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The Picture Frame
May 7, 2026 at 08:19 PM
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The Picture Frame is the final boss of Prologue I, the opening main quest of Neverness to Everness. It is catalogued in the Bureau of Anomaly Control's records as Anomaly R-3707. The fight is the player's first real boss encounter and serves as a guided tutorial for two of the most important combat mechanics in the game: the Parry System (Parry Attack and Critical Riposte) and the Stagger System (Break). The encounter is balanced as an introductory boss, with relatively high HP for a tutorial enemy but no damage spikes that would punish a still-learning player.
The boss takes the form of an animated picture frame inside the Anomalous Realm reached through a portal during the Prologue chapter. After defeat, several unskippable cutscenes play, the player is sworn in as the Eibon Antique Shop's Appraiser, and the city of Hethereau opens up for free exploration.
Field | Value |
|---|---|
Anomaly Code | R-3707 |
Encounter Location | Anomalous Realm (entered via picture frame portal during Prologue I) |
Quest | |
Element Weakness | |
Element Resistance | None - the boss takes normal damage from all other elements |
Tutorial Mechanics Taught | Parry Attack, Critical Riposte, Break |
Difficulty Tier | Tutorial - designed as an easy first boss |
Prologue I uses a pre-defined party rather than the player's own roster. The boss fight makes the most of the party that the prologue hands the player by leaning on Anima damage to exploit the Picture Frame's element weakness.
Mint - Mint is the only Anima character in the prologue party. Use her on field to take advantage of the boss's Anima weakness and to trigger the Anima reaction during damage windows.
Esper Zero - Esper Zero is the protagonist and stays in every party. Cosmos damage feeds reaction setup and chains cleanly with Mint's Anima follow-ups.
Tutorial roster - earlier prologue tutorial battles in New Helios use Lacrimosa, Skia, and Fadia in separate scripted encounters before the boss. These do not transfer into the boss fight but introduce movement, dodging, and ultimate attacks.
The Picture Frame is built around two mechanics that the rest of the game will keep using long after the prologue: parries and breaks. Both have on-screen prompts during the fight, and clearing the boss with high efficiency mostly comes down to landing parries and pushing the white stagger bar to zero.
Parry Attack - tap the parry button at the moment a telegraphed enemy strike connects. A successful parry stops the hit, recovers a small amount of stamina, and opens a counter window.
Critical Riposte - press the follow-up attack during the parry window to land a Critical Riposte. The riposte deals enhanced damage and contributes extra Break value to the boss's stagger bar.
Break - the boss has a stagger bar that depletes from sustained damage and faster from heavy/Anima/parry hits. When the bar empties, the boss enters a Break state that exposes a damage window for several seconds.
Anima focus - lean on Mint for as much of the damage rotation as possible. Anima hits do bonus damage thanks to the boss's element weakness and close out Break windows faster.
Completing the Prologue I boss encounter delivers a bundle of opening-act rewards into the player's mailbox and inventory. The exact yield includes:
Hunter EXP: 500 feeds the Hunter Level track
Annulith - small launch-day premium currency drop
Fons - city currency for City Tycoon investments
Beetle Coins - general progression currency for shops
Crafting materials and consumables tied to the prologue chest opens
Once the Picture Frame is defeated and the cutscene chain finishes, several gameplay systems unlock that were gated behind the prologue:
The full city of Hethereau opens for free exploration on foot, by glider, and by vehicle.
Daily content unlocks once the player progresses through Prologue Part 2: see the Daily Routine Guide for the full daily loop.
Anomaly Commissions become available through the Bureau of Anomaly Control and the Eibon Antique Shop commission boards.
The launch event chain, including the Anomaly Hunter's Journey milestone track, becomes claimable.
Practise the parry timing on the trash mobs that lead up to the Picture Frame. The same input timing carries straight into the boss's telegraphed strikes.
Save Mint's Ultimate for the Break window. Anima Ultimates dropped during a Break amplify the damage burst and shorten the rest of the fight significantly.
Watch the white bar above the boss's HP bar. That is the stagger bar; pushing it to zero opens the Break window where the boss takes increased damage.
If the parry timing feels off, use Critical Dodge (a perfectly timed dodge in the same window) as a backup. Both options open damage windows and slow the action briefly.
Ignore the rest of the encounter's flavour gimmicks for the first clear. The fight is forgiving enough that focusing on parries and Anima damage clears it cleanly.
