Boss
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Pic
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Strategy
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Optimal Gear
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Rec' Level
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Location
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Goddess
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Goddess starts the fight by using Holy against a single person which causes high damage. Most of her attacks will either be Charm or Slap (random Stun, Curse or Mute). If your party has protection against both then all you need to do is worry about her use of Holy and double attack. If not, make sure to use Remedies and Panacea to keep your team operational. She can also use Whisper to inflict Piggy on the whole party at once. As the battle goes on, Goddess will start using Cure 3 which can be used to your advantage if you cast Wall on her (similar to Asura). This will cause her to heal your team while you continue to pile on the damage: Kain jumps, Edge throws high-level weapons, Rydia summons Bahamut, Rosa can Cure or use Ultima and Cecil acts as a healing tank. Remember that Piggy disables magic but not other commands like Throw, so if the status doesn't interfere with what you're trying to do, don't bother wasting turns healing it.
With protection from Charm, this can be one of the easiest fights because Holy doesn't hit more than one character at a time and Charm is ineffective so a setup that protects against both can make this fight much more manageable.
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Anything that can offset Charm (Headbands and/or Adamant Armor). Additional equipment that protects against status effects like Pig can also help.
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60+
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Lunar Core
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Neo Bahamut
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At the beginning of the fight, go for max damage: Kain jumps, Rydia uses Bahamut (better than her hidden summons (e.g Cosmo) in terms of damage for 15 more MP), Edge throws every high-attack weapon you have laying around, and Cecil goes on support with M-Potions or Cure 3. Rosa can either use Cure 4 or throw in a use of Ultima. Neo Bahamut will use Gigaflare and Teraflare (Brace yourself!), with the former causing decent damage and the latter causing extremely high damage (bad RNG can end the battle quickly).
Ideally you'll survive Giganuke and Terranuke with only 1 or 2 people dropping.
When Neo Bahamut goes into recovery mode, heal to the max and once again pile on the damage. At this point, Neo Bahamut will counter each hit with Gigaflare which can be offset by Rosa using Cure 4 and Cecil using Cure 3. Trying to buff is pointless as Neo Bahamut will Black Hole it away.
Once Neo Bahamut uses Fast, go on the support for your team: Cure 4, Elixirs, Fast, etc. If you attack Neo Bahamut after he uses Fast, he'll counter with Gigaflare (good) or Teraflare (bad). The reality is that it's not possible to survive 3 Teraflares in a row. Keep being more defensive (with the occasional attack) until he says "Die" and uses Teraflare*. This takes him out of recovery mode and let's you go back to step 1 of piling on the damage.
- One point of interest: if you don't attack him at all during his recovery mode, his Teraflare will be 2x stronger and basically one-shot your party. Not sure if this was by design but you have to damage him when he uses Gigaflare to make the final Teraflare survivable. Even if you attack him during the Gigaflare phase, he still has the ability do 6-8,000 points of damage which is much stronger than previous uses. Still trying to understand the logic behind how damage is calculated.
Rinse and repeat until he falls. Because you're doing between 25,000-30,000 per round he'll usually fall before he gets to his second cool off period.
As of V26 his AI has become *far* more brutal. After his first "Brace yourself", he will counterattack pretty much everything (even a barehanded physical dealing 1 damage) with Teraflare, even if he's just finished using it. Reflecting spells with Wall/Light Veils avoids the counters, but also causes him to skip the recovery phase altogether and go right into "Brace yourself"/Teraflare again immediately, *two to four times consecutively*, while also healing for 6553 HP with Vitalize each time he Teraflares. Not only can only a Hiding Edward or Soaring Kain survive this much punishment, he can heal up to 26,000 HP back to himself in the process, far more than you can hope to knock back off him before he wipes your party again. Pretty much the only circumstance he will use Gigaflare at all for now is if you don't attack him at all during recovery, which doesn't get you any closer to defeating him. Not clear how he's supposed to be beaten other than using limit-broken New Game + characters now.
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The best possible equipment you can get your hands on.
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99+
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Lunar Subterrane
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AI
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Any weapon/spell that has an associated elemental damage type will deal no damage.
Like the fight with the Core in the Giant of Babil and AI Mk.1, the Attacker will use Beam to damage all party members, while the Defender will use Recover. Destroying both will cause AI to attack with Globe199 which deals 9,999 damage to all characters. AI uses wall so there are limited spells that you can damage him with. AI will also counter Kain's jump with Globe199 so he should be using Focus for the majority of the battle.
The biggest change to this fight versus the previous 2 is that AI can use Globe199 (usually as a counter to Jump), even if one only one orb is dead and can revive the Attacker/Defender much, much faster (sometimes after 1 turn). Edge should throw high-level weapons for maximum damage, Cecil and Kain can attack to deal 1-2,000 per blow. Ideally, you'll want one on "standby" so if the Defender is restored, it can be killed before it starts to heal AI. Rosa and Rydia should be healing with Cure 4 and Asura accordingly. If Rydia has the Apollo Harp, her "sing" can slow down the Attacker which helps slow the damage from Beam.
After you've done 5-6 rounds of attacking, it is possible to have Rydia summon Bahamut and Rosa use Ulitma which will kill both the Attacker/Defender but also destroy AI before he gets off his Globe199/Recover motion.
Note: There is a part in the fight where all 3 monster sprites will turn a pixelated yellow. Unsure if this means anything versus not.
As of V22 the AI has 3 each of the Attacker and Defender, and it can still resurrect them at the same time when it reaches its final phase, even if you've just destroyed one. Good idea to queue up multiple powerful spells so that they'll go off when the AI has been pushed into this HP range. Even if the spells aren't targeted to the companion orbs, if the AI is destroyed by them the remaining orbs will be easy to mop up. The orb's attacks have also been renamed but are functionally the same; Ion Beam = Maser, OverClock = Fast, Firewall = Big Guard and DELETE = Globe199.
Like the Crystals, you can fight AI as much as you want so if this fight gives you trouble, go back when you're fully equipped for a much easier victory and a nice boost to your ego.
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Non-elemental weapons and strong defensive gear.
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70+
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Lunar Core
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Fire Dragon
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The Fire Dragon has only two attacks but is absurdly fast and hits like a truck. It starts the fight with Dragon Breath which may knock up to 4,000 HP off the entire party. It follows with a physical that will deal inconsistent damage between 150-1,200, and then cast Dragon Breath again, and repeats for the rest of the fight. Try to bring as many All-Potions as you can scrounge up or trade for. The sheer amount of damage the Fire Dragon causes is likely more than Rosa and Cecil can heal even on a combined Cure4/Cure3, so Rydia will have to play defensive and summon Asura. Despite its name the dragon isn't particularly weak to Ice either so trying to have her cast Ice3 won't do more than a few thousand damage.
Try to have a lot of powerful throwing ammunition for Edge and keep him alive at all costs as he will be your primary damage dealer while everyone else tries to stay alive. Kain can contribute with Jump, but basic physicals won't do much damage, even from Cecil. To slow the boss down and stay competitive with it, bring some Silk Webs which can be farmed from Arachnes via Steal (Rosa can't afford to waste a turn casting Slow, she needs to heal everyone every turn). Have the men spend the first round using the Webs on the Fire Dragon while the girls heal with Asura/Cure4. If Rydia's turn comes up and everyone is at full HP, it may be best to wait for Dragon Breath so you can use Asura afterwards, and if you get Reinforce have Rosa immediately follow with Cure4. If you can't get to the girls' turns in time have Kain or Cecil use an All-Potion. Revivals will need Life2 so if Rosa has to take a turn off use an All-Potion if necessary. If Rosa or Rydia runs low on MP have Cecil or Kain give them a Dry Ether or Elixir while Edge continues to Throw Ninja stars or duplicated weapons for 6-8,000 damage.
Every time you hit the dragon it will counterattack; for the first part of the fight these will be physical attacks, then about halfway through the fight it will use Vitalize once to get several thousand HP back. As it gets lower in HP (you will know because it will "shudder" like Zeromus does) it will start countering with Burst against single characters; anyone except a highly leveled Cecil will probably not survive it. When it is almost defeated, it will use Dragon Breath as a counterattack. This means you could potentially eat two Dragon Breaths in a row; carefully time your attacks so you've had a chance to heal back up before hitting it. Some luck is going to factor into this fight if you get bad rolls with Asura or the dragon focuses its counters on Edge or Rydia. Cecil's Big Guard will at least help on the physicals, if he has time to cast it. Basically, treat this as a semi-turtling fight where Edge handles all the damage dealing and everyone else focuses on survival. Do not try to bum rush the Fire Dragon or it will punish you, especially once its HP gets low.
Don't underestimate Edward's usefulness here. His ability to Salve high-powered healing items like X-Potions as well as stacking Elf Cloaks to reduce damage will go a long way towards keeping you alive, but you'll have to train him up first.
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Lots of Ninja stars or high-powered weapons for Throwing and the best defensive gear you can get. Party-healing items are a must. Silk Webs to slow the boss down are also crucial.
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80+
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Volcano
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Melusine
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Melusine strategy
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recommended equipment
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65+
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Deep Forest
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Crystal Dragon
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The Crystal Dragon (CD) starts by slowing your whole team down (Slow) and then Holy against the whole team (much stronger than Goddess' version). If you start the fight with a physical attack, CD will counter with Crush against all party members that deals heavy damage. Instead, start with a Black/White/Ninja spell (ideally Edge uses Atomic Bomb or Rydia uses Nuke). Magic attacks will cause him to say "Not Bad" which means he now takes damage from physical attacks. If you cast another spell against him, the spell will fail. When you use a physical attack, ensure you use "Fight" and not something else (e.g. Jump, Focus) or CD will use Crush or Eclipse (the latter doing 9,999 do a single party member). When you hit him with a physical attack, CD will respond with "..." which means he's once against weak against magic. Any additional physical attack will miss. Continue to alternative between physical and magical attacks. During this time, CD will use Crystalize (1/2 of your characters' max HP, like a double Tsunami) then Cosmo (lighter damange). As of V22 he swaps out Cosmo for Gravity, which does 1/6 of a character's max HP for damage.
With end-game weapons, anyone can attack during the physical stage, and while anyone can use magic, it's best left to Edge/Rydia (Rosa has higher charge times and should be healing and Kain's Storm causes little damage). Rydia can also heal with Asura while Cecil tanks and uses Cure 3/M.Potions. CD will also use Slow but even after multiple uses this doesn't seem to affect the battle much.
When the fight is near the end, CD will start countering for 14,999 to a single character which will heal him as such. If he recovers enough HP, he'll go back into the aforementioned script (Physical/Magic). Use Decoys to prevent him from hitting the characters but be careful, as CD will use Black Hole to completely negate the Image status. Ideally, wait until he uses Black Hole, use 5 Decoys in a row, then start to pile on the damage. After he fails to hit you, he'll start with saying, "Not Bad" and then after more damage, "Not too bad at all". Each time he speaks, he's going to use Crystalize so pile on as much damage as you can, as fast as you can. This stage can be more easily won if you have someone (Cecil) use a Megalixir* so everyone else can do as much damage as possible. If you're able to survive a few rounds of this, you'll win.
Edward is massively helpful here since he can stick Image status on everyone at once via a Salved Decoy or Lunar Veil, freeing everyone else to attack and not get into a loop where everyone Decoys up only to be Black Hole'd back to where you started minus several thousand HP from Crystalize.
- Every time I've fought CD, I've always used a Megalixir during this phase.
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End game equipment, including ultimate weapons from the other optional bosses.
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75-85+
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Crater Cave
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Calofisteri
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As with most of the other new optional bosses, Calofisteri is much faster than you. After setting up a Wall, the boss will start spamming full-party Virus spells nonstop on you for around 400-500 HP damage; it will also use a full-party Drain to siphon off HP from your characters, and will also hit you with Hex to cause full-party Curse status AND Poison Gas to poison everyone. It also spams Vampire, which doesn't hurt as bad as Virus but does start HP sap. The combination of Wall, the damage cut from Curse and constantly stealing your party's HP makes it a chore to bring the boss's HP down, and when you do manage to bring it down it will switch to single-target Virus spells which can easily one-shot a character with less than 2000 HP. The final phase of the fight ends the ST Virus spam but introduces ST Drain and Vampire spam in its place. If you can take a hit of 800 HP or more you shouldn't get one-shot now. Throughout all phases of the fight, Calofisteri can toss in physical attacks as well. Dead characters will not have Poison status when revived, but Curse does persist through death and revival; you can only get rid of it with an Anti-Hex or Remedy (or winning).
It's not a bad idea to cast Wall on someone and bounce the strongest spells you have off him/her. Full-party healing spells will be reflected to the boss but restore very little HP so it's not a big irritation. However, you'll have to rely on items to heal the character with the Wall. Try to have Kain Jump as much as possible; it deals the most damage and helps him avoid getting hit, so it's one less person to heal. If Edge is in your party, he'll probably need to Throw something to do some decent damage. You may have to go semi-turtle to survive the Virus onslaught; in this phase designate one person to deal damage (Rydia with reflected spells if Wall is up, Kain with Jump if it isn't) while everyone spams Life potions to heal Calofisteri's most recent victim. You probably won't be at high enough level to survive the Virus shots even at max HP, so don't bother trying to restore HP; just keep resurrecting whomever falls so the boss can't kill you faster than you can resurrect. Once you get past the Virus stage you can start to focus on getting everyone's HP back up. Keep dealing damage, however, so the boss doesn't get a chance go to back to Virus spam. If you can, try to get a few reflected Slows on the boss at the start of the fight to make it easier to deal with. If you are under level 40 you are probably going to need to use some All-Potions, Dry Ethers and possibly Elixirs to make it through this battle as it can drag on a very long time.
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Make sure Rydia has at least one level 3 elemental spell to bounce off as summons do barely any damage. High-powered offensive items like FireBombs, Lit-Bolts and Iceblasts can be handy. Bring a good stock of Life potions.
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40+
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Skyway
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Tunnel Armor
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Tunnel Armor strategy
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recommended equipment
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45+
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Beach Cave North of Baron
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Storm Dragon
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The Storm Dragon's basic physical attack inflicts both Blind and Poison status. Blind causes a serious reduction of attack power, both physical and magical, so you either need to heal it or use attacks like Throw that aren't affected by it. It can also cast the Storm spell, but unlike the vanilla game version of that dreaded spell, it does not instantly drop everyone to single digit HP, just deals multi-target wind-elemental damage. However, it can use multi-target Tornado to achieve the same effect, so don't relax. It can also pull out Whirlwind, which is a stronger version of Storm that can hit for up to 500 HP. Finally, it can use Petrify like Valvalis, but brings it out far less often.
The Storm Dragon isn't as fast as the other optional bosses, but sticking a Slow or two on it will still be helpful (it can cast Fast, though). The aim here is to try to keep everyone's HP above 400 so make sure you at least have Mid- Potions to use although High-Potions are better if you have them. As it is a flying enemy, Jump will deal a lot of damage, so keep Kain on Jump duty while Rosa uses her best Cure spells on the party, Rydia casts level 3 elemental spells or Virus if she doesn't know them and everyone else distributes items to heal. This battle can be undertaken at any point after your first return from the underworld, so it can be an ordeal or a curbstomp depending on how strong you are and who is in your party.
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The Gorgon Sword lets Kain do a lot of damage on a Jump. Throwing ammunition for Edge will speed things along. Rydia should ideally have level 3 elemental magic to cast; the battle gets massively easier if Rosa knows Cure4 or you have a lot of High-Potions.
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35+
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Damcyan
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Magissa
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Magissa is not only very fast but also difficult to do lasting damage to, because her physical attacks drain HP from your characters. She also has level 2 elemental spells to bring to bear that hit for 150-300 HP damage, and can knock the whole party out with Sleep Gas and blind them with Cold Snap. She can also use Vampire to inflict HP Leak and Entangle to paralyze, and this all means if you're fighting her pre-Tower of Zot you may have trouble keeping Tellah upright and getting worn down by her nonstop HP stealing. Finally, she can repeatedly summon a Mad Ogre to the fight, which is easily dispatched by a properly equipped Yang but puts Magissa in the back row until you kill it, further limiting your ability to damage her. That's a serious problem because she will start using Absorb when her HP gets low; it functions like later FFs' White Wind, healing based on how much HP she currently has remaining.
Cid is an MVP candidate for this fight because one of his Tools commands, Beam, always deals 10% of the target's max HP in damage; in Magissa's case, that's a guaranteed 1,800 HP damage to the boss every turn he gets. He can also use ElectroMg to cast an unblockable Stop. The rest of the party just needs to deal more damage than Magissa can heal for; Yang equipped with the Kaiser is ideal against the Mad Ogre, and Focus is devastating against both. Cecil should be attacking with the best sword available, but he may need to be assigned to Cover Tellah to try to help keep him alive. If you wait until after Zot you switch Tellah's ability to hit with level 3 elemental spells for Kain's back row-ignoring Jump attacks and Rosa's more durable and reliable healing (and back row-ignoring arrow shots). Rosa or Tellah should cast Slow once or twice if they can spare a turn for it. If you can get Magissa's HP low enough to keep Absorb from healing for more than Beam does, you've essentially won and it's just a matter of time to finish her off as long as Cid stays alive. If you wait until after the underworld or later to do the fight, you can pretty much crush her under your heel.
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Kaiser Claw is a guaranteed one-shot kill on summoned Mad Ogres. Use the best sword you have at the time, either the Flame Sword from Zot or the Thunder Sword from Mt. Heavensward. Any equipment that protects against status ailments helps; Sleep is the most important.
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25+
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Deep Forest
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The 4 Crystals
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The Crystals will start by using Digest which can cause mild or high damage (equipment depending) up to 4 characters. Once complete, they'll start using Blaster which can be an instant KO but level/equipment depending, will often miss. During the 3rd round the Crystals will use Absorb which heals 9,999 damage, followed-up by Glance and Foul Order (Confuse/Charm and status aliments respectively). The final round that can be predicted will be them attacking a character for heavy damage and healing for the same.
The next rounds can be them starting their pattern over, using Hex, hitting with a 2-step attack (Crush which is an instant KO then Condemn), or Meganuke which hits for 9,999 per character. As of V22 the Crystals can go into Crush much earlier if you've destroyed one of them.
The first few rounds are pretty easy, especially if Blaster misses all 4 times. Rydia can cast Bahamut, Rosa uses Ultima, Edge uses Atomic Bomb, Kain jumps, and Cecil attacks. Once the Crystals start using Glance and Foul Order, have all the characters use "Decoy" to add Image, causing the attack/recovery stage of the Crystals to yield no damage/recovery. Continue to have Kain jump, Cecil act as a tank, Rydia use Bahamut, Rosa Ultima, and Edge Atomic Bomb.
The next best course of action is to have everyone start using Lunar/Light Veils. With a bit of luck, all 4 will start using Meganuke which will reflect for 14,999 a piece. If you've managed to do enough damage during the first few rounds, this will end the fight. If the Crystals start using Crush/Condemn, you may still be able to pull off a win if you can bring people back and still reflect Meganuke. Do not under any circumstance leave only one Crystal alive. It will Crush your entire party immediately for an instant game over.
This fight can take a bit of luck but can be won. If you're feeling a bit vindictive, you are able to battle them as many times as you want: do so after you've opened the final item shop and loaded everyone to the brim. Edward with a Salved Lunar Veil completely shuts down both Megaflare and the max damage physicals, leaving Crush as the only threat (and that can be shut down with Cursed Rings and Dark-resistant equipment).
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End game gear though not much helps beyond Adamant armor. Cursed Rings + any Dark-resisting equipment will max heal you from Crush.
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80+
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Crystal Spire
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Shinryu
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Shinryu will start the fight by using Supernova (drops everyone to single digit HP) and then uses Vitalize. He'll quickly mock you (Are you wasting my time?) then use Lit Flash on 1-2 characters. Ideally you've been able to heal with an All-Potion at this point or you'll lose 1-2 characters. At this point, Shinryu will use Whirlwind dealing 2-4,000 damage to everyone, and Thunder which can strike up to 3 characters. He will telegraph Whirlwind by "shuddering" like Zeromus does before Big Bang.
As the battle goes on, Shinryu will repeat his initial pattern but Supernova may hit less characters if you're lucky (sometimes as low as 1) making the damage much easier to contend with. Shinryu also will counter Bahamut with Meganuke so ensure that Rydia is using Black Magic versus summons. If you're feeling tricky, use Wall or veils, then use Bahamut to cause the Meganuke to reflect but this prevents you from heaing with Cure magic. Jump and spells will be punished with a counter Atomic Ray which deals 3-5,000 damage to the entire party and can wipe you in seconds; he'll even Atomic Ray you if you try to Slow him, and wind up negating it with Fast anyway. The safest way to attack him is to stick to plain vanilla physicals and Throwing high-powered weapons as this will result in a somewhat more manageable Lit Flash counter.
Another battle where slow and steady wins the race. Rosa and Rydia should be healing as much as possible to offset Supernova and Whirlwind (as these attacks close apart can end in a KO). Cecil should be throwing Elixirs to anyone who needs them, with Edge Throwing Swords and Kain attacking as required.
Some luck does go into this fight and if you're having a hard time keeping the damage to the team managable, reduce the Battle Speed so there's a bit more time between turns to help recover.
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Every best piece of equipment that you have to offer and anything that can offset lighting damage.
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75+
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Mt. Heavensward
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Selene
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There are 2 strategies that can be used: a standard one that will make the fight challenging and an "easy" one where the fight will be much more manageable.
The easy strategy is to farm for 1 or 2 Adamant Armors and place them on Rosa and Rydia. They’ll take virtually no damage from any attack, be immune to charm, and if they both use a powerful AoE attack (Ultima and Bahamut), the fight will be over in moments. Keep in mind that Selenes counter any magic cast against them with AoE Petrify, and if two characters use spells in a row without healing or immunity you can wind up with a bunch of statues quickly.
If you use this tactic, you'll have to ensure that both Selene monsters die at the same time or the one left standing will use “Eclipse” which deals 14,999 damage regardless of equipment. If more than 2 characters are standing, Selene will charm the entire team (i.e. anyone who's not immune) and drop them with Eclipse. This means if only 1 character is immune to charm, this tactic is more risky because it would require 1 character to get off a spell before Eclipse is used.
The more standard method involves putting Rosa, Rydia, and Edge in the back as they will take far less damage in the back row. Kill 2 of the Artemis (if all 3 are down, Selene will start using charm) and begin using strong, single attacks against both in an alternate fashion. If you ignore an Artemis, they'll self-explode dealing high damage to a single character.
Edge can throw Ninja Stars at one, Rydia can use Nuke on the other, and Rosa heals/uses life on Cecil/Kain if they are killed (Holy does little damage to Selene). The party should also use “decoys” to dodge Selene’s attacks (Selene will then use an attack that looks like Cecil's Dark to deal low damage). Edge should throw a Ninja Star at one, Rydia should use Nuke on the other. Rosa can cure as needed while Cecil and Kain use healing items or magic as required (if image wears off and a character drops). Since Edward can Salve Decoys on the whole party, he can help free other characters to attack and can also salve Remedies to fix Petrify. Palom isn't a bad bet either for his ability to MT powerful spells (he's most useful if he knows Quasar). Finally, Yang can no-sell Selene's physicals with his upgraded Brace from the king of Fabul; the only thing that can bring him down is Eclipse. He's actually a great option to tank in the front row while dispensing healing items.
Again, once one drops kill the other as quickly as possible and as Nuke/Ninja Stars do similar damage, the other should be close to death (you can use Cecil/Kain to perform an attack to offset a delta if required).
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Adamant Armor for the "easy" strat or end-game equipment otherwise. Glass Helmets can help offset Selene's physical attacks. You want Charm immunity at minimum; having Stone immunity too is ideal.
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70+
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Crystal Spire
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Marilith
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Marilith will start the fight with Sword Rain against all characters which deals 2,000+ damage. The rest of the fight she'll use Sleep Gas, Hex (Curse status), full-party Mini, Charm, and AoE Virus-like spell (Bio). Marilith can also heal with Cure 3 and use Sword Rain against 1 character for likely-fatal damage. If the Gorgons and Lamia Queens are destroyed, she can revive them.
Start the fight by using Bahamut to take out both Gorgons and Lamia Queens (both more annoying than anything else). If you're taking too much damage for Rosa, have Rydia fill in with Asura or Cecil with Cure 3/All-Potion. Bio hurts a lot and may kill; if you can, try to Wall or Light Veil to reflect it back on her (Edward is helpful to Salve it on the whole party if he survives the opening Sword Rain), and it will also protect you from her status-inflicting spells. Silk Webs will greatly help cutting down the boss's speed. Get all your buffs and debuffs on as early as you can because when the boss hits her final phase you need to go all out attacking.
When she counter-Cures, this is a tipoff she's going into her final phase where she spams single target Sword Rain to kill characters. Restoring HP is pointless as it will do over 10,000 HP damage, so focus on reviving and attacking and not healing. You need to get her down before she picks you off one by one. An all out assault will be best: Kain Jumps with a non-Holy weapon (Wyvern Lance or Hyperion), Cecil can attack with Hyperion, Edge throws Ninja Stars, Rydia uses Bahamut or Nuke, and Rosa uses Ultima or Holy.
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Any end game equipment will work, which you will have since this is post-Goddess fight. As much status protection as possible (Charm and Mini at least). As she is strong against Holy, ensure that you're not using weapons that deal this damage type.
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65+
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Ancient Grotto
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Magma Golem
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Magma Golem will start the fight by using "Crush" which is an instant KO to a single character. Crush will continued to be used until the Flame Dogs are destroyed and then he'll alternate between using Erupt (max HP-based damage) and Lava Wave (high damage).
Once destroyed, Magma Golem will cast Fire 3 on itself to heal several thousand HP and the use 2 AoE fire attacks listed above. After both spells, Magma Golem will revive the Flame Dogs and begin using Crush again. If you’re able to quickly kill the dogs, Magma Golem will only be able to use Crush once. However, if you time it right and use an item that does high-level ice damage the second they are revived, Magma Golem will skip the use of Crush and go into his post-dog routine. Bring as many Iceblasts and North Winds as you can, they should deal sufficient damage to immediately kill the Dogs. The Golem can also be Slowed and this will help give you some breathing room to attack in between revivals (use Silk Webs to keep Rosa available to heal).
You can also cast Wall on Magma Golem to prevent him from self-healing but the reflected spell will one-shot a character unless they're wearing equipment to offset the damage.
Cecil can heal (and in a perfect world, will be the one who gets dropped by the initial Crush), Rydia uses Ice 3 or Bahamut if Wall is up, Edge is great for using an “Ice Item” to kill the dogs right away but can also throw Ninja Stars for max damage, while Kain jumps. Cursed Rings are great for several reasons: Using them with Fire-resistant equipment absorbs Lava Wave and Erupt, while pairing them with Dark-resistant equipment will full-heal you from Crush, making you basically invincible. You probably won't have any Dark-resistant equipment the first time you fight it, but keep it in mind for the Boss Rush and New Game +.
Once you've gone through two or three rounds, don't be afraid to attempt a final rush (Bahamut, Ultima, high-level throwing items, attacking). Often, the dogs may be up but you'll do just enough damage to kill the Magma Golem and then the Fire Dogs will fall quickly.
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Ice weapons don't seem to deal much more damage than end-game weapons that produce Holy. Any gear that can offset fire attacks will cause his post-dog attacks to be much more manageable.
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70+
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Magma Caverns
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Yeti
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Yeti will start the fight by using "ROAR" which is a strong, physical AoE attack against the party. Lower-level parties and those not equipped with end-game gear will take several thousand points of damage. Yeti will then use variations of Cold Mist against the party: Single use, double use, single use and self-heal. Yeti can also self-heal with recover as a single use. Rosa and Cecil should heal with Rydia uses Nuke or Bahamut, Edge throws high-level items, and Kain jumps.
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Any equipment that reduces physical attacks can make this fight go much smoother (Glass helmet, Adamant Armor. Equipment that reduces Ice damage can help but Cold Mist isn't as damaging, even if Yeti uses it twice in a row.
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60+
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Ice Cave
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Zemus' Illusions
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Both Illusions will start by using attacks like Drain until they're hit by magic. At this time, both will counter with Fast, Wall, and Revitalize. Continued use of magic will cause them to start bouncing Level 3 spells off themselves to hit the party for moderate damage. Occasionally they will use Condemn which can cause a character to quickly drop if the Battle Speed is set to 1. Try to destroy both Illusions at the same time so Zemus can't revive them.
While it's possible to go at a slow pace with attacks only, using a lot of AoE magic will cause both to quickly drop: Edge uses Atomic Bomb, Kain jumps, Rydia summons Bahamut, Rosa uses Ultima(or Cure 4 as needed), while Cecil uses Cure 3 or M. Potions. The magic damage isn't heavy enough that you require constant healing so it's easier to drop them as quickly as possible.
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Any and all gear from the Lunar Subterrane/Core
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55+
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Lunar Core
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Ultima Weapon
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Ultima starts the fight using Ultima (which may not hit everyone) and then quickly follows up with Meteo. Depending on your level of luck, this may end in a total KO or restart. For the beginning of the fight, Ultima will use Nuke, Blaze, Crush (may not cause an instant KO), Virus, and Tsunami; all of these are high-damaging attacks.
Once that phase is complete, he'll use Ultima and Meteo again but often, the characters hit are reduced. As the battle presses on, he'll add Whirlwind to the mix, as well as a double attack. Again, all high-damaging attacks.
Because of Ultima's powerful attacks, staying on the defense is key. Rosa should be using Cure 4 every turn with Rydia summoning Asura if required (though remember, she has a 1/3 change of using Revive versus Refresh/Renew). Kain can use focus to ensure he's getting healed versus attempting to time his Jump attack, Edge should throw high-level weapons, and Cecil can act as an ancillary healer (Cure 3, M.Potions and/or Elixirs for Rydia/Rosa.
Like many of the end-game bosses, a slow approach tends to work better than an all-out blitz attack and taking a gamble (e.g. having Rosa cast Ultima versus healing if the party is full) can quickly cause a game over.
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Any and all gear from the Lunar Subterrane/Core
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55+
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Lunar Core
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Omega Weapon
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Omega Weapon strategy.
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Optimal equipment.
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75-80+
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Tower of Babil
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Raiden
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Unlike Odin who will use Zantetsuken after a set period of time, Raiden will use this out of the gate so the player must strike Raiden with a lighting-elemental item or spell. Once hit, Raiden's attack power will drop significantly and only do a few hundred damage to the party.
Raiden will then raise his sword once more, and the player must strike him with lighting again. Failure to do so before Raiden uses Zantetsuken will deal 9,000+ damage to the entire party.
Edge can use Blitz and Rydia can use any lighting spell to achieve this effect. Cecil, Kain, and Rosa must use items that produce a lighting effect. As the battle goes on, Raiden will get faster so ideally, you'll alternative with a powerful attack and a lighting attack.
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Equipment is less important in this fight but anything that grants increased agility will help you keep up with Raiden.
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50+
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Lunar Subterrane
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Zemus' Spirit
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Zemus' Spirit will use attacks like Blaze that deals moderate damage to the party. Follow-up attacks are level 3 elemental spells that can cause decent damage to the party, as well as high level attacks. Level depending, groups can withstand this assault but if the damage becomes overwhelming, using Wall, Star and/or Lunar Veils to reflect the attacks. Spirit will also use Condemn which can be problematic if you have the Battle Speed set to "1".
Having Rosa cast slow can also cause the damage to be a bit more manageable. Beyond that, standard tactics apply: Rosa heals and uses Holy/Ultima, Rydia can summon Bahamut or Asura for attack/healing, Edge attacks or throws high-level items, Kain jumps, and Cecil and offer support (Healing or Ethers/Elixirs as required)
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Any set of equipment that helps reduce elemental magic
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50+
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Lunar Subterrane
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Gilgamesh?!
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The first 2 battles cannot be won so work on staying alive. After a few rounds, Gilgamesh will retreat.
During the third battle, Gilgamesh will use variations of his "Caliburn" attack: Single attack, double attack, or an attack that hits all party members. The damage Caliburn does is always equal to 1/3 of a character's max HP; for example a character with a max HP of 4,500 would always take 1,500 damage from it. There is also an attack that will restore HP to Gilgamesh based on damage.
This is a damage race so have Edge throw high-level weapons, Kain can use Focus or Jump, Rydia can summon Bahamut or use Nuke, while Rosa and Cecil can offset damage with Cure 4 and Cure 3/M-Potions.
After that fight, you can battle Gilgamesh any time you want in the Lunar Whale. He has Omega and 3 Last Arms as ally and their AI is completely random and always changes.
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Any equipment picked up in the Lunar Subterrane
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50-65, though lower levels actually make this fight easier as Caliburn does a percentage of max HP which means Cure 4 will be more effective if there is less damage to heal.
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????
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Gamma
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Prior to starting the flight, cast Float on your party as it will use Quake which usually leads to a "game over".
Gamma will start the fight by using Wall, then uses high-level beam attacks that can either cause moderate or extreme damage so have 1-2 characters (Rosa Cure 4, Cecil Cure 3 or Rydia Asura) on healing duty. Gamma will also use Crush (1 shot KO) and Quake, though Float will prevent this from dealing damage.
Kain can use focus or jump, the latter will prevent him from taking damage while Edge should throw Shurikens or Ninja Stars. Gamma can also Vitalize for 4,444 HP so ensure you're piling on damage as quickly as possible.
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If you attempt this fight before clearing the Lunar Subterrane, ensure you have the equipment from Bahamut's cave and the Feymarch. If after, any of the end-game items.
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50-65 (equipment depending)
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Cave Eblan
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Warmech
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Warmech will use Beam with is a weak attack against all party members. Laser is high damage against a single unit (usually 1 shot KO), and Erupt deals 20% max HP damage (10% if resisted). Focus attacks on the Last Arm to prevent it from freezing party members with Magnet.
Once defeated, leverage high-level spells and attacks on the Warmech.
Rosa should heal, Rydia can use Nuke or heal with Asura (if acquired). FuSoYa should also use Nuke or heal as necessary; Cecil can attack or assist with support magic/items (e.g. Ether) while Edge throws any high-level items available. Once the Warmech has been defeated, focus high-level attacks on the Searcher as it will summon Last Arms. Using AoE magic (Meteo, Ultima, Bahamut) will cause the Last Arm and Searcher to fall quickly and the Warmech will start using more damaging Beam/Laser attacks.
All 3 monsters can use Fission as a final death attack to do single, high level damage to one character.
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Standard equipment from the Feymarch and related areas will be enough. Ideally Cecil should have Excalibur and Edge have a supply of throwing weapons.
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40-55
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Giant of Babil
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Magma Giant
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Magma Giant will use Erupt (AoE Fire attack dealing 20% of max HP damage), Heat Ray which will hit all party members, and the Beamers will use Beam as a single attack. Start by focusing your attacks on the 3 Beamers (Titan works very well). Beam attacks can cause high damage at this point so have Rosa and Cecil heal as required.
Yang can do heavy damage with Ice Claws and Focus, Rydia should summon Titan for max damage, then switch to Ice-2 once the Giant is isolated, while Kain jumps. Magma Giant will sometimes counter Ice spells with Ice of his own.
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Equipment can vary if you've managed to get lucky drops or have explored outside the "normal" areas. Equipment acquired from either Silvera or the Dwarf Castle will be sufficient. Be careful about using Flame Armor or Shield as this makes you weak to Fire.
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25-30
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Tower of Babil
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Vulture
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Have Cecil and Cid attack the 3 Cockatrice until they are defeated. Yang should have 2 Thunder Claws equipped and use Focus on the Vulture. Tellah can attack with Lit-3 or heal as required. Cecil can also assist with healing after the Cockatrices are destroyed. Vulture can use petrify so make sure to offset that before it stones a character.
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Standard equipment will work but giving Cecil and Cid Bows and Thunder Arrows can help speed up the fight as Vulture is weak to both "shoot" and "lighting"
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20-25
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Chocobo Forest
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Mist Rage
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This battle operates very closely to the Mist Dragon with a few notable exceptions: Mist Rage's attack power is quite a bit higher than the Mist Dragon and will counter with "Cold Breath" (don't you dare!) if Kain uses "Jump"; this attack is extremely powerful. Have Cecil and Kain both attack and heal as required.
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Cecil and Kain's default equipment
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10-11
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Mist
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Movers
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