Toughest final bosses you have fought in the Final Fantasy franchise?

[OlderSquall]

I will go first and rank the toughest final bosses I have fought in Final Fantasy. From the toughest to the easiest. For the record I usually come into these final battles slightly under leveled (Around 40—60s depending on game, etc). I debate with myself between 2-5 since they are all tough in their own ways but this is how I rank them now. What are your rankings?

1. Ultimecia (4 forms and very tough as well as relentless, she is the toughest final boss fight I’ve ever had to face. I have to stick to a very specific game plan to win.)

2. Necron (Very tough and annoying status effects)

3. Braska’s Final Aeon (Tough, and annoying with heavy attacks)

4. Zeromus (Tough and eliminated many of my team mates, I had to beat him via war of attrition until he couldn’t hit me with Big Bang anymore. I follow a semi strict game plan to win.)

5. Kefka (Tough but relatively straightfoward to beat although it can take time)

6. Safer Sephiroth (not the easiest but not the toughest either)

7. Chaos (I personally think he was relatively easy but I know that many consider him very tough)

8. Yu Yevon (final boss in name only)

 

[Ite]

For 7, 8, and 9, I died at least once during the final bosses. In every other FF I’ve been so overlevelled it may as well have been a cutscene.

Ultimecia’s final form sent me to the game over screen twice, and even on my OP playthroughs she’s very difficult. One of the best designed final boss gauntlets I can think of, particularly because of the random starting party and the permadeath. Final Ultie is a challenge at any level with any amount of power gaming. Love it.

 

[OlderSquall]

For 7, 8, and 9, I died at least once during the final bosses. In every other FF I’ve been so overlevelled it may as well have been a cutscene.

Ultimecia’s final form sent me to the game over screen twice, and even on my OP playthroughs she’s very difficult. One of the best designed final boss gauntlets I can think of, particularly because of the random starting party and the permadeath. Final Ultie is a challenge at any level with any amount of power gaming. Love it.

Yes I yelled and screamed at the game too many times to count against Ultimecia. I had to construct a strict strategy because I was so underprepared.

 

[Lestat]

Jairus

 

[Makoeyes987]

Toughest final boss in FF is Bhunivelze of Lightning Returns: FFXIII. I say that with 100% certainty.

That boss is fucking cancer. That thing, especially in his + form or Hard Mode. It made me rethink my entire life and save file. Almost redid my playthrough because it felt like a wall was hit. Don't quite know how I managed to beat it, but it took hours and much cursing was done in the lead up to victory.

Runner up is Exnine Bahamut of World of Final Fantasy, which is basically a race against time against a vulnerability changing monster that nukes you upon realizing it's ultimate attack. Basically a DPT war of attrition where you need to kill it before it kills you.

Hard Mode Sephiroth in FFVII-R is also extremely difficult the first time you fight him, and even when fully maxed out and understanding his mechanics he can still sometimes cheese you.

These bosses stick out as being exceptionally difficult. Most of the early-mid era FF final bosses are tough but not overwhelmingly so. Safer Sephiroth was surprisingly easy. Ultimecia was a fair challenge but can be slammed with Angel Wing Meteor & Lionheart. Necron is a crapshoot but can be cheesed once you learn it's pattern. Only classic FF final boss that was modestly challenging was Kefka.

 

[OlderSquall]

Toughest final boss in FF is Bhunivelze of Lightning Returns: FFXIII. I say that with 100% certainty.

That boss is fucking cancer. That thing, especially on Hard Mode, made me rethink my entire life and save file. Almost redid my playthrough because it felt like a wall was hit. Don't quite know how I managed to beat it, but it took hours and much cursing was done in the lead up to victory.

Runner up is Exnine Bahamut of World of Final Fantasy, which is basically a race against time against a vulnerability changing monster that nukes you upon realizing it's ultimate attack. Basically a DPT war of attrition where you need to kill it before it kills you.

Hard Mode Sephiroth in FFVII-R is also extremely difficult the first time you fight him, and even when fully maxed out and understanding his mechanics he can still sometimes cheese you.

These bosses stick out as being exceptionally difficult. Most of the early-mid era FF final bosses are tough but not overwhelmingly so. Safer Sephiroth was surprisingly easy. Ultimecia was a fair challenge but can be slammed with Angel Wing Meteor & Lionheart. Necron is a crapshoot but can be cheesed once you learn it's pattern. Only classic FF final boss that was modestly challenging was Kefka.

Hmm very interesting that you consider Kefka the toughest early stage FF final boss. I can see that. He was a tough dude, especially if you’re not at the level you need to be.

 

[Ite]

Kefka?? ? Not me at Level 99 dual-wielding lightsabers up his tower of sexy flesh.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Between Chaos, Emperor, Cloud of Darkness, Zeromus and NeoExDeath, Kefka is 100% the harder fight.

Zeromus would be the closest contender if you play FFIV at full speed. Even then... Ehh.

 

[OlderSquall]

Kefka?? ? Not me at Level 99 dual-wielding lightsabers up his tower of sexy flesh.

Level 99 will kill virtually anything lol.

 

[OlderSquall]

Between Chaos, Emperor, Cloud of Darkness, Zeromus and NeoExDeath, Kefka is 100% the harder fight.

Zeromus would be the closest contender if you play FFIV at full speed. Even then... Ehh.

I heard Cloud of Darkness is very tough. I would say Kefka was tough and I would say in some respects Zeromus was even tougher.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Zeromus is tough but once you level up to around 67+, Rosa's healing and everyone's HP thresholds are able to tank Big Bang and not deplete to 0 via the Sap from Bio. It's a matter of leveling up and having the patience to do it. If you go to fight him as soon as you unlock the area, he'll chew you up.

And Cloud of Darkness is spammy. But if you once again level up she's just terribly predictable and you can easily over power her with Sages, Black Belts, Dark Knights or whatever advanced job you wish.

Kefka's Statue of the Gods gauntlet combined with his stupid gimmick attacks like Rest, Heartless Angel, and more can really just throw the whole game into hell even when you're winning. You can also just brute force him but there are more "parts" in the fight that can sneak on you to go wrong.

 

[OlderSquall]

Zeromus is tough but once you level up to around 67+, Rosa's healing and everyone's HP thresholds are able to tank Big Bang and not deplete to 0 via the Sap from Bio. It's a matter of leveling up and having the patience to do it. If you go to fight him as soon as you unlock the area, he'll chew you up.

And Cloud of Darkness is spammy. But if you once again level up she's just terribly predictable and you can easily over power her with Sages, Black Belts, Dark Knights or whatever advanced job you wish.

Kefka's Statue of the Gods gauntlet combined with his stupid gimmick attacks like Rest, Heartless Angel, and more can really just throw the whole game into hell even when you're winning. You can also just brute force him but there are more "parts" in the fight that can sneak on you to go wrong.

Yes, you need to grind a little bit to get to that level of escape velocity where you can hang in there against Zeromus. I was still a bit under leveled (I usually am. I only grind if I absolutely have to) and at the end I only had Cecil and Rosa. Cecil would hack and slash and Rosa would heal. I had to fight in a long and exhausting war of attrition where Zeromus was so worn down that he couldn’t even cast Big Bang anymore since he punched himself out from using it so much earlier in the fight. Zeromus is hard simply because you have your default team, he’s very tough, and that’s it. Kefka is a tough opponent too but you have lots of extra team members that you can use that kind of help your situation a bit. Still a tough opponent.

 

[Elkazor]

The FF11 PlayOnline Account Sign-up process.

 

[Elkazor]

OK but serious answer: I actually think that a fully levelled Chaos from the first two Dissidia games is probably the hardest for me. Harder than any mainline final bosses I've fought.

 

[null]

I cast Fast on my level 50 monk and he goes all Fist of the North Star and Chaos is already dead. Very anti-climactic.

Kefka? He dies from being stabbed 8 times per turn at the hands of level 99 Terra, dual wielding Illumina and Atma Weapon with the Offering. Everyone else spams Ultima all day while wearing Economizers. Even the orphans in Mobliz feel sorry for him.

So I guess it depends on which bosses are hardest to cheese. Zeromus gets points for being a pain in the ass even at high levels. Ultimecia was a really long, hard fight from what I remember. You gotta be awake for these guys, can't just imbalance the entire game with grinding.