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FF5 Solos vs. Gil Turtle Part IV
Apr. 15th, 2017 02:40 amThe Monk
I'm running out of witty and/or informative things to say. Train, train, train, and introduce your enemies to the pain train.
This and the next class share a trait in how they are unable to equip the Dancing Dagger, and with no other means of inflicting confusion, are unable to obtain float status. So they have no choice but to have enough HP to just tank it. Which Monk is at least more than capable of achieving between absurd base HP and its +30% skill.
Monk has a nice perk. Instead of putting up with Turtle, Shredder forced it to trigger his own counterattacks...though it still is only 50% to trigger, and he has to get through the turtle's evasion. Because of this, Monk is actually one of the few, if not only classes that can successfully face this thing in the front row. It's probably a good idea too - it's fairly weak in the back row, and crits in the front row do a lot to help save on resources. Elven Mantle is similarly optional - it might save you, but also can prolong the fight, since Counter only goes off when the user is actually hit. Also, don't mess with the Defend command too much - any successful Counter will cancel it.
I fought this with Shredder at level 50. Every normal blow of his did around 400 damage on average. A good thing about his 4833HP is that he could take four hits without needing to use an Elixir - either outright or with help from a Hi-Potion. Shredder could equip Twist Headband, Power Sash, and Power Armlet for a higher multiplier, but this made the Elixir conservation strategy inconsistent and the fight more dangerous.
The problem as stated is the turtle's parting Earthquake. With no way to get float status, Monk simply has to have enough HP to tank it. It's at least more than capable of achieving this.
Although for some reason, Gil Turtle doesn't use its death counter when Monk kills it on a counter? What the hell? Way to make this ordering look screwy, game! I swear the Puroboros do in fact do their death counter when killed via counterattack. As an aside, not mentioned in the algorithms guide, there's a check in the game for certain physicals (such as Tree Exdeath's) that makes them not trigger a Monk's counter, presumably because of this.
23/26. Well that was unexpected. It just needs enough Elixirs and Hi-Potions and it can handle things earlier than I got to here.
Monk in the postgame gets higher levels for stronger attacks. It can even use the Kaiser Knuckles for better offense. Definitely worth having on! I mean it denies you haste, but well, shouldn't be needed for the turtle at least.
__________
The Oracle
The wackiest of the GBA classes. It has a ton of magic power and the only way to use it is breaking Staffs of Light! Which naturally don't work.
A nasty feature of Oracle is that the !Predict command does not trigger counterattacks, so it won't have to deal with Turtle at all! It's a weird command that activates a countdown (5/4/3 depending on rank) to various things depending on the last digit of the user's MP.
Shredder went in with his MP ending in 7, using Third Rank (consuming 7MP) to use Blessing, a healing spell. Predict's multiplier is determined by the last digit of the target's HP at the time of the prediction, relevant when the target is being whacked around during a charge.
After it went off (which it would before his next turn), he would use Second Rank (consuming 3MP) for Cleansing, a nice non-elemental attack. Due to how M is calculated for Predict, damage was all over the place (3000 at most to like 300 at least) until the last digit of the turtle's HP landed on 6, after which all damage consistently ended in 0, doing 2000 each time. Back at 0MP, he repeatedly used this Blessing/Cleansing loop.
Oracle also has the Condemn ability, able to set a ticking timer for various effects. Rejuvenation is of particular interest defensively; nice to pop during a Cleansing charge, and it can heal off a hit and a half of damage. Unfortunately the offensive options don't work on Heavy targets in the GBA version. They do on iOS except for Doom, so Black Frost can be thrown at this too. Don't know if it triggers counters, though.
Do note that Oracle can't equip knives, so in addition to not getting float, it's stuck with just the Elven Mantle for defense. Rejuvenation really comes in handy to survive - with enough breaks with dodging, Shredder could even spam it to keep his HP high. Being at a level where the Oracle's max MP ends in 0 or 7 so Elixirs can be used would be nice, too! Still, if the Oracle plays its cards right, it's got the fight in the bag. And !Predict doesn't trigger counters, so the final attack is no issue.
...except Oracle's Predict does actually trigger death counters!! Sheesh. Make up your mind, game!! Well, at least one turned out how I expected, but I was not expecting that after Monk turned out fine.
So there's two ways to go about this. The first is for the Oracle to level high enough to survive the attack - this requires being in the 60s, though! Level 64 does fine for the most part, but slightly higher is safer.
The second is to use Eruption (MP ending with 2) on the turtle to try to inflict HP leak. But...Eruption isn't even guaranteed to inflict HP leak. That along with how there's no way to tell if it succeeded or not kills this strategy dead, practically speaking. If you do succeed, you'd better act fast - the HP leak doesn't last long, so you need to reduce its HP to kill range (Hi-Potion or Healing Staff) pronto. Even with savestates, this was just stupidly impossible.
So I just went with the first option. 24/26. There is at least an excuse to be this high leveled - if you want to do Atomos legitimately. Oracle would be a top tier turtle killer if it wasn't for the final attack. As is due to the requirements, it's pretty low-ranked - but it can be reasonably done.
Oracle in the postgame just gets the benefits of higher levels. It still can't get float, though - and ergo remains the only class in the game that has to deal with the final Earthquake. Given the nature of the postgame and said levels though, it will have the HP to survive it.
__________
The Necromancer
A job only accessible after the postgame content up to the boss rush! What were they thinking?! Oh well, at least the concept of killing enemies to get skills is neat.
This class and the next one have something in common - they can't heal themselves through the battle. So it's a damage race. T-Hawk's Rathma may have fought this thing, but Necromancer is the biggest example of a character who has a way easier time with this thing in the bonus dungeon. Unfortunately, that STUPID IDIOT Exdeath only sends his souls into the Sealed Castle when World 3 hits, so no Dark Flare. And there's no Deep Freeze either. And Gil Turtle absorbs the two moves you do get. At least it can still break Ice Rods!
The big problem with Necromancer is that it has no way to heal - it has to either make an unreasonable amount of dodges, or be an absurdly high level - somewhere in the 90s!! At least Oracle has an excuse to be in the 60s. Necro can't use that excuse, it needs to be much higher (although should be able to kill Atomos outright in the 60s). You need well over five times the experience to reach the 90s. Though it is technically possible, it's so impractical it may as well be impossible. So not counting it.
But of course, there is the postgame to consider...
As established by Rathma, Necromancer can handle this fight in the postgame thanks to Wonder Wand providing Protect status, Magic Lamp providing Golem, and having Deep Freeze access instead of needing to rely on (weaker) broken rods. And Gil Turtle does not appreciate boosted Deep Freeze in the slightest.
It can also use the wand for Dispel. Since I've been talking it up a bunch in the description of various jobs in how they would perform in the postgame, check out the difference it makes with a level 64 Necromancer (lower than Rathma was, can tell by the lower damage on Deep Freeze) with Frost Rod, Circlet, and Black Robe! 9999, yo.
Much more doable. As an aside, a couple guides say this thing has 40000HP and improved statistics in the postgame, but it only has its usual amount. They're probably just copying from the GBA Algorithms guide mindlessly - those are the stats of the Cloister of the Dead one!!
__________
The Berserker
BERSERKERRRRR!!!!!!
No surprise. Berserker can't be controlled, and will hack away until it or the enemies die. Its only option is to avoid damage in the first place. At least the status bug conundrum isn't a factor here: Bone Mail has like no downside.
High-levels are again required, and to its credit, Berserker is far more likely to be high-leveled here than Necromancer. However, its big issue is that it can't get float - you need to confuse and use an Ether on the Poison Eagles in Drakenvale to obtain it. Without that, as shown by the Oracle, you need to be able to tank a ~3500 damage Earthquake. So the buffer room is much smaller than you might think.
Even with that lifted or you accept that killing Gil Turtle is the goal even if it costs you your own life, things are not that much better for the Berserker. It needs to block dozens of attacks with Ice Shield and Elven Mantle. All the while, it needs to have on the Dancing Dagger and be throwing out Sword Dances like nobody's business. Even without Sword Dance it is Berserker's best option - Poison Axe's inaccuracy puts it behind. Blind is a good idea - Sword Dance ignores accuracy, so this makes less of the regular attacks hit (and therefore trigger more Turtles). You can also choose between front row or back row, this damage being from the back.
It's theoretically possible! I actually made it as far as the final hit once, in the back row (seems more consistent than front row). Shredder was going to die to Earthquake, but still. Wish I hadn't absentmindly overwritten the emulator video there - he went nuts, dodging everything and landing five Sword Dances in a row. That's the kind of luck you need, possibly more. And you can't like, have the luck disappear like it did for me in said fight. Theoretically possible! But this just isn't happening for anyone who isn't named NotDave.
Just like how solo Necromancer can successfully defeat Gil Turtle in the postgame, so too can a solo Berserker - leaving alone the impossibility of getting there with a solo Berserker in this version. However, they can use the Chicken Knife in this version!! Tempting Tango on Gaiacats can get it float, so they don't need to worry about that. They can equip Genji Shield for more evasion. And Thornlet too - nothing to be lost from constant HP leak given Turtle will be inflicting it anyway.
More (consistent) power equals a faster deader turtle, too. It only took Shredder a little over two minutes here. Being in the front row is desired in this instance.
__________
So Gil Turtle.
...
It's much like Prototype in how it's far more powerful than anything else up to this point, unless you've specifically prepared for him. I'm not sure which solos could actually take it on in World 2 and win.
So to answer this question from three years ago: every class can at least semi-reasonably defeat Gil Turtle in World 2 except Necromancer and Berserker. And every class in the game can defeat it in the postgame, much more easily.
That said, there's varying degrees of difficulty with this fight. Having played through it with every class in the game, I can present a rough tier list of how good each class is at fighting Gil Turtle. I looked at various aspects when it comes to the encounter, including resources used, time invested, and margin for error. Status bug is assumed for classes that can use it, though I do lightly factor in not using it. It's by no means a balanced tier list - because there's a surprising number of jobs that have an easy time. And the order can be a bit hazy in places. But here's what I came up with.
Tier #1:
- Blue Mage
- Samurai
- White Mage
- Gladiator
- Chemist
If these classes want Gil Turtle dead, then Gil Turtle is dead. They all can either do something to make themselves invincible or otherwise render it harmless.
Blue Mage and Samurai take first and second. They're basically impossible for Gil Turtle to kill - the former can achieve true invincibility, and the latter's absurd evasion is very close. Blue Mage is ahead, since it doesn't need as many resources, and can set it up without too much trouble with mini.
White Mage, Gladiator, and Chemist rank below them. Your mileage in the order may vary, but they all pretty much can wreck the turtle as well. Chemist has absurd defenses; I placed it slightly lower than the other two due to needing more resources and the awkwardness of healing if you use Bone Mail. Gladiator and White Mage have no such problems, the former being fine with Bone Mail on and it not being a factor for the latter. White Mage does need Elixirs whereas Gladiator can get the job done with just Icebrand and Ice Shield, but I put White Mage slightly higher due to the presence of Protect and Blink giving it more of a buffer in case things go wrong, even if it can't status bug. Still, if you play your cards right, it's no big deal.
Tier #2:
- Summoner
- Black Mage
- Ninja
- Red Mage
- Cannoneer
- Time Mage
- Freelancer
- Mime
These classes can easily defeat the turtle, but may run into problems here and there or require more resources/patience than the other classes.
Summoner just misses tier 1. Golem does give it invincibility and it can consistently damage, but Golem dropping unexpectedly can be annoying, is semi-weak, and it needs to rely on items to heal. Black Mage's insane offensive prowess carries it to this rank. It's so good that it's the only one in tiers 1 or 2 without high defensive options. Ninja of course has its Shurikens, speed, and !Image. Black Mage beats it because MP is easier to replace than costly Shurikens.
Red Mage is a step down but still fits in here. In spite of its disastrous HP, Protect gives it more buffer than many other classes. Poor offense unless you doublecast (which it can get away with) or break rods, though. Cannoneer's offense is also questionable, but it answers with high evasion. Red Mage's defense is less luck based, so it's just barely ahead. Time Mage follows in behind thanks to its speed advantage, but that's best for recovering from damage rather than preventing it in the first place. Lastly, if you're using minishield, Freelancer and Mime are fairly close. It is awkward and slow without using rods though, so they rank below the others. Freelancer jumps ahead of Mime thanks to the presence of better equipment, including Ribbon. Even though they're at the bottom of this tier, they still can handle it fairly easily.
Tier #3:
- Mystic Knight
- Bard
- Knight
- Monk
- Thief
- Dragoon
These classes can do the fight, but with more difficulty than those in Tier 2 for various reasons. It could be hard to pull off, they could need more resources, etc. Still, it's practical to boil the turtle with them.
Mystic Knight could easily be considered tier 2, but I place it here due to erratic damage output. If you want to hit hard, you need the inconsistent Dancing Dagger. If you want to hit safe, you need the weak Main Gauche, and poor luck will catch up after a while. And you can't switch them because of Spellblade's nature, just barely putting it here on my list. Bard and Knight meanwhile, miss tier 2 due to the execution being a bit tricky, and needing plenty of resources on top of that - like many of the classes here and beyond.
Monk is next - no exception. It's relatively safe with the counters, but it's not the hardest hitter. Dragoon meanwhile is extremely execution-heavy and time-consuming. It can be easy to break focus and slip up, and it needs resources like many of these classes. Those disadvantages place it at the bottom of this tier, but its advantages keep it from the tier below.
Tier #4:
- Beastmaster
- Geomancer
- Ranger
- Dancer
- Oracle
These classes all have trouble. They can do it, but it's hard or impractical.
That said, Beastmaster does stand high above the two below it - if the Web does land, as inconsistent as it is, it goes a long way. At least it can do something. Ranger and Dancer both have disastrous stamina, aren't likely to be leveled high enough to survive, and require tons of resources. Geomancer is likely to be high level, but not being able to status bug hurts its grade and it's potion-heavy. Ranger doesn't need to throw Hi-Potions like those it's sandwiched between, but it still has absolutely no defense - it might be better to mimic the Hi-Potion strategy with it.
Oracle is a special case. It can't get float, and though getting through the fight itself is pathetically easy, getting high enough to survive Earthquake is the issue. This would otherwise be in tier 2, probably near the top. It's not in the next tier down, though - mid-60s isn't too unreasonable, and there's the aforementioned dual purpose of fighting Atomos legit in achieving that.
Tier #5:
- Berserker
- Necromancer
These classes just can't get the job done. It's wholly impractical to impossible.
Necromancer needs absurd levels to win the fight which would make those fighting Atomos legit blush. Despite the fact that these levels do make it possible and simple to win, I actually rank Berserker above it slightly. They can at least practically take runs at the turtle. As unlikely as they are to win, they are more likely to have the levels they need to potentially win than the Necromancer, but with both classes, a win just isn't happening.
__________
In closing? Gil Turtle may not be as respected or feared a superboss as Omega or Shinryu, but it's still more than capable of wrecking an unprepared party. It arguably has more credentials than them in one sense - you can throw stop and berserk at those respectively. You can only slow Gil Turtle.
Nevertheless, like them and many of the bosses in this game, if you know what to do, you can handle it without too much trouble. That said, Gil Turtle is a bit of a one-trick pony compared to their grab bag of tricks. It's easy for a normal party to guard against its physical threat just through Golem, and maybe stacking the odds with Slow and Hastega. Or like I said, advanced strategies like low HP and Guard. With solos, you either have a way to deal with a threat or you don't. And if you don't, you just need to buckle down and push through. I found it pretty surprising just about everything can deal with this thing and its massive physical blows. Only those without healing options couldn't make it through this fight. And there were actually pretty few who had offensive problems and needed Hi-Potions, as well!
Can perseverance see a solo through more superbosses? A question for another challenge, another time.
Index
I'm running out of witty and/or informative things to say. Train, train, train, and introduce your enemies to the pain train.
This and the next class share a trait in how they are unable to equip the Dancing Dagger, and with no other means of inflicting confusion, are unable to obtain float status. So they have no choice but to have enough HP to just tank it. Which Monk is at least more than capable of achieving between absurd base HP and its +30% skill.
Monk has a nice perk. Instead of putting up with Turtle, Shredder forced it to trigger his own counterattacks...though it still is only 50% to trigger, and he has to get through the turtle's evasion. Because of this, Monk is actually one of the few, if not only classes that can successfully face this thing in the front row. It's probably a good idea too - it's fairly weak in the back row, and crits in the front row do a lot to help save on resources. Elven Mantle is similarly optional - it might save you, but also can prolong the fight, since Counter only goes off when the user is actually hit. Also, don't mess with the Defend command too much - any successful Counter will cancel it.
I fought this with Shredder at level 50. Every normal blow of his did around 400 damage on average. A good thing about his 4833HP is that he could take four hits without needing to use an Elixir - either outright or with help from a Hi-Potion. Shredder could equip Twist Headband, Power Sash, and Power Armlet for a higher multiplier, but this made the Elixir conservation strategy inconsistent and the fight more dangerous.
The problem as stated is the turtle's parting Earthquake. With no way to get float status, Monk simply has to have enough HP to tank it. It's at least more than capable of achieving this.
Although for some reason, Gil Turtle doesn't use its death counter when Monk kills it on a counter? What the hell? Way to make this ordering look screwy, game! I swear the Puroboros do in fact do their death counter when killed via counterattack. As an aside, not mentioned in the algorithms guide, there's a check in the game for certain physicals (such as Tree Exdeath's) that makes them not trigger a Monk's counter, presumably because of this.
23/26. Well that was unexpected. It just needs enough Elixirs and Hi-Potions and it can handle things earlier than I got to here.
Monk in the postgame gets higher levels for stronger attacks. It can even use the Kaiser Knuckles for better offense. Definitely worth having on! I mean it denies you haste, but well, shouldn't be needed for the turtle at least.
__________
The Oracle
The wackiest of the GBA classes. It has a ton of magic power and the only way to use it is breaking Staffs of Light! Which naturally don't work.
A nasty feature of Oracle is that the !Predict command does not trigger counterattacks, so it won't have to deal with Turtle at all! It's a weird command that activates a countdown (5/4/3 depending on rank) to various things depending on the last digit of the user's MP.
Shredder went in with his MP ending in 7, using Third Rank (consuming 7MP) to use Blessing, a healing spell. Predict's multiplier is determined by the last digit of the target's HP at the time of the prediction, relevant when the target is being whacked around during a charge.
After it went off (which it would before his next turn), he would use Second Rank (consuming 3MP) for Cleansing, a nice non-elemental attack. Due to how M is calculated for Predict, damage was all over the place (3000 at most to like 300 at least) until the last digit of the turtle's HP landed on 6, after which all damage consistently ended in 0, doing 2000 each time. Back at 0MP, he repeatedly used this Blessing/Cleansing loop.
Oracle also has the Condemn ability, able to set a ticking timer for various effects. Rejuvenation is of particular interest defensively; nice to pop during a Cleansing charge, and it can heal off a hit and a half of damage. Unfortunately the offensive options don't work on Heavy targets in the GBA version. They do on iOS except for Doom, so Black Frost can be thrown at this too. Don't know if it triggers counters, though.
Do note that Oracle can't equip knives, so in addition to not getting float, it's stuck with just the Elven Mantle for defense. Rejuvenation really comes in handy to survive - with enough breaks with dodging, Shredder could even spam it to keep his HP high. Being at a level where the Oracle's max MP ends in 0 or 7 so Elixirs can be used would be nice, too! Still, if the Oracle plays its cards right, it's got the fight in the bag. And !Predict doesn't trigger counters, so the final attack is no issue.
...except Oracle's Predict does actually trigger death counters!! Sheesh. Make up your mind, game!! Well, at least one turned out how I expected, but I was not expecting that after Monk turned out fine.
So there's two ways to go about this. The first is for the Oracle to level high enough to survive the attack - this requires being in the 60s, though! Level 64 does fine for the most part, but slightly higher is safer.
The second is to use Eruption (MP ending with 2) on the turtle to try to inflict HP leak. But...Eruption isn't even guaranteed to inflict HP leak. That along with how there's no way to tell if it succeeded or not kills this strategy dead, practically speaking. If you do succeed, you'd better act fast - the HP leak doesn't last long, so you need to reduce its HP to kill range (Hi-Potion or Healing Staff) pronto. Even with savestates, this was just stupidly impossible.
So I just went with the first option. 24/26. There is at least an excuse to be this high leveled - if you want to do Atomos legitimately. Oracle would be a top tier turtle killer if it wasn't for the final attack. As is due to the requirements, it's pretty low-ranked - but it can be reasonably done.
Oracle in the postgame just gets the benefits of higher levels. It still can't get float, though - and ergo remains the only class in the game that has to deal with the final Earthquake. Given the nature of the postgame and said levels though, it will have the HP to survive it.
__________
The Necromancer
A job only accessible after the postgame content up to the boss rush! What were they thinking?! Oh well, at least the concept of killing enemies to get skills is neat.
This class and the next one have something in common - they can't heal themselves through the battle. So it's a damage race. T-Hawk's Rathma may have fought this thing, but Necromancer is the biggest example of a character who has a way easier time with this thing in the bonus dungeon. Unfortunately, that STUPID IDIOT Exdeath only sends his souls into the Sealed Castle when World 3 hits, so no Dark Flare. And there's no Deep Freeze either. And Gil Turtle absorbs the two moves you do get. At least it can still break Ice Rods!
The big problem with Necromancer is that it has no way to heal - it has to either make an unreasonable amount of dodges, or be an absurdly high level - somewhere in the 90s!! At least Oracle has an excuse to be in the 60s. Necro can't use that excuse, it needs to be much higher (although should be able to kill Atomos outright in the 60s). You need well over five times the experience to reach the 90s. Though it is technically possible, it's so impractical it may as well be impossible. So not counting it.
But of course, there is the postgame to consider...
As established by Rathma, Necromancer can handle this fight in the postgame thanks to Wonder Wand providing Protect status, Magic Lamp providing Golem, and having Deep Freeze access instead of needing to rely on (weaker) broken rods. And Gil Turtle does not appreciate boosted Deep Freeze in the slightest.
It can also use the wand for Dispel. Since I've been talking it up a bunch in the description of various jobs in how they would perform in the postgame, check out the difference it makes with a level 64 Necromancer (lower than Rathma was, can tell by the lower damage on Deep Freeze) with Frost Rod, Circlet, and Black Robe! 9999, yo.
Much more doable. As an aside, a couple guides say this thing has 40000HP and improved statistics in the postgame, but it only has its usual amount. They're probably just copying from the GBA Algorithms guide mindlessly - those are the stats of the Cloister of the Dead one!!
__________
The Berserker
BERSERKERRRRR!!!!!!
No surprise. Berserker can't be controlled, and will hack away until it or the enemies die. Its only option is to avoid damage in the first place. At least the status bug conundrum isn't a factor here: Bone Mail has like no downside.
High-levels are again required, and to its credit, Berserker is far more likely to be high-leveled here than Necromancer. However, its big issue is that it can't get float - you need to confuse and use an Ether on the Poison Eagles in Drakenvale to obtain it. Without that, as shown by the Oracle, you need to be able to tank a ~3500 damage Earthquake. So the buffer room is much smaller than you might think.
Even with that lifted or you accept that killing Gil Turtle is the goal even if it costs you your own life, things are not that much better for the Berserker. It needs to block dozens of attacks with Ice Shield and Elven Mantle. All the while, it needs to have on the Dancing Dagger and be throwing out Sword Dances like nobody's business. Even without Sword Dance it is Berserker's best option - Poison Axe's inaccuracy puts it behind. Blind is a good idea - Sword Dance ignores accuracy, so this makes less of the regular attacks hit (and therefore trigger more Turtles). You can also choose between front row or back row, this damage being from the back.
It's theoretically possible! I actually made it as far as the final hit once, in the back row (seems more consistent than front row). Shredder was going to die to Earthquake, but still. Wish I hadn't absentmindly overwritten the emulator video there - he went nuts, dodging everything and landing five Sword Dances in a row. That's the kind of luck you need, possibly more. And you can't like, have the luck disappear like it did for me in said fight. Theoretically possible! But this just isn't happening for anyone who isn't named NotDave.
Just like how solo Necromancer can successfully defeat Gil Turtle in the postgame, so too can a solo Berserker - leaving alone the impossibility of getting there with a solo Berserker in this version. However, they can use the Chicken Knife in this version!! Tempting Tango on Gaiacats can get it float, so they don't need to worry about that. They can equip Genji Shield for more evasion. And Thornlet too - nothing to be lost from constant HP leak given Turtle will be inflicting it anyway.
More (consistent) power equals a faster deader turtle, too. It only took Shredder a little over two minutes here. Being in the front row is desired in this instance.
__________
So Gil Turtle.
...
It's much like Prototype in how it's far more powerful than anything else up to this point, unless you've specifically prepared for him. I'm not sure which solos could actually take it on in World 2 and win.
So to answer this question from three years ago: every class can at least semi-reasonably defeat Gil Turtle in World 2 except Necromancer and Berserker. And every class in the game can defeat it in the postgame, much more easily.
That said, there's varying degrees of difficulty with this fight. Having played through it with every class in the game, I can present a rough tier list of how good each class is at fighting Gil Turtle. I looked at various aspects when it comes to the encounter, including resources used, time invested, and margin for error. Status bug is assumed for classes that can use it, though I do lightly factor in not using it. It's by no means a balanced tier list - because there's a surprising number of jobs that have an easy time. And the order can be a bit hazy in places. But here's what I came up with.
Tier #1:
- Blue Mage
- Samurai
- White Mage
- Gladiator
- Chemist
If these classes want Gil Turtle dead, then Gil Turtle is dead. They all can either do something to make themselves invincible or otherwise render it harmless.
Blue Mage and Samurai take first and second. They're basically impossible for Gil Turtle to kill - the former can achieve true invincibility, and the latter's absurd evasion is very close. Blue Mage is ahead, since it doesn't need as many resources, and can set it up without too much trouble with mini.
White Mage, Gladiator, and Chemist rank below them. Your mileage in the order may vary, but they all pretty much can wreck the turtle as well. Chemist has absurd defenses; I placed it slightly lower than the other two due to needing more resources and the awkwardness of healing if you use Bone Mail. Gladiator and White Mage have no such problems, the former being fine with Bone Mail on and it not being a factor for the latter. White Mage does need Elixirs whereas Gladiator can get the job done with just Icebrand and Ice Shield, but I put White Mage slightly higher due to the presence of Protect and Blink giving it more of a buffer in case things go wrong, even if it can't status bug. Still, if you play your cards right, it's no big deal.
Tier #2:
- Summoner
- Black Mage
- Ninja
- Red Mage
- Cannoneer
- Time Mage
- Freelancer
- Mime
These classes can easily defeat the turtle, but may run into problems here and there or require more resources/patience than the other classes.
Summoner just misses tier 1. Golem does give it invincibility and it can consistently damage, but Golem dropping unexpectedly can be annoying, is semi-weak, and it needs to rely on items to heal. Black Mage's insane offensive prowess carries it to this rank. It's so good that it's the only one in tiers 1 or 2 without high defensive options. Ninja of course has its Shurikens, speed, and !Image. Black Mage beats it because MP is easier to replace than costly Shurikens.
Red Mage is a step down but still fits in here. In spite of its disastrous HP, Protect gives it more buffer than many other classes. Poor offense unless you doublecast (which it can get away with) or break rods, though. Cannoneer's offense is also questionable, but it answers with high evasion. Red Mage's defense is less luck based, so it's just barely ahead. Time Mage follows in behind thanks to its speed advantage, but that's best for recovering from damage rather than preventing it in the first place. Lastly, if you're using minishield, Freelancer and Mime are fairly close. It is awkward and slow without using rods though, so they rank below the others. Freelancer jumps ahead of Mime thanks to the presence of better equipment, including Ribbon. Even though they're at the bottom of this tier, they still can handle it fairly easily.
Tier #3:
- Mystic Knight
- Bard
- Knight
- Monk
- Thief
- Dragoon
These classes can do the fight, but with more difficulty than those in Tier 2 for various reasons. It could be hard to pull off, they could need more resources, etc. Still, it's practical to boil the turtle with them.
Mystic Knight could easily be considered tier 2, but I place it here due to erratic damage output. If you want to hit hard, you need the inconsistent Dancing Dagger. If you want to hit safe, you need the weak Main Gauche, and poor luck will catch up after a while. And you can't switch them because of Spellblade's nature, just barely putting it here on my list. Bard and Knight meanwhile, miss tier 2 due to the execution being a bit tricky, and needing plenty of resources on top of that - like many of the classes here and beyond.
Monk is next - no exception. It's relatively safe with the counters, but it's not the hardest hitter. Dragoon meanwhile is extremely execution-heavy and time-consuming. It can be easy to break focus and slip up, and it needs resources like many of these classes. Those disadvantages place it at the bottom of this tier, but its advantages keep it from the tier below.
Tier #4:
- Beastmaster
- Geomancer
- Ranger
- Dancer
- Oracle
These classes all have trouble. They can do it, but it's hard or impractical.
That said, Beastmaster does stand high above the two below it - if the Web does land, as inconsistent as it is, it goes a long way. At least it can do something. Ranger and Dancer both have disastrous stamina, aren't likely to be leveled high enough to survive, and require tons of resources. Geomancer is likely to be high level, but not being able to status bug hurts its grade and it's potion-heavy. Ranger doesn't need to throw Hi-Potions like those it's sandwiched between, but it still has absolutely no defense - it might be better to mimic the Hi-Potion strategy with it.
Oracle is a special case. It can't get float, and though getting through the fight itself is pathetically easy, getting high enough to survive Earthquake is the issue. This would otherwise be in tier 2, probably near the top. It's not in the next tier down, though - mid-60s isn't too unreasonable, and there's the aforementioned dual purpose of fighting Atomos legit in achieving that.
Tier #5:
- Berserker
- Necromancer
These classes just can't get the job done. It's wholly impractical to impossible.
Necromancer needs absurd levels to win the fight which would make those fighting Atomos legit blush. Despite the fact that these levels do make it possible and simple to win, I actually rank Berserker above it slightly. They can at least practically take runs at the turtle. As unlikely as they are to win, they are more likely to have the levels they need to potentially win than the Necromancer, but with both classes, a win just isn't happening.
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In closing? Gil Turtle may not be as respected or feared a superboss as Omega or Shinryu, but it's still more than capable of wrecking an unprepared party. It arguably has more credentials than them in one sense - you can throw stop and berserk at those respectively. You can only slow Gil Turtle.
Nevertheless, like them and many of the bosses in this game, if you know what to do, you can handle it without too much trouble. That said, Gil Turtle is a bit of a one-trick pony compared to their grab bag of tricks. It's easy for a normal party to guard against its physical threat just through Golem, and maybe stacking the odds with Slow and Hastega. Or like I said, advanced strategies like low HP and Guard. With solos, you either have a way to deal with a threat or you don't. And if you don't, you just need to buckle down and push through. I found it pretty surprising just about everything can deal with this thing and its massive physical blows. Only those without healing options couldn't make it through this fight. And there were actually pretty few who had offensive problems and needed Hi-Potions, as well!
Can perseverance see a solo through more superbosses? A question for another challenge, another time.
Index
