Hardest boss for you in Hardmode?

[SHINRA-CORP]

For me it had to be Gi Nattak that fight was some real BS

[Anmer]

Gi Nattak was a real difficulty spike, but I think Vincent was even bigger BS for me.

[valium]

The horde of mandrakes at the end of the Flower Crown quest in act 2.

As for actual bosses, Vincent. You are forced to use Cait Sith and he is absolutely worthless against an extremely fast and aggressive boss.

[Anmer]

Originally posted by valium:

The horde of mandrakes at the end of the Flower Crown quest in act 2.

As for actual bosses, Vincent. You are forced to use Cait Sith and he is absolutely worthless against an extremely fast and aggressive boss.

lol. The mandrakes are harder than any boss if you dont craft your build for the fight, I agree.
Had to go triple fire with blue materia on Aerith to blow them all up as soon as the fight starts while trying to bunch them up with Cloud's area attack.

[valium]

Going in blind, it is just instant stunlock and you are screwed.

[Tiberius]

Red dragon for me. That lava atk is the ole cheap death atk

[SHINRA-CORP]

Originally posted by Tiberius:

Red dragon for me. That lava atk is the ole cheap death atk

That was some BS too. I refused to go back and remap my materia so instead I kept trying to time a curaga spell to hit as the lava did damage

[Shock_&_Awe]

Originally posted by Tiberius:

Red dragon for me. That lava atk is the ole cheap death atk

Kinda agree on this one. Elemental+fire slotted in equipment doesn't even negate this damage when it 100% should. That was an irritating discovery.

[valium]

I think the Red Dragon fight is bugged, it is supposed to shorten the lava duration when you destroy his chest, but that instantly provokes the full length attack instead.

I was already using Manawall + Magnify on Tifa because she doesnt need a lot of her materia slots to do her job, and because Hard mode is full of crap like that. So while I was annoyed at the bug, I could survive the attack easily enough.

[Ellementz]

Vincent isn't too bad, nor is Nattak. Rufus to me one of the most annoying fights. Bonds of friendship is also pretty tough.

[Xengre]

Originally posted by Shock_&_Awe:

Originally posted by Tiberius:

Red dragon for me. That lava atk is the ole cheap death atk

Kinda agree on this one. Elemental+fire slotted in equipment doesn't even negate this damage when it 100% should. That was an irritating discovery.

Its attack is deceptively non-elemental is why. RIP.

As valium mentioned, could be a bug or a hard mode mechanic specific change. Not sure which.

You can block with Barrier magics, Barret's buffs, auto-life, use Aerith's limit break to get iframes and heal during the lava, regen and curaga/pray to help counteract it as you mentioned to name a few options.

You can also use Steadfast Guard on everyone since the AI will block that move.

[valium]

You wont survive the attack with just steadfast block. Maybe with high HP characters like Barret and Red, but it is questionable.

[SHINRA-CORP]

Originally posted by Ellementz:

Vincent isn't too bad, nor is Nattak. Rufus to me one of the most annoying fights. Bonds of friendship is also pretty tough.

Rufus is light work

[valium]

Rufus is easily cheesable, you can just do the dodge green beam attacks and he will be stuck in a blocking stance while you build ATB, slowly, but surely. He can break out of it, but if you keep your distance his attacks are easy to dodge.

[SHINRA-CORP]

Or you can just hit him with braver while he reloads he will instantly stagger

[Xengre]

Originally posted by valium:

You wont survive the attack with just steadfast block. Maybe with high HP characters like Barret and Red, but it is questionable.

Right, don't use it by itself and expect miracles. Use it with the other stuff that way you come out in less nasty condition.

Aside from using i-frame or Auto-Life methods you would usually want to do 2-3 of these options together to stack effectiveness, like manaward + steadfast + regen or a heal.