Aeronite (Lightning Returns)

Template:Sideicon Template:LRFFXIII Enemy Aeronite is one of two superbosses in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, the other one being Ereshkigal. It inhabits the Dead Dunes and moves around the desert as a space distortion surrounded by lightning-type effects. It can be found in the Giant's Sandbox from Day 7 onwards.

Upon defeat, it gives 50,000 gil, 9.00 EP, and drops the Falcon Charm on the ground. It also has a chance to drop a variety of rare components, including both Holy Forgefire and Demonic Forgefire. Disaster is a guaranteed drop on hard mode.

Aeronite is considered to be a Last One, and defeating it will count towards the relevant achievements and trophies. Defeating Aeronite earns the Desert Dragonslayer achievement.

Battle

Aeronite has 8,800,000 HP on Easy Mode, 11,000,000 HP on Normal Mode and 38,000,000 HP on Hard Mode—more if one lets him follow to a Chaos infusion.

Aeronite requires the player to stagger it four consecutive times to do any significant damage to it. Upon starting the encounter, the player is given approximately three minutes to stagger Aeronite, after which there are another three minutes to reach the second stagger level and so on up to the fourth stagger level. If the player is not able to maintain stacking stagger effects, Aeronite will use Fed Up and flee the battle and fully heal itself when it is next encountered.

Megaton Break takes time to use and unleashes a major physical attack followed by a Quake magical attack. During this time Aeronite takes no damage from attacks.

Once Aeronite staggers for the first time, its behavior changes slightly. It casts "ga"-tier spells instead, which can be more detrimental given their longer duration, particularly Aeroga, which can last a very long time. During this stage, Megaton Break will take longer to cast but is much more potent.

After the second stagger, its behavior is the same, except it replaces Megaton Break with Hellflare, a powerful move that ignores resistances even with Quiet Guardian/Cyber Jumpsuit. The execution is faster and requires either a high amount of HP or a Perfect Guard, since it can deal around 6k worth of damage on Normal mode.

After the third Stagger, Aeronite will start using Flare, Chill, Tornado and Surge. Its attacks become less frequent, but Hellflare is stronger.

Only when staggered for the fourth time can Aeronite truly be damaged, as a 500% modifier is applied to all physical attacks. If one staggers him for the fourth time, he will be unable to use physical attacks for three minutes and will only use Aeroga, Firaga, Thundaga, Blizzaga and Ruinga. He will stay staggered for nearly three minutes and if he is not defeated within this time, he will stand up and fly away.

Strategy

The player should stock up on Ether (by breaking skeletons outside of Sacred Door Room, and killing lizards all over the desert and go appraise the items in Ruffian). The player should get some Phoenix Downs, Enaero Potions and any potion that gives Bravery.

Lightning should stay far away and stagger Aeronite with magic (preferably "ra"-tier spells). Having Fang in the party, while not essential for victory, is helpful, as her attacks can aid Lightning in stagger maintenance.

One trick is to have the Quiet Guardian or Cyber Jumpsuit garb, Preta Hood and Runic Ring accessories to gain a 100% resistance to magic damage, since using spells keeps one away from Aeronite. Whenever it uses a magic attack, one can switch to Quiet Guardian/Cyber Jumpsuit to take no damage without the need to block while using the schema to attack with magic to keep the stagger running and not have to worry about its basic physical attack (any attack that isn't a usable spell will not be negated, e.g. Roar).

It is recommended to have "ra"-tier spells on at least two of the Schemata. The L'automne garb includes two of those Lv. 3 spells with reduced ATB Cost. It is also recommended to equip the White Strap accessory to prevent Fog, since Aeronite casts Fogga after the first stagger. A shield with fast ATB recovery and the Chaos's Revenge sword (Quick Stagger 75%) should be used with L'automne or the Quiet Guardian/Cyber Jumpsuit schema in order to hasten the stagger process. Including Deprotect and Imperil will come in handy for the crucial last phase of the battle.

The Equilibrium+ garb is recommended for its increased ATB Recovery and Attack Lv. 4. Debuff spells, such as Debrave and Defaith, will reduce the potency of Aeronite's attacks. Including a Ruin spell will help maintain/stabilize the stagger gauge. The schema should be equipped with a weapon that offers high Strength, preferably 800 or more points. The Forge in Yusnaan offers such weaponry and the Flesh Render dropped by the Reaver Ω gives +900 to both Strength and Magic. Accessories that increase physical damage, such as the Wolf's Emblem, will help to defeat him in time during the fourth stagger. Also, the Enlister's Gloves, dropped by the Skata'ne Ω, increase damage when the opponent is at close range.

The battle should start with the player casting debuffs, then use Quiet Guardian/Cyber Jumpsuit and the other schemata to attack with spells and switch to Quiet Guardian/Cyber Jumpsuit when Aeronite casts a spell. Learning the timing takes practice, but eventually the player can save precious time and launch combo finishers properly by learning when to switch in. One can easily use the other two schemata to pummel at Aeronite, and then shift at the last second to Quiet Guardian/Cyber Jumpsuit to be immune to its spells and attack. The player should shift to Equilibrium+ to cast debuffs and Ruin when the other Schemata have run out of ATB.

When Aeronite attempts to perform Megaton Break, Equilibrium+ should be used to debuff Aeronite then one should mix between "ra"-tier spells and Ruin to maintain a stable stagger. Megaton Break takes time to use and unleashes a major physical attack followed by a Quake magical attack, the first one can be parried completely by perfectly timing the dash, which is not overly difficult to predict since the camera zooms at Aeronite when he is about to take flight. Otherwise Heavy Guard can still mitigate the damage, but still be harmful while the Quake attack is easily avoided by being in Quiet Guardian/Cyber Jumpsuit. During this time, Aeronite takes no damage from attacks. Repeating this process will eventually stagger Aeronite, although it may take some tries for the party to have an easier time.

Once Aeronite staggers for the first time, he will cast "ga"-tier spells. The player should be careful about Aeronite's Fogga, which prevents the player from casting magic and wasting time or EP to heal it. Wearing a White Strap eliminates this annoyance. One should debuff and pummel him with "ra"-tier spells, since the longer cast time to Megaton Break gives the player a precious window to quickly stagger him and even prevent it altogether.

After its second stagger, Aeronite uses Hellflare that requires either a high amount of HP or a perfect guard to parry it since it can deal 6,000+ worth of damage. One should parry just before he's about to breathe it, when the camera shows both Aeronite and Lightning. Beyond this, the player should do the same as above and stagger him once more.

After the third Stagger, Aeronite uses Flare, Chill, Tornado and Surge, but with Quiet Guardian/Cyber Jumpsuit they are meaningless. The player can repeat the same procedure and stagger him easier than in previous stages given the large windows now given, as he takes longer to charge Hellflare.

As soon as he's staggered for the fourth time, one should use the Enaero Potion and if possible a potion that gives Bravery and/or Haste, like the Hero's Potion and cast Deprotect and Imperil, then switch to Equilibrium+ and pummel him with Attack. If the player has performed nearly all quests and using the mentioned equipment, each slash of Attack will have 60,000+ of its HP with the combo finale being capable of inflicting 130,000+ and with Haste, the damage output is much more constant.

During this stage Aeronite will only cast "ga"-tier spells, which are easily blocked by changing to Quiet Guardian/Cyber Jumpsuit. When the Equilibrium+ is about to run out of ATB one should use Overclock and keep eating at its HP. One should also take notice of any spell Aeronite may attempt to cast and shift to Quiet Guardian/Cyber Jumpsuit once Overclock runs out. When the player runs out of EP to spare one should use the time when on the Quiet Guardian/Cyber Jumpsuit schema to use an Ether or another Bravery Potion to ensure the conditions are optimal, and recast Deprotect and Imperil when they're about to run out.

Stagger

Template:LRFFXIII Stagger

Conditional Changes

• Stagger Point: 1,700 after 1st stagger, 1,800 after 2nd stagger, 2,000 after 3rd stagger.

Gallery

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Etymology

[view · edit · purge]Aero is a Greek prefix relating to air and flight. Common usages in modern times include the words "aeroplane" and "aerospace".

Trivia

• Aeronite has the third highest amount of HP out of all Final Fantasy bosses when fought on Hard Mode. Its HP total is only surpassed by that of Chaos Aeronite (when fought on Hard Mode) and Yiazmat from Final Fantasy XII.
• The quest that demands Aeronite's defeat, "What Rough Beast Slouches," derives its title from a W.B. Yeats poem, Second Coming, which has the line, "...what rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born, its hour come at last?." The poem refers to an oncoming apocalypse; fitting given the approaching end of the world in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

Related Enemies

Final Fantasy XIII-2

• Faeryl