Royal Ripeness

Royal Ripeness is a boss in Final Fantasy XIII-2. Due to a Faeryl ingesting the Black Hole Fragment, various Miniflan from the Archylte Steppe in an unknown time ended up in the Sunleth Waterscape at 300 AF. From there, the Miniflan undergo a mass-merging into a formidable foe whose existence is eating away the crystal pillar of Cocoon.

Snow Villiers attempted to fight it before Serah Farron and Noel Kreiss arrive, though they only temporarily break the monster up into its components as the Miniflan reform Royal Ripeness. Altering time by destroying Faeryl, the number of Miniflan in Sunleth decreases with Royal Ripeness reduced into a smaller Mutantomato before being killed itself.

Strategy
While it attacks, several of the base flan comprising it use Revitalize, restoring its hit points. To counter this, the party should begin with Relentless Assault or Cerberus to stabilize the chain gauge, switching to Tri-disaster to boost the gauge quickly. If the flan uses Belch, the player should switch to a defensive Paradigm to heal and remove the Poison effect.

Once the flan has been staggered, the party should switch to Cerberus in order to deal as much damage as possible while it is staggered. It is also advisable to stay on the offensive whenever possible due to the fact that it will heal. The only recommended time to switch to a defensive paradigm is when health is running low or to restore stats. Snow will be of valuable assistance as he will consistently cast Ruin to stabilize the stagger gauge, and he has no health bar, thus doesn't need healing and cannot be knocked out.

After enough damage has been dealt a story sequence will initiate and the party will escape.

Paradox Ending Battle
Players can attempt to gain a paradox ending by fighting Royal Ripeness again after the initial scripted encounter at its full strength without stopping Faeryl at the Archylte Steppe first. This battle is best attempted later in the game by closing the Sunleth Waterscape 300 AF time gate.

Royal Ripeness's HP and stats are much higher, and it cannot be staggered. Additionally, it will use Quivering Wrath when it has lost about half of its HP. Quivering Wrath basically only bestows Haste, but should in no way be underestimated. Snow is still present in this battle, but the only thing he would be of help with is holding the chain gauge stabilized.

It would be wise to start the battle with Tri-Disaster (RAV/RAV/RAV) and drive the chain gauge up. Since Snow is present and all he does is using Ruin keeping the gauge stabilized. The player should switch to a defensive Paradigm like Perpetual Magic (RAV/MED/MED), Salvation (MED/MED/MED) or Entourage (RAV/SEN/MED) to heal up lost HP. Safe Subversion (SAB/SAB/MED) or Infiltration (SAB/SAB/SAB) could help with Deprotect and Deshell as well, but after it has enraged the player should not count on status ailments.

When it has enraged the party should have gotten the chain gauge up to at least 400% and shouldn't waste time driving it any higher and switch to an offensive Paradigm like Cerberus (COM/COM/COM), Aggression (COM/COM/RAV) or Tireless Charge (COM/COM/MED). Cerberus is a little risky, but should get the boss down pretty fast.

If the player wants to play it safe they can go in with a defensive strategy and start with Protection (SEN/SYN/MED) and buff up Protect, Shell, and Vigilance. Veil would be a waste of time since Belch is a 100% Poison, so the player is better off buffing manually (since the AI chooses Veil as the first buff). Noel is recommended as the Synergist since he can buff a multitude of allies simultaneously. Monsters are not recommended since their buffs have a shorter duration.

After buffing the party can switch to a semi-defensive Paradigm like Mystic Tower (RAV/RAV/SEN) or Thaumaturgy (RAV/RAV/MED) and boost the chain gauge. Matador (RAV/SEN/SAB) can also inflict debuffs before going offensive again. Whenever Belch is coming the party should switch to Convalescence (SYN/MED/MED) and bestow all known buffs except Veil while letting the Medics heal HP and rid status ailments.

Like in the offensive tactic, the party should switch to a more offensive Paradigm once the Royal Ripeness has been enraged. Tireless Charge is a good choice since it has a Medic in it. Offensive Screen (COM/COM/SEN) would also be a good choice.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Royal Ripeness appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game.

Trivia

 * Noel is seen launching fire spells at the Royal Ripeness during the opening cutscene as well as the finishing cutscene. This happens even if the player has chosen not to advance Noel in the Ravager role. Royal Ripeness also absorbs fire damage in the battle, but in the finishing cutscene, it does not.

Related Enemies

 * Flanbanero
 * Seeping Brie
 * Flangonzola
 * Flandit
 * Garganzola
 * Miniflan
 * Blue Miniflan
 * Yellow Miniflan
 * Black Miniflan
 * Pink Miniflan
 * Mutantomato (Boss)