I got the Telethia. The really annoying thing is this level 31 UM Igna in the Exile Fortress. 5 levels up and he still just kicks any group i throw at him's ass. And it's just him, because even though there are lots of Igna with him, none of them can even touch any of my people (unless toppled). It's maddening

Anyway, at Alcomoth (or whatever it's called) now, and have seen this Tyrea and Lorithia everyone complains about. Someday soon i'm sure i'll learn to hate them with all of my heart too.

Try Sharla Reyne and Shulk. I can´t recall such a tough boss fight in this game.

That boss is actually extremely useful for learning the game's mechanics: I like to think of him as being the earliest tutorial on useful abilities and strategies that you've been overlooking. He's hard. But there are several ways to stop him. Dunban's pretty good at dodging most of his attacks, especially with Agility Up gems. His Tempest Kick ability also removes that boss' crazy buff, which is a huge help, as that stat is what lets the boss spam his high-damage special attacks. Dump Serene Heart on Dunban too; it'll defang the boss for its duration.

If you've levelled up Shulk's Monado Shield ability to III, he can also block the enemy's stronger arts; spam it if you're feeling insecure, since you don't always get a warning vision. It's a good idea to control Shulk directly, since the boss' strongest art has a longer casting time than usual: just make sure to keep an eye on the boss so you can see it! And while I don't remember what it's called, you'll know it when all three party members are blasted for 1000+ damage, with daze.

Sharla's Tranqulizer is also effective this fight, since the boss is susceptible to it and sleep resets an enemy's arts counter. Just don't rely on it too much, since it can miss. Also be aware that the boss is easy to daze, which also resets that counter. It's up to you whether you want to chain attack him into daze status, or save up for vision warnings/revivals.

But really, once you take out his crazy status, the rest of the fight is quite easy.

"levelled up Shulk's Monado Shield ability."

yup, forgot you could do that. Does that work from the same menu as the others, or is there some trick to it? Now that you mention it, i remember them explaining the finer points of the skill way back when, but i forgot what they said. Also explains why that ability stopped working on me like 10 in-game hours ago.

That is the problem with this game, as it's almost too in-depth. Just today i discovered that you get rewards for filling out the collectipedia, because i had never bothered to touch that menu :/

Same menu, but click on the Monado's icon (the big one in the middle) to access all the Monado abilities, including Shield.

That should put me back in order for the fights boss fights at least, thanks.

Yup. Don't forget Speed either, and upgrading Purge increases its length by 2 seconds for each level, very useful! 

What I don't get is why people don't explore all the menus. It's not that hard...

Also, you're at Alcamoth, correct? Don't worry about all the quests; there's pleny of time yet! 

I'm currently playing through the "other" capital ATM, and I'd forgotten just how...epic...it feels. The music, the environment, the storyline in that area...everything feels to fall into place for me there. Makes the awesome trek to there worth it.

FINALLY! I've managed to find 2 Rainbow Slugs after searching for (what feels like) forever, and I got them one after the other!

Now time to finish Colony 6. Don't remember having this issue the first time through :/

I'd gotten burned out on the motif by that area. I wish they'd gone with some more variety in that area or the one before it: as it is, by the time you reach there you've seen the same theme for three areas straight. It's the only time when they repeat like that, which is disappointing.