One of the many new additions to NieR Replicant ver 1.22474487139 was the tricky boss fight during part 2 of the main story. The party’s journey to Seafront sends you on a murder-mystery investigation through the ship on the beach. Eventually you’ll learn that the young girl alongside the postman in the cut-scenes is in fact an immensely powerful shade known as the Little Mermaid.
There’s a bit more to this boss than meets the eye, so here’s how to beat Louise in NieR Replicant.
Can you actually beat Louise?
Taking on the Mermaid is a bit strange, and the Louise boss fight has a different outcome depending on which route you are playing.
On routes A and B, you can only win this fight after Kainé takes the postman hostage and Louise has unleashed her deadly attack. This outcome is not preventable; whatever happens you’ll end up blasted down to your final ounce of strength where a last-ditch Dark Lance will win the battle.
On route C, you can beat Louise via a brief additional gameplay section. This time, the powerful attack can be stopped. Doing so allows you to climb up her tentacles and tackle her head-on. To be clear, this will not be an option until you have seen the first two endings and started a third playthrough with the ‘A’ and ‘B’ stamps on your save file.
This is one of very few differences within route C, which largely follows the exact same path as route B. At this point, NieR Replicant may be starting to get a little monotonous so it’s nice to have an extra segment thrown in.
How to beat Louise in NieR Replicant – first phase
The first phase is on the deck of the ship, where Louise will have two tentacle-covered arms. Tackle them one at a time, and choose the left or right.
When she pulls back an arm, it’s warning you of an upcoming smash attack that emits a shockwave across the floor. You can easily jump over this to avoid damage and start attacking at close range.
The arms will shoot energy orbs at you periodically, which come in rapid bursts. When you are attacking at close quarters, you can actually avoid all damage by destroying the energy blasts with repeated melee combos. Keep Dark Blast firing constantly, which will chip away at the damage whilst keeping the energy blasts at bay.
Her other main attack is clearly telegraphed and easy to avoid. A whirlwind will appear in the area where the attack is coming, so just dodge out of its range and get ready to attack again when it stops.
Once the first arm is beaten, a group of shade-tentacles will appear on the ship. Tackle them one-by-one at close range whilst firing magic attacks. Again, they can shoot some energy orbs at you, so use Dark Blast to cover your back whenever you see them coming.
When these are defeated, simply turn your attention to the other arm which will follow the same pattern as before. Once the second arm is defeated, a timer target will appear for Louise’s main form, which gives you plenty of opportunity to whittle it down. Beating it will trigger a cut-scene and the next phase of the battle.
On the beach – second phase
Louise has a few attacks during this phase. She can again summon an enormous fist which releases a shockwave upon its impact with the beach. Stay back and get ready to jump over the shockwave as the fist hits the ground. Jump towards the fist and deal as much damage as possible with melee attacks and magic. Sometimes she uses two fists at once, which makes it slightly harder to dodge the shockwaves, but you’ll be fine if you time your jump well.
Another attack to watch out for is a bombardment of missiles which lodge themselves onto the beach and explode. Stay on the move and look out for the shadows on the ground which will alert you of where the missiles will land. Generally, the outer edges of the beach (covered with wood) are slightly safer than the sandy area.
Finally, Louise can blast a huge amount of energy orbs. It’s possible to dodge all of these as there’s always a safe window to occupy. The ‘safe’ spot starts in the middle of the beach, before moving across to either side and back into the middle again. You have to be quick as the fire-rate is fairly rapid, so you should use Dark Blast to try and take out as many of these as possible if you end up in the line of fire.
Generally, keep your magic peppering her body and attack her fists with melee attacks whenever they land on the ground.
Finishing off Louise – final phase
As discussed, the battle will finish differently on the separate routes.
How to beat Louise in Routes A and B
You’ll soon see a cut-scene where Kainé holds the postman hostage. Grimoire Weiss will warn you of an upcoming attack, and the usual target-timer will appear. You can deplete this, but it’s all in vain. Even if you somehow get it in time, you’ll still end up stunned on the beach, unable to move. The only realistic way of achieving this is by using Magic Drops and equipping Words that boost magic attack, but there isn’t much point in wasting items here.
Another cut-scene will show the postman hacking away at Louise’s tentacle, and you’ll be prompted to summon the last of your strength and fire a final Dark Lance at Louise. Carefully aim your magic at the target and shoot. This will take her down and end the fight, prompting a final cut-scene.
How to beat Louise in Route C
During the majority of the beach phase, you can inflict damage by shooting magic at her main body. Once you’ve dished out enough punishment, both fists will be covered by a timer-target. It doesn’t matter which fist you attack as they share damage – you can attack both. Once you deplete it before the timer expires, the usual warning will come from Grimoire Weiss about Louise’s powerful attack. You stand a far better chance now. Fire constant Dark Blasts at Louise directly, and you should have enough time to succeed. If it looks like you won’t make it in time by about half-way, then use a Magic Drop – but you should be fine. On route C there will be no cut-scene where Kainé holds the postman hostage.
Now, Louise will recoil and the new gameplay segment will kick in. Run up her tentacles and when you get to the end, the camera will switch to a side-on view (pictured above). Louise starts shooting a huge barrage of energy blasts. If you just stand on the elevated ridge you’ll actually be safe from most of these, so shoot magic from here and stay out of her range.
Eventually the attack will stop altogether, giving you a brief window to run in and strike with melee attacks. Another large collection of orbs will come from above, so shoot Dark Blast upwards and smash as many attacks as possible. She doesn’t have much health left, but it’s very hard to avoid damage altogether so use healing items as soon as you need to. If you have plenty in supply, your best bet is to stay close and just keep attacking gung ho whilst healing.
Once you’ve done enough damage, you’ll get the timer which will give more than enough time to finish her off.
How to beat Louise in 5 minutes for The Little Mermaid trophy
There are lots of trophies awarded for beating the bosses within set time limits. Louise’s time limit stands at 5 minutes. The trophy actually is possible on routes A and B, but very unlikely. You stand a far better chance of acquiring this trophy on route C, where your increased power will result in a faster victory.
There isn’t anything specific to do except follow the above steps as quickly as possible. Keep Dark Blast firing constantly in order to whittle down her health. Keep consuming Magic Drops whilst on the beach to help you reduce her health more efficiently, since magic is far more important in this phase. Skip all cut-scenes immediately and take the gung ho approach when you reach Louise’s final side-scrolling phase. Ride out the inevitable damage with healing items since time is of the essence.
Recap
Louise is an awkward encounter, but can easily be taken down by following the right tactics, recapped simply as follows:
- Whenever she lifts an arm, get ready to jump over a shockwave
- Keep Dark Blast peppering her at all times, and use it to destroy orbs
- Attack at close-range wherever you can but watch out for energy orbs
- Keep on the move when she’s firing missiles and watch for their shadows
- On routes A and B, don’t worry about her massive attack as you’ll always end up with the same outcome
- On route C, fire magic constantly and don’t be afraid to use a Magic Drop when she’s building up her huge attack
- Skip all cut-scenes and attack gung ho to achieve the Little Mermaid trophy during route C – and use healing items wherever necessary
Hopefully you’ll be able to beat Louise and move forward with another trophy.
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