Here is our list of the hardest bosses in the Final Fantasy universe:
25. Warmech - Final Fantasy
Don’t let appearances deceive you; Warmech’s Atomize can deal massive damage to your entire party, and it almost always starts the battle with a preemptive strike. If your party members are still alive, make sure to keep them healed, and have Haste and Temper cast on your fighters to increase their DPS. Invisira will also help give you some survivability.
24. Braska’s Final Aeon - Final Fantasy 10
If you don’t have certain Aeons or Celestial Weapons, Braska’s Final Aeon may prove to be a challenge for you. He can petrify characters and shatter them, and he is constantly healed and cleared of debuffs by his Yu Pagodas. Equipping Stoneproof Armor will guard you against petrification, and you can cast Slow on one of the Yu Pagodas in order to weaken the effects of their Power Wave. If you must kill them, do it simultaneously, else the surviving one will continuously spam Curse and Osmose. Save your Talk for the second phase if you can.
23. Necron - Final Fantasy 9
What makes Necron dangerous is its wide array of magic spells that are capable of dealing substantial amounts of damage, as well as its high action count each turn. It is also capable of buffing and healing itself, in addition to inflicting status ailments on players. Having characters equip status effect immunity abilities, along with combat support abilities, should make this fight go a lot smoother. Use Protect and Shell to mitigate the effects of Necron’s Neutron Ring and the other elemental spells it possesses.
22. Chaos - Final Fantasy
Not only does Chaos wield powerful magic, but its physical attacks can also be just as deadly, and are capable of inflicting paralysis. Like other bosses, it can also buff itself while debuffing players. Equip your characters with Ribbon if you can in order to resist Chaos’ paralysis effects and its instant death moves. Focus your attacks on physical damage instead of magic damage as Chaos is highly resistant towards the latter.
21. Safer.Sephiroth - Final Fantasy 7
Arguably the quintessential supervillain in the entire franchise, Safer. Sephiroth can be devastating for the ill-prepared. His base stats will change depending on the number of level 99 players in the team, and he starts off with a set of buffs that can limit the players’ DPS. He also comes with a set of moves that can inflict status effects to disrupt action cycles, as well as reduce the party’s entire HP to 1. To further add insult to injury, his MP gets restored to full at the beginning of every turn. That said, his actions follow a somewhat rigid pattern and he can be defeated rather easily by accounting for that predictability. Equip your team members with Ribbons to trivialize any debilitating status effects, and a healthy amount of Elixirs and Phoenix Downs is also highly recommended. Maxed out Materia will also increase your combat potential, and having Knights of the Round especially will likely let you floor Safer. Sephiroth in minutes.
20. Ultimecia - Final Fantasy 8
A 3-phase fight altogether, Ultimecia will randomly select 3 of your party members to face off initially. She has a very powerful set of spells at her command, and she’s capable of instantly killing your Guardian Forces. In her Griever Form, she can also summon Helixes. Use Holy War to immunize your characters against Apocalypse. Selphie is also a good choice for the primary healer role. If Irvine has Aura status, he can also do good damage with Armor Shot. Limit Breaks are generally more useful as Ultimecia in her final form can remove all the spells in your inventory.
19. Enuo - Final Fantasy 5
Because you can’t specifically target Enuo’s hidden arms in his first form, your characters are left at the mercy of their attacks. Besides his array of player-killing attacks, he also has an absurdly high Magic Evasion stat in his first form, which then changes to Protect and Shell buffs in his second form. Single-target spells like Holy will perform well, and you can exploit his Slow vulnerability with Slow Cannon if you have a Cannoneer. You can also protect yourself from Meltdown and Deep Freeze with Reflect.
18. Vercingetorix - Final Fantasy 13
As its HP decreases, Vercingetorix’s damage progressively increases. It’s also capable of buffing and healing itself, as well as debuffing players. Defensive accessories such as Imperial Armlets should prove useful, as well as any Strength or Magic augmenting accessories. You can also use Poison to consistently take off a decent chunk of Vercingetorix’s health.
17. Orphan - Final Fantasy 13
Aside from Poison, Orphan is resistant to every other status effect. In its second form, it also can’t be damaged unless it’s staggered. Orphan will start its offensive with Merciless Light, so be sure to heal as soon as the fight begins. Give Seraph’s Crown to your party leader to mitigate the risk of instant death, and inflict Poison on Orphan to make the battle easier. Once it goes into its second form, you’ll want to stagger it as soon as possible. Use afflictions like Imperil, Deprotect and Deshell to maximize damage output.
16. Zeromus - Final Fantasy 12
This battle is a highly difficult one due to the fact that Magicks will be sealed throughout the fight. Zeromus is also capable of casting debuffs like Slow on your characters while simultaneously augmenting itself with Hastega. Aside from its high HP, Zeromus can also do massive damage with Piercing Graviga. Items will be more crucial given the nature of this fight. Equipment that guards against Stop like the Power Armlet should also benefit you greatly, as will a Bubble Belt help with bolstering your defences. Prime your characters as much as possible with Quickenings, revive gambits and Reflect buffs to have an easier time with Zeromus.
15. Trema - Final Fantasy 10-2
Not only do you encounter Trema immediately after a difficult boss battle, but he is also super tough to beat on his own. His physical attacks have a chance of inflicting either Poison or Stop, and have no charging time and very low cooldowns. He is also virtually untouchable by normal attacks due to his high Evasion stat. You’ll want to adopt a more defence-centric approach to this fight. Dresspheres like Dark Knight will help in that regard, but do bear in mind that you won’t get much more use aside from that. If you have Mix, you can synthesize a variety of products to heal and buff yourself. Cactling Gun is also great as it ignores evasion.
14. Seymour Flux (Third Fight) - Final Fantasy 10
Seymour Flux’s signature combo of Zombie, followed by the Mortiorchis’ Full-Life, can often spell instant death for any character. He also sports a high amount of physical and magic defence and is immune to Breaks. While his defence stats are high, powerful spells like Holy should still be effective. If your character’s Agility is high enough, you can also exploit his Flare rebound by casting Dispel to remove his Reflect status before he has a chance to cast Flare on himself. While the Mortiorchis itself is immune to Poison, Seymour Flux, fortunately, isn’t.
13. Proto-Babil - Final Fantasy 4
Instant kill moves? Check. Ability to counter attacks? Check. Adaptive attack patterns? Check. Proto-Babil will surely prove to be a challenge and then some for max levelled parties, and you probably shouldn’t even consider challenging it otherwise. Boost your characters’ HP with augments and Golden Apples to have some survivability against Light of Babil. Phoenix should also be equipped with at least 2 members in case someone dies. Defend if you can so as to avoid the risk of getting hit by its Laser Barrage counter. Don’t attack blindly!
12. Zodiark - Final Fantasy 12
Not only is Zodiark capable of instantly KOing a character, but it also has other equally devastating moves in its arsenal as well. It is also capable of buffing itself in addition to changing its elemental weakness around. Due to the nature of Zodiark’s attacks, it is recommended to bring along gear capable of absorbing Dark-elemental damage. However, make sure to leave one of your characters without, or else Zodiark will be prompted to use Darkja twice as often. Bubble Belts will also be useful here.
11. Dark Aeons - Final Fantasy 10
The “dark” counterparts to Yuna’s Aeons, the Dark Aeons all require highly levelled characters with optimum gear and strategies in order to beat. While there are differences in approach to each Dark Aeon fight, they are not to be approached lightly without sufficient preparation. Abilities like Auto-Life and Auto-Haste are generally useful, and items such as Ribbon will be greatly beneficial in some instances where status effects are involved. Aside from stat requirements, weapons with Break HP or Break Damage Limit should also be heavily considered.
10. Omega Weapon - Final Fantasy 8
Officially recognized as the game’s most difficult boss, Omega Weapon is capable of absorbing all elements and has several devastating moves in its arsenal. Most notably, Megiddo Flame - which hits for 9,998 HP - and Terra Break - which hits the party 16 times, dealing 4,000 damage each time. Omega Weapon’s patterns are highly uniform, meaning they can be predicted nearly 100% of the time. Its Lv5 Death can be nullified by junctioning 100 Deaths to status defence. Make sure to heal after Meteor, as despite the little damage it inflicts it is always followed by Megiddo Flame, which effectively kills you unless in full health, or turned invincible with the help of Hero or Holy War.
9. Ozma - Final Fantasy 9
As smart as it is deadly, Ozma has a ton of massive damage-dealers in its arsenal, and will not waste turns casting spells that will be absorbed or status effects that all party members are immune to. It can also launch counterattacks and drain party members’ MP. Ideally, players should have one character at a level divisible by 5 to bait Ozma’s Lv5 Death, as this tends to be the more forgiving of its moves. And while Ozma won’t cast spells that will be absorbed, you can still nullify them. Status-protection skills will also benefit you greatly in this fight.
8. Penance - Final Fantasy 10
At the end of a gruesome journey with the Dark Aeons, players finally get the chance to throw down with Penance. Penance boasts a staggering 12,000,000 HP, extremely high stats, and nothing but one-shot moves. Its two arms sport 500,000 HP each and have their own set of nasty attacks, but this can be circumvented with the right strategy. It’s recommended to bring a whole ton of X Potions and make sure your team has Auto-Potion equipped in their armour set. Rikku’s Ultra NulAll will also keep you alive by reducing Penance’s damage to below 9,999. The most effective way to beat Penance is by taking each of its arms down one at a time, but because they regenerate, you need to time it so that their turn will never arrive before they’re dead and that you won’t ever have to deal with them both within the same turn. Otherwise, you could be met with Judgement Day, which takes 99,999 HP and 999 MP from the team. Simply put, an instant KO. Alternatively, you can use Zanmato to trivialize this fight.
7. Emerald Weapon - Final Fantasy 7
Unless equipped with the Underwater Materia, players will have only 20 minutes to defeat Emerald Weapon, which can be tough given its 1,000,000 HP. Its Aire Tam Storm attack will also inflict to each player damage of 1,111 HP multiplied by the number of Materia they have equipped. Effective use of All Lucky 7s can reduce Emerald Weapon’s HP by nearly half in a single turn, which can be accomplished by Chocobuckle or by having a 9,999 HP character with 2 Materia equipped to take the Aire Tam Storm attack. Emerald Weapon’s attacks also follow a set pattern, making this fight a fairly easy one to overcome with the right strategy.
6. Ruby Weapon - Final Fantasy 7
The fight with Ruby Weapon has a rather interesting mechanic, as it takes 0 damage until its tentacles are exposed, and they will not appear unless there’s only 1 character alive in the fight. Ruby Weapon also starts off the fight with a double physical damage bonus until attacked, much like if you were back-attacked. Although it seems counterintuitive, it is highly recommended to start off this fight with 2 of your characters KO-ed. This is to trigger Ruby Weapon’s tentacles to expose themselves, allowing you to deal damage to it, or better yet, inflict paralysis on it. Knights of the Round will be useful for DPS, but Ruby Weapon can counter with Ultima if not paralyzed. Hence, it is best to bring Dozers along or have Hades equipped. Refrain from attacking the tentacles to delay its Whirlsand attack as far as possible.
5. Barthandelus (First Fight) - Final Fantasy 13
When you first fight Barthandelus, the overarching structures over his head will deal elemental damage to you. Once those are dispatched, he starts attacking you himself. Watch out for Destrudo, his most powerful attack that can kill you if you’re not careful. He’ll also cast Doom if not defeated in 20 minutes. Strategize your paradigms effectively and shift according to the situation. You’ll want to take out the structures hanging over his head first before going all-out on the offensive. This should be relatively easy given that each of those structures has a unique elemental weakness. When you see him casting Destrudo, heal for a bit, then lay on the offensive with Tri-disaster or Relentless Assault.
4. Omega - Final Fantasy 15
With a 99% resistance to normal weapons and elemental magic, Omega is virtually indestructible, save for lightning magic and royal arms. It is also immune to Arcana magic cast by Ring of the Lucii. Go for speed-based and more offensive builds, as no defensive equipment will be enough to protect you from Omega’s onslaught. Attack its legs to make it vulnerable, and be prudent when attacking its antenna, lest you wish to face it in its berserk mode.
3. Yiazmat - Final Fantasy 12
Easily a fight that will span a few hours, Yiazmat comes with a whopping 50,000,000 HP, a 5% chance of inflicting Instant Death on all its physical attacks, and the ability to buff itself. Dispel its Reflectga as soon as it’s cast, otherwise, it could bounce a Renew spell off it to heal itself back to full HP. Yiazmat is weak against Dark-elemental damage, making ninja swords, and especially the Yagyu Darkblade, the optimal choice for this fight. Bolster your DPS even further with damage and speed enhancing gear. You can also use Expose to make up for any gaps in offensive capabilities.
2. Yunalesca - Final Fantasy 10
In phase 1, Yunalesca counters attack with various status ailments. She’s also capable of clearing buffs and Absorb, which takes half of the target’s max HP and heals herself by the same amount. In Phase 2, she starts inflicting Zombie on characters with Hellbiter. And in Phase 3, her Mega Death will kill all party members that don’t have Zombie status or have Deathproof. Have Rikku, Wakka or Auron equip Auto-Med. If you manage to steal a Stamina Tablet, you can then mix it with Mega Vitality to double your characters’ HP. Make sure at least one party member is zombified to avoid a team wipe in the event of Mega Death.
1. Gilgamesh - Final Fantasy 13-2
While his first phase isn’t too difficult to cope with, his attack pattern transforms greatly at phase 2, using different swords to a variety of effects. At 4,500,000 HP or lower, Gilgamesh obtains Auto-Haste and also buffs his Strength and Magic stats, allowing him to use multiple devastating attacks within a single turn. Stagger Gilgamesh as soon as you can and inflict debuffs on him, before shifting to offensive paradigms to bring up his chain gauge. In order to offset Gilgamesh’s healing potential, your characters must deal at least 999,999 damage. This means that your offensive characters need to be fully buffed in order to maximize the time frame in which Gilgamesh is staggered. Keep a healthy stock of revival items like Phoenix Blood, as well as Wound Potions to mitigate any wound damage from Gilgamesh’s attacks.
