Talk:The Man in Black

Zodiark's strat
Good morning it's 3:30 central time and I'm tired as all get out. Zodiark here with a guide on how to beat Golbez. So quick heads up 90% of the attacks here are magic based so after a couple of failed tries I abandoned a tank ENTIRELY for this fight. So how did I do it? Well here was the setup:

Tidus: Mana Battery, Entruster. Orlandeau X2 (yeah, yeah, just bring 2 high dps with Dragon killer / Man Eater) Ayaka: Heals / Reraise ( Tilith can work, just Ayaka is better) Rikku: Reraise Spam, Damage Mitagation, Bahamut Holder. (4X Evo Mags)

Give everyone Paralyze Protection.

Start out by working Golbez down to 49% (I believe it cannot be pushed past that before Shadow Dragon summon, need verification). Build up Lbs and have Rikku pop Hyper Mighty G granting Reraise for the group. Have Tidus Entrust Rikku to keep her lb topped up. Also if mp is a concern, Blitz Mania can sustain the group. After 49% Golbez will summon Shadow Dragon, followed by reducing parties hp to 10 points each. The “Rydia Rescue” for you FFIV buffs will happen here and bring everyone back to about 2k each. Brace yourself because the real fight is going to start,

The Shadow Dragon is going to kill someone. Accept it. That's why the Reraise Spam is here. Golbez will follow up with an Aoe Drain, either Firaga or Thundaga, and more Bio spells. Focus on keeping Reraise up, and topping the group up every turn to kill the Shadow Dragon. This may take 4-6 turns based on your setup, but stay focused, keep Reraise up with Rikku using Tidus to Entrust back up as needed.

Once the Dragon is dead Golbez adds that nasty 10 hp move into his attack set and Osmose. As always keep a Reraise up at ALL TIMES and use elixirs, ethers, Mana battery abilities to stay on top. The big hassle here will be the “Esper kill” win condition. Using your attackers, you want to edge Golbez to 1%. At this time you should have a full summon meter, enough for Rikku to make her one, and final attack on Golbez with a Bahamut summon.

And yes I won first with 5, then went back, recruited a third Orlandeau, and made it a lot easier. Anyway I hope this helps. This is Zodiark, and I'm going back to sleep...

Minor mod to strat
Rikku: Hyper-Mighty G, Eccentrick Tidus(700 atk): Entrust, DPS, esper Fryevia + friend (800 mag dw, 900 mag dw, Diabolos for man-eater): DPS Ayaka: Heal + reraise

Pretty much the same as Zodiark's, with one main change: don't kill the dragon until the end. First time I went through I killed the dragon right away. Golbez did his 10 hp move, killed everyone except ayaka with a firaga or something and then osmosed her. O_o

TL;DR; Bring the dragon down till you can kill it next turn, then kill Golbez. This avoids the osmose and 10hp trick. You'll need solid reraise though.

Pre 50% there's nothing much to write.

49% + dragon on - With the 3 attackers the dragon takes 3 turns to kill. After 2 turns(1 with 2xFry + Tidus attacking, one with 2xFry), the dragon was down to 10%. Switch over to working on Golbez. With Tidus and Rikku + Eccentrick she could get HMG almost every turn. Most turns though, it wasn't needed. The dragon would kill one, others would survive. Ayaka cast reraise to cover the unit that died, and Curaga(7k+) would top up everyone. Got Golbez down to a reasonable amount, hyper-mighty-g and popped him off (Tidus did Ramuh). Dragon did the wipe. After reraise took out the final 10%.

--0kman0 (talk) 19:44, 17 November 2017 (UTC) 0KMAN0

Win strategy 2017 (Man in Black) by [falconX]

Party: Bartz, trance Terra x2, tilith, rikku, Ashe Bartz - fire/dark/thunder+50 resist, demon shield, dragon helm/mail. Ability- mog wisdom, katana mastery. Tilith - star pendant, jeweled ring, mp build Rikku - dragon shield, soul crown, red jacket, fairy ring, parade gorget. Ability - mog wisdom, darkness resist Trance Terra (mag752) ability- poison resist. Friend: (mag950) Ok the setup will be... Bartz is used to entrust tp to Rikku when possible so can use limit break reraise move. Tillith can use elements resist+ move, trance Terra can also use element resist move if need.

First 50% hp -> just keep fire/thunder resist up when hyperNull is not available. Around 53%hp can refill mp to party from tilith ability. Put characters in defend mode, and refill tilith to 100%mp before 49%hp. Make sure reraise l.b. is up, use Bartz to refill tp bar on rikku. So basically you will have 2 ready rikku limit breaks right before hit 49%

Trance Terra = choas wave awakened x2 each will do about 15%hp with combo, 20-25% hp with spark chain. Use Ashe to refill hp party with ability, main healer job. --Gogamer2018 (talk) 05:42, 20 November 2017 (UTC)

Boss <49% hp. Using the choas wave awakened x4 will give you 1round before the dragon is killed. Just make sure keep fire/thunder resist up. Rikku is not needed as she won't be able to get synthesis up most times while doing her limit breaks reraise. Can try on off rounds though.

When the boss uses osmose, and mp is 0, make sure to have in inventory ethers, chocolate, elixers, just use minimum amount needed. I would give small mp, then use osmose x2 from trance Terra. I did notice that keeping his mp low, he doesn't do mp drain, or the 10hp move, as much. I think did x1 after the very first. So if he mp drain you, use osmose to get mp back. I would use tilith to save up to 150mp then when for sure after his mp drain refill mp.

After getting reraise and back up reraise good. Just keep going for keeping party alive, Ashe will heal most hp. Use t.terra for elements resist if need. When /if party dies. Gets little tricky and creative to get mp needed. But just using 20mp ethers, can get you ~2oomp if dual osmose.

I got lucky, last 20%hp, used choas wave awakened for spark chain. Left boss at 1%. Used Odin esper, got kill. Good luck & have fun. --Gogamer2018 (talk) 05:42, 20 November 2017 (UTC)

Noob breakdown (failed, but oh so close)

 * TLDR: Phase 1 easy, Phase 2 slowwwwwwwwww; try to kill both within 1-2 rounds of each other, Phase 3: Elixirs and Phoenix Downs.


 * Notes
 * Expect to deal ~1% HP per turn. Be prepared for a VERY long fight (100+ rounds).
 * Equip all characters with Paralysis null.
 * Bring Elixers for items! Tidus' Blitz Mania restores ~18 MP per turn per ally. That's 2-3 turns per main ability.
 * Do not use Tidus' LB! Save his bar to use Entrust when needed to keep HMG buff up on the team.


 * Progression requirements
 * Story up to Kingdom of Pharm w/ all available Vault Keys up to this point.
 * Intangir, Surging Menace, Antonella, and 2-Headed Dragon defeated in Chamber of the Fallen.
 * One or more solid TMRs (e.g. Ribbon).


 * Team requirements
 * Full team auto-revive: [[Rikku]'s Limit Break Hyper Mighty G.
 * SPR buffer: Meliadoul w/ Shellga. Also has single auto-raise to mark Refia or Tilith for safety.
 * Mana Battery: Tidus.
 * Healer: Tilith is #1 because of heal + poison removal +
 * 2nd Healer: Refia. In case one or the other gets killed, Refia or Tilith can full revive the whole team. Possibly replace Refia with Lunera for mana battery + SPR buff.
 * Physical DPS: Luneth, Loren, Agrias, etc.


 * Abilities that can be used in first 50% each round to spam REPEAT
 * Blitz Mania with Tidus, Shellga with Meliadoul, Tilith's Goddess' Miracle, Refia Curaga. Auto attack w/ other 2 units.


 * Phase 1 - Normal rotation above 50%
 * R1: Blitz Mania, Shellga. Goddess' Miracle. Cut Through, Mix, Embolden, heal, or auto attack w/ Refia (I took an extra healer not knowing Refia did not have an auto-raise; oh well).
 * R2: Quick Hit, Cleansing Strike, Cut Through, HyperNullAll, Heal, Goddess' Miracle.
 * R3: same as R2 except Rikku can use Sunburst.
 * Repeat.


 * Phase 2 - Below 50%, Shadow Dragon alive
 * This part feels like a mess. Mana will be the most worrisome part. I forgot to equip Elixirs and paid dearly for it. Relying on Tidus is not going to work well because he dies often and needs to focus on comboing or using Entrust to keep Rikku's HMG available.
 * Best rotation is HMG, then Entrust, Radiant Heal to full, then auto attack for LB crystals or Cut Through to get him down 1.5%.


 * Phase 3 - Shadow Dragon dead
 * Ok, I shouldn't have killed the Dragon. Now I have no Mana to stay alive with. Could have whittled Golbez down during Phase 2. Probably safer to juggle the DPS to get dragon to 10%, then Golbez to 10%, then bring them both down at same time.
 * This phase SUCKS without Elixirs. I made it to Turn 134 *whew*. Ok so he's taking all of my mana. Tilith recovers a ton each turn so great. Just got enough to pull off a Blitz with Tidus. Since auto-attacking is the only option for most characters now, I am forced to get a lot of LB crystals. He just wiped the whole team, but auto-revive was on! Riku now has LB available. Meliadoul with Shellga. Healers have no mana.
 * Just enough Mana between Rikku, Refia, and Tilith to keep the team topped off. Everyone's LBs are up. *whew*. I think I can keep this cycle up.
 * During Phase 2 Golbez healed ~8%. Now down 3% to 52% left.
 * Turn 136: wiped us again. Rikku HMG re-cast. Tidus Entrust. *whew*. Popped off a Celestial Light with Tilith in case he drains mana again.
 * Turn 139: wiped us again. HMG.
 * Turn 141: wiped us again. Entrust, then HMG.
 * Turn 144: 46%. HMG ready to go. Tidus 95% LB.
 * Turn 146: wasn't watching my buff. Tidus dead. Can't revive (Refia 8MP). No Phoenix Downs equipped. This might be it folks.
 * Turn 147: wiped. HMG brought us back. Luneth, Meliadoul, and Tilith got hit by second Cold, Tilith Paralyzed (friend companion was not prepped for this fight!). No one left has MP recovery!
 * Turn 148: wiped. WOAH somehow Luneth, Meliadoul, and Tilith didn't wipe last turn. They're back up!. No mana on Tilith. If only I had an Elixir! Then I could full revive with Tilith.
 * Turn 149: ugh, just as Tilith gets her 70MP she needs to full revive, Osmose'd again. Meliadoul takes the hit.
 * Turn 150: and there we have it - the Man in Black wins!

There goes 4 hours of my life and my hope for this game. >_<

--Guruvirus (talk) 21:25, 21 November 2017 (UTC)