Herald of Ruin-The Ethereal Queen

The Ethereal Queen makes her return in Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. This iconic super-boss is the ultimate test of your combat skills and provides an extremely difficult challenge. Like Gabriel Celeste, she can be defeated up to three times. With each iteration, her level and attributes increase drastically.

Stats and Drops

Ethereal Queen’s Abilities

Angel Feather (third iteration only)

• Raises ALL stats
• Cast Void to dispel the effect
• In her third iteration, the queen will use this buff instead of Enhance and Enshelter

Celestial Star

• High-damage area-of-effect spell just outside of point-blank range
• Accessible once Ethereal Queen’s HP drops below 35%
• Avoidable by staying near Ethereal Queen or at max distance
• Usually kills anyone inside its blast radius
• If it doesn’t kill, can inflict a curse, paralysis, or silence status ailment

Divine Wave

• Full-screen area-of-effect spell with a high startup
• Easily identifiable by a ring of blocks once she casts it
• When unleashed, Divine Wave shoots out with a “shotgun” effect
• At close range, it deals much more damage as multiple projectiles will hit, potentially killing non-tanky characters at this range
• Avoidable by staying as far as possible or standing extremely close to the queen, and also has a chance to miss if your character is standing between projectiles
• Guardable—it’s recommended that you open the battle menu and then select one of your low-HP characters to guard it to conserve HP

Empress Massacre

• Single-target physical damage skill
• Tank characters with high HP, DEF, or invincibility will usually survive if their health is capped off and her ATK isn’t enhanced

Enhance

• Raises ATK
• Cast Void to dispel the effect

Enshelter

• Raises DEF
• Cast Void to dispel the effect

Explosion (third iteration only)

• Like her second form’s Volcanic Burst, she will more than likely target your healer, mage, or ranged attacker
• Almost always kills its target, along with anyone inside the inferno
• Keep party members separated to avoid ultiple deaths
• Miki will only survive this with high HP, high MEN, and the Marshal role equipped
• Ethereal Queen’s third iteration uses this attack on your back line instead of Fire Bolt/Volcanic Burst
• A fireball spell that she favors aiming at one of your back line party members
• Not too much of an issue for most characters but can be devastating against weaker members like Miki and Fiore

Reflection

• Raises MEN
• Cast Void to dispel the effect

Sapphire Perdition

• A thin blue beam that travels the entire battlefield
• Deals devastating damage, usually killing even your non-invincible tanks in one shot
• Have your party members split up and away from each other to minimize casualties
• Be ready to raise one or more of your members as soon as you see it fire

Seraphic Wings

• A shield of feathers that revolves around the queen, constantly damaging anyone within melee range
• Keep away from her until the feathers dissipate
• Can be guarded followed by a backdash to prevent further damage
• Sliver of Ruin
• Three-hit physical attack
• Fast, but not too threatening
• Can be guarded, and you can react to the on-screen text if you’re fast enough

Supernova

• An extremely destructive area-of-effect spell centered around the queen
• Ethereal Queen gains access to this spell once her HP depletes below 35%
• Has an instant startup with a gravitational pull before erupting
• Avoid by having all of your non-invincible party members stand far away from the queen
• Be ready to raise or heal anyone caught inside the blast, prioritizing your healers
• If it doesn’t kill you, it can inflict a fog or stun status ailment

Volcanic Burst (second iteration only)

• A long-range spell that’s generally targeted at one of your back line members
• Will most likely kill your healer, so raise them immediately
• Can be avoided by moving when she starts casting it, but this can prove difficult
• Minimize destruction by separating your back line members to prevent multiple deaths
• Ethereal Queen’s second iteration uses this attack on your back line instead of Fire Bolt

Recommended Power Level & Equipment

• All party members are at least Lv. 180 for the first iteration (Lv. 200 for second, and Lv. 255 for the third)
• All roles unlocked, with all specialties available
• Restorative consumables stocked, including Blueberry Potions, Blackberry Potions, Fresh Sages, Resurrection Elixirs (requires plenty of Caterpillar Fungi), Vitaliteas, and ailment curatives, Signet Card: Resurrection, Signet Card: Angel Feather+
• Augment your gear as best as you can with the resources you have available: preferably ATK+ and Critical Hit+ augments for Anne and Emmerson, DEF+ and MEN+ on Victor and Fidel, MEN+ and HP+ on Miki, and INT+ on Fiore
• All Terpsichorean Genesis boss chest weapons equipped and augmented accordingly
• Equip best armor available, especially ones with special abilities like Reflecting Plate (-10% damage from divine beings)
• Valkyrie’s Garb can be synthesized as a 50 quality signeturgical item if synthesized with a Matriarch’s Resplendent Plume, and it’s recommended for Miki and Fiore if you can get your hands on it
• Food: Cheese Fondue OR Gourmet Curry Rice (highly recommended for the queen’s third iteration). Can be obtained as a rare synthesis item: 50 quality food

Recommended Party Setup

Roles

Battle Set

Character	Short Range	Short Range	Long Range	Long Range
Fidel	Air Raid	Mirror Blade	Air Slash	Air Slash
Miki	Any	Any	Sunflare	Terra Hammer
Victor	Mirror Blade	Bloodstorm Revolution	Flying Guillotine	Dragon Roar
Fiore	Any	Any	Arctic Impact	Thunder Flare
Emmerson	Gravity Bullet	Heavenly Flight	Crescent Wings	Crescent Wings
Anne	Crescent Locus OR Hammer of Might	Hammer of Might OR Infinity Kick	Electric Fists	Hammer of Might

Signeturgy ON

Setup Explanations

Fidel

God Slayer helps Fidel survive while dealing much more damage against divine beings like the Ethereal Queen. Air Raid and Mirror Blade are powerful while decently quick enough to build combos reasonably. Eventually, you may need to have Fidel fight from range when the Ethereal Queen gains access to Supernova and Celestial Star, so Air Slash becomes handy. You might have to resort to setting Fidel’s AI to manual in the latter portions of the fight. The battle becomes extremely chaotic since being anywhere near the queen ensures death, especially against her second and third iterations.

Miki

She’s purely a healer here, and you probably won’t have time to use any of her offensive spells in the latter parts of the battle. Early on, you can go for Sunflare or Terra Hammer for a chance of reducing enemy stats, provided you’re not encumbered with healing or raising your allies. First Responder helps keep her alive slightly when she’s inevitably hit by the queen’s myriad back line projectile attacks. Sage is essential to cut down on her casting times.

Victor

With the highest base HP of all of your party members, Victor can utilize Stamina Stockpiler most efficiently. The Sharpshooter role encourages the AI to keep Victor outside of range, but it isn’t a surefire way to prevent him from killing himself. Keep an eye on him or set him as your party leader to prevent him from committing suicide in a Supernova. You can swap one of his roles out to Sharpshooter when the queen enrages and starts using Supernova frequently. Even with his massive HP and stacked MEN+ buffs, he’ll likely die in a single Supernova, especially in the second and third Ethereal Queen encounters. Additionally, Vainglory Omega fits nicely considering Victor’s high HP pool, making it less likely for him to be knocked down when taking damage.

Fiore

Fiore can use a standard offense-based build because of her ability to provide damage and utility from range. Even so, she’ll need to prioritize raising and healing members because of the high amount of damage that the Ethereal Queen dishes out. Otherwise, if everyone’s health is capped off and you’re fortunate enough to have time, you can combo-cast repeated Thunder Flares from the safety of full battlefield distance, scoring high magic damage and a chance of decreasing the queen’s ATK power. Alternatively, you can go with a more dark-based damage build using the Moonlight Emissary role with the Dark Devourer signeturgy.

Emmerson

His normal attacks are quick with the advantage of being ranged, so he’s naturally fit to be your primary debuffer. He can apply an extremely powerful DEF and MEN down debuff. Since he’s safe at long distances, he’s usually alive to revive your knocked-out party members with Fresh Sages and Resurrection Elixirs quickly thanks to the Item Expender role, which you can switch to when the battle becomes more chaotic. This makes him an excellent situation stabilizer if multiple members of your group fall victim to the queen’s nasty area-of-effect insta-kill attacks. Additionally, you don’t want to equip him with his lengthy attack skills in case you need him to raise or heal someone in a pinch. It’s recommended that you stick to using normal attacks and Crescent Wings since they recover much more quickly.

Anne

With this roles setup, you can never die unless it’s on your terms, so pairing Dead Man Walking with Berserker is a no-brainer. Hammer of Might will almost always do 80,000–99,999 damage if your ATK is at 9999 (which is very possible at this stage in the game). Anne’s other attack skills have incredibly long animations that don’t exactly make for great combo ratio stackers, so avoid them. Hammer of Might and Crescent Lotus are super fast skills for the amount of damage they inflict, allowing you to unleash a 200% Reserve Rush finisher when you’re not busy healing and raising your party. Switch to Anne if the situation is stabilized so you can maximize damage output by repeatedly using Hammer of Might => Hammer of Might => Crescent Locus => Crescent Locus OR Blazing Cannon. Alternatively, you can use Hammer of Might in slot 1 and Infinity Kick in slot 2 if you want to conserve Reserve Rush gauge for Miki’s healing Reserve Rush. In this instance, use Hammer of Might => Hammer of Might => Hammer of Might => Infinity Kick as your bread-and-butter combo.

Relia

Vivifier, Holy Mother, and Terror Knight all affect the AI positively for you and negatively for the enemy, so it’s ideal for Relia to equip these supporting roles.

Battle Guide

As the final encounter in the Maze of Tribulations, the Ethereal Queen will test your knowledge of all of the game’s battle mechanics you’ve learned up to this point. She has incredibly high stats, inflicts damage in multiple ways, and can even terrorize your party with status ailments. Her first iteration, in which she’s donning only a single pair of wings, can be a difficult trial for even the most prepared parties.

It’s recommended that you’ve leveled up to at least Lv. 180 and have all SP-related abilities unlocked. You should also have access to all of the weapons gained from completing the previous floor’s bosses. If you’ve been trying your hand at synthesis, you might also have the Gourmet Curry Rice rare food item. If not, you can cook up some Cheese Fondue (MEN+30%) or Grilled Steak (ATK+30%). Additionally, you can refer to the recommended roles setup in the preceding data tables to help you defeat this notoriously arrogant celestial being.

When you’re ready, eat up and enter the coliseum to test your might against a god’s.

As always, the first thing you’ll want to do is take control of Miki, Fiore, and Emmerson and position them as far from the queen as possible. With your defensive abilities set up properly on the other three members, you shouldn’t have to worry about them too much.

Attacks to watch out for are Divine Wave and Seraphic Wings. Divine Wave is a high-damage signeturgical spell, blasting out from all sides of the queen. As she readies it, you’ll see a circle of light-based projectiles around her before they fire off. These are guardable, so make sure to open the battle menu and select one of your members to guard it (preferably one of your close-range fighters susceptible to being hit by more than one of its projectiles). Most high HP and high MEN-rated party members will survive it if they’re hit by a single shot, so heal up accordingly. You should also take control of any damaged close-range fighters to reposition them away from the queen while the AI-controlled Miki heals them.

The queen occasionally casts a spell called Seraphic Wings. It’s not a conventional attack. The Ethereal Queen will surround herself with flaming feathers that act as a force field, constantly damaging anyone they make contact with. Like Divine Wave, these are also guardable. You can take control of Fidel or Victor if they’re fighting in melee range in order to guard and backdash away from the feathers.

You’ll rarely need to take control of Anne, but if you want to speed up the fight and all of your members are healthy, you can use her to perform high-damage combos by chaining together Hammer of Mights. If it’s assigned to Anne’s power attack (default Circle button) battle set, you can easily score 99999 damage with subsequent hammers. If you prefer to use the Infinity Kick combo finisher, you can use Hammer of Might x 3 into a 200% combo ratio Infinity Kick for an efficient way of dealing damage while building Reserve Rush gauge.

Alternatively, you can take control of Fiore to combo-cast back-to-back Thunder Flares. Her INT can easily reach 9999 at this point, so your spells will do amazing amounts of damage if you manage to get them off at the end of combos. You can either raw cast Thunder Flare x 4, or you can start it off with three normal attacks. For instance, weak attack => strong attack => weak attack => Thunder Flare is a quick way to fire off a 200% Thunder Flare.

While you’re fighting, keep an eye on the buffs that the queen casts on herself. She’ll occasionally cast Enhance, Enshelter, or Angel Feather (third iteration), so have Fiore counter these with Void when possible. These buffs can make a huge difference when it comes to whether your party members survive certain attacks like Empress Massacre, Fire Bolt, or Volcanic Burst/Explosion in the later iterations.

Keep whittling her health down while keeping up with good party positioning. The queen will occasionally move toward your back line to set up for her destructive area-of-effect attacks. A notable problem you’ll face is her propensity to cast fire spells on Miki, Fiore, or Emmerson. Fire Bolt can instantly kill Miki due to her lower HP pool, so be ready to heal or raise her if the need arises.

If at any time you have multiple party members down, open the battle menu and raise everyone accordingly. Remember that items have a cooldown limit (unless you have the Item Expender role equipped), so you’ll want to spread out your raising actions. Fiore can cast Raise Dead while you get one item use at any given time. Your raise priority should be Miki, Anne, Fiore, then Emmerson.

At lower health (35% of her total HP), the Ethereal Queen enrages, evident by an engulfing flame surrounding her. This signals the real challenge of the battle, where she obtains her two most destructive abilities: Celestial Star and Supernova. It’s recommended here that you start to switch up your party’s roles so that Fidel becomes primarily a ranged attacker and Victor becomes your God Slayer tank. This gives Victor much-needed survivability against Supernova while keeping Fidel safe and useful with his quick repeated Air Slash combos from a distance.

If you’re fighting against the second and third iterations of the queen, you’ll notice that Fire Bolt is replaced by Volcanic Burst and Explosion, respectively. These are devastating area-of-effect spells and will most likely kill Miki in one cast. Keep your members separated to help minimize deaths, and raise your members accordingly, especially during the last portion of the battle. If things become extremely dire and multiple members go down, you can use one Robust Vitalitea or three Vitaliteas in conjunction with Item Expender to have Miki unleash her Lv. 3 Arcadia, healing and raising all allies on the battlefield.

Keep it up, and you’ll eventually be successful in humbling the queen. Your reward for defeating her in the north room is a chest containing several items: a Moonstone, Potent Attack Seeds, Potent Intelligence Seeds, and Potent Magic Seeds. Congratulations! If you’d like to challenge these deities again, you can exit the maze with the Communicator Model G and re-enter through the Charles D. Goale G’s transporter.