: All I can say is that 1) the music is great, 2) the design is great, and 3) the first couple of months after it's release when nearly everyone continuously failed the quest>>>>>>>

4. ESCA Mother Falz: Absolutely love the music, and the first phase could've been so much better, even though I still liked it. Second Phase is decent but way too repetitive with the Falz Arms.

5. Profound Darkness: Never really cared for PD. Music is alright, the battle itself is alright.

[Nyansan]

Magatsu, while playing Guren no Yumiya and Jiyuu no Tsubasa (AoT openings) as BGM for regular phase. AIS phase has Jiyuu no Daishou (´･ω･｀)
Been a bit of a joke between me and my brother that pugs are bad if the song ends before Magatsu dies.

[Eternal255]

I have yet to run Dues, but I'd say Loser was my favorite for the longest time (he dropped me a double cannon haha). I really like phantom mother's form, however i HATE the riding part. The riding vehicles in general are shit so that totally kills the EQ for me. But Mother looks just like Falz from PSO, and I really love the design.

[Qualia]

I'm pretty surprised by the amount of people that like Magatsu. I mean the design and concept are pretty cool, but I feel like the execution for the first phase was pretty poor. I really dislike how laggy the fight is and how frustrating it is to stay on Magatsu's platforms, which is probably just an issue with overseas latency (do JP players experience this too?). I haven't done Magatsu in a while, but when I did I felt like I was only doing it for the excubes (like 90% of the other EQs), which says a lot about SEGA's design choices.

[FantasyHeaven]

Magatsu was great on release when people were failing it, it's an awful laggy rodos-tier dummy now.
Loser was good.
Elder was nice when I was really new.
I don't like any of the other ones. TDs were always better.

[yoshiblue]

1. Elder - Best Setting, good music, with more interesting mechanics would have made for an epic fight. Doesn't die after you defeat him.
2. Luther - Fun fight, best music, cool setting though not as cool as a space wreckage. Is pretty much tied with Elder.
3. Yamato - Really different from the rest. Cool scenario and gameplay with anti-climatic death.
4. Double - Interesting boss that gets you moving like Luther. Also less interesting overall than Luther. Meh characters.
5. Mother - Awesome settings. Would have been rated higher had the rideroids been better.
6. Profound Darkness - Anti-climatic boss with cool use of retro music. That's about it.
7. Apprentice - The most meh setting of all but is more interesting than Magatsu.
8. Magatsu - A giant walking meat shield where it's only saving grace is the AIS at the end, and that had to be added later. Poor man's Lao Shan Lung.

[Meteor Weapon]

While the battles with Deus are cool, but the build up behind it was so bad I I felt really meh with it.

I hated how the story just kinda went oh we deal with it everyone is happy with leaving said final boss who is so intent on destroying the world spawn constantly and keep having to babysit Earthlings for GOD knows how long

[silo1991]

1 magatsu , even playing as a hunter i have fun with playing with him
2 PD my dearest female boss in the entire game :P
3 loser and elder just classics for me (specially in profound invasion)
4 the hardest boss just for hang out while you reach her
5 yamato good boss for newbies , fun AIS section but the aesthetics ARE TO DAMN LAZY and i said that before >:(
6 mother , the rideroid section can work in a survival mode or something like that , its the most tedious boss i ever saw and im talking about her 2nd phase , if you dont deal enought damage in time you are stuck in the same segment , this boss dissapoint me , her ridedroid segement theme its just beautiful

and just for fifnish i havent tried deus esca and i dont have expectations on him , actually the 3 bosses of ep 4 did not cause me any sort of HYPE

[Maulcun]

Magatsu

[Meteor Weapon]

Pretty sure people like magatsu because cubes? I find him pretty boring and glitchy with his goddamn teleports no matter how good your ping is.

[SteveCZ]

Magatsu

[dingophone]

1. Magatsu - Everything about Magatsu is HYPE.
2. Loser - One of the first raids I did and still one of the most unique. Still gives some MPAs trouble, even in the age of Astra weapons.
3. Deus Esca - So far, seems really cool and different. I suppose we will see as time goes on but so far so good.
4 Profound Darkness - Biased because I like Dual Blade with Break Stance probably :) But I do like that PD is a tough boss who hits hard.
5. Mother - Fun, but I've gotten a little burned out with this quest after grinding it for 2 weeks.
6. Yamato - Only played it once and seemed okay, but I was confused and didnt know what to do for a lot of it.
7. Apprentice - A neat idea, but AIS spam makes the fight too easy.
8. Elder - Also too easy.
9. Double - Okay this is probably the only raid boss I really dislike. Takes forever to kill and cheeses a lot. Not a fan.

[reinforcers]

Magatsu - really make me feel playing attack on titan online ... hahahaha
Profound Darkness - when your play style is truly tested (before deus of course)
Yamato - nice battle with a ship
Mother - good feeling at riding, the boss itself quite boring actually

[Demon-]

Magatsu

[blkbox11]

Top three for now, since I haven't tried out Deus Esca:

1. Elder - First raid boss in the game, and so far none of the new bosses that I have played have topped the feeling I got when fighting Arms and Elder the first time. The combination of the destroyed Arks Ships in the background and fighting on a platform in space made the atmosphere amazing. Old and busted now in terms of difficulty, obviously, but still the best raid boss in scale, at least IMO.

2. Mom - I actually like the Rideroid section as someone who came from Ace Combat - flying through tunnels while avoiding attacks and obstacles comes with the territory. Controls are a bit clunky for that section but didn't take long to get used to it. First part of second phase is a bit tedious and doesn't have as much feedback as Elder and Loser when breakable parts are broken - you just destroy hands and aim for the core when she's down over and over. Suffers from recolored Loser arena. I understand the canon reason, but would have preferred it if we got a platform with the Moon + Earth as a background instead.

3. Double/PD - The closest in scale to Elder, and gets this spot because of the space-based battle. The one-on-one section against Persona was great earlier on when people mostly couldn't just nuke him/her in a few seconds. Upgraded Double/PD is just as good with the trickier attacks, and the PD phase is more chaotic than Mother's 2nd phase.

Worthy mentions:

Loser: Never was a fan of the character for being the typical smug, snarky, keikaku-doori villain, but the boss is pretty great. It's just that after Elder, the background for his battle felt underwhelming.

Deus Esca: Haven't played it yet, but it looks a bit like Iustitia from Bayonetta 1. Having to actually climb the tree, and then climb the boss to hit its core is neat. Also that 5 minute DPS check.

[25MGTAR]

Magatsu the one and only coz gameplay and music

[Masu]

1-Magatsu
2-Mother
3-PD (and only PD)
4-Loser
5-Yamapotatoe
6-Elder
...
Add Deus at very end of list There's no hope I'll ever like this one...

[Meteor Weapon]

Still wondering why you guys like Magatsu lol, unless you guys are just trolling.

[blkbox11]

AoT/SnK fans perhaps? Or maybe they joined the game at around the time it first came out.

Doesn't bother me either way, but I am curious about the reasons.

[oratank]

magastu is fun if you want to have fun unless you try to make an excube generator

[Nyansan]

Joined/started on jp server when Magatsu was new, the only 13* was ares and crafting was relevant. The sense of hype and urgency when an unannounced Magatsu came up can't be rivaled even by current EQs. Not to mention he was less of a glorified cube pinata before, and killing him before the 1st gate used to be a big thing. Moreso when Sega added XH Magatsu.

Every other raid boss that came after that were subject to 13* and subsequently melted quite quickly.

[blkbox11]

Joined/started on jp server when Magatsu was new

Did the AoT collab also come out around the same time? That was around the anime's airing season, right?

Would explain part of the hype that it got.

[loafhero]

Still wondering why you guys like Magatsu lol, unless you guys are just trolling.

Technical issues aside, it is still an awesome boss presentation-wise. The soundtrack invokes a sense intensity and excitement while keeping in line with its historical Japan gimmick. I personally like the soundtrack more than Mining Base IV's soundtrack.

Despite its size, its not a boss that you can kill by poking its foot over and over again. Its a dismantling process and seeing the boss actually wounded from having its body pieces destroyed is satisfying.

Its also the first boss to implement e-trials during the fight.

The sense of urgency helps too. I feel like I actually saved the day whenever I beat the thing since the entire gimmick is that we are trying to stop it from levelling a city its already in the process of destroying. Sure, that urgency is gone now with current Magatsu rebalance and new gear but that urgency was fun while it lasted.

There's also something oddly satisfying about opening up its faces and the squishy-sound it makes from hitting the exposed red parts.

[Nyansan]

Did the AoT collab also come out around the same time? That was around the anime's airing season, right?

Would explain part of the hype that it got.

Actually never watched the anime despite reading the manga :wacko:
And going from bumped, AoT collab was March. Magatsu was half a year later. Anime was 2013 in Japan (wouldn't touch the dubbed version)

[blkbox11]

Actually never watched the anime despite reading the manga :wacko:
And going from bumped, AoT collab was March. Magatsu was half a year later. Anime was 2013 in Japan (wouldn't touch the dubbed version)

Hmm, if it wasn't Magatsu, it must have been Harukotan's debut that was closer to one of those things. I remember the collab's timing being perfect because of us getting to fight giant enemies around the same time.

Admittedly, I didn't get into the manga or the show, because it was similar to some stuff I had read before (only with aliens instead of giants). Manga or anime, there's no denying its popularity, and I figured that's part of why Magatsu is at the top of some people's lists.

[RadiantLegend]

1. Apples and doriotos
2. Maggy
3. Eruda

Last place
Yamaboat.

[Anduril]

Hmm, if it wasn't Magatsu, it must have been Harukotan's debut that was closer to one of those things. I remember the collab's timing being perfect because of us getting to fight giant enemies around the same time.

Admittedly, I didn't get into the manga or the show, because it was similar to some stuff I had read before (only with aliens instead of giants). Manga or anime, there's no denying its popularity, and I figured that's part of why Magatsu is at the top of some people's lists.

It came out on March 26, 2014 with TD2, ie. the one with walls. Ep3 didn't come out until August of 2014, then Magatsu was in December.

Anyway, I would say my list is like this:

ESC-A Deus

I like how cinematic it is, and to me it feels like an actual raid since it doesn't have down time and you can fail if you don't kill it in time.


[PD]

Even with the [Double] portion, it felt like a really suitable "Final Boss;" having [PD] take different forms like a traditional boss and getting that [Persona] 1v1 fight just hit the right chords with me.


Yamato

The fact that it has the rush for the first phase is what really does it for me; the actual fight with Yamato can be a little underwhelming, but it is a great concept, plus I love "Borderless" as the BGM.


Mother/Elder/Loser

I like the actual boss fight on these, but the initial phase on them kinda pushes them down.


Apprentice

It's pretty good as a whole with having waves before the main boss, but I really hate having to defend the towers; if it weren't for that, it would probably be #2 for me.


Magatsu

Honestly, I just find Magatsu boring.

[loafhero]

I give PD (all phases) an honorable mention. Only reason I don't put it in my Top 3 is because of its cocoon form being rather lame. On the other hand, PD didn't have any awkward transition to a cutscene like Deus Esca. All of its phase changes still keep you in the game and don't mute the background music just to show off its new form.

This is just my personal preference, though. I just dislike it when a game transitions me to a cutscene in a rather abrupt manner. Just imagine if the Persona fight during the PD raid forced you into a cutscene first. I feel like there are certain cutscenes that could've been cut out from the Deus Esca battle. For example, Deus Hunas (the first form) defeat and retreat cutscene is rather unnecessary.

[Meteor Weapon]

The cinematography is nice, but the timing of it's implementation along with abruptly cutting off music is horrible


I give PD (all phases) an honorable mention. Only reason I don't put it in my Top 3 is because of its cocoon form being rather lame.

I'm pretty sure that's it's unbloomed flower form or..... SEED form

https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2014-03/enhanced/webdr05/31/11/enhanced-32084-1396279470-1.jpg

jk failed

[Great Pan]

Eldah
Loozah
Japanese ship thingie

Easy EXP, of course.

[mickbis]

Profound Darkness
Loser ( the first boss that is real challenging )
Magatsu ( Fucking Hard on very first week )
Yamato (AIS phase only)
Deus Esca ( the fight is cool overall but the music is practically belong to not very memorable group among final boss battle)
Elder ( too easy )
Mother (her fight is a too repetitive with those hand phase and too bright)
Elder ( too easy )
Double ( hate that damn car and the rotating wall )
Apprentice ( not counting TD4 as a whole only her phase ) feel like we didn't actually fight her

Profound Darkness is the only EQ that I need to use my entire mate on the 1st fight
combine with its true form and Persona phase that reflect the player progress into the story
also the ending scene on Naberius with Rose confession running in the background is the best ever ending any game could hope for

[Meteor Weapon]

Tbh, I find listening to Deus's final form theme gives me headache due to how repetitive it is. I prefer his first form theme.

[loafhero]

I sometimes forget that Deus even has a soundtrack. Its an unremarkable soundtrack for me.

[Meteor Weapon]

Well still hoping for Deus Esca Gracia where they'd probably use IDOLA The Fanatic Viper, just like they did it with Shambertin

[Ryuhou]

Yamato by far.
Very easy fight and lots of cubes, good chance of various 13* and also tons of exp.

Also, the ais portion isn't all that great but not a problem while the mobbing part is actually fun. All other raid boss is annoying and unfun to fight, simply infuriating in some cases.
Elder moves away from the platform too often and when stunned by lightning his core is out of melee range (wtf?), Luther is one of the worst cases of poor game design, a boss that gets incredibly annoying if you deal too much damage (at the wrong time and pugs cannot stop doing it).

Lagatsu is bad cause of all the lag and glitches, would perhaps be nice if not this broken but he is what he is and that is torture.

Double is even worse and PD is only just so bearable (albeit new pd has a habit of interrupting mate use). Mother is annoying as hell with attacks from virtually all sides at all times and desu esca could have been cool with the nice mobbing part and fun running part but is really annoying as well in the actual boss fight, not to mention the horrible quest fail, I only did the eq twice but I know people that failed 5 times in a row.

Sega has a terrible track record with raid quests, all but yamato are as fun as getting a dental filling without anesthesia cause Sega refuses to actually balance classes and rather makes total shit content in a failed attempt to equalize them (while still giving melee a huge disadvantage most of the time).

[Ziel]

1. Yamato: full AIS fight.
2. Magatsu: i like breaking boss parts AND has AIS phase
3. Loser: was my first relevant falz, elder was meh by the time i started.
4. Profound Darkness: if only double wasnt there...

Not very fond of orochi-knight on not-yggdrassil due to unskippable cutscenes that when lagging give you a incredibly tedious delay but its a good fight.

[Demon-]

1. Magatsu
2. Profound Darkness
3. Mother
4. Loser
5. Elder
6. Deus Esca

[Anduril]

It just occurred to me, we have all forgotten the first 12-man boss fight EQ in the game: Big Vahrda. As it was back then when it was somewhat of a challenge for an MPA, I would put it at my #2 slot; it was just a straight fight, no fancy story bits, no transitions.

[SteveCZ]

It just occurred to me, we have all forgotten the first 12-man boss fight EQ in the game: Big Vahrda. As it was back then when it was somewhat of a challenge for an MPA, I would put it at my #2 slot; it was just a straight fight, no fancy story bits, no transitions.

Loool yeah Big Varda, I forgot about that boss.

[sparab]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKXAvbUypdM

Big Varda was a joke when first released...

The SH version is much better and annoying.

[Anduril]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKXAvbUypdM

Big Varda was a joke when first released...

The SH version is much better and annoying.

Fair enough; I may just be remembering it through nostalgic lenses. Also, that video is the Free Field version, not the EQ; the EQ has a titled Vahrda and a time limit.

[sparab]

Fair enough; I may just be remembering it through nostalgic lenses. Also, that video is the Free Field version, not the EQ; the EQ has a titled Vahrda and a time limit.

It might be included in the arks battle chronicle, along with ragune arena.

[loafhero]

Big Vardha's design just screams raid boss. Out of all the Free Field bosses I faced for the first time, Big Vardha intimidated me the most. I originally hoped that Yamato (prior to any gameplay footage) would be a proper successor to Big Vardha but alas, it wasn't.

[red1228]

Yamato's AIS Phase is probably the most "Fun" I have during an EQ. Shame its impossible to fail (is there even a time limit, I don't remember)

Profound Darkness is very badass, but why do I have to deal with Double's BS first?

I didn't care for Deus at first, my initial feelings toward him were "Another thing to kill for the new hotness in gear *eye roll* "... But now I kinda like him.

If Sega's servers (probably running on 10 year old 5400rpm / 8mb cache HDDs that are about to spontaneously combust) didn't keep making me slide off platforms for no good damn reason, Magatsu would probably be my overall favorite.

[Zorak000]

Loser before he began to die in a split second
mega stu before pre-first-gate kills were a regular thing
mining base demise - maybe the best set piece in the game
Deus esca - actually feels like a raid
yamato - a raid-themed roller coaster. a fun thrill ride but clearly feels like it wasn't supposed to be a challenge; at least not yet...
profound onion - double into onion still feels a bit disjointed even with the transition, onion doesnt really feel like it's presenting a threat until near the end tbh, it's just sorta... there and... your fighting it?
mother - nice try with the falz arms mechanic but it kinda gets played out if your mpa lacks meaningful burst
mega stu today - cube pinata
loser today - dies if you blink at him too hard
elder - eh feels like {a boss fight}
anything I forgot - the fact I forgot it probably means something

[yoshiblue]

Big Vardha's design just screams raid boss. Out of all the Free Field bosses I faced for the first time, Big Vardha intimidated me the most. I originally hoped that Yamato (prior to any gameplay footage) would be a proper successor to Big Vardha but alas, it wasn't.

If we could have inside it's interior, that would have been cool. I think was interests me the most about the fight is that you more or less give it a futuristic version of the original's death. Only instead of air dropped torpedoes, its lasers from the heavens. Didn't think they would do that.

[Hysteria1987]

Probably Deus Esca, because I've only done it once so I'm a fair way from being over it, plus the aesthetics are different and nice.

After all the Mother triggers my team did over the RDR boost week, its no surprise that it's far from favourite at the moment (one of us managed to get a 14* though which was cool). All up I'd rather SEGA take a bit of a break from what feels like constant new giant monster quests, and go for some that are more mob-based. Really quite liking VR TD at the moment, even if it feels a bit easier than Necky.

[Neith]

Dark Falz Loser, easily.

The time speed changes were a really cool idea at the time, he was one of the first raid bosses with a potential party wipe move (yes, it's very easy to prevent but at least he has one), the boss theme is one of the best in the game and and he includes throwbacks to PSO (specifically Olga Flow). Unfortunately he's far too easy and the regular Loser emergency involves doing Apos Dorios which is one of the least fun fights in the game in XH.

I do wish that Loser had Falz Angel's theme though, I've always found Imperial Dynasty to be a better theme than la l'inno per il IDOLA.

I do like Profound Darkness as well, but hate Dark Falz Double (I see a theme emerging here).

Esca Falz Mother I found fairly boring, like Sega just gave her a ton of HP and a BS nuke on low health. Deus Esca Zephyros is a really well done boss in concept, but has some issues at the moment. He'll probably end up getting nerfed, like anything else that ever posed any challenge in PSO2.

[loafhero]

Gameplay-wise, I'm fine with Double. Double's soundtrack is pretty unique too. What I don't like is Double's giggling.

[Altiea]

Since I created the topic, I might as well post up my thoughts.

1. Loser
Okay, I admit, Loser is pretty awesome. He has one of the best raid boss soundtracks, even to this day, and he's got some pretty cool fight mechanics, too. Shame power creep caught up to him, or more people would be attending Loser EQs.

2. Deus ESC-A
My favorite part about Deus ESC-A is that it's super grandiose in scale. The game really makes it feel like he's going all out against you. I know people complain about the DPS check, but I like it, since it's extremely tense and wants to make me get better at PSO2. Although I main Boots, so I don't know what that says about "getting better".

3. Profound Darkness
I actually don't have a problem with Double. I play Boots. The music is pretty awesome, and it really feels like you're tackling a universe-ending abomination at times. Although we all know we fight PD because it's a cube pinata.

4. Dark Falz Apprentice Gia
Sure, the fight can literally be boiled down to "Fomelgion > Photon Blaster x 10 is a true combo", but that doesn't take away from how big the fight feels. It's also backed by the amazing Mining Base soundtrack, which I absolutely adore.

5. Yamato
Easy and controversial as it is, it's hard to beat Borderless blaring in the background while you ride your trusty AIS to victory. I think the opening portion is the weakest part, though.

6. ESC-A Falz Mother
I have difficulty rating this against Yamato; I would say that personally, they should be in the same spot, but that's not really how lists work. At any rate, I'm gonna go against the grain here and say that I actually like the Rideroid section and like the actual fight less. I kinda like the shmup aspect of the Rideroid, and playing on controller, I don't have control issues with it, so I enjoy the Rideroid. The thing is, when I fight Mother, I don't really feel like I'm actually doing any damage (the numbers say otherwise), so I don't feel any sense of gratification when I beat up the arms. It gets better in the second half, though.

7. Magatsu
I mean, Magatsu's a cube pinata. People have optimized runs to such a point that he's a real non-issue. Sai is still pretty hype, though.

[isCasted]

Wall of text, I guess:

1) Falz Arm - what to say? Chasing is not fun, having it die on spawn isn't fun either.

2) Elder - was never really good. Fairly unimaginative design, very slow pace. Then again, he's not really annoying with anything.

3) Apos Dorios - I'm still confused by its tail swing animation, and everything related to Weak Bullet in this fight is bullshit. Chasing isn't fun here either. Otherwise it... used to be kinda fun.

4) Loser - the very first fight when it was released was suffering, and I loved every second of it. He clearly seemed like he doesn't fuck around with all the quick attacks and chasing projectiles. Unlike Elder he required you to pay attention. But then, people figured Mirage, and the magic was ruined, sort of. Still, it was an interesting fight until the point where he started dying in 2 minutes. Then, when XH came... nothing really changed. Whose idea it was to make his XH version be barely 25% stronger than SH when everything else was 4x? Sure, he can't be Miraged as easily now, but now it boils down to two scenarios: either you have a bunch of people who have no clue that attacking big red bubble when the boss is down is counterproductive (which is when you can't interrupt his rage phase in any way, and attacking him is almost pointless) or you don't (which is when he dies instantly after a time stop, or even before he can do one). Loser desperately needs another buff, or else there will be even more videos like this (https://youtu.be/q3LooPIJwHM).

5) Magatsu was a mistake. At the start it was brutally unfair (thanks to lack of 13* gear, broken-ass platforming physics and insane lag) and unrewarding, but at least I liked all the varying objectives. Then SEGA, instead of taking a balanced approach, twisted everything upside down and turned it into a gigantic walking sandbag that ruined the game's already fragile economy by flooding it with Excubes, rendering FUN Scratch obsolete. There's no reason to dodge, no reason to shoot arrows, there's no chance to protect walls because he can't even reach the first one. Visual noise with accompanying frame shits is really annoying. Phase 2 is fun, but only because of Sai. Sai is fast, intense, reasonably punishing; its only problem is with awkward hitboxes.

6) Double - it's fun to dodge its attacks while trying to deal damage at the same time when it sticks out its tongue, but leg chasing bullshit never was and never will be fun. What a waste of an interesting concept.

7) PD - it would've been perfect if not for insane randomness of patterns (especially when solo) and "anticheese" (enabling random downtime on core just to mess with burst damage dealers. Sure, it had to be done, but they could just use their head a bit more to make it less annoying).

8) Apprentice Gia - has many interesting attacks, intimidating atmosphere, but what is that I hear?.. It's sounds of BEAMS... and now it's dead. Fuck.

9) Yamato - there's no reason to attack anything that isn't large shining cores. Sure, you can freeze larger cannons, but if you're destined to get hit you will get hit. Then again, does it really matter? No consequence for getting hit, no consequence for dying, no consequence for failing DPS check. I know they had to make an easy boss for PS4 newcomers, but this is overkill. Oh, and weakspot glow is way too bright, as if presence of a ton of giant mechs around them wasn't enough in itself to make it hard to see (telegraphs of) incoming attacks.

10) Mother - just a visual mess with a ton of shades of blue (but hey, it's better than red in Mothership EQ). Chasing arms that are detached from main body that is invincible is a dumb concept. Getting attacked by an arm from all the way to the other side of the arena is dumb. "Anticheese" is even more cancerous now, because every arm change is treated like a separate phase, so weakspot can be opened for less than one second before closing if you didn't make one extra little hit in the last time, making you fight arms all over. DPS check is actually interesting, because it requires team coordination and failing just short of success doesn't give you full punishment, whereas on 2nd check you can win big by finishing it early. Last phase is ok, visual noise aside.

11) Deus... Damn cutscenes cutting to black every time, resetting music and fucking with skill cooldowns, ruining the general flow of the quest. The first encounter should be longer. Dragon heads' visual change is barely noticeable when you break them, and they get in the way of gap-closing PAs. Climbing dragons to reach weakpoint is awkward, and gap-closing PAs break again due to curvature. That cutscene where he grows wings... they just pop in, it looks like fucking Sonic Lost World. Not enough variety in attacks on final phase. Music (in all previous cases it ranged from good to fantastic, btw) just blends in together, giving an incoherent feeling. Transition to The Whole New World is awkward due to incompatible rhythms, and it only makes me ask a question: why is transition even there if the music gets interrupted by a cutscene beforehand?

In the end, it's hard to measure the best one, because they've all felt differently at different times, they all have individual merits and annoyances. Core design of bosses is by most part great all over, majority of the flaws come from bad execution and lack of second thought on certain inherently unnatural mechanics.

[Vatallus]

1. Dark Falz Luther for obvious reasons.
2. Profound Darkess
3. Deus Esca (but I still think the battle music is bleh)
4. Esca Falz Mother
5. Dark Falz Apprentice... even if it isn't really a raid type mission
6. Double
7. Big Vardha raid version... the music.
8. Elder I guess... because Elder has pretty much been a joke after Luther came out.

[Cyber Meteor]

@Vatallus no Magatsu? :p

[Vatallus]

@Vatallus no Magatsu? :p

I forgot Magatsu existed actually... Oh boy now I have to spend 5 minutes rethinking my list. Above Mother? Below Mother? Now I just realized what I just wrote. *sounds of increasing despair*

[Dileth]

So yeah, this...

1. PD
Whats to say about this? I mean, pre-nerf, it was a push-over, but now its somewhat harder. Varied attacks, fantastic music, good design, and that final bossy feeling it has.

2. Loser
I remember my 1st time when I fought this guy. He was imtimidating, fun, and had a just-as badass theme. Kinda sucks hes a bit more easy now.

3. Yamato
Sure, its easy, but its pretty damn fun to just take down a giant ship, piece by piece.

4. Mechgatsu
Also pretty easy, but still damn fun.

5. Apples Doritos
Its like a mini Loser.

Anything below the above are the bosses that I'm not quite fond of.

5. Deus Esca
If it weren't for the unskippable cutscenes, murdering of music, forgettable music during the final parts, and my shit luck of getting good MPAs, he would've been much higher. I do like his design and the cinematic feel to him, though.

6. Mother
This bitch honestly SCREAMS fake difficulty. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much HP? Check. Annoying as fuck 1st phase? Check. Attacks that can be a giant pain in the ass to dodge? Check. I mean, I don't blame Sega for trying to make difficult content, but this is not how ya do it.

7. Double
"Whats that? You wanna hit us? Well TOO BAD, have some cars instead while we jump far away from your sorry ass!"

8. Elder and his arms
Easy, peasy, lemon Darky.

9. Magatsu
Sandbag. Incarnate.

[sparab]

Somehow I dislike loser after belly barrier was installed. This mechanic forces you to hit gentlely or play the hard mode.

[AzurEnd]

If I had to choose I guess it would be down to either Loser or PD.
Its hard to choose one to be my absolute favorite Raid Boss, but I can tell you which one is my current least favorite.

Deus ESCA.

I could go on an entire rant about why I dislike the boss but ill spare everyone the wall of text.

[milranduil]

luther cuz best theme and he'll still fuck you up if you don't know what he's doing. rewarding to solo due to his small phases where he'll take damage.

[Selphea]

I like Luther but his head really needs to be headshot proof and i wish he had WB jamming :p

[Alenoir]

Loser
- Legit hell when he first came out. He was like maybe the first boss that really required your MPA to know their steps.

Yamato
- Borderless.

Deus (before nerf)
- I enjoyed him before the nerf, when he was hitting way harder. Alter Ego became a "do it at your own risk" skill again. Too bad he got nerfed.

Not a raid boss, but I really enjoyed the entire experience surrounding Odin.

[loafhero]

Not a raid boss, but I really enjoyed the entire experience surrounding Odin.

I like how PSO2 Odin is much more terrifying when it has an anime girl face.

[Meteor Weapon]

I like how PSO2 Odin is much more terrifying when it has an anime girl face.

Im still wondering if Odin is still stuck with Echo's head. I feel like he's stuck with that across ship considering people who ss him from every ship had him with Echo head.

[kambiing]

1. Loser, because the design, mechanic, music, eventually made that boss got that "oh shit" moment going for it.

2. Yamato + magatsu, because AIS.

My Least fav would be Deus, (rant)
- Was expecting too much, ended up disappointed.
- It felt to me like battling falz elder, you got a platform and the boss got some tentacles to slap you with.
- Pattern and attacks bit too simple.

[Zephyrion]

Would probably be something like that

1 Double/PD : I actually prefer Double's part to PD (I know I'm the only one xD). I actually like how it's not just a damage sponge, but instead dicks with you and forces you to turn your brain on to actually fight it correctly. PD is the epitome of a "simple and effective" boss, and the soundtrack is just awesome

2 Loser : Great soundtrack, huge variety of patterns, ZA WARUDO, and a boss that requires at least a little bit of coordination, which I very much like. Such a shame it gets trampled so fast nowadays

3 Mother : Rideroid is such fun even after having many runs. First phase can be a bit tedious due to inflated HP but otherwise it flows well overall. Second Phase is just really good overall for a end fight

4 Yamato. Run, blow stuff, run blow more stuff, take down a giant ship in the process. Not the most refined, but certainly a hell of a blast in small doses !

5 Magatsu. Even though it tends to get stunned into oblivion, the rest of the fight is still so unique and beautiful. Would certainly rank higher in my book if not for the wonky and clippy hitboxes, that are really an issue when you're trying to climb a giant.

6 Deus : Presentation is great, track is okay, and the fight is overall a bit boring since it's both very scripted and very easy (even before nerf) Might go up once Gracia comes and hopefully show us new tricks

7 Elder : Last on the list : although it did make a huge impression as a first boss. I don't find it varied enough to stay fun. I still quite like it in the end, even if it's last on the list

[Cyber Meteor]

Im still wondering if Odin is still stuck with Echo's head. I feel like he's stuck with that across ship considering people who ss him from every ship had him with Echo head.

I don't think i have of screenshot but i got a Odin with Gilliam head one time xD (the CAST you see in intros or some gameplay video from SEGA) and 2-3 with the RAnewearl char with sky blue hair

[Suirano]

1) Loser: Still one of my favorite bosses in the game. Was awesome seeing him was extra stuff when he got his XH variant. His theme is still awesome and he is just fun overall. Like many others said, wish he didn't go down so fast. I seriously wish he would get buffed. I don't even care about any drops from him, I just love his fight.

2) PD: Mostly the Ooze remix and IDOLA the Strange Fruits remix. I loved those songs so much. PD as a boss is alright but he does love wasting time and the solo variant was bullshit ( not to mention the variety of OHKO moves he has.) I S Ranked it but still calling it bullshit and I know of the Neo v2 weapons pot and all but still.Also, Double can go fuck themselves.

3) Esca Falz Mother: I really enjoy Mother. I do agree that the inflated HP is a bit much. I do not mind the arms phase but it does drag on for a tad too long. However the second half of the battle is tons of fun with her moving everywhere and just wrecking your shit. Rideroid phase is meh.

4) Yamato/Magatsu AIS Phase: Both are fun, both are engaging, both are active and both have pretty good themes ( Borderless immensely outclasses Magatsu's theme.)

The other bosses are all on even grounds for me. Some goods and some bad but nothing too memorable. Elder has his place of being the first and fun to solo/duo with friends. Dues Esca was never a challenge and his attacks are telegraphed extremely so dodging isn't that hard. I guess I was really lucky with my parties because we never failed the DPS check so when I heard he got nerfed I was a bit confused at that. Also no Fanatic Viper. 0/10 :P

Side Note: Odin is really fun. Still mad I haven't ran into him in any Parallelogram areas.