That was intense. Ive been fighting shinryu all day and losing quite badly. Ive tried strategy after strategy and though some seemed hopeful, they didn't cut it against the god of dragon.... until the last one that is. Funny thing though coz i tried this strategy first and it failed.

I said i'd beaten him before today with just a single player but this was different. He just seemed impossible this time round and i can't even work out how i pulled it off the last time.

Anyway i'll tell you how i beat him the first time, then some strategies i tried (which were brilliant) and then i'll tell you how i beat him.


The first time i beat him (which was a few days before i began this challenge many moons ago) I don't remember exactly what i had equipped or how i was set up however i do remember roughly the strategy. I entered battle with masamune and strato and used Sshot for the initial strike. After tidal wave i used Sshot again. After being hit it was a simple case of changing my weapons for two bloodswords so i could keep up the onslaught of attacks without stopping to heal. I was level 51 and i beat him after a longish battle.

This time im level 49 and shinryus speed is just crazy compared to how it was in the last battle.

After a couple of test runs i decided the battle couldn't be won without two things... Haste and Blink. A physical attack is enough to kill me depending whether im standing in the front row or not and shinny was letting out those physicals like there was no tomorrow (twice in a row not uncommen.)

However having time magic and white magic as abilities just to keep me alive left no room for attacking. (him absorbing Holy and Meteo having next to no effect on most occasions) So i looked at the only job ability which could provide both forms of support magic. MIX! Thank you to Game faqs for the mix chart.

With mix i could mix two items together for haste as well as creating attacks like dragon armour and dragon power to raise my defence and levels. I got a kick in the teeth though when i tried to find the items i needed to make these attacks. I had plenty of dragon fangs and dark matters.... what i needed was turtle shells and i looked everywhere for them in world three. I gave up looking for them but i stuck with using the idea of MIX.
I had one turtle shell which was enough to cast haste, then cast resist bolt (which let me absorb his thunder attack, also his atom ray is nulled by my coral ring) I stayed safely in the back row and cast giant drink, dragon armour and dragon power. This was aided by Quick time magic so i could fire out all this protection as fast as i could. But his physicals were too much (i actually lost by level 3 flare on one attempt from casting dragon power :/)
I put MIX with Sshot and bloodswords for faster damage and easy healing but that failed too.
Then i used a Mime with MIX, white6 and Time6. Cast quick then haste, then Blink, shell, protes, giant drink, resist bolt, dragon armour and dragon power. Which was made very easy because shinryu failed with evil eye, mealstrom and roullette while i set this up. Re-cast Blink and i looked all set until i realized i couldn't hurt the bastard. Dark flare hit for just under 3000 but i could only cast it twice. Then it was a simple case of me not having the item command and no items that can be mixed to make MP restorative items. No MP lead to death.

There were a couple of crazy attempts where i thought winged shoes would be more beneficial than coral rings (and me using Jump to avoid his tidal wave) but that attempt was over quicker than any other.

SO here it is. The spur of the moment strat which has served me in the past and never fails (exept that first time i tried it)

Bare handed fighter with Sshot and time magic. Entered battle with masamune and rune axe so i had priority over tidal wave. I cast quick then haste then fired away with my first Sshot. Masamune hit for 1000HP and 2200-2500HP with a critical. Rune axe varied but never went below 1000HP and ventured as high as 3000HP. Tidal wave healed as it does when one is equipped with a coral ring. I then cast Quick and hit away with two more Sshots. Shinny tried a level 3 flare and mealstrom and i cast quick and two final Sshots to finish him.

I guess hitting hard and fast works better than a well thought out strategy


Just so you know where i am at and how things are looking....

In the cleft of dimension i mastered a thief (no idea why :s) i mastered a ninja (for the auto 2-swords on a bare class fighter) learned time6, white6, sword6, jump lance, mix and maybe one or two others that i cant remember. I fought a few Movers (though mostly i was unable to kill them before they delta'd me to stone) Movers left enough money to buy three elixers so i ventured out and bought 10 with some cash to spare. Im not sure i'll need them after all but it doesn't hurt to have them. Ive been killing enemies in the X-zone by abusing the summon command and magic lamp (behemoths and maximus's are easily vebgesworded though there have been incidants where the behemoths counter javelin with meteo and kill me. necromancers are weak to leviathan and bahamut kills the crystelles and mind flares)

Omega is next and im much less worried about him then i have been. Of course the only way to beat him with a single character is to one-hit-K.O him as there is no way a single target can survive all his counters. This may require me to level up... or use dragon power. If i level up i will be disatisfied as i'd like to finish the challenge on below level 50... and if i use dragon power then i can't use either Sword! or Sshot as a bare cant have three abilities and a mime can't equip swords so Eqsword would need it's third ability slot. Anyway i think ragnarok and braveblade with bolt3 cast on them and Sshot will be enough. If the worst should happen tho i will gladly take suggestions :s