Lost Judgment: Story bosses and preparing for Legend

Lost Judgment: Story bosses and preparing for Legend Story spoilers here, including the final opponents. This covers the main recurring bosses and the story situations that change how you should prepare. Juzo Amon and the title-screen Gauntlet have separate guides because their rules differ from the normal story fights. Before a difficult sequence Equip fighting gear rather than the training set you used for SP. Refill health, EX recovery, and any extracts you intend to use. Make a manual save before committing to a long mission. On Legend, checkpoints and autosaves still exist, but keeping your own save gives you a clean place to change equipment or preparations. Buy recovery abilities as well as damage. If a boss keeps knocking you down, another attack upgrade won't solve the time you spend unable to act. Kosuke and early tough enemies Let Kosuke finish his swing, step to the side, and use a short Tiger combo. Early on, Yagami has few upgrades, so avoid trading hits with him. Nearby furniture and weapons can help build EX or create an EX Action. In a group, deal with the ordinary enemies that interrupt you before trying to finish the strongest one with a long combo. Early on, the room can give you more options than your still-small skill tree. Tesso Tesso is mobile and uses claw attacks. Watch where his movement ends instead of chasing his first step. Dodge the attack, then answer while he is recovering. Crane's mobility is useful for keeping the exchange under control, with Tiger available when you have a clear damage opening. Take the Mortal Reversal opportunity when it comes. If you are getting clipped during your own attacks, shorten the string. Trying to finish one more heavy hit can be the difference between a clean punish and being caught by his next move. The Liumang group battles also ask you to read the crowd. Keep ranged or weapon-bearing enemies in view rather than locking your attention onto the largest health bar. Use EX Boost when it lets you remove several threats, not only when your health is already critical. Kuwana's earlier fights Kuwana can evade, counter, and use his own agile attacks. Repeatedly attacking his front gives him opportunities to turn the exchange around. Force him to commit, get around the attack, and punish the recovery. Tiger's charged finishers help when you have that opening. Crane helps create it through movement. Snake can give you another defensive option, but don't expect ordinary-enemy disarm or surrender tricks to erase a story boss. If he parries a familiar string repeatedly, stop feeding him that exact string. Switch the timing, reposition, or use a different contextual EX Action. Akutsu and the Chapter 7 chainsaw sequence Akutsu combines powerful swings and grabs with large groups of RK enemies. Clear enough of the group to give yourself room, but keep him visible while doing it. His reach makes attacking somebody else with your back to him dangerous. Chapter 7 is a succession of fights rather than one isolated boss. Collect healing pickups while moving through the building. At the chainsaw encounter, Yagami does not have normal phone/menu access. You cannot assume your stock of ordinary menu healing will solve that particular section. Defeated enemies drop healing pickups there. Use the smaller opponents to regain room and recover, and try to include Akutsu when using a multi-target EX Action. Don't run directly through the chainsaw swing to reach a pickup. Once he drops the chainsaw partway through the fight, the encounter becomes more manageable. Keep watching his grabs and finish the remaining group instead of becoming reckless because the weapon is gone. Watanabe and heavy grapplers Against a large grappling opponent, distance and sideways movement matter more than holding guard indefinitely. Watch for the forward commitment, evade, and punish from an angle. If the move offers Mortal Reversal, take that opportunity rather than trying to interrupt it with a normal jab. Save a contextual EX Action for a useful opening or emergency recovery. If you're repeatedly caught during a long charged string, shorten it. Heavy opponents are exactly where “one more hit” often costs more health than it gains in damage. Soma at Bar Siren Soma's knife causes bleeding, and his movement includes feints and delayed approaches. Don't react only to the first shift of his feet. Wait for the actual attack before choosing the dodge timing. Let him finish his attack, move around it, and punish briefly. When he enters a deliberate counter stance or taunts you into coming forward, don't oblige with an obvious frontal attack. Reposition, recover meter or health if needed, and let that trap pass. An EX Action can give you a reliable opening, but mind your meter afterward. If you spend everything and then immediately take a bleeding hit, you have removed one of your own escape options. The final mission The finale gradually restricts travel before the last van ride. Make your useful cross-city purchases before the detention-center portion and the return to Ijincho. You get further opportunities to stock up, but not every earlier location stays equally convenient. Before the final departure on Isezaki Road, save, replenish consumables, and check equipment. The upcoming sequence includes a large outdoor battle, warehouse fights, traversal, and consecutive bosses. You aren't stocking for one health bar. Use Crane to manage the big crowds, then switch when a durable enemy needs concentrated damage. Search the warehouse side spaces for recovery items. Save healing rather than ignoring a nearby pickup because you entered with a full inventory. Final Soma The first section includes Soma and other enemies. Damage him enough to move the encounter into the freezer. Before entering, use the save point and nearby recovery item. The one-on-one fight gives him six health bars. His knife, evasive movement, and counter stance still matter. Don't assume more upgrades mean you can ignore the same danger signals that mattered at Bar Siren. If you use an offensive extract, wait for a safe opening before committing to its sequence. An effect such as Warrior's Onslaught helps break through defense, but the safest time to begin is still after avoiding an attack. Heal before bleeding and a second hit combine to finish you. The fight ends with a quick-time event. Stay ready after the apparent last hit; missing that prompt lets him recover and extends the fight. Final Kuwana Kuwana follows Soma, so use what you saved for the end rather than carrying it unused into the credits. He is agile, can parry, and can punish a predictable approach. Keep the same deliberate pattern: invite the attack, avoid it, then commit only as far as the opening allows. Use different EX Actions when available and swap styles when the current exchange isn't working. With no later story boss to conserve for, this is the place to spend the remaining recovery and extracts. There is another finishing quick-time event, so don't put the controller down early. Legend plan Complete TownGo and the other cleanup on the original save first. Create fresh clear data, start New Game Plus with it, and choose Legend. Your upgrades and supplies make this a much more efficient run than beginning from nothing. Legend requires the whole story clear on that setting. You don't need another complete school/case cleanup simply for Legendary Detective. Keep your original completion save separate and make regular manual saves on the new run. Prepare for Chapter 7's temporary menu restriction and stock up before the finale's long sequence of fights.