Another tricky Nemesis, but not too bad once you suss its secret…

The first thing to know: Belphegor absorbs damage from all attacks unless it’s an attack it’s weak against.

Trouble is Belphegor’s weakness cycles each time it gets hit–from Fire to Water to Lightning and back to Fire again. Its starting weakness also varies. Absolutely have someone use Examine (Freelancer) to keep track of its weakness (at least for the first battle).

Once you’ve identified its weakness, you then need to figure out what attacks to use. An easy way to not get confused is to Default until you have at least 2 BP, then cycle through three spells in one turn; for example if Belphegor is weak to Fire, have your spell-casters use Firaga, Blizzaga and then Thundaga in one turn.

Other Dirty Tricks¶

For its attacks, Belphegor uses the ultimate Fire, Water and Lightning spells– Firaja, Blizzaja and Thundaja–and Diffusion Ray to hurt your party. If you want, you can have a Vampire learn Firaja, Blizzaja and Thundaja from Belphegor and then use those spells against it.

Belphegor also uses Sloth to make your party weak to all elements (even if they were immune to or absorbed the element)–it’s a good idea to bring along a Spiritmaster so they can use Greater Spirit Ward or Enigma to reverse this effect. Alternatively, a character with Group-Cast All (Black Mage) and Dispel (White Magic) can remove your party’s weaknesses in one turn.

If things weren’t complicated already, Belphegor can summon three Spheres, which follow the same damage rules as Belphegor (so you need to cycle your elemental attacks) and can cast Firaja, Blizzaja and Thundaja too. At this stage, let loose your best group-hitting attacks so you can wipe out the Spheres ASAP; the -aja spells are great for this.

Each Sphere has 10,000 HP, so it shouldn’t take much to pluck them out of the sky. Otherwise, if you leave the Spheres hanging, besides constantly getting barraged by -aja spells, each Sphere will eventually use Self-Destruct to K.O. itself and inflict heavy damage to your party, which isn’t good at all.

Easy Way Out¶

If Belphegor is proving a time-sink, you can rely on the Stillness and Hasten World routine again. Each turn your spell-casters should use three spells that cycle through Belphegor’s weakness and another move that causes no damage (such as a buff).

Your Stillness user meanwhile should use Stillness and one move that doesn’t do damage nor cost extra BP. Then put on Auto-Battle and grab yourself a snack, etc. As always, remember that your Stillness user must be significantly faster than Belphegor and your attackers faster still.

Level 20 Version¶

This version of Belphegor for beginners loses Blizzaja and Thundaja, but can now use Hammer to pound one character. It still summons Spheres, but they will only use Body Slam to hit one instead of raining down spells on your party.