When you finally get to Academia, you’ll be noticed and attacked. For the entire time you are here, monsters will spawn all over the area whether you are moving or not so be careful. Thankfully, most of these enemies are pretty easy. This actually provides you with a great chance to farm CP. It’s possible to let your controller sit and gain CP. Monsters will attack on their own and your party might be capable of fending them off without your input. You would just have to hit A/X a couple of times every now and again to clear the “success” screen.
Anyway, from where you touchdown, head E and active the panel next to the escalator to the N. This will change the direction that the escalator travels. Hop on and go up. Move N along the alleyway and go E at the end. You will be trapped but if you activate the nearby panel, the barrier will go down. Crossing any green barrier will cause an alarm to trigger and you will be attacked.
Head E a little and then take your first left turn. You will find a woman by another terminal and Chocolina at the end. Talk to the woman by the terminal to gain a quest to collect and verify every map in the game. Turning them in will result in fragments. Check out Chocolina if you like and make sure you loot the Treasure Cube nearby for a Gate Seal. Exit the area to the NE.
Then head down this hallway E and then S. You will come to an open section of the alley which is occupied by a Fencer. Kill the fencer, loot the Orb to the E of him and then exit up the stairs to the N. You’ll be forced into a battle but it’s no different than any other fight you’ve had so far. And soon after, you will be forced into another.
After talking to Caius and beating both battles, activate the panel to the E and travel down the stairs (or, conversely, just jump repeatedly down). At the bottom, turn W and make your way along the road here. Continue to make your way W, even after another chat with Caius. At the end of the road, turn N and fight another Fencer. N of the fencer, you will have a choice of going down or up an escalator. Go up the escalator and turn left. Head W towards the Quest Marker. Be prepared for a series of tough fights.
Cocytus and Zenobia
- Paradigms:
- Rav, Rav, Com
- Sen, Med, Med
- Com, Com, Com
- Sen, Sen, Sen*
- Com, Rav, Med
*Not particularly necessary but it can be useful and it puts your Sen monster in for its Feral Link.
This battle isn’t much different than most battles except that the enemies are a lot stronger. That’s not saying a lot however, since most enemies in this area are so weak. Make sure you keep an eye on your health because they sport higher strength along with the extra health.
The tough battle is Zenobia, the last fight. If you happen to lose, you can pick up on the last boss fight and you can change your paradigms before you restart.
| 209920 HP | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Element | Vulnerability | Status Immunity | Misc |
| Fire | Normal | Pain | Chain Resist: 50 |
| Ice | Normal | Fog | Stagger: 300% |
| Electric | Normal | Stop | Tear of Woe |
| Wind | Normal | None | None |
| Physical | Halved | None | Untamable |
| Magic | Normal | None | No Role |
The first thing you need to watch out for are the tentacles. Every so often, he will put his tentacles into the ground and they will come up behind you. Kill the Vaballathus first and he will lower his Tentacle shield. Don’t bother attacking him when he’s defended. Once his tentacles are down, attempt to stagger him quickly. If you don’t stagger him quickly enough, he will pull out the Vaballathus again and you’ll have to try and get rid of them before his chain gauge replenishes.
If you keep on the offensive as much as possible, he shouldn’t pose too much of a threat. The real problems come when the fight drags out because he does extensive wounding damage. Use 1 for most of your offensive combat. Only switch to 3) once you’ve staggered him and driven his chain gauge higher. Use your judgment. You will want to switch when you’ve raised his chain gauge high enough that you feel confident that switching to 3) will kill him before his stagger wears off or when you hit a point where you know that a group of commandos will still reach maximum chain gauge before stagger wears off (usually around 800-900%).
Paradigm 4 isn’t particularly necessary but you want to get your Sen in there for his Feral Link (you’ll need every Link you can get for this one). For heavy healing, use 2) and use 5) when you just need to top off a little but want to keep on the offense.
Otherwise, there are no particularly bad moves that he has to watch out for. You should watch out for yourself however. No matter how badly you want to keep attacking him while he has his shield up, just because he has so little health left, do not! Attack the tentacles first, always.
- Cinematic Action:
- LS up
- LS left --> B/O
- LS right --> B/O
- LS right
- Tap A/X
Yuel will leave the Tower Artefact and the Zenobia Fragment. Head for the Time Gate by going N and then E. At the intersection, head N and open the Treasure Orb at the top of the stairs for some Gil. Enter the Time Gate.
