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Final Fantasy 5 belongs to that category of JRPGs whose degree of difficulty can either be a cakewalk or a trip across a tightrope. It all depends on how prepared you are at any given time. Specific job classes shine at various points in the game, and what seems like the ideal party set up in a World One dungeon might spell your doom in World Two.

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This, of course, begs the question: "How can I know what to prepare for when I don't know what's ahead of me?" For the most part, the solution is to fight a handful of battles in a new location, get the gist of what types of attacks and defenses work best for the situation, and change things up accordingly. But, barring the choice to treat repeated game overs as that first "handful of battles," that's not really something that you can do when you're taking those last courageous steps toward FF5's final boss.

Three Ways To Beat Final Fantasy 5

FFV Overworld

This guide will give you three different setups that can turn the tide against the game's climactic encounter. The reason we won't focus on just one option is that it's inevitable that different players will arrive at the Dimensional Rift, Final Fantasy 5's lattermost dungeon, with party builds that are spectacular at some things and, well, less so at others.

This is an RPG that thrives on diverse character customization. What might work for one player could be so radically unlike what another player has built toward that it would take hours and hours of grinding to get there.

We'll be referring to the final boss by name going forward. Final Fantasy 5 doesn't exactly have the most surprising climactic fight in the franchise, but we understand that for some fans seeing the name of a final boss in a topic title (or in the first few paragraphs, should an accidental click be made) is never a fun time.

How This Guide Works

FF5 Outside Rift

The final boss has two distinct forms: Exdeath and Neo Exdeath. The former is a single target, whilst the latter comes in four parts. Exdeath is no pushover, but he's peanuts next to his follow-up. Since there's no chance to rest and recover between the two forms, you won't be able to change up your jobs. For that reason, every successful setup must be able to handle both forms.

Each setup is written in table form for easy referencing. Here's what it all means:

Role

The Role column reflects each party member's most important commands/support abilities in order to make the method work. Since FF5's characters are essentially blank slates, it doesn't matter who fulfills which role, so we won't be bothering to list character names.

All things being equal, Freelancers are always the ideal job class for your party - so long as each character has learned important skills and mastered enough jobs to boost their stats. If Freelancers aren't an option due to a lack of job mastery, make do with what you have!

Setup

Setup regards key equipment pieces and necessary abilities. It won't cover anything that isn't mandatory to make this work, so you don't need to worry about a grocery list's worth of guidelines.

Rotation

Lastly, Rotation is a basic representation of what each character will be doing during the battle. Since these methods all manage to make relatively short work of Exdeath and Neo Exdeath, we'll only list a handful of potential moves.

Bear in mind, parties at exceptionally low levels (below 30, for example) will have a much harder time with these strategies by virtue of their inherent statistic capabilities. But so long as your team's at least about 35-36 (the higher the better), you shouldn't encounter much resistance.

Method 1: Dual Wield and Rapid Fire

Role

Setup

Rotation

Dual Wield and Rapid Fire

Two powerful swords and a decent strength stat.

Rapid Fire over and over again. With Dual Wield, it hits eight times per turn for exceptional damage output.

Dual Wield and Rapid Fire

Two powerful swords and a decent strength stat.

Rapid Fire over and over again. With Dual Wield, it hits eight times per turn for exceptional damage output.

Summon and Blue Magic

Access to the Golem and Carbuncle summons.

Repeated castings of Golem and Carbuncle to keep Protect, Shell, and Reflect active whenever needed. Blue Magic should be used whenever neither is necessary. Spells like White Wind will ease the healer's burden, while most offensive spells will shave damage off of Neo Exdeath's four parts simultaneously.

White Magic or every Chemist ability

A Ribbon to protect against status effects. Good evasive gear.

If the summoner's primary role is supportive, the healer's is all the more so. White Magic has a good blend of spells, but if you have a Chemist (or a Freelancer with all their bells and whistles), that means you have Mix, Recover, and Revive. Mix can add damage to Exdeath while Recover cures status ailments and Revive keeps everyone alive.

Method 2: Mimes

Role

Setup

Rotation

Mimic and Summon

A strong magic stat. Access to the Bahamut summon.

On the first turn of both battles, summon Bahamut. Bahamut will obliterate Exdeath in a few turns and then strike all four of Neo Exdeath's parts for 5000+ damage with a party in the 38-40 range.

Mimic

A strong magic stat.

Use Mimic to summon Bahamut again.

Mimic

A strong magic stat.

And again.

Mimic and White Magic

You guessed it - a strong magic stat.

And again - unless healing is in order. Rinse and repeat for 3-5 turns.

Method 3: Chemistry-Boosted Zeninage

Role

Setup

Rotation

Mix

Several batches Dragon Fangs and either Potions or Hi-Potions. Dragon Fangs are dropped by many of the game's dragon-type enemies.

Mix together a Dragon Fang and Potion/Hi-Potion to trigger the Dragon Power ability, which raises the targeted character's level by 20 temporarily. Cast this on the Zeninage-wielders during the first two turns, crafting powerful healing items thereafter.

Blue Magic or Summon and White Magic

Access to either White Wind and Mighty Guard or Golem and Carbuncle.

Either cast Mighty Guard and then heal with successive White Winds or summon Golem and then Carbuncle as needed. Raise fallen party members whenever necessary.

Zeninage

A lot of gil.

Zeninage is a command that lets you choose how much gil to toss at an enemy or enemies and damage them accordingly. There's a behind-the-scenes formula involved in dictating damage, but so long as you're tossing the maximum 9999 gil per turn and Dragon Power has buffed you multiple times to Level 99, you're going to hit Neo Exdeath for 10k per round...

Zeninage

A lot of gil.

...And you'll double the speed at which the evil sorcerer goes down by having two party members on Zeninage duty.

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