Throw down the Gauntlet while you throw down with Louis’s henchmen.
This is probably the first true test of your party’s flexibility in Metaphor: ReFantazio, as all of these bosses require different archetypes to be levelled up in order to defeat them. There are four mini-bosses you’re going to have to fight during this quest, but you only actually have to fight three of them to complete it. If you find whichever boss you’ve opted to fight second truly insurmountable, then you can simply challenge whichever one you didn’t challenge instead.
Before attempting to make your way through Louis’s Gauntlet Runner, I would recommend you have one level 20 Seeker, two separate Mage/Wizard party members with lightning skills, a decently leveled Magic Knight, and one Gunner with Poison Shot (or alternatively one Poison Stinger item).
Xanth is an absolute pushover when burned or poisoned. One party member with the Gunner’s Poison Shot skill or the Commander’s Fiery Strike skill will get you through this fight on its own, as Xanth will take massive damage every time he attacks on his turn. It’ll be more than enough to finish him off before three turns are up.
Alternatively, if you have an item that will inflict poison or burn, like the Poison Stinger consumable, that’ll solo this fight by itself.
At this point you can choose to fight either Glechom or Ceiba. Personally, I think Glechom is the easier and most straightforward fight of the two. However, I would suggest backtracking after whichever fight you complete first and fighting the other boss regardless. This is completely optional, but doing so will net you extra gear, gold, and experience.
The key to this fight is the Knight Archetype’s ability Knight’s Proclamation. By using it and making Glechom target one specific unit, he will no longer use his Earsplitting Shriek daze ability or his Punishing Blow multi-targeting attack, and will instead simply use basic attacks. The Knight archetype is also resistant to slash attacks, so the party member that takes aggro will take less damage (as long as you’ve not attached Knight’s Proclamation to a non-Knight party member with Skill Inheritance).
You’ll only have two opportunities to use Knight’s Proclamation, because using it on the third turn is pointless as the fight will simply end after this if you don’t defeat Glechom in time. Simply attack with that party member on the third turn instead.
Glechom isn’t weak to any attacks or elements, but he also isn’t strong against any either. If you’re struggling to damage him enough before the end of the third turn, consider using some high crit attacks to gain extra turns (such as the Warrior’s Critical Strike skill or the Merchant’s Gold Attack skill) or some medium-strength spells (such as the Wizard’s Botra/Blizza/Kandera skills or the Thief’s Mudoon skill).
