Helvinek is a Rare Game enemy found in the Necrohol of Nabudis in Final Fantasy XII. Its a stronger version of Darkmare and very rarely drops the ultimate heavy armor: Grand Armor. It is also fought in the Zodiac versions' Trial Mode at Stage 51 along with two Oversouls where the following ammunition can be stolen from it: Chaos Bombs (common), Dark Shot (uncommon), and Grand Bolts (rare).
Its stats were boosted from the original Japanese version.
Bestiary entry[]
Derivation: Darkmare
- Darkmare transformed by the dense Mist that swirls within the Necrohol of Nabudis. This strain, as yet unrecorded in the Camp annals, is hunted in the Necrohol of Nabudis.
Stats[]
The BradyGames guide for Final Fantasy XII cites the stats from the original JP version, where Helvinek's stats were lower:
- HP: 52376–52536
- Strength: 40–42
- Magick: 26–29
- Speed: 20–21
How to find[]
Helvinek spawns immediately after six Oversouls are killed. Chaining Oversoul through zoning still counts. The player needs to kill other enemies in specific numbers to keep spawning Oversouls.
Battle[]
Helvinek encountered.
Libra shows Helvinek having 99,999 HP instead of its true HP, as Libra cannot display HP above 99,999. In fact, Helvinek is one of the few Rare Game not to be immune to Libra.
Helvinek should not be terribly powerful if the party is strong enough to kill the enemies needed for it to spawn. Its only truly worrisome move is Disablega, which can potentially disable the entire party. This risk is compounded by Helvinek's arsenal of party-wide elemental spells, which prevent the player from swapping out characters struck with Disable.
Helvinek has several rare items, such as the Grand Armor (see below).
Helvinek can be dangerous if the party encounters it at a low level, for example only entering to acquire the Zodiac Spear early in the original version, and attempts to flee. Like the Oversoul, Helvinek can chase the party through Nabudis even when the party enters a new zone. Helvinek will not chase the player into the boss battle rooms.
Strategy[]
The player should target Helvinek's weakness against White Magicks with Holy and holy-elemental weapons, such as the Excalibur. If White Robes are available, attackers should equip them to boost holy-elemental damage.
Having Shell on the party is recommended to reduce magickal damage and the chances of status ailments landing. If the player is fighting Helvinek early in the game, they may still have the Manufacted Nethicite. In this case, it should be equipped to a non-mage character, granting even more durability when combined with Shell.
While Helvinek is immune to most status ailments, it is still susceptible to Oil and Slow. Oil could be useful if the player has decent fire-elemental attacks. Slow is consistently useful for making Helvinek act less often.
Acquiring the Grand Armor[]
Chaining Helvinek for Grand Armor - Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age (PS4)
One of the items Helvinek drops is the rare Grand Armor, the strongest heavy armor. The Grand Armor can be obtained by chaining Helvinek using the zone out glitch; when Helvinek appears, the player must lure it to an area zone line, defeat it, grab the loot, and get into the next zone before the EXP and LP are displayed, and it will reappear in the next zone. One has to be quick, so if the loot is too far away, the player should abandon it and fight it again in the next zone.
Sometimes when chaining Helvinek, a Dark Elemental might show up and attack when it comes near because Helvinek uses a lot of magicks. When this happens, the player can move to a different zoning spot to avoid killing the Dark Elemental accidentally, thus breaking the chain.
When the party zones, Helvinek sometimes shows far from the zone line, preventing the player from nabbing the dropped loot quick enough. The player can turn off the party leader's gambit, allowing the two other characters to pounce Helvinek. While doing so, the leader can push Helvinek closer to the zone line during the battle, which will allow the leader to quickly snag the loot before the EXP and LP are displayed.
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
The name may derive from the combination "hell" and Vine or Vinea, a demon listed in demonological grimoires, such as the "Lesser Key of Solomon". Vine is a king and an earl, described as a lion riding a black horse and carrying a viper. Another possibility is Winnecke, an optical double star Winnecke 4 in the constellation Ursa Major, or the comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke with 6-year orbit. "Helvi", from old high germanic hadu, also means combat/battle, and wig for "war" could combine with it to mean "warrior in the war". Neck are shapeshifting water spirits in Germanic mythology that can have the shape of a horse. It could also be associated with Helhest, a three-legged horse associated with Hel from Danish folklore.
Another possibility is the combination of cherub, in Japanese also written as ヘ ル ヴ ィ ム, and neck ネック.
The Japanese term ヴ ィ ネ ッ ク, literally "vinekku", is close to the word vignette.
It is possible that the name is related to vendetta, close to the word in Latin vindicta means punishment, retribution; also in English there are vindictive and vindicator.
Related enemies[]
- Mallicant
- Nightmare
- Darkmare
- Mistmare
- Braegh (Mark)
- Ixion (Elite Mark)
- Firemane (Boss)
- Pallicant (Rare)
Languages: Deutsch