Caius Ballad (Final Fantasy XIII-2 boss)

Caius Ballad is a recurring boss in Final Fantasy XIII-2. He is fought a total of five times in the main storyline.

After the player has completed the main storyline and repeats the first three battles against Caius with the Paradox Scope fragment skill active, his stats are significantly increased (see 1a, 2a and 3a in the infobox), and defeating him will result in a paradox ending. Caius is also fought in the downloadable episode "Requiem of the Goddess".

Oerba -200 AF- (1)
Caius starts the battle with Heart of Chaos, which bestows Reraise. Despite this status, which usually automatically revives defeated units, the battle will end by reducing Caius's HP to zero once.

Caius tends to focus all his attacks on a single party member, so the player should start the battle by utilizing a Synergist that can cast Vigilance. Using a Saboteur to inflict status effects, especially Poison and either Deprotect and Deshell upon Caius, is also highly recommended.

Caius tends to use Body and Soul often, which bestows many positive status effects upon himself, the most notable being Regen. Thus it is important to defeat Caius before the first stagger period is over, otherwise he will regenerate nearly all of his HP. The player should use Relentless Assault to raise Caius's chain gauge close to the stagger point, then switch to a healing paradigm, such as Combat Clinic. to restore lost HP, then switch back to Relentless Assault to stagger Caius. Finally, about halfway through the stagger period, the party should shift to Cerberus (three Commandos) to end the battle before Caius recovers from stagger. The player should use Potions and Phoenix Downs if any more healing is required during the stagger period.

Paradox Scope active (1a)
With the Paradox Scope active Caius's stats are boosted and he will now revive himself after his HP has been depleted once. Useful paradigms include:


 * RAV/RAV/RAV
 * RAV/MED/RAV
 * COM/RAV/RAV
 * COM/COM/COM
 * SAB/SEN/SEN
 * MED/MED/SEN

The player should begin the battle with Tri-Disaster and blast Caius with spells until he becomes staggered. The player can either stay in that paradigm or switch to RAV/MED/RAV, COM/RAV/RAV, or COM/COM/COM based on preference.

Once Caius gets out of stagger the party should switch to MED/MED/SEN to heal to full health and then switch over to SAB/SEN/SEN and blast Poison until Caius is poisoned. This will counteract his Regen. Once Caius is poisoned the party should start over from the beginning. Meteor Javelin or Ultima Arrow can be used while he is staggered for extra damage.

The Void Beyond -Year Unknown- (2)
Useful Paradigms:


 * RAV/RAV
 * COM/COM
 * MED/MED
 * SAB/MED
 * SYN/MED
 * SEN/MED

Caius will focus on launching Serah. The players' first focus should be to debuff (preferably Deshell) Caius and switch to Dual Casting and start spamming Thunder. By the time the party attempts to do this Caius will have cast Graviton twice, or maybe even three times, but it shouldn't hurt too badly with quick healing. The player's first goal is to stagger him; in stagger Caius is weak and should pose little danger. The only attack the party should be concerned about is Blast Wave. If Caius casts Chain Break the player should switch back to Dual Casting and try again.

Paradox Scope active (2a)
This battle is significantly harder with the Paradox Scope active as the player has only two party members and if Serah is knocked out the battle will end. Caius's HP and stagger point are not overly high, but he is fast and capable of restoring his HP, emptying his chain gauge and of attacking fast in succession, as well as launching his targets in the air rendering them incapacitated. After his HP is depleted to zero Caius will revive himself and the player must repeat the process.

Pairing Serah with a Sentinel ally is a good idea, especially one that cannot be launched even when not guarding, such as the types of monsters with a shell. The Sentinel ally should know Provoke to draw Caius's attacks to it, as well as either Steelguard or Mediguard for defense (Steelguard may be better, because it reduces damage more). Useful Paradigms include:


 * SEN/SEN
 * MED/SEN
 * SAB/SEN
 * RAV/RAV
 * RAV/SEN

While the Sentinel ally draws Caius's attention, Serah should attempt to apply either Deprotect or Deshell depending on her proficiency, along with Imperil, and possibly Poison. If Caius has both Deshell/Deprotect and Imperil the Ravager job makes his HP drop like a stone, as his physical/magical resistance becomes normal and he becomes weak to elements, taking double damage from Ravager skills. If the player can apply Faith/Bravery with a Feral Link skill, the effect is even greater. What makes this difficult is that Caius is able to restore his status with Absolution, and also keeps buffing himself.

Saboteur is able to inflict Wound damage, which is especially useful against Caius as he revives himself after being defeated the first time, but is unable to restore any Wound damage, meaning he will be revived at whatever his maximum HP was at the time he runs out of HP the first time. He is also not immune to Dispel, which also deals damage in this game. Although Saboteur skills don't deal much damage when compared to Commando or Ravager, they slow his chain gauge while still building chain, and the Wound damage builds up over time and caps his max HP.

When Caius prepares Inferno the player can quickly shift to SEN/SEN to minimize damage, and when the Sentinel is on low HP the player can shift to MED/SEN to heal the Sentinel. Using Wound Potions may be necessary if the battle draws for long.

A Dying World -700 AF- (3)
Useful Paradigms:
 * COM
 * RAV
 * SEN
 * SYN
 * SAB
 * MED

Caius will start by rushing Noel and launching him up in the air. The player should start by using Protect and on switch over to Saboteur and start casting Deshell. When Deshell sticks the player should switch to Ravager and start casting Thunder, which has the fastest casting time of all spells. Once Caius is staggered Noel should switch over to Commando, but after his health drops to around half Caius will use chain break followed by Heart and Soul to counter this. The player should switch to Saboteur and start casting Dispel and once Caius's Haste is removed, switch over to Ravager and stagger Caius and switch to Commando for the win.

Dying World -700 AF- Paradox Scope Active (3a)
This fight is hard, and it is easy to die as Noel is alone. The above strategy should work fine (at a higher level) but focus more on healing and buffing.

Academia -500 AF- (4)
Suggested Paradigms:
 * RAV/RAV/RAV
 * COM/COM/COM
 * MED/MED/MED
 * SAB/SAB/MED
 * SYN/SYN/MED
 * SEN/SEN/MED

Caius will usually focus his attention on Serah, as well as use a nasty spell called Eye of Bahamut, so the player should switch over to SYN/SYN/MED and use Protect on Serah. The player should next switch to SAB/SAB/MED and use Deshell on Caius. Caius will likely unleash a barrage of attacks that will launch Serah in the air, but after the Deshell has been applied the player should switch over to RAV/RAV/RAV and spam Thunder. By this time, Caius will again use Eye of Bahamut, but once the party gets Caius down to around half of his HP, he will use Chain Break then Heart of Chaos. Once he does this, the party should switch over to SAB/SAB/MED and start casting Dispel until it rids of his Haste status, then switch back to RAV/RAV/RAV until he is staggered. After Caius is staggered the player should switch over to COM/COM/COM and attack; if this doesn't kill him he uses Chain Break again. The player should switch over to SAB/SAB/MED and Dispel Caius's Haste, then switch over to RAV/RAV/RAV and get his stagger gauge to about 200%, then switch to COM/COM/COM to finish the battle.

Valhalla -Year Unknown- (5)
Useful Paradigms:


 * COM/COM/COM
 * RAV/RAV/RAV
 * SEN/SEN/SEN
 * MED/MED/SEN
 * SYN/SAB/SEN

Caius will start the battle by casting Ultima on the party. The player can switch to the Tortoise paradigm to reduce damage, but the spell isn't overly powerful. The player should use a paradigm with a Synergist and cast Protect, Shell, Vigilance, and Veil on the party, then switch to Tri-Disaster and raise Caius's chain gauge. When he is staggered, the party should switch to Cerberus and attack. After Caius performs four or so cycles of attacks, the player should switch to Tortoise to absorb the damage of Caius's Inferno attack, which can devastate the party, and then heal if needed. Caius will not do anything for a while, so this opportunity can be taken to deal as much damage as possible before he empties his chain gauge. After this, he will likely cast Body and Soul or Absolution, and start his cycle over again by casting Ultima. The party's attacks before Caius empties his chain gauge will likely reduce his health by at least half.

Should Caius cast Eye of Bahamut on any of the party members, the player should immediately remove all the status ailments before Caius casts Inferno, as it can easily KO anyone if they have Deshell or Imperil. When his HP is depleted once, Caius will revive himself to max HP, minus any Wound damage.

Another strategy is to use SAB/SAB/MED and casting Dispel to remove his Haste then use Deshell and once that sticks switch to Tri-disaster and cast Thunder on Caius to raise his chain gauge.

Levels 0-2
Caius will switch between three paradigms stances Commando, Ravager, and Healer. When he is in his Commando Stance, the player should stay in Paladin and either Shaman or Mage - Paladin used to stabilize the Chain Gauge and Shaman or Mage to build it. The player should remain cautious of when Caius snaps his finger, an indication he is about to attack. When he does, the player should switch immediately to Knight and using Immortality negate the damage from the attack. When Caius is in Ravager Stance, the player must be very alert and cautious as they will have to rapidly change between roles on the fly. When Caius is not attacking, staying in either Shaman or Mage is advisable, but as soon as he moves, the player must switch to the Knight role to minimize damage from Caius's combos, or else be sure to have enough HP to survive the onslaught. At some point the player will be forced to also go to the Paladin role to stabilize the gauge. The rapid changing of roles may mean that the player has to stay on the role menu as Lightning is attacking Caius, ready to switch when needed. When Caius switches to Medic, the player has the greatest chance of staggering Caius meaning they should go all out with either the Shaman or Mage role, perhaps occasionally using the Paladin role to stabilize the gauge. If the player manages to stagger Caius they should first switch to the Paladin role and launch him before switching to the Shaman or Mage role to build up the gauge. As he is in the air, the player can build up the gauge to a reasonable point - normally between 500-600% - before switching back to the Paladin role and keeping him in the air. Just before his stagger ends, the player must be in the Paladin role and be ready to use Smite. The very second Smite hits, the player should use Legion of One if it's ready. The player should make sure to switch first, or otherwise Legion of One will be a lot weaker. So long as the player is ready to quickly switch roles to Knight before Caius attacks and they make the best use of his Stagger duration, the battle is winnable.

Level 3-4
The strategy is still identical to the one above, but at the start of the battle, the player should enter the Conjurer role and use the "Mighty Guard" spell. The importance of this is that it casts Protect, Shell, Veil and most importantly Vigilance - defensive buffs which greatly help the player. As Lightning now has vigilance and is, in turn, unlikely to be interrupted, when Caius switches to the Ravager Stance, the player does not have to switch to the Knight role - unless they desperately want to conserve HP. Due to the buffs from Mighty Guard, the battle will normally go a lot quicker. Also, when Lightning has buffs on, it is recommended to switch to the Knight role and use Immortality as soon as Caius switches to Healer Stance. This is because he will cast Dispelga and attempt to remove Lightning's buffs, however, Immortality will conserve the buffs.

Level 5
Just as before, the player should cast Mighty Guard at the start of the battle. However, this time, when Caius enters Stagger, the player should immediately switch back to Conjurer and cast Aura on Lightning. This will give her Haste, Bravery and Faith - drastically increasing her offensive capabilities. Also, to build up the stagger gauge while Caius is in Stagger, it is recommended to use the Shaman role and cast Windstorm.

Level 6-7
Same as Level 5, however, now when Caius is staggered, upon casting Aura on Lightning, the player should switch to the Sorcerror role and cast Chaos on Caius - which inflicts a number of status ailments, meaning that Caius will take more damage while he is in Stagger.

Level 8-10
Same as all previous strategies, with one exception. Now that "Bladestorm" has been unlocked for the Shaman role, this is arguably the most proficent way to raise the Stagger Gauge when Caius is staggered as it will render him weak by launching him and constantly keep attacking him.