The Solo Challenge

[Shin Gouken]

The most epic battle in the game (Ultima)

The unsuccessful attempts. Holyja comes way too fast to attempt to try and switch in my Sages Ring and a quick Redemption followed ending my first attempt. Another ended when I tried to cure Reverse with a Remedy which failed and Renew + Curaja finished me. I had two other failed attempts which were as a result of buffs wearing off at crucial times (Shell on Holyja), and not being able to use X-potions because of the item lock.

First action in the battle is to Dispel her buffs, which I then follow with Niho+Eye Drops for Blind.

After that, it's all a jumbled mess of actions where I attempt to keep on buffs, cure and attack. The methods of which change depending on what field is active. I'll go into a bit more detail on what my basic strategies were during each field phase but mention a couple of things first.

In order to prevent Reverse which is an added affect of Holyja, I have to wear my Ribbon. This means I can't equip my Sages Ring and am forced to take the damage from Holy. It's possible that if I'd remembered to pick up a White Mask, I could have worn that and Ribbon together to absorb Holyja and be protected from Reverse but unfortunately I'd already saved outside Ultima before I'd realised I'd forgotton to get it.

It's impossible to switch in my Ribbon when Holyja appears in the battle log because it's too fast. I tried a few dozen times over the last couple of hours and only once was I able to bring up the menu before it was cast. Because of this I need to keep Ribbon equipped as much as possible, but it's also necessary to equip Nihopalaoa and Pheasnts Netsuke for large portions of the battle which means at some point, Holyja is going to hit you with Reverse.

When this happened to me (When Ultima is at a quarter health and I'm panicking) I had to try and find a way to cure before her next attack hit me. I don't remember what field was up at the time but I remember Haste had worn off and I decided that the 0 charge time of items was where the answer to my problem was. What I decided to do was Equip my Niho and throw an X-potion at myself. I wasn't sure it would work but thankfully, yes it did.

X-potion = Heal
X-potion with Reverse = Damage
X-potion with Reverse and Nihopalaoa = Heal

Last thing to quickly mention. This is the first battle in the challenge that I fought with the lowest speed setting. This is because I'm heavily relying on items. They have a 0 charge time so are unaffected by the slower speed setting, but Ultima's attacks take longer to charge. This was the absolute key to beating her and honestly this would have made some of my earlier battles in the challenge so much easier. 0 charge time and skipping the delay time that follows means I can heal incredabely fast, without this, I'd never be able to cure off Holyja before Redemption. I also use Niho+Eye Dops to inflict Blind on Ultima because she frequently uses physical attacks. She cures it using Blindna on her following turn but because Items have 0 charge time I can inflict Blind and attack before she's charged Blindna and immedietley Blind her again forcing her to cure it again. With perfect timing, it's possible to keep her stuck in this pattern for a short time, until buffs start to wear off and command locks start to interfere.

HP drain - here I just take extra caution with Healing, which I do with Pheasants Netsuke and X-potions. I'm not Blinding her here, instead resuming the physical assault I started the battle with. For the second cycle, I'm refreshing buffs after the Magnetic field stage.

MP drain - I use my MP to recast Bubble and any Buffs which have worn off before it's all gone. If I don't have Shell active before my MP is all gone then I bring out my Shell Shield and suffice with a Deathbringer for damage.

Attack Lock - I Elixer back my MP and use Scourge now and again for damage but I'm more concerned with rebuffing, curing and Blinding Ulty at this stage. From here it's more about staying alive until the MP drain which is the best place to resume my assault.

Magick lock - I'm using items to heal, and I can keep Shell active with my Shell Shield and Haste with Hastaga Motes, but Bubble is extremely important and I can't keep my Bubble Belt equipped because I need Pheasants Netsuke, Nihopalaoa and Ribbon. I have to ensure I recast Bubble during the attack lock phase.

Technick lock - This is basically a chance to recover from magick lock. Remove Shell Shield and try and recast Shell without Holyja interrupting. Refresh Bubble, recast Protect and keep cured with X-potions.

Item Lock - My least favorite! Curing with Curaja is dangerous because it taked three times longer to cast than X-potions, and that's WITH haste. If I need to refresh Haste then I can't use a Hastaga Mote and instead have to cast it the long way. Again, this stage is a case of trying to stay alive and preparing buffs for the next stage.

Magnetic Field - Zodiac Spear and Maxamillion must have huge metal values because using anything other than an item takes about 10 seconds. It's just not possible to use any command because you'll need to X-potion off damage long before you can charge it. So If any buffs wear off you're most likley going to die. Thankfully X-potions have 0 charge time so as long as you're buffed you can easily heal.

I sit through two cycles and make many mistakes along the way (I didn't pre-plan any of this, so often I found myself without a buff at a dangerous time, or having left Pheasants Netsuke equipped when Holyja hit) I chip the last of her HP down after the second HP drain phase after I'd rebuffed and just survived a Holyja. I knew i had a minute or so before another Holyja was due so I equipped the Genji glove and scored a few 2 hit combo's to sneak in a victory before the next attack lock phase.

This was easily the most tricky and complex boss, the most tense and most difficult. I'm level 66 btw. I deliberately came here first because I expected to level up 10 levels while trying to aquire black orbs in the Subterra. If I'd of came here back when I was on level 60 like I was initially going to then I doubt I'd of come out alive. I'm also really glad I stocked up on X-potions because I used a royal load in this battle.

That just leaves Shadowseer and the Bahamut

[Shin Gouken]

Pharos Subterra - I thought I should mention how I aproached the Subterra because it is after all the most dangerous place in the game. The first level is filled with Bunes and the occasional Necrofiend and a few Reavers. Because of the massive damage they can inflict, I pretty much don't stand a chance when there is more than one and they often come with Bravery attached. So I Niho+Remedied Bunes and Reavers to put them to Sleep with various other status ailments then Scourged them to death. Initially I farmed Black orbs here but decided to go down to the next level where I actually found it easier to farm. Dead Bones are easily killed in two hits (With my lovely Cameo Belt helping against their evasion) and they don't hit nearly as hard. Necrofiends are also more common and they too only take two hits. More enemies and easier to beat meant I racked up orbs twice as fast. I fled from enemies on the outer ring and once I had enough orbs I went and activated the four pedastalls on the lowest level, then came back out to save before heading back down to face Shadowseer.

Shadowseer

Not half as bad as I was expecting tbh. His worst trick was of course Invert which when one of his servants is out is almost always an instant death because his servants are always aiming an attack at me when it hits. To maximise my chances of survival, I used the trick I learned when fighting Ultima and set the battle speed to lowest. Enemies take longer to charge their attacks but 0 charge time of Items lets me heal it almost instantly.

Pandemonium only uses physical attacks which with Protect and 0CT X-potions I can easily handle. Niho+Remedy Slows him and I dispel his Protect. When he puts up his Paling to make himself immune to all damage, I take the opportunity to refresh my buffs. Also, by running circles around him I can keep Shadowseer from hitting me with his physical attacks, though as soon as I make an action he catches me up anyway but I save myself from a few hits while I'm waiting out Pandy's Paling.

Slyt was the easiest which I wasn't expecting because the battle with him in the Pharos was tougher than I thought it would be due to his speed and combos. The reason why he was so easy though was because once Niho+Remedy put him to Sleep I left him that way. There have been many Marks and Bosses vunerable to Sleep throughout the game but this is the first time Ive felt comfortable leaving one of them sleeping. Shadowseer doesn't attack while Slyt is asleep (Surely this is a flaw, I thought it was glitched but he does the same thing with Fenrir) Remedy also hits him with Oil so I use Firaga for 9999HP which kills him pretty fast.

Fenrir suffers from the same Sleep weakness as Slyt and as I mentioned, Shadowseer doesn't attack while he's sleeping. He gets hit with Oil to but is immune to Firaga so I use Scourge instead.

It's funny how Pandemonium, Slyt, Fenrir, Pheonix and Shadowseer are all weak to Oil... but even though Fenrir still carries an immunity to Firaga, Pheonix does not. I use Sagittarius and Flame Arrows for 9999HP damage on him. He gets Blind too which saved me from a very close Invert + attack from Pheonix. Stoopid synchronized attacks. He falls pretty quickly thankfully.

I used a couple of elixers to restore MP after Fearga and switched to Pheasants Netsuke when healing and Ribbon to protect from Immobolize and Slow.

When his servants are all dead, the battle gets really.... easy o_O. He spams Flare, Shock, Holy and Scathe and throws in a few physical hits which all hit for really decent damage. The reason it was easy is because these spells have long animation times which gives me 2-3 free hits every he casts them. I simply X-potion between spells because I can't use Items while the animation is playing. Holy even heals me so when he cast that twice in a row I basically just got in about 6-7 free hits. He used Fearga alot too which I completely ignored and just carried on my assault. When I had no MP and couldn't recast Shell, rather than wait for his Scathe to hit then Elixer and recast Shell, I instead equipped my Shell Shield and threw a few Holy Motes at him which delayed his turn because he couldn't cast an animation heavy spell while my animation was playing. He's Holy weak too so that was pretty much game over from him.





Wow, just the Bahamut to go eh

[Wolf Kanno]

You realize you are just going to murder the final boss right?

Maybe to make it harder, you should try to chain a 100 enemies in the final dungeon.

[Shin Gouken]

You realize you are just going to murder the final boss right?

Maybe to make it harder, you should try to chain a 100 enemies in the final dungeon.

Vayne was quite hard actually

Gabranth

Easy of course. He uses Renew halfway through the battle and scored a 10 hit combo when he was one hit away from dying, lucky I had charged up a curaja which healed me mid combo.


Vayne

One hit killed Larse (used Cameo Belt because I remember his tendencey to parry.) Even Vaynes flashiest attacks only average 800HP. He likes to gain a free Haste buff whenever there's a mini cutscene so I Dispel that. I'm hitting for over 9000 damage so this one is easily won.


Vayne Novus

I'm hit with Immoboloize quickly in the battle but it's of little consequence. As soon as the battle starts I two hit kill Gabranth, refresh Bubble and have to recast a few other buffs. Then I equip my Sagittarius Bow to systematically kill each of his Sephira. After Immobolize wears off I re-equip my Zodiac Spear. Again I'm hitting for pretty decent damage so he dies with little incident.


The Undying

This is where it gets hard. He takes a few shots at me and fires off a few spells at the start of the battle. Nothing I can't handle. But when he casts faith I remember his Magick Barrier is coming and try to Dispel it before it activates. I fail and now have to endure his Faith'd spells. Piercing Firaga can be halved with Adamant Hat, Piercing Blizzaga can be halved with an Ice Shield and Piercing Thundaga can be blocked with Rubber Suit. They still hit for upwards of 1700HP even with the corresponding equipment. The problem in this phase is his Piercing Dispelga. If I cast any buff on myself it's instantly Dispelled (Despite the guide not saying anything about Magick = 0 CT under his augments, I can assure you his magicks DO have 0 CT. I suspect it may be caused by the ability "Chain Magick" which he cast before Faith in preperation for his magick phase.) To counter this, I equip the Bubble Belt Renewing Morion and Shell Shield and simply have to make do without Haste and Bravery. I run through my X-potions like crazy because I can't equip Pheasants Netsuke and pretty much only find room to attack during Thundaga spells which I can Block and Dispelga which I can Ignore.

When the Barrier comes down he readies bravery which I know means a physical Paling is going up. Thankfully I can Dispel Bravery because he's no longer immune to magick. His damage is still too high though, well over 2000HP per hit so I put up Protect hoping he's past his Dispel phase... it lasts about 10-15 seconds before he Dispels it off. He's damn fast too, I can barely keep up with healing, despite having slowest battle speed and using 0CT X-potions, I'm just using X-potions constantly to stay alive. However when I randomely block one of his attacks I have a sudden wave of hope and quickly equip my Demon Shield and Main Gauche which has me blocking about 50% of his attacks (Though it should be more like 85% but ah well, who's complaining) I can't damage hi with physical attacks with his Paling up so having a Main Gauche and Shield equipped isn't hindering my attack. I use Scourge to hurt him. I avoid long animation spells like Holy because I'll take 3-4 hits before the animation is finished.

Next he puts up a physical Paling and Maigick Barrier simultaneously and I have no choice but to wait him out. I'm using Curaja to heal now because I'm out of X-potions and I'm saving my Elixers for when I need faster healing when his Shields come down.

At this point my strategy is a direct blend of my two previous strategies. Whenever he readies a spell, I equip my Shell Shield and/or Ice Shield, Rubber Suit and Adamant Hat and whenever he's not I equip Main Gauche + Demon Shield. When the Shields come down I use Scourge to hurt him for about 3000HP. However I bring out my Zodiac Spear on 3 occasions; whenever he readies Thundaga, Dispelga or his new attack Piercing Holy which I absorb with White Mask giving me time for a free hit with Zodiac Spear (Just the one hit, he has 0CT and I have no Haste)

He uses some other nasty attacks like Megaflare, Gigasword and some others, they average a couple of thousand HP when they hit except one which hit for somewhere over 4000HP. Quick X-potions / Elixers quickly follow. Following the above strategy for about half an hour eventually saw him fall =)



Yay, well that's me done. Ive no intention of tackling Zodiark, Omega, Hell Wyrm or Yiazmat. 3 of which are impossible and the other is just almost impossible. But I'm very happy with having come as far as I have. I encourage anyone who wants to give it a try

Highlights are the most difficult battles. Cuchulainn, Gilgamesh and Ultima. Though 1st Demon Wall, Carrot and Shadowseer closely follow.

I'm ready to take a break from FFXII now... for maybe a few months :P I'll be tempted to do a different challenge or if not a challenge then at least a different way of playing it just to keep it interesting (Maybe that Summoner challenge WK mentioned...) But I did mention in the FFX forum I'd like to solo FFX at some point.

Well that's it, no more updates

[Wolf Kanno]

Good job and congratulations on your hard earned victory. Maybe you should try a quick low level battle against Vayne since I'm pretty sure the rest of your party is pretty low level.

[Jessweeee♪]

We're doing a solo file now and we're stuck at the Mandragoras in the Sochen Cave Palace. Sneaky little bastards.

[Shin Gouken]

Is it status ailments or damage that's causing the problem?

I had a Ribbon so I didn't have to worry about status ailments. If you don't have a Ribbon, my advice is to get one =) Rafflesia, Carrot and Wild Malboro will destroy you without one. Ose and their Hell Blasters will probabley cause you massive problems in the Great Crystal. Most late Marks have some kind of status touch too (Behemoth King has Disease touch, Gilgamesh has both Stop touch and Sap touch etc)