Golmore Jungle 2

Elder Wyrm

This guy’s big, and he’s mad. He has two Treant minions and an arsenal of nasty status magicks like Slow, Blind, Silence, Sleep, Confuse, and Poison. He also uses Oil, then follows up later with Fireball, which can inflict over 1,000 HP of damage a pop. Ouch!

But overall, the Elder Wyrm doesn’t inflict big damage with his physical attacks. What makes this battle tough is the onslaught of ailments caused by his Sporefall ability. If you don’t come to this battle well-prepared, you will spend much of the fight removing status ailments instead of inflicting damage on the beast.

So, how do you prepare for the Elder Wyrm? First, if your party configuration allows for it, make sure Esuna is in your gambits somewhere. It consumes a good chunk of MP to cast, but considering the multiple status ailments the Elder Wyrm inflicts, Esuna relief is well worth it. You should also try to keep the party from bunching up. If the party is spread out enough, there is a good chance that Sporefall will not hit everyone and you will have at least one character ailment-free and ready to cast Esuna. Finally, be prepared with with items like Handkerchief, Echo Herbs, Antidote, Nu Khai Sand, and so on, for removing bad status effects.

Start with a Quickening chain, if possible. With a good chain that triggers an area attack like Inferno or Cataclysm, you can hurt the Elder Wyrm and seriously degrade his two Treant minions. Finish up the Treants quickly and focus on the boss. Watch for those status ailments, especially the ones that are immediately debilitating, like Sleep (removed by Esuna or Prince's Kiss), Confuse (removed by Nu Khai Sand), or Silence (removed by Vox, Esuna, or Echo Herbs). Use non-afflicted characters to remove these first.

If your active characters get overwhelmed by the ailments, make a wholesale party change. If the fresh reserve members have Mist Charges available, unleash a Quickening sequence right away. Keep the pressure on the wyrm!