Bravely series

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

And Chapter 3 jobs, just 'cause.


Performer:  Bards got an upgrade from Final Fantasy 5.  You may not be able to buff characters indefinitely if you stall for time, but then again Bravely Default bosses are more willing to Dispel you anyway (Airy 3).  One More For You lets you pump BP into your attackers, and My Hero can do the same for the whole party.  Message boards recommend using Performer skills with White Mage, or Freelancer to Mimic My Hero without the BP cost.  Tiz and Ringabel make hilarious Performers because their outfit looks like an Elvis impersonator.  Other Performer skills increase stats for your whole party by 25%, such as Got Your Back (Physical Defense), and Love Rush (Speed).



Pirate:  Pirates are a viable endgame physical attacking job if you can get around the high MP costs for their abilities.  Double Damage and Amped Strike require a certain percentage of max MP instead of a flat cost, which is meant to balance the skill.  Pairing the Pirate with Swordmaster lets them use Free Lunch to nullify the cost and hit for 9999 damage gratis.  Pirate skills also include single target debuff attacks, such as Shin Smash that lowers Speed by 25%.  Enter the battle with your party near death, and you can use Mass Attack to make all characters at critical HP attack at once.  The poison swamp in Miasma Woods can be used to prepare that.



Ninja:  This may be quite different from the Final Fantasy 5 Ninja, but it's still one of the best Bravely Default jobs.  No, they can't throw weapons or magical scrolls at their enemies.  What they can do is:

-Dual-wield without penalty as an innate skill
-Dodge any physical attack with Utsusemi, including Minus Strike
-Autobattle Alternis Dim and elemental dragons with Transience counterattacks
-Get a guaranteed priority attack with Shippurinjai, making them perfect for Stillness teams

All that, and they have the second-highest AGI too.  Ninja is a top-tier job in this game, even for solos.




Swordmaster:  Swordmaster is an odd job if you think about it, and seems to be unpopular on GameFAQs at least.  Many players like to level it up to 14 and slap their Free Lunch skill on their Pirate or mage instead of using the Swordmaster as a main job.  What were the developers thinking when they gave the Swordmaster Free Lunch?  No Bushido skills use MP to begin with. . .

Swordmaster skills tend to be counterattacks that activate under specific conditions.  Nothing Ventured halves physical damage and activates when you're hit by a physical move, for example.  Before Swine does the same for magical attacks.  If you want to use riskier strategies, The Worm Turns deals the most damage, but requires your HP to be below 20%.  Know Thine Enemy is a bit safer, but only works on single-target attacks in a game where many bosses have at least one area of effect attack.

CORRECTION:  Know Thine Enemy activates when the enemy that you target attacks you.  It worked on Yulyana's Meteors.  I think there was a mistranslation in the game's official description.  Know Thine Enemy does NOT reduce damage from attacks though, so it's still risky.


It's a top-tier job for solo characters because Swordmaster counterattacks give Default defense bonuses without having to forgo attacking for a round.  Parties may want to use the Ninja's Kairai to force enemies to attack the Swordmaster, since the counterattacks don't draw the enemies' attention on their own.




Salve-Maker:  Salve-Maker is the Chemist of Bravely Default.  Its Compounding mixes don't have special gimmick skills like giving your characters Heavy status or putting the bosses in permanent Berserk status.  They have enough useful skills to make Medication worth considering for endgame parties.  Beast Liver + Dragon Fang creates the best healing potion in the game, the Giant's Draft.  Giant's Draft doubles your max HP and restores it.  If you're using Monks without a Spiritmaster, they'll need to chug Giant's Drafts to keep up their health.  High Potion + X-Potion is the only way to get Reraise unless you're using Time Magic.


Mixes involving Insect Antennae can create elemental weaknesses, and they can mix cheap elemental compounds to attack all enemies with fixed elemental damage.  Using Inoculate with a Remedy blocks status ailments for 6 turns, freeing up accessory and passive ability slots.  Resurrect revives all dead allies for free, even when Silenced.  Healing Lore enhances healing items and magic.  Don't bother with Auto-Potion unless you want to attack with dagger Specials that depend on using items.   


Salve-Makers may have low offense, but Attack Item Amp and the Templar's Item Critical can remedy that to some degree.  Giant's Draft makes the job worth it, let alone the other mixes.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Chapters 4-6 jobs:


Arcanist:  Some Bravely Default jobs are more like "upgrades" than classes that can function on their own.  Arcanist is clearly meant to be a Black Mage supplement.  Some of their spells depend on enemies being poisoned or asleep, and most status ailment spells are Black Magic in this game.  In case you have any doubts about the developers' intentions, one Arcanist passive is "Save Black Magic MP".

The main spell you'll be using with them is Exterminate, a Dark elemental spell that hits all poisoned combatants.  Status ailments are unreliable in Bravely Default, so be sure to equip Status Ailment Amp to increase the odds of success.  Many bosses can be poisoned with sufficient determination, however.  Other passives increase Magic Attack with various conditions (e.g. MP ending in 0, increasing MP costs, sacrificing HP, etc.).  Bravely Default message boards seem to treat Arcanist as a "love it or hate it" job overall.


Spiritmaster:  This job is to the White Mage what Arcanist is to the Black Mage.  Its innate skill is "Save White Magic MP", so the developers intended the jobs to be used together.  Unlike the Arcanist, Spiritmaster can function without its "base job" if it needs to. 

Most Spiritmaster abilities are designed to block damage or status ailments rather than healing.  Stillness prevents all damage from occurring to any combatant for 2 turns for a 2 BP cost.  It doesn't stop healing or buffing, so be sure to use it if enemy attacks are giving you too much pressure.  The Ninja's Shippurinjai attack is guaranteed to go before Stillness, and I used that combination for the final bosses in my first non-variant playthrough to get around the RNG turn order.


Stillness doesn't block status ailments, however, so use Fairy Ward for that.  Spirit Ward and Adaptation make a character immune to elemental damage for an MP cost instead of BP, which might be worth considering for magical bosses.

Spiritmaster is one of the best jobs if you can get around its high BP costs.  Hasten World and Performers are their best friends, and consider giving your Spiritmaster a Brave Suit if you want turn 1 Stillness.


Templar:  Templar is another "love it or hate it" job according to some quick searches.  That's probably because many of its attacks and defensive skills come with a high BP cost relative to their effectiveness.  Templars are meant to be the masters of BP and Defaulting.  They can have up to 4 BP instead of the usual 3 with their innate passive, and another passive reduces damage taken while Defaulting to 1/4.  They also have some other passives that don't really fit their job, such as enabling critical hits for magic or attack items.

It's generally recommended to use Templars for taking hits rather than attacking, because their low AGI hinders their hit count.  Kairai can redirect hits to the Defaulting Templar, and sometimes they can use Rampart to block physical hits to the party.


Dark Knight:  I never used this much, but this is a favorite job of many other players.  Many Dark Knight attacks lower the user's HP in exchange for dealing Dark damage, making it risky to use without support.  Minus Strike inflicts damage equal to the amount the user has lost.  Combine that with Rage, which uses Dark Bane either 5 times or until the user's HP falls to 1, and you have a strong offense.


Vampire:  Vampire is what would happen if Final Fantasy 5 decided to make the Blue Mage an Earth Crystal job.  Lots of backtracking is required if you want to use Vampires effectively.  Like Blue Mages, Vampires have to be hit by a Genome Ability in order to learn it.  They can learn the "-ja" elemental spells, but they can only be learned through Nemesis bosses, and those fights are meant for the post-game.

Most Genomes seem to be physical attacks with various properties, such as debuffing Physical Defense, or dealing Fire damage and ignoring Physical Defense.  White Wind works like it did in Final Fantasy 5.  Sullla's "Blue Monk" is viable in this game too.  One Reddit user named "The Lucky One" claims to have beaten the game using only Vampire abilities.

Battle Thirst sounds great because it can drain BP from an enemy, but it doesn't always work against bosses.


Conjurer:  Bravely Default's final job is an upgrade to the Summoner.  Conjurers use summons to buff one of their stats for the cost of 90 MP.  The developers had to cheat and give Yulyana Meteor and Amped Strike to make him a legitimate threat because of how underwhelming Conjurer skills are. 

Conjurers have solid stats, A-raml proficiencies for all weapons, and passives to make Summoner spells more powerful to make up for their lack of active abilities.

Most players will prefer to level up Conjurer enough to learn Obliterate to make level grinding faster instead of using the job for its own merits.  That's understandable, considering you don't get Conjurer until a sidequest late in Chapter 6 in a normal playthrough.


EDIT: The next post will likely feature the Conjurer sidequest in Chapter 6 and possible variant playthrough suggestions for this game.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Here are the only notable boss fights of Chapter 6:

Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Swordmaster
Bushido & Medication commands
Counter Amp, Angelic Ward, Redoubled Effort, Speed 10% Up passive abilities
 
Weapon:  Muramasa
Shield:  Lustrous Shield
Head:  Heike Helm
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes
 
vs.
 
Artemia:  81,000 HP, Fire weakness, Human
Einheria:  114,750 HP, no weakness, Human
Mephilia:  81,000 HP, no weakness, Human
 
Yes, Ringabel fought all three at once.   Artemia, Einheria, and Mephilia fought the same way they did in Chapter 2, and didn’t coordinate their tactics at all.  This was no Angelo & Aimee fight from Bravely Second.  The game runs out of ideas during Chapters 5 & 6.  The previous bosses for this sidequest were Alternis Dim and Braev Lee, and they were almost identical to their Chapter 4 incarnations.
 
Nothing Ventured killed the three bosses easily.  Giant’s Drafts were used to heal when at least one of the Bloodrose Legion fighters was at negative BP.


 
Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Ninja
Ninjutsu & Medication commands
Counter Amp, Turn Tables, Transience, & Slow World passive abilities
 
Weapon 1:  Muramasa
Weapon 2:  Air Knife
Head:  Heike Helm
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes
 
vs.

Yulyana:  202,500 HP, no weakness, Human
 
Some original content in Bravely Default after Chapter 4?  And a satisfying boss fight too?  I can’t believe it!
 
This was a battle where the Swordmaster couldn’t win for once.   I tried Before Swine to counter the Meteors, but then he hit with Amped Strike for 9999.  (Enemies are affected by the damage cap as well.)  Giant’s Drafts can’t heal for more than 9999, by the way.   There was no way the Swordmaster could keep up with that kind of damage.
 
Enter Slow World.  That passive made Yulyana lose every other turn.  I Defaulted on the turns he attacked, and used Utsusemi whenever it wasn’t active.  Turn Tables gave me BP when he activated Utsusemi’s counterattack, and I Defaulted on the turns when Yulyana could attack with Meteor or Amped Strike.  Dagger and Katana Specials worked nicely with this build thanks to their item and Default triggers.  That’s the advantage of dual-wielding!


(Here's a moment for the blooper reel.  One of the fights in the Yulyana quest involves fighting a bunch of weak goblins.  They became a serious threat because they kept paralyzing Ringabel and made him lose many turns in a row!  It took Inoculate to survive them.)


As for variant styles:


Fiesta:  Some recommendations, since I doubt there are formal rules for a Bravely Default version:

-Use New Game Plus to get all the jobs, but don't carry over job levels.  Carrying over "items" may be necessary if you roll certain spellcasting jobs so they won't be dead weight early in the game.  (Sell off your equipment, though).  Roll all 4 jobs at once.  Don't try a "Natural" Fiesta.  You can't grind your way past every boss on Hard if you get a weak party.


-Several later jobs should be considered "upgrades" to earlier jobs rather than separate.  If you roll one, you get the other.

Black Mage/Arcanist
White Mage/Spiritmaster
Summoner/Conjurer


-Obliterate is allowed for all parties even if they don't roll Summoner/Conjurer.  All it does is speed up grinding, and you can't really be overleveled relative to Chapters 5-8 anyway.

-Airy's third form is so unfair that it's a special case.  It feels like a misplaced superboss from another game. That boss is impossible for some parties, like my failed Monk-only challenge.  Fiesta parties are exempt from all rules when dealing with Airy in the Dark Aurora dungeon!  Use all jobs, use Summon Friend, or whatever else it takes.

-Norende is allowed.  Job-restricted parties are already hard enough as it is.



No Equipment Challenge:  Monk, Salve-Maker, and Spiritmaster are your best friends.  (Maybe Vampire too)  A challenge like this will make you appreciate status immunity and defensive passives.         



No Norende:  More different from a no equipment playthrough than you might think.  Norende sells endgame equipment, yes, but it's also the only way to buy Salve-Maker ingredients and attack items such as Bomb Arms.  No Norende means no Specials other than the weakest form of Hack & Slash.


Single Job Challenge:  Don't do this.  Play Bravely Second instead.  If you insist on trying in Bravely Default, load your maxed-out characters and try to beat Airy 3 with a particular job.  If you can't, you've just saved yourself 30-40 hours.  If you can win with these restrictions, go to New Game Plus, carry over job levels and money, and have fun with your overpowered job.

 
Solo:  Well, read my posts if you want to see what a solo multiclass playthrough is like!  

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

800 views?  How many of those are actual Realms Beyond readers and not spambots?  I'm the only one who bothers to post in this topic.  


Chapter 7 Part 1

At this point, you can go everywhere by flying Grandship around, and none of the Asterisk Holders try to stop you from activating the crystals.  So it's pretty much all sidequests.


 
Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Knight
Chivalry & Medication commands
Default Guard, Item Critical, Attack Item Amp, Dual Shields, & Slow and Steady passives
 
Weapon:  (Varied throughout battle)
Shield:  Iceflame Shield
Head:  Lamia’s Tiara
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Clothespin
 
vs.


Phase 1:
Ominas:  87,750 HP, no weakness, Human
Bahamut:  119,623 HP, Water weakness, Fire absorb, Dragon
 
Phase 2:
 
Heinkel:  94,500 HP, Lightning weakness, Human
Barras:  94,500 HP, no weakness, Human
Ominas:  121,500 HP, no weakness, Human
 
 
After the monotonous filler chapters 5 and 6, this boss fight feels like a relief.  It took mastery of the job system to win without resorting to High Jump.  People who think Knight isn’t a top-tier job in this game should change their minds after this report.  The only stats where Templar beats Knight are MND and DEX.  DEX isn’t too important for defensive jobs if you’re using attack items, and you can work around slightly lower MND with elemental immunity equipment in many cases.  For this battle, the Iceflame Shield worked fine for all the Firas and Pico Flares.
 
Ringabel started off the fight with Giant’s Drafts as usual, then throwing Wind elemental mixes at Ominas and Bahamut.  Why not Water?  Ominas kept casting Fira on Bahamut to heal it, and I wanted to make sure Ominas was dead before exploiting Bahamut’s weakness.  Or so I thought.  When Ominas died, the fight ended.  Heinkel and Barras decided to cheer up Ominas and join the fight.  Ominas wasn’t happy about this, since they weren’t “respecting their elder”. 
 
The second fight required careful Default timing.  Barras often Braved into negative BP, then used the Invigorate Physical Attack buff and punched Ringabel.  On the next turn when he couldn’t attack, Ringabel healed himself with a Giant’s Draft.  When he had health and BP to spare, Ringabel threw more attack item mixes at the bosses.  Ironclad came in handy for the turns where Ringabel attacked, because priority Physical Defense buffs make up somewhat for the lack of the Default bonus. 
 
Ironclad couldn’t blunt Ominas’s Thunders, so I switched from the Bloody Shield to the Raikiri katana to get Lightning immunity.  The Clothespin was needed because Ominas often casted Sleep.  Poison was annoying, and made me waste a few turns using Antidotes and the Inoculate skill.  Near the end of the fight, Barras’s Invigorates failed and damaged everyone on the field.  Thanks to Default Guard, this hurt the bosses far more than Ringabel, and eventually Barras killed himself doing this.  It was odd that the Black Mage had more HP than a Knight and a Monk!  I only found out their stats after the fight.     
 
 

Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Ninja
Ninjutsu & Medication commands
Transience, Counter Amp, Slow World, & Turn Tables passives
 
Weapon:  Air Knife
Shield:  Dark Shield
Head:  Lamia’s Tiara
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes
 
vs.
 
Barbarossa:  101,250 HP, Lightning weakness, Water resist, Human
Yulyana:  94,500 HP, no weakness, Human
Mephilia:  87,750 HP, no weakness, Human
 
As soon as I saw the next sidequest would involve Yulyana, I switched Ringabel to the Ninja job.  Being hit with Amped Strikes is no fun! The pre-battle cutscene showed how Mephilia traveled the world with Barbarossa and gained the Susano-o summon in this timeline.  The Asterisk Holders seem much nicer in this world and don’t bother hunting Agnès down, so why are the player characters fighting them?
 
I thought Susano-o was a Dark summon based on Bravely Second, but it’s non-elemental in Bravely Default.  Guess that Dark Shield was pointless, then!  Slow World helped in this Yulyana fight just like in the Conjurer sidequest.  It’s often overlooked in favor of Hasten World in normal playthroughs, but consider Slow World if you need more defense than offense.  Utsusemi provided counterattacks and Turn Tables BP.  It even finished off Mephilia for me! 
 
Defaulting was necessary on the turns when Barbarossa attacked with Double Damage.  The pirate sometimes Braved into negative BP, which gave a few turns of breathing room.  Never go “In The Red” with BP when Slow World is in effect!  Dagger Specials exploited his Lightning weakness, and did much more damage than my attack item mixes.  Yulyana didn’t do much until he was at low health.  At the end of the fight, he went back to his Chapter 6 attack pattern with Meteor and Amped Strike.
 


Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Swordmaster
Bushido & Medication commands
Counter Amp, Angelic Ward, Revenge, & BP Limit Up passives
 
Weapon:  Muramasa
Shield:  Dark Shield
Head:  Lamia’s Tiara
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes

vs.
 
Phase 1
Praline:  121,500, no weakness, Light immune, Human
Black Axefighter:  13,500 HP, Lightning weakness, Human
Black Blade:  13,500 HP, Lightning weakness, Human
 
Phase 2
 
Praline:  121,500 HP, no weakness, Light immune, Human
Jackal:  134,998 HP, no weakness, Human
 
I was suspicious when Praline was so weak during Phase 1.  She wasn’t any different than her Chapter 3 fight, and Swordmaster could easily Nothing Ventured everyone to death.  Then Jackal showed up halfway through the fight, and Praline stopped summoning her fans.  The two Asterisk Holders made a decent team.  Jackal healed Praline with stolen Potions, and Praline buffed Jackal’s Physical Attack with her songs.  They were not strong enough to break through the Swordmaster’s defenses.  Praline and Jackal were wise enough to flee and end the fight when their HP was running low.
 

 
The quote “Kings command respect and adulation by virtue of being king!” should give you a clue as to who was in the next boss fight:
 
Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Swordmaster
Bushido & Medication commands
Counter Amp, Angelic Ward, Revenge, & Stop Immunity passives
 
Weapon:  Muramasa
Shield:  Bloody Shield
Head:  Lamia’s Tiara
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes
 
vs.
 
Praline:  94,500 HP, no weakness, Light immune, Human
Jackal:  101,250 HP, no weakness, Human
Khamer:  94,500 HP, no weakness, Human
 
Praline and Jackal should have taken a rest after the last fight with solo Ringabel, no?  Their max HP sure took a hit from all those Nothing Ventured counterattacks. . .
 
Nothing Ventured did most of the damage once again.  It was mostly similar to the previous Jackal and Praline fight, except Jackal didn’t heal anyone this time.  My recurring nemesis Khamer kept trying to cast Stop, only to watch it fail thanks to my Time Mage passive skill.  Before Swine made a rare appearance in this fight to counter Khamer’s Earth spells.  Swordmasters already have a 25% innate chance to counter physical attacks, so when Khamer was the only one left, I used Before Swine to cover the magical side.  Jackal and Praline didn’t have quotes when they lost, but Khamer seemed to die.  The Chapter 1 speech about Dominus reforming Ancheim played after this fight.
 
There was a funny scene where Jackal asked Khint what “digits” meant, because he first heard it in a Praline song.  Khint thought the song was “macabre” when he heard the line “I gave him my digits just to watch him fidget!”  Chapter 7 sidequests show a new side of the Asterisk Holders, and it’s worth playing through them at least once to see all the jokes.
 
The next group of bosses was in Eternia. . .
 
Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Swordmaster
Bushido & Medication commands
Counter Amp, Angelic Ward, Revenge, & Stop Immunity passives
 
Weapon:  Muramasa
Shield:  Dark Shield
Head:  Lamia’s Tiara
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes
Vs.
 
Khint:  101,250 HP, no weakness, Human
Holly:  87,750 HP, no weakness, Human
Einheria:  94,500 HP, no weakness, Human
 
The same Swordmaster setup worked for most of the fight.  Holly supported her teammates by casting Cure and Protect on them.  Cure restored less than 3000 HP per use, because Holly couldn’t be bothered to buy high level White Magic on Grandship.  Near the end of the fight, the healing got a bit annoying when I was using a job that mostly counterattacks. 
 
The solution was throwing Dragon Breath mixes at Holly!  I tried it just to see what would happen, and it inflicted 9999 damage.  Dragon Breath seems to be a fixed damage move.  It’s expensive at 10,000 pg per use, and cuts into the supply of Dragon Fangs needed for Giant’s Draft, but Dragon Breath is useful in situations like this.     
Khint and Einheria fought like they did in earlier chapters.
 
 
At Vampire Castle, another “situation like this” involving healing bosses occurred. . .
 
Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Knight
Chivalry & Medication commands
Slow World, Revenge, & Dual Shields passive abilities
 
Shield 1:  Lustrous Shield
Shield 2:  Bloody Shield
Head:  Lamia’s Tiara
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes
 
Victor:  108,000 HP, Dark weakness, Light resist, Human
Lord DeRosso:  134,998 HP, Light weakness, Dark resist, Human
 
Victor wanted to learn the secret of DeRosso’s immortality to heal Victor, so he joined the battle at Vampire Castle.  The two bosses fought well together, and destroyed Ringabel when he was a Ninja/White Mage.
 
Switching to Knight/Salve-Maker was the answer.  Although much of the damage came from DeRosso’s Gravigas, the high HP and Dual Shields defenses let Ringabel survive.  Dragon Breath was needed to kill the Vampire and the Spiritmaster.  Victor’s White Magic healed for over 6000 HP, so there was no way I could outpace it with a defensive build without overpowered Salve-Maker mixes.  Slow World helped, but DeRosso could easily steal BP with Battle Thirst. 
 
After beating DeRosso, Victor was easy.  He couldn’t survive multiple Dragon’s Breaths, and the Lustrous Shield blocked Holy.


"Team Girl Power" may be impossible for a solo character without High Jump.  Victoria casts Corpse to put you in Doom status, then even if you auto-revive, Kikyo will kill you with priority Shippurinjai the next round.  The only ways to prevent Doom are the Spiritmaster's Fairy Ward (which costs 2 BP), and the Ribbon headgear.  You don't get the Ribbon until Dark Aurora, the final dungeon.  But then again, I could get its treasure via the fake ending you get from breaking a crystal. . .

(I have one from New Game Plus, because you can't sell Ribbons, but I want to obtain it "legitimately", so to speak.)

EDIT:  Brent Schepmman on YouTube uses a Dark Knight/Spiritmaster build for his solo Agnès challenge.  Maybe I can find another solution to the Kikyo, Artemia, & Victoria fight?

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Hey, I did manage to find a method that wasn't "copy some YouTube video" to win the Chapter 7 Girl Power fight.  It may have been an inefficient jury-rigged technique, but it was my inefficient jury-rigged technique!  


Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Knight
Chivalry & Medication commands
Revenge, Dual Shields, & Slow World passives
 
Shield 1:  Dark Shield
Shield 2:  Bloody Shield
Head:  Crystal Helm
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Heike Gloves
 
vs.
 
Victoria:  114,750 HP, Light weakness, Dark resist, Human
Kikyo:  94,500 HP, no weakness, Human
Artemia:  101,250 HP, Fire weakness, Human
 
Brent Scheppmann did this fight on YouTube with a solo Agnès, using a Dark Knight/Spiritmaster build.  Watch his videos if you want to see a different take on a solo playthrough.
 
The trick was what I’d like to call “Slow World rope-a-dope”.   Ringabel would Default with his two Shields, hope for Revenge BP, and then heal with Giant's Drafts or attack with Dragon Breath when the opportunity arose.  I managed to KO Victoria first on an earlier failed attempt, then died to Kikyo’s Shippurinjai before I could heal.  Then I discovered the way to go was to equip as much Physical Defense gear as possible, then use Ringabel’s halitosis to beat Kikyo first.
 
Another thing that helped was Victoria’s bizarre AI routine.  On various failed attempts, Victoria sometimes used Corpse to inflict Doom status after poisoning Ringabel.  This time, she kept casting Exterminate and Dark instead, which were useless because of my Dark Shield.  Why did that happen?  Was it a glitch, or did Reraise and Poison change her attack pattern?  Yet another question for a hypothetical algorithm guide to answer.  When Artemia was the only opponent left, victory was assured. 

One funny thing about a solo Ringabel playthrough is that few Asterisk Holders acknowledge him at all when he defeats them.  Usually, they'll remark about how strong Edea or Agnès have become.  Their praise is a bit hollow when they've been dead for the whole game!  

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

An update for the end of Chapter 7 and the beginning of Chapter 8:


Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Ninja
Ninjutsu & Medication commands
Turn Tables, Slow World, & Revenge passives
 
Weapon:  Defender
Shield:  Dark Shield
Head:  Crystal Helm
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Heike Gloves
 
Vs.
 
Braev Lee:  94,500 HP, Dark weakness, Human
Kamiizumi:  87,750 HP, no weakness, Human
Alternis Dim:  121,500 HP, no weakness, Dark resist, Human
 

I’d like to say that I was clever enough to beat this on the first try, but I wasn’t.  Going after Alternis Dim first was a mistake, since he used Minus Strike long before his HP ran out.  Then I realized that Transience counterattacks would actually hinder me in this fight!  Ringabel first picked off Braev Lee with Dragon Breath.  Kamiizumi was the next to go. 
 


After the other Asterisk Holders went down, Ringabel could safely fight his alternate universe counterpart.   Alternis’s Dark elemental attacks were useless because of Ringabel’s Dark Shield, and Utsusemi dodged Minus Strikes.  The combination of Revenge and Turn Tables gave me enough BP to heal on the turns when Slow World activated.  All three characters fought as they did in earlier chapters, so this fight was easy once I knew the correct approach.


 
The final Asterisk Holders were forming a “spread artificial disease” scheme, but were not as competent as the villains of Deus Ex. . .
 
Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Red Mage
B/W Magic & Medication commands
Default Guard, Slow World, Angelic Ward, & Dual Shields passives
 
Shield 1:  Bloody Shield
Shield 2:  Dark Shield
Head:  Lamia’s Tiara
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Star Pendant
 
Vs. 
 
Qada:  87,750 HP, no weakness, Human
DeRosa:  101,250 HP, no weakness, Human
Profiteur:  94,500 HP, no weakness, Human
 
Why Red Mage?  It can cast Dispel, and also has Revenge as its innate passive.  Salve-Maker healing is better than White Magic for single-target healing anyway.  The Red Mage may have weak spells for the endgame, but it makes a good “chassis” job if you only need one command set. 
 
Qada, DeRosa, and Profiteur were annoying bosses when Ringabel first met them, but he learned some new tricks since then.  The three Asterisk Holders did not.  Even Takeover only did about 2000 damage if Angelic Ward didn’t activate, which is nothing when your max HP with Giant’s Drafts is over 16,000.  Qada at least tried to work with his fellow conspirators by using Water of Life to give them Regen status.
 
I may not have needed Dispel, because Regen only heals about 3% of max HP.  When Ringabel had Dragon Breath to deal consistent 9999 damage, he could easily overcome the healing.  Profiteur went down first, and then DeRosa.  DeRosa had more health than the others, so he could be a bit annoying.  The Lamia’s Tiara, Inoculate prevented DeRosa from inflicting Charm and Dread, and the Star Pendant stopped Qada’s toxic High Potions from doing anything more than 1000 fixed damage. 
 
Qada was the last to go, because I was afraid of his 9999 Dark Sigh.  Fortunately, he never used it once.  Then again, I couldn’t test whether the Dark Shield would block it.  Maybe I’ll find out in Chapter 8?
 
 
 
Chapter 8
 
Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Red Mage
B/W Magic & Medication commands
Slow World, Dual Shields, Angelic Ward, & Default Guard passives
 
Shield 1:  Lustrous Shield
Shield 2:  Iceflame Shield
Head:  Lamia’s Tiara
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Clothespin
 
Vs.
 
Holly:  94,500 HP, no weakness, Human
Heinkel:  108,000 HP, Lightning weakness, Human
Ominas:  94,500 HP, no weakness, Human
Barras:  101,250 HP, no weakness, Human
 
Playing with a solo multiclass character feels great after the misery of the Monk only challenge.  Monks can’t do any of the Chapter 7 and 8 sidequests even if you have 4 of them.  It’s impossible to overlevel in this game on Hard difficulty.  You overpower the game with job combinations instead.  This fight was so easy with solo Ringabel, I was wondering whether I had accidentally lowered the difficulty settings while adjusting the random encounter rate. 
 
Red Mage was the preferred job purely due to having Revenge for free.  Ringabel didn’t need any other command besides Medication.  I tried to kill Holly first with Dragon Breaths, but Heinkel took all the hits with Protect Ally.  I was afraid that she’d cast Curaga to heal them for 9999 health or something.  She cast Cure for less than 2000.  Cure, in Chapter 8!
 
The Iceflame Shield blocked Ominas’s Firagas, and his only other direct damage spell was Thunder.  Not Thundara or Thundaga as far as I could tell.  Thunder.  His Sleep spell would have been more of a threat if Ringabel didn’t have the Clothespin to protect himself from it.  Barras buffed himself with Invigorate and punched as usual.  After defeating Heinkel, I concentrated on Barras so he could damage his own teammates with failed Invigorates.  Holly talked about taking the gloves off after Ringabel hit her with a few Dragon Breaths, but she insisted on casting Aero instead of a Level 6 spell like Holy.  Ominas was easy after all of his comrades went down.
 
I checked the difficulty after winning, and yes, it was still on Hard mode.     Solos are easier than you may think in in Bravely Default after Chapter 3 or so, while some single job challenges with 4 characters can be impossible.  (I probably won't do the boss rush sidequest because it would take too long for any reasonable session with a solo character.)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

More Chapter 8 bosses. . .


Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Red Mage
B/W Magic & Medication commands
Slow World, Dual Shields, Angelic Ward, & Stop Immunity passives
 
Shield 1:  Lustrous Shield
Shield 2:  Iceflame Shield
Head:  Lamia’s Tiara
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes
 
Vs.
 
Khamer:  87,750 HP, no weakness, Human
Khint:  108,000 HP, no weakness, Human
Profiteur:  94,500 HP, no weakness, Human
Jackal:  101,250 HP, no weakness, Human
 
The entire Khamer & Profiteur Merchantry crew teamed up against Ringabel this time, mostly because Khamer threatened to freeze Profiteur’s assets.  All four characters fought like they usually did.  Khamer supported the team with Veilga, but Dragon Breath is a fixed damage move based on the user’s current HP.  Evasion is useless against that.  Khint Silenced Ringabel with Sword Magic.  At least he realized I was playing as a mage job, even if Ringabel didn’t cast any spells!  The requirement to reset Sword Magic every few turns hindered Khint a lot when Slow World drained his BP.  Profiteur’s Takeover did 2000 damage, or 1000 when Angelic Ward activated.

 
Khamer was the first to go, then Profiteur, then Khint.  The Jackal Braved far into negative BP when he was low on HP.  The AI doesn’t know how to handle Slow World at all, so this gave me extra chances to throw Dragon Breaths at him.  It was a rather anticlimactic rematch for bosses who were difficult in Chapter 1!  Bravely Default is one of those RPGs that’s hardest in the beginning due to lack of resources and abilities.  The late game isn’t tough enough to make up for the exponential gain in power after Chapter 3.
 
 

Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Red Mage
B/W Magic & Medication commands
Slow World, Angelic Ward, Dual Shields, & Default Guard passives
 
Shield 1:  Bloody Shield
Shield 2:  Iceflame Shield
Head:  Lamia’s Tiara
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Courage Ring
 
Vs.
 
DeRosa:  108,000 HP, no weakness, Human
Einheria:  94,500 HP, no weakness, Human
Mephilia:  87,750 HP, no weakness, Human
Artemia:  101,250 HP, Fire weakness, Human
 
The Red Mage strategy worked once again.  The only noticeable difference was being sure to equip the Lamia’s Tiara to avoid Charm and the Courage Ring to prevent Dread.  Einheria was the biggest threat, since her Jump worked even if Slow World made her lose BP.  I wanted to beat DeRosa first to stop him from healing the others, but he was stupid enough to only cast the Cure line of spells on an ally whom I haven’t attacked yet.  Mephilia cast Girtablulu instead of the best summon Susano-o this time, which was pathetic for Chapter 8. 



The Black Blades rematch is probably one of the hardest battles in the game.  It's weird considering how easy the other Chapter 8 bosses can be. 

Having Qada, Barbarossa, Praline, and Kikyo on the same team is evil.  Qada uses his fixed damage Dark Sigh mix that can't be blocked by the Dark Shield.  Barbarossa debuffs your defenses.  Kikyo's Shippurinjai can pick off a weakened character, and it even goes before Ironclad.    And Praline can give them all extra Physical Attack and BP.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Here's another Chapter 8 update.  I hope you're not sick of Asterisk Holder rematches, because that's all there is in Chapters 5-8!


Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Red Mage
B/W Magic & Medication commands
Slow World, Angelic Ward, Dual Shields, & Default Guard
 
Shield 1:  Lustrous Shield
Shield 2:  Bloody Shield
Head:  Crystal Helm
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes
 
Vs.
 
Lord DeRosso:  134,998 HP, Light weakness, Dark resist, Human
Yulyana:  128,250 HP, no weakness, Human
 
It took a few tries to find out the correct setup for this fight.  I tried Merchant at first, but Low Leverage does NOT reduce the damage of Graviga.  I tried Ninja too to dodge Battle Thirst with Utsusemi, but Graviga killed that attempt.  Red Mage was the way to go again because of its innate Revenge.  That freed up 2 slots for Angelic Ward and Default Guard.  Both combatants fought like they did in previous chapters.  DeRosso was the first target for Dragon’s Breath, and Yulyana was easy after Ringabel defeated his fellow immortal.  


 
Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Dark Knight
Dark Arts & Medication commands
Support Amp, Angelic Ward, Revenge, & Absorb Physical Damage passives
 
Weapon:  Blood Blade
Shield:  Bloody Shield
Head:  Crystal Helm
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes
 
Vs.
 
Barbarossa:  114,750 HP, Lightning weakness, Water resist, Human
Qada:  101,250 HP, no weakness, Human
Praline:  94,500 HP, no weakness, Light immune, Human
Kikyo:  101,250 HP, no weakness, Human
Kamiizumi:  108,000 HP, no weakness, Human


Many failed attempts occurred before I could find tactics that worked.  Red Mage and Knight ran out of Dragon’s Fangs, and sometimes didn’t have the defenses to survive hits.  Merchant couldn’t take all those hits even with Low Leverage.  Swordmaster did well for a while, and then Ringabel countered Qada one too many times and Dark Breath hit him for 9999.  The presence of Kikyo and her Shippurinjai meant Ringabel couldn’t outspeed everyone and heal either.
 

It was time to turn to Brent Scheppmann’s videos like I did for the Chapter 3 Qada fight.  He used a Dark Knight/Ninja build, but I decided to modify it a little for my playthrough.  Some equipment and passives were different in my version.  I like the Brave Suit too much to equip any other armor, because having an extra BP at the beginning really helps with setup.  The Giant’s Draft HP boost was essential too, so no Ninjutsu for this fight.

 
Using the Blood Blade as an item invokes Drain without having to equip Sword Magic.  On the first turn, Ringabel used the Blood Blade and mixed a Giant’s Draft.  After that, he used Minus Strike to recover his lost HP and mixed Dragon Breaths.  Barbarossa killed Ringabel on most of the failed attempts with debuffs and Double Damage, so I concentrated on him first.  After that, Praline was the next target because she could buff her allies and give them BP.  The Black Blades fight is perhaps the only exception to the “AI can’t deal with Slow World BP drain” rule because of Praline’s My Hero and One More For You.

 
Kamiizumi joined the fight after Barbarossa was defeated, but he was much less dangerous than the Pirate Asterisk Holder.  Kamiizumi only used regular attacks in a Brave rush.  Dark Nebulas with Drain healed Ringabel and damaged all the remaining bosses.  Even 9999 Dark Breaths were survivable thanks to Giant’s Drafts.  The Adversity passive buffed Ringabel’s defenses every time he was attacked, and Absorb Physical Damage healed 30% of every strike. 

 
This was the hardest battle in the game since the Chapter 7 Girl Power team, and it was a relief when it ended.  Now it’s time to fight the Asterisk Holders AGAIN (as if this game doesn’t have enough rematches already) at Eternian Central Command!
 
By the way, the characters are aware that BP exists.  Jackal mentions Brave Points in a conversation with Jackal:  “Moneybags here supplies the BP, and me and you burn through ‘em quick as you like.”
 

 
Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Dark Knight
Dark Arts & Medication commands
Support Amp, Angelic Ward, Revenge, & Absorb Physical Damage passives
 
Weapon:  Blood Blade
Shield:  Bloody Shield
Head:  Crystal Helm
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes
 
Vs.
 
Jackal:  134,998 HP, no weakness, Human
Einheria:  141,750 HP, no weakness, Human
Profiteur:  128,250 HP, no weakness, Human
 
Team “Brave Points Galore” is a fun fight where the Asterisk Holders work together.  Profiteur spends money to give other characters BP Drinks, and the other charactes use BP attacks such as High Jump and Godspeed Strike.  They were no match for Dark Nebulas combined with Adversity buffs and Drain from the Blood Blade.
 

 
Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Dark Knight
Dark Arts & Medication commands
Support Amp, Angelic Ward, Revenge, & Absorb Physical Damage passives
 
Weapon:  Blood Blade
Shield:  Bloody Shield
Head:  Crystal Helm
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes
 
Vs.
 
Kamiizumi:  134,998 HP, no weakness, Human
Heinkel:  128,500 HP, Lightning weakness, Human
Holly:  114,750 HP, no weakness, Human
Kikyo:  121,500 HP, no weakness, Human
 
Team “Iron Wall” was much easier than the Black Blades fight at Starkfort.  Kamiizumi used Nothing Ventured to counterattack physical moves, and Holly cast Reflect on her allies to block most spells.  She also reflected Curagas off of Ringabel to heal.  The rest didn’t do much apart from their usual tactics.  Dark Nebula with Drain was too much for even the most defensive Asterisk Holders.
 


Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Dark Knight
Dark Arts & Medication commands
Support Amp, Angelic Ward, Revenge, & Absorb Physical Damage passives
 
Weapon:  Blood Blade
Shield:  Bloody Shield
Head:  Crystal Helm
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes
 
Vs.
 
Barbarossa:  128,250 HP, Lightning weakness, Water resist, Human
Barras:  134,998 HP, no weakness, Human
Praline:  114,750 HP, no weakness, Light immune, Human
Alternis Dim:  108,000 HP, no weakness, Dark resist, Human
 
Praline buffed her allies like she did in the Starkfort Black Blades battle.  Barbarossa fought the same way he did too.  This game recycles too much content!  Alternis was the biggest threat due to Minus Strike, but my Minus Strikes restored my health right back!  Barras killed himself with a failed Invigorate at the end.


Ringabel faces a problem with Qada next.  (Why is it always Qada?)  The next set of Asterisk Holders love to cast Fire spells.  The Iceflame Shield would make this trivial, but Qada's Fire Bane mixes override immunities to give Ringabel a Fire weakness.  Firagas can easily hit for 9999 after that.  Perhaps it's time to break out Slow World again?  Reflect won't work because these bosses cast Reflect on themselves and are smart enough to bounce their spells onto you.

EDIT:  Qada is such a jerk that not even Hasten World + High Jump works on him!  Reflected spells can hit Ringabel after he lands.  This fight is nearly impossible to beat even if you cheat.  RNG turn order is one of the worst ideas in RPGs, and Pokemon should have killed it once and for all!  

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Hip hip hooray!    


I've finally beaten Team Mega Magic!  It took this loadout to do it:

Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Spiritmaster
Spiritism & Medication commands
BP Recovery, Hasten World, & Speed 20% Up passives

Weapon:  Air Knife (irrelevant)
Shield:  Iceflame Shield
Head:  Crystal Helm
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes

vs.

Qada:  128,250 HP, no weakness, Human
Ominas:  121,500 HP, no weakness, Human
Yulyana:  134,998 HP, no weakness, Human
Mephilia:  114,750 HP, no weakness, Human

This is one of the most unfair fights I've ever had in an RPG.  The enemies have simple AI.  Qada overrides Fire immunities and resistances with a Fire Bane mix, and then everyone pounds the party with Firagas and Promethean Fire spells.  Once a target has a Fire weakness, Qada will switch to his usual Dark Breath mixes that work like Minus Strike.

I tried many, many defensive setups before settling on the Spiritmaster.  No matter how much armor, Magic Defense buffs, HP, or MND you have, eventually Qada will go first and Fire Bane, and you will die to his allies' magic.  Don't try the Dark Knight's Absorb Magic ability either, because it doesn't work on Reflected spells.  Even the legendary Hasten World + High Jump combo fails because Reflecting spells off yourself doesn't technically need a target to work.

You either break Bravely Default or the game breaks you.  So I cobbled together a Spiritmaster strategy.  Ringabel would use Stillness on the first turn to block all damage on the field.  Defaulting on the next turn combined with Hasten World would give him 3 BP for the next round.  Then he could attack with a Dragon Breath mix and then block attacks with Stillness.  This was an extremely slow battle, and at one point, I started throwing Bomb Arm mixes out of pure spite!

Qada admonished the rest of the group about using too much MP when he was low on health.  I don't know if most bosses can actually run out of MP, but the fight dragged on so long that eventually Mephilia and Ominas were whacking me with their staves instead of casting spells.  Reminds me a bit of Sullla's Spoony the Bard.  

Even after Qada died and the Fire Bane threat was over, I took no chances with the Stillness pattern.  Dragon Fangs and Bomb Arms slowly but surely defeated Yulyana, then Ominas, then finally Mephilia.

None of my posts can express the relief that this boss fight is finally over.  Taking a break from Bravely Default to play a solo run of Pokemon White helped me relax enough to form new strategies.

About 3 more teams left at Eternian Central Command, and then the crystal fiends, the 3 Airy fights, and the final boss Ouroboros.  No, I am not doing the Gauntlet sidequest that involves fighting all the Asterisk Holders without resting!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Today's update will be about Chapter 8's Ailment Hell team:

Ringabel Character Level 99, Job Level 14 Dark Knight
Dark Arts & Spiritism commands
Angelic Ward, Support Amp, Absorb Physical Damage, & Hasten World passives

Weapon:  Blood Blade
Shield: Dark Shield
Head:  Crystal Helm
Armor:  Brave Suit
Accessory:  Hermes Shoes

vs.

Khint:  128,250 HP, no weakness, Human
Lord DeRosso:  134,998 HP, Light weakness, Dark resist, Human
DeRosa:  121,500 HP, no weakness, Human
Victoria:  101,250 HP, Light weakness, Dark resist, Human


It took several tries to get the setup right.  Victoria used Corpse to cause the Doom status like usual, so a Ribbon or Fairy Ward was required to block it.  Dark Shield nullified her Dark spells.  I didn't want to go through the "fake ending" sequence to get a Ribbon "normally", because this game has too much filler as it is, so I resorted to Spiritism  DeRosa preferred to Charm with Captivating Cologne, cause Dread, and occasionally heal his teammates with Cura.  DeRosso had a new Poison physical attack, along with Lullaby to cause Sleep.  Khint enchanted his weapon with Poison and used his regular attack.    

Hasten World is probably required for any solo using Spiritmaster abilities, unless you're lucky with Revenge.  The BP cost is too high otherwise.  Fairy Ward meant most of the enemies' actions were useless, except for Khint and DeRosso.  Even though two opponents resisted Dark, Dark Nebula was still the best attack for this battle.  It even took out Khint and DeRosa at the same time!  The rest of the fight was cleanup after that happened.  I still had to keep track of the Blood Sword's enchantment and Fairy Ward to make sure they wouldn't expire at a bad time.


(Why are there characters named DeRosa and DeRosso in the same game?  It must confuse many players.     )

P.S.  Spiritmaster abilities cannot be used while Silenced, even though most of them don't use MP.  I learned that the hard way on a failed attempt for this fight.