Cloud of Darkness is the final boss of Final Fantasy III and is encountered twice. It is first encountered in an unwinnable storyline battle after Xande has been defeated. At the very end of the game, after the party has traversed the World of Darkness, the Cloud of Darkness is fought again, but if the player has not freed all the Warriors of the Dark in the final dungeon before doing so, the final boss will have an unparalleled high defense stat and the heroes will find themselves fighting a losing battle.
Stats[]
2D battle[]
The Cloud of Darkness will usually only use a single attack, Flare Wave, which does 1,200–1,500 HP of damage to the entire party. On some rare occasions it uses a physical attack that ignores the character's Defense and will likely result in an instant kill.
Famicom strategy[]
Realistically one will need at least two high-level White Magic users to prevent the party from being overwhelmed by Particle Beam. Putting Protect on both is recommended; since it stacks with itself, repeatedly casting it can significantly reduce the damage dealt by Particle Beam, even to single digits.
Once the player is able to bring the damage sustained by the party under control, the battle becomes mostly an endurance test. Two Sages and two Ninjas is considered the optimal party make-up. Alternatively, three Sages and one Ninja will further increase the party's chance of survival if all three Sages focus on buffing and healing.
The player should use all of their Shurikens (reequip every round on Famicom). If not using Shurikens, the Sages can stack Haste on the Ninjas to increase their damage output. (Note that the Ninjas must refrain from using items for the effects of Haste to stick, as any modifications to a party member's stats are negated when they access the item menu). Afterward, the party will probably have to cast Curaja every round. If it seems like there is a round of respite, the player can call Bahamut. If the party runs out of magic, they can use Elixirs.
Remake battle[]
The Right Tentacle is immune to physical attacks, but not magic. The Left Tentacle is immune to magic and must be taken down with physical attacks. The Right Tentacle is weak to all elements. The Left Tentacle uses a Lightning attack.
Each tentacle seems to have 66,666 health each(untested), so putting effort to kill each one will be an effort, but also very worth it.
The Cloud of Darkness can use Bad Breath to hamper the party unless the members are equipped with Ribbons or Aegis Shields. Otherwise, only its physical attacks pose an actual threat (although they do not ignore defense in this version) until it starts to use Particle Beam (the same as Flare Wave from the NES version).
Remake strategy[]
Although difficult, the Cloud of Darkness can be defeated by solely attacking its main body. However, destroying the Tentacle on the player's left first makes the rest of the battle easier because of its powerful Lightning attack. Casting Firaga or Holy on the Right Tentacle will do large amounts of damage.
A Devout is highly recommended as they can use high level White Magic, including Curaja and Arise, more often and more powerfully than the Sage and can support the party with Protect or cast Holy on the Cloud of Darkness. Protect can only be cast on one person per turn so that strategy is optional. Warriors can use the Advance ability to deal heavy damage to either the Right Tentacle or the Cloud of Darkness. Ninjas are useful for their Throw ability and they can also inflict massive physical damage to the Cloud of Darkness while dual-wielding the Masamune and Muramasa. It is preferred for Dark Knights and Dragoons to attack normally and only use boosts provided by Devouts and Bards, both of which are recommended to be in the back row. Bards can also use Sing with a Loki Harp for a more effective attack bonus. Black Belts can use Boost to save a Devout's turn.
Behind the scenes[]
In the first battle with it, the Cloud of Darkness is immune to nearly all attacks. In the remake version, a Dark Knight's Darkness attack, a Bard's Requiem Sing, and a Ninja's weapon Throw will deal regular damage to it. The battle will still likely end before enough attacks can be used to kill it though as the Cloud of Darkness will still deal full damage to the entire party.
In the original Famicom version of Final Fantasy III, the Cloud of Darkness uses a different sprite in the first battle with it that depicts it as primarily orange with green tentacles and blue tendrils around it. When it first uses Particle Beam, it will shift coloration to a sprite more similar to the one used in the final battle, but with a mix of blue and red tendrils around it. In the 3D and Pixel Remaster ports, the Cloud of Darkness uses the same sprite/model in all fights.
In Dissidia Final Fantasy, Cloud of Darkness takes on the same appearance it had in the DS version during EX Mode.
Gallery[]
