Check description for info.
Battle Conditions:
- Limited Crystarium Use
- No Equipment Upgrade
- Treasure/Drop/Reward Equipment Only
- No Shrouds
- Sub-8:00 Battle Duration (7:44)
Full Playlist:
• FFXIII - Low Developme...
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In the Barty 2 battle, I dropped the "starting weapons" and "no accessories" conditions just for kicks. But for Proudclad 2, dropping them was necessary in order to survive the back-to-back Muon Blasters. Black Belts made it easier to keep up with damage, and Str/Mag+ accessories were for shortening Battle Duration (otherwise it would've averaged 9mins).
=Setup=
Sazh: Activated Cold Blood for quick Chain building during Stagger. With Procyons equipped, I made sure as much as possible that Sazh is the one who Staggers Proudclad in order to activate the Stagger Maintenance passive which adds 10% to the Stagger Duration.
Snow: The main Str-based damage dealer and launcher. Activated Protect since Sazh didn't have enough CP to learn it yet, plus it's faster to have a separate Synergist bestow it so Sazh can focus on Haste. I could've brought Hope for that, but Snow overall had the more useful skillset (mainly Launch and SEN). Cure was also activated to back Lightning up with healing. Snow's fast casting speed, Sazh's Potions, and the shared MED Role Bonuses makes the Discretion paradigm (COM/MED/MED) effective enough despite none having access to Curasa/Curaja.
Lightning: Mag-based damage dealer and chain builder hybrid. Axis Blade makes her effective in both COM and RAV Roles. Also serves as a backup launcher with Aerora or Launch (depending which Roles she's in) in case Snow fails to do it.
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=Start of Battle=
- Just like the first fight, Proudclad is immune to all debuffs and has no elemental weaknesses/affinities. Using Libra/scope will enable AI Commandos to immediately use the command strings they were geared for. (Attack for Snow, Ruin for Lightnng)
=Notes=
- In Ground Mode, Proudclad does exactly 7 attacks (either Muon Blaster or its regular close range attack) before it switches to Aerial Mode. Stagger it quick before it launches off since it's safer to Stagger Proudclad while in Ground Mode.
- Once Staggered, Launch it asap with either a COM's Attack or a RAV's Aerora. If not launched, and if you fail to keep it interrupted, it'll be able to do Muon Blaster between attacks which could be a real setback for Commandos with the Adrenaline passive ability.
- Make sure that Snow or Lightning launches Proudclad first before executing Cold Blood because Proudclad becomes immune to Launch during Cold Blood's animation.
- When in Aerial Mode, DO NOT Stagger Proudclad unless going for the kill or else it'll follow up with Retaliatory Strike which is difficult to survive with low stats (even with a Sentinel). The safer approach would be to raise the Chain to 140% at most, then exclusively use COM attacks so you don't accidentally Stagger it.
- When its HP drops below 60%, Proudclad fully heals itself and enters its second phase with Limiters Deactivated. Halt your attack when its HP gets this low because any further damage dealt will pretty much be a waste of time.
- At its second phase, Proudclad starts using Oneiric Maelstrom once every Ground Mode phase which always launches party members that aren't in Guard stance. When, exactly, it uses Oneiric Maelstrom within those 7 turns before it switches to Aerial Mode is completely random. Keep an eye for it because, if fast enough, you could toss a Potion so that your party leader doesn't get launched by the attack. See 3:40 and 5:19.
- With the buffs that Proudclad gains at its second phase, its Ground Mode form becomes much harder to survive. To counter this, I brought out Brynhildr to keep Sazh in an "invulnerable state" with the steady stream of Curagas. Gestalt Mode wasn't used, though, so that the Chain that Sazh builds during this point isn't lost, and by the time Snow and Lightning return to the field, they'd be able to Launch Proudclad and deal massive damage.