Final Fantasy VI Bosses

The Red Dragon is red and lives in a volcano. It may shock you to discover he's a Fire dragon! You'll be laughing by now, I assume; not only have you already spotted his weakness to the Confuse status, but the Fire element is the one most easily protected against. The Red Jacket, Ice Shield, Minerva Bustier, and Blizzard Orb all nullify it, the Flame Shield and Berserker Ring absorb it, and, if those resources aren't enough, the Force Shield, Thunder Shield, Cat-Ear Hood, Snow Scarf, and Force Armor all halve damage done by the element. Even though the Red Dragon tries to counter this by employing Flare spells and the Lv. 4 Flare attack, he's still fairly easy.

Every 40 seconds, Red Dragon will use a particularly powerful attack; either S. Cross, Flare Star, or Lv. 4 Flare. Flare Star still deals Fire-elemental damage based on your level, S. Cross is just a strong multi-target Fire-elemental attack and Lv. 4 Flare deals non-elemental, barrier-piercing damage to every character whose level is divisible by 4.

Normally, Red Dragon switches between Fira (66%) and Fire Ball (33%). When he reaches 10240 HP (after having absorbed 19760 HP damage), he'll switch to Firaga (66%) or a Flare spell (33%). All these spells (with the exception of Fire Ball) can be Reflected, but that may not be the wisest action to take; any character under the influence of Reflect will be targeted every second turn by !Eraser (from top character to bottom character), just like the living and his !Devil Claw attack. !Eraser removes the Reflect status, though not when the status is inherent (through Reflect Rings or Rage). Like most bosses, the Red Dragon has a 33% Battle counter to every damaging attack he takes.

What to do? He has a fairly low amount of MP, and all his dangerous attacks need MP to function. In his less dangerous phase, throw up your barriers (summon Fenrir and/or Golem, Kirin's Life Guard is useful as always, Hastega, Mighty Guard, you name it). When you're done, start casting Rasp! You can check if he's out of MP with Libra if you can't keep track yourself. You should have him crippled before his first 40-second attack comes around. Now that Red Dragon is nothing but a big lizard of fire, attack him with all the standard repertoire. It doesn't really matter, as he's pretty much done by now, but the most effective attacks tend to be Ice-elemental ones: the Blizzaga spell, thrown Icebrand swords (or Water Scrolls), the usual Phantom Rush and Dragon Horn Jump attacks, whatever works. Note that Tri-Disaster is absorbed, though. You can toy around with Confuse if you want, but it's not necessary. Expand Full Strategy