Deltarune Chapter 5 Guide: How to Beat Aqua and Seth
Trying to flatter Seth into submission is a complete trap that only prolongs an encounter built entirely around raw endurance.
Aqua and Seth show up to stop you from foiling Flowery's plans, bringing a tag-team dynamic to the battlefield. If you're aiming for a complete pacifist run, this fight tests your patience. You can't speed things up by picking the perfect ACT command. Flattering Seth does absolutely nothing because they just throw your compliments away. You simply have to survive for five or six turns until their partnership falls apart.
Surviving The Tag Team
The first four turns are rough. The game tracks your past mistakes and opens with whichever attack gave you the most trouble during the earlier solo fight with Aqua. For me, it was the knife fan that scatters into three separate blades. Seth makes it worse by tossing an explosive into the mix to shrink your safe zones.
If you get pinned by the knife fan, move your SOUL directly to the spot where the attack originated. Slipping into that origin point keeps you safe from the secondary spread. You'll also have to deal with Aqua's lily pad chunks. Don't try to jump over the blue balls. Hit the lily pads dead on so you bounce in an arc, and keep your eyes focused on the right side of the screen to anticipate your landing. If charging your dash keeps getting you hit, spam your dash input (Z on a keyboard or A on a controller) instead to maintain tighter control.
By the second or third turn, Aqua drops a little rubber duck into the bullet board. It's cute, but ignore it entirely so you don't catch an explosive while looking at a toy.
The Solo Seth Phase
After four turns of you stubbornly surviving, Aqua gets bored. She decides she's tired of using the same moves, goes rogue with a random attack, and then abandons the fight altogether. This leaves an angry Seth alone in the arena. Keep using your ACT commands on Seth while they dodge your compliments.
Seth eventually unleashes their ultimate attack. The container spins rapidly while green words fly in from the sides. Those green words heal you, but they act as pure bait. They are devil letters placed in highly dangerous spots to tempt you into making a fatal mistake. Don't charge your dash here. Stick to quick taps to maneuver and only grab the green words if they fall directly into your lap. Seth repeats this ultimate attack a second time at a faster speed before getting dizzy and calling Aqua back to help them escape.
TP Management And Inventory
This fight will drain your TP economy if you go in unprepared. Relying on Heal Prayer is a trap because it eats the meter you need for other actions. When in doubt, use the Defend command to mitigate incoming damage and generate TP. It's fine if Ralsei takes a dirt nap during this fight, but you need to keep Kris and Susie on their feet.
If you're broke, backtrack to the fields and farm regular encounters for Flowery Dollars. Once your wallet is full, head to the hub area and stack your inventory with these specific items:
Green Tea: Buy this at Green's shop. It serves as your best standard option for keeping health bars topped off.
Cafe Sodas: Grab these from the soda fountain. Using them on the correct character heals 200 HP and restores 16 percent of your TP, letting you skip a turn of defending.
Oranges: These serve as a cheaper alternative for reviving a downed party member if you run out of ReviveMints.
