Nine Sols Lady Ethereal Boss Guide

As you progress into the mid to late stages of Nine Sols, you’ll encounter some of the toughest bosses in the game, with Lady Ethereal perfectly embodying this challenge. She serves as a significant skill check for the mid-game, offering a solid and fair fight that feels incredibly rewarding to conquer.

To help you overcome this boss, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide. We’ll walk you through exactly how to locate Lady Ethereal, provide detailed insights into her abilities, and, of course, share tips on the best strategies for defeating her in Nine Sols.

Lady Ethereal Boss Location

After defeating Jiequan and fully exploring his area, you'll receive a message from Abacus at the Four Season Pavilion. When you return, Abacus will mention a disturbance in the Cortex Center, located just southwest of the Pavilion. Upon arriving, you'll discover that Lady Ethereal's mind is now connected to the system there.

Entering the door will lead you through a series of platforming levels before you finally encounter Lady Ethereal. After your initial encounter, you'll be kicked out but can re-enter to face Lady Ethereal in her Soulscape, initiating the battle. Be prepared for a challenging fight.

Lady Etheral Boss Fight Overview

Lady Ethereal is a three-phase boss who uses shadow clones to fight you (yes, similar to the ones you're thinking of). What makes this fight particularly difficult is that with each phase, she summons more clones, culminating in phase three, where she uses six clones simultaneously. This battle is less about overall strategy and more about reaction time and knowing how to respond to each attack from the clones as they appear.

Before diving into strategies for defeating Lady Ethereal, let's first break down her abilities in each phase and how they look in battle. Note that phases one and two share the same attacks, with phase three adding just one additional attack. However, due to the increased number of clones in the later phases, these attacks can be spammed mercilessly by Lady Ethereal.

Lady Ethereal Phase 1 & 2 Attacks

• Claw Combo: Lady Ethereal rushes toward you, slashing twice with her claws.
• Heavy Claw: She rises with her claw raised, then performs a sweeping attack across the screen.
• Crimson Claw Dash: She charges crimson energy into her claws and dashes straight at you, attempting to thrust with the attack.
• Ethereal Orb: The boss summons an orb of dark energy that floats around as long as she remains materialized. It can be removed with a tai chi kick parry.
• Ethereal Daggers: She summons three daggers around her body, which then fire toward you in succession.
• Crimson Arrows: The boss summons three crimson arrows on one side of the screen that slowly fire to the opposite side.
• Crimson Slam: Lady Ethereal appears above you, charging crimson energy into her lower body before crashing down in an attempt to crush you.

Lady Ethereal Phase 3 Attack

• Crimson Meteor: Lady Ethereal floats above you, summoning a massive ball of crimson energy. Before hurling it to the ground, two clones spawn on the opposite side of the screen, each performing a Heavy Claw attack before the real Lady Ethereal releases the energy ball from above.

Lady Etheral Boss Fight Strategy

As you can see, each attack on its own is manageable to dodge or deflect (except the final one, but we’ll get to that). However, things become more difficult when the clones come into play. In phase 1, parrying her claw attacks is relatively straightforward, and her crimson arrows and slam can be dodged by dashing out of the way.

You can also parry the Ethereal Dagger attacks and Ethereal Orb with some practice. However, the challenge escalates in phase 2 when Lady Ethereal hides among the clones, making it difficult to distinguish her from the fakes. The key here is that during the Crimson Dash, only the real Lady Ethereal will glow green, indicating she can be parried, while the clones, though parryable, won't glow.

You can destroy the clones either before or after they attack, and each time you dodge an attack, you should strike the clone to see if it's the real Lady Ethereal. If not, dash toward the center to get a better vantage point to dodge other attacks. If it is her, land a few hits and finish with a charged Talisman (I recommend using Full Control to build up internal damage).

Repeating this process will help you get accustomed to the attacks and how to counter them while staying on the offensive. There’s no downtime in this boss fight, so you must keep up the pressure. Once you get through phase 2, you’ll move on to phase 3, where things become even more complex.

Phase 3 Strategy

Phase 3 begins with the Crimson Meteor attack, which takes some practice to master but offers an opportunity for free hits if executed correctly. Wait for the first clone to spawn on either side of you, then jump into the air as soon as the clone begins to move toward you.

Parry the clone with a tai chi kick, repeat the parry mid-air on the second clone and quickly dash out of the way of Lady Ethereal's attack from above. If done correctly, you’ll safely fall to the ground with Lady Ethereal, allowing you to land a full combo before touching down.

In phase 3, the mechanic changes as Lady Ethereal no longer hides her face. You’ll be able to identify the real Lady Ethereal among the clones, but the difficulty is balanced by the clones spamming attacks almost constantly.

The best approach here is to attack only the clones that deal off-screen or ranged damage, like the Ethereal Orb and Daggers. For the other clones, it’s better to dodge or parry them. This way, you can keep moving, avoiding most incoming attacks and building up talismans for when the real Lady Ethereal appears.

The final mechanic to note is that placing a talisman on Lady Ethereal will cause her clones to vanish. So, as soon as she appears, use the talismans you’ve built up to stop the wave of spawning clones and reset her attack pattern.

Keep repeating this strategy, and hope for the best. This fight heavily relies on your reaction times and understanding of her moves, so while we can provide the best strategy, the randomness and spammy nature of this boss require skill, understanding, and a bit of luck. Now that you have the understanding down pat with our guide, you’re all set to hone your skills and find your lucky moment to bring down Lady Ethereal for good.