Barthandelus (boss)

Barthandelus is a powerful boss in Final Fantasy XIII. He is fought three times in the storyline.

Strategy
In battle, Barthandelus has four adornments attached to the sides of his head that enable him elemental protection and attacks. He can cast Bio, Dull, Doom and Curse on his opponents to hinder them, and can open up his face to execute his Thanatosian Smile attack. His attacks include Ruinga, Baptism in Ruin, and his ultimate attack Destrudo.

Right Pauldron
 * Level: 51, HP: 50,400, Chain resistance: 80, Stagger Point: 150
 * Casts Fire, Fira, Firaga

Right Arlette
 * Level: 51, HP: 50,400, Chain resistance: 80, Stagger Point: 150
 * Casts Thunder, Thudara, Thundaga

Left Pauldron
 * Level: 51, HP: 50,400, Chain resistance: 80, Stagger Point: 150
 * Casts Water, Watera, Waterga

Left Arlette
 * Level: 51, HP: 50,400, Chain resistance: 80, Stagger Point: 150
 * Casts Blizzard, Blizzara, Blizzaga

Barthandelus
 * Level: 57, HP: 462,000, Chain Resistance 100, Stagger Point: 250 (Can not be staggered until adornments are destroyed)
 * Buffs adornments, Uses Magical amplification to boost the spell levels of adornments

Recommended Paradigms: Diversity (MED/COM/RAV) - Solidarity (COM/MED/SEN) - Relentless Assult (RAV/RAV/COM) - Combat Clinic (MED/MED/SEN) - Evened Odds (MED/SAB/SYN) - Bully (COM/SAB/SYN)

Start the fight with Diversity (MED/COM/RAV) and turn your attention to the adornments, using a "Librascope" at the start of the fight to use the respective elemental weakness from each. After each adornment is destroyed quickly switch to Evened Odds (MED/SAB/SYN) or Bully (COM/SAB/SYN) and buff yourselves up fully, hopefully getting a slow on the boss at the same time. Then, Switch to Relentless Assault (RAV/RAV/COM) if you feel safe enough or back to Diversity (RAV/MED/COM) otherwise. Proceed to use these two Paradigms to stagger him as quickly as possible.

After he's been staggered once, Barthandelus will begin to randomly cast "Destrudo". This can also happen if you chip off enough his HP without staggering him. He will cast "Destrudo" after about 1/4 of his HP is gone, reguardless of whether he is staggered or not. Depending on your characters' states you can do a number of things here, if your team is pretty much 100% hp, fully buffed, feel free to switch to Relentless Assault (RAV/RAV/COM) because it is possible to hinder the ability so it doesn't hit as hard, again ONLY do this if your teams in perfect shape. If, when he begins casting it you lack buffs, are at about 50% etc you need to quickly switch to Evened Odds (MED/SAB/SYN) and heal up to 100% while Hope buffs your team and Fang weakens the boss. When this is done switch to Solidarity (COM/SEN/MED) to mitigate some of the damage from the huge attack(From start of charge to the actual cast is about 20-25 seconds). After the attack, immediately go to a Paradigm with at least two medics in it such as Combat Clinic (MED/MED/SEN) heal yourself and chip away using Diversity (RAV/MED/COM) or Solidarity (MED/COM/SEN).

If things go awry switch to Combat Clinic (MED/MED/SEN) and try to regain some footing in the fight. You should be able to stagger him a couple of times although it should be noted that when he begins to cast Destrudo he will reset the chain gauge even if hes in the middle of stagger. During the fight try to remain buffed at all time switching to Evened Odds (MED/SAB/SYN) when needed, Barthandelus' other attacks shouldn't cause to much of a problem for a decently developed team covered in buffs.

It should be noted that you can still stagger him when he's charging Destrudo. You only have to fill the chain gauge halfway to induce a sort of "mini-stagger." This forces Barthandelus to restart his charging of Destrudo, and the attack is then "weaker". Also, after this mini-stagger, the chain gauge remains half-full, meaning that he's easier to stagger a second or third time. So instead of backing off and defending when Barthandelus begins charging Destrudo, it's wiser to heal up with potions and continue attacking with RAV/RAV/RAV or RAV/RAV/COM, depending on your party.

Second Encounter
The second time you fight Barthandelus is in the town of Oerba, on Gran Pusle. He has a much more futuristic look than before, but gradually transforms into a more known look.

Before the fight, make sure to have a party consisting of Lightning, Fang and Hope. Lightning should be far in her role as a Ravager, Fang as a Commando and Hope as a Medic. Set up these Paradigms:-
 * Relentless Assault (RAV-COM-RAV)
 * Combat Clinic (MED-SEN-MED)
 * Soldarity (COM-SEN-MED)
 * Delta Attack (COM-SEN-RAV)
 * Mystic Tower (RAV-SEN-RAV)
 * Evened Odds (MED-SAB-SYN)

The start of the fight against him is easy so go straight on the offensive using Relentless Assault until you need to heal then swap to Solidarity. Once he starts to change his form, swap to Evened Odds and give him and you some debuffs/buffs. Once Fang and Hope are done, switch to Delta Attack and bring Barthandelus's chain gauge to about 40%, then swap to Mystic Tower to charge to its limit, stagerring him. You will have to repeat this a number of times. Once he has fully transformed he will be able to use the "Thanatosian Laughter" attack which deals moderate damage to all members, so make sure every has above 50% HP when he uses it. He also use a move called "Apoptosis" which does very low damage, however, it removes buffs on your party. Other than this he can inflict a varity of status ailments. Once you finally get him to about 600,000 HP, he may cast doom on you at any time. If this happens, you must go on complete offensive, especially if he uses it close to this amount. If he casts it at about 200,000 HP you should be able to beat him before the counter depletes. Combat Clinic is just incase your party gets low on health.

After the fight you get a Goddess Tiara, 100,000 CP, and a Crystarium expansion.