FF4 Final Boss help & tips? (spoilers)

[cat121212]

Can anyone give me some help or good strategys for beating the final boss? He's giving me real trouble in general.. My party's lvls are around the late 50s but his attacks are very powerful and my Healer (Rosa) just can't keep up with the damage Zeromus is dishing out, do i need to grind some more? (i'm playing the Complete Collection version)
Thanks for any help you can give

[Wolf Kanno]

You may need to level up a bit.

Anyway, during the first phase of the Zeromus fight, before he transforms into his final form that uses Big Bang, have Edge steal the Dark Matter from him, this item will make the damage of Big Bang fluctuate so it doesn't kill you every turn. Afterwards, use the Crystal to start the real fight...

Cecil - Should mostly attack but do back up healing and reviving.
Kain - Jump and back up healer with items.
Rosa - Should Haste herself and Rydia, then heal every round with Curaga so you don't blow through your MP. Don't bother with too many buffs cause Zeromus has a move that resets them.
Rydia - should cast Slow, then Bahamut, Flare, or Meteor. I don't know if they altered their MP and casting time like previous ports, but one of these three spells should do.
Edge - Should throw any weapons or Shuriken you have in your inventory. Excalibur, the Kitchen Knife, and the Shuriken will usually do anywhere from 5000-9999hp of damage so don't worry about holding back.

Zeromus will use:
Black Hole - negate any debuff on him and buffs on your party
Bio - Heavy Non-elemental Poison damage, causes the Sap status effect.
Meteor - Oddly enough, only targets one party member for massive non-elemental damage
Big Bang - Massive non-elemental Gravity attack that fluctuates in damage if your party has the Dark Matter item. He will use this attack a lot

Chances are Edge and Rydia will die often, revive Rydia first and only revive Edge if you aren't taking too much damage cause he's a glass cannon, and your party is better off trying to take Zeromus down quickly rather than fight a war of attrition.

[Evastio]

Personally, I usually just keep trying and hope that Big Bang doesn't wipe out crucial characters.

But approaching this methodically, I heard that Zeromus uses attacks like Tornado and Flare only as a counter to magic. So basically, Rydia shouldn't be using attack magic if you aren't able to handle Zeromus' counterattacks (this includes Bahamut). I don't know that for sure, but I heard that from quite a few sources. Rydia should probably stick to using Asura if you don't want to risk getting hit by Zeromus' counterattacks. He doesn't counter physical attacks, so you can use that to your advantage. Also, I remember reading that Zeromus' shaking indicates that he is about to use Big Bang, so that might help in predicting and preparing for it.

On a side note, keep in mind that your file is still playable even after you defeat the game, so if you're throwing weapons with Edge, make sure that they aren't lost forevers (eg: Excalibur, Gungnir, Knife, etc). Any type of Shuriken is okay since you can buy them at Kokkol's shop (located in the underworld near the southeast corner).

[cat121212]

wow, I didn't expect such a speedy response! Thanks!
Around what lvl should my party be at?

[Wolf Kanno]

I'd say Lv. 60 is ideal. If that's not working, then just level until Rydia learns Meteor.

[Goldenboko]

Assuming that the Complete Collection works like the GBA version, let every die except Rosa and Cecil. This will make Rosa's healing amplified on those two, and you'll slowly take him down with Cecil.

[cat121212]

*sigh* I need to get off my ass and start grinding again =__=''

[cat121212]

Thanks for the tips, I beat him! The ending was great!!

[Darth Cid]

I'd say Lv. 60 is ideal. If that's not working, then just level until Rydia learns Meteor.

Meteor takes too long, my dad used Meteor (Meteo as it was called) when I was a little kid and we were playing the Super NES port, I've discovered summoning Bahamut in the long run seems to do more in 2 turns than waiting on 1 turn for Meteor, though I'll admit level grinding to 60 or higher is a good idea.

On another note for the future people needing advice, Big Bang does damage and gradually damages the party little by little, so Big Bang and hiting him with magic causing him to counter with Tornado will KO a party member instantly, so watch when you use magic on him if you do.

[Roogle]

Cecil - Should mostly attack but do back up healing and reviving.
Kain - Jump and back up healer with items.
Rosa - Should Haste herself and Rydia, then heal every round with Curaga so you don't blow through your MP. Don't bother with too many buffs cause Zeromus has a move that resets them.
Rydia - should cast Slow, then Bahamut, Flare, or Meteor. I don't know if they altered their MP and casting time like previous ports, but one of these three spells should do.
Edge - Should throw any weapons or Shuriken you have in your inventory. Excalibur, the Kitchen Knife, and the Shuriken will usually do anywhere from 5000-9999hp of damage so don't worry about holding back.

Zeromus will use:
Black Hole - negate any debuff on him and buffs on your party
Bio - Heavy Non-elemental Poison damage, causes the Sap status effect.
Meteor - Oddly enough, only targets one party member for massive non-elemental damage
Big Bang - Massive non-elemental Gravity attack that fluctuates in damage if your party has the Dark Matter item. He will use this attack a lot

This looks good. I wanted to correct some minor points:

• Rydia cannot cast Slow. Instead, have Rydia use a Spider Silk. A Spider Silk is a more powerful version of the Slow spell.
• Black Hole does not seem to negate Slow entirely. In the recent port to PSP, I noticed that Zeromus was still glowing white even after having used Black Hole. This may be a graphical error.

[Wolf Kanno]

Darth Cid - I only said to level up to the point that Rydia learns Meteor cause usually once your character learns their last ability, that's usually a good indication that you've reached the level needed to win the game. In the SNES version, its possible to beat Zeromus without Rydia ever learning Meteor, whereas in the actual true version, I would advise to get 5+ levels after the level Rydia learns Meteor cause Zeromus is a douche.

Roogle - I keep forgetting she doesn't learn Slow, I blame the fact she learns the Time Magic spell Stop for my confusion...

[Giga Guess]

I'd say Lv. 60 is ideal. If that's not working, then just level until Rydia learns Meteor.

Meteor takes too long, my dad used Meteor (Meteo as it was called) when I was a little kid and we were playing the Super NES port, I've discovered summoning Bahamut in the long run seems to do more in 2 turns than waiting on 1 turn for Meteor, though I'll admit level grinding to 60 or higher is a good idea.

On another note for the future people needing advice, Big Bang does damage and gradually damages the party little by little, so Big Bang and hiting him with magic causing him to counter with Tornado will KO a party member instantly, so watch when you use magic on him if you do.

This is very true (Not to mention it uses less MP.) However, by the time Rydia learns Meteor, there's no question your party should be strong enough to take Zeromus by storm. Wait until you learn Meteor, not use Meteor I believe is the sentiment here.

[Reaca]

I have my characters leveled up to about 70 each, then I do this:
Cecil- Attack rapidly
Kain- Jump rapidly
Rosa- Nothing but heal
Rydia- Bahamut and Asura when needed
Edge- Throw everything and then attack when out of throwing items