Alhena Trial: Stances & Attack-Type Immunity

What unlocks the firearm trial?

Claim the Ancient Firearm from Oblivion Palace Treasure Room 3, chest IV, after returning 76 Tablet Shards. The matching Chamber of Arms trial restores Arcturus. Handing in shards and actually opening the reward chest are separate actions.

Prepare physical and magic versions of effective damage, plus recovery and magic protection. A party with only elemental spells cannot reliably open this encounter.

Match stance and damage type

Alhena changes between Fire and Wind stances after weakness hits. Water answers Fire stance; Ice answers Wind stance. Dark is an additional opening-form weakness, but do not assume it replaces the later stance checks.

The first form nullifies magic outside Stagger, so build the opening with suitable physical commands. The later form nullifies physical attacks outside Stagger, requiring magic. Stagger temporarily opens the blocked damage type; check that the opening is actually active before spending the command.

Respond to incantations

1. Reinspect after a stance or form transition and change the queued element and type.
2. Keep recovery active before the incantation finishes.
3. Attempt a reachable Stagger to stop the warned major spell; otherwise defend and prepare the following heal.
4. If Black Hole removes an ally, maintain the remaining party until the release event. A temporarily untargetable character is not a normal KO to solve with a revival item.

Its damage-reduction trait also discourages assuming many small hits always outperform fewer substantial actions. The level-75 trial awards Arcturus+, separately from the standard restoration.