Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising: Arcade Mode Mechanics/Boss Requirements

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising’s Arcade mode is extremely convoluted and confusing for absolutely no reason. The requirements for specific fights and events can feel extremely inconsistent. Thus, I have made this guide to help document findings for the arcade mode; ending requirements, boss requirements, etc.

You may have immediately noticed that after a game, there is a section below your score and character level with 6 slots for orbs. These don’t have an actual name, so they’ll just be refereed to as “orbs.” You may immediately be wondering how to acquire them.

Acquiring orbs is simple: you just have to finish a round with either a Skybound Art or Super Skybound Art. It doesn’t have to kill with the last hit, or trigger the cinematic; all that matters is the last instance of damage is from a super. You get 1 orb for each round ended with a super, so you can get up to 2 orbs per game if you do it both rounds. You can have more than 6 orbs, but it doesn’t do anything; only 6 orbs are required to trigger the events at the end of the run.
testing required: is it possible to get orbs on battle 7?

However, things are not this simple (why would I make this guide otherwise?). So lets dive into the other mechanic that orbs have;
Losing any round at any point in the run will make the orbs go dim, forbidding you from collecting any more.
testing required: does this condition change with difficulty? confirmed on beginner (don’t judge me)
As such, this requirement will severely hamper you in attempts to get to later, more difficult fights.
testing required: does having 6+ dim orbs restrict access to abel? lucillius?

The default boss when all other requirements are unmet, Beelzebub. This is the one you’ll most likely get if you don’t know the requirements for the other bosses. That being said, he’s nothing to joke at. His long range and anti-crossup reversal can catch you off guard if you’re not careful.

Requirements to fight:

• Have 5 or less orbs after Battle 6

There are no other requirements for this fight. Beating Beelzebub will unlock the Normal Ending illustration for whatever character you are playing as, as well as a profile badge.

The other possible boss for Battle 7, Avatar Belial (a.k.a. Abel), and the first to have alterations compared to his normal playable version. To be more specific, he no longer loses health upon doing special moves. On top of this, he gets more health and amplified damage that gets very scary at higher difficulties. Just be patient; a good portion of his moves are unsafe on block or vulnerable to invincible reversals. Look for those and punish them in order to secure the win.

Requirements to fight:

• Have 6 or more orbs after Battle 6

There does not seem to be any other requirements to attempt this fight. Beating Abel will unlock the True Ending illustration for the character you’re playing as, as well as a profile badge.

The first secret boss, Lucillius, with even more and even scarier buffs. This fight is no joke; he has more health, more damage, no skill cooldowns (and thus, no Blade Level to build), and at higher difficulties will start each round with 100% meter! As scary as that sounds, his AI is really bad at managing the meter he gets. His only reversals are teleport, Ultimate Phosphorus, and super; just keep him in the corner and you should come out on top no problem.
testing required: exactly what difficulty does the round start meter happen? confirmed to exist at at least extreme

Requirements to fight:

• Have 6 or more orbs after round 6
• Defeat Avatar Belial
• Do not lose a single game before Avatar Belial (losing rounds or games against Abel is fine)

testing required: do the orbs have to be lit? if you can get orbs during round 7, can you fight lucillius after beelzebub if you get up to 6+ during the fight?

As of patch 1.50, you can retry this fight as many times as you wish with (seemingly) no consequences. Beating Lucillius does not unlock any specific reward (aside from a sense of accomplishment).
testing required; because the fight happens immediately after abel, does the ending still count if you quit out of the fight?

Don’t forget the family lizard!
The second secret boss, added in patch 1.50. As with Lucillius, this fight can get very scary very quick. She gets increased health and damage that scales higher with difficulty, as well as passive meter gain and a permanently active Celestial Dominion buff. Her zoning can be extremely oppressive, but, similar to Lucillius, has trouble getting out of pressure with a lack of meterless reversals. Get in and stay in; that’s the only way to win.

Requirements to fight:

• Beat Battle 7 (either against Beelzebub or Avatar Belial) or 8 (Lucillius)
• Have at least 1 orb, dim or lit
• Do not lose a game before Battle 8 (7?) (round/game losses against Lucillius are fine)

This fight can be retried as many times as you want with no consequences. Additionally, quitting out of the fight will still unlock whatever ending you would have previously unlocked. Beating Versusia will unlock a profile badge.

testing required: and lots of it! as this is the newest fight, there are a lot of theories going around as to the exact requirements of this fight, as currently they feel super inconsistent. help is very welcome!

• Achievement: “Not Half Bad…”: Finish Arcade mode for the first time
• Profile Badge: Beelzebub (Wide): Beat Beelzebub in Arcade mode at any difficulty and achieve the Normal Ending
• Lobby Avatar: Helel ben Shalem: Beat Beelzebub in Arcade mode at NIghtmare difficulty
• Profile Badge: Avatar Belial (Wide): Beat Avatar Belial in Arcade mode at any difficulty and achieve the True Ending
• Profile Badge: Rein (Wide): Achieve the True Ending, then beat Versusia in Arcade mode at any difficulty
• Lobby Avatar/Partner: Lunalu: Beat Arcade mode at any difficulty with Lunalu (random select)

inb4 arcsys themselves or a code leak eventually reveals the exact details about how the arcade mode works and makes all this manual research a waste of time

This guide took way too much time and work to compile, and even then it’s still not complete. So I reach out to all of you; if you have any information to add to this guide, please share it in a comment so that we can finally have an answer to all of this confusion. Anyone that helps contribute will have their name added to the section below!

me lmao

Thanks for reading!