After arriving in Wiswald in Bravely Default 2, your party notices something seems off with Elvis' old friend Roddy. After learning about the tragedy of their daughter Mona, you'll need to investigate further into what's got Roddy and Lily acting so strange.
The first boss of Chapter Two is either Roddy or Lily, depending on who you decide to help first. Roddy holds the Red Mage Asterisk, allowing him to cast magical attacks while using heals to restore his health. Let's take a look at Roddy's attacks and weaknesses, and how you can defeat him.
Roddy's Stats, Weaknesses, and Attacks
Roddy's stats, weaknesses, and attacks are listed below. Additionally, he will be accompanied by Picto-Beleth, whose stats and attacks are also listed below.
Roddy
|
HP |
17936 |
|---|---|
|
Type |
Humanoid |
|
Weaknesses |
Fire, Light, Spear, Bow |
|
Resistances |
Earth, Wind, Lightning, Water |
|
Immunities |
Dark |
-
Abilities
- Nuisance: All attacks have a chance to inflict status ailments. The specific ailment inflicted depends on which attack is used.
- Aerora: Deals magical wind damage to all enemies.
- Healara: Restores the HP of a single target.
- Stonera: Deals magical earth damage to a single target.
- Disaster: Deals magical wind and earth damage to a single target.
Picto-Beleth
|
HP |
12048 |
|---|---|
|
Type |
Demon |
|
Weaknesses |
Lightning, Light |
|
Immunities |
Staff, Spear, Dagger, Axe, Bow, Sword |
|
Absorbs |
Dark |
-
Abilities
- Stun Smash: Deals high damage to one enemy with a chance to paralyze.
- Shadow Nova: Deals magical dark damage to all enemies.
Recommended Jobs and Equipment
The main thing you will want to prepare your party for when facing Roddy is his status ailments. Because of his passive ability Nuisance, Roddy has a chance to inflict a variety of status ailments on your party whenever he attacks. He can inflict sleep, silence, and paralysis, which can make fighting him more challenging than necessary. Because of this, equip your party with accessories that prevent these status ailments.
There is a wide variety of options to choose from here, so try to be efficient when selecting equipment for this fight. You want your party to cover the majority of ailments Roddy can inflict to have the best chances of survival.
Alternatively, if any of your party has leveled up the Berserker Job to level 9, they will have access to the Support Ability Unshakeable Will. This ability will negate any status ailment that would prevent them from freely taking action. Unshakeable Will is very strong for this fight, as it will make dealing with Roddy's status ailments much easier.
For your party setup, aim for something like this.
- Vanguard/Berserker or Berserker/Vanguard
- White Mage/Bard
- Bard/Freelancer
- Berserker/Monk or Thief/Monk
As we will see in the next section, the strategy for this fight involves dealing high physical damage to Roddy and the Picto-Beleth one at a time. The best way to do that is with a combination of Berserker, Thief, and Monk. For the rest of your party, try to have a mix of support Jobs like Vanguard, White Mage, Bard, and Freelancer.
If you went to the Wiswald Woods first and fought Lily, she will accompany you during this battle. While her attacks don't do the most amount of damage, she has a chance to paralyze Roddy and Picto-Beleth, preventing them from attacking. If she manages to paralyze either enemy, you'll be glad she tagged along.
However, if you are facing Roddy first, you will not be joined by an additional NPC. Instead, Roddy will join you after you beat him until you face Lily in the Woods.
Battle Strategy
As mentioned above, the strategy for this fight is to take out Roddy and the Picto-Beleth one at a time. You can tackle them in either order; Roddy has healing abilities and attacks that will hit all party members with a chance to inflict annoying status ailments, whereas Picto-Beleth has massive single target damage with a chance to inflict paralysis. We recommend dealing with Roddy first, as his attacks have a higher chance of overwhelming your party.
Because of this, the Thief, Berserker, and Monk jobs will excel during this fight. At this point in the game, their single target damage is second to none.
You can use either Thief or Berserker for dealing damage to the bosses, but a Monk Sub-Job is necessary for killing Picto-Beleth in this way. Because Picto-Beleth is immune to all weapon types, it can only be damaged if you do not have a weapon equipped. Luckily, Monk has a Support Ability, Bare-Knuckle Brawler, that will boost their physical attack by 80 percent and their aim by 30 percent when they do not have a weapon equipped in either hand.
Using this Support Ability, you will be able to deal considerable damage to Picto-Beleth as a Thief or Berserker, as long as they have this Support Ability equipped. Additionally, you can unequip a character's weapon during battle, meaning you can use a Dagger or Axe to kill Roddy, then unequip that weapon to deal with Picto-Beleth.
When the fight begins, have your White Mage/Bard and Bard/Freelancer Default to build BP. Once they have three BP, use Hurts So Bad three times in a row each, for a total of 90 percent increased physical attack for your party. Then, go all-in with your Thief/Monk or Berserker/Monk, using your highest damage dealing attack to Roddy. For Thief, use Godspeed Strike, and for Berserker, use Amped Strike, if you have it unlocked. If not, use Double Damage instead.
If you are using a Berserker for this strategy, you can get more damage out of your attacks by first entering Berserk status. While this will prevent you from choosing your own actions, with the second Specialty, unlocked at Job level 12, you have a chance to act freely each time your turn comes around. Wait to gain control of your Berserker, then unleash four Amped Strikes in a row. With the damage buff from Hurts So Bad, this is sure to deal lethal damage to Roddy.
Repeat this process for Picto-Beleth, and you should make it through this fight. Just remember to unequip your weapon to kill Picto-Beleth, or you'll find yourself dealing zero damage.
Overall, Roddy is not a very difficult boss if you prepare your party with the correct status ailment preventions. Take Roddy and Picto-Beleth down quickly and you'll be set to continue through Wiswald.