Aeshma is an enemy from Final Fantasy X-2 found in the Road to the Farplane and Cloisters 75 to 79 of the Via Infinito. It is a black and blue palette swap of Varuna from Final Fantasy X.
Stats
Battle
The Aeshma is immune to physical attacks and normally casts Flare on the character with the highest remaining HP, dealing 975~1,100 damage before Magic Defense and Shell are taken into account. If it has 99 MP or less remaining, it will use Osmose on the entire party.
Once it has less than 1,255 HP remaining, it has a 2/3 chance of using Drain on all characters, stealing 52~59 HP before Magic Defense is taken into account, and a 1/3 chance of using Ultima, which deals only 1,911~2,158 damage before accounting for Magic Defense and Shell due to its damage constant of 42.
The Aeshma operates on an action counter. After having a turn and being attacked by a character a total of ten times, it will use Emblem of Thanatos, which hits all characters for 62.5% of max HP and reduces stats by one level. This can especially be dangerous if the Aeshma appears in a pair, as they can easily finish off the party with Emblem of Thanatos.
AI script
Basic Pattern: Does it have less than 1/7 of its max HP remaining? Yes - 2/3 chance - Drain on all characters 1/3 chance - Ultima (if it has less than 100 MP remaining, Osmose on all characters) No - Flare on character with highest remaining HP (if it has less than 100 MP remaining, Osmose on all characters) Action Count Pattern: if it performs an attack, or if it gets hit by a character, Action Count goes up 1. when its Action Count reaches 10, go to zero and Emblem of Thanatos
Strategy
The party should hit it with their strongest abilities, such as a Dark Knight's Darkness or, if using captured fiends, an Elder Drake's Pyroplexy (which always breaks the damage limit). Shell can be cast to reduce the damage of the Aeshma's spells.
Aeshmas often appear in groups with other enemies.
Creature Creator
Automatically recruited after completing Aka Manah's fiend tale, Aeshma comes knowing Firaga, Cure, and Drain. It also has Ailment Def., which protects it from any status ailment. It has high Magic, Magic Def., Accuracy, and Agility. Its Strength and Defense are mediocre, and its Luck and Evasion are low. Unlike an enemy Aeshma, the recruitable one can take full damage from physical attacks, and so keeping it away from enemies with powerful physical attacks is recommended. Aeshma can also learn Thanatos Emblem (deals major magic damage to all enemies and lowers their stats by one level) and Total Limit Break (allows dealt damage and max HP to reach 99,999) like with its lesser counterparts.
It has no life readings. Its age is 10. As such, it has developed linguistic abilities. It claims to be an envoy from the fiend world, a world between Spira and the Farplane.
At the conclusion of its fiend tale, Aeshma dies but is not reborn stronger this time. A Jahi arises from its pyreflies and provokes Shinra to prove his mettle by raising its power, after which Jahi is automatically recruited.
Fiend Tale
- ANALYSIS FAILED
Fiend has no life readings!
Shinra Analysis:
This fiend has been reborn. Age thought to be about 10. It seems to have acquired linguistic capabilities. It says it's an envoy from the fiend world, but it's just a kid! So this fiend is from the "fiend world"? It's a place located between Spira and the Farplane. - ANALYSIS FAILED
Fiend has no life readings!
Shinra Analysis:
It's building up power. Could it be preparing to evolve again? I checked the ancient texts and found a legend that tells of a "fiend world" between Spira and the Farplane. This fiend is a rare species called an "envoy" from the fiend world. It appears to have awoken for some purpose...
Fiend Arena
Aeshma appears in the Fiend Arena, found in three teams that are featured only in the Fiend World Cup: Shadow Envoy (Aeshma x2), Moonflow Guardian (Aeshma, Monolith), and Abyssal Judge (Aeshma, Arast). All three teams can pose a huge problem to any parties that use only physical attacks, especially when the Fiend World Cup first appears as the Fiend portal, which leads to a Game Over if lost. For this reason, the player must employ characters and creatures capable of using magic or other abilities that deal special damage.
All three enemy teams featuring the Aeshma are also decent for having captured creatures learn their most powerful abilities and auto-abilities since the Aeshma's Flare can cause captured creatures to learn their most powerful abilities and auto-abilities upon receiving damage from it and surviving it.
Etymology
Aeshma is the Younger Avestan name of Zoroastrianism's demon of "wrath." As a hypostatic entity, Aeshma is variously interpreted as "wrath," "rage," and "fury."