Specter

The Specter is a boss fought in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. It is fought in two different stages.

Appearance
The Specter at first appears as a giant Nobody with a large flower on top and two arms with scythes at the ends, as well as a billowing tattered cloak and a long thin spire going down from its body. From the flower, its master Marluxia blooms forth, almost like the pistil. Once this form is defeated, the Specter seems to undergo a growth spurt and becomes a full-sized ship, on top of which perches Marluxia and his guardian "Angel of Death."

Second Form
This battle is the first time the real Marluxia is fought. Marluxia fuses with the giant Spectre. Out of the two battles, this one is most likely the easiest due to the lack of sleights. The Second Form is fought largely in two stages. In the first stage, the objective is to destroy the scythe hands. The main attack it uses in this stage is a minor version of Deathscythe. It is possible to damage the main body in this stage but Marluxia is only vulnerable after a card break. Once the blades are destroyed, Marluxia takes on a different strategy. He uses floating flowers that shoot lasers first, which can be easily destroyed simply by card breaking them. At regular intervals during the battle, he fires 2-5 slicer waves which can be dodged by jumping and heading to the foreground/background. He also occasionally uses Blossom Shower, which can be dodged with a well-timed Dodge Roll. After this, Marluxia hovers above Sora and slams the mechanical vehicle down, creating a shockwave that can be avoided by jumping at the right time. He does this three times in succession, and it is important to note that as his HP get lower, the succession becomes faster and harder to dodge. After this attack Marluxia rears back and shoots across the screen. Card breaking this is important, as doing so puts Marluxia in his most vulnerable position. Once you break the attack, Sora is placed on the back of the mech and Marluxia sends out three more shot buds to protect him. It's important to note is that the longer Sora stays on, the harder it is to remain on the mech, as Sora is constantly forced backwards away from Marluxia. A good strategy is to use high level Cloud cards (Around 7-9) in succession (one at a time, not in a sleight) while in front of Marluxia. Doing so deals a lot of damage in a short amount of time, and can also deal with the shot buds when card breaking them. Eventually, Sora is forced off, and the whole process begins again. This attack pattern repeats until Marluxia is defeated.

Marluxia (Second Form)
The battle in Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories is very similar to the battle in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, although Marluxia spends much more time on the field and vulnerable to attack, the field is much larger, and Marluxia will often glide away from Sora. He keeps many of his attacks from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, including the shot buds, the slicing waves, and the drop-down shockwave attack. Marluxia still uses only one card at a time, but his new attacks are more like sleights. The first of which is when he engulfs the field in darkness, preventing you from seeing your cards (except for the reload card), and the second is when he creates a massive Blossom Shower. The perspective in these attacks changes to Marluxia, which can make it difficult to dodge these attacks. There's a way around the card seeing, but you need a proper sleight. Stock your cards, and when you know what cards you've got, keep using sleights and removing when you got them memorized.

For the first part of the battle, the objective is the same as in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories: destroy the scythes. Marluxia will swing at you with his scythes in a manner similar to Deathscythe. This can be avoided by dodge rolling around the machine he rides. It is possible to attack Marluxia directly, but destroying the scythe blades first makes this easier. When destroyed, each of the blades releases a few HP orbs. When Marluxia's HP Gauge is reduced to three bars, any remaining scythe blades will be destroyed. After both are destroyed, Marluxia will rocket across the field in an attempt to ram into you, though this can easily be dodged with a well-timed Dodge Roll. After that, he will summon three shot buds. These can be disposed of easily by simply card breaking them. Afterwards, he will create a rotating ring of five "X"-shaped flower waves and fire them at you. He does this faster as his HP gets lower. At regular intervals, he will use his sleight-like attacks: the mega Blossom Shower and the "dark void". As previously mentioned, the "dark void" attack turns all your cards completely black (with the exception of the reload card), preventing you from seeing them. He repeats this attack pattern until his HP almost reaches halfway, then he begins using the drop down shockwave attack. Marluxia does this three times in a row, then repeats the previous attack pattern. This continues until Marluxia is defeated.

Marluxia (Third Form)
Marluxia also has three regular attacks, the first of which are the shot buds from the second battle which have higher accuracy and card value than last time, the second attack is Marluxia's mega blossom shower which has not changed from the last battle, and the third attack is a blast of energy similar to Deathscythe.

As this fight takes place as soon as you defeat Marluxia's second form, you'll have no chances to modify your deck. So what will work well on both of Marluxia's final forms is before you fight Marluxia, put in at least 12 attack cards, three or six of which are zeroes as Marluxia uses all of his attacks three times, except for the shot buds. Put in several Cure and Thunder cards and if possible put in some Cloud and Stop cards to use Cross Slash+. If you do use the aforementioned sleight put in more attack cards so you can use it more often and several item cards as well. Finally, put in the Vexen, Oogie Boogie, Jafar, Shadow, Trickmaster, Barrel Spider, and Air Soldier enemy cards. Guard Armor and Axel are also useful as Guard Armor lets you attack Marluxia from a greater distance and Axel gives you a slightly better chance of escaping Omni Laser.

When the battle begins use either the Jafar or Trickmaster cards so you can make your attack cards invincible or decrease the value of Marluxia's cards, respectively; these are pretty strategic as Marluxia uses high value cards at the start of the battle. You should follow with the Shadow card to boost your card values and even try to activate Ars Arcanum, Blitz or Strike Raid to deal more damage to Marluxia; Ars Arcanum (three 1s) and Blitz (two 1s and a 9) become possible due to Shadow's effect. Marluxia's sleights have a maximum value of 24, so take advantage of Shadow to top this and deal some damage. When your Shadow is burned, reload with an item card or let Marluxia use Gale of Severance so you can reload without interruption. Omni Laser is likely to follow, so use the Vexen card to increase your chances of survival; if you're revived, follow up with Oogie Boogie to heal. Afterwards attack Marluxia like a normal enemy; use the Air Solider card to dodge Marluxia's attacks and reload at the same time, and then use the Barrel spider card for faster reloading from here on out. Use your own tactics (granted you have any cards left!) to finish off Marluxia if he still has HP left.