Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

How to Beat Cortez

Defeat Cortez in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Chapter 5 with this boss guide. Learn his spectral pirate tactics and phased weaknesses.

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Boss: Cortez

Ahoy there, matey! Prepare for a truly unique boss battle against the spectral pirate captain, Cortez, in Chapter 5. This fight is less about raw power and more about strategic endurance and adapting to his various forms. Cortez has three distinct phases, each requiring a different approach. Make sure you're well-stocked on healing items and have some strong attack badges equipped.

Recommended Setup

  • Partners: Goombella (for Tattle and Multibounce in Phase 1), Koops (Shell Toss for consistent damage), or Flurrie (Lip Lock for healing and damage).
  • Badges:
    • Power Plus / All or Nothing: Boost your attack power.
    • Defend Plus: Reduce incoming damage.
    • HP Plus / FP Plus: Increase your survivability or special attack capacity.
    • Quick Change: Essential for swapping partners efficiently between phases.
    • Charge: Useful for building up powerful attacks.
    • Attack FX R / Attack FX B: While not directly impacting damage, they can make the fight more engaging.
  • Items:
    • Life Shrooms: Crucial for reviving if Mario falls.
    • Super Shrooms / Ultra Shrooms: For significant HP recovery.
    • Jelly Ultra / Lemon Candy: For FP recovery, especially for powerful special moves.
    • Repel Gel: Can offer a turn of invincibility, useful in a pinch.

Phase 1: The Skeletal Captain

Cortez begins as a formidable skeleton, wielding a massive sword and accompanied by three spectral weapons: a sword, a spear, and an axe. These weapons have their own HP and will attack you.

  • Cortez's Attacks:
    • Sword Slash: A powerful single-target attack.
    • Body Slam: Jumps and slams down, hitting Mario and his partner.
  • Weapon Attacks: Each weapon has a basic attack.
  • Strategy:
    1. Focus on the Weapons First: While Cortez is the main target, his weapons can deal significant cumulative damage. Use attacks that hit multiple enemies, like Mario's Jump or Goombella's Multibounce, to clear them out quickly.
    2. Tattle Cortez: Use Goombella's Tattle ability to get his stats. This is important for all phases.
    3. Consistent Damage: Once the weapons are gone, focus all your attacks on Cortez. Koops' Shell Toss is reliable.
    4. Guard/Superguard: Practice your Guard and Superguard timings for his attacks to minimize damage.

Phase 2: The Spirit of the Sea

After defeating his skeletal form, Cortez transforms into a ghostly, floating skull. He will summon three different types of spectral enemies to aid him: a Red Bone, a Green Bone, and a Blue Bone. These bones have varying HP and attack patterns.

  • Cortez's Attacks:
    • Spirit Attack: Fires a projectile at Mario or his partner.
    • Summon Bones: Summons new bones if any are defeated.
  • Bone Attacks: Standard bone attacks, varying slightly by color.
  • Strategy:
    1. Ignore the Bones (Mostly): Unlike Phase 1, the bones in this phase are endless. Your primary goal is to damage Cortez directly.
    2. High Damage Output: This is a good phase to unleash your strongest special moves, like Earth Tremor or Art Attack, if you have enough FP.
    3. Flurrie's Lip Lock: If you're struggling with HP, Flurrie's Lip Lock can be invaluable here, dealing damage to Cortez while healing Mario.
    4. Keep HP Up: Since the bones will constantly attack, ensure Mario and his partner's HP remain high.

Phase 3: The Possessed Weapons

Cortez's final form is a collection of his three spectral weapons (sword, spear, axe) floating independently. These weapons now possess Cortez's remaining HP and are the final targets.

  • Weapon Attacks: Each weapon has a more powerful version of its basic attack.
  • Strategy:
    1. Focus Fire: Concentrate all your attacks on one weapon at a time to eliminate it quickly. This reduces the number of incoming attacks.
    2. Multi-Target Attacks: While focusing is good, if you have a powerful multi-target attack like Art Attack, it can still be effective here to chip away at all of them simultaneously.
    3. Koops' Shell Shield: If you're taking heavy damage, Koops' Shell Shield can provide some much-needed defense for Mario.
    4. Endurance: This phase is a test of endurance. Keep healing, keep attacking, and guard effectively.

Once all three weapons are defeated in Phase 3, Cortez will finally be vanquished, and you'll claim the next Crystal Star!