How to Beat Simon Manus
Details:
Health - 13,719 (Phase 1), 19,116 (Phase 2)
Type - Human
Location - Arche Abbey
Weakness - Acid
Drops:
Fallen One's Ergo
Arm of God
15,128 Ergo
Movepool
Phase 1:
Mace Combo: Simon Manus will swipe with his mace from one direction or the other. This is usually a combo of two swipes, sometimes followed by an overhead swing. Recovery from this attack is high, and a good opportunity for retaliation.
Overhead Swing: Simon Manus will raise his mace high before slamming the ground in front of him, sometimes leaving a fiery area at the point of impact. You can strafe behind him for some attacks while he does this.
Area Denial: Simon Manus will slam his mace down to create an expanding circle that deals high damage per tick. Avoid this circle.
Jump Attack: Simon Manus will leap into the air and slam down towards you, dealing high damage. This is often a fury attack, so using the Ghost Walk amulet, perfect guarding, or running out of range will help.
Phase 2:
Simon Manus will use all of the same attacks from phase 1, plus the following.
Wind Gust: Simon will send forth a gust of wind that will deal damage and stagger you. Dodge it before it would hit.
Orbs: Simon Manus will summon several orbs that will place themselves around the arena and begin firing at you. These are easy to avoid by sprinting or dodging repeatedly.
Light Beams: Simon Manus can summon a cloud that will deal damage with beams of light. The cloud will follow you. You can avoid damage by simply outpacing it - stay mobile and sprint.
Hand of God: Simon Manus will call a hand from the sky that will slowly descend. Not long before it reaches the floor, it will create an explosion in a very wide area, shown in blue before the explosion. Avoid this area at all costs.
Slap: Simon Manus will grow his glowing blue hand and attempt to slap you. Dodge this or back away to avoid the damage.
Roll: Simon Manus can reposition by rolling, and if you are in his path, he will deal high damage with this. It is often followed up by his melee combos if you are in range.
How to Beat
Manus serves as the potential last boss of the game, depending on your choices after the fight. He fits this title with an incredibly challenging fight that spans over two phases, and has you contend with an actual god.
Simon Manus may look intimidating, but his attacks are actually very easy to predict. In phase 1, his swings have a long wind-up, and while they cover a large area, they are easy to avoid by dodging through the swing itself.
The best strategy, however, is to keep your distance. The Puppet Strings legion arm is incredibly useful for this fight when fully upgraded, allowing you to close the distance, perform a very strong attack, and likely still have time to pull off a Fable Art as well, since Manus spends a long time recovering from his attacks.
If you stay at range, Simon Manus may attempt to close the distance from time to time, followed by a swipe. Otherwise, there are no long-range threats in phase 1. I recommend a weapon with long reach, with my strongest recommendation going to the Puppet Ripper, which is arguably the best weapon in the game. It has an immensely powerful Fable Art, and its charged heavy attack has great range and deals high damage.
If you decide to fight in melee range, then learning Manus's attack patterns and baiting attacks is the way to go. Wait for the long-winded side swipe with a second follow-up hit. After that, Manus will wait a long time before the next attack - long enough for a charged heavy attack.
In phase 2, Manus is a bit different, but your approach is the same, albeit more mobile. When Manus summons projectiles to fire at you, just keep moving and dodging and they will easily miss. Manus will also make use of area denial in this phase, especially with the hand of god explosion, so stay well clear of that.
Just be patient and wait for Manus to perform and miss a combo, then use your Puppet Strings attack followed by a Fable Art, then back away. You can go toe-to-toe with Manus in phase 1, but in phase 2, adopting a hit-and-run strategy is best.