It's true that the dueling in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is essentially a game of rock, paper, scissors, with aggressive stance beating sneaky stance, sneaky stance beating defensive stance, and defensive stance beating aggressive stance. However, that doesn't mean there isn't some strategy involved, and in fact, there are often ways players can increase their chances at winning against specific enemies, like the Acromantula boss fight from Year 4 Chapter 16.

In Year 4 Chapter 16 of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, players face off against an Acromantula, which is basically a giant spider. Despite the Acromantula not having a wand, the battle still plays like out like a duel in the game, with players having to counter the spider's stance in order to use a spell. And even at higher levels, it stands as one of the tougher boss battles in the game.

To defeat the Acromantula, it's best that players spam the aggressive stance. The spider almost always uses a sneaky stance, so players should win the majority of their match-ups this way. It's safe to occasionally switch to a defensive stance to heal, but never use sneaky stance. That's because the spider's aggressive attack does significant damage and continues to hurt players over a period of eight turns, so it's just not worth the risk.

If players stick to mostly using aggressive stances and occasionally throwing in defensive stances to heal (we recommend using the healing potion to heal over time, which should cancel out some of the spider's attacks), then defeating the Acromantula should become a matter of patience. Eventually, the spider will be defeated and players will be able to continue the story.

Unfortunately, the story in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery doesn't extend far beyond the Acromantula fight at the time of this writing. Developer Jam City has yet to add Year 4 Chapter 17, so fans will have to wait for the studio to add that chapter to the game along with the beginning of Year 5 before they will be able to continue their adventures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is out now for iOS and Android mobile devices.