FFVIA LLNSNI Part XXI: Gigantuar
22No kidding, final boss excluded, this is the hardest battle in the challenge, hands down.
Probably one of my coolest RPG recordings to watch, at least if you're thinking along with me whenever I make one of the lengthy pauses for a forced cognitive process.
Gigantuar is the GBA version exclusive boss/Esper, and another boss Low Level game players have learnt to loathe. However, those not restricted in terms of using specials have it easy: fully powered up Traveller will deal 9999 damage to the boss, as will Flare Star if the boss's weakness to fire is penetrated by Edgar/Gogo. We're playing Low Level No Specials No Items, so none of that is an option.
Gigantuar evades practically everything, minus the unblockable moves like Ultima (which I don't want to use in this challenge), and he's got incredible defences too. This requires Fixed Dice + Master's Scroll set-up on Mog.
Now, what's hard about Gigantuar? Though not as healthy as other bosses, with 30,000 HP, Gigantuar will use the 1,000 Needles magick TWICE on his first two turns and FOUR TIMES on his third. There's no way how a character can survive it besides jumping, or having Reraise status.
What's worse is that Gigantuar will use the move 10 times in a row upon defeat. Knowing the unpredictable nature of Fixed Dice which can deal damage from two digit numbers to 9,999, we don't know when exactly the death counter will unfold. Theoretically, Mog can instakill the boss but that's not realistic expectation at all so once the boss has less than 10K HP it's a good time to start jumping for safety.
I am trying to finish this challenge without Reraise; however, little did I know that this battle is terribly hard even with Reraise used whenever possible (and it's beneficial whenever it is possible).
The battle begins, we want a pre-emptive strike but it's not obligatory because we'll be eating thousands of needles regardless of the outcome. Mog should toss his dice, the speedy mage guys should start off by casting Hastega and applying Reraise to the needy.
With a Soul of Thamasa we got from the Magic Master in the previous video, we can have one character cast two spells at a time. That's really nice here, be it for reviving or rebuffing the characters.
Before the boss's third turn, it's a good idea to have the whole party jump with the help of Quetzalli. That's not as easy as it sounds however.
As you can see, the battle is far from safe and I'm constantly thinking what kind of action is best at every point of the fight. I didn't expect to win on this attempt after some extreme situations popped up, but I did. I took risk a lot, and at times it looks like I don't know what I'm doing, which, uh... is true to an extent, I guess.