I am making a boss FAQ because after being a pretty frequent GameFAQS poster on the Golden Sun topics I realized there were many people who needed help with some sort of boss. Then they would get conflicting information on how to beat the boss. Now I am here to compile all the information. And, Im gonna tell you the strategy I find to work the best. I have beaten this game 2 times on normal mode and 1 time on hard.

There are a few strategies to beating these bosses. Some will become obsolete later in the game. Some you wont be able to use till Isaac and Co. join later in the game. But these are the strategies I have found and their descriptions.

The name says it all. You attack and heal with mostly psynergy attacks and hope the boss dies before you run out of PP. Psynergy attacks arent weak either and can target big groups of enemies in one turn and wont hurt your stats, like putting a few Djinni on standby would. This strategy works for the first few bosses but becomes almost useless in the bosses towards the middle and no help what so ever at the bosses at the end of the game.

In this strategy you come in with most, if not all, your Djinni on set. Then you pull them all out 1-by-1 making use of everyone of there stat boosting powers. Also they provide some of the strongest attacks in the game so they arent bad weapons either. Finally, Djinni give huge stat boosts, so for a few turns you will have sickening agility and will be able to attack before the boss does allowing for easy healing.

Now the bosses of Golden Sun are the most fearsome creatures in the game (what a novel idea, making the bosses hard). But. there are many successful strategies for them. These are the bosses and the strategies that I feel are best for the boss. All the boss with multiple strategies have a picture of psynergy next to the strategy that works best for the boss. Also the element the boss is weak against has a picture of that elemental Djinni next to it.

Chestbeaters (x3)

These guys are guarding the exit of the Kandorean Temple. They arent hard since you have 1 Djinn and 3 party members. They seem to be most susceptible to fire based attacks. There are two strategies here. They depend on whether or not you got the Mysterious Card inside the Temple.

This boss is found in the Yampi Desert. It guards the psynergy "Scoop." The boss strategies depend on whether or not you went to Garoh and Airs Rock first. Or, did you go to Yampi Desert first?

It is much harder now. You wont have as good of a level and you wont have enough Djinni to summon rush! But the battle is still possible. The keys to this battle are the Djinn Iron and Cannon. He, once again, is weak to fire based attacks. But dont equip the Mysterious Card! Sheba should have 2 Jupiter Djinni. Felix should have 2 Venus. Jenna should have 1 Mars and 1 Mercury. Now the King Scorpion has an attack called Sand Breath that eats away at your defenses. But since Iron boosts defense it shouldnt be a huge problem. Basically you will follow the "1-by-1 Djinni Attack" strategy (see "Types of strategies I will describe" section.) Its not too hard unless he poisons someone. Then make sure the Mercury Djinni gets set to Jenna so she has the psynergy "cure poison".

If you did this the battle will be very easy. You will have the first chance to be able to actually "summon rush" a boss. You should have 3 Jupiter Djinni, 2 Venus Djinni, 1 Mars Djinn, and 2 Mercury Djinni. Jenna and Felix should have one of the Mercury Djinni equipped.

Now put all the Djinni except Iron on standby. First turn, use Iron with Felix, then Zagan with Jenna, and Procne with Sheba. Hes taken a good amount of damage but he has a ways to go! Next turn have Felix use Cure if anyone took a good amount of health damage if not use Venus. Jenna should use Fume. Have Sheba summon Nereid. Next turn have Jenna use Cannon, Felix use Echo, and Sheba should use whatever Djinni was set for her, whether it be Breath or Blitz. Pray it isnt Ether. He should die that turn but if not, summon Zagan with Felix next turn, have Jenna use Fume, and have Sheba use any good psynergy.

This way is safer than Summon Rushing him but it takes a lot longer. Its the same strategy as the one if you went to Yampi Desert first, except you should build up to Nereid and Procne. Oh, also have Ether on standby before going into the battle.

This boss, just like the King Scorpion, is either really easy, or really hard. It depends on whether you went to Airs Rock before Yampi Desert. The only really hard part about Briggs is the fact he can summon an infinite number of Seamen (who I call Little Helpers). Its key to target Briggs first, because when he dies, Briggs cant summon any more Little Helpers.

HAHAHA!! This battle is a pushover. Come in with every Djinni except Iron on standby. On the first turn have Felix use Iron, Jenna use Mars, and Sheba use Flora (if you got it in Airs Rock. If not use Procne.) Next turn have Felix summon Venus, Jenna use her most powerful pysnergy, and have Sheba summon Nereid. Briggs should be almost dead. Dont use any more Djinni; use all psynergies that target everyone. If you need to, have Felix use Cure and Sheba use Breath. Remember to have Briggs be the main target for every attack so he doesnt whistle any more helpers. Also remember that Briggs does a massive amount of damage with Echo Cut.

Aqua Hydra

HP: 2,276

Element: Water

Now that Piers has joined your party you will have all 4 types of adepts. Also now you can give all those annoying Mercury Djinni to there rightful adept. Now after boarding Piers boat and getting to a room with a lot of little Jellyfish you will jump onto the middle crate. Then they will form into this boss. He isnt hard if you have all/most of the Djinni up to this point. You should have 3 Venus, 4 Jupiter, 3 Mars, and 4 Mercury (thats the most you can have by then).

This way works well. Make sure you dont put Shade on standby. You just might need it during the Battle. Thor does massive damage to the Aqua Hydra. He has some strong wave attacks that end up targeting everyone. Also watch out for any poisoning attacks. If someone is poisoned have Piers purge the poison.

Have Ether and Mud on standby, thats it. Since Sheba has some good wind Djinni they will do good damage. When someone takes some good damage have Sheba use Breath. That should build you up to Thor. Felix should use Iron first, and then Echo. Jenna should try not to use any Djinni, since then she will have moves like Aura that heal the whole party. Piers should use any Djinni that attack and use Shade when the party gets sorta low on health. Boreas doesnt do great damage but at least its better than anything Piers can do. Remember to purge the poison as early as possible.

This boss invulnerable to any conventional attacks, until you have exposed his weakness SUNLIGHT! He has a good deal of health. This boss is almost impossible if you went to Gaia Rock before Aqua Rock. Also try to get the Djinni Reflux in Tundaria Tower. Finally your party should look like this (if you got Reflux):

This way if The Serpent uses any multiple targeting attacks (which he will a lot) your 2 strongest characters will get hit and Counter part of the attack. If you didnt get Reflux dont worry so much. It does only around 80-100 extra damage. Oh, you should have around 5 Mercury Djinni, 4 Venus, 4 Mars, and 4 Jupiter.

Since he has a lot of HP this strategy works only once in a while. Since you have 5 Mercury you can put every Djinni, except Shade, on standby. Then use all your level 4 summons. Also Moloch isnt a bad summon since it lowers agility and sometimes Serpent will attack before you. He shouldnt have much health left so use moves like Ragnarock, Diamond Dust, Fume, and Tornado on him. (If you used Moloch with both Sheba and Piers first turn, have Sheba use Atalanta.) He should have died but if not hit him with the newly set Djinni.

This way takes longer but is a bit safer since Jenna will be able to use all her party healing spells. So in other words use all your Djinni with every character except Jenna. Then summon the snot out of him when you get your level 4 summons. Also summon Moloch as soon as possible. As long as Piers uses Shade and Jenna keeps the party healthy you should do fine.

Avimander

HP: 3,792

Element: Fire

Briggs runs to his grandma and so to protect her grandson she summons this monster on you. Use the same strategy as you did for the Serpent. Also remember that Moloch is the a good summon. Also remember to use Shade well. His best attack is Star Mine. The only thing different about this battle and the Serpent is that know you have Ulysses. This is your best summon to use against him. You should have 5 Djinni of each element before entering this battle.

This boss protects the entrance to Lemuria. You will need the Trident to even hurt him. Give it to Sheba since she has the best agility on the team and will be able to use the Trident first, dispatching the force field before anyone else wastes a turn attacking. You now have a good arsenal of multi-elemental summons too. Summon Rushing is the way to go. (Dont ask why a sea creature would be weak to fire.) You should have 5 of every Djinni element. Finally, Poseidon has an attack called Counter-Rush that goes first no matter what. Now when you hit him this turn he will retaliate every time. Its very annoying.

Put all the Djinni except Shade, Iron, Haze, and Spark on standby. This way Shade will protect the party and Spark can raise an ally if worst comes to worst. Also Iron boosts defense and Haze can protect someone if they need healing but you dont have any good healing spells then. Since he is weak to fire I find it best to use the summon Ulysses. Have Piers and Jenna summon it. If you didnt get Ulysses in Izumo, use Meteor. Everyone else should use their level 4 summons. After those summons let Jennas Djinni come back to set so she can heal people. Use Fume or Serpent Fume as her attacks. Everyone else should use whatever attack does a good amount of damage.

Like always this way is safer than summon rushing a boss but a lot longer. At least you can use Cannon with Jenna. Also use Coal since then you will have 2 Djinni on standby, which will allow you to summon Ulysses (which does over 1,000 damage!). By now you should be good at 1-by-1 Djinni attacks so Im not going in detail. Remember to take advantage of all the stat boosting Djinni before the Djinni that attack. Also remember to keep the party healthy with Jennas healing spells.

HP: Moapa 3,042/Knights 1,954

Elements: None

This guy is like Briggs, but has more HP and cant whistle any more helpers. (I think, I have never seen him do it at least.) These guys are the owners of the Hover Jade, which is required to make any progress in the Jupiter Lighthouse. You can summon rush him, but I dont think it works as well. You should have 6 Mercury and Mars Djinni, and 5 Venus and Jupiter Djinni.

Like Briggs, you'll want to take out Moapa first. Lower his defense using Djinn and Psynergy. When you get the chance, summon the crap out of him. Eclipse does a good amount of damage. You'll also want to raise your defense since you'll be low on items. Then take out the Knights. Then Knights can be paralyzed too, so dont be afraid to use Blitz on the Knights.

Karst is Menardis sister and Agatio is just a follower. This battle is hard to plan. There is really only one strategy here. After you see these 2 destroy Isaac and Ivan you will chase Karst and Agatio to the Lighthouse Aerie. But the trick is that Jenna and Sheba stayed back to help Isaac and Co. Now you only have Piers for the battle. But before you go Alex will heal everyone in the party. Now after you activate the Lighthouse Karst will take the Mars Star (Even if you win the battle you wont get it back till later in the game.) and then try to kill you and Piers. You should have at least 7 Djinni for each element for this battle. Here is the best strategy for this battle:

Now for the first 2 turns use all your out attacks, like Echo and Chill. After those 2 turns Jenna will come up to the Aerie to investigate and join the fight. Now use a party-healing spell since Felix and Piers probably took a good amount of damage. Keep using more Djinni with Felix and Piers. After another 2 turns Sheba will come up to the Aerie to investigate and join the fight. Now use a party-healing spell since everyone has taken a good amount of damage. Now that everyone is up there use all Djinni with everyone except Jenna, she needs to keep her party healing spells. She can use 3 Djinni total before she will lose her healing abilities. Eclipse, Judgment, and Ulysses are your best summons. The best attacks belong to Agatio too. Rolling Flame and Rising Dragon. Remember to use Shade and you will do fine. Oh did I forget to mention that this battle is optional. Thats right the only thing you get for winning this battle is some Dark Matter (forgeable) and exp. points. Try not to lose since the you get a good amount of exp.

Now that Isaac and Co. have joined, the battles get easier for two reasons:

1. You have a party of 8 people. Its crazy. You can let on party go out into battle and die and have 4 fresh members to back them up.

2. Summon Rushing becomes amazing. Since you have 8 people you have 2 parties of 4. Therefore, putting the Djinni on standby wont hurt so much. Since after that first party dies you have another party to continue the onslaught of Summons.

These bosses guard the 4 of the most powerful summons in the game. The Star Magician guards the Azul tablet. Sentinel guards the Catastrophe tablet. Valukar guards the Daedalus tablet. And the games hardest boss, Dullahan, guards the game best summon Iris (that would be the smart thing to do). Iris, Charon (another summon), and Dullahan can only be reached if you collected all 28 Djinni in the first Golden Sun, transferred your cleared data to The Lost Age, and enter the Anemos Inner Sanctum. Each of these battles is optional but these summons help against the final boss.

This is a very annoying battle. He has little partner balls, one that can heal 1000+ health or another, than provides him with a protective armor that basically wastes a turn. If you summon rush him then your praying for a lot of luck, because if he uses Guard Aura you wasted a good load of summons. You should have at least 7 Djinni with everyone; remember that includes Isaac and his friends. This is the most successful strategy:

Your first party should be Sheba, Piers, Mia, and Isaac. The second party should be Garet, Felix, Jenna, and Ivan. Before going into this battle I would put 3 Djinni on standby with everyone. This way you can use 1 Djinn at the beginning of the battle with everyone, then summon him to death. But before you summon him to death try to kill the Guard Ball. That way, if you are brave, then you can summon him to death and hope he doesnt spawn another Guard Ball. Remember to keep Star Magician as the main target. Your first party might die, but unless youre really worried about equal exp. distribution, then its no problem. This battle is a lot of luck, so I wish you tons and tons of luck for this battle. Make sure to take advantage of the 3 protective aura Djinni you have.

Sentinel

This boss is completely immune to psynergy and has an amazing defense against physical attacks. But that doesnt mean he cant be hurt. Summon rushing and Djinni based attacks are the only way to go here. If you have the Azul and Daedalus summons that helps. But remember that even if he is immune to psynergy that doesnt prevent you from healing your own party. You cant fight this guy until you get the psynergy "teleport" inside the Mars Lighthouse. You should go into this battle with at least 8 Djinni on everyone. But it is possible to come in with al 72 Djinni.

This is an easy battle. Your first party should be Sheba, Piers, Mia, and Isaac. The second party should be Garet, Felix, Jenna, and Ivan. Or you can switch it around if you want other party members to get more exp. Whichever members you want to get more exp., put them in the second party. Just go in and summon things like Azul, Judgment, Daedalus (if you have it) and Eclipse. Its very possible to not summon rush and keep both parties in good health but it takes forever and will waste a lot psynergy for healing people. If you keep losing go train in the long hallway, fight the Wonder Birds.

Valukar

HP: 12,960

Element: Fire

This is the easiest boss. He has an attack (I forget the name) that puts some of your Djinni on standby. Therefore you can summon against him. Come into the battle with 4 Djinni on standby and summon the whole battle. Its not hard. If you need to use a Mist Potion or a party-healing spell you can. Its good to have the party be Isaac, Piers, Garet, and Felix. Like Sentinel you will need teleport to reach this boss. Also like Sentinel you should have 8 Djinni with everyone, but you can come in with all 72 Djinni.

Dullahan

HP: 10,00+

Element: Water

This is a boss of luck. Everyone should be around level 40. If you can get lucky and he doesnt use Djinni Storm (puts all Djinni on recovery for the entire active party) you will win. You must summon rush him. Put every Djinni except Shade, Flash, and Granite on standby. Now have Piers, Ivan, Sheba, and Jenna go out first. Have Piers use Shade, Everyone else should use Catastrophe. Next turn summon Eclipse with Ivan. Have Piers and Sheba summon Boreas. Jenna should use any good attack. That team dies soon. Then out comes Garet, Isaac, Felix, and Mia. Have Isaac use Granite. Felix and Garet should summon Daedalus. Mia should use Azul. Next turn have Isaac and Felix summon Cybele. Mia summons Azul again. Garet uses Flash. Now the big missiles should hit Dullahan. He should die soon. Just use any good psynergies you have. Hell die soon.

Doom Dragon

HP: 10,000+

Element: Fire and Earth

After you make it up to the Mars Lighthouse Aerie you will fight the final boss. This boss is spawned by well wouldnt you like to know. Well Im not spoiling this part of the game for you. This boss has three heads, can attack at least 3 times in one turn, and he has a few fearsome attacks. He has Djinni Storm, like Dullahan, but he wont use it until he has only one head left. He has another attack called Djinni Drain, but this attack targets only 1 character. His last fearsome attack is called Cruel Rain. It is the equivalent to the Fusion Dragons (GS1 Last Boss) Outer Space, but Cruel Rain looks cooler. Try to have everyone around level 41. You cant summon rush this boss since he has a move that gives him a shield for the turn. Basically it wastes one of your turns. If you were summon rushing him and this happened you could never recover. This boss is easy if you got Iris, because then you will have 3 parties for the Doom Dragon to kill. Now have Piers, Ivan, Sheba, and Jenna go out first. Everyone should come in with 3 Djinni on standby. Try to prevent yourself from using more than 1 summon a turn because if he uses Shield Aura youll waste some good summons. Make sure Piers has Shade. Also follow the 1-by-1 Djinni attack strategy. This boss lasts a long time, but if you use Shade well, and Jenna keeps the party healed youll do fine. Also if you got Balm give it to Piers, so he can revive the whole party. Now if your first party dies then you have 2 choices to follow up with your second party.

If you beat the boss congrats!! You beat one of the best RPGs ever. Sit back and enjoy the ending cinema to see all the plot holes wrapped up.