Game:Vexen

Vexen is fought as a boss in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix. First appearing to Riku in hopes of recruiting him to help accomplish his goals, Vexen instead was defeated and obtained valuable combat data he would later use to test Riku and even Sora in the form of the Riku Replica. His "product of pure research" dubbed a failure by Marluxia, Vexen later appeared before Sora to prove himself and his strength to his traitorous fellow Nobody. He then craftily lured Sora to the memory-based Twilight Town for a second battle, hoping to ruin the rebellious Marluxia, Axel, and Larxene's plans to take over the Organization at the same time. This attempt led to Vexen's own elimination, however, at Axel's hand, the Nobody appearing to Sora a year after these events transpired as both an Absent Silhouette and a Data Replica.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
An easy way to defeat Vexen is by using sleights in quick succession. Blitz and Sonic Blade are powerful and do large amounts of damage. The Jafar card is very good to use in this fight, as it will prevent Vexen from breaking your attack cards. Make sure you also leave three or four zero cards at the front of your deck in order to break his sleights, Freeze and Ice Needles. Put some Cure cards at the back of your deck as well to be used in combination.

As for avoiding Vexen, keep moving. When Vexen says, "I shall freeze you!," start dodge rolling so he doesn't catch you in his ice block. When he slams into the ground, keep running to avoid the ice spikes that will follow you around the battlefield.

This battle can be very difficult, so just keep trying. The Jafar card can save you, however, as it will prevent Vexen from his annoying habit of breaking your sleights with his zero cards.

Vexen's deck contains exactly nine zero cards. Another possible strategy is slow but effective, Vexen has a tendency of using sleights and zero cards, but he will often times hold a sleight and the value of his three cards will be availably seen. When this happens, collect cards with a higher value to defeat that sleight and break all of Vexen's cards as to not attack first. This will defeat Vexen's strategy of just breaking your cards. Oogie Boogie's card is also very helpful in the second battle as well.

There is also another slow, but very effective strategy, which is to create a fire-based zero deck. Make a deck full of zeros, three high cards and many Fire cards. Don't attack yet, just evade his physical attacks and when he does a magic attack or sleight, counter with zero and cast Fire. When you are out of cards simply recharge and repeat the process. He will then slowly run out of cards and health. Do this and you will win in no time.

You can also make a Fire Raid deck. Put at least seven Fire Raids, three Ethers and a Potion. Cure cards are also good here. Just stock all the cards except the items and smash continually.

Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix
In Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, the absence of cards completely changes Vexen's attack style. Fought as an Absent Silhouette, Sora must conquer the phantom version of this Nobody with Donald and Goofy at his side.

At the start of the battle, Vexen's Absent Silhouette will surround Sora in a stream of data. In a flash of light, the player will find Sora trapped within a massive block of ice. Rapidly press to set him free. Vexen's Absent Silhouette will then most likely attempt to hit Sora with twin, large snowflakes as they quickly spin around him. Dodge Roll multiple times or use Reflega to avoid the attack. The player can then attack the HP bar of the boss's Frozen Pride Shield. Depleting the weapon's HP will not only lower the boss's defenses, but it will also allow Sora to attack Vexen's Absent Silhouette himself. The player should use caution, however, for if the purple Data Bar at the top left of the screen should fill as Sora stands in the homing data stream Vexen's Absent Silhouette summoned at the start of the battle, an Anti-Sora with its own HP bars to deplete will attack. This is merely a distraction method, but the Anti-Sora's attacks are powerful, and this power and its HP will only increase as the Data Bar fills from zero to five over the course of the battle. Thus, the player should make the Anti-Sora the first target. Otherwise, most combos the player attempts to use against Vexen will most likely be interrupted. Defeating an Anti-Sora will relinquish MP orbs to restore any MP Sora has used up. One can then continue to hammer Vexen's Absent Silhouette with physical combos or even Fire spells. Should one attempt an aerial combo, however, the player must prepare for Vexen's Absent Silhouette to counter by shooting an icicle up from below Sora to halt the onslaught. Vexen will only use attacks the player has previously seen for the rest of the battle, so one should utilize the same strategies to avoid them as before.

All in all, the battle against Vexen's Absent Silhouette is not exceedingly difficult. One simply must, as with all boss battles, have patience. The player also should know when to dodge and to heal. Defeating any Anti-Soras the boss creates should also become the first priority as soon as they spawn. The fact that the player must break through a constantly refilled HP bar just to get to the boss may be tedious, but a surprising amount of HP can be depleted before the Frozen Pride returns to Vexen's Absent Silhouette if one combines the usage of Fire spells with Sora's most powerful physical combos. The player should immediately go into Wisdom Form if they wish to attack Vexen with Fire or its upgrades, since this will boost the spell's power. An Ether should be used right before Sora's MP hits zero rather than afterwards. This will increase the amount of Fire spells that can be launched before Sora reverts to normal. Keep this up, and Vexen's Absent Silhouette will fall in due time.

Data Rematch
The battle against Vexen's Data Replica will flow quite similarly to the battle against his Absent Silhouette. The only differences will be the amount of HP the boss has, the pattern in which he uses his attacks, and a deadly new ability that allows Vexen's Data Replica to summon large chunks of ice that will rotate around him and even rush at Sora before the boss creates an icy shockwave. Comet is a good way to avoid this attack, so long as one continues to hit the boss throughout its execution and uses an Ether right after Comet ends, thus allowing it another immediate use to counter the boss's lengthy ability. In short and aside from these minor differences, the battle against this Data Replica should not be difficult. All the player must do is recall the strategy used in the Absent Silhouette. Sora also should be of a relatively high level, using spells such as Curaga and Reflega, as well as Drive Forms and a powerful Keyblade such as the Bond of Flame (this will make Fire spells even more effective, along with any power boosts granted to them by Wisdom Form). Defeat Vexen's Data Replica, and a Lost Illusion will be obtained.