Boss

A Boss in the Golden Sun series is a powerful enemy that is either an obstacle to continued progress in the game, or is the guardian to some unusual or unique reward. Bosses are stronger than any other enemy in their immediate area, boasting high HP, Attack, and Defense ratings as well as powerful Psynergies and Enemy Abilities, and can only be fought once per game. One notable exception would be the Tempest Lizard, which can be fought any number of times. Boss battles are often obstacles that prevent the player from reaching the next required area of the game, accessible only by defeating the boss (the Tempest Lizard's cousin, the Storm Lizard, being an exception as non-mandatory; it can be "outrun"). However, some reside at the end of seemingly irrelevant caves guarding a treasure or powerful tool, as the "Super-Bosses" do. Examples include: Deadbeard in Golden Sun, Valukar in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, and the Ancient Devil in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.

Boss Strategies
Bosses in the Golden Sun series usually have extremely damaging attacks (relative to the point in which they are fought) which coincide with their powerful statistics. Should a player approach a boss similarly to a normal random encounter, they are likely to be downed. Thus, bosses require unique strategies in order to both survive the onslaught and successfully counterattack.

Perhaps the most common strategy employed to defeat bosses is the "Summon rush", wherein just before the player encounters the boss, they put all their Djinn on Standby. This allows them to cast many summons in a short period, and, as summons do damage based on a percentage of the opponent's health, their offensive value against bosses is much higher than most other attack options. The biggest drawback to this is that before and after summoning, the player's Adepts will be forced into weaker classes, limiting their offensive and defensive capabilities. Hence the "rush", the player is faced with using up as many summons as possible while their HP is still high, so that they can survive long enough for the Djinni to return to set and finish off the boss. Of course, against specific bosses this strategy is nigh on useless (such as Star Magician, Valukar and the Doom Dragon), but it serves as an effective staple from which the player can add to.

Another, more subtle strategy is the careful use of class setups to take advantage of a boss's weak points. This usually involves the distribution of Djinn to allow an Adept to use more effective Psynergies than would be possible in their base classes, for example changing a Venus Adept to a Ninja in order to make use of certain Jupiter-based Psynergies against an enemy resistant to Venus. In this case, the Adept remains in their best classes, retaining full use of their offensive capabilities. However, this strategy is best effective in later stages of the game, where the amount of Djinn allow access to stronger classes, and where the player has access to the more powerful Psynergies needed to battle effectively. Alternatively, the player may create certain equipment setups designed to take advantage of weapon Unleashes, for example using equipment to ensure a 100% Unleash rate for an Adept wielding the Sol Blade, which has the most powerful Unleash. This technique often ensures higher damage than Psynergy, though still lower than Summons, and ensures that PP is retained for necessary situations. Both styles tend to be more drawn out, and can be severely impeded by Djinn draining attacks, as this eliminates any bonuses.

Bosses in Golden Sun
The following table lists the details of all bosses fought in the original Golden Sun, sorted by order of appearance (in the cases where order of appearance is optional or unclear, they are listed in ascending order of HP).

Bosses in The Lost Age
The following table lists the details of all bosses fought in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, sorted by order of appearance (in the cases where order of appearance is optional or unclear, they are listed in ascending order of HP).