Now, show me. Show me the strength that you have gained!
Trema
Trema is a superboss fought in the bottom of Via Infinito in Final Fantasy X-2. He is fought immediately after Paragon. He can also be fought in the final cup of the Fiend Arena in the International and HD Remaster versions, and fights identically to how he does in the Via Infinito.
Defeating him in Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster unlocks the "Founder" trophy/achievement.
Stats[]
#243
Fiend Arena
Battle[]
The party starts the battle in the condition the Paragon battle ended.
Trema primarily uses 3-hit physical attacks, many of which always hit and some of which can inflict status effects like Poison and Stop. These attacks have no charging time and have a low cooldown, allowing him to attack several times in a short period. Of them, Waning Moon reduces a character's MP by 5/16 (31.25%) with each hit. He also uses Demi, Flare, Ultima, and Meteor.
In the original version, Meteor is a physical attack that hits random targets 12 times and has a base damage value equal to 12.5% of the target's max HP per hit (capped at 9,999 damage), but the damage can be halved with Protect and reduced to 1 HP damage with Sentinel. In the International and HD Remaster versions, Meteor is a magical attack halved with Shell and is unaffected by Sentinel.
Trema uses Meteor after losing 50% of his HP (499,999 HP) and again after losing 75% (249,999 HP). After losing 83.3% (166,666 HP), he will use Ultima. Trema only uses Meteor twice in battle.
Trema has very high Evasion, making him near-impossible to hit with regular attacks without a high Luck stat.
Beating Trema awards the handy Iron Duke accessory, which doubles maximum HP and MP and adds 100 to all stats except Agility and Luck, which have a respective +10 and +50 bonus.
International/HD version strategy[]
It is best to have max stats when facing Trema. It is possible to better prepare for this fight by unlocking the Fiend Arena's Farplane Cup and to practice fighting him in the battle simulator (a level 75+ Ultima Weapon or Omega Weapon alone should be able to accomplish this).
Defensive strategies are important. Warriors and Dark Knights have defensive uses, but their high strength counts for nothing as Trema evades normal attacks.
As the player begins the battle in the condition the Paragon battle ended, the first move may be to heal. It is best to aim to have over 9000 HP or at least 90% of max HP by the time Trema uses Meteor.
Mix is a powerful tool in any battle. If the player bribed Paragon, or got his rare drop, the party has Dark Matters; an Alchemist can Mix a Dark Matter with any other item to make the party temporarily invincible.
Stamina Springs can be used alone to double the party's HP, or with Mix to create the Mega Vitality effect (Stamina Tonic has the same effect in Mix, but will additionally double the party's MP). Chocobo Wings can be Mixed with any non-status item to give Final Wall, or be used on their own to grant Haste. Alternatively, Defense Bracers provide a constant Protect and Shell effect. Twin Stars or Three Stars items give the Spellspring effect, reducing the MP cost of spells and the HP cost of Dark Knights' Darkness ability to zero.
Dark Knights' abilities are ideal for keeping HP high enough to survive Meteor. Since Black Sky is a magic version of Meteor, it is still effective against Trema; chaining it requires Ethers. Chaining Darkness requires the use of Twin Stars or Three Stars to reduce its HP cost, or the Dark Knights' Drain ability to get HP back. Dark Knight is a good dressphere for the battle due to its high HP and Defense; moving the Dark Knights all the way around the edge of the Valiant Lustre Garment Grid gives them max HP (9,999) and maxed out Defense and Magic Defense.
Another strategy is to have everyone in the Mascot dressphere and use the Higher Power Garment Grid. Yuna must have learned Moogle Cureja and Paine must have learned Cactling Gun as well as Nonpareil from the Samurai dressphere. All girls should be equipped with Crystal Bangles. The player also needs a Kaiser Knuckles (for Paine), a Rabite's Foot (for Rikku) and a Ribbon (for Yuna). Trema has very high evasion, but Rikku can hit him due to her high Luck stat (provided by the Rabite's Foot accessory), whereas Cactling Gun ignores evasion.
At the start of the battle the player should use a Stamina Tonic to double the party's HP and a Megalixir, as well as Light Curtain/Lunar Curtain for protection. Paine must move through the gates of the Higher Power Garment Grid to get the Break Damage Limit ability. Nonpareil can be used up to five times for a Strength boost. After this, she can start attacking with Cactling Gun.
When Paine's attack animation begins, Rikku should hit Trema and chain her attack with Paine's Cactling Gun. Rikku's attack deals very little damage, but if timed correctly allows Cactling Gun to deal between 70,000 and 99,999 damage, depending on Paine's Strength stat. Attacking during Trema's casting animation won't build chain, although Cactling Gun will still deal high damage.
Yuna should heal with Moogle Cureja. Rikku should occasionally use a Mega-Potion/Megalixir to complement Yuna's healing. The player should always keep the party's HP high enough to survive Meteor and Ultima. If one runs out of MP, an Ether/Turbo Ether can be used.
This strategy can also be used to defeat Paragon, so the player can carry on the same adjustments to the battle with Trema.
Original strategy[]
In the original version, Cat Nip-based tactics are recommended. A popular accessory for the Gunner, it causes a near-death character to deal 9,999 damage per hit. Under these conditions Trigger Happy should do around 150,000 damage to Trema (the player should keep the other characters at full health while the Gunner continues to use Trigger Happy). After one or two rounds, Trema should cast Meteor, which is likely to KO the Gunner, and Trema's physical attacks can also KO the Gunner; either way, the party can use Phoenix Downs to revive her.
Another tactic is to begin by having the Gunner with Cat Nip use Target MP to drain Trema's MP, which makes him unable to cast Ultima, Demi, and Flare, though he can still cast Meteor. This can be complemented by bringing a Warrior. If Trema's MP has been drained, all of his remaining attacks, including Meteor, can be reduced to 1 damage with Sentinel. When Trema enters a spellcasting animation, the Warrior can drop Sentinel to attack or use items as necessary.
Captured Fiends[]
A good strategy that involves using captured fiends is the same one as with Paragon and Angra Mainyu: to have either Yuna, Rikku, or Paine paired with two powerful S-sized fiends (e.g. Machina Hunter, Mushroom Cloud). The captured fiends should have high overall stats, the Mascot dressphere, Break Damage Limit, Auto-Haste, and First Strike, along with powerful, defense-ignoring abilities like Fireworks and Impale (Machina Hunter, Machina Ranger, Machina Leader). One fiend should be the main physical attacker while the other fiend repeatedly casts Black Sky (good for chaining physical attacks, like the Machina Hunter's Impale) or Fireworks (good for dishing out massive damage). The player-controlled girl should switch to the Alchemist dressphere to turn the party invincible, which can help nullify Meteor and Ultima, and focus on keeping the party alive. It is also possible for the second fiend to keep the party alive with defensive abilities. The Mushroom Cloud's Pernicious Powder also makes many of Trema's attacks weaker with the exceptions of Waning Moon, Demi, and Meteor, as all three of them deal fractional damage and are thus unaffected by Strength or Magic level changes.
Hurt is additionally a viable choice for fiends with incredibly high maximum HP - at 99,999 HP, Hurt can inflict 74,999 damage (before damage multipliers from chain attacks), around 7.5% of Trema's max HP. It can be taught to a creature with 10 Petrify Grenades, a rare drop from the Assault Machina, Killer Machina, Pop Fry, and Machina Striker, the latter being also available in the Fiend Arena via the No Limit team.
It is also highly recommended that Auto-Life be used in case the player is unsure their party will survive Meteor. Auto-Life is useful even in the absence of captured fiends, although it costs a lot of MP to cast it on all three party members.
If the player uses an L-sized fiend, they must equip it with the Last Resort Garment Grid (obtainable by completing Almighty Shinra's fiend tale and then releasing him) and teach it Auto-Life (consume 2x Pixie Dust), as it cannot survive Meteor unless it uses either Hero's Stash or Auto-Life. The fiend should use Auto-Life before Trema uses Meteor; while Hero's Stash also works, its effect is much shorter. It must be taught to use Fireworks, as most L-sized creatures lack initial access to defense-ignoring abilities, which draw out the battle. It is likely that the fiend's MP will run out, and so teaching Spellspring via consumption of a Ragnarok accessory is mandatory to avoid this.
In either case, the captured creatures must be able to use Vigor to be able to heal themselves without any MP cost.
Creature Creator[]
Trema can be recruited into the party after defeating him in Via Infinito. He requires a Trap pod SP targeting the humanoid species to be placed in Bevelle.
He fights almost identically to his boss counterpart, including his Beguiling Mire and Thundering Wave moves, except that the speed of his physical attacks is nearly doubled under Haste. He can learn Ultima after being hit by a powerful magical attack. In addition, unlike other humanoid characters, he can learn Ailment Def. by contracting a status ailment in battle and surviving the attack that caused the ailment (e.g. Mushroom Cloud's Pernicious Powder). Trema is the slowest-growing humanoid character in terms of EXP growth, requiring 1,617,314 EXP to reach Level 99. He is only beaten out by the Cactuar, which requires 1,645,189 EXP.
Fiend Arena[]
Trema appears as an opponent in the Farplane Cup. He usually beats any computer-controlled opponent he faces, although there is a chance he will lose to the following enemies: Concherer, Auron, Paragon, Shady Duo (Mushroom Cloud + Black Elemental), and Major Numerus.
Trema is almost exactly identical to his Via Infinito counterpart except that defeating him in the Fiend Arena gives much less EXP and AP than in Via Infinito and more Dark Matters as well. Plus, he has lower Agility but much higher Luck, and stealing from him now always yields Turbo Ethers (if successful). As such, the same strategies for fighting him in Via Infinito also apply here. However, the player starts the battle against Trema in a completely fresh (i.e. 100% HP, 100% MP) condition, and so healing before fighting him in the Farplane Cup is pointless.
Quotes[]
- The unenlightened shall fall.
- Know your place!
- Release your past and tower above all.
- Be flung unto the Farplane!
- Ha sa te ka na e Ku ta ma e.
- I know nothing of defeat.
- Now, prostrate before me!
Trema recites lyrics from the "Hymn of the Fayth" before casting Meteor for the first time, Ha sa te ka na e Ku ta ma e.[1]