Lacerta Beast of Reincarnation: winning strategies and tips

Lacerta is a triton-like malefact, and the second boss of Beast of Reincarnation. This venomous amphibian, which deals Poison damage, won't go easy on you. Here's how to take it down effectively.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for chapter 2.

A two-part fight

As with Rangifer in chapter 1, the battle against Lacerta plays out over two encounters. You first meet it at the beginning of chapter 2, when it's at level 13, before it flees to its lair. Once you've found this lair, you'll have to face it again at level 16 - a fight in two phases, each with its own health bar.

Here too, its attack pattern changes little from one encounter to the next. Lacerta becomes imbued with corruption temporarily in the early phases, then fully during its final phase: its attacks then become faster and much more brutal, but remain largely the same - it's mainly the accelerated tempo that you'll need to adapt to.

Tips before facing it

• Lacerta relies heavily on Poison-type attacks: bring anything that increases your Poison resistance or cleanses status effects.
• It's weak to Lightning. Upgrade and equip the Thunderwave sword, as well as Koo's Bloom Art Sakura: Javelin. You can also equip Koo with Bolt Shards: she'll use them automatically during the fight.
• Its sweeping bite is your best opportunity to parry in order to restore your FP and fuel Koo's Bloom Arts.
• Pull out the crossbow or the Zangetsu bow when Lacerta puts some distance between you - ideally during its area attacks, provided you're out of range.

Its attack pattern

• Bite: Lacerta snaps at Emma with its jaws in a three-hit combo, very similar to Rangifer's Horn Strikes. Parry it: it's one of your best ways to recover HP and unleash Koo's Bloom Arts.
• Tail swipe: it turns slightly away before suddenly pivoting and lashing out with its tail, often twice in a row. The attack can be parried.
• Area explosion: it surrounds itself with a pool that slows your movement, starts glowing, then triggers a large explosion that sends up plants that damage you. The counter: get out of the pool (and thus out of its range) - the ideal moment to shoot your bow.
• Submerged leap: it dives into the water then bursts out, biting you. Dodge or flee. It's impossible to hurt it while submerged: put away your bow and wait until it's fully out of the water before attacking it.
• Swamp summons: Lacerta speeds along underwater before emerging and dealing damage to you. On rarer occasions, it will summon miniature versions of itself. Flee its water trail until it emerges: you'll avoid the damage, and Koo will handle the summons while you stay focused on the boss.

The final phase

Imbued with corruption, Lacerta speeds up the tempo of its attacks and chains its combos much faster. The only real novelty concerns its leap: if it starts breathing out purple smoke, it's about to charge and pounce on you. Good news, this variant can also be parried, just like its bite.

Lacerta's rewards

• Level 13 Lacerta drops Lacertine Memories, which unlock the Nushi Skill: Dokuzeri Shower.
• Level 16 Lacerta drops the Dokuzeri: Fang as well as the Blade Art: Dokuzeri.

Good luck defeating Lacerta! The adventure is far from over: the next major opponent on your path will be the boss Nue Malefact.