Of all Metaphor: ReFantazio bosses, Heismay proves one of the toughest to beat. Equipped with the ability to create and control clones on the battlefield, not only is it difficult to distinguish the real opponent from the fakes, but, to make matters worse, attacking clones will also prolong the fight. Luckily, the flighty bat has one simple tell that gives his position away.

Heismay is tied to the Thief Archetype in Metaphor: ReFantazio. Naturally, his ability to clone himself only scratches the surface of his tricky antics. Just when you think you've defeated the boss for good, the battle against Heismay will enter round two, during which he brings new attacks and debuffs to the table. For a clean victory, you'll need to find a way to target the real Heismay and keep your party safe from excessive damage and status ailments.

How To Spot The Real Heismay

Look For The Opponent's Shadow

Heismay makes a tricky opponent in Metaphor: ReFantazio, as he'll summon a group of three clones to throw you off. To find the real Heismay among the fakes, keep an eye out for the one with a shadow, as pictured above. Only Heismay himself will cast a shadow on the ground, so you can easily target the real deal by paying close attention to this detail throughout the boss fight.

Heismay's position within the group will change each time he creates a new set of clones. Keep a close eye on his shadow to pinpoint his location each time.

Lay into the original with your best moves to destroy the existing clones. With one group down, Heismay will continue to summon more with Clone Art. Each one can attack, so you'll need to focus on dealing damage to the real Heismay to clear the battlefield of distractions and limit the damage taken.

How To Defeat Heismay (Best Tips & Strategy)

Target The Original & Aim For Critical Hits In The Two-Part Fight

Going into the fight against Heismay, your primary objective should be to target only the original. This will clear all clones from the battlefield and keep your party safe from taking excessive damage, as each active clone is able to attack. Of course, Heismay's Clone Art isn't the only trick he's keeping up his sleeve.

IGN notes that only single-target moves will affect your opponent, which limits your attack options. Moreover, Heismay doesn't have any clear weaknesses or resistances to exploit or avoid. While you won't be able to target any weak points here, you'll have the freedom to use some of your strongest skills to beat him.

As long as Heismay has active clones on the battlefield, all multi-target attacks will miss your opponents, including Heismay himself. To be safe, it's best to avoid using moves of this kind during the fight.

Aiming to land critical hits with physical attacks and using Metaphor: ReFantazio's Archetypes will help to maintain the upper hand from start to finish. However, emerging victorious from your first encounter with Heismay is just half the battle, so heal up when you can.

Battle Phase Two

Following a thorough investigation, you'll enter battle with Heismay once more. This time, he'll retain all his previous skills by adding two new moves that can cause additional effects. One can inflict the Forget status ailment, which causes affected party to forget how to use Archetype skills. The other will lower your team's agility by two levels.

You'll still need to deal with Heismay's clones all the while, so you'll want to go in with a reformed version of your first strategy to for potential status ailments and debuffs. When your opponent summons a new set of clones, target the original to eliminate the fakes. If Heismay manages to inflict Forget with a blow, be ready to cure it with the Healer Archetype's Patra skill.

The Forget status ailment can also be cured with the Notebook of Remembrance or any item that heals all status ailments.

Continue using your hardest-hitting physical attacks to land as many critical hits as possible. Following a win and a bit more story progression, you'll effectively unlock Heismay as a Metaphor: ReFantazio, allowing you access to the Thief Archetype.

Source: IGN