Rin’s Travel Agency is an Al Bhed shop and it will be here that you’ll be taking a break, much to Wakka’s protests. Once inside, the left NPC behind the counter is an equipment/item shop, so feel free to browse its wares. Note that if you haven’t gotten anything to drop for Auron, the weapon for him here has Strength +3% on it (in addition to the Piercing). It’s also a good idea to sell any pieces of equipment you won’t be using anymore, so you can increase your gil a bit. If you need any items, get them now, as there is a boss coming up soon, as well.
Exit the building for a scene with Yuna, then you will be back inside until the next day. There will be an NPC inside who will give you another Lv. 1 Key Sphere and as you try to exit again, you will meet Rin, the proprietor of the Travel Agency. During your meeting with him, he will give you Al Bhed Primer Vol. VIII, and you will learn that some large fiend is attacking the Chocobos outside. Before you head out to quell the problem, Rin will also hand over 2 Mega-Potions; how nice of him to do that. Step outside now and head north when prompted to begin the boss battle.
BOSS - Chocobo Eater¶
The Chocobo Eater is a special kind of boss, as there are three outcomes that can happen in the end. The obvious one is to just deplete the boss’ HP to zero, thus defeating it. Another method of having the battle end is pushing the Chocobo Eater off of the edge, which can be a little difficult. The last outcome of this battle would require the Chocobo Eater to push you off your side of the cliff. You will receive the normal rewards for the first two outcomes outlined above, although if you happen to push the boss off the cliff, then you will receive two Lv. 1 Key Spheres. You get nothing at all if you get pushed off the cliff.
That’s the overall feeling of the battle and you will need to push the boss three times in order to get it off the cliff. The Chocobo Eater can simply push you back on one of its turns, but you have to work a little harder to push it back. You will need to dish out around 1,200 damage in order to knock the boss on its back, then another 500 or so damage to knock it backwards one spot. The only problem with doing this is that the Chocobo Eater will pretty much bounce back up on his next turn and likely push your team backwards. There is a catch, though, to being knocked back, as Aeons won’t be at all.
Chocobo Eater’s attacks are pretty limited, with a normal attack dealing a good bit of damage. If you see it say “You’re next,” then the boss will use Fist of Fury on the next turn, which deals heavy damage to a single character. When the boss is knocked over, it will do nothing, but once it reaches a certain HP threshold, the boss will counter with Blizzard. Lastly, there is the attack that the Chocobo Eater does whenever it pushes you back, as it actually does damage to the entire party, but not really a lot. You can cut down on the damage some by using Auron’s Power Break skill, plus it is also susceptible to Darkness, so have Wakka use Dark Attack.
So, pushing Chocobo Eater off of the cliff can be a troublesome process and while the Lv. 1 Key Spheres might see like a nice reward, it’s not really worth the hassle in the long run. As long as you defeat the thing to get the normal rewards, you should be more than fine, although it actually doesn’t drop anything normally. It is weak to fire, so having Lulu in the battle party at all times is ideal, even moreso if you have Tidus Haste her. While standing up, the boss does have some pretty good physical defense, but that goes away whenever you knock it over. If you pay attention to the turn order, pass some turns by defending whenever you see the boss’ turn coming up when on its back, as it does seem to always push you back on its first turn after being pushed back.
If you happened to be pushed off the cliff, you will resume control on the Oldroad section of the Mi’ihen Highroad. If not, then you will continue from Rin’s Travel Agency, which is where this guide will take over. For defeating the Chocobo Eater, you also gain access to a free trial of riding a Chocobo. While you can still ride a Chocobo, you will have to pay for it and would have to travel all the way back to the Travel Agency. The guide will continue as if you had defeated the Chocobo Eater.
No Comments