Colosseum Guide

Colosseum Guide
For Final Fantasy 3(US)/6(J)
By Mnrogar

version 1.3

Table of contents
-----------------
1. Colosseum chains
2. Bet/Fight/Win lists
3. General recommendations
4. Enemy list
5. Miscellaneous

Version History:
----------------
- Version 1.3 (June 4th, 2004): Fixed the labelling of the "***" notation in
section 1. Added general max M.Block%, imp characters and 255 Defense strategies
to section 3. Added strategies/tips/details to Covert, Lethal Wpn, Mantodea,
Madam, Rhyos, SrBehemoth and Test Rider. Fixed damage fraction of Cyclonic under
Harpy. Removed mention of defense as it relates to Dischord under IronHitman. Put
Madam's counters in the right order. Fixed Tyranosaur HP and MP values. Added a
paragraph on Specials in section 4. Rearranged the lists in section 5. Fixed
spelling and grammar mistakes. Updated the Credits section.

- Version 1.2 (March 5th, 2004): Correction to Fire Knuckle set, corrected
tintinabar spelling, removed "win" from the "bet and fight Chupon for elixir"
list's header, added to Retainer strategy, corrected odds for sketch commands
(25% and 75% were inverted), added list of commands to the Miscellaneous section,
specified statuses healed in the General Recommendations section, correction
to Sky Base strategy, added to the Credits section.

- Version 1.1 (March 2nd, 2004): Corrections/additions made to the Outsider,
Retainer, Mantodea, Harpy, Cactrot notes in enemy list section, switched Cursed
Ring from colosseum only to colosseum and metamorph only in the Miscellaneous
section, merged grades 4 and 5 in the character rating section, added to the
general recommendations section, added to the Credits section

- Version 1.0: No official release

##############################################################################
# 1. Colosseum chains #
##############################################################################

Betting a specific item in the colosseum will always let you win a specific item
but a specific item may be won from many different items. This can get confusing
and the lists of bet/win items are extensive so they are presented here in a way
that will make it easy to see these "chains" without having to jump to another
part of the doc the see what item you can win from an item you will win.

A given item in a list (or chain) is the item you have to bet in order to win the
item below it. A chain ends either with an item that will have you win the same
item when you bet it or with 2 items that will have you win each other when you
bet them.

"***" next to an item means betting this item will have you winning the one listed
above it.

See the following section for the enemies you have to defeat in order to win a
given item.

The chains have been seperated into "sets" since there are relatively few items
that can end a chain compared to the amount of "branches" that lead to the end of
a chain. In order to not display the chains in a "genealogy tree" fashion parts of
some chains are repeated in other chains.

1. Exp. Egg set
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tabby Suit
Chocobo Suit
Moogle Suit
Aegis Shld Imp's Armor Nutkin Suit Cursed Shld
TortoiseShld TortoiseShld Genji Armor Cursed Ring
Titanium Titanium Imp Halberd Air Anchor Air Anchor
Cat Hood Cat Hood Cat Hood Zephyr Cape Zephyr Cape
Merit Award Merit Award Merit Award Elixir Elixir
Rename Card Rename Card Rename Card Rename Card Rename Card
Marvel Shoes Marvel Shoes Marvel Shoes Marvel Shoes Marvel Shoes
Tintinabar Tintinabar Tintinabar Tintinabar Tintinabar
Exp. Egg *** Exp. Egg *** Exp. Egg *** Exp. Egg *** Exp. Egg ***

Sneak Rring ThiefKnife Atma Weapon
Thief Glove Thief Glove Graedus Rainbow Brsh Punisher
Dirk Dirk Dirk Gravity rod Gravity rod
Elixir Elixir Elixir Elixir Elixir
Rename Card Rename Card Rename Card Rename Card Rename Card
Marvel Shoes Marvel Shoes Marvel Shoes Marvel Shoes Marvel Shoes
Tintinabar Tintinabar Tintinabar Tintinabar Tintinabar
Exp. Egg *** Exp. Egg *** Exp. Egg *** Exp. Egg *** Exp. Egg ***

Red Cap
Coronet
Regal Crown
Genji Helmet ValiantKnife
Crystal Helm Fenix Down Assassin Crystal
Diamond Helm Magicite SwordBreaker Enhancer
Elixir Elixir Elixir Elixir
Rename Card Rename Card Rename Card Rename Card
Marvel Shoes Marvel Shoes Marvel Shoes Marvel Shoes Megalixir
Tintinabar Tintinabar Tintinabar Tintinabar Tintinabar
Exp. Egg *** Exp. Egg *** Exp. Egg *** Exp. Egg *** Exp. Egg ***

2. Red Jacket set
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ninja Star Paladin Shld
Tack Star Wing Edge Dragon Claw Force Shld
Rising Sun Sniper Sniper Doom Darts Thornlet
Bone Club Bone Club Bone Club Bone Club Mirage Vest
Red Jacket Red Jacket Red Jacket Red Jacket Red Jacket
Red Jacket *** Red Jacket *** Red Jacket *** Red Jacket *** Red Jacket ***

3. Gold Hairpin set
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BehemothSuit
Snow Muffler Relic Ring Moogle Charm Gem Box
Charm Bangle Charm Bangle Charm Bangle Economizer Safety Bit
Dragon Horn Dragon Horn Dragon Horn Dragon Horn Dragon Horn
Gold Hairpin*** Gold Hairpin*** Gold Hairpin*** Gold Hairpin*** Gold Hairpin***

4. Dragon Horn set
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Muscle Belt
Crystal Orb Ribbon
Gold Hairpin Gold Hairpin
Dragon Horn *** Dragon Horn ***

5. Ice Shld set
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ragnarok
Illumina
Scimitar ThunderBlade Blizzard Flame Sabre
Ogre Nix Ogre Nix Ogre Nix Ogre Nix
Soul Sabre Soul Sabre Soul Sabre Soul Sabre
Falchion Falchion Falchion Falchion
Flame Shld Flame Shld Flame Shld Flame Shld
Ice Shld *** Ice Shld *** Ice Shld *** Ice Shld ***

6. Flame Shld set
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crystal Mail
Ice Shld
Flame Shld ***

7. Pearl Lance set
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardened
Murasame Heal Rod
Aura Magus Rod Stunner
Strato Strato Strato
Pearl Lance*** Pearl Lance*** Pearl Lance ***

8. Fire Knuckle set 9. Genji Shld set
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tiger Fangs Fixed Dice Genji Glove Gauntlet
Fire Knuckle Fire Knuckle Thunder Shld Thunder Shld
Fire Knuckle*** Fire Knuckle*** Genji Shld *** Genji Shld ***

10. Blizzard Orb set 11. Czarina Gown set
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rage Ring Minerva
Blizzard Orb *** Czarina Gown ***

12. Hero Ring set 13. Sky render set
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pod Bracelet Aura Lance
Hero Ring *** Sky Render ***

##############################################################################
# 2. Bet/Fight/Win lists #
##############################################################################

Items for which you won't fight Chupon Bet and fight Chupon for Elixir*:
for an elixir:
(Sorted alphabetically according Bet
to "win" column) -----------------------------
Dirk Iron Armor
Bet Fight Win MithrilKnife Silk Robe
------ ------ ------ Guardian Mithril Vest
Genji Armor Borras Air Anchor Air Lancet Ninja Gear
Cursed Ring Steroidite Air Anchor Man Eater White Dress
ValiantKnife Woolly Assassin SwordBreaker Mithril Mail
Murasame Borras Aura MithrilBlade Gaia Gear
Sky Render Scullion Aura Lance RegalCutlass Gold Armor
Rage Ring Allosaurus Blizzard Orb Rune Edge Power Sash
Rising Sun Allosaurus Bone Club Epee Light Robe
Sniper Borras Bone Club Enhancer Diamond Vest
Doom Darts Opinicus Bone Club Excalibur DiamondArmor
Imp Halberd Allosaurus Cat Hood Mithril Pike Dark Gear
Titanium Brachosaur Cat Hood Trident NoiseBlaster
Snow Muffler Retainer Charm Bangle Stout Spear Bio Blaster
Relic Ring Sky Base Charm Bangle Partisan Flash
Moogle Charm Outsider Charm Bangle Gold Lance Chain Saw
Tabby Suit Vectaur Chocobo Suit Imperial Debilitator
Red Cap Rhyos Coronet Kodachi Drill
Genji Helmet Fortis Crystal Helm Blossom AutoCrossbow
Muscle Belt Allosaurus Crystal Orb Ashura Fire Skean
Cursed Shld Didalos Cursed Ring Kotetsu Water Edge
Minerva Pug Czarina Gown Forged Bolt Edge
Crystal Helm Dueller Diamond Helm Tempest Inviz Edge
Graedus Karkass Dirk Mithril Rod Shadow Edge
Thief Glove Harpy Dirk Fire Rod Goggles
Gold Hairpin Evil Oscar Dragon Horn Ice Rod Star Pendant
Economizer Vectagoyle Dragon Horn Thunder Rod Peace Ring
Safety Bit Pug Dragon Horn Poison Rod Amulet
Charm Bangle Retainer Dragon Horn Pearl Rod White Cape
Gem Box SrBehemoth Economizer Gravity Rod Jewel Ring
Crystal Borras Enhancer Chocobo Brsh Fairy Ring
Tintinabar Dark Force Exp. Egg DaVinci Brsh Barrier Ring
Soul Sabre Opinicus Falchion Magical Brsh MithrilGlove
Fixed Dice Trixter Fire Knuckle Shuriken Guard Ring
Tiger Fangs Mantodea Fire Knuckle Flail RunningShoes
Falchion Outsider Flame Shld Full Moon Wall Ring
Ice Shld Innoc Flame Shld Morning Star Cherub Down
Paladin Shld Hemophyte Force Shld Boomerang Cure Ring
Nutkin Suit Opinicus Genji Armor Hawk Eye True Knight
Regal Crown Opinicus Genji Helmet Cards DragoonBoots
Thunder Shld Outsider Genji Shld Darts Zephyr Cape
Ribbon Dark Force Gold Hairpin Dice Czarina Ring
Crystal Orb Borras Gold Hairpin MetalKnuckle Earrings
Dragon Horn Rhyos Gold Hairpin Mithril Claw Atlas Armlet
Atma Weapon GtBehemoth Graedus Kaiser Hyper Wrist
Punisher Opinicus Gravity Rod Poison Claw Offering
Rainbow Brsh Test Rider Gravity Rod Buckler Beads
Pod Bracelet Hemophyte Hero Ring Heavy Shld Black Belt
Flame Shld IronHitman Ice Shld Mithril Shld Coin Toss
Crystal Mail Covert Ice Shld Gold Shld FakeMustache
Ragnarok Didalos Illumina Diamond Shld Back Guard
Fenix Down Cactrot Magicite Crystal Shld Gale Hairpin
Heal Rod Pug Magus Rod Leather Hat Sniper Sight
Rename Card Doom Drgn Marvel Shoes Hair Band Sprint Shoes
Cat Hood Hoover Merit Award Plumed Hat Tonic
Czarina Gown Sky Base Minerva Beret Potion
Thornlet Opinicus Mirage Vest Magus Hat X-Potion
Chocobo Suit Veteran Moogle Suit Bandana Tincture
Hardened Phase Murasame Iron Helmet Ether
Moogle Suit Madam Nutkin Suit Bard's Hat X-Ether
Flame Sabre Evil Oscar Ogre Nix Green Beret Revivify
Blizzard Scullion Ogre Nix Head Band Antidote
ThunderBlade Steroidite Ogre Nix Mithril Helm Eyedrop
Scimitar Covert Ogre Nix Tiara Soft
Strato Aquila Pearl Lance Gold Helmet Remedy
Hero Ring Rhyos Pod Bracelet Tiger Mask Sleeping Bag
Blizzard Orb Allosaurus Rage Ring Mystery Veil Tent
Bone Club Test Rider Red Jacket Circlet Green Cherry
Mirage Vest Vectagoyle Red Jacket Diamond Helm Magicite
Coronet Evil Oscar Regal Crown Dark Hood Super Ball
Merit Award Covert Rename Card Oath Veil Echo Screen
Elixir Cactrot Rename Card LeatherArmor Smoke Bomb
Tack Star Opinicus Rising Sun Cotton Robe Warp Stone
Illumina Scullion Scimitar Kung Fu Suit Dried Meat
Aura Lance Land Worm Sky Render
Wing Edge Rhyos Sniper
Dragon Claw Test Rider Sniper
BehemothSuit Outsider Snow Muffler Bet these items and win the same
Ogre Nix SrBehemoth Soul Sabre thing:
Pearl Lance Sky Base Strato Bet/Win Fight
Stunner Test Rider Strato --------- -------
Aura Rhyos Strato Break Blade Lethal Wpn
Magus Rod Allosaurus Strato Drainer Enuo
Assassin Test Rider SwordBreaker Striker Chupon (or Shadow)
Ninja Star Chaos Drgn Tack Star Trump Allosaurus
ThiefKnife Wart Puck Thief Glove Fire Knuckle TumbleWeed
Sneak Ring Tap Dancer Thief Glove Red Jacket Vectagoyle
Force Shld Dark Force Thornlet Force Armor SrBehemoth
Genji Shld Retainer Thunder Shld Tao Robe Test Rider
Gauntlet Vectagoyle Thunder Shld Memento Ring Chupon
Genji Glove Hemophyte Thunder Shld
Marvel Shoes Tyranosaur Tintinabar
Exp. Egg Steroidite Tintinabar
Megalixir Siegfried Tintinabar
TortoiseShld Steroidite Titanium
Aegis Shld Borras TortoiseShld
Imp's Armor Rhyos TortoiseShld
Air Anchor Brontaur Zephyr Cape

* From the Elixir you win, the regular Exp.Egg set continues as described in the
first section.

##############################################################################
# 3. General Recommendations #
##############################################################################

Fights in the colosseum are single battles so the best tip that can be given is to
use reset to your advantage. Just save before you go in and bet something, if the
fight doesn't go your way reset and try again, it's simple and very useful;
there's no excuse to losing a valuable item.

Another tip, although less practical, is to make use of the Magic command by
teaching very few spells to your characters so that they will have a greater
chance of using them in the colosseum. Since having very few spells for all your
characters isn't very practical, it's better to do so with only one character. The
same could be done with Rages and Lores. You could teach only Ultima to Relm, for
example, so that when in the colosseum you'll be certain that if she uses Magic
she will cast Ultima. The choice of character depends on individual playing
styles, how each character has been leveled up with esper bonuses (since we're
talking about spells a character with high magic power might be a better choice if
the spell(s) desired are offensive) and commands available. For the latter, if you
teach very few spells to a character in order to make him/her your designated
colosseum fighter, you might as well make it a character that has fewer commands
available in the colosseum (see character rating section).

Something to remember is that the colosseum heals vanish, death, stone and zombie
status (but not imp, float or poison), and restores HP and MP to their max before
the battle begins so there is no need to heal those statuses or restore HP/MP in
order to prepare for battle, except if a status prevents you from properly
equipping a character of course.

A lot of colosseum enemies are vulnerable to instant death attacks which can be
used through some weapons. Although those weapons have only a 25% chance of using
their instant death attacks you can increase your chances by equipping an Offering
to get 4 chances in a single round whenever you can spare a relic slot. Keep in
mind that addition effect weapons like Doom Darts, Soul Sabre and Break Blade
can't use their instant death attacks with Offering, opt instead for the likes
of Assassin and Wing Edge.

There are a few strategies that are viable for nearly every enemy in the
colosseum, these are not mentioned under each enemy in the following section but
here instead, for the sake of not being repetitive.

- Maxing M.Block% to 128 or above.

With the evade bug (evade being a useless stat and M.Block% taking over its
duties) equipping characters according to M.Block% becomes a way to make
characters very hard to hit, with physical or magical attacks, especially given
the fact that most attacks in the game are blockable. At 128 M.Block% it becomes
impossible for blockable attacks to hit, the characters with which it's easier to
reach that value would be Terra, Celes and Edgar given their good choice of
"natural" high M.Block% equipment. These characters can use the following
equipment to gain 120 M.Block%, this will give Celes 129 M.Block% while Terra
will be at 127 and Edgar at 121, a second White Cape will bring them over 128:

Enhancer (+20%)
Force Shld (+50%)
Bard's Hat (+10%)
Force Armor (+30%)
White Cape (+10%)

Here are some alternatives that will help other characters (with Merit Award in
most cases) raise their M.Block%:

Illumina (+50%), Ragnarok (+30%), Magus Rod (+30%)
Paladin Shld (+40%), Aegis Shld (+40%), Thunder/Ice/Flame Shld (+10%)
Mystery Veil (+10%), Cat Hood (+10%)
Minerva (+10%), Snow Muffler (+10%), Tao Robe (+10%)
Zephyr Cape (+10%)

- Maxing Defense.

There very few characters that can do this: Mog and Gau can do so thanks to Snow
Muffler and various other high Defense pieces of equipment. For example, with a
Genji Helmet or Thornlet, Mog can equip a shield with Defense as low as that of
Thunder Shld, Ice Shld or Flame Shld without using up any relic slots. Since
enemies in the colosseum all use Battle, max Defense is really useful but is
also often insufficient since most enemies will use spells half of the time or
more. This is where being able to equip elemental shields and having free relic
slots comes in handy.

With maxed Defense (255), while in the back row, attacks that do not ignore
defense (nor the regular damage formula) will deal 0 damage, in the front row
they will deal 1 damage.

- Imp character with imp equipment.
(Imp Halberd, TortoiseShld, Titanium and Imp's Armor)

Although not as universal as the previous 2 there are a lot of battles where a
fully "imp equipped" imped character can dominate. With the high Defense,
Mag.Def and water absorption of the imp equipment as well as the fact that imps
only use fight in the colosseum, imps can be very effective and reliable in the
colosseum. While imps, characters can still access the Magic command, this
means that in the colosseum imped characters may waste turns trying to cast
spell that will abort because they're imps. For this reason I recommend Gogo
without a Magic command when in need of a character to turn into an imp for the
colosseum. Mog also makes a good character to turn into an imp given his high
Mag.Def.

Dragon Horn and DragonBoots are good relics to equip on imped characters in the
colosseum to increase damage, taking advantage of the fact that the Imp Halberd
is a Lance and also letting the wearer avoid attacks while in the air.

##############################################################################
# 4. Enemy List #
##############################################################################

Here is an alphabetical list of all the enemies that can be encountered in the
colosseum along with their properties, the attacks they can use in there and more.

Notes:
------
Status weaknesses mentioned are only the ones you can inflict with some control
through the Fight command.

Stone is listed as a weakness for some enemies but keep in mind that the only way
to take advantage of that in the Colosseum with some reasonable predictability is
through Break Blade's random Break spell which can also be blocked by instant
death protection, so you won't be able to exploit a weakness to stone unless the
enemy is also weak to instant death.

The number next to the enemy's name is its number in the ROM; it's there to make
it easier to find the enemy in FF3usME and other programs and docs.

Under counters you will see the attacks the enemy can use when you attack him.
Either the enemy will use a specific spell or it will choose between 2 to 3
attacks. Counters are triggered each time the condition mentioned is fullfilled,
for example; "if attacked", "if dead", etc. Sometimes 2 conditions have to be met
in order for the enemy to use a given attack, in this case the 2 conditions are
listed consecutively and are followed by the attack (or the choise of attacks).

Since everybody but Gogo and Umaro have a Magic command, making them very
unpredictable, the setup and strategies given in this guide have mostly Gogo with
3 Fight commands in mind as the character used in the Colosseum. Enemies with no
suggested setup and/or little details can be taken care of as efficiently as
possible by raising M.Block% as much as possible (or 255 Defense as a second
alternative) while compromising to equip an instant death weapon or Stunner
according to the monster's weaknesses if it has any.

It's possible to get preemptive attacks in the colosseum but it's hardly ever
worth using up a relic slot (Gale Hairpin) to get better odds at it, especially in
the fights where it would be most useful (Siegfried, Chupon) since in those fights
you desperately need both your relic slots. Besides, you can always reset until
you get a preemptive attack without a Gale Hairpin, especially when playing with
an emulator.

Enemy's "Special" commands are attacks similar to a simple Battle command: they
are always physical, they do not ignore defense and are not elemental (unless a
status they inflict is). What differentiates them is that they have special
properties; from damage multipliers (which increases damage done) to inflicting
statuses.

==============================================================================
= Allosaurus = # 133 HP: 3000 MP: 300
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Fire, Pearl Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ PoisonClaw (poison)
Doom
--

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Allosaurus is vulnerable to instant death so you can equip a weapon with instant
death properties like Scimitar and Wing Edge for a potentially quick win as well
as equipping a Wall Ring to reflect Allosaurus' Doom spell back to it. Gogo with 3
Sketch commands can have Allosaurus use Doom on itself.

==============================================================================
= Aquila = # 236 HP: 6013 MP: 820
============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Fire Ice Poison, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Special ~ Flap (Attack X 5) - ShimSham or nothing or nothing
Cyclonic
ShimSham

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Instant death protection will let you block Cyclonic and ShimSham so Safety Bit or
Memento Ring is in order.

==============================================================================
= Borras = # 242 HP: 4771 MP: 590
============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison Poison, Stone, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ Uppercut (Attack X 5)
Special ~ Uppercut (Attack X 5)
Special ~ Uppercut (Attack X 5)

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
No subtlety here, only blockable physical attacks, so there are many
possibilities: high M.Block%, high Defense and Mirage Vest. Although the latter's
image status will not last forever, it might last long enough, depending on how
much damage you can do.

==============================================================================
= Brachosaur = # 38 HP: 46050 MP: 51420
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Ice Poison

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ Swing (Attack X 6)
~~
~~

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Brachosaur isn't as hard in the colosseum as it is in "dino forest" since he'll
only use Battle or Special. His Special carries quite a punch but M.Block% and
high Defense will take care of it. Given that he still has very high HP, max
M.Block%/high Defense is very important and should have priority over Image status
from Mirage Vest since the fight could last for quite a while.

==============================================================================
= Brontaur = # 132 HP: 10050 MP: 12850
==============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Ice Poison, Stone, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ Wail (Attack X 5)
Fire 3
Meteor

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
All of Brontaur's attacks can be blocked by M.Block% except Meteor, against which
very little can be done. A Muscle Belt can bring your HP high enough to survive 1
Meteor if you couldn't already and a Flame/Paladin Shld (or anything that can
absorb fire) will let you absorb HP from Fire 3 which might replenish your HP
enough to survive the next Meteor. Green Beret and Rep Cap are other options to
raise your max HP but note that a combination of max HP raising equiment won't
have a better effect than the piece of equipment that gives the best HP boost
would on it's own. Brontaur being vulnerable to stop so Stunner is a good option.

Once again Mog is a good character to use, high Defense being potentially a better
means of defense than high M.Block% since Fire 3 is blockable and a 128 M.Block%
character with fire protection wouldn't benefit from random Fire 3 healing since
he/she would block it.

Another tactic would be to go all out on offense since nothing reasonable can be
done to prevent Meteor. In this case Genji Glove with 2 strong weapons and a Wall
Ring would allow you to deal good damage by attacking and reflecting Fire3 back to
Brontaur. Shadow in the front row with Stunner, Striker, Genji Glove and Wall Ring
can do good damage while possibly stopping Brontaur, reflecting Fire3 and
countering with interceptor (when Brontaur is not stopped of course).

==============================================================================
= Cactrot = # 76 HP: 3 MP: 60000
=============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Ice, Water Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ Mind Sting (bserk)
Blow Fish
~~

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
- Gogo with 3 Fight commands, Offering, Ribbon/Peace Ring and any damaging weapon.
- Gogo with 3 Fight commands, Offering, RunningShoes or Gale Hairpin and any
damaging weapon.
- Gogo with 3 Fight commands, a Sniper Sight and a defense ignoring weapon (with
Merit Award) like ValiantKnife or AtmaWeapon, or simply Dice, Fixed Dice.
- Gogo with 3 Fight commands, Merit Award and Dice or Fixed Dice; both will hit
Cactrot without Offering or Sniper Sight and they have their own damage formula
which doesn't take into account Cactrot's Defense.

==============================================================================
= Chaos Drgn = # 226 HP: 9013 MP: 1300
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Fire Ice Poison, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ Cinderizer (death)
Disaster
Meteor

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Chaos Drgn's Special (like all death inflicting specials) can only be protected
from by M.Block% as well as image and vanish statuses so you should equip
accordingly since Cinderizer can't be allowed to hit your character. M.Block%
should be the priority here and depending on how high you can raise it a Ribbon
might or might not be advisable since M.Block% can also block Disaster.

==============================================================================
= Chupon (or Shadow) = # 64
========================

Chupon HP: 50305 MP: 55530
(Shadow HP: Varies MP: Varies)

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Fire Ice, Water Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Sneeze
Sneeze
Sneeze

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------

Chupon:
- High level character with high Vigor, Genji Glove, Offering, Atma Weapon and
ValianKnife. Hopefully Chupon will use Battle and your character Fight, depending
on how much damage your character can deal Chupon can be dead in one round.
- Preferably high level character, DragoonBoots, Stunner, Dragon Horn (or Merit
Award if character is not Shadow), Marvel Shoes and speed boosting equipment. The
goal here is to hope your character jumps and that stunner will cast stop when you
land, preventing Chupon from using Sneeze. Speed boosts are recommended so you
will stay on the ground a little as possible.

Shadow:
- What you do vs Shadow doesn't really matter since even if you die he'll still
join you just as if you'd won. It's worth noting though that Shadow will only use
Fight when you fight him in the colosseum, even Interceptor won't show up.

==============================================================================
= Covert = # 103 HP: 4530 MP: 240
============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison Pearl Poison, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked by command Fight or Fight:
Special ~ Disappear (vanish) - Special or nothing or nothing (targets
Wind Slash itself)
Rage If attacked by command Throw or Throw:
- Shuriken or Ninja Star

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
No need to worry about Shuriken and Ninja Star throws here since they're only used
as counters, characters can't use Throw in the colosseum so Covert won't counter
it.

With Covert being able to vanish itself and given the frequency at which
characters use the fight command in the colosseum it's a good opportunity to use
Tempest since it can hit vanished targets. Terra makes a good candidate with
Paladin Shld (or Force Shld), Genji Helmet, Genji Armor, Merit Award and Marvel
Shoes. This setup gives her very good Mag.Def and Defense to let her take minimal
damage from Rage and Wind Slash as well as Battle, while Marvel Shoes will help
with regen and Morph will enhance all those aspects.

Mog, with the same equipment as Terra except with Snow Muffler replacing Genji
Armor, is another option for this fight. Although Tempest is still a good choice,
Pearl Lance might be better given Covert's weakness to pearl. This choice is only
as important as the amount of time that passes before Mog eventually picks a
dance. With a Pearl Lance, White Cape will replace Merit Award nicely.

While Terra is not 100% reliable because of her Magic command, Mog's main
disadvantage lies in the Dusk Requiem Dance which does not work very well vs
Covert, this is offset by the other dances which work very well.

Sketch would have been useful and fun to use here if Soul Sabre could cast Doom
when the sword strike misses, unfortunately it can't. Covert's Special (which can
be used through Sketch) causes vanish status so you could have used vanish/doom on
him, of course you still can with a character that knows only Doom/X-Zone (or very
few other spells) or with a full Magic list and a lot of luck.

==============================================================================
= Dark Force = # 13 HP: 8940 MP: 700
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Pearl Poison, Stone, Death

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
L.5 Doom
CleanSweep
Pearl Wind

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Since Dark Force is level 55 (a multiple of 5) using Sketch on him might give a
nice payoff since L.5 Doom (25%) might come up, otherwise you get CleanSweep
(75%).

==============================================================================
= Didalos = # 249 HP: 12280 MP: 100
=============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison Fire, Pearl Death

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked by command Fight or Fight:
Flare - Fire Wall or nothing or nothing
Flare Star
Blaster

Suggested set up: Details:
----------------- --------
Mog (back row) With this setup it's impossible to lose.
Paladin Shld/Flame Shld Paladin Shld/Flame Shld will take care of
Snow Muffler Flare Star and Fire Wall. Snow Muffler along
Wall Ring with an appropriate helmet will bring Mog to
Safety Bit 255 Defense which will take care of Battle.
Safety Bit will take care of Blaster. Wall
Ring will take care of Flare.
Put Mog in the back row to reduce damage
taken from Battle to 0. Pearl Lance is a
nice option since Didalos is weak to pearl.
Didalos has relatively low MP so it'll be
depleted pretty soon. Flare costs 45 MP so
he can't cast more than 2.

==============================================================================
= Doom Drgn = # 37 HP: 18008 MP: 10000
===============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Fallen One - Fallen One or nothing or nothing
N. Cross
S. Cross

Suggested set up: Details:
----------------- --------
Mog (Back row) With this setup it's impossible to lose.
Paladin Shld/Flame Shld Paladin Shld/Flame Shld will take care of
Snow Muffler S.Cross. Snow Muffler along with an
appropriate helmet will bring Mog to 255
Defense which will take care of Battle.
Having Mog in the back row means he will
take 0 damage from Battle which means
he'll survive even if hit by Battle at 1
HP following the use of Fallen One.
N.Cross will do nothing more than delay
Mog since freeze status will either be
removed by S.Cross or will simply wear
off.

ValiantKnife with Merit Award is an
offense option depending on Mog's level/HP
since Doom Drgn will most likely use
Fallen One sooner or later, after which
Valiant Knife will get a boost in damage
due to Mog's low HP.

This is a monster on whom Sketch can really be worthwhile to use, he'll either use
Fallen One (25%) or N. Cross (75%)!

==============================================================================
= Dueller = # 217 HP: 7200 MP: 1600
=============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Bolt, Water Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Special ~ Megashock (Attack X 3) - Shrapnel or nothing or nothing
Mega Volt
Giga Volt

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
All of Dueller's attacks can be blocked by M.Block%, short of being able to get
128 M.Block%, a Thunder/Paladin Shld will offer good protection against Dueller's
Lightning elemental attacks. Wall Ring has no use here since Mega Volt and Giga
Volt are not reflectable.

==============================================================================
= Enuo = # 166 HP: 4635 MP: 280
==========

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Pearl Stone, Death

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ Slime (slow)
CleanSweep
Aqua Rake

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
All of Enuo's attacks can be blocked by M.Block%, short of being able to get 128
M.Block%, a Titanium or Paladin Shld will offer good protection against Enuo's
water elemental attacks. Titanium is recommended over Imp's Armor and Tortoise
Shld since the wearer's Defense stat will suffer less from the "lack" of an helmet
than the "lack" of a shield or armor.

==============================================================================
= Evil Oscar = # 183 HP: 7000 MP: 500
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Ice, Bolt, Fire Poison, Stone, Death, Stop
Poison, Wind,
Pearl, Earth,
Water

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked by command Magic or Magic:
Poison - Special or nothing or nothing
Sneeze
Sour Mouth

Used only as a counter: Special ~ Demon Kiss (death)

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Gogo maybe the best character to use here since every other character (except
Umaro) has a Magic command, which you want to avoid using since Evil Oscar will
counter with it's death inflicting Special (like Tradeoff and Cinderizer) if
attacked by it.

Evil Oscar can use Sneeze so you'll want to end the fight quickly before it's used
or rely on Stunner to cast stop to prevent it's use. Evil Oscar is weak to instant
death so equipping a Wing Edge through Merit Award will give you the possibility
to kill it quickly given Wing Edge's speed boost and instant death properties.
Complement this setup with a Ribbon and speed boosting equipment.

==============================================================================
= Fortis = # 234 HP: 9800 MP: 700
============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Bolt, Water Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked by element lightning,
Special ~ Double Arm (Attack X 2) If attacked:
Fire Ball - Special
Snowball - Battle

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Here a Flame Shld (or other fire resistant equipment Paladin Shld, Minerva, etc,)
with a Safety Bit/Memento Ring are useful. Snowball is pretty much an unblockable
Demi spell impossible to runic so the best way to protect against it is instant
death protection, i.e. a Safety Bit or Memento Ring.

Fortis is another enemy vulnerable to instant death, take advantage of it with
Wing Edge, Assassin, Trump, etc. to end the fight quickly.

==============================================================================
= GtBehemoth = # 224 HP: 11000 MP: 700
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Special ~ Hay Maker (Attack X 4) - Special or nothing or nothing
Meteor
Fire 3

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
All of GtBehemoth's attacks can be blocked by M.Block% except Meteor, against
which very little can be done. A Muscle Belt can bring your HP high enough to
survive 1 Meteor if you couldn't already and a Flame/Paladin Shld (or anything
that can absorb fire) will let you absorb HP from Fire 3 which might replenish
your HP enough to survive the next Meteor. Green Beret and Rep Cap are other
options to raise your max HP but note that a combination of max HP raising
equiment won't have a better effect than the piece of equipment that gives the
best HP boost would on it's own. GtBehemoth being vulnerable to stop so Stunner is
a good option.

Once again Mog is a good character to use, high Defense being potentially a better
means of defense than high M.Block% since Fire 3 is blockable and a 128 M.Block%
character with fire protection wouldn't benefit from random Fire 3 healing since
he/she would block it.

Another tactic would be to go all out on offense since nothing reasonable can be
done to prevent Meteor. In this case Genji Glove with 2 strong weapons and a Wall
Ring would allow you to deal good damage by attacking and reflecting Fire3 back to
GtBehemoth. Shadow in the front row with Stunner, Striker, Genji Glove and Wall
Ring can do good damage while possibly stopping GtBehemoth, reflecting Fire3 and
countering with interceptor (when GtBehemoth is not stopped of course).

==============================================================================
= Harpy = # 43 HP: 3615 MP: 233
===========

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked by command Magic or Magic:
Special ~ Grip (Attack X 2) - Battle or Cyclonic or nothing
Cyclonic
Aero

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Cyclonic is really harmful here by taking off 15/16th of its target's HP, while
M.Block% can block it a safer method would be to equip Safety Bit/Memento Ring if
128 M.Block% can't be reached.

Paladin Shld, Thunder Shld or Minerva are really helpful vs Aero while Stunner
can stop Harpy.

==============================================================================
= Hemophyte = # 193 HP: 6800 MP: 1600
===============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked,
Special ~ CursedGaze (seizure) If dead:
Shock Wave - Special or Special or nothing
Pearl

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Hemophyte's special is nothing to be concerned about and at the very least can be
countered with Marvel Shoes/Cure Ring. Shock Wave should do little damage to a
character with decent Mag.Def and can even be blocked with M.Block%. Spare a relic
slot for a Wall Ring and reflect Pearl back to Hemophyte.

==============================================================================
= Hoover = # 62 HP: 12018 MP: 10500
============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Ice, Water Poison, Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Special ~ Crush (Attack X 5) - Sand Storm or Sand Storm or nothing
Sand Storm - Sand Storm or nothing or nothing
Quake

Suggested set up: Details:
----------------- --------
Mog (Back row) With this setup it's impossible to lose.
Paladin Shld/Thunder Shld Paladin Shld/Thunder Shld will take care
Snow Muffler of Sand Storm. Snow Muffler along with an
Cherub Down appropriate helmet will bring Mog to 255</pre><pre id="faqspan-2">
Defense which will reduce damage taken
from Battle and Special to 0 with Mog in
the back row. Quake will be taken care of
by Paladin Shld or Cherub Down, no need to
equip both as long as Mog has 255 Defense.

Ice and water elemental weapons as well as
weapons inflicting poison and stop
(Stunner only) status can take advantage
of Hoover's weaknesses. Whether their use
is desirable depends on damage done by
other available weapons with potentially
higher Bat.Pwr.

==============================================================================
= Innoc = # 246 HP: 6600 MP: 390
===========

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Bolt, Water Death

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
L? Pearl
~~
~~

Suggested set up:
-----------------
Little to worry about here, just know that L.? Pearl will only deal damage to your
character if his/her level is a multiple of the last digit of your current amount
of GP, you can sell items or fight some battles to change your Amount of GP to
ensure that L? Pearl will do no damage.

==============================================================================
= IronHitman = # 253 HP: 2000 MP: 800
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Bolt, Water Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ Destroy (Attack X 2)
Dischord
Tek Laser

Suggested set up:
-----------------
Safety Bit/Memento Ring will work well here to protect vs Dischord, which can have
devastating effects offensively for your character especially in the long run,
while M.Block% can block everything IronHitman can do.

==============================================================================
= Karkass = # 220 HP: 3850 MP: 185
=============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison Fire, Pearl Poison, Stone, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked by command Fight or Fight:
Break - Battle or nothing or nothing
Bolt 3 If attacked by command Magic or Magic:
Flare - Bolt 3 or Break or Flare
If attacked:
- Lifeshaver

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Break, Bolt 3 and Flare are reflectable so a Wall Ring is the easiest way to take
care of 75% of the enemy's offense and it'll help yours at the same time. That
still leaves Battle which can be taken care of by high M.Block% and/or high
Defense.

==============================================================================
= Land Worm = # 155 HP: 12000 MP: 1300
==============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Earth Ice Poison, Stone, Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ Compress (Attack X 2)
Magnitude8
Lode Stone

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Safety Bit/Memento Ring will protect vs Lode Stone while Cherub Down or Gaia Gear
will take care of Magnitude8.

==============================================================================
= Lethal Wpn = # 69 HP: 9200 MP: 1956
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Bolt, Water Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ Metal Arm (Attack X 2)
Tek Laser
Absolute 0

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
A combination of ice (Absolute 0) and bolt (Tek Laser) elemental protection
through Paladin Shield, Minerva or Thunder Shld (absorbs bolt, 50% damage from
ice) is useful here along with taking advantage of Lethal Wpn's stop and instant
death vulnerabilities though instant death weapons and/or Stunner.

Umaro with Snow Muffler and Rage Ring will be immune to the effects of
Absolute 0 and Tek Laser while being able to deal some decent damage with his
defense ignoring tackle which will punch through Lethal Wpn's relatively high
Defense of 190. In the back row, with Marvel Shoes and the random castings of
Absolute 0 which will heal him, Umaro should be able to win this battle. Mog
might fare even better with high Defense (Snow Muffler) and a Thunder Shld or
Paladin Shld.

==============================================================================
= Madam = # 106 HP: 8150 MP: 900
===========

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison Poison, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Flare - Cure 2 or nothing or nothing
Pearl - Meteor or nothing or nothing
Ice 3

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Flare, Pearl and Ice 3 are reflectable so a Wall Ring is the easiest way to take
care of 75% of the enemy's offense and it'll help yours at the same time. There is
not much that can be done to protect vs Meteor; a Muscle Belt can bring your HP
high enough to survive 1 Meteor if you couldn't already. Green Beret and Rep Cap
are other options to raise your max HP but note that a combination of max HP
raising equiment won't have a better effect than the piece of equipment that
gives the best HP boost would on it's own. Note that by opting for Wall Ring you
won't be able to absorb Pearl or Ice 3 to help withstand another Meteor.

Avoid using Locke or giving Gogo the Steal command for that battle since Steal can
trigger a Meteor and/or Cure 2 counter-attack.

Something that can be taken advantage of here is the fact that simple "If
attacked" counter-attacks won't be used by the enemy until you damage it at least
once. This means that enemy spells reflected off your characters onto the enemy
will not be countered until you damage that enemy yourself. Since Madam uses many
reflectable spells that she is not immune to you can simply let her reflect her
own spells off your characters while holding down the L and R buttons to try to
run away, this being a colosseum battle you won't succeed but you won't be
attacking her either, thus she won't use her counter-attacks.

Sketching Madam will let you use 2 good spells; Flare (25%) and Pearl (75%).

==============================================================================
= Mantodea = # 210 HP: 4500 MP: 420
==============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Fire Poison, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ MindReaper (osmose)
Wind Slash
~~

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Shadow with a Thunder Shld (nullifies wind elementals) and Stunner will do well vs
Mantodea. Although MindReaper will have no ill effects since you won't be using MP
costing magic it can still have a use since it can trigger a counter by
interceptor.

Mantodea has very high Batt.Pwr (180) compared to regular enemies whose Bat.Pwr
rarely goes over 30. So, if you have trouble stopping Mantodea before it does too
much damage with Battle or just don't care to risk it, having Mog with 255 Defense
in the back row or a character with complete imp equipment (also in the back row)
will be even more reliable. Choice characters to turn into imps would be Mog and
Terra given their high natural Defense/Mag.Def stats.

On a regular "optimally" equipped character (around 200 Defense and Mag.Def)
Battle will deal about 600 damage while Wind Slash will do about 300, on an
unequiped character Battle will do well over 3000 damage.

==============================================================================
= Opinicus = # 200 HP: 3210 MP: 514
==============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison Fire, Pearl Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked by command Magic or Magic:
Special ~ Riot (Attack X 1.5) - Wind Slash or nothing or nothing
Slide
Surge

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Paladin Shld and Minerva will work wonders vs Opinicus' many elemental spells,
alternatively Gaia Gear and Cherub Down will serve you well vs Slide and Ice
Shld/Flame Shld/Snow Muffler vs Surge. Gogo with a Merit Award and an instant
death weapon might do better than the other characters with no Magic commands
since Opinicus may counter magic spells with Wind Slash.

==============================================================================
= Outsider = # 189 HP: 8050 MP: 400
==============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison Pearl Stone, Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked by command Fight or Fight:
Special ~ Ruin (death) - Shuriken or Shuriken
X-Zone If attacked:
Flare - Ninja Star or Tack Star

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Gogo, with 3 Fight commands, Merit Award, Safety Bit, Wing Edge and M.Block%
boosting equipment. Ruin is a physical instant death attack so Safety Bit/Memento
Ring won't protect you from it (although they will protect from X-Zone), the only
defense is M.Block%, vanish and image status. Since acquiring vanish status in the
colosseum can't be reasonably predicted and the status can't be brought into
battle (nor would it be desirable with Flare and X-Zone used by the enemy), an
alternate is Mirage Vest, which will protect you for a time. The choice between
Mirage Vest and Force Armor is not an easy one. The goal with this set up is
basically to kill outsider before he kills you by hoping Wing Edge will dispatch
him since he's vulnerable to instant death.

The longer the battle lasts the more damage you will take obviously but this is
especially true and more of a concern with Outsider given the powerful spells he
uses and the throws he uses as counters. Only vanish will protect vs throws but
once again you can't rely on it in the colosseum so your best bet is high HP.

With 0 M.Block% and without vanish or image status, Outsider is not immune to Ruin
(Special, causes death) either, it can be used on him through Sketch making it
something to consider trying. Sketch will have you use Ruin (25%) or Battle (75%).

==============================================================================
= Phase = # 188 HP: 4550 MP: 1700
===========

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Fire Ice Poison, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Special ~ Smirk (Stop) - Blow Fish or nothing or nothing
Blow Fish
~~

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Phase can be annoying with its Special that puts stop status on you but 2 can
play that game since Phase is vulnerable to stop, equip stunner on Gogo and give
him 3 Sketch commands. Through sketch either Phase's Special (25%) or Blow Fish
(75%) will be used.

==============================================================================
= Pug = # 84 HP: 8000 MP: 15500
=========

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Water Fire, Bolt Poison, Stone

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Special ~ Cleaver (Attack X 8) - Special
Break - Step Mine
~~

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
A way to guarantee a win vs Pug with characters at low levels is to take a
character with 255 Defense and put him in the back row with a Ribbon or Jewel
Ring. The main problem with Pug is that it will use Step Mine when it dies, if you
can't withstand it through high HP (use Muscle Belt, Green Beret or Red Cap if
they can help get your HP higher than Step Mine's Damage) you will have to make
sure he can't use it after you hit him, the only way to do that is if Pug doesn't
have any MP. Since you can't drain his MP without getting a Special/Step Mine
counter, you can wait until he uses all of his MP by his random Break spells. Hold
L and R to have your character try to run away so he/she won't attack Pug and
trigger a counter. It will take forever for Pug to waste his MP so you should tape
the L and R buttons down and go do something else in the meantime.

==============================================================================
= Retainer = # 7 HP: 7050 MP: 2600
==============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison Poison, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If dead:
Special ~ Tradeoff (death) - Special
Wind Slash
Condemned

Suggested set up: Details:
----------------- --------
Gogo This setup will give Gogo over 128
Illumina M.Block% which will block Battle and
Paladin Shld Tradeoff, while Safety Bit will block
Bard's Hat Condemned and Paladin Shld will nullify
Force Armor Wind Slash. Safety Bit is necessary
Merit Award because MBlock% won't block Condemend or
Safety Bit the reaper. Paladin Shld is necessary
since it's the only thing that allows wind
protection and MBlock% of at least 128,
the latter being the only thing capable of
blocking Battle and Special everytime.
Giving Gogo anything but Magic, Blitz,
Lore and Rage as his commands will make
sure he can't hurt himself and make it
impossible for him to be killed.

Without being able to fullfill every requirement of the above set up Mirage Vest
is a worthwhile alternative to 128 M.Block%, just keep in mind that image status
won't last forever and will be removed after a random amount of physical hits so
Stunner will help a Mirage Vest wearer if it can stop Retainer.

Retainer is yet another enemy with an instant death special, turn it against him
with Sketch and he'll use either Tradeoff (25%) or Wind Slash (75%).

==============================================================================
= Rhyos = # 126 HP: 7191 MP: 354
===========

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Flare Star - Battle or nothing or nothing
Surge
Aero

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Without Paladin Shld or Minerva use Thunder Shld instead, it'll nullify Aero
(wind-elemental) and reduce damage from Surge (ice-elemental) and Flare Star
(fire-elemental) by 50%. You can also use Snow Muffler as another alternative
or addition to those since it'll absorb ice-elemental damage and reduce
fire-elemental damage by 50%.

==============================================================================
= Scullion = # 161 HP: 27000 MP: 9000
==============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Bolt, Water Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If dead:
Special ~ Gamma Rays (condemned) - Atomic Ray
Special ~ Gamma Rays (condemned)
Special ~ Gamma Rays (condemned)

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Scullion has a lot of HP so prepare for a long fight. Fortunately his attacks are
not very varied, equip a Safety Bit/Memento Ring so that even when Gamma Rays hit
the reaper at the end of condemned's countdown will miss. Raise M.Block% as much
as possible to block Battle, if you don't reach 128 M.Block% you might want to
consider fire elemental protection since Scullion will use Atomic Ray when it
dies.

==============================================================================
= Siegfried = # 55 HP: 32760 MP: 6000
===============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Fire, Ice, Poison, Stop
Bolt, Poison,
Wind, Pearl,
Earth, Water

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
HyperDrive
Shrapnel
Battle

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
- High level character with high Vigor, Genji Glove, Offering, Atma Weapon and
ValianKnife, with high stats Siegfried can be dead in one round.

- Preferably high level character, DragoonBoots, Stunner, Dragon Horn (or Merit
Award if character is not Shadow), Marvel Shoes and speed boosting equipment. The
goal here is to hope your character jumps and that stunner will cast stop when you
land, allowing you to kill him while he's stopped. Speed boosts are recommended so
you will stay on the ground a little as possible.

Without those strategies the odds of defeating Siegfried drop considerably since
he has very high HP and 1 in 4 chances of using Hyper Drive (unblockable and
ignores defense) which will do around 7000 damage.

==============================================================================
= Sky Base = # 252 HP: 6000 MP: 550
==============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Bolt, Water Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Doom - Blaster or nothing or nothing
Doom - Blaster or nothing or nothing
Doom - Blaster or nothing or nothing
- Blaster or nothing or nothing

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Sky Base is vulnerable to instant death and it'll use Doom 3 times out of 4 so the
quickest way to end this fight in your favor is to equip a Wall Ring which will
reflect Doom onto Sky Base.

As an alternate option, M.Block% can protect you from all of Sky Base's attacks
but if 128 is unattainable Safety Bit or Memento Ring will provide perfect
protection against Doom and Blaster leaving only Battle to worry about.

Sky Base is vulnerable to instant death so you can equip a weapon with instant
death properties like Scimitar and Wing Edge for a potentially quick win.

Sky Base is also weak to both spells that can be used when you Sketch it; Doom
(25%) and Giga Volt (75%).

==============================================================================
= SrBehemoth = # 127 HP: 19000 MP: 1600
= (undead) =
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Ice Fire, Poison Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Battle - Battle or nothing or nothing
Battle
Battle

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
SrBehemoth can only use Battle so M.Block% and Mirage Vest can help, at lower
levels opt for the former but at higher levels, when you can kill him in fewer
rounds, opt for the latter.

If accessible maxing Defense through Snow Muffler or an imped character with
the imp equipment will work perfectly here since SrBehemoth only uses physical
attacks.

==============================================================================
= Steroidite = # 22 HP: 25000 MP: 350
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Pearl Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ Rush (Attack X 3)
Blizzard
Blaster

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Use Mog equipped with Snow Muffler, Pearl Lance and Safety Bit with a
shield/helmet combination that'll let Mog reach 255 Defense, now put him in the
back row and he can't be defeated.

==============================================================================
= Tap Dancer = # 240 HP: 4452 MP: 270
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked by command Throw or Throw:
Special ~ WaistShake (muddle) - Enhancer or Crystal (Throw)
Slow 2
Haste 2

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
No need to worry about Enhancer and Crystal throws here since they're only used as
counters, characters can't use Throw in the colosseum so Tap Dancer won't counter
it. A Ribbon or Peace Ring will protect you from Tap Dancer's Special.

==============================================================================
= Test Rider = # 156 HP: 3100 MP: 220
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked by command Steal or Capture:
Special ~ Gold Lance (Attack X 3) - Special
Flash Rain If attacked:
~~ - Battle or nothing or nothing

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Avoid using Locke or anybody with Steal, Capture or a Thief Knife for this fight.
At similar levels Shadow or Gogo (as good colosseum characters) will work just as
well as Locke and they'll have one less counter to worry about.

Flash Rain is ice and water elemental so protection to either will be enough to
protect you from the spell. Taking that into account this makes imped characters
with the imp equipment and in the back row perfect for this battle; the equipment
will let them absorb Flash Rain and their high defense will render the rest of
Test Rider's attacks useless. Mog with 255 Defense (Snow Muffler) and Thunder
Shld or Paladin Shld will work just as well.

==============================================================================
= Trixter = # 247 HP: 3815 MP: 9900
=============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Pearl Poison, Stone

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Fire
Fire 2
Fire 3

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Fire, Fire 2 and Fire 3 are reflectable so a Wall Ring is the easiest way to take
care of 75% of the enemy's offense and it'll help yours at the same time.

==============================================================================
= TumbleWeed = # 52 HP: 6200 MP: 600
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Water Fire Stone, Death, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Special ~ Blinder (blind) - Lifeshaver or nothing or nothing
Lifeshaver
~~

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Lifeshaver being earth elemental, Gaia Gear will serve you well for this fight
since it'll let you heal from Lifeshaver while it will damage Tumbleweed.
Tumbleweed's special can be disregarded, it will have no ill effects since blind
status has no effect (due to a bug in the game) and the Special doesn't cause
damage.

==============================================================================
= Tyranosaur = # 39 HP: 12770 MP: 420
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Ice

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ Bite (Attack X 7)
Slow
Haste

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Nothing especially useful can be done vs Tyranosaur; his only weakness is ice
which will make Ice Rod just about as powerful as Graedus or Pearl Lance. Defense
should be considered seriously if 128 M.Block% isn't attainable given Tyranosaur's
powerful Special.

==============================================================================
= Vectagoyle = # 228 HP: 7500 MP: 880
================

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked by command Fight or Fight:
Giga Volt - Special or Special or Nothing
Aqua Rake
Blaze

Used only as a counter: Special ~ Counter (Attack X 2)

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Giga Volt (bolt), Aqua Rake (wind and water) and Blaze (fire) are all blockable
but they are also elemental and can thus be protected against with a Paladin Shld,
Minerva or a combination of other equipment. Thunder Shld will let you absorb bolt
and nullify wind while a Red Jacket will let you absorb fire. Sketch will let you
use Giga Volt (25%) or Aqua Rake (75%).

==============================================================================
= Vectaur = # 128 HP: 2800 MP: 180
=============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Ice, Water Stone

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle None
Special ~ Tusk (Attack X 1.5)
Pearl Wind
~~

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Vectaur's stone weakness cannot be exploited with Break Blade since it also has
instant death protection which will protect vs Break, nevertheless, Vectaur should
pose little challenge.

==============================================================================
= Veteran = # 251 HP: 10000 MP: 300
=============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Poison, Stop

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked by command Magic or Magic:
Doom - nothing or nothing or Roulette
X-Zone
Roulette

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
With Doom costing 35 MP and X-Zone 53 MP there's a chance Veteran will run out of
MP during battle, which is always good especially if you have imperfect stamina
and M.Block%, and are without instant death protection.

==============================================================================
= Wart Puck = # 125 HP: 3559 MP: 330
===============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Fire Stone

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Special ~ Yawn (sleep) - Sneeze or nothing or nothing
Exploder
~~

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
If you have significantly more HP than Wart Puck simply hold the L & R button so
your character won't do anything, and therefore won't run the chance of triggering
Sneeze, eventually Wart Puck will use Exploder (hopefully before he runs out of
MP) and kill itself. Battle has the possibility of making you drop below Wart
Puck's HP so high Defense (with marvel shoes/cure ring if short of 255 Defense)
and/or high M.Block% are recommended.

==============================================================================
= Woolly = # 250 HP: 3609 MP: 300
============

Absorb: Nullify: Weak: Status weaknesses:
------- -------- ----- ------------------
Ice, Bolt, Fire Death
Poison, Wind,
Earth, Water

Commands: Counters:
--------- ---------
Battle If attacked:
Special ~ Frenzy (bserk) - Battle
~~
~~

Suggested set ups and details:
------------------------------
Elemental weapons are to be avoided here, except if they're fire or pearl
elemental but an instant death weapon will work much better given Woolly's instant
death vulnerability.

==============================================================================

##############################################################################
# 5. Miscellaneous #
##############################################################################

Commands used by enemies and allies in the colosseum are the same commands
available to them while under the influence of Control, Muddle and Charm. Just
like in those situations a Fight command is added to the character's (but not the
enemy's) list of commands.

Commands that can be seen used in the colosseum:
------------------------------------------------
Fight Tools Mimic
Magic Blitz Dance
Morph Runic Jump
Steal Lore X-Magic
Capture Sketch GP Rain
SwdTech Rage

Colosseum only items: Colosseum and metamorph only items:
--------------------- -----------------------------------
Cat Hood Cursed Ring
Illumina Marvel Shoes
Mirage Vest Merit Award
Remane Card Ogre Nix

Instant death weapons list:
---------------------------
Assassin
Break Blade*
Doom Darts
Scimitar
Soul Sabre
Striker
Trump
Wing Edge

* Casts Break which can be blocked by instant death protection and immunity to
stone.

Character rating according to commands only:
============================================

1 - Gogo
--------
Probably the most reliable character for the colosseum, the fact that you can give
him many different abilities makes him useful but the fact that you can give him
more than one of the same ability makes him almost controlable in the colosseum.

2 - Umaro
---------
Umaro: Also very predictable in the colosseum but very limited in what he can do,
more suited to eliminate enemies with little or no exploitable weaknesses.

3 - Shadow, Setzer, Relm
------------------------
Other than magic command they do nothing to harm themselves. Throw and Slot are
not used in the colosseum so Shadow and Setzer have less commands to choose from
which increases the chances of them doing what you want them to, Relm can do the
same but at the expense of a relic slot since Control won't be used in the
colosseum but Sketch will.

4 - Locke, Celes, Terra, Mog, Cyan, Edgar
-----------------------------------------
Their special abilities will very rarely harm them and could even be useful. Celes
could runic a spell that would have reflected to the enemy if she had reflect
status but that's more of a missed opportunity than a set back. Cyan could use
Empowerer on an undead enemy thus hurting himself while Mog and Edgar could use
elementals that could heal the enemy but these are easily countered by planning
ahead. Note though that Terra will sometimes do nothing for a while after she's
used Morph in the colosseum, the cause is unknown. As for Locke the fact that his
special will not help you win the fight while still being able to trigger
counter-attacks prevents him from being more reliable.

5 - Gau, Strago, Sabin
----------------------
Very risky characters to use, on top of having a Magic command they also have an
ability that can have them kill themselves instantly.

##############################################################################
# 6. Credits #
##############################################################################

Thanks to assassin17 for informing me of all the changes needed for version 1.2
and 1.3, including coming up with the strategies added in those updates as well
as the Pug strategy and proof-reading.

Thanks to Master ZED for the "learning few spells" strategy, proof-reading and
corrections/suggestions.

Thanks to MeepleLard for proof-reading and corrections/suggestions, including
reminding me of stuff I was completely forgetting (offering with instant death
weapons and Wall Ring vs Sky Base).

##############################################################################
# 7. Copyright #
##############################################################################

This document may not be used and/or reproduced, in part or in its entirety, on
any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without the author's advance
explicit written permission.
This document is for personal use only.

This document is Copyright 2004 Mnrogar ([email protected])
All rights reserved