Game:

Final Fantasy XIII (2009)

Duration: 5:04

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2

This playthrough is made in celebration of Snow's addition to Dissidia Final Fantasy!

Here's the second battle against the Proudclad. This fight isn't anything really special, so i figured this would be a good opportunity to show off the Rebel Heart and the Critical: Power Surge passive ability that it gives, since I'm not sure if I'll be able to show it off in future battles (we'll see once I get there). If you want an easier time with this fight, just use the Feymark I guess, this video is really just me styling on Rosch because I can lol.

Weapon: Save the Rebel Heart ★
Accessories: Magistral Crest ★ (x3)

I used a Trainer to hack in Gil and CP to minimize grinding. Hope and Sazh are at Stage 7 Crystarium (Primary) and have their Paper Tiger Weapons equipped. I also taught them Provoke for the previous challenge video, but honestly I could have just left them on Synergist since I didn't Summon, but oh well. They KO in like 10 seconds anyway.

-- Strategy --

While the Proudclad 2 can be Launched, it can only be done in Ground Mode while Staggered. I would have gone for a physical setup, but the truth is, Launching him is...really awkward. You can only do it when he's not taking action, and not every Launch will succeed (for whatever reason), and you can't relaunch him after he falls down, since you apparently have to wait for him to recover, and sometimes your character has to waste time slowly turning about 30 degrees to the right for some stupid reason. It's just a huge waste of time, running up to him (which can be difficult during Aerial Mode because the Lasers get in the way), attempting to Launch him, chasing him into the air for like maybe a couple of attacks, waiting for him to fall, waiting for you character to reposition, etc. Magic is faster and we really don't have time to lose.

Proudclad 2 is immune to all debuffs, so no need for SAB. It also doesn't know Dispel, so no need for SYN since we'll be finishing this battle in under 5 minutes.

Thus, we have 2 Commando Roles and 2 Ravager Roles (to make use of the ATB Refresh), a Sentinel, and a Medic.

Start in COM to use Powerchain and for Chain stability. Then switch to RAV and Stagger, but make sure you use Quake just before the Stagger. If you get the timing right, you can actually Stagger him with it. Then just switch between COM's and deal damage with Ruin until Stagger ends.

Once the target transforms into Aerial Mode, use Ruin to stabilize the Chain. Keep in mind that Proudclad 2 resets its Chain Gauge whenever it transforms, specifically at the end of its transformation animation. Now, do the same thing you did in Ground Mode. After stabilizing the Chain, switch to RAV and build it until Stagger, making sure you throw Quake in there just before the Stagger.

Hopefully by now your HP should be in or near Critical (30%). Hopefully, the Proudclad's is near 60%, which is apparently when it Deactivates Limiters (you may need to reduce the HP a bit lower, closer to 50%, but it might vary, I'm not sure). When it does this, just keep using Ruin until you either need to heal, or Stagger ends. Obviously, we want it to Deactivate Limiters during early Stagger so that we do as much damage as possible. You'll likely need to heal at some point during Stagger. You'll probably only need to use Curasa once.

You'll notice how at about 3:15 I switch to SEN to use Steelguard in preparation for Retaliatory Strike. Instead, Proudclad just switches to Ground Mode. It is possible to skip Retaliatory Strike. You see at 2:15 when I was going for the Stagger, I was expecting that last RAV attack to Stagger him, but I miscalculated by about 1.2%. So, I figured I would just Stagger with COM instead. Obviously, this takes slightly longer in COM, but it's not problematic. However, you'll notice that after I switched to COM, he used "Charging: 90%" and I Staggered him a few seconds later. There seems to be about a 3-4 second window where you Stagger him before he transforms (about 4-7 seconds after his charge reaches 90%). And obviously, he won't transform during Stagger. You save a lot of time by completely avoiding Retaliatory Strike in this method.

After he transforms again, just do the same thing: stabilize, build Chain, Quake, Stagger, and Ruin. Just be careful if you see Oneiric Maelstrom. Make sure you use a Potion as soon as you see the attack start hitting the ground; it will Launch you if you're not using an item (or guarding, which you don't have time for). He seems to use it once randomly in place of a Muon Blaster, after the Limiters Deactivate. Keep in mind that Proudclad 2 usually uses 7 Muon Blasters before transforming (unless you Stagger him, I believe).

-- Notes --

I had intended to show off a run that doesn't skip Retaliatory Strike and just discuss it here, but I got kinda lucky unintentionally. I had also intended there to be no lag, but you can see how that went. Not the run I had planned, but not a bad one either!

Thank you for watching!

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