How to Beat Hell’s Rider in Final Fantasy Resonance (Grandshelt Castle Boss)

At the base of Grandshelt Castle’s grand staircase, Lv.6 Hell’s Rider is accompanied by three Lv.5 Dark Skeletons. One Phoenix Down takes out each skeleton. Hell’s Rider is vulnerable to Ice and Light, so eliminate the skeletons before using those elements to stagger it.

Quick answer: Open Items and use a Phoenix Down on each Dark Skeleton. Drain Hell’s Rider’s gauge with Blizzard, Banish and the Hibernal Fury Resonance, then unleash Rain’s Infinity Drive during the stagger. Avoid Potions against Hell’s Rider; they restore its HP.

Where to fight Hell’s Rider

Hell’s Rider blocks the foot of the grand staircase inside burning Grandshelt Castle, on the way to the throne room, in Chapter 1, “Tailing the Truth”. To reach it, climb the ladder in the second lounge, pass through the side room, and follow the upper walkway west to the staircase. The Grandshelt Castle walkthrough covers that route in full.

The last of the castle’s save points before the fight is in the second lounge. Save there before you head for the stairs.

Stepping onto the staircase starts a scene. Rain says “Dammit, we’re so close to the throne room!” and Lasswell answers “It appears there’s no other way but through that monster.” The game then shows its “Status Ailments” tutorial pages before the battle opens.

The target info lists the boss as “Lv.6 Hell’s Rider”, and three “Lv.5 Dark Skeleton” enemies, labelled A, B and C, fight beside it.

Target info Lv.6 Hell's Rider in the Grandshelt Castle boss fight — Hell’s Rider is Lv.6.

Charlotte joins your side as a guest for this battle.

Hell’s Rider’s weaknesses and stats

Lasswell can scan the boss with Libra when he has the Leah Vision equipped. Its skills appear under “Leah’s Skills” in his battle menu, and Libra costs 1 MP with the description “[White Magic] Analyze an enemy for information.” Using it shows Hell’s Rider’s full profile.

Libra on Hell’s Rider shows Lv.6, HP 4000 on NORMAL and Type “Demon”, with Affinities marking it weak to Light and Ice. It resists Poison, Confuse, Petrify, Charm and Instant Death, and its Trait 1 reads “Uses a special skill when alone in battle.” Its Items Dropped entry is a Mist Potion. If you skip Libra, the Affinities row shows two “?” icons until you hit it with the right element. The Dark Skeletons are weak to Fire, so Rain’s Fire shows “Weak” on them and can stagger one.

Libra on Hell's Rider showing Lv.6, HP 4000, Demon, Light and Ice weakness, resistances and Mist Potion drop — Libra on Hell’s Rider (Normal).

How to beat Hell’s Rider: the strategy

Start by removing the Dark Skeletons with Phoenix Downs. In Items, select Phoenix Down, then move the target arrow to a Dark Skeleton; the item can be used on enemies. One use eliminates a skeleton, shown by its disappearance or by “Death” appearing above it. Have Rain and Lasswell each use one; add a third Phoenix Down to clear all three skeletons within the first two rounds.

Phoenix Down used on a Dark Skeleton with Death shown over it — A Phoenix Down defeats a Dark Skeleton outright.

Take out the skeletons before focusing on the boss. Each Slash deals roughly 40 to 60 damage, while Throat Strike inflicts silence and disables magic such as Blizzard. If you leave the skeletons alive while attacking Hell’s Rider, their damage wears the party down until “The party has fallen…” appears. The Mitra item shop sells Phoenix Downs for 200 gil; earlier in the castle, an Old Woman gives you Phoenix Down x3.

Keep Potions for healing your party. They damage the castle’s regular Skeletons, but using one on Hell’s Rider displays a green “200” above the boss, showing that it recovered HP instead.

Green 200 over Hell's Rider after a Potion was thrown at it — A Potion heals Hell’s Rider.

Hit Hell’s Rider’s Ice and Light weaknesses. Lasswell’s Blizzard (5 MP, “[Black Magic] Deal Ice magic damage.”) shows “Weak” on the boss.

Lasswell's Blizzard selected with Weak shown on Hell's Rider — Blizzard hits its Ice weakness.

With the Leah Vision he also has Banish (5 MP, “[White Magic] Deal Light magic damage. Power scales with sanctity.”) for its Light weakness.

Leah's Skills menu with Banish, Deal Light magic damage — Banish targets its Light weakness.

Keep landing weakness hits until the boss’s gauge breaks. “SWEEPING STAGGER” flashes on screen and Hell’s Rider shows “STAGGERED”. That is your window for the heavy damage in the next two steps; see how stagger works.

SWEEPING STAGGER on Hell's Rider — Its gauge breaks: SWEEPING STAGGER.

Once Hell’s Rider is staggered, activate Resonance. At the “SELECT RESONANCE” wheel, choose Hibernal Fury (W) rather than Healing Wind (A).

SELECT RESONANCE wheel with Hibernal Fury and Healing Wind — The Resonance wheel.

Hibernal Fury hits five times with Ice. Every hit shows “Weak”, and together they deal 324 to the staggered Hell’s Rider.

Hibernal Fury total 324 on the staggered Hell's Rider — Hibernal Fury on the staggered boss.

Save Rain’s Limit Burst for the stagger. Infinity Drive, found under R for Limit Bursts, reads “Deal Fire physical damage to an enemy. Damage increases by 50% if target is staggered.” Fire it while Hell’s Rider is still staggered to get that bonus.

Infinity Drive Limit Burst: damage increases by 50% if target is staggered — Rain’s Infinity Drive.

Cure poison and heal before HP gets low. Poison “Deals damage every time the inflicted character performs an action.” and an Antidote Herb cures it. A Mist Potion from Items heals both Rain and Lasswell by about 200 HP each in one use. Use Potions on anyone who drops low, because Rake and Silver Lance hit hard.

Charlotte handles her own actions each round. Her fire attacks can stagger a Dark Skeleton. Her Resonance, Resolute Bastion, heals the entire party and raises everyone’s Defense and Magic Defense for two turns.

Charlotte's Resonance during the Hell's Rider fight — Charlotte’s Resonance, Resolute Bastion.

At Lv.6, plan on roughly ten more rounds of combat after defeating the skeletons.

Hell’s Rider’s attacks

Attack	Used by	What it does
Poison Gas	Hell’s Rider	Green cloud over the whole party that poisons it
Bite	Hell’s Rider	Single-target bite; took Rain from 315 to 232 HP
Rake	Hell’s Rider	Single-target slash; took Lasswell from 244 to 49 HP
Silver Lance	Hell’s Rider	Special skill once it is alone; single-target lance strike that took Lasswell from 416 to 97 HP
Slash	Dark Skeleton	Single-target hit for about 40 to 60
Throat Strike	Dark Skeleton	Silences the target (no magic)

Poison Gas surrounds the party with a green cloud and inflicts poison on everyone. A poisoned character loses HP whenever they act, so use an Antidote Herb to cure them when HP is tight.

Poison Gas: a green cloud covers the whole party and poisons it.

Bite shows big red jaws snapping shut on one character, and it takes Rain from 315 to 232 HP.

Bite: red jaws snap shut on one party member.

Rake is a single-target slash that drops Lasswell from 244 to 49 HP, nearly 200 damage in one hit.

Rake: a heavy slash on one party member.

Silver Lance shows up once the three Dark Skeletons are gone, which matches the boss’s trait “Uses a special skill when alone in battle.” It is a single-target lance strike that takes Lasswell from 416 to 97 HP, the hardest single hit in the fight.

Silver Lance: its special skill once the Dark Skeletons are gone.

Restore HP for anyone running low before taking down the final Dark Skeleton; Hell’s Rider uses Silver Lance only after all the skeletons are gone.

Hell’s Rider rewards

You know the fight is won when the Battle Result screen appears. Land the final hit on a staggered Hell’s Rider and it also lists a “Stagger Finish Bonus”.

EXP Gained: 385
Gil Obtained: 360
MRP Gained: 39
Items Obtained: Mist Potion x1

Battle Result: EXP 385, Gil 360, MRP 39, Mist Potion x1, Stagger Finish Bonus — Rewards for beating Hell’s Rider.

The EXP raises Rain and Lasswell from Lv.6 to Lv.7. Afterward, Charlotte departs to assist the surviving soldiers in getting out of the castle, and an autosave occurs on the stair landing. In the banquet hall just beyond the fight, a chest contains the Black Garb; its location is marked in the Grandshelt Castle walkthrough.