''What Rough Beast Slouches'' Quest

Beating Aeronite, the beast that roams the Dead Dunes. Required for completing ''Last One Standing'' and ''What Rough Beast Slouches''

''What Rough Beast Slouches'' and ''Last One Standing''

''What Rough Beast Slouches'' is a quest attained in the ruins of the Dead Dunes; Nolan tasks you with beating a beast that roams the Dunes when the end is near.

The beast itself is Aeronite; he only appears from day 7 onwards.

''Last One Standing'' requires you to kill every Omega and unique creature in the game (unique as in ''bosses''), which means killing Aeronite is required in two quests.

Generally Aeronite is beat on New Game + since you get to upgrade weapons and shields in your second playthrough. The boss has over 11 million HP and is a damn near impossible fight in your first run. Additionally, you can't complete ''Last One Standing'' on your first playthrough since the final boss characters must be defeated and logged into your bestiary, and as soon as you beat them the game's done so there's no way to go back to the person that gives you the quest.

Despite what the devs intended, it IS possible to beat Aeronite and finish ''What Rough Beast Slouches'' on your first playthrough, this guide details the requirements and strategy.

Aeronite's location

From day 7 onwards Aeronite will appear in the Dead Dunes and slowly go in a circular motion around the Giant Sandbox area. His position changes depending on what time it is:


Keep in mind that monsters get stronger as the last day nears, so fighting him as early as possible is recommended

Requirements pre-fight (Quests and stats)

Before I begin talking about schemata and strategy I want to point out that before fighting Aeronite I completed every single Side Quest (minus the two that require his defeat) and Canvas of Prayer quest. If you abuse Chronostasis you can complete the large bulk of side quests as well as canvas of prayer quests in roughly 4 in-game days. If you need rough numbers: before facing Aeronite I had 63 side quests completed and 83 canvas of prayers quests completed. Oh, and I had all main quests completed as well, but that goes without saying (you can finish those in 2 in game days).

So are you required to do every single quest in the game to get every single bit of strength and magic for the fight? Wellll.......See, I fought Aeronite on the 13th day; so the very last day you get to roam around. In other words I faced the most powered up version of Aeronite, since monsters get stronger by the day.

I'd recommend completing all side quests and canvas of prayer quests, or at least 80% of them or so. If you're close to completing 63 sidequests and 83 canvas of prayer quests and it's the 7th day, I'd say you're good to go. If you're fighting him on the last day, I definitely recommend completing everything before fighting him. Most quests give +1 strength, but for this fight you need every little bit of strength to finish as quick as possible (more on that later)

Even if you've only completed half it's still possible to fight Aeronite, provided you have some ether's around. But this guide is written for people that are attempting to fight Aeronite on the 13th day; while it's possible to do so on the 7th be aware that you may need to switch some things out in my schematta recommendations and I can't verify what will and won't work on that day in terms of replacements for X,Y, and Z.

Required Recovery Items

This section is a little versatile, since there's what I used, and then there's what I would have LIKED to use, and what can be replaced for what I used.

Generally you want to carry a few Phoenix Downs (wasting EP on revives is a huge mistake here). How many? I carried three and only had to use two. I'd say 4 should suffice, but it's all dependant on how quickly you can stagger Aeronite and a little RNG. More on that later, but I'd go with 4; add more or take away depending on how the fight goes since you'll probably be retrying this one.

Carry maybe 1 or 2 X-Potions (full health restoration; available later in the game) or Hi-Potions if they're not available in stores yet. You are gonna be negating 90% of his attacks so you don't need healing, but one attack can hit you if you don't block it (it's easy) so we want a few potions to leave us leg room to screw up.

Lastly, fill EVERY LAST SLOT with potions that endow you with Bravery. I went with ''Nektar of the Gods Ω'', sold by the alchemist at the Fighter's Arena in Yuusanan after you complete her side quest, which gives Bravery and Faith. It's what I used so get it, but anything that imparts bravery is fine.

I didn't have any ethers for this battle, but if you can farm even one I'd say go for it. You have to hit every lizard you see in the dead dunes and pray to the RNG gods that you get unappraised items, then pray once more that those items are Ethers after appraisal. Appraising is it's own seperate quest which you can look up, but the point is if you have ethers in your inventory they will make this fight a LOT easier, and will make it possible to complete it with lower stats.

Required Schematta

Here's the heart of this guide; here's the schematta I used. Underneath the images is everything in text (in case the images don't load or are deleted) as well as explenations for my thinking behind the choices and possible alternatives.


Garb: Quite Guardian
Weapon: Femme Fatale
Shield: Gridanian Sigil
Accessories: Preta Hood; Runic Ring

Abilities:
• Deprotect Level 3
  
• Heavy Guard Level 2
  
• Deshell Level 3
  
• Imperil Level 3
  
  Every single guide for facing Aeronite and every strategy uses the Preta Hood, so that item is non-negotiable, you NEED it. It negates 75% of magic damage at the cost of cutting your Str and Mag damage to 5; so this garb is merely to tank hits and debilitate the enemy with status ailments.
  
  You don't necessarily have to use Quite Guardian; any garb that provides magic resistance is a plus. Quite Guardian provides 15 of it, but any other garb that gives as much or near it is just as good.
  
  Use any shield you think might be a better replacement; with the magic protection from Preta Hood you don't even need to guard against Aeronite's magic attacks; you won't take any damage. Femme Fatale increases the length of status ailments which is a plus on this setup, and since we're doing nothing but inflicting ailments and not attacking it's the most rational choice. The weapon is attained through the Yuusanan main quest.
  
  Deprotect helps in ''phase 2'' of this fight and Imperil as well as Deshell help in staggering with magic attacks. Deprotect is crucial.
  
  
  Garb: Soldier of Peace
  Weapon: Morgenstern
  Shield: Noblesse Veronique
  Accessories: Bandit Scarf; Pain Dampener
  
  
  Abilities:
  • Shadowbind
    
  • ATB Charge Level 4
    
  • Heavy Slash Level 3
    
  • Blizzara Level 3
    
    The Soldier of Peace Garb is the most OP garb in the game; it comes equipped with Shadowbind (ignore it completely for this fight) and changes any equipped Heavy Slash into Artemis' Arrow. Artemis Arrow takes the base heavy slash damage and does x2.5 all the time and ignores defense.
    
    If you need to farm Heavy Slashes you can do so in the Death Game in Yuusanan; a sidequest that requires you to defeat 30 Anubys'. They often drop heavy slashes, and you can fail the quest before you reach the 30th one and retry it; repeat until you have a ton of heavy slashes as the sidequest can be attempted hundreds of times over and Anybys doesn't go extinct. You WANT heavy slash level 3, if you can somehow get Level 4 then even better. If you have to settle for level 2 then fine, but try upgrading it or at least levelling it up.
    
    You can replace Blizzara with any other ''-ra'' spell. So Thundara or Aerora works just as well. The reason we aren't going with more powerful '-ga' versions is because they use a ton of ATB; the damage doesn't matter, what we want is to stagger Aeronite. You can use ''-ra'' spells more often with less downtime and, in the aggregate, contribute more to the stun gauge.
    
    The ATB charge can be replaced with anything you want. I threw it in there but I never really wound up using it. It can be helpful but it's not absolutely necessary.
    
    As for equipment; Morgenstern is the MOST powerful sword in the game that is attainable on the 13th day; it's sold in Yuusanan in the Champions Quarter by a merchant near the Fighter's Arena (where you face monsters for money). It has +13k strength (iirc) without any downsides to it. You NEED as much strength as possible for this match, but seeing as how I completed this quest on the 13th day then the weapon won't be available if you're doing it earlier, so replace with whatever weapon is the strongest attainable one on the day you're fighting Aeronite. On the 7th day I'd say anything in the 600-900 range is good.
    
    The Shield is attainable on the sixth day in the Wildlands Research Camp; it's sold there and the reason we're using it is for the ATB recovery; we won't be doing any blocking with this garb. The Veronique provides +30 ATB recovery but if isn't avialable yet you can settle on either of the other two shields the wildlands research camp sells (which should be available).
    
    Bandit Scarf is for the additional Strength, nothing more. You can replace with any other item that gives additional strength; Pain Dampener is non negotiable and mitigates one of two status ailments the boss uses on you.
    
    
    Garb: Heart Stealer
    Weapon: Chaos Revenge
    Shield: Summoner's Shield
    Accessories: Witch's Rosary, White Strap
    
    
    Abilities:
    • Leaping Rush Level 2
      
    • Evade Level 2
      
    • ATB Charge Level 3
      
    • Aerora Level 3
      
      The most customizable of the Schematta for the purposes of this guide. I went with Heart Stealer because it increases ATB speed by 35 and increases stagger capability by 5%. The ATB speed is REALLY beneficial, but the garb is only attainable on the 9th day. Dragoon is a good substitute (attained after completing the 'Death Game' in Yuusanan), as it also increases stagger capability by 5%. Whilst the ATB speed is SWEET, you can get increased ATB speed by switching out the shield I used with one of the three shields sold in the wildlands research camp on day 6 for something comparable.
      
      The weapon is crucial: Chaos Revenge is dropped by the boss in the Wildlands' Main Quest arc, which I assume you already completed if you're even considering fighting Aeronite. It's damage is not the best but it makes the requirements for staggering anyone 75% of what it originall was. Staggering is a VITAL part of this fight, you NEED this weapon and anything else won't work.
      
      The shield is attainable right away in the rewards section of the main menu. It increases magic damage with no drawbacks for the purposes of this guide. Switch it with any shield that increases ATB recovery speed if you'd like; I figured the additional damage, no matter how small, would still help. But it's not vital.
      
      The White Strap is crucial; it negates the second status ailment this boss tries to inflict upon you. Coupled with the other accesory from the previous Schematta and you don't have to worry about ailments. The Witch's Rosary increases regeneration on other schematta when you use magic attacks on this one; it REALLY shows and makes the downtime you might have on other schematta negligible. You have to have this schematta equipped until the magic attack actually lands on the enemy for it to take into effect; if you throw a spell and quickly switch to a different schematta then the effect of the Rosary won't occur and your other schematta won't get the additional regen. According to SgtFluffy of the 5th Marshmellow Brigade you still recover ATB even if you switch out schematta, and if you switch from this Schematta to a different one you gain the passive ATB regen as well as the Rosary regen. In other words if you want this schematta to regen rapidly, throw out magic attacks and quickly switch to a schematta where you don't need the regen so that this schematta gains passive regen as well as rosary regen.
      
      As for the spells nothing matters other than having a ''-ra'' level spell. I went with Aerora Level 3. As always try to get it as high a level as possible before fighting Aeronite. I threw in ATB recharge for whenever I could use it; it's alright but nothing that important here.

Strategy for ''Phase 1''

Phase 1 of the fight consits of attempting to stagger Aeronite 4 times in a row before switching to physical attacks.

First you want to have your Quiet Defender Imperil, then Deshell Aeronite. This makes staggering easier; ignore Deprotect.

What you want to do afterwards is switch between your two garbs equipped with ''-ra'' spells and pelt the sh*t out of Aeronite. The only spells that matter are the ''-ra'' spells; ideally you want to have your Soldier of Peace Garb's ATB lower than your Heartstealers ATB, which means running through your SoP's ATB gauge a little more before switching to Heartstealer.

The reason being that since we have Witch's Rosary on Heartstealer we want to take advantage of the increased ATB recovery it provides everytime that Schematta's magic attacks connect with Aeronite. Remember that the magic attack has to connect before it provides increased ATB recovery, so don't switch from Heartstealer until your attacks connect, otherwise it's a waste. But do keep in mind that your Heartstealer Schematta has Caiu's sword as well as increased stun capacity, so attacks from it are much more beneficial. It's a balancing act.

Switch back to Quiet Defender to reapply the status effects as needed. 90% of Aeronite's attacks are magic, so switch to Quiet Defender whenever he does anything magical; you don't even have to guard since you have so much magic protection that the damage is negated. Do so anyway if it makes you feel safe or something cause you're a fragile soul.

The only times you SHOULD guard are when he uses 'Roar' and ''Megaton Break'' and ''Megaton Rush''. Some of this takes getting used to his attack patterns and animations, but trust me it doesn't require split second reactions. He winds up his neck the other way before roaring so you see it coming, and Megaton Break occurs when he comes crashing down after flying up and the map gets full of small dark tornados. Again, easy to guard against. Megaton Rush SUPPOSEDLY hits you but I've never had him actually reach me to be able to verify. This is what some of the X-Potions/Hi-Potions are for; to fix any screw ups in defending.

See, Aeronite also has some physical attacks; but my general strategy is to constantly walk back so that I'm far enough away from him that none of his physical attacks are ever used. Whenever he brings you in closer he's most likely going to roar, so prepare for that, otherwise just walk back. He might use Dragon Breath instead, which shouldn't harm you.

There's one attack that you can't guard against, you can't tank, and it WILL kill you: ''Hellflare''. There's nothing you can do; this is what the Phoenix Down's are for. It's all RNG; my fight with him lasted 7 minutes and he used it twice. A general rule I'd follow is: if it's taking you more than 5 minutes to get the 4th stagger then pack more downs, but if it's taking you this long you may not have the damage to finish him in Phase 2.

You shouldn't need any EP or Ethers to stagger him four times in a row; I didn't. Try to get away with using no EP and ethers; or at the very least as little as possible.

You want to have no more than 2 or so minutes in between staggers; otherwise Aeronite uses ''fed up'' and simply leaves. You have to stagger him before he leaves, during which the ''timer'' is reset.

Strategy for ''Phase 2''

After Aeronite has been staggered four times in a row (keep count), he will slump his head on the field and stop moving. This is the EASIEST portion of the match, but also the most tense. You have, if I recall correctly, around 4 minutes to defeat him.

Aeronite will remain in his staggered state and, once it's over, he will get up and simply leave. If you can't defeat him by then then you just wasted time and it's over.

Your strategy here is to use Deprotect, buff yourself with any potion that provides Bravery (I believe Vigilante's potion provides Haste as well; use that), and then hammer the ♥♥♥♥ out of him with Artemis' Arrows. When you reach 0 ATB on the soldier of Peace Garb, Overclock to regain it all and spend it on more Arrows. Switch to your Quiet Guardian Garb when he attacks before quickly switching back to SoP. Remember to always keep your bravery buff active and his deprotect on; every second matters and every little hit adds up.

Since you have the Witch's Rosary which, combined with the shield on the SoP garb, drastically increases ATB recovery speed, you might be able to throw out a spell or two while SoP is down to regain some ATB instead of using EP (if there is any left). ATB recharge on SoP also helps here, but ideally you want to conserve as much EP as possible for Phase 2 so you can keep up a relentless assault instead of using a ''turn'' to recharge.

and that's it. Phase 2 is the easiest but also the ''tightest'' in terms of anxiety, but if I did it then it's mathematically possible for you to do it.

Keep in mind that I did it with NO ethers, so I only had 8 EP for this entire fight. If you have ethers this makes Phase 2 INCREDIBLY easier. Even having ONE ether completely changes this up and makes it easier. Since this IS the hardest boss in the game what better use for the few you get through quests than right here?

[Cpt. Moist Panties]

Interesting; thanks for that. I'll update it.

[SgtFluffy]

Just letting you know that the Witch's Rosary actually works better if you switch off the schemata with it equipped after shooting the spells, you still get the ATB regen and it will give it to the schemata with the Rosary equipped aswell, only the schemata you are on when the spells land does not get the extra ATB regen.