Hey, can anyone tell me the best strategy to defeating Zalera in the Barheim Passage? I've been trying to kill the damn thing but I get slaughtered every time. I would also like to know what level my characters should really be at on average to stand a chance against Zalera. Plz help.

Hmm my suggestion is put one person in a corner far away and turn off gambits, then combo some quickenings, and Espers, the just beat down on him. Just make sure to heal with your stand-by character. Also make sure your level is a prime number your ideal level is: 39, 41, 43, 47, 49, 51 .etc

I never really had a problem beating him. I believe when I faced him, I had a guest in my party so it was either Larsa or Reddas. I'm pretty sure I beat him with an onslaught of timed quickenings.

But from what i've been reading and from what i've heard, reddas is a horrible guest.

for the mostpart my dilemma is that he's blocking all of my attacks and whats more, im recieving hawk eye atks from the minions who help him and then I end up with him using "kill" tech. its not so much a problem raising my characters from KO as it is having one life taken immediately after one has risen. would I have to primarily focus on curative magic or x-potions and dispel the reflect, haste, and all that crap that the minions are giving to zalera? or should I use the espers and quickenings in the beginning?

btw, Jeff, love the transformer avatar, is it autobot or decep?

and Gin, I love carbuncle, he really helped me in FF8 whenever i was in a pinch. I forgot what the quote below the pic mean...I think it was "In the garden lies a messenger." Is that it???

hmm I believe you have to beat him down for a while before your damage becomes visible, he's not invincible, it's just his HP is higher than the HP bar. Also I'm confused about your problem, but if you are having status attack problems I'm telling you have all your characters at prime number intervals. Because Zalera casts status attacks that aim at your level. So prime numbers are the best defense.

Also autobots ftw.

What are your current levels? What type of weapons are you using? Based on what it sounds like where you're at, you should be knocking the pants off him. Have you looked up the Esper Guide at GameFAQs?

Quickenings aren't a bad idea -- are you familiarized with how to best use them? Dispel isn't a bad idea, either, if you have it. As for the minions, you should try to knock them off as fast as they show up when you can. If you have any other really good summons, it might not be a bad idea to try them out at least once or twice during the battle.

Would x-pots work against him as well? I tried megalixirs but nothing, maybe it just that elix and megalix aren't really considered potions, as they replenish all hp and mp. My levels are between 43-45, mostly 44. Every one of my chars has their three quickening atks, but you're right larsa, I need more espers it seems, and a lot of them, so far I have the first two which are mandatory and Exodus. I'm currently at the point of the game where I just got finished defeating Daedalus in Giruvegan. Would there happen to be anymore espers I might have access to at that point?

Jeff, I think you're thinking of a different Esper. Zalera isn't one of those you have to beat down for damage to show.


Using healing items against Zalera? Don't know. Here, let me look up the strategy tips in that Esper guide...

I'm just gonna copy info...

"The fight has a 5 minute limit, which upon expiration forces your party out and
you'd have to fight from scratch. Zalera is undead, so Curas and Curagas damage
him. Curas and Curagas are actually excellent alternatives because Zalera is
immune to elemental Black Magick, and more importantly, whenever a (respawning)
Dead Bone is in the battlefield (during Defense Mode), Zalera gets Defense +80,
which makes physical damage on him peanuts. Incidentally Zalera is the most
harmless during Defense Mode.

When all Dead Bones are gone Zalera's Defense Mode disappears uses Enrage,
and here he may also use Stop, Sleepga and Death. When he activates Level Mode
the fight becomes predictable but deadly because he casts ALL the Lvl spells.
Know how to heal from Sleep, Disable, Break, Reverse and have Phoenix Downs or
Raise ready. The only reasonable level that will not be affected by any of the
attacks above is 49. Once Level Mode disappears Zalera uses Purify, which
purges himself of negative status effects.

Finally, during Kill Mode, Zalera unleashes a barrage of Kill spells, sure-
death attacks you cannot avoid. You might think Zalera is finally harmless when
HP < 20% because all his Modes are off, but he still persists with Stops,
Sleepgas, Deaths, Lvl spells and Kills.

Aditya Saputra has suggested using Axes or a similar mad-random damage weapon
to handle Zalera during Defense Mode. When the damage is high, it is able to
break Zalera's insane Defense, whilst when the damage is low, it is unable to
do so. I think it's quite a useful idea indeed if your available characters are
better melee attackers than magick users. Note: I have yet to test this idea
myself."

yeah probably, because I remember him being cake, I just stumbled upon him looking for new training grounds. But I believe I was level 47, 47, and 49 so his status affects didn't do squat.

So, in essence, what he is saying is use Axes, Hammers, Maces, and Hand-bombs, kill the dead bones', make him drop his guard, and unload on him with curative magic while his guard is up? Sounds pretty good to me. when referring to the Stop part, is it Stop? or is it Time Requiem? In addition, what should I equip as an accessory for my chars? should I go with firefly to prevent lvling? Niholaopola + remedy for stat. effects? or bubble belt for HP cushion?

Barheim Passage is actually accessible way early in the game -- as long as you have the right strategy / your characters are good enough, you can get him really early.

Ok, thanx larsa. If I'm still having trouble, I'll comment back

Hmm my suggestion is put one person in a corner far away and turn off gambits, then combo some quickenings, and Espers, the just beat down on him. Just make sure to heal with your stand-by character. Also make sure your level is a prime number your ideal level is: 39, 41, 43, 47, 49, 51 .etc

Pretty sure 39 and 51 are NOT prime numbers, they are affected by Zalera's skill that uses the time three multiplier.

ok 39 and 51 are not sorry for the mistake.

I used Quickenings on Zalera; if it is of any help to you since they don't take any time away from the timer...plus it finished him off before he got tough...

Just set Gambits to hit foes with "lowest max HP" to kill off Dead Bones (or use Cura(ja) if your party is more magically inclined), then pound away at him til he dies. If you have gambits set to Arise any fallen characters and have prime level numbers Zalera won't be able to do a hell of a lot to you.

If time gets low, bring in your reserves for a Quickening chain.