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FF5 Solos vs. Shinryu Part I
Sep. 1st, 2017 02:47 pmI said in my Gil Turtle report that I would consider seeing what other jobs could defeat FF5's other superbosses. Now is the time to do this.
The target in this series is Shinryu, the frankly overbloated dragon that's hiding in a treasure chest. I've seen many a fiesta run crush this thing like a bug, so it in fact really isn't that much to be feared. People have found ways to kill it and Omega with many different party compositions . So now I'll be throwing every party composition that consists of a single character in a single job against it.
The name for the character this time comes from the main character from Dragon Quest III, Erdrick. Technically his main oppressor wasn't a dragon, but as far as I know, his descendant featured in the first game is only officially known as...Erdrick/Loto's Descendant, in Dragon Quest Theatrhythm. And yes, I very blatantly just teleported to the end of the game again. This is actually the same savefile even, I just renamed the main character with memory editing.
As before, the big dragon will be fought as if it is a solo in mind. This mainly means no Genji Helmet if I wanted to use it. And as before, there will be no holds barred. Shinryu is a superboss, and the job can do anything in its power - namely exploiting its Berserk weakness, to defeat it. Is it dirty? Maybe, but no more than any other cheap strategy on a boss, like Magic Lamping NeoExdeath or gibbing a boss with instant death. And unlike those, this just turns one danger into another anyway - and even some classes that can do it this way might not necessarily want to. Also for this report, I have no level limits on a class' level when defeating it, either - although that said, I won't be crazy about it where possible.
There will be two main levels I fight the big dragon at: 65 and 97. Their reasonings: 65 is a fairly reasonable level to be at the very end of the game. I would go 64, but it can be hit by L2 Old. 97 is an "if all else fails..." level that's mostly for the sake of seeing if a job class can beat Shinryu under any circumstances, also immune to that and L3 Flare. However, do expect to see levels in-between for certain job classes - there will be two secondary levels in 73 and 85, for jobs that need a bit more breathing room, and for jobs that need more levels but not the full 97.
I'll be disregarding GBA postgame content for the most part. Shinryu is part of the base game, so I'll try to stay away from the extra pieces of equipment - but they're there and on the table, if a class must use them to win or it's too painful to do so without. Whatever it takes to beat the dragon, after all.
Unlike the previous report, I'll be did these in whichever order. Here they're sorted based on level - this first set of jobs can get it done at fairly reasonable levels, all of them fought the dragon at level 65 or level 73.
__________
The White Mage
Starting off with a most unexpected one. A solo White Mage against one of the toughest enemies in the game?! It's more likely than you think, thanks to the dragon's vulnerability to Berserk! Yes, I will be using anything in my power to win, including that if need be. That part never really came up against Gil Turtle, but it can and will here. Shinryu shows us no mercy, so I'm going to treat it with the same respect.
I fought this with White Mage at level 73, particularly since its expected levels would be higher. Could've done it at 71 (anything that isn't a multiple of 2 or 3 would work), but I shrugged and decided on giving it the two extra. And for reasons that will be made apparently shortly, it really wants those levels. Defense is no problem, although it does need an ideal setup to get going - starting off with Shell to neuter the Tidal Wave, healing, then trying to get up Protect, Blink, and Berserk.
...except Shinryu absorbs Holy, for seemingly no reason other than to flip off people who dare use White Mages offensively against it. Luckily, not all is lost - White Mage can use the Magic Lamp for some extra damage. Bahamut, Leviathan, and Syldra amounted to around 6000-7000 damage, which is good...
...because it'll take a while once those three summons are exhausted. Swings that connect will do anywhere from low 100s to high 700s. With good timing, it was possible to trap Shinryu in a loop where it couldn't deal any damage. Blink immediately after it attacks, and Shinryu will only get one turn in-between. Quickly get an attack in, and Shinryu should again only get one turn in-between if you menu fast enough. Get Blink back to two uses after it has just attacked - you need to get Blink ready while the attack animation is in-progress. "Pause" buffering by going into the magic menu repeatedly helps, but as long as you're quick and go as it starts flashing to attack, you should be fine. Refresh and repeat. A lot. It'll look like this with perfect timing.
Morning Star -> Attack -> Blink -> Attack -> Attack -> Blink -> Attack -> Wait, Blink -> Repeat
Obviously wear the Gold Hairpin and use an Elixir in place of the Morning Star bonk when low on MP. This happened for the first time in my fight with Shinryu at 33894HP. The second and last was used at 14615HP. Blink costs only 3MP after halving, which is nice.
Just those levels and those two Elixirs was all it took. And an hour and 17 minutes in my fight. Pft, only 1:17? A solo White Mage has to deal with way worse.
__________
The Time Mage
One of the most powerful solos, even given its small toolkit, thanks to said tools being fantastic. Can it take down the uberdragon?! Well yes, otherwise I wouldn't be posting it here.
As usual, the big annoyance with Shinryu is its opening Tidal Wave. You kind of really want Hermes Sandals on when you're solo. Time Mage of course doesn't need them, but I went with them anyway for a specific reason. Thankfully, there's ways to not use Coral Ring - blocking with Aegis Shield, Wonder Rod Shell, and sheer levels where possible will do.
But again, there's no holds barred. Time Mage is capable of inflicting Berserk on Shinryu via the Power Staff. The big problem with doing this of course is being murdered by the absurdly overpowered physicals from there, so this can end up more of a creative way to commit suicide than way to stop its attack pattern. But Time Mage has a counter - Protect out of the Wonder Rod!
These statuses were inflicted on the first turn via Quick. And from there, the Time Mage could use that, as well as Elixir and Meteor on the same turn to devastate Shinryu. Or, not. The idiot has 87 speed, and 95 magic evasion to make inflicting Slow a complete 1% pain. This is high enough to occasionally double turn Erdrick. At level 65, this was a one-two puunch. The solution was to use the Defend command when this was going to happen.
It was actually best to do the fight without Chicken Knife. This way, Shinryu's ATB lined up perfectly with Erdrick's. He could get two turns of Elixir-Meteoring for every one turn of Elixir-Defending. It took 25 Elixirs over the course...
...but it's gone!
What about without the lack of mercy? That would require higher levels and is a question for when I keep going proper. The general strategy should be similar to how I described, though. It'd need at least enough levels to survive the opening Tidal Wave after Shell. And would probably want to strongly consider bringing the Rod back around to Protect.
__________
The Beastmaster
This was a very bad job when it came to taking down Gil Turtle. How about this other overbloated reptile instead?
This is of course starts with the right monster to catch, and it just so happens Beastmaster has an excellent option I mentioned in the vs. Gil Turtle report - Crystelle (aka Thing), the Seal Guardian lookalike found in the crystal section of the Void. That said, catching this thing is kind of difficult, due to it having 3HP and all. The answer is to release a monster on it that uses ???? or Vampire, such as Mercury Bat. Make sure the Beastmaster has only 2HP missing and let it rip, hopefully getting by its magic evasion. Then make the catch. It's much easier in a party that can use Excalipur, of course, but alas.
It's all worth it, because that means the Beastmaster can get away with not using Coral Ring. It just needs enough HP to survive the Tidal Wave with Shell, which it has at level 65.
So defense isn't a problem. And of course, this class also brings the offense in spades. With the Dragon Whisker, the Beastmaster has the offensive might of that weapon and the defense power of the back row. Beastmaster can get it done at reasonable levels, but is a job that would appreciate slightly higher ones just to give itself some breathing room both offensively and defensively. I tried this at level 73 since I just came off White Mage with that level.
This was a complete pain in the ass to get down in practice, though. Shinryu seemed that it had embarked on an epic quest to catapult Roulette to the very top of its worst attacks list. It was almost to where I'd say Plumed Hat might have been the best headwear for the extra magic evade, rather than Twist Headband for the extra strength. Case in point, one time I lost a fight when it had just over 3000HP remaining because of Roulette. The dragon also loved used Mighty Guard early, similarly annoying. As long as Erdrick was careful about timing his attacks, everything else (save Evil Eye occasionally getting in on the action) wasn't a threat.
Did get it done though. Technically doable at lower levels, but higher (80s?) is definitely better when it comes to fighting Shinryu with Beastmaster. Isn't it fascinating how a job that is atrocious against one superboss can do just fine against another superboss?
__________
The Samurai
Speaking of which, let's look at the opposite case now...is what I wrote, but then it turned out this job does fine after all.
The Samurai has an esoteric setup that can help with getting this done, based around Flame Ring, Bone Mail, Diamond Helmet, and Aegis Shield - Masamune bringing the Haste. You really can't underestimate that defensive equipment. Flame Ring and Diamond Helmet work to absorb, block, and weaken the basic elemental spells. Poison is absorbed by Bone Mail. Tidal Wave is rendered moot by retrying until Aegis Shield blocks it.
With that in mind, Samurai is a job class that appreciates every level you can give it. 65 isn't really sufficient due to Giltoss only doing 2250, but the 73 I was using was doing 3450. Higher is better, as usual. Oh, and that Mighty Guard? Completely irrelevant! It does not affect Giltoss' damage. This method of attack also opened up the weapon slot to keep Main Gauche on alongside the Samurai's natural evade skill to make the physicals less of a concern, switching to Assassin's Dagger to heal when damage started to add up. Or when Maelstrom got through.
The dragon is dead again. Samurai a beast. Also note it is naturally possible to fight it without Bone Mail, exchanging easier healing for poison vulnerability and death instead of free healing from Roulette.
__________
The Dragoon
If there were ever a class that an average player might fight Shinryu with, the Dragoon is a top contender. Its fancy namesake lance escalates the damage against the dragon drastically. But how about a solo Dragoon? Will it be okay?
Actually yes, it's not that big a deal. To do it optimally though is a bit tricky. Dragoon ideally wants to be in the air during the last part of its AI script, with the high chance of the double physical. With good timing, it can dodge this AND the no-interrupt that comes before.
The biggest threat was Snowstorm, which could just potato Erdrick. The only thing to do is hope it didn't show up, and if it did, that Aegis Shield blocked it. Atomic Ray wasn't nearly as painful (although could open Erdrick up to dying to a physical), and Lightning of course was neutered by Diamond Helmet.
Once the timing was down, and it didn't use Mighty Guard too early, it was just another statistic. Another job that can kill Shinryu, and at reasonable levels to boot - although it does admittedly demand a lot in the timing and repetition when things go wrong. Instead of 65, if you're really out to kill the dragon, you'd probably want to get slightly higher to have enough HP to survive Snowstorm.
__________
The Chemist
They live in cyberspace and want to destroy the network system.
Chemist was nerfed in this version by not allowing you to exceed level 99 with your mixtures. It's still incredibly powerful, but not as powerful. So overkill damage on this version - and more importantly evading Evil Eye via excessive level as Sullla did with Newton - is out of the picture.
The usual mixtures for a Chemist came into play all the same - drinking a Goliath Tonic to double HP, Dragon Defense for Protect/Shell (first turn since it allowed Erdrick to survive Tidal Wave at 65, lower levels want Coral Ring/Speed Drink for haste), Dragon Power to increase level to mitigate Evil Eye some, and so on. I was hoping to use Resist Element, but these eventually wear off, so Dragon Shielding is superior. Life Shield and Dragon Kiss are also wanted. It was just a matter of getting these mixtures up before Shinryu could get Erdrick with Roulette or Evil Eye. As you should know by now, anything that takes a while in this fight makes you liable to eventually get horribly killed.
Without the benefit of absurd levels to make Drain/Succubus Kiss all-powerful, the offense of choice was Dragon Breath to deal Erdrick's current HP in damage. It's is still an option, but again, ideally want to kill it fast before Evil Eye can horribly kill you. SNES would want the former, as well as the Judgment Staff to remove Mighty Guard whenever it shows up. Turtle Soup/Split Shell can also be used to weaken it further.
There was a hilarious moment in my winning run. I forgot to consider the effects that boosting your level with mixtures would have on the level spells. So Erdrick was nailed with L3 Flare for 5000 damage! And that was with Shell too!! Furthermore, I learned that theelemental Resist mixtures do in fact have a time limit can glitch and come undone - and had just been hit by Atomic Ray a moment before. Luckily, he survived with just over 1000HP. So uh, yeah. Watch that on GBA. And maybe exploit this fact yourself next time you have a Blue Mage and Chemist in the same party.
Chemist is not in fact a member of a self-inclusive club that can defeat Omega and Shinryu on its own, but it certainly won't disappoint you if you try.
__________
The Gladiator
With all its weapon variety, enough to match the Freelancer, this certainly seems a great job to pull this off with.
Thanks to being a job that equip shields, the opening Tidal Wave is not an issue. And unlike when T-Hawk fought this with Free!Rathma, the weapon of choice for the Gladiator is in fact the Dragon Lance. It can hang in the back row without incident thanks to its Long Reach ability, dealing very reasonable damage at level 65, without needing to worry about the random madness of !Finisher.
Gladiator doesn't have to worry about physicals overly much thanks to Protect and the back row. Diamond Helmet neutered Lighting, Aegis Shield is its old useful self, and Power Sash was just to kill faster. That left Atomic Ray (painful but survivable), Roulette (not a sure thing), and Snowstorm (dead and nothing I could do at level 65 except hope it gets blocked).
The winning fight turned out to be the stupidest thing I've ever seen. That 20% evade of Shinryu's just kept on triggering. Erdrick also kept on failing to use his Aegis Shield. However, at the same time, Shinryu was also being pretty dumb - he kept on using Atomic Ray and rarely Lightning, never the lethal-at-this-level Snowstorm. Not even Mighty Guard was an obstacle during the fight due to lack of use. It was five and a half minute affair that saw twenty Elixirs get gulped down.
But I won out. Not the most eloquent or demonstrative fight, but Gladiator does not have problems with Shinryu.
__________
The Cannoneer
Well, I said it could get the job done at reasonable endgame levels in my own report. Now to put my money where my mouth is.
The strategy is no different whether the Cannoneer is in the 60s or the 90s: start off by hitting Shinryu with Slow Cannon. Use Aegis Shield to block the opening Tidal Wave...
...and then rip it a new one with Dragon Cannon! Even at this level, it was outputting fantastic damage.
Which was still enough to kill it before that second no-interrupt section. Cannoneer can just delete Shinryu, it just needs to survive the turns beforehand, which isn't demanding at all.
__________
So far so good. With one exception because the report flows better this way, the next set of jobs will all be able to get the job done in the 80s. Of course the higher level you go with any job the better it will do, as discussed withs ome of them. These ones kind of need the higher levels, however - but not the highest levels.
Next | Index
The target in this series is Shinryu, the frankly overbloated dragon that's hiding in a treasure chest. I've seen many a fiesta run crush this thing like a bug, so it in fact really isn't that much to be feared. People have found ways to kill it and Omega with many different party compositions . So now I'll be throwing every party composition that consists of a single character in a single job against it.
The name for the character this time comes from the main character from Dragon Quest III, Erdrick. Technically his main oppressor wasn't a dragon, but as far as I know, his descendant featured in the first game is only officially known as...Erdrick/Loto's Descendant, in Dragon Quest Theatrhythm. And yes, I very blatantly just teleported to the end of the game again. This is actually the same savefile even, I just renamed the main character with memory editing.
As before, the big dragon will be fought as if it is a solo in mind. This mainly means no Genji Helmet if I wanted to use it. And as before, there will be no holds barred. Shinryu is a superboss, and the job can do anything in its power - namely exploiting its Berserk weakness, to defeat it. Is it dirty? Maybe, but no more than any other cheap strategy on a boss, like Magic Lamping NeoExdeath or gibbing a boss with instant death. And unlike those, this just turns one danger into another anyway - and even some classes that can do it this way might not necessarily want to. Also for this report, I have no level limits on a class' level when defeating it, either - although that said, I won't be crazy about it where possible.
There will be two main levels I fight the big dragon at: 65 and 97. Their reasonings: 65 is a fairly reasonable level to be at the very end of the game. I would go 64, but it can be hit by L2 Old. 97 is an "if all else fails..." level that's mostly for the sake of seeing if a job class can beat Shinryu under any circumstances, also immune to that and L3 Flare. However, do expect to see levels in-between for certain job classes - there will be two secondary levels in 73 and 85, for jobs that need a bit more breathing room, and for jobs that need more levels but not the full 97.
I'll be disregarding GBA postgame content for the most part. Shinryu is part of the base game, so I'll try to stay away from the extra pieces of equipment - but they're there and on the table, if a class must use them to win or it's too painful to do so without. Whatever it takes to beat the dragon, after all.
Unlike the previous report, I'll be did these in whichever order. Here they're sorted based on level - this first set of jobs can get it done at fairly reasonable levels, all of them fought the dragon at level 65 or level 73.
__________
The White Mage
Starting off with a most unexpected one. A solo White Mage against one of the toughest enemies in the game?! It's more likely than you think, thanks to the dragon's vulnerability to Berserk! Yes, I will be using anything in my power to win, including that if need be. That part never really came up against Gil Turtle, but it can and will here. Shinryu shows us no mercy, so I'm going to treat it with the same respect.
I fought this with White Mage at level 73, particularly since its expected levels would be higher. Could've done it at 71 (anything that isn't a multiple of 2 or 3 would work), but I shrugged and decided on giving it the two extra. And for reasons that will be made apparently shortly, it really wants those levels. Defense is no problem, although it does need an ideal setup to get going - starting off with Shell to neuter the Tidal Wave, healing, then trying to get up Protect, Blink, and Berserk.
...except Shinryu absorbs Holy, for seemingly no reason other than to flip off people who dare use White Mages offensively against it. Luckily, not all is lost - White Mage can use the Magic Lamp for some extra damage. Bahamut, Leviathan, and Syldra amounted to around 6000-7000 damage, which is good...
...because it'll take a while once those three summons are exhausted. Swings that connect will do anywhere from low 100s to high 700s. With good timing, it was possible to trap Shinryu in a loop where it couldn't deal any damage. Blink immediately after it attacks, and Shinryu will only get one turn in-between. Quickly get an attack in, and Shinryu should again only get one turn in-between if you menu fast enough. Get Blink back to two uses after it has just attacked - you need to get Blink ready while the attack animation is in-progress. "Pause" buffering by going into the magic menu repeatedly helps, but as long as you're quick and go as it starts flashing to attack, you should be fine. Refresh and repeat. A lot. It'll look like this with perfect timing.
Morning Star -> Attack -> Blink -> Attack -> Attack -> Blink -> Attack -> Wait, Blink -> Repeat
Obviously wear the Gold Hairpin and use an Elixir in place of the Morning Star bonk when low on MP. This happened for the first time in my fight with Shinryu at 33894HP. The second and last was used at 14615HP. Blink costs only 3MP after halving, which is nice.
Just those levels and those two Elixirs was all it took. And an hour and 17 minutes in my fight. Pft, only 1:17? A solo White Mage has to deal with way worse.
__________
The Time Mage
One of the most powerful solos, even given its small toolkit, thanks to said tools being fantastic. Can it take down the uberdragon?! Well yes, otherwise I wouldn't be posting it here.
As usual, the big annoyance with Shinryu is its opening Tidal Wave. You kind of really want Hermes Sandals on when you're solo. Time Mage of course doesn't need them, but I went with them anyway for a specific reason. Thankfully, there's ways to not use Coral Ring - blocking with Aegis Shield, Wonder Rod Shell, and sheer levels where possible will do.
But again, there's no holds barred. Time Mage is capable of inflicting Berserk on Shinryu via the Power Staff. The big problem with doing this of course is being murdered by the absurdly overpowered physicals from there, so this can end up more of a creative way to commit suicide than way to stop its attack pattern. But Time Mage has a counter - Protect out of the Wonder Rod!
These statuses were inflicted on the first turn via Quick. And from there, the Time Mage could use that, as well as Elixir and Meteor on the same turn to devastate Shinryu. Or, not. The idiot has 87 speed, and 95 magic evasion to make inflicting Slow a complete 1% pain. This is high enough to occasionally double turn Erdrick. At level 65, this was a one-two puunch. The solution was to use the Defend command when this was going to happen.
It was actually best to do the fight without Chicken Knife. This way, Shinryu's ATB lined up perfectly with Erdrick's. He could get two turns of Elixir-Meteoring for every one turn of Elixir-Defending. It took 25 Elixirs over the course...
...but it's gone!
What about without the lack of mercy? That would require higher levels and is a question for when I keep going proper. The general strategy should be similar to how I described, though. It'd need at least enough levels to survive the opening Tidal Wave after Shell. And would probably want to strongly consider bringing the Rod back around to Protect.
__________
The Beastmaster
This was a very bad job when it came to taking down Gil Turtle. How about this other overbloated reptile instead?
This is of course starts with the right monster to catch, and it just so happens Beastmaster has an excellent option I mentioned in the vs. Gil Turtle report - Crystelle (aka Thing), the Seal Guardian lookalike found in the crystal section of the Void. That said, catching this thing is kind of difficult, due to it having 3HP and all. The answer is to release a monster on it that uses ???? or Vampire, such as Mercury Bat. Make sure the Beastmaster has only 2HP missing and let it rip, hopefully getting by its magic evasion. Then make the catch. It's much easier in a party that can use Excalipur, of course, but alas.
It's all worth it, because that means the Beastmaster can get away with not using Coral Ring. It just needs enough HP to survive the Tidal Wave with Shell, which it has at level 65.
So defense isn't a problem. And of course, this class also brings the offense in spades. With the Dragon Whisker, the Beastmaster has the offensive might of that weapon and the defense power of the back row. Beastmaster can get it done at reasonable levels, but is a job that would appreciate slightly higher ones just to give itself some breathing room both offensively and defensively. I tried this at level 73 since I just came off White Mage with that level.
This was a complete pain in the ass to get down in practice, though. Shinryu seemed that it had embarked on an epic quest to catapult Roulette to the very top of its worst attacks list. It was almost to where I'd say Plumed Hat might have been the best headwear for the extra magic evade, rather than Twist Headband for the extra strength. Case in point, one time I lost a fight when it had just over 3000HP remaining because of Roulette. The dragon also loved used Mighty Guard early, similarly annoying. As long as Erdrick was careful about timing his attacks, everything else (save Evil Eye occasionally getting in on the action) wasn't a threat.
Did get it done though. Technically doable at lower levels, but higher (80s?) is definitely better when it comes to fighting Shinryu with Beastmaster. Isn't it fascinating how a job that is atrocious against one superboss can do just fine against another superboss?
__________
The Samurai
Speaking of which, let's look at the opposite case now...is what I wrote, but then it turned out this job does fine after all.
The Samurai has an esoteric setup that can help with getting this done, based around Flame Ring, Bone Mail, Diamond Helmet, and Aegis Shield - Masamune bringing the Haste. You really can't underestimate that defensive equipment. Flame Ring and Diamond Helmet work to absorb, block, and weaken the basic elemental spells. Poison is absorbed by Bone Mail. Tidal Wave is rendered moot by retrying until Aegis Shield blocks it.
With that in mind, Samurai is a job class that appreciates every level you can give it. 65 isn't really sufficient due to Giltoss only doing 2250, but the 73 I was using was doing 3450. Higher is better, as usual. Oh, and that Mighty Guard? Completely irrelevant! It does not affect Giltoss' damage. This method of attack also opened up the weapon slot to keep Main Gauche on alongside the Samurai's natural evade skill to make the physicals less of a concern, switching to Assassin's Dagger to heal when damage started to add up. Or when Maelstrom got through.
The dragon is dead again. Samurai a beast. Also note it is naturally possible to fight it without Bone Mail, exchanging easier healing for poison vulnerability and death instead of free healing from Roulette.
__________
The Dragoon
If there were ever a class that an average player might fight Shinryu with, the Dragoon is a top contender. Its fancy namesake lance escalates the damage against the dragon drastically. But how about a solo Dragoon? Will it be okay?
Actually yes, it's not that big a deal. To do it optimally though is a bit tricky. Dragoon ideally wants to be in the air during the last part of its AI script, with the high chance of the double physical. With good timing, it can dodge this AND the no-interrupt that comes before.
The biggest threat was Snowstorm, which could just potato Erdrick. The only thing to do is hope it didn't show up, and if it did, that Aegis Shield blocked it. Atomic Ray wasn't nearly as painful (although could open Erdrick up to dying to a physical), and Lightning of course was neutered by Diamond Helmet.
Once the timing was down, and it didn't use Mighty Guard too early, it was just another statistic. Another job that can kill Shinryu, and at reasonable levels to boot - although it does admittedly demand a lot in the timing and repetition when things go wrong. Instead of 65, if you're really out to kill the dragon, you'd probably want to get slightly higher to have enough HP to survive Snowstorm.
__________
The Chemist
They live in cyberspace and want to destroy the network system.
Chemist was nerfed in this version by not allowing you to exceed level 99 with your mixtures. It's still incredibly powerful, but not as powerful. So overkill damage on this version - and more importantly evading Evil Eye via excessive level as Sullla did with Newton - is out of the picture.
The usual mixtures for a Chemist came into play all the same - drinking a Goliath Tonic to double HP, Dragon Defense for Protect/Shell (first turn since it allowed Erdrick to survive Tidal Wave at 65, lower levels want Coral Ring/Speed Drink for haste), Dragon Power to increase level to mitigate Evil Eye some, and so on. I was hoping to use Resist Element, but these eventually wear off, so Dragon Shielding is superior. Life Shield and Dragon Kiss are also wanted. It was just a matter of getting these mixtures up before Shinryu could get Erdrick with Roulette or Evil Eye. As you should know by now, anything that takes a while in this fight makes you liable to eventually get horribly killed.
Without the benefit of absurd levels to make Drain/Succubus Kiss all-powerful, the offense of choice was Dragon Breath to deal Erdrick's current HP in damage. It's is still an option, but again, ideally want to kill it fast before Evil Eye can horribly kill you. SNES would want the former, as well as the Judgment Staff to remove Mighty Guard whenever it shows up. Turtle Soup/Split Shell can also be used to weaken it further.
There was a hilarious moment in my winning run. I forgot to consider the effects that boosting your level with mixtures would have on the level spells. So Erdrick was nailed with L3 Flare for 5000 damage! And that was with Shell too!! Furthermore, I learned that the
Chemist is not in fact a member of a self-inclusive club that can defeat Omega and Shinryu on its own, but it certainly won't disappoint you if you try.
__________
The Gladiator
With all its weapon variety, enough to match the Freelancer, this certainly seems a great job to pull this off with.
Thanks to being a job that equip shields, the opening Tidal Wave is not an issue. And unlike when T-Hawk fought this with Free!Rathma, the weapon of choice for the Gladiator is in fact the Dragon Lance. It can hang in the back row without incident thanks to its Long Reach ability, dealing very reasonable damage at level 65, without needing to worry about the random madness of !Finisher.
Gladiator doesn't have to worry about physicals overly much thanks to Protect and the back row. Diamond Helmet neutered Lighting, Aegis Shield is its old useful self, and Power Sash was just to kill faster. That left Atomic Ray (painful but survivable), Roulette (not a sure thing), and Snowstorm (dead and nothing I could do at level 65 except hope it gets blocked).
The winning fight turned out to be the stupidest thing I've ever seen. That 20% evade of Shinryu's just kept on triggering. Erdrick also kept on failing to use his Aegis Shield. However, at the same time, Shinryu was also being pretty dumb - he kept on using Atomic Ray and rarely Lightning, never the lethal-at-this-level Snowstorm. Not even Mighty Guard was an obstacle during the fight due to lack of use. It was five and a half minute affair that saw twenty Elixirs get gulped down.
But I won out. Not the most eloquent or demonstrative fight, but Gladiator does not have problems with Shinryu.
__________
The Cannoneer
Well, I said it could get the job done at reasonable endgame levels in my own report. Now to put my money where my mouth is.
The strategy is no different whether the Cannoneer is in the 60s or the 90s: start off by hitting Shinryu with Slow Cannon. Use Aegis Shield to block the opening Tidal Wave...
...and then rip it a new one with Dragon Cannon! Even at this level, it was outputting fantastic damage.
Which was still enough to kill it before that second no-interrupt section. Cannoneer can just delete Shinryu, it just needs to survive the turns beforehand, which isn't demanding at all.
__________
So far so good. With one exception because the report flows better this way, the next set of jobs will all be able to get the job done in the 80s. Of course the higher level you go with any job the better it will do, as discussed withs ome of them. These ones kind of need the higher levels, however - but not the highest levels.
Next | Index
