Gilgamesh
This battle is right up there with Cuchulainn and Carrot for most difficult battles so far.
I had two failed attempts before the winning one, and the winning one was so unbelievably close on more than one occasion that it should have been a game over. The first battle ended when i was hit by Stop, which is caused by his basic attacks and which caught me off gaurd because i didn't remember he could do that. The second battle ended when i had him below 20% of his HP and a 10 combo just destroyed me. I was going to give it one more shot before deciding i would come back with the defense of the Maximillion helping me out and somehow i managed a victory. Here's the battle details:
First, I Niho+Remedy Enkidu for the same Sleep and Oil combo as before. Firaga deals 9950HP without Flame Rod... I equip it just because. He also takes about 8000HP damage from poison which helps bring down his much higher HP. It takes about 10 Firaga's to kill him which requires I reapply Sleep because he wakes up before i can cast that many, while also having to cure once or twice from the damage i'm taking from Gilgy.
Gilgy initially hits for 1700HP with Protect active and at this stage only achieves two hit combo's at best. I'm keeping Protect, Haste, Bravery, Faith and Bubble active, and make sure to cast Bubble before it wears off to keep it constantly active. I'm also keeping my Ribbon equipped to prevent Stop. Occasionally he uses all his level spells one after the other, when he does this i switch in Cat Ear Hood just to Speed up my attacks and get in as many as I can but i'm not sure exactly how much difference it makes. After he loses enough HP he starts using Bitter End which hits for 3000HP (With Protect active) and the first time he uses it, he uses it twice in succession without even a second to heal. When his HP drops below 40% I have absolutley no choice but to set up a Gambit to keep Reverse active. His combo's are insane and as his HP drops his attacks deal more and more damage. At this point i have to keep my Indigo Pendant equipped but as I learned in my previous attempt when i was caught without my Ribbon, he doesn't inflict Stop with his physical attacks anymore and instead inflicts Sap... which is the only small break i get.
This is just... insane. If Protect, Bubble or Haste runs out, reapplying them usually brings me within an inch of death. When Reverse runs out I can only pray he doesn't ready Monarch Sword which at first hits for 4100HP, but soon climbs up to 5300HP even with Protect. The trick here, which was the difference between this battle and my previous failed attempt, is in the timing of Reverse. When it's cast, you have time to hit with three attacks before reapplying it, or cast two buffs. Once you've either attacked or buffed try and put as much distance between Gilgy and yourself as you can. This should allow you to charge Reverse and cast it while only taking a single hit from Gilgy. In my last attempt, Reverse ran out three hits into a 10 hit combo and I couldn't recast it before being killed. But that being said, i ran into the same problem here, but managed to recast Reverse with about 300HP left and the next attack in his combo about a fraction of a second away from connecting... and this happens twice. So i barely even made it through. I also had to use an Elixer when i suddenly noticed constant Reverse had robbed all my MP... my fault for forgetting MP actually runs out :P
Alot of this is luck. Not just the bit where i barely escape the clutches of death, but also how often Gilgy combo's, how many hits he gets, how often he blocks my hits and not having Monarch Sword hit when Reverse runs out. The timing trick certainly helped out alot but without a little luck i wouldn't have made it. It's a shame i can't record it though because it would have you sat on the edge of your seat! This battle and the one with Cuchulainn are so incredibly tense, you can't break concentration for second. As you can probably guess, i'm one happy dude right now