Proto-Babil

Template:Sideicon Template:FFIV Enemy Proto-Babil, along with Geryon, is one of the two exclusive superbosses in the 3D remake of Final Fantasy IV. It can only be fought if the player stole the Dark Matter item from Zeromus on their previous playthrough and uses it on the face on the moon's surface. As its name implies, it is a prototype of the Giant of Babil.

Battle

Proto-Babil is equipped with several of the most powerful attacks in the game, including several new tricks. Initially, it can use the Trap Door's Ninth Dimension for an instant kill (though this is easily dodged by way of Adamant Armor), along with a new move, Light of Babil. This attack will do incredible amounts of damage to anyone, likely doing 9,999 regardless of Adamant Armor use. It will also sometimes Counter attacks and magic with the CPU's Laser Barrage and Object 199.

Once the player has inflicted 280,000 points of damage to Proto-Babil, its attack pattern will change. It will randomly either use Heal to recover over 20,000 HP, or it will use its ultimate attack, Divine Judgment, to do 6,000+ points of damage to the entire party. It will also sometimes counter attack with Object 199.

Strategy

It is advised to confront Proto-Babil with a Level 99 party with the maximum possible stats. At least one unit should have HP exceeding 5,000 for him to survive Light of Babil. Golden Apples, Silver Apples, or any HP boost such as the HP+50% augment will be a significant help.

Your slots won't be able to accommodate all the commands needed, so you'll have to go for the Auto-Battle slots (you'll have time to use it during the battle). Pray, Bless, Brace should be in these slots.

Also, Phoenix is imperative, preferably equipped on two units (such as Edge and Kain since they have the lowest MPs) should Proto-Babil does Divine Judgment right after Laser Barrage (or vice versa). Should either of the units equipped with Phoenix falls, the number one priority in this battle is to revive them with full MP (Dry Ethers and Elixirs should be abundant in your Inventory). If a unit has Salve, it would be a great help.

The battle should be opened with Slow, as usual. Rydia should Dualcast Bio and Meteor at her first turn. After, Omincasted Protect and Shell is in order.

Have a character with Draw Attacks equipped use Defend each turn and heal him/her after Light of Babil (Dualcasting Curaga then Cure is sufficient), and hit Proto-Babil's HPs down to as close to 120,000 as one can get. Edge should Throw all his Fuma Shurikens (buy as much as you can afford from Kokkol), and should he run out, resort to Throwing the powerful weapons such as Excalibur, etc. If Edge also has Focus, simply charge up then attack.

Rosa should Dualcast Holy (given that she's not preoccupied with healing) and Rydia Meteor. HP must be kept as high as possible, but prioritize dealing as much damage as possible since you have Phoenix as a backdrop.

If Cecil has the Limit Break augment equipped, you might want to risk Twincasting Ultima. The problem is either Cecil or Rosa can get KOed mid-casting and Rosa needs the turns. Risking Ultima is recommended only in the first few minutes of the battle, where Proto-Babil isn't going to use Divine Judgment yet.

Focus three times with Cecil (and Edge) and Kain and use Jump/Darkness should boost the damage as much as possible. For a safer risk, Focus just two times. With Onion Swords equipped on both characters and some timing.

Defending and Bracing (for units with Brace equipped) will be a big help against Laser Barrage. Do not throw attacks unless it's spam, so as to deter Proto-Babil's Laser Barrage counter. Ninth Dimension only has a 30% chance of succeeding, and you're armed for Light of Babil, so until now the only problem will be Divine Judgment.

Before the 280,000 HP marker, time Edge, Cecil and Kain's Focused attacks so they spam Proto-Babil before it wipes your party out.

iOS Version

In the iOS version, the <280,000 HP marker poses a near-insane difficulty since you can only obtain one Limit Break augment in all three playthroughs possible. A prospect approach is having a unit (preferably Edge, or anyone equipped with Bless as long as it's not Rosa) Hide so the game won't end after Divine Judgment, then coming out after to revive the party, then Hide back again as the rest of the party resumes its normal routine.

Gallery

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Etymology

[view · edit · purge]Proto- is a Greek prefix that means "first".

[view · edit · purge]The Tower of Babel is from a story from the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament/Torah, as well as other various ancient documents. The story tells of how early humanity began construction on a great tower that would extend to the heavens. However, God determined "nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them" so confused their language and scattered them over the face of all earth, leaving the tower and its city abandoned.