The first optional Job Asterisk holder is way more troublesome than you would imagine.
Most of the Asterisks holders in Bravely Default 2, tend to be quirky and interesting characters, that are a blast interacting with and of course fighting with them. What we have here though, is one that is more annoying than actually fun, due to the troublesome process needed before actually battling with her. Shirley is the owner of the Gambler Asterisk, and is a pain in the you-know-where. She is the first optional Boss fight that includes as a reward a Job Asterisk, and before actually being able to challenge her to a fight, you need to complete a quest, which we already covered here in this guide.
How to beat Shirley
Shirley likes money, gambling, and power over others. This can be seen within the actual fight with her, as she uses all these to ruin your day. Gambler is her Job, as you would imagine, so there is a lot of luck and RNG to her whole kit. As this wasn’t enough, she has Orpheus over her control, due to money issues, and some lackeys to top it off. Therefore, you have 4 enemies to face in the fight, so let’s see how you should proceed with the battle itself.
Shirley’s moveset
- Odds or Evens: Deals damage. Shirley rolls a number and if it’s even, that damage is doubled.
- Elemental Wheel: Deals x, y elemental damage. X ranges from 1-10 and all elemental skills can be chosen at random. Elemental Wheel targets each character once before looping so make sure to have your healer ready
- High Roller: Deals massive physical damage to a target. (Only used during 2nd Phase)
While her kit seems lackluster compared to previous bosses like Anihal the Beastmaster and Orpheus the Bard, don’t forget that Orpheus himself is also included in the fight, teaming up with her. Therefore, everything that was present in the fight against the Bard, makes its return here. Make sure to read our Orpheus guide to see what we are talking about.
As everything is set, onto the fight. Start right away by clearing out the two guards, any way possible. Physical or Magic attacks work equally well. If you happen to have the Square One skill from the Freelancer tree, you can use it to clear the buffs from everyone in the opposing team. With the guards out, Orpheus and Shirley are the only ones standing in front of you.
Don’t even bother with Shirley yet. Simply keep Defaulting and healing with your White Mage, to keep your team healthy. I suggest to have a Clothespin equipped to your White Mages, as the Bard counter attacks with Sleep spells, after White Magic is cast. After enough BP are gathered, unleash your hardest hitting attacks to Orpheus, and then repeat the process until he is taken out. For me, Seth as a Thief with Godspeed Strike and Monk as a sub-job took care of everything damage wise, with two White Mages handling healing and MP restoration, and Adelle was tanking the whole fight.
With Orpheus gone, Shirley is a straightforward process. Only difference is that you need to watch out for her High Roller when she is low on health, as it can easily score some K.Os to your frail characters. Be aware of her BP, keep healing and only attack when there is an opening. No special tactics here, so knock her out and claim her Gambler Job Asterisk.
Bravely default 2 is exclusively available on the Nintendo Switch.
- This article was updated on February 28th, 2021
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