How To Beat The Axem Rangers In Super Mario RPG

For the most part, Super Mario RPG‘s main quest is a relatively easy adventure to get through that won’t challenge you too much as long as you’re keeping an eye on your party’s equipment and make sure not to skip too many combat encounters and miss out on levelling up your characters.

That being said, there are a few notable difficulty spikes on your quest to stop Smithy, especially in the latter half of the game. One of the most challenging boss fights in the game is against the Axem Rangers, a group of colourful baddies who are encountered in Barrel Volcano after stealing the sixth star from Mario and the party.

The Axem Rangers might look like a bunch of star-stealing pushovers at first, but their attacks and ability to work together as a team are no joke and can easily take your whole party out if you’re not careful. Don’t worry, though, as a bit of planning and strategy will make sure you get through this late-game challenge.

Recommended Party And Equipment

Before we get to the battle itself, let’s discuss the ideal party layout and equipment. For this fight, it’s imperative that you bring Peach along as the dedicated healer to keep your party at full strength throughout the fight. The Axem Rangers have some powerful attacks that can easily knock you out if you’re not careful, so having Peach around for healing and, if worst comes to worst, reviving your teammates is key to winning the fight.

The second character in your party should either be Bowser or Geno, as both of them are great for dealing high amounts of damage. I personally went for Bowser since his regular attacks hit harder and don’t require you to use any of your Flower Points, which can then be saved for Peach’s healing. Mario, Bowser, and Peach’s team attack, the Starry Shell Spike, also deals massive amounts of damage, making it a great bonus for having the three of them together.

As for your equipment, I’d highly recommend that you take the time to unlock Mario’s Ultimate Weapon – the Lazy Shell. The Lazy Shell is Mario’s best weapon in the game and can take away huge amounts of health from the Axem Rangers with the right timing. You’ll be able to unlock the Lazy Shell shortly after beating Nimbus Land, and doing so will make this fight a ton easier.

You’ll also want to unlock the Lazy Shell armour (which you get with the Lazy Shell weapon, as if that’s not confusing) and give it to Peach. This armour makes her pretty much invincible and ensures that she can keep the team alive if any of the Axem Ranger’s more powerful attacks manages to knock either Mario or Bowser out. Make sure to equip Mario and Bowser with the highest-rated armour they can get at that point, and give Bowser the Spiked Chomp, as his Ultimate Weapon isn’t available at this point in the game.

How To Defeat The Axem Rangers

Now that our party is sorted and fully kitted out, it’s time to get on with the battle itself. One of the reasons this battle is so challenging is because you’re up against a powerful team of four, meaning that their turn is quite long and has the potential to deal lots of damage. Worse yet is the fact that each Axem Ranger has a different special ability that they’ll use to annoy you.

The two Axem Rangers who are going to give you the most trouble are Axem Pink and Axem Green, as they act as the healer and spell-caster respectively, while the other three are mainly just there to deal physical damage through weapon attacks and projectiles that can be blocked with proper timing.

As soon as the battle begins, you’re going to want to focus on defeating Axem Pink so that she can’t heal the rest of the party. Use Mario’s Lazy Shell and Bowser’s Spiked Chomp to damage her, while blocking any incoming attacks and healing the party with Peach whenever Mario or Bowser lose any health.

Once Axem Pink is out of the way, move on to Axem Green. Axem Green’s spells can’t always be blocked and they deal a lot of damage, so focus on taking him out next while blocking the attacks from Axem Black, Axem Red, and Axem Yellow. Once Axem Green is down, I’d recommend moving onto Axem Yellow, as the gunk he spits at you can be annoying to deal with and hard to block. Then, go for Axem Black, as the bombs he chucks can also be a pain to block.

After that, just whale on Axem Red to take out the final Axem Ranger and start the next phase of the fight. Once they’re all defeated, Axem Red will activate the large tower in the background, called The Blade, which will do an incredibly powerful and unblockable laser attack after it’s used a turn to charge up.

There’s no real strategy here beyond wailing on The Blade as much as possible and using Peach to heal the party whenever they take damage. Once you’ve hurt The Blade enough, it’ll explode and the battle against the Axem Rangers will be over, earning Mario and the gang a star in the process.

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