CPU (Record Keeper)

CPU in a Nightmare-class boss in Final Fantasy Record Keeper. It is the boss of the Crushdown Record in the Nightmare Dungeons. To face it, the player must first defeat Gyges the Great, Humbaba, Tiamat, and Barthandelus.

The CPU is based on the boss in Final Fantasy IV, with which it shares its appearance, usage of Attack Node and Defense Node as support units, and several attacks.

AI script
CPU begins the battle by casting Reflect on itself which cannot be dispelled. The CPU will count down five turns until it uses Nightmare Quadruple Foul, dealing defense-ignoring physical damage to the entire party and inflicting Silence, Blind, Poison, and Sleep. In its second phase the CPU will count down ten turns to Nightmare Quadruple Foul. Unlike other Nightmare bosses, the player does not want CPU to enter its third phase, where it and its support nodes begin using powerful attacks. In essence, the fight is timed; the player aiming to defeat the CPU before it can enter its third phase, or defeat it quickly once it does so, but must force it to shift phases to avoid it using Nightmare Quadruple Foul.

For the first phase the CPU does nothing but count down to Nightmare Quadruple Foul. The Attack Node will use Laser Barrage, dealing physical damage to the entire party, while the Defense Node heals the CPU. The nodes will regenerate a few seconds later if KO'd. Once CPU uses Nightmare Quadruple Foul, or at any time both nodes are KO'd, the two nodes revive and the fight shifts to phase two.

In the second phase the CPU will begin counting down to Nightmare Quadruple Foul with ten turns, and will start attacking using Globe 199. While they share the same name, there are actually three versions of Globe 199 - one that hits a single target, one that hits a single target three times, and one that hits the entire party. All three versions ignore Defense. The Attack Node will begin a three-turn pattern of Physical Field, Magic Field, and Laser Barrage, while the Defense Node uses Physical Shield, Magic Shield, and Heal. The Fields are represented by red and purple crests around the CPU, the Shields by red and purple barriers in front of it.

The two Fields afford the CPU a boost to its Attack and/or Magic, depending on which Fields are active, which each field increasing the total boost 20%; with both Fields active at once, there is a 40% boost to Attack and Magic. The Shields work the same way, but for Defense and Resistance. These buffs ignore stat caps and cannot be dispelled or lowered by afflicting the CPU itself with stat debuffs. If at any time a Field or Shield reaches 60% power - which will occur on the fourth turn of the nodes if the player does nothing to depower the Fields and Shields - the CPU will immediately use Nightmare Quadruple Foul and shift to its third phase. To avoid this, the player must depower the Fields and Shields.

Using a stat-lowering ability on the Attack Node or Defense Node will weaken the Field or Shield of the corresponding stat; Power Break weakens the Physical Field, Magic Break weakens the Magic Field, Armor Break weakens the Physical Shield, and Mental Break weakens the Magic Shield. Breakdown abilities weaken them more than Break skills. These skills can be used on either node to weak the matching Field or Shield. When a Field or Shield reaches 0% power, it is deactivated. Breakdown skills and other stat-lowering abilities lower a stat enough to depowering a 20% Field or Shield, Break skills and other abilities, including Full Break and Multi-Break, will weaken them but not enough to deactivate them. Note that it is not the debuff that weakens the two, just the ability - repeated uses of the same debuffing ability will still weaken them.

If the Attack Node is struck with a stat debuff when neither Physical Field or Magic Field is active, it will enter Haywire Mode for two turns, attacking the CPU before returning to normal. The same goes for the Defense Node with regards to Physical Shield and Magic Shield, in Haywire Mode it will cast Heal on the party for two turns before going back to normal.

As in the first phase, the nodes will regenerate a few seconds after they are killed, but KO'ing them will deactivate any active Field or Shield they have erected. When the CPU has used Nightmare Quadruple Foul, or when both nodes are KO'd at once, the fight moves to the final phase. The CPU will begin using a more powerful fourth variant of Globe 1999 that ignores Defense and will easily do 9999 damage. The Attack Node will use Nightmare Laser Barrage, which ignores Defense as well, and the Defense Node will use Wide Area Heal, which deals all three targets.

Turns
Phase One:
 * CPU
 * Uses Nightmare Quadruple Foul on fifth turn
 * Attack Mode
 * Laser Barrage
 * Defense Node
 * Heal

Phase Two:
 * CPU
 * 40% chance each Globe 199 (single-target) or Globe 199 (three-hit single-target), 20% Globe 199 (group-target)
 * Uses Nightmare Quadruple Foul on tenth turn
 * Attack Mode
 * Deploy Physical Field
 * Deploy Magic Field
 * Laser Barrage
 * Defense Node
 * Deploy Physical Shield
 * Deploy Magic Shield
 * Heal

Phase Three:
 * CPU
 * Globe 199
 * Attack Mode
 * Nightmare Laser Barrage
 * Defense Node
 * Wide Area Heal

Strategy
Characters who can use 5⭐ Support abilities receive Record Synergy in the fight. The player should bring at least two such characters to the fight, one armed with Power Breakdown and and Magic Breakdown to depower the Attack Node's Fields, the other with Armor Breakdown and Mental Breakdown to depower the Defense Node's shields. Unlike some other Nightmare bosses the player has more options in their offense. Summons and the Meteor spell are an option for spellcasting classes, as these will bypass the CPU's Reflect, and will also help wearing down the nodes. Physical combat abilities in various schools can be used freely. The player will need dedicated attackers for this fight; Support characters and abilities alone will likely not have the power to defeat the CPU before it uses Nightmare Quadruple Foul.

The key to victory is maximizing the turns the player allows the CPU to take in its first and second phases before it uses Nightmare Quadruple Foul, dealing as much damage as they can and then KO'ing the nodes to shift CPU to the next phase. As long as the player has their two supporters keeping the nodes depowered, they can focus on attacking the CPU and defeating it before it enters its third phase and begins attacking more powerfully. The player will also need to make sure that all active Fields and Shields have been removed by the time the nodes begin to repeat their turn script, or else one of them is likely to hit 60% power which causes the CPU to immediately use Nightmare Quadruple Foul and shift phase.

Another option of mixed efficiency is to bring one dedicated debuffer, armed with Multi-break, a 5⭐ Dancer ability that lowers the ATK, DEF, MAG, and RES of all enemies. Multi-break's debuffing is not as high as the Breakdown skills, so it cannot remove a barrier on its own, but the player has three turns before the nodes recast the same type of Field and Shield, enough time to use Multi-break again which will debuff them enough to remove the Field and Shield. This strategy allows the player to only bring one dedicated debuffer, but demands much more orbs - the player will need Multi-Break at a high rank to be able to use it repeatedly, and it uses Major Orbs, whereas the Breakdown skills would need fewer uses and need Greater Orbs to hone.

For their victory the player receives the Record Crystal needed to craft the Rank 6 Support ability Quadruple Foul.