Hall of Tranquility (Day 241)

It's really a feat to still be playing Final Fantasy V after two months, but I do have one excuse: Final Fantasy XII. I played and was thrilled by the gambit system and killer graphics. Yes, it was a big contrast. I beat it in about 70 hours, but I know there are a lot of items left in Ivalice for me to find. But back to the task at hand.

The road to the Bonus Dungeon is long, as expected. I know now that these things are just as long as the game itself. I got in there at level 67 and was highly under-leveled for the area. After hours of leveling, I reached level 70.

The first boss, the Grand Aevis killed me three times. Turning my guys into zombies really bugged me. Finally, after getting my guys up to 9000 HP, I was able to survive long enough to beat him at level 71.

The second boss, Archeodemon, is a push-over. Casting Bahamut on him while sending guys with !Rapid Fire will quickly finish him off.

The third boss, Omega Mk.II, was actually not so bad. I was pretty well leveled, and I had two guys with !Rapid Fire and !Sword Magic. By now I have designated characters: two swordsmen, and two mages. The mages are Mimes equipped with !White, !Time, and !Summon. Dual-casting with the Quick spell is a must! Omega Mk. II is tough because he has changing barriers, but all you need is that one hit with !Rapid Fire (either Thundaga, Firaga, or Blizzaga). Eight hits of 9999 will surely kill it.

The fourth boss, Neo Shinryu, is a monster of a boss. His evasion is the highest in the game. You will barely hit him, he dodges the Meteor spell, and on some cases, he will dodge Bahamut's Megaflare. What can he do in return? Everything that Shinryu has and Almageist, a spell that does 7500+ damage to everyone; this means you better have a dragoon in the air when you are about to defeat it. How did I do it? I had four guys with over 9000 HP. I had two guys that jumped, but without any Dragon Whispers. I had the Spear of Longinus and the Holy Lance, but I ended up with using just swords. Holy Lance was useless because it actually heals Neo Shinryu. My strategy? My mages kept at it with Bahamut and occasionally Golem for defense. I used three elixirs because they ran out of MP, but in the end I got it done; at level 76. My reward, Ultima Weapon. So long dragon god. By the way, Shinryu means "true dragon" or "new dragon"... so New true dragon? Odd.

Enuo is next, the one that started it all.

the Deaths Continue (day 222)

As the defeat of Shin-Ryu marks the end of the most difficult boss in Final Fantasy 5, I had nothing left to do but beat the game. Yes, I fought Ex-Death. He was attached to a giant tree and turned into something with with four body parts. It was a hell of an easier fight than dealing with Shin-Ryu. For one thing, Ex-Death didn't have any attacks that can wipe out all four of you. Next it's evasion was not impossibly high. I beat him by summoning Bahamut over and over, while healing and using Quick to do double casts. He dies, we return to the earth, and see a long cut-scene. The crystals' strength is restored and the elements return to the earth. The girls become princesses, our lonely hero wanders off, Krile visits his grandfather grave. We see them all get back together and well, it ends.








No, it doesn't end. I'm still stuck in a rut. There is an earthquake undersea and another "Sealed Temple" surfaces. I am definitely under-leveled here. I beat the Gil Turtle the second time, but the fact that there aren't many consecrated save spots around makes it really hard. Until the finishing of the end game, I'll be fighting.

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• Game Time: 36 Hrs and 4 mins (+55 mins lost time)
• Days: 212
• 11 Gameovers
• Charred by Lasers from the "Soul Cannon"
• Killed by Gil turtle
• Killed by Gil turtle's quake
• Killed by Possessed Crystals
• Killed by Possessed Crystals again!
• Nuked by Bahamut's Mega-flare
• Bashed by Twintania in the Castle within the Rift
• Poisoned by Shin-Ryu in the Crystal Palace
• Drowned by Shin-Ryu in the Crystal Palace
  


• Nuked by Shin-Ryu in the Crystal Palace
  


• Burned by Dark Elementals in the sealed Temple
  

Shin-Ryu the Dragon God (Day 212)

It's been a long time since I returned to this blog, and it's not without reason that I left for so long. The truth is, I got to the end of Final Fantasy V awhile ago, but I had to defeat Shin-Ryu in the crystal palace - and that's not easy. This is definitely the hardest boss in the game, and one of the hardest bosses in all of Final Fantasy. Let's not forget his return in Final Fantasy 10. But anyway, the strategy begins.

Firstly, I don't have four coral rings, I have two. This makes it really hard because his Tidal Wave attack hits 8000 damage. Surviving the first wave meant I had to do reviving for two of my other characters. His other attacks include Poison cloud that does 800 - 1500 damage, Ice Storm that does 2 - 3000 damage, Heat Ray that does 3 - 4000, and Lightning, which causes 1 - 2000 damage on all. In addition to all that, he does Mighty Guard on himself and hits from 2500 - 4000. His evasion is only second to Omega Weapon, but still it isn't impossible.

Now I was level 46 when I first fought him, and I realize that it can not be done at that level. I had all the spells, but there just weren't enough HP. Sooner or later he'd hit you and you'd die flat. I read some strategies, but they all involved four Coral rings and having Dragon Whisker spears; which was a no go. My recourse? Back to leveling up. After dying a couple of times, yes it was humbling and agonizing, I decided that I had to go back to the castle and level up. I powered up my Canoneer job so that I can get the "EXP UP" for two of my characters. It wasn't that hard with Iron Giants walking around giving 2500 exp each (Use Odin and slice him up). I decided to stop when all my characters were level 50. It wasn't enough, but it was a difference.

The new fight against him meant a new strategy. I turned off the active battle configuration and set it on wait. It's a bit of cheating, but I really couldn't think fast enough to fight this boss. Next I set my characters to Gladiator (!Finisher, !Throw), Knight (!Cover, !Throw), Summoner (!Summon, !Time), and Mime (!White, !Black, !Time). I took off my Genji gear and put on Ice Shields and Diamond armor to fend off ice and lightning.

Now the one thing that really helped me out was the "Berserk" spell. Place it on him and he will not use spells for a couple of rounds. Next every time my mages' turns were up I'd use "Quick" so that I can use two spells. The warriors just threw Fuma Shurikens, which I used 10 of. It was a tough battle, but I defeated him after all the healing, reviving, and ninja stars.

Next update: the End Game.

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• Game Time: 33 Hrs and 6 mins (+30 mins lost time)
  


• Days: 212