Minerva Boss Guide
Once you’re ready to get down to business, select Mission 9-6-6 to get the ball rolling. Minerva has a massive 10,000,000 HP (which becomes 77,777,777 HP on Hard Mode!) so you’ll be in for a long battle, even with Costly Punch dealing 99,999 per hit. You should always have a Phoenix Down active, if you need more, Mug them from her. Minerva has three distinct themes to her battle, which go something like this:
Elemental/Physical attacks such as Thor’s Hammer > Ultima > Judgment Arrow
Her elemental and physical attacks all hit hard, and some, like Krysta will freeze Zack in place and make him vulnerable to follow-up attacks. Still, these can mostly all be easily dodged and healed through.
Ultima, on the other hand, bares special mention as it’s the main reason you’ll want 99,999 HP. You should always have a Phoenix Down active for this very reason. Even with Wall active, Ultima hits hard and each successive time she uses it will increase the damage it does, no matter what you do, until it hits for 99,999 damage, this is where the Phoenix Down comes in play as you won’t survive the attack. After it hits for 99,999, the next Ultima will hit for the lowest amount again.
Judgment Arrow
The final piece of the puzzle is Judgment Arrow, you’ll want to aim to get the Ability gauge to at least 75% before she casts it while also making sure you have max HP. Not only will Judgment Arrow deal heavy damage, but it will also drain your MP/AP (which is no worry here due to the Genji Helm) and more crucially, strip you off your buffs.
This means that even your Raise status from the Phoenix Down will be removed along with Wall. Immediately use another Phoenix Down (always make sure you have at least one, so you don’t have to worry Mugging another without Raise) and recast Wall.
Keep hitting Minerva with Costly Punch, remembering to pop an X-Potion once your HP drops below 50% HP. You can use Aerial Drain to close the gap and even avoid some of the attacks such as Krysta by using it just before the impact while restoring some HP. Your Limit Breaks will help chip away at her HP too, especially useful ones such as Rush Assault and Octaslash. So long as you keep Wall up, Raise active (with at least another Phoenix Down in supply) and remember to refresh them after Judgment Arrow, it’s hard to lose to Minerva. Just be prepared for a long battle and you’ll get there!
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