Final Fantasy VI Bosses

"If you walk without rhythm, you won't attract the worm". If only it were that simple! Abyss Worm is the nastiest creature of the Cloister of Trials, as its defenses are so omni-present. It has quite a lot of Defense and will either absorb or negate any magical damage unless it's Holy- or non-elemental. Few characters will be able to apply their full force versus this thing. It's primarily a trading between damage and healing, as there's little you can do about this thing's attacks. Expand Full Strategy

The parts to this battle: Air Force, Laser Gun (the part to the right of Air Force), and Missile Bay (the dark red part below Air Force). In the SNES game, the Missile Bay was light grey like the Laser Gun. Why they decided to change *that* of all things will forever be a mystery.

Missile Bay fires off Missile attacks. Nothing ground-shaking there. If it gets weak and reaches 1536 HP - that's after taking 1464 HP damage - it might get a shot at using Launcher. Laser Gun uses Magitek Laser and Atomic Rays. If it hits 1536 HP – after taking 1764 HP damage - it loses the Atomic Rays option, but gains Diffractive Laser, which is slightly weaker than Atomic Rays.

Air Force itself will just use Magitek Laser and Diffractive Laser. When Laser Gun dies, a Bit will be released. Bit is an opponent that takes no turns; the only thing it does is float about on constant Runic stand-by, absorbing all your Magic spells. At this point, Air Force will try to self-apply Haste status (and fail, as he's immune to Slow) and start counting down; at this point, the Bit will leave the battlefield and Air Force will use Wave Cannon, a very strong multi-target Lightning-elemental attack. By this point, you should be fully healed though, so you won't die from it if all is well. After Wave Cannon, Air Force will launch another Bit and start counting again.

The first thing on your mind is taking out Missile Bay. If you have Locke in the party, try to Steal for as long as he's around; Missile Bay has a rare Debilitator you probably don't have yet. Zona Seeker is a brilliant summon here, as the Shell status can really help you out in this battle, and once Missile Bay is gone, you can safely summon Kirin to override all Sap effects with the positive Regen blessings.

Heal regularly, keep your defenses up, and you'll defeat Air Force in no time at all. If you're really having trouble, you can break Thunder Rods. Something to remember if you're playing the game blindfolded. Or just blind.

An alternate strategy if you picked three characters that all heavily rely on Magic (Locke, Relm, Celes, for example) is the following. Since you want to prevent Bit from showing up above all else, don't kill Laser Gun. Instead, you can stop his attacks for long periods of time if you combine the Slow and Stop status ailments on it. Kill off Missile Bay, use your speed-reducing grey magic on Laser Gun and focus all spells on Air Force. No Bit, no Wave Cannon, no fuss. Expand Full Strategy