This is it – the final true boss. SHII has a large health pool and a wide variety of attacks, but as usual, they are heavily telegraphed. My preferred loadout for this fight consists of Resources Shortage, Nacre Draught, and Split Process for the extra slots in the Allocation Matrix, along with Protective Overlay, Kinetic Thrust, The Hand’s Greed, Foolish Ideal, and Sharpened Hairpin.

I use Sharpened Hairpin whenever SHII appears in the center of the screen. This allows you to deal some damage and then react to the incoming attack while airborne.

When SHII flies away and spirals across the screen, use Sail if you are already airborne to avoid the attack and land safely. Immediately prepare for the follow-up: as soon as you see SHII appear above MIO, use Hairpin to move out of the way. If you fail, you will be grabbed and lose two shields. Once you have moved away, do not retaliate yet. SHII will create an expanding circle of light – use Dodge to avoid taking damage.

For several of its other attacks, SHII will remain in the center of the arena. It may use a melee attack, which can be followed by pillars of light. Dodge the melee attack while airborne to avoid the follow-up sweep, then position yourself between two of the pillars. Alternatively, SHII may extend its scarves and fire a ray of lightning from one side of the arena to the other. During this attack, you can pogo off SHII to avoid the beam and attack safely from the opposite side.

When the screen turns black, SHII can perform three different attacks. It may summon crystals that track MIO’s position before firing after a short delay – these crystals can be destroyed. Another attack summons a rotating web of lightning that slowly closes in on MIO; use Sail in the center of the heptagon to avoid it. The final possibility is an attack where SHII strikes four times from behind the arena. The pattern is always the same: move to the side to avoid the first and third strikes, and jump over the second and fourth.

When the arena returns to normal, SHII will no longer appear in the center but instead on one side of the arena. From there, it can perform one of two attacks. It may fire a ray of lightning from its head, move to the opposite side, and repeat the attack. Alternatively, it may use its scarves to swipe across the arena. In either case, use the grappling point to move behind SHII and attack safely from there. From this point onward, these attacks may occur at any time during the fight, not just after the transition back from darkness.

After dealing enough damage, SHII will electrify the entire ground and summon two waves of tracking crystals. Pogo off SHII’s head and use Hairpin to destroy one or two crystals, making it easier to avoid the shots from the remaining ones.

From this point forward, the attacks become more dangerous. For example, the sweeping laser is now performed twice in succession, moving from one side of the arena to the other. The grab attack can also occur without warning, even without SHII spiraling across the arena beforehand, so you must stay alert.

SHII also gains a new and deadly attack: it curls into itself while rays of lightning emanate from its body, then creates an expanding circle of light.

The fight can last a while, and the multitude of attacks can make it challenging to avoid taking damage. Foolish Ideal should help speed up the fight if you start taking damage toward the end.