Cúchulainn (Final Fantasy XII boss)

Cúchulainn is a boss in Final Fantasy XII. The party fights him in the Garamsythe Waterway. Cúchulainn is also fought in the International Zodiac Job System trial mode at stage 42 along with four Foobars.

Bestiary Entry

 * Genus: Esper
 * Classification: The Impure

Finding Cúchulainn
In order to obtain this Esper, the player must complete the Wraith and White Mousse Hunts, which will allow the control of the sluice gates in Garamsythe Waterway. From the first central area, with the Save Crystal, the player should see four sluice gate switches: 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 11th area.

The player must first switch on No. 3 and No. 10 sluice gates, by lighting up the panels, then move to the South-West (No. 3 area) and find the No.1 South Switch and activate it. Next the player must turn off No. 3 and No. 10 sluice gates, and switch on No. 4 and 11, then head to South-East (No. 4 area), locate and activate the No. 1 North sluice gate switch. After returning to the central, the player must finally turn off the No. 11 switch, and turn on the No. 3 panel.

Now only sluice gates No. 3 and No. 4 should be on and the player can access the area where Cúchulainn is fought. It is recommended to save the game before engaging him.

Battle
Cúchulainn is flanked by Foobars. The battle's special attribute is that health is constantly being drained from all active party members. Because the drain is much faster than Sap and can kill characters, the player must think about the value of curative gambits; if all the characters get to do is to heal all the time and still struggle, it may be worth to disable curative gambits and just use Arise (if far enough in the game to have it), spending the rest of the time attacking to finish the battle quickly, as Cúchulainn's HP is not overly high. If one wants to avoid KO it is important to keep HP above 1,000, because Cúchulainn routinely casts Bio and Malaise, which may KO weaker characters. Having Curaja is useful as a healing spell for this battle.

While the Foobars respawn, killing a certain number of them will eventually cull their regeneration. Killing Foobars should be the priority at the beginning of the fight, either by means of Quickening Concurrences, or by directly attacking. To counter Disable and Immobilize, the appropriate anti-status accessories can be equipped when the Impure begins to cast.

The battlefield is small, so even Immobilized the characters can reach a target most of the time. One should watch out for Invert, because if the characters are disabled, Invert is deadly. If Cúchulainn uses Invert to a character with low MP the constant HP drain will quickly finish them off as well. However, as Invert tends to replenish a character's MP stock it may even be useful.

While standing near the Save Crystal in the Central Waterway Control the player should buff the party with Regen, Haste, Protect, and Shell. One may also want to set up gambits to recast Regen, Haste, and Shell as they wear off. It is also useful to Bubble the entire team.

Although Bubble Belts grant Bubble, they do not fill up the characters' HP bar the way the spell does, so if one has to unequip and reequip the Belts during battle, the characters' HP will not be adjusted. The party's tanks should be buffed with Bravery and Berserk and mages with Faith.

The main threat to the party is Disablega, fatal if it hits all members. When Cúchulainn begins casting this spell, one should equip Black Belts for protection if not equipped already, or cast Esuna to remove the effect.

If one tries to complete this battle with a guest character like Larsa, using the gambit Ally:any > Phoenix Down/Raise may be counterproductive, as the character will likely be KOed early in the battle and soon after being revived.

Related Enemies

 * Adrammelech
 * Belias
 * Chaos
 * Exodus
 * Famfrit
 * Hashmal
 * Mateus
 * Shemhazai
 * Ultima
 * Zalera
 * Zeromus
 * Zodiark

Cúchulainn (FFXII Boss) Cúchulainn (Final Fantasy XII)