In return for opening the jail, I'll rip you limb from limb! Whatta deal!Archeodemon
Archeodemon is a boss in the Finest Fantasy for Advance and the now discontinued Matrix Software versions of Final Fantasy V. It is fought in the Sealed Temple, trapped inside the dungeon area; the party can only battle it after obtaining the key from the character in the Hall of Tranquility in Abyssal Falls, who also mentions about Omega Mk.II and Neo Shinryu. Later on, it is also part of the gauntlet in Cloister of the Dead.
Stats
Battle
Archeodemon absorbs all elemental magic (including Holy). While it is undead, it also possesses the heavy flag and cannot be defeated instantly by Phoenix Downs or the Raise spell. Archeodemon is vulnerable to slow and darkness statuses, though it has no actions affected by accuracy. It has permanent protect status active.
Archeodemon uses Drain Touch and Flare, and like Twintania, will charge up for two turns and cast either Mega Flare or Giga Flare for major damage, with Mega Flare being more likely. Unlike Twintania, it does not become vulnerable to instant death and petrifying abilities during the charging period.
When Archeodemon's HP falls below 20,000, it will cancel charging if it was in a charging period and use Drain Touch once more before moving into its second phase. It begins casting Meteor, Holy, Death and Hurricane, while continuing to use Drain Touch and Flare. Its charging period only lasts for a single turn instead of two like its first phase, and Giga Flare becomes more likely than Mega Flare when the charging is complete. If Archeodemon's HP is increased beyond 20,000 after triggering its second phase (e.g. by hitting itself with Death), it will still remain on second phase and will never revert back to its first phase behavior.
If hit by non-magical attacks, Archeodemon will cast Death upon itself, and due to being undead, this will heal it completely. Archeodemon will often counter magic attacks with either Curse or ????, which, given its enormous HP, is likely to kill the _target. It will not do its magic counter reaction while it is charging.
Osmose or Osmose Blade do not work as Archeodemon is undead; doing this will drain MP from the caster.
AI script
Default:
- Drain Touch
- Flare
- Show message: "Focusing power!" and set Charging flag
- Nothing
- Mega Flare (66.6%) / Giga Flare (33.3%) and unset Charging flag
When HP < 20000:
- Set Phase 2 flag, unset Charging flag
- Drain Touch
When Phase 2 flag set, replace default actions with:
- Meteor / Holy / Flare
- Holy / Flare / Nothing
- Death / Hurricane / Drain Touch
- Show message: "Focusing power!" and set Charging flag
- Mega Flare (33.3%) / Giga Flare (66.6%) and unset Charging flag
Reacts on NOT Magic
- Death on self
If not Charging, reacts on HP Damage:
Strategy
The party can equip either Reflect Rings (to reflect Flare, Mega Flare, and Holy) or Hermes Sandals (for faster turns). Ribbons can block most of the status effects from Curse and stops Death. Bone Mail can also be used to absorb Death attacks, but can be risky due to the inability to resurrect a wearer and if magic attacks are chosen, the chance of dying from a ???? counterattack is high.
Due to its low level and nonexistent magic evasion, Slow should have a high success rate and should be inflicted immediately to increase the time Archeodemon takes to charge its Giga Flares.
The party should focus on dualcasting its most powerful non-elemental spells, namely Flare, Meteor, and Bahamut. Meteor is recommended, as the damage dealt by the four-hit combo will accumulate quickly due to Archeodemon's negligible Magic Defense. Anyone who falls to a ???? counterattack should be restored quickly with Phoenix Downs, Raise, or Revive.
One way to defeat Archeodemon is to equip Bone Mails and cast Reflect on Archeodemon, so the party can attack with their most powerful physical techniques and Archeodemon will reflect Death on the party, but as they are wearing the Bone Mail the spell will not harm the party. Other ways to immunize against Death include equipping Ribbons or mixing Lifeshield. Charging Flare Spellblade, singing Requiem, Rapid Fire, and Jump are all powerful ways of attacking without magic.
To defeat it without much trouble, the party can drain its MP via using an Ether on it first (setting its MP to 9999), then spamming the Blue Magic Magic Hammer. Once its MP is down to 0, Archeodemon will no longer be able to cast Death nor any spells outside of Mega or Giga Flare. It can then be brought down with most non-elemental attacks easily.
Another way to defeat it without any trouble is to cast Mute so it will be unable to use his Flare or Death. The party can use Rapid Fire. This is quicker than using Magic Hammer to drain its MP to 0.
Another method is to have everyone be a Mime. One member should have the Dualcast, White Magic, and Summon commands. This member should cast Curaga upon the party, then summon Bahamut and have all party members mimic this until Archeodemon dies.
Other appearances
Pictlogica Final Fantasy
Gallery
Etymology
The word root archaeo-, as in "archaeology", comes from Greek archaios meaning "ancient".
A demon is "an evil spirit or devil, especially one thought to possess a person or act as a tormentor in hell".