Sorry, but this girl doesn't work after hours.
Aranea Highwind, after battle at Fort Vaullerey
Aranea is a fought as a boss in Final Fantasy XV during the Main Quest Imperial Infiltration. She was later added as a training partner to campsite training sessions. Her training partner incarnations don't appear in the bestiary, but the player can scan her in Wait Mode to discover her HP and weaknesses/resistances. The player can knock her helmet off during a training session, just as during the infiltration. Consequently, she will appear helmetless in the retreat cutscene.
She is also fought in "Final Fantasy XV: Episode Prompto" as an optional challenge. The episode has no bestiary and the player can't use Wait Mode, so her stats cannot be observed.
Bestiary[]
- Commodore of Niflheim's Third Army Corps 87th Airborne Division. The ex-mercenary's commendable service record in combatting daemons and Astrals for the empire earned her a commission as well as command of her own airship, from which this dragoon descends to spear unsuspecting prey.
- Height: 5 ft. 5 in. Weight: ???
Stats[]
Boss
Basic Drills
Advanced Drills
Applied Practice
Final Exam
Battle[]
We should play again sometime, pretty boy.
Aranea Highwind, parting words before retreating
Aranea is a fast-moving melee fighter capable of dodging the player, while dealing hard-hitting spear attacks. She is evasive and dances around the player's normal attacks. Her signature attack is the Highwind technique, in which she leaps into the air and dives down with her lance to deal crushing damage (can be block/parried). Only by warping can Noctis fight her effectively while she is airborne. This triggers a scripted sequence where the pair exchanges blows midair. Whenever she leaps further up, the player can follow her to continue the sequence. If the player misses the block on the final sequence, they will fall. If they block and parry, Aranea will fall.
Throughout the battle, many imperial troops will also appear. Some of the structures on the base can be destroyed in the party's brawl with Aranea.
Strategy[]
While Aranea's Highwind is her most damaging ability, it is also her biggest vulnerability. If the player blocks and then parries the attack, they can deal heavy damage to her HP, as well as briefly render her vulnerable to melee attacks when she cannot block them. The player can also point-warp and hang onto a structure when Aranea is about to leap to avoid damage from Highwind, or use a shield when she is about to land onto the player, such as the Shield of the Just royal arm.
The player should immediately remove all imperial troops as they arrive. Magic is one way to take out groups of them quickly. Aranea is not weak to any weapon or element, but is susceptible to the Frozen status from ice spells.
When Aranea leaps into the air, the player should warp to fight her mid-air, and keep warping after her and be ready for the block and parry prompt. It is important to phase when in melee range with her, as her normal attacks can still be very damaging, and to use healing items rather than to wait for an ally to rescue them when down.
Training[]
Not bad, but you will need to do a little more than that to impress me, prince charming.
Aranea Highwind, when fought as a training partner
Camp training was added in patch 1.21. The player can take on her high level training sessions in Chapter 15. Completing a training session the first time earns 5 AP.
| Name | Level | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Drills | 27 | None |
| Advanced Drills | 50 | None |
| Applied Practice | 99 | Anklet of the Gods |
| Final Exam | 120 | Dark Matter Bracelet |
Aranea uses the same maneuvers she did when fought as a boss in the main quest. However, havens don't have point-warp spots, so the player can no longer avoid her Highwind technique that way.
When facing her at level 99 and 120, she resists all elements but is neutral to weapons. She is prone to use a barrage of attacks, and can quickly drain Noctis's MP when he phases to dodge. One way to counter this is using the Ring of the Lucii's Holy attack as it recovers Noctis's MP. Though Aranea is immune to Holy's damage, recovering MP to phase through her attacks is nonetheless a valuable asset, especially since the player can't point-warp to replenish MP.
"Episode Prompto" Intensive Training[]
Now—let's see what you can do!
Aranea
Episode Prompto: Intensive training with Aranea
Aranea is fought on the snowfields with extra weapons for Prompto available in the snow banks on the sides. She is fast and aggressive, pursuing Prompto with her strong spear attacks. She frequently jumps into the air, flipping about until riding her spear to the ground, homing in on the player, dealing strong area damage around the landing zone. After losing half her health, Aranea starts to use a more elaborate version of her aerial attack
Aranea is highly evasive and dances around Prompto's fire power and even his Trigger-Happy technique unless executed at the right time.
When Vulnerable, the player can use Crackshot against her for phenomenal damage.
There are oil canisters around the battle arena that explode when targeted manually (only the handgun cannot be manually aimed).
If Prompto is knocked on the ground, Aranea briefly halts her attack, waiting for him to get back up. The player has one Potion, two Elixirs, and one Phoenix Down to use for the battle. If they get knocked to Danger status, and don't use an item to heal, there is still a chance to recover if they keep avoiding damage long enough.
Prompto has "Impervious", so dodging right after taking damage can recover lost health.
Strategy[]
Prompto's stats and gear for the battle.
Using just the handgun and forgoing the special weapons works, as though the handgun is not overly powerful, the player does not need to aim it and can fire while moving and dodge-rolling.
When Aranea leaps into the air, the player should keep an eye on her and then run/dodge-roll the opposite way she is riding her spear down to avoid damage. After she lands is the best time to attack as she does not dodge. The player can wait for the tech gauge to fill, and be ready to unleash Trigger-Happy just as Aranea lands. If this stuns her, the player can also get in a Crackshot. When she is on the ground, the player can run/dodge-roll away from her while using the handgun for small damage, and then use Trigger-Happy again after she lands from an aerial attack when the gauge refills.
If the player finds a sniper rifle, Aranea can be made Vulnerable with it and thus susceptible for Crackshot. This can be a very fast way to defeat her, if the player manages to hit her with it.
Gallery[]
