Bull. trout. (chapter 8 spoilers)

[Elpizo]

Minor Spoilers for chapter 8:

Yuliana + Ominas + Qada + Mephilia.

Im-smurfing-possible. Qada opens with fire weak, Ominas wipes you out with Firaga dealing 7000+ damage and any of your party members who still miraculously survived are killed by Mephilia doing 9999 damage with Promethean Fire. Qada's fire weak ignores having equiped Fire-nullifying equipment like shields. Even with dual wielding blood-shields and all M-Defence buffs, absorb M-Damage and Barrier Shrouds, they wipe the floor with you in one turn. Reflect rings? Qada's Fire Weak ignores that and Mephilia's Promethean Fire does, too. Auto-shell? Does jack-smurf, Ominas and Mephilia's damage combined still murders you. And this is all before Yuliana can even begin pummeling you with comet.

There is not a damn smurfing thing you can do to win this fight. It is impossible. The game basically cheats. You're dead in one frigging turn, no matter what you do. I'm all for challenge but this is bulltrout. Bull. Trout. With capital B and T.

Smurf this game.

[maybee]

That's what I hated about this game. The first few chapters start off really fair but challenging and the storyline is fantastic, but the last few chapters are a joke with unforgiving bosses and the storyline becomes a joke. I don't hate BD, but this was a huge pet peeve.

They should of made the game short but sweet.

[Fynn]

Ah yes. I remember that fight. The hairs I pulled out then...

It's still perfectly winnable, though

[Elpizo]

Ah yes. I remember that fight. The hairs I pulled out then...

It's still perfectly winnable, though

I'm all ears.

[Fynn]

It's been a long while since I played it, but the method I used involved two pirates using free lunch (a swordmaster ability) and then four amped strikes each to take out Qada before he can do any harm. Of course, unfortunately, the game adds a random variable to the turn order, so whether you make it in time or not still depends on luck. And there's tons of other methods on the Internet. You just need to find the proper ability exploit for you.

[Del Murder]

It's not cheating since this is an optional elite boss fight and not part of the storyline. Also, it's perfectly winnable since people have won it. Elite boss fights are supposed to seem unwinnable. The point is to challenge you beyond your conventional thinking. If you want more straightforward battles, there are plenty in this game.

I actually think it is cool that they have a battle like this for those who are really looking for an extreme challenge. For 99% of us, we just skip it and move on. One of the great things about BD is that it allows the player to play the game like they want to.

[Elpizo]

The thing is that these aren't presented to us as Elite Boss fights. The blue-side quests have always been side-quests, yes, but throughout the entire game they have always been about offering more of the story or opening up new jobs. Not brick walls to bang your head against with the cheapest tactics in the gaming book. Whenever I saw a blue quest on my map, I went to complete it, because that's what the game itself encouraged me to do.

And sure, they're beatable. Doesn't make the employed strategy of one-turn kill any less bull trouty.

[Del Murder]

I think the chapter 8 ones are meant to be elite battles. That's how I took it anyway. I was able to get through all the other optional bosses from the other chapters fairly easily but clearly the difficulty was ramped up for these Chapter 8 fights.

[Fynn]

They certainly are elite boss battles, and the game gives you the tools to "cheat" just as much. You just need to find your exploit.

Spirit masters have some abilities that are incredibly useful in this battle.

[Elpizo]

Need to get the chance to use them, though. =/ With 4 pirates wielding axes two handed I can manage to beat Qada in one turn, but he usually still gets a Fire Weak off even with 30% increased speed so I die anyhow. And even if he didn't, Pirate's MDefence is so weak Mephilia and Ominas don't even need Fire Weak to wipe me out in the four turns I'm defenceless after killing Qada.

[Fynn]

Give one of your peeps the Spiritmaster abilities. From what I remember, one of them completely nullifies elemental damage, so if you manage to place that precisely between the time Qada dies and the time anyone casts a fire spell, you're home free.

Also, try that free lunch trick. If you get two pirates to brave three times, each will cause about 30000 points of damage, and I think Qada has about 40000 HP. Of course, to deal that many, they need to be dual wielding axes.

Also, if you haven't maxed all the jobs with everyone yet, there's really a super easy way to do that, as long as someone has the Conjurer's lv. 14 ability.

[Elpizo]

Everybody's been lvl 80 and mastered all jobs pretty much since I got conjurer. x) Obliterate is overkill.

[Elpizo]

I finally managed to beat this fight, though it took some serious level grinding and a clever set up. I thank Fynn for pointing me towards pirate, as that proved a key point to victory. I'll describe how I did it here just in case someone else ever needs help.

First, everyone has to be lvl 99. I have no idea if lower level setups work, but since you can grind from 83 to 99 in less than an hour using the growth egg + obliterate in the machien room of Grandship, it shouldn't be difficult. Then, once max level has been reached, here's how my party looked:

Agnes
Job: Spiritmaster
Secondary Ability: White Magic

Right hand: Gale Staff
Left hand: Iceflame Shield
Head: Ribbon
Body: Lordly robes
Accesoire: Barrier Shroud
(Vestal Garb)

Support Abilities:
Healing Lore, Magic Critical, Steady MP recover, Absorb M.Damage

Tiz
Job: Pirate
Secondary Ability: Miscellany

Right hand: Giant Axe
Left hand: Iceflame Shield
Head: Red Cap
Body: Crystal Vest
Accesoire: Power Bracers (replace with Hyper Bracers if you have three)
(No costume)

Support Abilities:
P.Attack 30% Up, Speed 20% Up

Edea
Job: Pirate
Secondary Ability: Miscellany

Right hand: Giant Axe
Left hand: Iceflame Shield
Head: Red Cap
Body: Crystal Vest
Accesoire: Hyper Bracers
(Edea's Garb)

Support Abilities:
P.Attack 30% Up, Speed 20% Up

Ringabel
Job: Pirate
Secondary Ability: Miscellany

Right hand: Giant Axe
Left hand: Iceflame Shield
Head: Red Cap
Body: Crystal Vest
Accesoire: Hyper Bracers
(No costume)

Support Abilities:
P.Attack 30% Up, Speed 20% Up

With this setup, your pirates should have 300+ in terms of their right hand attack power without needing dual wielding or two-handed. This ensures that they can equip an Iceflame shield, which will be crucial in protecting yourself from Mephilia and Ominas' Promethean Fire and Firage, respectively. They also should have enough speed to move before Qada can, which'll be vital for the battle to go well, though RNG might be involved with turn order, I'm not sure.

Once the battle starts, you can have Agnes default for the first turn, her role in this fight is entirely supportive. As for Tiz, Edea and Ringabel, have them Brave four times, going full into red. For their first action, have each use Amped Strike and then Mimic themselves four times. Mimic allows them to use an Amped Strike free of any MP costs, allowing you to side-step Pirate's limited MP pool. Have them all target Qada and watch the carnage unfold.

If all goes right, your pirates should be dealing 9000+ damage easily, 9999 for certain when critical, and Qada will go down before he can cast Fire Weak. Mephilia and Ominas will then have you taste Promethean Fire and Firage, which will bounce harmlessly off your characters, since their Iceflame shields will still protect them. In my experience, Yuliana always casts reflect on his allies and himself in his first turn. With Qada out of the way, the Sage will be your only worry left in this fight.

Your pirates will now be defenceless for three turns, but you still have Agnes free to act. Mephilia and Ominas will keep using Promethean Fire and Firaga to no effect, so healing won't be necesary. The biggest concern is Yuliana. When he uses any summons to buff himself, I have Agnes dispel it. This will also remove the reflect from him, amusingly causing Ominas to hurt him when he attempts to reflect Firaga from his party. Have Agnes default twice so she has two brave points, then use three braves to use a Turbo Ether on each of your pirates. Thanks to Healing Lore, this'll restore 300 MP and fully restore their MP pool.

By this point, my pirates were free to act again and Yuliana had not been able to start hitting me with Comet yet. Repeat the same strategy you employed with Qada: have your three pirates go all out in Brave, use Amped Strike and Mimic and you will down Yuliana in one turn before he can do any (more) harm.

At this point, you have basically won the fight. Mephilia and Ominas will keep using Promethean Fire and Firaga, which'll do nothing. Just wait until your pirates are ready again, then either default three times or go all out in brave and wait three turns, whichever you prefer, to pick them off with an all-out assault one by one.

Congratulations, you beat one of the cheapest fights I've encountered in the game so far, without taking even 1 point of damage!

EDIT: this setup also works to beat the fight after this one, against Lord DeRoso, Victoria, Cigma Khint and Fiore Derosa, though a bit more luck may be involved thanks to Victoria's corpse. Agnes' ribbon protected her from all status ailments and she mostly cast arise and esunaga in this fight. We took DeRoso down first and Victoria second. Once those two are gone, it's child's play. Just mind Agnes' health.

[Fynn]

Congrats, man!