FF5 Solos vs. Shinryu Part III
Oct. 11th, 2017 01:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sirsystemerrorThe Monk
Shinn Ryuu's Punch-Out!!
A fun if screwy one. It at least needs enough levels to survive Tidal Wave. It needs to equip Bone Mail, and hope Shinryu uses Roulette a lot. Hope it uses Mighty Guard never. And then pound away. It sounds dumb. And it probably is to some extent. But it's fun in practice.
One critically important thing - it needs to defend before the big potential double physical. Because if both go off and the Monk is in the front row as it should be, that's dead. Of course, Monk has a counterattack, and Shinryu's physicals will occasionally trigger them for extra damage.
The Monk does need the levels, but if it has them, it should be able to pull this one off. By the way, an interesting fact - I try to capture Shinryu with the name there as it's dying because of Crystal Dragons existing, but it can be annoying to get that since sometimes the name will stick around for half a second, other times it vanishes almost instantly.
__________
The Black Mage
Okay, now let's actually look at a job that has a much harder time than it did against Gil Turtle, for real this time. Black Mage could rapidly murder the last superboss with an elemental weakness. This time, it's not so lucky.
Every magical class can attempt a Berserk-based strategy against Shinryu. Unlike those seen so far, Black Mage has no way to counter the monstrous attack power it gains as a result - being able to survive two hits and sometimes block them outright. Therefore, inflicting the status is simply a creative way to commit suicide in this instance. So instead, it has to fight the dragon with its natural AI script, beginning with Shell out of the Wonder Rod. It'll weaken the magical attacks and help mitigate things like this from happening.
As with the Summoner, Flare was cleanly outdamaging boosted third-tier elemental spells. And if the Main Gauche wasn't preferred for defense, the weapon of choice would therefore be the obscure Lilith Rod. This gives the highest magic power boost of any equipable rod, including the postgame Demon's Rod.
This super-technical fight is all about three things: first, having a general idea of Shinryu's ATB. Second, knowing Shinryu's script and knowing what you can potentially get away with and when. And third, praying or making a demonic sacrifice so you don't get ruined by Roulette or Evil Eye, or seeing Mighty Guard too early.
And maybe for Main Gauche to make some saves. Like many of the jobs in this set, I fought it with my maximum level of 97. I'm pretty sure I could've done it lower than this though - Black Mage in any case benefits a lot from having enough HP to survive two physicals in a row should the need arise. Assuming Circlet and Black Robe, the most Shinryu could do in a single attack should be 3268. Meaning in the worst case while remaining safe from the level spells...95 for Bartz (6679HP).
Although that is the very worst case, so 91 (6323HP) should work fine as well for most instances (and save you from having to get over two million extra experience). Of course, the more levels you have, the stronger you are and the faster it dies, and therefore the less opportunities it has to screw you over. Didn't feel like doing it at that level again though after figuring out 91 was possible - once was annoying enough.
Didn't expect calculating what you would need via the algorithms guide to come into effect here, did you? Well, neither did I.
__________
The Berserker
One of the worst jobs vs. a superboss. What the h*ck am I thinking. Does it stand a chance?! Well yes otherwise it wouldn't be in this spot, so here's how it gets the job done.
Berserker would absurdly enough be one of the easier jobs to take this thing down with, except for the issue of being able to run from the Shinryu battle, stopping it from completely slaughtering the dragon with Chicken Knife (which does 7000~ a hit). If it weren't for this, it'd just take some love from lady luck.
And I guess it still does, just a whole lot more luck because it can't rely on that for semi-consistent insane damage. So instead, it has to choose between Thor's Hammer and Titan's Axe. The former is weaker and less accurate, but can be used from the back row which can help protect against the physicals. Reverse those for the latter. And of course it does not ever want to see Mighty Guard. Damage is variable between these two, but varies enough so that I'd slightly prefer the Titan's Axe.
The ideal set of equipment is one of those weapons, Aegis Shield, Diamond Helmet, Bone Mail, and Hermes Sandals. However if you're dipping into the postgame, you can try Earthbreaker Axe. It has the same advantages/disadvantages of Titan's Axe, only it's significantly more powerful. Bone Mail of course gets healing off Roulette, and can even save you if Poison Breath goes off after a lethal physical during its 2nd no interrupt sequence.
It's far from the most ideal circumstances, but Berserker of all classes can get the job done. It'll even reasonably be at those high levels (97) to pull it off! Also if I had this on tape, I'd put it here. I succeeded when I wasn't recording when testing the Earthbreaker, though - which is where it dying here is from! Haven't been able to get it since in about three dozen tries (came within 10k HP once, though). Possible is possible, though, no matter the odds or what you need. It's not overly unreasonable like Gil Turtle is, and though I am going to try to be staying away from GBA postgame stuff, it's still on the table if a job needs or really wants it. BERSERKER!!
__________
The Ranger
It's already failed miserably against one superboss. Will it disappoint again?
Well, this is world 3, so Ranger has what it takes offensively. Chicken Knife Rapid Fire is in full force here, and oh boy, it did 17272 damage every time at max level. Brute force is the way to go here. It's defense that's the big issue here - Ranger does need the Coral Ring, sadly - even at 97, it can't survive a Tidal Wave naturally.
Bone Mail is the big trick to getting through this. Shinryu's fourth normal turn is incredibly deadly, but if it uses Poison Breath, you'll survive no matter what (even if the previous physical technically killed you). Here's the lowdown on every turn Shinryu will get and what you want to see during them.
- Turn 1 (Attack/Roulette/Maelstrom): Obviously Roulette or a failed Maelstrom is ideal here.
- Turn 2 (Lightning/Atomic Ray/Snowstorm): If Attack or successful Maelstrom happened last turn, Atomic Ray must happen this turn. Otherwise, anything.
- Turn 3 (Attack/Roulette/Maelstrom -> Mighty Guard/L2 Old/L3 Flare): Don't want to see Attack if Erdrick was hit. Don't want to see Mighty Guard.
- Turn 4 (Attack/Attack/Evil Eye -> Attack/Attack/Poison Breath): Really want to see Poison Breath last on this turn.
- Turn 5 (Attack/Roulette/Maelstrom): Roulette is ideal. Maelstrom can work too.
- Turn 6 (Lightning/Atomic Ray/Snowstorm): Again, hoping to see Atomic Ray here, although anything should do if Roulette healed last turn.
- Turn 7 (Attack/Roulette/Maelstrom -> Mighty Guard/L2 Old/L3 Flare): As long as Attack doesn't kill or Mighty Guard doesn't happen, it's dead next turn.
A bit of luck here really isn't all that demanding compared to other jobs - high levels aside (although it should be able to get away with mid 80s/low 90s). Ranger is one of the few that can get it done without Aegis Shield or Shell too, so it has that much going for it. Any job that can't get Haste is in for a bad time against this boss.
__________
The Ninja
Some people say there's a law that says the more ninjas you have the worse off you are. So can just one Ninja absolutely dominate here?
No, not necessarily. This is another job that can't get enough HP to naturally survive the Tidal Wave. So it would ordinarily have to use Coral Ring and be savaged by the regular attacks. Except this is a job where postgame content comes to the rescue. It's possible to accumulate enough magic defense with the new Vishnu Vest and Royal Crown to potentially survive Tidal Wave! It's not a sure bet and high levels are still necessary, but we're here to kill this dragon under any circumstances with a solo job.
From there, the strategy is to just throw Fuma Shurikens. Use Image to protect against the physicals, use Elixirs as needed, and hope not to get tagged by Evil Eye or something. Sasuke's Katana is also really nice here to guard against physicals from time to time - and it stacks with Main Gauche if you don't want to use Chicken Knife for the additional 5 points agility.
There's at least one other class that can't do it ordinarily but can with these two handy items, but I'll get to that one when relevant.
__________
The Necromancer
All it took for Rathma to do this was to believe in himself.
Feelin' lucky? Curse can inflict darkness status, which goes a long way to take the heat off you in this fight, but the odds aren't that great. If you can manage to land it though - although that is a really big if - it does a lot to tilt the odds in your favor. It is actually a very good idea to gamble on this, because there's a very good chance you'll have to eat two physicals in a row otherwise. Or even three.
That said, Necromancer isn't in a totally bad spot here. It gets fully healed from Roulette, without needing to worry about the fire weakness from the Bone Mail. However, it conversely needs to worry about Poison Breath - poisoning plus Maelstrom can be almost as lethal as HP Leak. Necro will want Wonder Wand Shell - Maelstrom is just too much of a threat to go without, even with the physicals able to 1-2-3 it. Even so, when it does it, it sometimes big plays need to be made, like I had to here.
Damage is no issue. The spell of choice was Meltdown, since all the elemental ones do the same amount, and the only potential status of relevance was its HP Leak.
Okay, so maybe Rathma was sane. But he technically could've done it.
__________
21/26 jobs so far. Unfortunately, the sunshine and rainbows end with this. The next set of jobs have serious problems with the big dragon. Some of them can do it, but a few have it impossible, even with absurd levels. And unlike Gil Turtle, there's not much "later" to fall back on. Click forth to see how peril befalls what remains.
Next | Index
Shinn Ryuu's Punch-Out!!
A fun if screwy one. It at least needs enough levels to survive Tidal Wave. It needs to equip Bone Mail, and hope Shinryu uses Roulette a lot. Hope it uses Mighty Guard never. And then pound away. It sounds dumb. And it probably is to some extent. But it's fun in practice.
One critically important thing - it needs to defend before the big potential double physical. Because if both go off and the Monk is in the front row as it should be, that's dead. Of course, Monk has a counterattack, and Shinryu's physicals will occasionally trigger them for extra damage.
The Monk does need the levels, but if it has them, it should be able to pull this one off. By the way, an interesting fact - I try to capture Shinryu with the name there as it's dying because of Crystal Dragons existing, but it can be annoying to get that since sometimes the name will stick around for half a second, other times it vanishes almost instantly.
__________
The Black Mage
Okay, now let's actually look at a job that has a much harder time than it did against Gil Turtle, for real this time. Black Mage could rapidly murder the last superboss with an elemental weakness. This time, it's not so lucky.
Every magical class can attempt a Berserk-based strategy against Shinryu. Unlike those seen so far, Black Mage has no way to counter the monstrous attack power it gains as a result - being able to survive two hits and sometimes block them outright. Therefore, inflicting the status is simply a creative way to commit suicide in this instance. So instead, it has to fight the dragon with its natural AI script, beginning with Shell out of the Wonder Rod. It'll weaken the magical attacks and help mitigate things like this from happening.
As with the Summoner, Flare was cleanly outdamaging boosted third-tier elemental spells. And if the Main Gauche wasn't preferred for defense, the weapon of choice would therefore be the obscure Lilith Rod. This gives the highest magic power boost of any equipable rod, including the postgame Demon's Rod.
This super-technical fight is all about three things: first, having a general idea of Shinryu's ATB. Second, knowing Shinryu's script and knowing what you can potentially get away with and when. And third, praying or making a demonic sacrifice so you don't get ruined by Roulette or Evil Eye, or seeing Mighty Guard too early.
And maybe for Main Gauche to make some saves. Like many of the jobs in this set, I fought it with my maximum level of 97. I'm pretty sure I could've done it lower than this though - Black Mage in any case benefits a lot from having enough HP to survive two physicals in a row should the need arise. Assuming Circlet and Black Robe, the most Shinryu could do in a single attack should be 3268. Meaning in the worst case while remaining safe from the level spells...95 for Bartz (6679HP).
Although that is the very worst case, so 91 (6323HP) should work fine as well for most instances (and save you from having to get over two million extra experience). Of course, the more levels you have, the stronger you are and the faster it dies, and therefore the less opportunities it has to screw you over. Didn't feel like doing it at that level again though after figuring out 91 was possible - once was annoying enough.
Didn't expect calculating what you would need via the algorithms guide to come into effect here, did you? Well, neither did I.
__________
The Berserker
One of the worst jobs vs. a superboss. What the h*ck am I thinking. Does it stand a chance?! Well yes otherwise it wouldn't be in this spot, so here's how it gets the job done.
Berserker would absurdly enough be one of the easier jobs to take this thing down with, except for the issue of being able to run from the Shinryu battle, stopping it from completely slaughtering the dragon with Chicken Knife (which does 7000~ a hit). If it weren't for this, it'd just take some love from lady luck.
And I guess it still does, just a whole lot more luck because it can't rely on that for semi-consistent insane damage. So instead, it has to choose between Thor's Hammer and Titan's Axe. The former is weaker and less accurate, but can be used from the back row which can help protect against the physicals. Reverse those for the latter. And of course it does not ever want to see Mighty Guard. Damage is variable between these two, but varies enough so that I'd slightly prefer the Titan's Axe.
The ideal set of equipment is one of those weapons, Aegis Shield, Diamond Helmet, Bone Mail, and Hermes Sandals. However if you're dipping into the postgame, you can try Earthbreaker Axe. It has the same advantages/disadvantages of Titan's Axe, only it's significantly more powerful. Bone Mail of course gets healing off Roulette, and can even save you if Poison Breath goes off after a lethal physical during its 2nd no interrupt sequence.
It's far from the most ideal circumstances, but Berserker of all classes can get the job done. It'll even reasonably be at those high levels (97) to pull it off! Also if I had this on tape, I'd put it here. I succeeded when I wasn't recording when testing the Earthbreaker, though - which is where it dying here is from! Haven't been able to get it since in about three dozen tries (came within 10k HP once, though). Possible is possible, though, no matter the odds or what you need. It's not overly unreasonable like Gil Turtle is, and though I am going to try to be staying away from GBA postgame stuff, it's still on the table if a job needs or really wants it. BERSERKER!!
__________
The Ranger
It's already failed miserably against one superboss. Will it disappoint again?
Well, this is world 3, so Ranger has what it takes offensively. Chicken Knife Rapid Fire is in full force here, and oh boy, it did 17272 damage every time at max level. Brute force is the way to go here. It's defense that's the big issue here - Ranger does need the Coral Ring, sadly - even at 97, it can't survive a Tidal Wave naturally.
Bone Mail is the big trick to getting through this. Shinryu's fourth normal turn is incredibly deadly, but if it uses Poison Breath, you'll survive no matter what (even if the previous physical technically killed you). Here's the lowdown on every turn Shinryu will get and what you want to see during them.
- Turn 1 (Attack/Roulette/Maelstrom): Obviously Roulette or a failed Maelstrom is ideal here.
- Turn 2 (Lightning/Atomic Ray/Snowstorm): If Attack or successful Maelstrom happened last turn, Atomic Ray must happen this turn. Otherwise, anything.
- Turn 3 (Attack/Roulette/Maelstrom -> Mighty Guard/L2 Old/L3 Flare): Don't want to see Attack if Erdrick was hit. Don't want to see Mighty Guard.
- Turn 4 (Attack/Attack/Evil Eye -> Attack/Attack/Poison Breath): Really want to see Poison Breath last on this turn.
- Turn 5 (Attack/Roulette/Maelstrom): Roulette is ideal. Maelstrom can work too.
- Turn 6 (Lightning/Atomic Ray/Snowstorm): Again, hoping to see Atomic Ray here, although anything should do if Roulette healed last turn.
- Turn 7 (Attack/Roulette/Maelstrom -> Mighty Guard/L2 Old/L3 Flare): As long as Attack doesn't kill or Mighty Guard doesn't happen, it's dead next turn.
A bit of luck here really isn't all that demanding compared to other jobs - high levels aside (although it should be able to get away with mid 80s/low 90s). Ranger is one of the few that can get it done without Aegis Shield or Shell too, so it has that much going for it. Any job that can't get Haste is in for a bad time against this boss.
__________
The Ninja
Some people say there's a law that says the more ninjas you have the worse off you are. So can just one Ninja absolutely dominate here?
No, not necessarily. This is another job that can't get enough HP to naturally survive the Tidal Wave. So it would ordinarily have to use Coral Ring and be savaged by the regular attacks. Except this is a job where postgame content comes to the rescue. It's possible to accumulate enough magic defense with the new Vishnu Vest and Royal Crown to potentially survive Tidal Wave! It's not a sure bet and high levels are still necessary, but we're here to kill this dragon under any circumstances with a solo job.
From there, the strategy is to just throw Fuma Shurikens. Use Image to protect against the physicals, use Elixirs as needed, and hope not to get tagged by Evil Eye or something. Sasuke's Katana is also really nice here to guard against physicals from time to time - and it stacks with Main Gauche if you don't want to use Chicken Knife for the additional 5 points agility.
There's at least one other class that can't do it ordinarily but can with these two handy items, but I'll get to that one when relevant.
__________
The Necromancer
All it took for Rathma to do this was to believe in himself.
Feelin' lucky? Curse can inflict darkness status, which goes a long way to take the heat off you in this fight, but the odds aren't that great. If you can manage to land it though - although that is a really big if - it does a lot to tilt the odds in your favor. It is actually a very good idea to gamble on this, because there's a very good chance you'll have to eat two physicals in a row otherwise. Or even three.
That said, Necromancer isn't in a totally bad spot here. It gets fully healed from Roulette, without needing to worry about the fire weakness from the Bone Mail. However, it conversely needs to worry about Poison Breath - poisoning plus Maelstrom can be almost as lethal as HP Leak. Necro will want Wonder Wand Shell - Maelstrom is just too much of a threat to go without, even with the physicals able to 1-2-3 it. Even so, when it does it, it sometimes big plays need to be made, like I had to here.
Damage is no issue. The spell of choice was Meltdown, since all the elemental ones do the same amount, and the only potential status of relevance was its HP Leak.
Okay, so maybe Rathma was sane. But he technically could've done it.
__________
21/26 jobs so far. Unfortunately, the sunshine and rainbows end with this. The next set of jobs have serious problems with the big dragon. Some of them can do it, but a few have it impossible, even with absurd levels. And unlike Gil Turtle, there's not much "later" to fall back on. Click forth to see how peril befalls what remains.
Next | Index
