How to Beat Marluxia (Data Battle) in Kingdom Hearts II

Prepare Your Equipment and Items

Obtain Ultima Weapon. For this battle, you’ll be relying a lot on Reflega, and that’s why Ultima Weapon is an unrivaled asset; it’s the only keyblade with MP Hastega. You'll need to synthesize five each of Lucid Gem, Power Gem, Thunder Gem, and three each of Myster Go,o and Gale. You can do this in Moogle's Item Workshop, kupo. If you don’t have Ultima Weapon, Decisive Pumpkin is also a good choice since it has the combo boost ability, which increases the damage of your attack with every hit you land on an opponent (combo).

Get Full Bloom+. Full Bloom+ is an upgrade of Full Bloom. This raises your strength by 3 points and has the ability MP Haste, which, like MP Hastega, increases the speed of your MP recovery. Full Bloom does not have MP Haste; it must be Full Bloom+. Full Bloom+ can be acquired by upgrading a Full Bloom through item synthesis.

Get Highest Ribbon. This can be obtained by completing the Twilight puzzle. Highest Ribbon raises all of your resistances by 25%, including physical damage.

Get Ribbon. Sora usually starts equipped with Ribbon. This item increases all your resistances, including physical attack resistance. You can also synthesize Ribbon using 5 Blaze Gems, 5 Frost Gems, 5 Thunder Gems, 5 Bright Gems, and 3 Gales. Ribbon synthesis can only be done after the fourth list is unlocked.

Gather Ethers. This is in case you run out of MP at a bad time. One way to gather Ethers is at Moogle's Item Workshop. There you'll have to synthesize three each of Blaze Gem, Frost Gem, Thunder Gem, five of Bright Shard, and one Bright Crystal.

Have the Reflega spell. This is to avoid and deal damage to Marluxia.

Have the Curaga spell. This is to heal yourself in case things go from bad to worse.

Learn Marluxia's Attacks and How to Counter Them

Avoid his attacks after he casts Death. During the beginning of the battle, Marluxia will cast Death on Sora. A counter will appear above Sora’s head, and every time Sora gets hit by Marluxia’s scythe the counter will decrease by 1. The spell is unavoidable, but if you avoid getting hit by Marluxia’s scythe attacks, the counter will not decrease. If the counter hits 0, Sora will die.2.

Block his Scythe Slash. This is Marluxia’s most basic attack; he’ll slash at Sora a few times. Block (press □) this attack or use Reflega. Blocking this attack will cause you to lose the opportunity to increase Sora’s death counter, but it will let you damage Marluxia. If you avoid this attack, you’ll have a small window of opportunity to attack him with a reaction command that can either stun Marluxia or give Sora some numbers back if your death count is low.

Avoid his Warping Slash. Marluxia will warp near you and attack you with the scythe, causing Sora to be pushed away or thrown into the air (aerial Warping Slash), then Marluxia will re-warp and attack Sora a few more times. Don’t try to block this attack; just glide away until Marluxia uses a different attack.

Avoid the Death Hole. This attack is troublesome. Marluxia will warp to the center of the arena and plunge his scythe to the ground, causing three large holes to appear around the area. To avoid it, glide (while in the air, analog + □) around the arena and land on a safe spot. Marluxia will still attack you during this time, so use Reflega. This attack is strong enough to send Sora’s HP to critical upon stepping on the affected area.

Avoid his Thorn Spheres. Marluxia will summon rose thorns to encase your whole party, which deals a lot of damage. To avoid this, jump and glide around the arena until the spheres explode.

Avoid his Scythe Wheel. Marluxia will spin on the ground and follow Sora around, causing damage to Sora and decreasing Sora’s counter. Run around avoiding Marluxia as much as possible until he’s done spinning.

Counter Reaper’s Possession. Marluxia will possess Sora and float above him; he will then summon small upgraded versions of his Death Hole, which will shoot up from the ground. Eventually he will continue with Warp Slash and a devastating finishing blow. When he starts floating behind Sora, quickly dodge roll around the arena until he starts moving again. Use Reflega to block his scythe attacks and keep casting the Reflega until he uses the finishing move If timed correctly, it will reflect back all the damage and leave Marluxia open for a combo attack.

Battle with Marluxia

Watch Marluxia cast Death, then immediately press □ to block his Scythe Slash. Marluxia will stumble back, and you’ll be able to land a combo on him.

Move back with Dodge Roll (analog + tap □) or Quick Run (analog + hold □) to avoid his retaliation. Depending on how much damage you caused, he may immediately use Thorn Sphere.

Avoid Thorn Sphere by leaping into the air and continuously gliding (while in the air, analog + □) around the arena. He will use Warping Slash while you’re in the air; but don’t worry, as long as you don’t stop moving, he won’t be able to hit you.

Blocking his Scythe Slash until you bring his HP at around 3/4th. He’ll start to use Death Holes coupled with Thorn Spheres, and on top of those, he will also attack you; keep gliding around to avoid these attacks. You can also stay in one spot and repeatedly cast Reflega; however, this is double-edged as he might use his scythe to pull you closer and directly on top of the Death Holes.

Use Limit Form or Final Form. Do this if you’re having a hard time dealing damage to him, although he’s easy enough to beat without these forms. Invincibility from Limit Form and the Strength Boost from Final Form can be helpful.

Do a Quick Roll when Marluxia uses Reaper’s Possession. Quick roll around the area for about 5 counts, then spam Reflega to avoid his finishing move. Marluxia will do Reaper’s Possession when his HP falls to 1/4th.

Stay still and use Reflect or Guard when he starts using Scythe Wheel. Running around may cause you to lose sight of Marluxia and get attacked because of it. You can also double jump then glide; if you’re high enough, he won’t be able to reach you.

Avoid his last attacks. Marluxia will re-use Reaper’s Possession when he only has 1 HP left. Avoid it the same way as step 6 and land your finishing blow on him.