Final Fantasy VI Bosses

If you have any Imp equipment (Tortoise Shield, Saucer, Reed Cloak), throw it on! The Blue Dragon is all about Water-elemental attacks, and that's what Imp equipment absorbs. Don't equip Ice Shields, as Aqua Breath will hit twice as hard when you don't have any Imp equipment; Flame Shields are even worse, as they are weak against Water-elemental attacks in general. Thunder Shields are great as they null the effects of Aqua Breath (as it's part Wind-elemental) and halve all damage done by Flash Rain (as it's part Ice-elemental); Force Shields halve the damage done by Water-elemental attacks in general, too. Minerva Bustier wearers shine once again; Minerva Bustier nulls Aqua Breath and Flash Rain and halves damage done by all other Water-elemental attacks. Equipping Snow Scarfs on Gau, Mog, and Umaro will allow them to absorb the Flash Rain attacks. Relics protecting from Seizure (that'd be Ribbon, Angel Ring and Miracle Shoes) are great, too.

As soon as the battle starts, the Blue Dragon will attack with Tsunami. If Strago is in your party and hasn't learned from either the Enuo random encounters or the Master Tonberry enemy yet, here's your chance. Normally, the blasted creature will attack with Battle and Flash Rain; believe me, Seizure will get very annoying very quickly if you don't have protection against the status. When Blue Dragon dives beneath 16384 HP, he'll also start attacking with Aqua Breath and Flash Rain. Every 40 seconds, Blue Dragon will have stored enough water for a Tsunami attack as well. All in all, you will be continuously pounded by multi-target attacks. Any Magic spell or damaging attack you use against the Blue Dragon may be countered by Battle, as usual.

The difficult part of the Blue Dragon's AI script is the Rippler spell. To put it simply (or as simply as possible), Blue Dragon will use Rippler if:

1. One of your characters has the Haste status. If so, it will target that character; if more than one character has the Haste status, it picks the first one with the status in your formation, going from top to bottom.
2. If Blue Dragon isn't already enhanced by the Haste status.
3. If Blue Dragon isn't enhanced with the Safe status.
4. If it has been two turns since (not counting the 40-second attack) Blue Dragon last used Rippler.

If all those conditions are met, Blue Dragon will cast Slow on itself and proceed to use Rippler to try to steal the Haste status and give your character the Slow status instead. So what to do? Throw up the boring old blah-blah barriers: Mighty Guard, Wall, Life Guard, Earth Wall, Moon Song, and so on. If you brought Shadow, you do not want him to be the victim of Rippler, ever (Interceptor could be stolen). Don't apply the Haste status. Attack with Lightning-elemental spells if possible. Valigarmanda's Tri-Disaster isn't absorbed, so that works; Thundaga is stronger, though. Lightning Scrolls work great, but Thunder Blades are even more powerful. The same old stuff still works. The mages should stick to Lightning-elemental attacks. Edgar makes a good Dragon Horn Dragoon, as usual. Sabin's Phantom Rush beats all, like usual. Setzer's GP Rain is still stronger than Slot, while the Fixed Dice (especially when paired with the Master's Scroll) are superior to both of them. Cyan can't really do his job as usual (though you can set him up as a utility man). Gau's Aspiran Rage allows him to absorb all Water-elemental attacks while making him attack with Gigavolt, a strong Lightning-elemental attack that will really hurt Blue Dragon. Actinian and Exocite also allow Ragers to absorb Water-elemental attacks.

You know, this battle's ease doesn't mean that the Blue Dragon is weak; on the contrary, with regular multi-target magical spells packing some power behind them and no crippling status vulnerabilities, the Blue Dragon is a fairly solid contender. It's just that the fact that your characters are becoming more overpowered really begins to show by now. If Phantom Rush and Dragon Horn Dragoons weren't enough, you get to use Fixed Dice/Master's Scroll, equip armor like the Minerva Bustier and Cat-Ear Hood, and have access to all the awesome no-questions-asked attacks such as Grand Delta and Phantom Rush. Expand Full Strategy