FFV - Low Level Game Part 3: Garula & Shiva (optional)
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Showing two more boss battles, the second one optional and best done at some point later after it is first unlocked, giving us our first Summon in Shiva.
Garula is finally faced as boss, even though we fought him a couple hundred times to unlock some job levels due to it appearing as a runaway monster, supposedly because of a glitch. It relies entirely on physical attacks for its offence, frequently countering physical blows and oftentimes adding Rush to its regular attack, inflicting Sap on the target. When we've got as little max HP as we do, that means being dangerously close to being KO'd from Sap if the battle carries on for too long.
It doesn't however. Garula is unfortunate enough to be lv. 3, the same level as Faris. You all know what this means - 8x damage from the back row. With two Two-Handed Freelancers armed with Mythril Sword and Ashura katana using Focus, we can deal some severe additional damage to complement Faris' Goblin Punch, not entirely relying on it for our damage output.
Defensively, having a Knight with innate Cover using Guard to take attacks for critical allies, nullifying all of the damage. This leaves the Knight only vulnerable to Sap, whose damage isn't going to accumulate fast enough when the boss has just 1,200 HP.
The second boss in this video is more interesting. Shiva and her allies can be trivialised all too easily if you utilise rod-breaking to cast Firaga on the enemy party, ending it all in one turn before being endangered. Reaching Karnak gives access to Flame Rods you can buy in a shop in any number. Waiting a bit longer after Liquid Flame is defeated and Ninja is unlocked, you can essentially pull off the same strategy with a Flame Scroll. Here, I face Shiva early, but not resorting to breaking any rods.
A Flame Rod is still perfect for that +50% damage to fire magic, powering up Fira to the point where 3 castings of the spell kill Shiva. Faris has 23 MP at lv. 3 as a Black Mage (highest magic stat), so somebody will have to use Ethers on her. Shiva is supported by three Ice Commanders, also fire-weak, assisting her with physical attacks. The Guard/Cover Knight strat works wonders here as well.
The main threat comes from Shiva using Blizzara. Every odd time it is used, it will target all characters standing in the front row. Every even turn she takes, the back row will be targeted. Positioning two characters in the front and two in the back can minimise the damage over two turns, but at levels as low as ours it is still excessive, with any character hit by the spell standing no chance to avoid KO. Though I have equipped my guys for maximum magic defence, it doesn't seem to ever miss either? Maybe by the time I progress more in this run, I will have a better understanding of the game's mechanics and situations like this.
My solution is one that requires more effort. Shiva is not invulnerable to Slow, one of the spells Time Mage brings to the table. With her slowed and Faris hasted, we are now taking more turns than she does, enabling us to overpower her. Blizzara will still most likely be cast twice, so I leave just one character - Lenna or Galuf - in the row being attacked with the rest manually using their turn to change row. Sleep is cast on all three Ice Commanders to neuter them for the entirety of the fight. When Shiva is disposed of, they die in their sleep to a repeated Fira casting and any combination of other attacks, be it Poison or Goblin Punch.
And thus Shiva, the first summon, is ours.
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