Rufus, better known by his alias Left-Hand Man or Left Wing of the Crow, is a mob boss involved in human trafficking in Octopath Traveler.
Rufus is one of the three antagonists in Octopath Traveller’s Primrose story. He along with three others was responsible for murdering Geoffrey Azelhart, Primrose’s father.
Now 10 years on from the events preceding Octopath Traveler, all grown up Primrose finally gets the chance to confront her father’s murders one by one.
Rufus location
Rufus’s first appearance in Octopath Traveller is during the first chapter of Primrose’s story. Only a glimpse of him is seen though as he talks to his subordinate Helgenish, who is also the first boss of Primrose’s story.
We see more of Rufus during the second chapter as he serves as the main antagonist and final boss for that chapter. You will find him at end of chapter 2 as you make your way across his stronghold, the Obsidian Parlor for a face-off.
Note that the Obsidian Parlor is one of the two areas without an associated Danger Level.
Rufus weaknesses
During your face-off with Rufus, you will also have to fight two of his lackeys called the Obsidian Associate. You will have to take note of the weaknesses of both Rufus and his allies so you can maximize your damage output each turn.
The weapons which Rufus is weak against are the Spear and Staff while the Obsidian Associate is weak against the Axe and Dagger.
When you are using magic, you should use Light and Lightning based magic against Rufus and Water or Wind magic against his allies. These magic types allow you to exploit their weaknesses and increase your damage output.
Rufus special attacks
In the duration of the fight, Rufus will utilize his entire arsenal of special attacks after losing HP to keep you staggered and on your toes.
These special attacks deal a higher amount of damage to one or more members of your party to turn the tide of the fight in his favor. Additionally, these moves have a chance of inflicting status effects that prove to be s nuisance when dealing with foes.
Knowing which attacks are coming at you can help you prepare for your fight and make any adjustments to your plans.
| Special Attack | What Do They Do |
|---|---|
| Roundhouse Kick | This attack will damage all your party members |
| Pummel | This will target one party member and strike them twice. Pummel can also give your party members the Unconsciousness status effect lasting for 2-5 turns. |
| Rufus called for help! | This move will call two more Obsidian Associates to aid Rufus |
| Rufus takes a deep breath… | After using this move Rufus will enter a raged state for a turn where he will use the Left-Hand Man move. |
| Left-Hand Man | Rufus will charge up an attack and deal 500 damage to all your party members. This move can also give your party members the Unconsciousness status effect lasting for 2 turns. |
How to defeat Rufus
Defeating Rufus in Octopath traveler is very straightforward. Even though his huge HP may make the boss fight seem complex, Rufus and his allies don’t have much threat to offer.
You will need to shred down his huge HP as quickly as possible by simply exploiting his weapon and magic weaknesses. You must prepare a party that is best suited to delivering such attacks.
Using a party heal every so often is also necessary as Rufus’s Left-Hand Man and Roundhouse Kick attacks are capable of dealing spread damage to all your party members.
Additionally, try to eliminate his lackeys as quickly as possible to focus your attention on him. We suggest using Cyrus’s ice magic hit-all attacks to make quick work of them.
Once his allies are out of the picture, you can follow up the onslaught using multi-spear attacks or lighting and light-based magic attacks toward him.
Spam your attacks until he is broken and finish him off with your Divine Skills.
Best party for Rufus
You can choose the party that is best suited for the battle against Rufus choosing the characters who take advantage of his weaknesses
- Cyrus
- Ophilla
- Therion
- Haanit
Cyrus is going to be key during this battle as can use his sorcerer skills to exploit Rufus’s weakness and deal more damage. Lux Congerere and Tonitrus Congerere are his Light and Lightning magic attacks that each damage the opponent 3 times.
Next, you must have a designated healing party member. Cyrus can also serve the Cleric role, but we have chosen Ophilla for this purpose. Her Heal More Cleric Skill allows you to heal all members in your party at the same time, restoring a significant chunk of HP for each.
Her Holy Light attack is also advantageous when facing Rufus as it deals Light magic damage to him.
Even though the Obsidian Association allys for Rufus aren’t a major concern during the battle, making use of Therion’s dagger prowess, you can make quick work of them and focus your attention on the real boss.
Finally, by having Haanit in your party, you can use her thunderbird move to deal a heavy lighting magic attack toward Rufus, taking advantage of his weakness to lightning-based attacks.
What else to bring for the fight?
Rufus has a pretty significant HP bar for you to burn through so you may need to keep a few additional things handy to get you through the fight.
You can never go wrong with carrying additional healing items therefore we suggest carrying a few Healing Grapes.
You will also need to keep your SP bar in check so you can continue to use your strongest attacks. For that purpose, we suggest carrying a few Inspiriting Plums
A few of Rufus’s special attacks have a chance of inflicting the Unconsciousness status effect on your party members. So, you’ll need to prepare for such a case. Using the Herb of Revivalwill help you revive any unconscious party member.
During boss fights losing an ally can really damper your strategy. If you lose a party member during the battle, use the Olive of Life (M) to not only revive them but also restore a significant portion of their HP bar.
