---
Titan’s Trials
-Back to the Trials!
-Last session definitely helps. Double Army of One on a staggered Borgbear Hero is smooth.
-E3 (the third trial boss) coming up, “Unfocused Rage.” The boss is Raktavija. Immune to death.
-The first two attempts don’t go well. It blasts me with magic. It’s immune to physical attacks unless staggered.
-Swapping up my party to from Lightning, Sazh, and Vanille to Fang, Hope, and Vanille. A full sentinel in the mix and stronger healing. Also, equipping more magic and wind resist.
*six tries later*
FHDSJKOFDHSLFKDSHDFJKLS FINALLY HOLY SHIIIIIT, THAT WAS SO TOUGH!
-Raktavija was so brutal, but as I thought, it was about finding the right strategy.
My paradigms that fight focused on staying buffed up and switching to Combat Clinic every whenever Raktavija used Multicast (often taking Hope’s and Vanille’s health super low). Once I was safe, go to Relentless Assault and Mystic Tower to build the chain gauge.
She was super weak when staggered as long as I kept Pain up on her. Otherwise, she’d slow me down and negate my damage during that phase.
Oh my god that was such a draining fight.
-Titan sucks me into his paw and ports me back to the beginning.
First final challenge complete. WHEW.
-Next ending trial fight I’m trying is E2, “On Silent Wings.” A Zirnitra, one of the flying things that mopped the floor with me last time.
-As expected, it wipes me out.
-Okay, let’s try a defensive “Death” set-up.
HFDJKLSFHDJKLSFDS JESUS THAT TOOK FOREVER. 40 minute fight. I got it, Death worked, but 40 frigging minutes.
At first, I tried keeping up all three debuffs – imperil, deshell, deprotect – but that was too unreliable. Settled for landing two debuffs before trying death.
It was all I could do to stay alive and buffed.
-Ooh, got a “Dragoon Lance!” I don’t have the gil to buff it up, but I’m NOT selling this thing. If I find a way to farm gil, I’m really curious what it eventually transforms into.
-Also got access to Gilgamesh Inc. a new weapon shop – though I doubt I’ll buy anything there this run.
-The next ending trial is E4, “The Abyss Stares Back.” A Verdelet. I’m worried what it’ll summon.
-Huh. That was surprisingly easy compared with the other ending trials. They were regular verdelets that summoned a single tonberry before I took them out.
-My reward is a twenty-sided die. “Very rarely nullifies damage of any given type.” Sounds not that great compared to any other resistance accessory, though I’m curious about upgrading it maybe later.
-E6, is “Road to Predation.” A humbaba. Child’s play! Nailed my strat down from fighting them in Eden.
-E5 next, “Tyrannicide.” Another blast from the past. I fought Tyrants back in Taejin’s Tower.
-Whew. That just leaves Neochu.
-I can’t debuff her much except for Imperil and Death. Let’s go with Plan: Death.
-Imperil at least increases the chances of kill her outright from 1/100 to 1/50. Def worth keeping up.
-Woot! Got it. I feel cheap, but again – the game gave me this option by making him vulnerable.
-I thought that was it, but apparently not. A new “????” trial awaits. That would make sense. I completed now through Mission #50, and in the open world I discovered missions #52-62. Mission #51 must be the final FINAL trial or whatever.
Predicting this to be a scaled down version of Titan.
-Yes! In the penultimate Faultwarrens path, a new Cie’th stone appears. “Attacus, the Soulless.”
TITAN: “L’Cie exist outside the natural order. Should their strength fail them, they become the mindless foes of life itself.” I LOVE his voice.
-Titan summons a behemoth, when we see the most badass looking Cie’th posing on a cliffside. That must be Attacus. He charges the behemoth and dices it up.
Attacus hoisting the corpse of the fallen behemoth.
I love his design! He moves in a way that’s more human than monster.
-Okay, let’s check it out. Can cast Deprotect and Deshell. Powerful magic and physical attacks. Immune to death, slow, defaith, debrave, imperil, poison.
-He has so much health, and during a phase midway through, he uses an ability that even in Sentinel one-shots me.
-Btw, I adore his phase transitions. They remind me of the Smelter Demon in Dark Souls 2, or Lady Maria in Bloodborne. Upgrading by impaling themselves.
-Trying again, but this time using Elude in Sentinel form when it does the super attack in phase 3.
-FUCK FUCK FUCK, he still got me. I was too slow on pressing Elude.
-Got much closer next attempt, dying to Doom.
That was my fourth attempt, and I’m done. I think I could do better with more attempts and more paradigm refinement, like with a double Commando paradigm for the ending phase to kill him quicker.
Right before dying on my final attempt.
I just don’t have the heart to sit through the first parts of the fight just to test new strats for the end. It’s so long.
[Later edit: I was pretty discouraged on writing this. In hindsight, I feel proud for how far I got on these challenges. I’m not an especially great or creative gamer, and this felt like I pushed myself well.]
---
I’m ready to move on. Don’t really feel the need to try the various Neochus, Zirnitras, etc. awaiting me in missions #52-#62. Would also feel weird moving onto those without having finished #51.
I doubt try Gran Pulse again soon. Really looking forward to hearing and seeing what strats people use to 100% this game – their paradigms, their weapons, their gil and CP farming, all of it.
Will try to find a good LP after I finish up.
---
Next time: returning to the heart of Cocoon.
