The Kingdom Hearts 3 Grand Mage trophy/achievement is a weird curio. It’s only a bronze trophy (10G on Xbox One) and, yet, seems impossibly difficult to pull off. But, below, we’ll show you how to use Grand Magic in KH3 so you can utilize the likes of Firaza and Thundaza to your heart’s content and as quickly as possible. We’ll also broach the unfortunate topic of players seeing the KH3 Grand Mage trophy not unlocking too and we’ll fix it, just like magic.
How to use Grand Magic in KH3
Much like hitting a melee combo will bring up different Triangle/Y commands for Sora to use the more he hits an enemy, Sora will also unlock Grand Magic by constantly bombarding a foe with the same magic attacks. You’ll see this represented by arrows on the left-hand corner of your screen above your attack(s) menu. Once you’ve reached three arrows, you’ll be able to pull off a Grand Magic attack.
Using Fire constantly in one fight, for example, will eventually unlock the command of Fira, and Fira begats Firaza when Sora is either a high enough magic level or has the ability to use Firaza through other means.
There are five main Grand Magic attacks that you can unlock and use in Kingdom Hearts 3:
- Aeroza
- Blizzaza
- Firaza
- Thundaza
- Waterza
How to unlock the Kingdom Hearts 3 Grand Mage Trophy quickly
There’s actual a couple of ways to unlock the Grand Magic Trophy fast in Kingdom Hearts 3, even within the opening hours. The first one can be done by all players, and involves lowering the river in Olympus’ Ravine via defeating enemies as part of the story. When that’s done, a chest will be revealed which contain the Water Cufflinks. Equip these in the pause menu and Sora will have the ability to use Waterza as a command throughout the game as long as he continues to wear the item.
Blizzaza and Thundaza can both be obtained by the console-specific pre-order Keyblades. Midnight Blue, the PS4’s exclusive keyblade, comes with Blizzaza as a built-in command, while Phantom Green on Xbox One has Thundaza as a Grand Mage command. Simply hit enough combos with either melee or magic to unlock it.
Riku’s Realm to Darkness sections also offer up a fun and easy way to unlock the Grand Mage trophy. Just spam his Thunder attacks in the magic menu and you’ll eventually be able to pull of Thundaza without too much trouble.
Finally, the Wheel of Fate Keyblade includes the Waterza command and the Happy Ever After Keyblade lets you use Aeroza during fights.
Remember, you have to kill an enemy with grand magic, not just wound it.
Why is the KH3 Grand Mage Trophy not unlocking?
This all seems to stem from a mis-understanding of what is/isn’t a Grand Mage spell. The five listed above count among them, so the likes of Firaga and Thundaga won’t count towards the trophy. You, instead of Donald or Goofy, will also also need to be the one to kill an enemy using the Grand Mage attack.
