Elder Wyrm (Final Fantasy XII)

The Elder Wyrm is a boss in Final Fantasy XII, an ancient Greater Dragon in the Golmore Jungle. It died several thousand years ago, but was reanimated by the wood it died in and became part plant as a result. The Elder Wyrm serves as the Wood's protector, attacking any outside intruders that threaten the source of its new life. Also it is fought in the International Zodiac Job System trial mode at stage 15 along with 2 Treants.

Bestiary Entry
Genus: Boss Classification: Greater Dragon

Page 1: Observations
Guardian beasts of the forests, and the most ancient of the dragons in Ivalice.

Though they perished several thousands of years ago, the living things of the wood grew in them, giving them nourishment and counteracting the corruption of their flesh until they stood once more.

So they share body and soul with the wood, and suffer no intruders within its boundaries.

Battle
The party should dispatch the two Treants accompanying the Elder Wyrm first allowing them to fully focus on the boss. The Elder Wyrm's Sporefall will cause random status effects, so Esuna is a must-have. Confuse, Oil, Poison, Blind, and occasionally Sap are Sporefall's common effects; Esuna will remove most of these, but Oil can only be cured with Handkerchiefs. With the right Remedy Lore, Remedies can remove all status ailments, Oil included.

The Oil status must be cured immediately, as the Elder Wyrm's Fireball does extra damage to party members under Oil status. Otherwise, to minimize Sporefall's effects, the player should keep the party spaced out so at least one person can avoid it and heal the others. For healing, Larsa's infinite Hi-Potion and X-Potions can be of great help, however he cannot revive KO'd party members.

Sporefall is a frontal, cone-shaped AoE. Its effects can be easily managed by using one character as a tank, and turning the Elder Wyrm away from the remainder of the party - as close to "in the opposite direction" as possible is best. The breath will only hit the character in front of him, therefore reducing the chance of having multiple/all characters hit with status effects. If Decoy is available, its useful on the tank.

The player can use Quickenings, though MP would be better put to use curing status effects. It is also recommended to get the better weapons at Jahara; Betelguese or Flametongue and whatever else is available. The Demonsbane from the Tomb of Raithwall is also very useful here. On licenses, it is best to have all the augments for Remedy cures so that Remedies will cure almost every status effect inflicted. Another tactic is to summon Belias and let the Elder Wyrm focus on him. The player must cast Curaga on Belias as much as possible.

If the summoner is far away from the Elder Wyrm when it uses Sporefall, it will not hit. The summoner can Charge when the Elder Wyrm is focused on Belias to summon it again when it uses Hellfire/Dies. When the player defeats the Elder Wyrm, it falls onto the ground as it dies and becomes part of Golmore Jungle as its body turns into rocks, grass and plants.

Though many walkthroughs state otherwise, the Elder Wyrm is an optional battle. One can skip the Elder Wyrm battle by heading south out of Golmore Jungle, fighting past Level 38+ enemies, such as the Hellhound, into the Feywood, and out into Paramina Rift.

Rewards
Montblanc will give 800 gil for defeating the Elder Wyrm.

Related enemies

 * Ash Wyrm
 * Shield Wyrm
 * Lindwyrm (Mark)
 * Ring Wyrm (Mark)
 * Fafnir (Mark)
 * Yiazmat (Ultimate Mark)
 * Tiamat (Boss)
 * Hell Wyrm (Optional Boss)