FF12 TZA - Low Level Mandatory Battles Only Part 3: Garuda & Demon Wall

Channel:

MoogleBoss

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Published on July 19, 2020 4:56:06 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAPjTfrjAXI

Game:

Final Fantasy XII (2006)

Duration: 5:47

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15

Challenge playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbSv8zSDR9c0AFf6fumKiPZZhtaR7R96k

Here's what my License Points look like prior to the fights in this video:
Vaan - 80
Balthier - 87
Fran - 69
Basch - 105
Ashe - 174
Penelo - 194

Like I said in the previous video, the characters are hardly equal. Starting licenses, like this or that character having initial access to basic shields, a gun or a technique can open up opportunities that others characters lack with the very limited amount of LP we have to work with under the restraints of the challenge. As the above exemplifies very clearly, the amount of LP characters have to work with differs greatly too. Fran cannot hope to do much with the LP she's got, but Ashe and Penelo have a ton of options and are basically free to choose between being spellcasters, running support or functioning as gun users. Even with low LP available, even Fran can contribute buffs and carry out undemanding functions, like running support as a buff bot.

The first Golden Amulet becomes accessible on the way to Garuda, and anybody can use it to double the LP from a single felled boss. There must be more than one strategy to choosing which character (later -s) gets the amulet, but it seemed very sensible to opt for Penelo as the proverbial basket to put our eggs into. Already the champion in LP, getting more will help her reach even further licenses before anybody else. However, if I systematically build Penelo to ensure she gets Golden Amulet access each battle, she will miss out on valuable contributions, so I'll resort to only doing so when building her isn't detrimental to the goal at hand; after all, anybody would want some extra LP and will make active use of it throughout the run.

Garuda is one of these battles where magic is extremely effective, overpowered even. It's dark-weak and the Dark spell we acquired before Vaan even met his th- sky pirate friends during the storyline targets an entire enemy party. Target your party in Reflect status and it will bounce off and hit the boss 4 times (if you have a guest). It's broken beyond belief here, and giving Ashe a Leather Gorget, having put her into critical HP beforehand, doubles the damage, depleting about 4K out of Garuda's ~6K-ish max HP. It hardly matters what it does at this point; it's dead.

Demon wall, our next boss, is very similar in the strategy employed, with all 3 casters reclassing into Black Mage instead of Red Battlemage for Aero access. It's yet another AoE spell (though the boss's weakness is Holy) and the assault is relentless. The demon wall can try to cast Blindga on us, but watch it reflect on its own self, and should it target somebody other than Vossler we can always kite it with the targeted unit - after all, in spite of its long arms' (scythes?) reach, it moves very slowly and predictably.

It will try to cast Telega on somebody when it's about to go down, and this makes us lose the character for the rest of the fight. Chances are the Demon Wall will die before this happens.

This is the weaker of the two Demon Walls in the Tomb of Raithwall. The stronger one is optional and is thus skipped in a mandatory battles only challenge. Time to face the first Esper! Currently I'm still collecting ingredients for Aqua Shot.

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