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rune-writes · 5 months

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Deception

Fandom: Final Fantasy IX

Word count: 1998

Rating: G

Characters: Beatrix & Garnet

Summary: Ten years in the past, Beatrix became privy to one of Alexandria's most vital secret: that the Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII was not, in fact, the princess.

Read on AO3.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was a closely guarded secret within the royal palace that Her Royal Highness the Princess Garnet til Alexandros XVII was not, in fact, the real princess. Only a handful of people knew. The King and Queen, of course, as they had been the ones who had ordered the removal of the girl’s horn. The royal physician, who had examined the girl as she’d lain unconscious for weeks and subsequently removed the horn. Then there was the General, who had found the Queen on the pier one morning as she’d cradled the girl’s unconscious body to her bosom. Still distraught after her daughter’s death, Queen Brahne had readily accepted the girl as her own.

Beatrix had only been a knight then, not yet risen to her position as General of the Alexandrian Army. An ambitious one at that, coming from a lesser noble family whose only wish was to see her succeed in life. What more could she ask when she landed herself a position as a royal knight. Even at the tender year of seventeen, her fighting prowess was second to none—barring the General herself—who’d seen fit to train the young prodigy after her innate talent became known. So it was at the heels of the General that Beatrix often found herself following, from trainings at the barracks to meetings at the royal chambers.

It was during one of these meetings—or perhaps on the way to such a meeting—that Beatrix and the General found the Queen in the royal pier with a bundle cradled to her chest.

The General stopped in her tracks, her conversation with Beatrix ceasing. She stepped toward the path.

“Your Majesty,” she greeted with a salute.

The blue-skinned queen regarded her with a flick of her eyes before her gaze dropped to the bundle in her arms. She tucked at the linen, her finger brushing something inside before her lips pulled into a frown.

“Your Majesty, may I ask why you are at the pier so early in the morning?” the General asked.

“She has a fever,” the Queen murmured. “That won’t do. Come, let us call on the physician.”

In a flurry of silk and gown, the Queen made her way back up the stone steps, gaze never looking back even as she called to them to keep up.

By all accounts, Beatrix shouldn’t even be there, but the moment they arrived at the Queen’s chambers, she had been ushered in along with the General. The Queen had ordered only the physician to attend to her, and so it was the four of them in the huge room. The Queen set the bundle on her bed, slowly unraveling the linen to reveal a girl, barely six years old, curled against the white sheet and shivering.

“Doctor, may you see if she is ill?” the Queen said.

Beatrix watched from afar as the physician, a lean man with average height and long strands of fair hair tied neatly at the base of his head, bent down to examine the girl. Her damp black hair hung in dirty clumps and her brown smock bore no resemblance to any local clothing Beatrix had seen. Then she spotted a horn protruding from her forehead. Very uncanny.

“By the Gods,” the General gasped. She’d taken a full look at the girl, her attention shifting to her queen.

Intrigued, Beatrix took a few steps forward, stopping behind and to the right of her general. The physician was still bent down, but when he finally stood and brushed the black bangs back, Beatrix felt her own breath caught in her throat.

“Your Majesty,” her general began, caution and disbelief thick in her voice.

“How is she, doctor?” Queen Brahne asked.

“Mark of a fever and malnutrition, but otherwise not much worse for the wear,” the physician said, turning to face her. “I could keep her at the infirmary for the time being until we locate her family—”

“No.” The reply came too quick; the Queen cleared her throat. “That won't be necessary.” Then she added, “The girl will stay in my chambers, and if the King is willing, occupy the rooms upstairs.”

Eyes flashed at the decisive announcement, both from the General and the physician as they shared stunned glances.

“So until then, you may treat her here. Do not bring your assistants until I say otherwise.”

The physician pursed his lips, then bowed his head. “Very well, Your Majesty.”

“The King will need to be told about this.” Her gaze shifted to the General. “No one is to enter the room while I am gone,” was all she said before she turned with a flourish of her gown and disappeared out the door.

Silence fell. The physician cast a rueful glance at the General before sighing and announcing he would prepare medicine and bring his equipment forthwith. Beatrix was left alone with the General, who looked at the girl with brows drawn even as she approached, her usually determined gait hesitant until she reached the foot of the bed. Beatrix followed, feeling a foreboding at the memory of the General and physician’s uneasy glances, yet at the same time perturbed by the uncanny resemblance the girl had with the little princess who was, as far as she knew, sleeping peacefully upstairs: from the small round face to the clumps of black hair, albeit skinnier, no doubt, and horned.

As though just remembering Beatrix’s presence, the General whirled around and closed the distance between them in quick strides. The fierceness with which she hissed her order set the already disturbed bells ringing in her mind:

“Speak nothing of this!”

There was nothing Beatrix could do but nod in compliance.

***

When Beatrix saw the body of the little princess taken from her bedchambers, then in its place lay the little girl from the pier, she realized she’d come to be privy of the kingdom’s most vital secret. She’d been sworn to secrecy. No one should know of this. Her jaws tightened when the physician sheared the horn from the girl’s soft skin. The girl had screamed in her sleep, the pain not enough to wake her from her delirious fever, even as blood trickled from the gash in her forehead. It made Beatrix sick, but she kept her ground, her face carefully schooled into indifference.

The next several weeks passed by in a blur. The late winter sun shone bright on an empty, cloudless sky, yet its heat could barely penetrate their armor. Beatrix stood on the courtyard, sword drawn out, hardly breaking a sweat as she faced Adelbert Steiner in a duel, already long drawn-out. It should have been finished minutes ago, and judging from Steiner’s heaving chest and sweat-covered brow—despite the cool sun—the taller and stockier knight was barely hanging on. Quite commendable, seeing as his opponent was the undefeatable Beatrix. But she would put an end to this. Steiner’s shoulders had sagged from her barrage of attacks, slightly but noticeable enough, and that would be his weakness. The exhaustion had settled in. His movements would be sluggish. A quick thrust to the chest or his side would immediately topple him. Or if he could somehow dodge that, she’d swerve and swipe at his leg instead. And then she would win.

The image was imprinted in her mind and muscles. Beatrix adjusted her grip on her sword. Steiner’s jaw tightened, readying for the attack. She thrust—

“Your highness!”

The high-pitched shriek tore Beatrix’s concentration apart. Her speed faltered at the last second, long enough for Steiner to step aside and swipe his sword at her side. She fell to her knees; Steiner’s blade right up against her neck. Cheers erupted from his side of the circle. His usually stern face broke into a grin of feral delight. Beatrix scowled—she should’ve won, she’d calculated it perfectly—but she was above being petty over an irrefutable defeat. Swallowing past her irritation, she looked over her shoulder, seeking the source of distress: a woman in dark purple robes Beatrix recognized as the late princess’s governess was flapping her arms in the air on the terrace leading inside the castle, the muscles around her cheeks and jaws drawn back against the shock. She caught sight of a fluttering of silk by the balustrade, strands of ebony hair, before she heard the loud splash, and the entire envoy broke into yells.

Beatrix was upon the pond in moments, well before the rest of the knights realized what had happened. The governess ran down the stairs, along with a handful of handmaids, footmen, and of course, the ever-present royal physician and his assistant hard on her heels. The princess was sprawled on the pond, knee-deep in water. When Beatrix reached the edge, the princess—or rather, the girl posing as her—blinked at her. Dark beady eyes set in a soft, round face; a faint mark on her forehead was the only remnant where a horn should have been. Tears slowly welled in her eyes and her cries pierced the ground.

Before the governess and her retinue reached her side, Beatrix had already stepped into the water. She crouched beside the girl. “Are you alright, Princess?” she asked, but the girl only cried. Beatrix checked her knees, her legs, her body. Besides the soaked dress and a scrape on her knee, the girl was utterly fine. It was the shock, perhaps. So, taking care not to make sudden movements, Beatrix held the girl’s hands and coaxed her to stand. “Come, let’s get you out of the freezing water.”

Apparently, the princess had finally awoken the previous night with no memory as to what had transpired before her deep slumber. The physician had assigned it to the heavy illness muddling her brain. No one questioned it, but Beatrix knew better. She met the physician’s glance briefly before his gaze slid away.

In a bid to jog her memory, they’d attempted to take the princess around the castle. When the view of the central courtyard with its cobbled paving and frost-covered shrub had mesmerized her and she’d stepped too close to the balustrade, her small body had easily slipped through the gaps.

“We’ll need to get you changed lest you catch a cold,” the governess said with a dramatic flutter of her hands to scurry the princess and her entourage back to her bedchambers.

Through her shivering and chattering of teeth, the girl looked up from her bangs and locked eyes with Beatrix. It was uncanny to see those similar brown eyes in that same round face but knowing they hosted a different soul from the one she’d known and vowed to protect for the past five years. But the girl did not know; neither did the rest of the kingdom. Was it for the best? Beatrix couldn’t help the pang in her heart when she thought of the real princess in the morgue, lying silent and forgotten without so much as a royal funeral.

The girl bobbed her head, a little smile parting her lips. “Thank you.”

Her voice was different, softer, with a lilt that hinted at a songstress. Beatrix straightened and bowed deep at the waist.

“I serve to protect Your Highness.”

The governess bowed her thanks, then ushered the girl up the stairs in her dripping dress, the handmaids fussing over the little figure. Once they’d disappeared inside, Beatrix turned to find the other knights had gathered behind her in a loose semicircle. Steiner stood at the forefront, the hard lines of his face softening in a breath of relief.

“It is good to find the princess hale and whole,” he murmured.

Another pang in her heart. Beatrix glanced over her shoulder at the empty castle door, feeling her jaws tightening and releasing within a heartbeat. There was no going back. This little girl who’d drifted to their shores would be the princess they were sworn to protect. Giving a silent prayer to the body buried in the morgue, Beatrix nodded her assent.

“It is.”

~ END ~

#final fantasy ix #ff9 #ffix #garnet #beatrix #garnet til alexandros xvii #garnet ff9 #beatrix ff9 #final fantasy 9 #final fantasy #fanfiction #ff fanfic #ff9 fanfic

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freyayuki · 1 year

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Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia Lufenia+ Quests with Sephiroth and Zack Fair Part 7

The Lufenia+ fights (level 250; currently the hardest kind of fight in the Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia (DFFOO) mobile game) featured in this post include either Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII (#ad) or Zack Fair from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII as part of the team lineup.

Table of Contents

Sephiroth info

Zack info

Garnet info

Lufenia quests list

Lufenia+ quests list

Finis Est Initium (Boss Rush) Lufenia+ Quest

Conclusion

Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII

I talk more about this in other posts, but I’ve been using Sephiroth for Lufenia quests (level 200) basically ever since I got his LD and BT even back when he wasn’t that good at all. Would love to be able to keep on using him for as long as possible.

I was really looking forward to the time wherein I can finally upgrade Sephi’s Burst to BT+ 3/3 or Green. And now that time has finally come.

I talk more about this in another post but now my Sephiroth is Crystal Level 90 and Level 90. His 15cp, 35cp, Ex, and LD are fully MLB. His Ex is at Ex+ 3/3 or Purple. His Burst weapon has been upgraded to BT+ 3/3 or Green.

Seph’s currently equipped with a Level 5/5 Greatsword Ultima Weapon (UT). His High Armor’s been upgraded to Blue. All of his Boards have been completed. He has his Bloom Stone.

He has 3 Attack 108 with Max Brave 330 Artifacts and 3 Attack 108 with One-Winged Angel Boost★★ (Raises INT BRV, MAX BRV, ATK, DEF by 5% if HP is MAX at start of last wave) Artifacts.

Sephiroth is equipped with the following A Spheres:

Edgar Roni Figaro’s (from Final Fantasy VI) Debuff Power

Increases BRV damage dealt by 10% while an enemy is debuffed

Cloud Strife’s (from Final Fantasy VII) Critical Power

Raises BRV damage dealt with critical hits by 10%

Vayne Carudas Solidor’s (from Final Fantasy XII) Broken Power

When attacking target afflicted with Break: • Increases BRV damage dealt by 10%

Zack Fair from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII

My Zack is Level 90 and Crystal Level 90. His 15cp, 35cp, Ex, and LD are fully MLB. His Ex is at Ex+ 3/3 or Purple. His Burst weapon has been upgraded to BT+ 3/3 or Green.

Zack used to be equipped with my Level 5/5 Greatsword UT but after Greening Sephi, I gave him this Ultima Weapon. So now Zack is back to being equipped with his BT+ 3/3 weapon.

Zack’s High Armor has been upgraded to Blue. All of his Boards have been completed. He has his Bloom Stone.

He has triple ATK 108 with MAX BRV 330 and triple ATK 108 with SOLDIER Grit Boost★★ (Raises MAX BRV by 15% and ATK by 5% if HP is MAX at start of last wave) Artifacts.

Zack is equipped with the following Spheres:

Machina Kunagiri’s (from Final Fantasy Type-0) Break Hit Base Attack Up Shorter A Sphere

Raises INT BRV, ATK by 10% for 3 turns when inflicting Break or attacking target afflicted with Break

Jecht’s (from Final Fantasy X) Critical Base Attack Up Shorter A Sphere

Raises INT BRV, ATK by 10% for 3 turns when dealing critical hit

Snow Villiers’s (from Final Fantasy XIII) Target Attack Up B Sphere

Raises ATK by 10% while targeted by enemies

I’ve used Zack on all the Lufenia+ quests that we’ve had since the debut of his LD although I did have to stop after a while. I talk more about those battles in other posts.

Zack’s one of my fave Final Fantasy chars so it was always my plan to get his Burst weapon and Green it. Now I want to try using him for as long as possible.

Garnet Til Alexandros XVII from Final Fantasy IX

My Garnet Til Alexandros XVII is Level 90 and Crystal Level 90. Her 15cp, 35cp, Ex, and LD are fully MLB. Her Ex is at Ex+ 3/3 or Purple.

Garnet is currently equipped with her Burst weapon which has been upgraded to BT+ 3/3 or Green. Her High Armor’s been upgraded to Blue. All of her Boards have been completed. She has her Bloom Stone.

She has 3 ATK 108 with MAX BRV 330 and 3 ATK 108 with Princess’s Resolve Boost★★ (Raises INT BRV, MAX BRV, ATK, DEF by 5% if HP is MAX at start of last wave) Artifacts.

Garnet is equipped with the following Spheres:

Prishe’s (from Final Fantasy XI) Weak Attack Boost Up Shorter A Sphere

When attacking target’s weakness: • Raises own MAX BRV, ATK by 10% for 3 turns *Does not stack with same sphere

Alphinaud Leveilleur’s (from Final Fantasy XIV) Buff Success Base Attack All Shorter C Sphere

After granting buff: • Raises party’s INT BRV, ATK by 5% for 3 turns

Hope Estheim’s (from Final Fantasy XIII) Buff Success Attack Boost All Shorter D Sphere

After granting buff: • Raises party’s MAX BRV, ATK by 5% for 3 turns *Does not stack with same sphere

I’ve used Garnet in Lufenia and Lufenia+ fights ever since I got her Burst and Greened it. Now I’ve decided that I’ll use her if I can then no longer try to slot her in everywhere.

Garnet is still really good and she’s still one of the best supports in DFFOO so I’ll most likely still be using her for a lot of fights but there are quests where she won’t be able to work and that’s fine.

Right now, I just want to focus on trying to run Sephi and Zack through all these Lufenia and Lufenia+ fights.

Lufenia Quests List

So far, I’ve been able to use Sephiroth in the following Lufenia fights:

The Terse Turk

Mechanized Sentry (Guard Scorpion Raid)

Roses of May

Thrall of Darkness

Storming the Citadel (Mission Dungeon)

Tree for the Void

Soaring Flames (Boss Rush)

Divine Diabolos (World of Illusions)

Abyss: A Lead to the Thick of It

Keeper of the Farseer

Gentle Giant

Operation Airborne Interception

The Power of Ignorance

Garden of Despair (Boss Rush)

Eternal Light (Story Act 3 Chapter 1, Part 1)

Swordmaiden

Two Moons Waxing (Story Act 3 Chapter 1, Part 2)

Devourer of Light (Hell Wyrm Raid)

Reliable Partner

The Power of Knowledge

Solitude (Story Act 3 Chapter 2, Part 1)

The Yuke Cometh

Searching for Friends (Story Act 3 Chapter 2, Part 2)

His Raging Blade (Kaiser Behemoth Raid)

Abyss: Perfectum Stratum 5

Divine Alexander (World of Illusions)

The Power of Action

Crimson Arms

In the Garden of Evil (Boss Rush)

Dimensions’ End: Transcendence Tier 3

The Ice Reaper

The Man Known as the Immortal

Divine The Brothers (World of Illusions)

Around the Fire

The Power of Wisdom

Lord of Subsidence (Tunneler Raid)

The Redheaded Turk

Equinox Aurora: Gallicinium

The Forbidden Mesa (Boss Rush)

Umbral Equinox: Noctis

Illuminating Dreams (Story Act 3 Chapter 4, Part 1)

The Terse Turk

Twilight Banquet (Astaroth Raid)

Thrall of Darkness

In Passing (Story Act 3 Chapter 4, Part 2)

The Abandoned Laboratory VERY HARD (Boss Rush)

The Abandoned Laboratory VERY HARD+ (Boss Rush)

Perfectum 6th Stratum Part 4

Cavern of No Return VERY HARD+ (Boss Rush)

Lufenia+ Quests List

So far, I’ve been able to use Sephiroth in the following Lufenia+ fights:

Divine Realm

Divine Pandemonium (World of Illusions)

Gentle Giant

Lofty Souls

Commodore of the Skies

A Glimmer in the Dark

Lure of the Lush (Rafflesia Raid)

Illusory Lighthouse (Mission Dungeon)

Shelke the Transparent

Queen of Charm

Whither Feelings (Intersecting Wills)

Divine Shiva (World of Illusions)

Mother Fixation

Triple Gateway (CPU Raid)

Back to Back (Intersecting Wills)

Malodorous Night

Heartless Gaze

Gathering Bearers, Entrusted Principle (Story Act 3 Chapter 5, Part 1)

Mission Dungeon: Glittering City of Gold

Where the Compass Points (Story Act 3 Chapter 5, Part 2)

Savage Winds (Elvoret Raid)

Parted Hopes (Intersecting Wills)

Gentle Fist

Divine Ifrit (World of Illusions)

Return of the Queen

The Power of Wisdom

Wings Graven with Emotion

Crevasse β Part 7

Perfectum 6th Stratum Part 5 Quest Level 215

Perfectum 6th Stratum Part 6

Annular Equinox: Annularity

Annular Equinox: Second Contact Quest Level 220

Unshakable Conviction (Intersecting Wills)

Lunar Tyrant

Family -Shackles- (Story Act 3 Chapter 6, Part 1)

Perfect Size (Intersecting Wills)

Family -Bonds- (Story Act 3 Chapter 6, Part 2)

Supplication for Catastrophe

Starting Out (Intersecting Wills)

Cloudy with a Chance of Squall

Divine Leviathan (World of Illusions)

Lofty Souls

An Elegant Coffee Break

Cloudy with a Chance of Meteor

Our Memories

Howling Winds

Holy Ground (Story Act 3 Chapter 7, Part 1)

Respite? Or Quagmire? (Intersecting Wills)

Distorted Providence

Eyes on the Prize

Six-Warrior Quests (Prelude)

Roaring Thunder (Intersecting Wills)

The Planet & The Hero (Story Act 3, Chapter 7, Part 2)

Divine Bahamut (World of Illusions)

Shelke the Transparent

So far, I’ve been able to use Garnet in the following Lufenia+ fights:

Crevasse β Part 7

Perfectum 6th Stratum Part 4 Lufenia Quest

Perfectum 6th Stratum Part 5 Quest Level 215

Perfectum 6th Stratum Part 6

Annular Equinox: Annularity

Annular Equinox: Second Contact Quest Level 220

Unshakable Conviction (Intersecting Wills)

Lunar Tyrant

Family -Shackles- (Story Act 3 Chapter 6, Part 1)

Perfect Size (Intersecting Wills)

Family -Bonds- (Story Act 3 Chapter 6, Part 2)

Supplication for Catastrophe

Starting Out (Intersecting Wills)

Cavern of No Return VERY HARD+ (Boss Rush)

Cloudy with a Chance of Squall

Divine Leviathan (World of Illusions)

Lofty Souls

An Elegant Coffee Break

Our Memories

Howling Winds

Holy Ground (Story Act 3 Chapter 7, Part 1)

Respite? Or Quagmire? (Intersecting Wills)

Distorted Providence

Eyes on the Prize

Six-Warrior Quests (Prelude)

Roaring Thunder (Intersecting Wills)

Divine Bahamut (World of Illusions)

So far, I’ve been able to use Zack in the following Lufenia+ fights:

Lure of the Lush (Rafflesia Raid)

Illusory Lighthouse (Mission Dungeon)

Shelke the Transparent

Queen of Charm

Whither Feelings (Intersecting Wills)

The Abandoned Laboratory VERY HARD Boss Rush Lufenia

The Abandoned Laboratory VERY HARD+ Boss Rush Lufenia

Divine Shiva (World of Illusions)

Mother Fixation

Triple Gateway (CPU Raid)

Back to Back (Intersecting Wills)

Malodorous Night

Heartless Gaze

Gathering Bearers, Entrusted Principle (Story Act 3 Chapter 5, Part 1)

Mission Dungeon: Glittering City of Gold

Where the Compass Points (Story Act 3 Chapter 5, Part 2)

Divine Ifrit (World of Illusions)

The Power of Wisdom

Crevasse β Part 6

Perfectum 6th Stratum Part 6

Annular Equinox: Second Contact Quest Level 220

Unshakable Conviction (Intersecting Wills)

Cloudy with a Chance of Squall

Divine Leviathan (World of Illusions)

Lofty Souls

An Elegant Coffee Break

Cloudy with a Chance of Meteor

Our Memories

Howling Winds

Holy Ground (Story Act 3 Chapter 7, Part 1)

Respite? Or Quagmire? (Intersecting Wills)

Distorted Providence

Eyes on the Prize

Six-Warrior Quests (Prelude)

Roaring Thunder (Intersecting Wills)

The Planet & The Hero (Story Act 3, Chapter 7, Part 2)

Divine Bahamut (World of Illusions)

Shelke the Transparent

I talk more about these fights in other posts.

Finis Est Initium (Boss Rush) Lufenia+ Quest

Also known as Finis est Initium VERY HARD++. In a Boss Rush-type of battle, you can use several parties. If you’re able to win by using 4 or less parties, then you can get all the rewards.

Each party is limited to 30 turns. Summons and BT or BT+ phases are considered 1 turn. Each action a char takes, including using their Additional Abilities and equipped Calls, will cause the counter to tick down.

Once all 30 turns are up, you will be asked to change your party. You can also choose to switch to another team before your 30 turns are up.

Also, you can’t bring a friend support to a Boss Rush fight. And you can’t have the same chars or summons in your parties but you can repeat Calls.

For this particular Boss Rush, there are 3 waves. Found the tips section for this quest pretty interesting. Here are some screenshots for reference:

Tips for wave 1

Tips for wave 2

Tips for wave 3

The first wave of this quest has 2 enemies, the Optimus. Their Lufenia orbs will appear on battle start. Once they drop down to 79% HP, the orbs will disappear but they'll show up again when the bosses get to 49% HP.

If a char deals 400k or more HP damage on a consecutive turn, the Lufenia orb count will be increased by 8. If the Optimus takes 10k or more BRV damage in 1 hit, the count will be increased by 1. If a char moves, the count will be decreased by 2.

Sephiroth was set to get his update, rework, Crystal Level 90 Awakening, and Burst Realization in a few days. When this happens, there will be like 2 days left before the Finis est Initium event ends.

So I decided to wait until I can Green Seph's BT before doing this Boss Rush fight. I thought doing so would make this quest easier. Besides, I was really looking forward to using Sephi on a Lufenia+ fight with a Green Burst and a maxed out Ultima Weapon.

While waiting, I was already thinking about what teams to use for each of the waves of this quest. Also watched a few vids for some ideas on how to deal with each wave.

Didn’t really take notes or anything though since I didn't think this fight was gonna be so hard. But when I finally got the chance to try out this quest, I couldn't even get past the first wave.

To be fair, I only looked up what the Lufenia orbs were for each wave. Didn't even bother reading what else the bosses here could do since I didn't think it was gonna be so bad.

So imagine my surprise when I started wave 1 and my chars weren't gaining brave at all. I was like WTF is happening here?

Apparently, the Optimus blocks all BRV gains other than from BRV attacks. So I can't battery my chars or rely on any battery effects. Eff! Annoying, to say the least.

Yeah, I know this was even mentioned in the Tips section but when I was doing this fight, I didn’t bother glancing at the Tips section again. Just went straight into the fight after setting up my team.

As if the no brave gains things wasn't bad enough, the Lufenia orbs here can be difficult to deal with as well.

Another problem I faced was how freaking hard these enemies hit. So in response to that, I decided to bring attack down debuffs and even the Bahamut summon only to then find out that the Optimus were immune to attack down debuffs. Eff!

They're also immune to breaks so Sephiroth isn't that good for this wave. My plan was to use him against the Optimus so I've been trying him here with different team comps but it wasn't working out.

Seph isn't that bad here though. His rework is really good and with him being fully built and maxed, he deals really good damage.

His LD and his base skills have a lot of BRV hits so he can still deal good damage even without being able to gain BRV via battery effects.

The problem is with his Ex, Black Materia. It doesn't deal BRV hits at all so it was liable to deal 0 HP damage if Sephi doesn't have even just a bit of brave before casting it.

Sephiroth's BT+ effect sets the BRV of all enemies to 1 for 4 turns. This is kinda useless though since the Optimus can't be broken so I can't keep on breaking then delaying them like I'd normally be able to do using Seph's BT.

However, since the enemies here tended to get thousands of brave, having Sephiroth be able to bring all that brave down to 1 does come in handy. Plus, his BT+ comes with other effects like raising the party's ATK.

Anyway, as I kept on trying this fight, it became clear that one of the main problems was the fact that the bosses hit so freaking hard. Sometimes, my chars just end up dying so I really needed some form of damage mitigation.

I tried to bring Zack here as my tank, but the main issue with this was that the Optimus are immune to lock down debuffs so they can't be forced to target Zack.

If they're targeting All, then it's fine but the moment they target someone other than Zack, his damage plummets since he deals more damage as long as he's being targeted.

A few more tries later and I ended up with a team of Sephiroth, Garnet, and Cissnei from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII with Ifrit as my summon. My Calls were Prishe's from Final Fantasy XI, Sazh Katzroy's from Final Fantasy XIII, and Seymour Guado's from Final Fantasy X.

Have all of Cissnei’s weapons fully MLB. She has her High Armor. She has triple perfect Artifacts and triple RF Spheres.

All of her Summon Boards have been completed. Unlocked parts of her Character Enhancement Boards, particularly the tiles that would give me her LD Call and LD extension passive.

Cissnei does a follow-up attack every time a char does a damaging move. She has a buff that makes it so that she always deals critical BRV damage even if an enemy isn’t broken.

She’ll always do a follow-up attack but this attack gets stronger the more stacks she has of her overhead buff. The catch is that this buff will always go down by 1 every turn.

With her LD, she’ll get a buff that will keep her overhead buff at max stacks. The catch is that this buff will only last for 1 turn.

Cissnei has some party auras but they’re not that good. She’s definitely more of a DPS than a support. Her damage isn’t that good when compared to other DPS though, especially not when her overhead buff isn’t at max stacks.

Can't get any battery from Garnet even with her BT+ effect up which sucks but she still provided great buffs and auras. Cissnei's follow up-attacks were helpful too so I could deal as much damage as possible to the Optimus.

In fact, things were going so well that by turn 3, the Optimus were down to 64% and 65% HP and I just activated Sephiroth's BT+ phase.

I thought I might as well try going all out in the beginning. The sooner the enemies go down, the better so I don't have to deal with them attacking my chars and possibly killing them.

Even without BRV gains and even with his Ex dealing 0 damage, Sephi still did really well. Having Garnet and Cissnei helped as well.

By the time Sephiroth was about to cast Heaven's Light, his finishing Burst+ move, both Optimus were down to 21% HP.

Sephi was able to deal around 14 million+ total HP damage during his Burst+ mode.

After that, it didn't take long before both Optimus fell. On one hand, this is great. IIRC, they didn't get a chance to move at all so I didn't have to worry about my chars dying.

But on the other hand, the bad news was that my Ifrit summon didn't get charged at all. I was hoping to use it on wave 1 because wave 2 prevents the use of summons.

Your summon's Blessing will still work but you can't use the summon itself on wave 2. So in this case, my chars will still benefit from Ifrit's attack up Blessing as long as they meet the activation condition but I won't be able to summon Ifrit himself at all.

Furthermore, if you enter wave 2 with your summon active, the boss will heal himself once the summon ends. He'll also use a group AoE BRV + HP attack called Megaflare.

The boss in wave 2 is called Dark Bahamut. He can summon a Penelo from Final Fantasy XII Manikin.

The good news about this wave was that BRV gains via battery effects are no longer blocked. Was really happy to see my chars finally being able to get thousands of brave again.

Dark Bahamut is immune to break, Freeze, disables, attack down, and launches. The Lufenia orb will show up once his recast bar is full. It will be canceled when he uses Megaflare+ (a stronger version of Megaflare) or when the orb count reaches 15 or more.

If a char batteries by 100% or more of theirs or an ally's max brave, then the count will be increased by 2 per chara. If the enemy takes critical brv damage, then the count will be increased by 3.

Whenever a char moves, the count will be decreased by 2. If the enemy moves, the count will be decreased by 2.

Bahamut will turn warp whenever the orb count reaches 15 or more. He'll then get 3 instant turns.

When he drops down to 79% and 49% HP, his recast bar will automatically be filled to the max. He'll also be immune to turn deletes and delays. And he'll gain brv every turn. This will be cancelled once he uses Megaflare+ or when the orb count gets to 15 or more.

The Penelo Manikin gets summoned by Bahamut at the 100%, 79%, 49% and 29% HP percentage threshold.

When I entered wave 2 with my current party, I thought things were going pretty well other than being annoyed that I couldn't use my summon anymore.

Still have like 19 turns left with this party so wanted to have them deal as much damage as possible to Bahamut before I have to switch teams.

Then the Penelo Manikin got to move since I was focusing on the boss and ignoring her. Ignoring her was a mistake though as I soon found out because the moment she got a turn, she proceeded to buff herself and Bahamut.

She also removed all of their debuffs except for Sephiroth's gold-framed Cellular Erosion debuff. Then she followed that up with a group BRV + HP attack that dealt full damage to my chars.

Didn't think this would hit so hard but it ended up killing Sephiroth. Eff! It would have killed Garnet too but she was able to survive with 1 HP thanks to her Last Stand. IIRC, the attack missed Cissnei which was the only reason why she didn’t die.

So I decided to "retry the quest from wave 2". This time, had my chars focus on killing Penelo first so she won't be able to move.

It was only after she died that I started attacking Bahamut. Since Garnet can battery now, keeping the Lufenia orb count high wasn't difficult. Cissnei can deal critical BRV damage too even if Bahamut can't be broken thanks to her buffs.

But if the orb count gets too high, Bahamut automatically turn warps. If his recast bar is full when this happens, then it's basically game over. His Megaflare+ move hits really hard. It doesn't help that he gets like 3 turns in a row after warping.

No matter how many times I've tried, there was just no way to survive Bahamut's onslaught of attacks. Really needed some form of damage mitigation here since there was no way to finish off Bahamut before he warps.

So I quit the fight and went back to the drawing board, trying out different comps and such. I was always trying to slot in either Sephiroth or Zack or even both on wave 1.

But then later I thought, why not just slot them on wave 2 or 3 then bring a different team to wave 1?

That team ended up being Garnet, Galuf Halm Baldesion from Final Fantasy V, and Cissnei with Odin as my summon. My Calls were Sazh's, Seymour's, and Prishe's.

Have all of Galuf's weapons fully MLB. All of his Boards have been completed. Galuf has his Bloom Stone. He also has his High Armor which has been upgraded to Blue.

Galuf has perfect Artifacts - 3 ATK 108 with Buff Attack Up★★ (Raises ATK by 5% with active buffs). Even got him 3 ATK 108 with MAX BRV 330 Arts.

Galuf is equipped with the following real Spheres:

Eight’s (from Final Fantasy Type-0) Evasion Attack Up Shorter A Sphere

Raises own ATK by 20% for 3 turns when evading enemy attack *Does not stack with same sphere

Galuf Halm Baldesion’s (from Final Fantasy V) Evasion Attack Up Longer B Sphere

When dodging attack: • Raises ATK by 10% for 6 turns

Wakka’s (from Final Fantasy X) Buff Attack Boost All 5 D Sphere

With 5 or more buffs: • Raises party’s MAX BRV, ATK by 5% *Does not stack with same sphere

Galuf is temporarily equipped with my Level 5/5 Greatsword Ultima Weapon. He's a cover tank. He takes the place of his allies whenever they're being targeted so he's the one who will be attacked instead of them.

Galuf can evade most attacks. Whenever he evades an attack, he does 2 counter attacks. With the buff from his LD active, he'll still counter attack once even if he gets hit.

Galuf has some pretty decent party-wide buffs and auras. He can heal. His counters deal good damage too, especially since mine's wielding my maxed out Ultima Weapon and even has his High Armor upgraded to Blue.

With Galuf in my party, it was fine to let the enemies move. Unfortunately, as I soon found out, he can't evade all of their attacks so he ended up losing a lot of HP. Good thing he has Last Stand. And that both he and Garnet can heal.

Everyone was able to deal good damage even with no battery or brv gains. Still miss the battery and brv gain effects though. It sucks to see my chars with 0 or very little brv.

Maintaining the orb on wave 1 is tricky with this team. The 10k brv damage is easy to do but it's only +1 whereas it's minus 2 whenever a char moves so it's not as reliable.

Cissnei can do a consecutive turn but it's only right before an enemy moves because for some reason, her follow-up is counted as a consecutive turn.

So what happens is she uses a skill then, immediately after that, she does her follow-up before the enemy gets a turn, and that will increase the orb count.

Seymour's LD call came in handy for the delay too. Was saving it for later but both Optimus were set to move one after the other and they were targeting All so I just used Seymour's LD Call to delay them and buy me more time.

Both Optimus were already down to 16% HP when that happened, so it was only a matter of time before they fell.

Soon, they were at 6% HP. It was Garnet's turn. Her attack finished off one enemy and left the other at 1% HP. The attack also got my Odin summon to charge to full already.

Then it was Galuf's turn and his attack finished off the last Optimus. The annoying thing was it was now too late to use my summon. Sucks that it only finished charging now and not before.

Decided to just keep going for now. Used Garnet's BT+ phase already since my time was running out with this team.

I didn't use it in the first wave in the hopes of getting the summon gauge charged, so I could use my summon on said wave, but it didn't work out.

Bahamut got to use his recast ability. Was worried but thanks to Galuf, my chars didn't die although they did lose a bit of HP.

But the next time Bahamut used Megaflare+, it was more powerful and my chars nearly died. Their HP bars actually went down to the red.

Was all out of uses of Garnet's LD so I couldn’t use it to heal my chars. But at least her Ex, Holy Prayer, was fully charged.

Holy Prayer’s been fully charged for a while now but I haven’t bothered to use it because it doesn’t deal any damage. But I used it now for the party-wide heal.

Still have 4 turns left with this party but Bahamut was set to move after Garnet and he was targeting All.

If he deals HP damage again, won't have any more ways to heal my chars until Garnet's Ex charges again but with only like 4 turns left, it was doubtful Garnet's Ex would charge in that time since it takes a while to charge and that's even assuming Garnet can get a turn before I have to switch parties.

Considered my options before deciding to just switch partes already. It's a waste of 4 turns like how it was a waste to be unable to use my summon for this team, but eh, as long as I can get the win in the end, then in the grand scheme of things, this doesn't really matter. Still vexing though.

My second party was Sephiroth, Zack, and Yuna from Final Fantasy X with Ifrit as my summon. My Calls were Prishe's, Sazh's, and Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca's from Final Fantasy XII.

Have all of Yuna’s weapons fully MLB. All of her boards have been completed. She has her Bloom Stone. Her High Armor’s been upgraded to Blue.

Yuna has triple perfect Artifacts - 3 Charged Esuna Boost★★ (Esuna use +1; raises MAX BRV by 40%) with Buff Attack Boost All★★ (Raises party’s MAX BRV, ATK by 10% with active buff).

Yuna is equipped with the following real Spheres:

Paladin Cecil Harvey’s (from Final Fantasy IV) Full HP Break Hit BRV Gain All C Sphere

When inflicting Break or attacking target afflicted with Break while own HP at MAX: • Grants party 5% of individual MAX BRV once per turn

Queen’s (from Final Fantasy Type-0) Break Hit Attack Boost All Shorter D Sphere

When inflicting Break or attacking target afflicted with Break: • Raises party’s MAX BRV, ATK by 5% for 3 turns

Yuna is currently equipped with her Burst weapon that's been upgraded to Green or BT+ 3/3. She's a support slash healer slash buffer. She can remove debuffs from the party. She also deals pretty decent damage.

Removed my Greatsword Ultima Weapon from Galuf then gave it back to Sephiroth.

Thanks to the buffs, auras, debuffs and such that I currently had active on the field, everyone was dealing really good damage. Being able to battery my chars helped a lot as well.

With Zack as my tank and with the enemies here not being immune to his lock debuff, there was also no danger of my chars dying.

It's been a while since I did this quest so I don't really remember the reason anymore but I decided to retry the fight from wave 2 and bring in a different party.

I think it was because I wanted to save Yuna for the last wave. Or maybe I was hoping to be able to get through these 2 waves with just 1 party.

When I quit the fight, Bahamut was already down to 36% HP. I'd already used Yuna's and Zack's BT+ finishers. I think I was about to use Seph's as well before opting to just restart the fight instead.

This time, I went in with Sephiroth, Zack, and Freya Crescent from Final Fantasy IX with Ifrit as my summon. My Calls were Prishe's, Ashe's, and Sazh's. Sephi was still equipped with my maxed out Ultima Weapon.

Have all of Freya’s weapons fully MLB. All of her Boards have been completed. She has triple perfect Artifacts and triple RF Spheres. Her High Armor’s been upgraded to Blue.

Freya is a support and healer with pretty good buffs and auras. She can also deal pretty decent damage. Her LD allows her to leap or fly up into the air where she can evade basically anything.

Until her next turn, every time a char moves, she’ll automatically follow that up with an attack of her own. She’ll also battery and heal the party. On her next turn, she’ll do an attack before landing back on the ground.

It was really annoying whenever the enemies got multiple turns in a row. But as long as Freya's up in the air while this happens, she'll deal off-turn damage so at least it doesn't feel like such a waste that my chars were all just standing there, unable to do anything while the boss attacks and attacks some more.

I tried to get rid of the Penelo Manikin but wasn't able to before she got a turn. Thanks to Zack and his BT+ effect, he was the only one who took damage from Penelo's attack.

So it wasn't that bad that Penelo got to move although it was annoying that she got to buff herself and Bahamut. The buffs last pretty long too but at least they didn't really gimp the damage of my chars. They were all still doing really well.

Chose to go with Sephiroth's BT+ phase over Zack's. After all, he's the one equipped with my maxed out Ultima Weapon.

Besides, I've used Zack's BT+ mode for lots of Lufenia+ fights already. But this is like the first Lufenia+ quest I get to use Sephi's Burst+ phase on.

Anyway, when I activated Sephiroth's Burst+ mode, Bahamut was down to 33% HP. The Penelo Manikin was still around but she was nearly dead. Zack had lost a lot of HP but since his BT+ effect was currently up, this wasn't an issue.

Freya was up in the air so she batteried and healed the party and attacked Bahamut every time Sephiroth moved. This helped restore some of Zack's HP and added to the damage Sephi was dealing against Bahamut.

So by the time Seph was about to cast Heaven's Light, the boss was down to 14% HP. The Penelo Manikin had croaked it earlier but Bahamut summoned a new one soon after. Sephi was able to deal around 11 million+ total HP damage during his BT+ mode.

A few turns later, Bahamut was finally down to 1% HP. It was Freya who dealt the killing blow. Still have 16 turns left with this team when this happened.

The third and final wave has 2 enemies, the Elvorets. They're immune to break and all debuffs.

They have this buff called Tower's Dark Wings that makes them stronger and weakens the attacks of their enemies. Tower's Dark Wings is a stacking buff and it increases by 1 stack every 6 player actions.

The Lufenia orb will show up once the bosses drop down to 79% HP. It will disappear once they reach 59% HP then reappear when they drop down to 49% HP before disappearing again when they get to 29% HP.

If the enemy takes off-turn, Holy BRV damage, excluding from counters, then the counts will be increased by 3. If a char extends the duration of their buffs, then the counts will be increased by 3.

If a char regens their HP, then the counts will be increased by 1. If a char or the boss moves, then the counts will be decreased by 3.

The Lufenia orb countdown attack isn't lethal. Triggering the orb will cause the enemies to deal group AoE BRV + HP damage then their Tower's Dark Wings buff will be maxed at 5 stacks.

The Elvorets can "cut in turn order" which will cause the turn order bar to now alternate between player and enemy turns.

The most annoying thing about this fight was not being able to debuff the enemies. This meant I couldn't use Zack's Lock debuff or Sephiroth's Cellular Erosion debuff.

Thankfully, the damage of my chars was still good. And the enemies getting to move wasn't a problem since I have Zack and his BT+ effect was still up. And at least I can use my summon now.

Saved Ashe’s Calls for this wave. The reason why I brought her was because her LD Call enchants the party with the holy element for a few turns.

Anyway, managed to get the Elvorets down to 38% HP before I had to switch my party.

Don't remember why now, but instead of switching my party, I decided to retry again from this wave. It doesn't look like it really made much of a difference though.

So this time, after being prompted to switch my party again, I did. Brought in Yuna, Porom from Final Fantasy IV, and Eiko from Final Fantasy IX with Pandemonium as my summon. My Calls were Cid Raines's from Final Fantasy XIII, Yuffie Kisaragi's from Final Fantasy VII, and Seymour's.

Raines's Calls can manipulate the turns of its Caller's allies. His LD Call will enable its Caller to initiate launches for 2 turns. Yuffie's Calls and Seymour’s LD Call can dispel buffs from enemies.

Porom and Eiko are boosted for this quest so they provide synergy stats to the entire party by being part of my team. Both are supports and healers with pretty good buffs and auras.

Mine are fully built and MLB with triple perfect Artifacts and triple RF Spheres. All of Porom’s Boards have been completed, and her High Armor’s been upgraded to Blue.

All of Eiko’s Summon Boards have been completed. Unlocked parts of her Character Enhancement Boards, particularly the tiles that would give me her LD extension passive.

Eiko has her High Armor and it’s been Realized to 0/3. The reason why I brought her to this fight is because she provides party-wide holy enchant so gonna be relying on her to help with the orbs here.

Went into Yuna's Burst+ phase as soon as I was able to set up all my relevant Calls and buffs and auras and such.

I was using Yuna’s Energy Ray++ move but then I discovered that her Sonic Wings++ move was better since it also batteries the party. This will ensure that my chars will always have a lot of brave to dump every time Yuna initiated a launch thanks to Raines’s LD Call.

So I decided to retry the quest from wave 3. When I went into Yuna's Burst+ phase, the Elvorets were down to 35% and 36% HP.

This time, I had Yuna spam Sonic Wings++ although IIRC, I did also use her LD, Energy Nova, once. By the time Yuna was about to cast the The Sending, her finishing Burst+ move, the Elvorets were down to 24% and 25% HP.

Afterwards, just kept on spamming skills. Ended up using my Seymour LD Call for the turn delay (another one of its effects is being able to delay the enemies by 2 turns) because the enemies didn't have their buff up and I thought it wasn't gonna show up anymore.

Was trying to buy more time so they won't get to move, not that it would have mattered much since all my chars can heal and Porom provides party-wide Last Stand.

Eiko's overhead buff will also automatically revive a char if they die as long as said buff has at least 1 stack. The buff will also automatically heal chars if they lose enough HP.

Of course, right after I use Seymour's LD was when the Tower's Dark Wings buff showed up and when the enemies started cutting in the turn order. Eff.

At least I hadn't used Yuffie's Calls yet. The Elvorets were down to 13% and 15% HP but my summon was far from being fully charged.

On Yuna's turn, had her use Raines's regular Call for the launch and turn manipulation, hoping to charge the summon gauge some more.

The 1 turn Yuna had left of Raines’s LD Call allowed her to initiate a launch with one of her own skills but this still wasn’t enough to charge the summon bar.

On Porom's turn, had her spam her Additional Ability. This buffs the party but doesn’t deal damage. However, with the buff from Porom’s LD, anything she does will trigger her follow-up attack so this helped in charging my summon gauge.

Summoned Pandemonium as soon as I could. By then the Elvorets were down to 2% and 4% HP so it was over.

IIRC, had Porom use her LD and this was enough to finish off both enemies at the same time, ending the fight on turn 43.

Got the score and all the other mission requirements. Man, this was a really long Boss Rush fight. Felt like it took forever. Glad it's finally over.

Everyone did well but the mechanics here kinda sucked, especially the no brave gains via battery effects thing on wave 1. Also didn’t like that the enemies weren’t breakable.

Glad I was able to get through all of these waves and even got to use Zack and Sephiroth. Sephi with BT+ 3/3 and maxed out Ultima weapon and Blue armor really did well. Looking forward to being able to use him for more Lufenia+ quests.

Anyway, here are the screenshots of all of my parties for this Boss Rush fight:

Party 1

Party 2

Party 3

All parties

Conclusion

So, what about you? Which chars did you use to complete these Lufenia and Lufenia+ quests? Did you pull for either Sephiroth or Zack or both? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below or by reblogging or replying to this post.

Notes:

screenshots are from my Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia game account

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