Final Fantasy V Steam - Neo Exdeath (No Rapid Fire, No Casualties)

Game: Final Fantasy V
Port: Steam

The final boss for the SNES and main storyline in iOS/PC/GBA is Neo Exdeath. It is fought across two stages and will test your characters... or you could spam Rapid Fire and/or Zeninage and waste his evil ass. But where is the fun in that?

This battle gives you two achievements. The first if you defeat both forms. The second is if you can beat both forms without getting anybody KOed at the end. In the GBA, iOS and PC versions, you can save the game after the long cutscene and start Sealed Temple.

FIRST FORM PLAN
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Exdeath attacks you as a giant tree monster. Although his physical attacks are lame, his magic isn't. The worst of his spells is White Hole, which causes Petrification AND Death at the same time. The Petrify must be removed first before a revive attempt is made.

Because this form is quite armored, it is wise to use Turtle Soup or Off-Guard to ensure Flare Sword and your standard attacks do full damage. If you bring Mix and have Dragon weapons, you can apply Dragon Kiss to the boss to allow the Dragon Lance to always critical to speed up the process. Make sure you apply Hastega here and your characters are in good standing going into the next form.

The Cannoneer Berserk shot strategy does work in this version, but he will still go to Neo Exdeath when you slay him. The GBA Version has a bug where you can skip the next form thanks to this attack.

SECOND FORM PLAN
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Now Neo-Exdeath. It is a amalgamation of different creatures and it ultimately wants to destroy everything! But you won't stand for that, will you?

Now with 4 targets, he attacks quickly and relentlessly outside of Haste. The attacks range from various standard attacks, to magic, to status effects to even 2 nasty spells: Almagiest and Grand Cross.

Almagiest is charged by the Bottom Mid portion and will do Holy Damage based on your level. Grand Cross is charged by the Top Mid portion and can do destructive damage and status effects for people not using Ribbons. If 1 of the parts is left on it's own, it will constantly cast Meteor each turn in an attempt to slay you.

For offense, if you brought any Dragon weapons, you should try to apply Dragon Kiss on parts you will be focusing your single attacks on. But try to aim for splash offense: Black Magic all targets, Bahamut, Zeninage, or my personal favorite: Bladeblitz with Flare Swords. Make sure you are under Mighty Guard. Rapid Fire users should try to take down at least 1 or 2 of the parts before they go Rapid Fire spam as this attack is very uncontrollable.

If you are playing the GBA, PC, or iOS version, you may try to steal a few weapons from the second form. You can steal a Murakumo (front), Fuma Shuriken (middle bottom), Dragon Lance (middle top) and Ragnarok (back). Dragon Lances and Murakumo are easier to steal from Rift monsters but a 2nd Ragnarok can help you until you get Ultima Weapon from Neo-Shinryu. But as a warning, it will be difficult to successfully steal, even with Thief Gloves on. So the choice is entirely up to you.

TEAM
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Lenna - Mime (Black Magic, White Magic, Blue Magic)
Faris - Freelancer (Spellblade, Bladeblitz)
Bartz - Freelancer (Mix, Time Magic)
Krile - Mime (Black Magic, White Magic, Summon)

FIRST FORM STATS
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Level 77
HP: 49001
MP: 30000
Strength: 111
Magic: 0
Defense: 35
Resistance: 25
Evasion: 10
Immune to Fire, Lightning, and Poison

SECOND FORM STATS (Front/Bottom/Top/Back)
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Level 81/83/87/86
HP: 50000/55000/55000/60000
MP: 65000 (All)
Strength: 99 (All)
Magic: 10/10/21/15
Defense: 30 (All)
Resistance: 25/20/10/20
Evasion: 10 (All)
No Resistances