Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

The Crystals, Finale Part Two: Planet Eater (Continued)

This fight should play out very similar to the one with the King Behemoth. He pretty much just attacks with physical attacks, but thankfully doesn't counter with them. However, he counters all magic (including summons) with Meteor, but is not guaranteed to do so. Just to be safe, though, I recommend sticking with physical attacks. Use Spider Silks to Slow him rather than the spell itself. If you really must use spells and/or summons, apply Shell four times. Either way, you should put on Protect four times and keep Blink up on everyone throughout the entire fight. He also has Crush, so be wary. With all of this in mind, the battle shouldn't be too hard as long as you're not careless.

This fight should be a breeze. Having three heads, this boss will attack three times in a single turn. However, all of them are extremely weak. He has a physical attack and the three -aga spells, and nothing more. Just go all out and attack him with your strongest attacks; Protect and Shell aren't necessary by any means, but they'll make the fight even easier.

As you might've guessed, this dragon attacks twice in a single turn. He is a bit stronger than the Cerberus, though. Apply the necessary buffs to your party and Slow him a few times, then begin your assault on him. He will occasionally counter your attacks with Constrict, but it doesn't happen very often, and may not even succeed when/if he does do it.

These bosses are simply too easy. You will need a White Mage. When the battle begins, immediately cast Float on the entire party. The Echidna has a physical attack, Flare, and Quake. Protect or Blink can take care of the former, while Float nullifies Quake entirely. Shell can take care of Flare, but it's better to just take the blow and revive the character if necessary. Slow the boss and Haste your characters; this thing is undead, so Cure spells will also hurt it.

Remember the battle with Plague in the original game? This one is exactly the same. Simply put, the only attacks Ahriman has are Doom and Haste. That's it. He opens the battle by casting it on everyone, causing a countdown timer, beginning at 10, to appear above each character's heads. He'll then proceed to spam Haste (usually on one or two characters only) until the timer runs out and they die. Since not everyone will die at once, just revive anyone who dies and he'll reapply Doom. Continue this while attacking him in the process. As long as you have plenty of Phoenix Downs, this fight is easy.

NOTE: This is one of the game's two superbosses. It is highly recommended that you have a party whose average level is 60 or higher, along with great equipment, before taking it on (Adamant equipment is not necessary). Stock up on 99 X-Potions and Dry Ethers, too.

That's right, this beast is back, and he's just as difficult as he ever was. Let's start off with a review of his attacks: when the fight starts, he will cast Reflect upon himself. He will not re-apply it once it wears off unless you hit him with a spell or a summon. He also counters your attacks with two attacks of his own; the two particularly dangerous ones are Arm (deals massive damage to one character and may cause Confusion), and an extremely powerful beam attack that damages all characters and inflicts Sap. It will utterly destroy you at low levels. If you survive this, immediately spam X-Potions with each character; it's much quicker than using Curaja and will be more beneficial overall. He also has Flamethrower and Thermal Rays, both of which are too weak to be of any use. He can also use Black Hole, as well as a physical attack; he also has Electromagnetic Radiation, which puts Stop on a single character. He has a physical attack as well. Finally, he will often put up an Omeguard, which is a shield that protects him from all types of attacks.

Attack him twice with any type of attack to break it. Upon defeating him, there is a chance that he'll self-destruct on the entire party, which is pretty much a guaranteed Game Over. All you can do is hope it doesn't happen. So, how do we beat this thing? First off, throw one Spider Silk at a time on it until it totals up to four; fully recover any characters that are KO'd from counters. When he puts up Omeguard, attack him twice to break it. What I did was, for the whole fight, I summoned Bahamut (if you don't have him, I highly suggest giving up on this battle for now and getting him) over and over. It deals lots of damage and is the safest method that I know of to win, since it involves no counterattacks in return. My other characters were basically there for support, using X-Potions and the like. Despite Black Hole, try to keep Shell up as much as possible. Good luck!

Sorry, no Battle on the Big Bridge for you (unfortunately)! This fight has two different phases. When it starts, he will say "Hyah!", and hit a character with a physical attack. He will say that each time he does it. So, begin by Slowing him and Hasting your characters if possible. Then, cast Protect four times on the group and begin using your best attacks on him. Summons like Leviathan work extremely well. If he uses Bad Breath, it will miss so long as the character it is used on is resistant to at least one of its effects. The second phase begins when you've taken off roughly half of his HP; he'll buff himself with Protect, Shell, and Haste, then he'll begin using Jump. This causes crazy damage, and the fight gets moderately difficult at this point. When he uses his physical attack from now on, he will use it several times in a row on any given character(s). He can also use Penetrating Laser, which is quite possibly his most powerful attack; it deals massive damage to all allies.

He can use Zantetsuken, but it's rare, and it only hits one character anyway. Apply Blink to everyone and try keeping it up throughout the entire battle to survive his physical attacks and Jump. As long as you keep this up, you should get through the battle shortly after.

NOTE: This is one of the game's two superbosses. It is highly recommended that you have a party whose average level is 60 or higher, along with great equipment, before taking it on (Adamant equipment is not necessary). Stock up on quite a few X-Potions and Dry Ethers, too.

Also known as Shinryuu, this boss is the second superboss in both this game and Final Fantasy V, just like Omega before him. However, unlike in FFV, he's actually not all that hard despite what some people may claim. You will still need to be a really high level and have great equipment to survive his most dangerous attacks, however, along with his opening move, Tidal Wave. This will deal around 4000 damage to the entire party, so you'll need lots of HP to even survive it. He will always open the fight with this, too. He has Doom, which he will most likely use on a character right after Tidal Wave (not really a big deal at all). Death is in his arsenal of moves as well, but again, it's hardly a threat. He has Venomous Gas, which also isn't very dangerous, and Maelstrom. That will reduce ALL character's HP down to 1, so spam X-Potions and/or Cure spells to recover from it. Other attacks include Thermal Rays and Diamond Dust, but he will not use the latter until you've taken off about half his health, where he will then buff himself with Protect and Shell.

That about covers his attacks. With that in mind, this fight shouldn't be too difficult. I recommend having a White Mage in your party; Slow him four times and apply Shell to the party four times. Use Haste if you want, but I wouldn't bother. Pretty much anything will hurt him, so use whatever you feel like. Just like with Omega, Bahamut works wonders in this battle. Cure yourself from his most deadly attacks and you'll be fine.

As far as I know, this thing only has two attacks: Flare and Meteor. He has never used the former on me, but people swear he has it. This fight couldn't be easier; his Meteor isn't particularly dangerous. Do the usual buffs/debuffs and hit him with your strongest attacks, be it physical ones, spells, or summons. You should defeat him quickly.

This battle is a guaranteed Back Attack, more than likely as a nod to the fans. He begins by using Wheel, an extremely powerful physical attack, on a single character. S/he'll most likely die, so revive and recover him/her as necessary. He also has Holy and Diamond Dust, but the latter is pretty weak. He has a physical attack as well, but won't use it very much. Slow it four times and Haste your party, then apply Protect/Shell four times if you can. Kain with the Holy Lance equipped will rip through this boss, dealing massive damage if you use Jump. If possible, spam Fire spells as well. This thing, while not having very many attacks, is pretty powerful, but should go down fairly quickly as long as you exploit its weaknesses.

This boss works in interesting ways (not surprising, considering his behavior in FFVI). He considers certain characters "muscle-heads", and will counter their attacks with Constrict (Ceodore, Kain, and Golbez are just three). At the start of the fight, if you have any females in your party, he'll call them cute, but I don't think it affects anything overall. He has Earthquake, a more powerful version of Quake, so applying Float to the entire party is strongly recommended. It will deal massive damage otherwise. In addition to that, he has Bad Breath, as well as Bile and Tentacle. Start by Slowing him four times, then apply Haste to everyone and Shell four times. Unleash your best attacks on him; eventually a message will appear saying "Ultros has suddenly changed!", as the music changes and the hardest part of the fight begins. Now he'll counter spells with Firaga and summons with Flare, will use Constrict randomly, as well as Freezing Mist (doesn't really hurt) and Maelstrom.

When he uses Tentacle during this phase, he'll use it four times in a single turn. He also absorbs the Fire, Thunder, and Ice elements from this point forward. I recommend sticking to physical attacks and your strongest Bands, recovering from some of his nasty attacks when necessary. Make sure you always have Shell applied four times on everyone, and make sure their HP is as high as possible at all times. Upon defeat, he will counter with Meteor before dying.

NOTE: This boss is fought in the second room of B15. To find him, get into random encounters until he eventually appears. It will be treated as a normal fight, meaning it's possible to get a Preemptive Strike or even a Back Attack upon encountering him. Defeating him allows you to use the hidden crystal in the room to obtain Dualcast.

Firstly, this guy can run away at any time. Each time he runs, his HP stays the same as it was when he ran, though, which is a definite plus. Because of this, it could take several encounters before you actually beat him. He will use Death on all characters the moment the fight starts, but it probably won't work on any of them. If it does, simply revive them and continue with the fight. He also has a physical attack, as well as the three -aga spells, but that's about it. He's not really hard to defeat; hit him with your best attacks, spells, and Bands. If he uses Retreat, keep trying to encounter him until you defeat him.

Despite not being considered one of the game's superbosses, he is extremely hard, and arguably even harder than Omega and Lord Dragon combined. He also has more HP than any other boss in the game, including the final one. I recommend your party be at least level 70 before taking on this monster. That being said, let's go over his attacks: he has some really powerful spells such as Quake, making Float a necessity. It will destroy your party if they're not Floating. He also has Thermal Rays which, like always, is a relatively weak attack. He will use Crush at random, and uses it quite often too. Later in the battle, after he buffs himself with Protect, Shell, and Haste, a message will appear saying "He is charging for Meteor!". It is a brutal attack, so make sure Shell is stacked to its fullest extent before he goes to use it. A Waxing Moon is recommended to help ease the damage it deals even more; otherwise you'll die.

A common strategy is to cast Reflect on him before you think he'll buff himself, so that when he actually does, the buffs will reflect back onto your characters. Do this *after* Slowing him four times, however. It will make the fight a lot easier. As usual, use your best attacks and Bands on him, along with spells and summons, while keeping up your HP and buffs at all times to defeat him. You get an excellent sword for winning.

NOTE: It is recommended that you enter this battle during a Waxing Moon phase. Also, if you have every story-related summon at your disposal and you bring Rydia along for this fight, you will obtain Bahamut as a summon after the battle.

The battle will open up with the Mysterious Girl using Meteor. It will likely kill most of your party, even during a Waxing Moon; if Black Magic is strengthened and/or your HP is too low, however, you will die instantly. When you survive, revive any KO'd characters and recover the party using X-Potions and Curaja if you have access to it. The Mysterious Girl can once again not be targetted, and will put Haste on Bahamut. She also has Death, Tornado, and Flare. Override Bahamut's Haste whenever needed by using Slow on him, but don't bother stacking it. After the initial Meteor attack, Bahamut's countdown to Megaflare will begin. Immediately apply Shell four times on everyone, along with Haste on your most powerful fighters if you want. Wail on him before the countdown reaches zero and, when he unleashes Megaflare, some of your party should survive as long as you have Shell. Revive any fallen members and recover them quickly. Before each Megaflare, the Mysterious Girl will use Black Hole.

This will negate Haste and/or Shell, along with Slow if it is inflicted on Bahamut. The girl may also use Meteor more than once; be very careful! Do not bother with Shell again, but cast Float on everyone *before* healing them from Megaflare. The MG will always use Quake as her next attack following Megaflare, which will kill your party if you're not Floating. Repeat this process for the remainder of the battle. If Rydia isn't with you or you didn't meet the requirements to get Bahamut as a summon, he and the girl will die together. Otherwise, he'll come to his senses and own her with a blast of his signature move, then you will obtain him!

This is only the shell of the true final boss. It will just sit there, doing absolutely nothing, so attack it with whatever you want and eventually, it will change color and begin using Drain and Osmose. Continue attacking it and the fight will be over soon enough. Next phase.

Now he'll cast Reflect upon himself when the battle starts and will start copying your attacks. After copying, he will use Blinding Glare. He will also use Element Drain, but it's nothing to worry about. Don't use summons or he'll counter with Megaflare, the only potential threat of this part of the fight. Attack him with anything other than summons until you win; he counters, but it's nothing particularly dangerous.

The battle will start off with him using a Flare or two, and then possibly a Megaflare to go with it. If this happens, quickly revive/heal your characters as necessary. From there, just go all out as you did for the other phases, but apply Shell to your group along with Slow on him. He has Holy this time, and may also use Blinding Glare again. This is harder than the previous phases, so don't get overconfident!

In order for the real fight to begin, you must use a Crystal on him. Do so and the music will change to a rather cool final boss theme. For starters, he can use Mini, Pig, and Toad on all of your characters (not all three at once, but when he uses one of them, he'll target everyone). It is not very likely that you'll ever see him do this, however. He also has Split, a single-target attack that is likely to kill a party member. Sometimes, although it is kind of rare, he will use Regenerate and recover himself for 9999 HP. Similarly, he may also damage himself for around 3000 with another attack. Multiply is one of his most powerful moves, damaging all characters for around 2000 or so. When the background flashes purple, he's going to use Explode; it deals non-elemental damage to all characters and inflicts Sap. This is his signature move. He may also use Black Hole on occasion, and if he uses Transform, his weakness will change. Despite Black Hole, put Slow on him four times and put Shell on your party four times, along with Haste.

After that, begin barraging him with your strongest attacks. When/if he uses Transform and you have a Black Mage available, just use random powerful spells until you find out his new weakness. Overall, this fight is really not that difficult, and can be won easily as long as you keep your party healed at all times. He doesn't even have very many multi-targetting attacks. When you win, he will be chasing you out of the Depths; you'll encounter him several times, so just attack away at him until the Maenads come to help you each time.

Start by Slowing him with a few Spider Silks. He has a physical attack that he'll use twice in a row, as well as Curse, which will lower the physical strength of all your characters. Use Esuna with Rosa if this happens; she should be on support/healing duty for the whole fight. Kain should Jump, while Ceodore and Cid should simply attack. Repeat this until the dragon transforms into his second phase. If Kain has the Dragoon Lance equipped, this part of the battle is even easier than the first. Re-apply Slow and have Kain Jump. Each time he lands, the dragon will use Black Fang, killing a character instantly. Have your other characters (besides Kain) revive the fallen ones while Kain continues to Jump. He also has Doom, but that's not particularly dangerous. With the Dragoon Lance equipped, this fight will be over quickly.

Despite the low HP of the Goblins, this will be a really hard fight if you don't know what you're doing. It always starts out as a Surprised attack. Do not go for the Minions first; if you get one down to low HP, it will use a self-destructing attack on one of your characters. If you kill all of them with the Boss still alive, he will buff himself with Protect, Shell, and Haste. He will also start using Curaga, which obviously means that because of all this, killing him will be quite difficult. The battle should start with Luca using a Spider Silk; this will cause the Boss to counter with Thundara, Firaga, and Bio. He will do this each time you attack him, so immediately recover both Rydia and Luca's HP to full. The Boss will also order his Minions to attack on occasion. On Rydia's turn after healing, have her cast Bio on the Boss. Heal after that, and have her keep casting Bio until he dies. Once he's dead, just go all out and destroy the Minions.

This guy has some nasty counters. Namely, Venom Breath and Leech. The former deals non-elemental damage to both of your characters and inflicts Sap. The latter absorbs a few thousand HP from one party member. He will use these as counters to anything other than Fira, Blizzara, and Thundara (this includes items). He also has the three -ra spells at his disposal, and he may use them on one or both characters. Start by throwing two Spider Silks at him, but one at a time; recover from his counters using Hi-Potions and Cura with Leonora. Once you've thrown two, have Palom use Bluff three times total; the dragon will counter each time you do this, so be sure to heal in between them. Once that is done, have Leonora buff the duo with Shell a few times. Now we can start attacking him. This thing has a random elemental weakness, and he also absorbs a random element. Each time you attack him, both of these change. Instead of playing the guessing game, let him cast spells onto you.

Wait until he uses two -ra spells. Once he does, you'll know that the one -ra spell he didn't use is his weakness, so have Palom cast it. Like always, keep yourself healed, and as long as you repeat this strategy, the fight will be fairly simple.

When the battle starts, you should have Float cast. If it's not, restart and cast it before you enter the fight. Now, have Golbez use Taunt and Fusoya use Slow. He counters all magic with Holy, but due to Taunt, it will hit Golbez and will most likely not kill him. Use Curaga/ja on him with Fusoya immediately, then use Taunt and Slow again, in that order. Cure Golbez once more, then on Fusoya's next turn, have him use Haste on himself and then Golbez. Next, use Berserk on him and watch as he rips away at the boss. Kirin will use a physical attack, but nothing more. Have Fusoya heal when needed until Golbez wins the battle for you.

Treat this fight the same way as the one with Kirin. Instead of using Taunt and Slow though, just Haste Fusoya and Golbez immediately; Armstrong has a nasty counter to any magic thrown at him. He will also use two physical attacks in a row, and may use Stone Touch. If that's the case, have Fusoya use Esuna. Once both characters are Hasted, cast Berserk on Golbez while Fusoya stands there until he's needed for healing/support. With this strategy, you'll win quickly.

If you wish to contact me, feel free to do so using my email address below:

ganonpuppet@yahoo.com

However, please do not contact me asking me a question about something unrelated to this guide in any way; if you're looking for help for this game but not for the bosses, make sure you put "FFIV: The After Years Walkthrough" in the subject header. Otherwise, use something like "FFIV: The After Years Boss FAQ". Also, any and all hate mails will be promptly ignored, as well as any emails asking me if I play a certain game online or something. Feel free to send in alternate boss strategies and such, though.

Credits go to you for reading this guide.

Credits go to Square Enix for making such a great game!

Credits go to SBAllen for making the markup FAQ format, as well as hosting this on his excellent site and for GameFAQs in general. Thanks!

This guide is a Copyright (c) 2009, and may not be hosted on anywhere besides GameFAQs and its affiliates without permission. This is because due to the format of the guide, it may not be able to be hosted anywhere else in the same manner. Regardless, if you copy any of this guide without my permission, I will kindly ask you to remove it as soon as possible.