For many, this is an immensely difficult battle, and many people get
stuck here for even weeks, in some cases. For this reason, this is
going to be a very long strategy, so that nobody will be stuck here for
long. Also, since many people may ask, my party´s HP ranged from about
1,500 (Rikku) to 3,000 (Auron).
Before you start, make sure that you have a lot of Al Bhed Potions (you
should have a lot from Bikanel Island). If not, you are certainly due
for a much more difficult battle, and should prefer battling from AFAR,
using potions and Hi-Potions with a character in Haste every turn he
gets. However, unless you used them all, you should have plenty.
First of all, there are two locations that you can fight Evrae from:
near and far. You start near, and to go far, have Tidus or Rikku use
"Pull Back", a Trigger Command only they have. First, while you´re up
close, there are a few things to do.
Starting Preparations
While up close, have Auron use Power Break. This will halve the damage
Evrae does with his regular attack and his Swooping Scythe. Allow Wakka
to use Dark Attack or Dark Buster every once in a while, so that he
misses almost always. Try to have Rikku Steal, then Use, a Water Gem
for about 1,500 points of damage, or Steal and Mix (Overdrive) two for
2,000 points of damage. Whether or not you stay close or go far, you
should try to have Tidus use Slow on Evrae (it misses very often, but
you should get it in 3 to 5 tries). Now, Evrae´s physical attacks,
should they manage to hit you, will only do 600 points of damage (as
opposed to 1,200 originally), and since he´s slow, you´ll be getting a
lot of turns in.
Strategy for Battling FROM AFAR
Since battling from afar is easier to describe (and probably easier to
win with), I´ll describe it first. You will notice that Cid is now in
the turn chart. If you have used "Pull Back" before his turn, on his
turn, he will move away from Evrae. The only way to hurt him now is
with Wakka and Lulu (who you should Haste with Tidus), but his attacks
are much less threatening.
While far away, Evrae will usually use Photon Spray, which is an attack
composed of about 10 randomly-aimed hits that attack for around 100
points of damage. Most likely, each character will lose around 300
points of damage. Every two turns Evrae gets, have Rikku use an Al Bhed
Potion, and you should be fine.
If you haven´t told Cid to "Move In" (brings you back near to Evrae)
and you are still far away from him, on Cid´s turn, Cid will use
"Guided Missiles". This will hit roughly 15 times for 200 points per
missile, or for roughly 3,000 points damage. He will only do this three
times, however, and then he will run out of missiles and just do
nothing.
To hurt Evrae from afar, have Wakka either Attack (750 points) or use
the Black Magic, Drain (Evrae loses about 500 HP and Wakka gains about
500 HP). Have Lulu use her second-level spells (Blizzara, Fira,
Thundara, Watera) for about 500 points of damage. Lulu´s Overdrive will
hit Evrae, but Wakka´s won´t for some reason.
As I said, Evrae will most likely use Photon Spray on his turn.
However, he may use an attack called Swooping Scythe, which hits
everybody for 600 (300 if you used Power Break as I suggested).
However, this also has the same effect as "Move In", as you are now
near him again. You can Pull Back again and repeat, however, which is
the easiest (yet LONGEST) way to win.
Strategy for Battling NEAR
If, however, you are less patient and feel that you have a strong party
or are very good with the battle system, you will just stay up close.
Auron can hit him for about 1,000 (2,000 critical) each time, all
Overdrives will be in reach, and you can basically just hit him each
turn you get as opposed to waiting a lot.
First of all, you have already taken care of his regular attacks, so
Evrae will either miss or do relatively low damage (yet high compared
to what he does from far away) to a character most often. Should he
hit, you can use a Hi-Potion, Al Bhed Potion, or just ignore it.
He will occasionally use, however, Stone Gaze, which will petrify one
party member (but won´t do any damage). This basically is the same
thing as the having the character die, as if all characters are
petrified, you lose. Immediately cure this with either a Soft or an Al
Bhed Potion.
Near/Far - Poison Breath Attack
The biggest problem you will have, however, is his Poison Breath. He
will first inhale (he takes a big breath), which does no damage or
anything to you. However, on his next turn, he will use Poison Breath.
His inhalation is just a warning, basically. After he inhales, he will
use Poison Breath, which will hit each character for 1,500-1,800 points
of damage and inflict poison on everybody. Anybody that survives will
be weak and be poisoned.
Should Tidus or Rikku select Pull Back, and Cid pulls back, Evrae´s
Poison Breath will miss. You will have to use the turn chart to be able
to plan this accordingly! This is the only way to avoid Poison Breath,
so you will have to understand what to do. To explain it best, if the
turn chart order goes:
1. Evrae - Inhales
2. Character
3. Cid
4. Evrae
You will PROBABLY be able to avoid it. Should your character be Tidus
or Rikku, you can use Pull Back (tell Cid to pull back). Cid will then
actually pull back, and Evrae´s Poison Breath will miss. If it´s not
Tidus or Rikku, then switch in for one of them and use Pull Back. If
you have both Tidus and Rikku out, and it´s the third character, then
you CAN´T AVOID it. For this reason, it is wise to never have both
Rikku and Tidus in at the same time. Note that you always lose if the
scenario is:
1. Evrae - Inhales
2. Character
3. Evrae
Or if it is:
1. Evrae - Inhales
2. Cid
3. Evrae
There are ways to increase your chance of the first scenario. First,
have Tidus use Haste on any characters you will be using (Tidus, Rikku,
Auron, and Wakka probably). Also, have Tidus try to use Slow on Evrae.
If Evrae´s turn is right before Cid, or you could avoid Poison Breath
with just a couple extra turns, have Tidus use Delay Attack for a
couple extra turns. Note that Tidus will always have his next turn
right after Evrae, so you can´t use it twice in a row. Lastly, if you
can kill him before he uses it, then do so!
However, chances are Evrae may get to use it. When he does, have Rikku
use an Al Bhed Potion, or if she´s dead, have each living character use
an Antidote on himself and THEN revive Rikku. If he can survive the
Poison´s damage (probably only Auron), then you can try reviving Rikku
first. The Al Bhed Potion will remove everybody´s Poison and give
everybody 2,000 more HP. Try not to get hit, though, as this is risky,
especially towards the end.
Evrae Haste - The end of the battle
After Evrae´s HP drops below 10,665 (Split Infinity), he will use Haste
on himself. If you use Slow on him, he will instantly use Haste again
(it doesn´t even have to be his turn), so you shouldn´t waste your
turn. Before this happens, it would be wise to have each of your
characters in Haste. It would also be wise to Pull Back repeatedly.
Evrae will always use Swooping Scythe as a counter now, but if you keep
moving back, using Delay Attack, using Wakka or using Lulu, you should
be all right. If you can´t get back in time even with delay, try Auron
and see if you can finish him. If you don´t want to do this, then make
sure Evrae´s in Dark status (Wakka), so that after Poison Breath he
can´t finish your whole party at once - although he may use Stone Gaze,
anyway. Basically I recommend finishing him with Wakka and Lulu in
Haste from afar, but you don´t have to.
Note: If he inhales and you Pull Back, do NOT hit him! He will counter
with Swooping Scythe and then finish you with Poison Breath! I´ve seen
it happen and thought it was cheap, too!
One last problem you may be having is that Evrae is using Haste early.
I´ve encountered this several times. My best explanation is that he
uses it after being hit repeatedly by Delay Attack, so don´t use Delay
Attack twice in a row if you´re encountering this. It really makes the
battle much harder.
I hope that helps! If I´m missing any important data here, or if you´re
still having trouble, contact me! I´ll reply to your e-mail and help
you, and if it´s a significant enough problem, I´ll put it up and
credit you. Good luck!
