Memorable characters, amazing stories, vibrant worlds, deep lore, and enemies that make you want to stop playing video games forever. You may be thinking, “How bad can they be? I didn’t have any problems. You’re just bad at the game.” And you’d be right. But I’m willing to bet that I’m not the only one who has had problems with some of the roaming enemies in this game. Some of these things are just plain mean, and unnecessarily so. They hit hard, come at unexpected times, and they’ll outnumber you (or just take forever to beat). So this ranking just covers normal enemies in FF12. So no bosses, marks, or rare game stuff. And we’ll be taking a look at some of the toughest SOBs Ivalice can offer.
8. Wild Saurian
I’m putting this one here for all my fellow gamers who unknowingly attacked this thing, thinking they could somehow stand a chance. I mean, it had a green bar and wasn’t gonna do anything. But we just had to tempt it, right? I remember I was wandering through the Dalmasca Estersand fighting Wolves when I spotted this hulking monster lumbering in the distance. I walked up to it with my level 13 characters and decided, “Yes, I will fight you.” I hadn’t saved for hours, either…
7. Baknamy
These little guys aren’t inherently tough. In fact, they’re pretty easy to deal with unless they start to outnumber your party. Seven of them can possibly appear together. And when they all target a single party member, they can make quick work of them. These Baknamies can be either ranged or melee, and have the ability to cast magick as well. In the Necrohol of Nabudis, the Oversoul enemy might also show up alongside them as well – just adding to their numbers and increasing the difficulty of the encounter.
6. Crystalbug
Picture this: You’ve been trekking through a dungeon, you’re tired, and you find a save crystal. You breathe a sigh of relief and touch it, expecting to be fully healed. Then you get attacked by an area of effect spell and die. Shame. These enemies cast elemental magicks, halve all elemental damage, and use a restore ability to restore 30% of their HP. So your party has to attack fast and hard if they want to take this thing down.
5. Deathclaw
Now I’ll admit: this enemy isn’t really that difficult, unless it’s among other enemies. They appear grouped up so it’s difficult to isolate them. Which means you’ll always be fighting them in big chunks. Deathclaws also use the Cannibalize ability to devour each other and grow stronger. Seriously! If allowed to do so, their HP can grow to at least 13,000.
4. Entites
These enemies can be found all over the game, and are normally docile, until something goes wrong. They’ll only attack when attacked first, or when magick is used nearby. And that’s where the danger lies. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in a fight with a different enemy and they’ll randomly cast a spell, and then pull a nearby Entity into the fight. With an immunity to Silence, an extremely high defense stat, and an insatiable blood-lust, these enemies are no joke for ill-prepared unsuspecting players.
3. Mom Bomb
Honestly, I hate the Bomb enemies and all their variants. If I could fill this list up with nothing but Bomb enemies, I would. They aren’t that bad, until they decide to Self-Destruct. A higher level version of the Mom Bomb can be found in the Great Crystal – and can have up to 18,000 HP. Nothing’s worse than fighting a small group of these things and seeing the words “Mass Destruct” pop up onto the screen. And this ability causes all the enemies to go off at once, which absolutely devastates your team.
2. Lv.99 Red Chocobo
Spawning this enemy is actually really complicated to do. So fortunately, you’ll probably never have to fight it. This crazy Level 99 bird will only spawn if you’ve killed six chocobos on the Ozmone Plains. And this chocobo will only have a 1/256 chance of spawning anyways, so it’s pretty rare. But if it does, get ready for a serious fight. This Red Chocobo is immune to all status effects. And when it sees you, it’ll constantly cast the Choco-Comet spell, dealing roughly 4,500 damage in an AOE attack. Oh, and did I mention that it has just shy of 240,000 HP? Chocobos are usually really cute, and are seen as a sort of mascot to the Final Fantasy series. Not this guy though. He’s just mean.
1. Archaeoaevis
This enemy received a major upgrade in the Zodiac version, with immensely improved stats and the Safety ability as well. It has become infamous enough that it’s now regarded as one of the hardest enemies in the game (if not the hardest). And rightfully so. At max level, this enemy’s HP clocks in at a whopping 961,622! The Archaeoaevis can also inflict a slew of status effects including Confuse, Sap, Poison, and Disease, all while casting Dispelga to remove all positive buffs from the party as well. Bottom line: these things are incredibly tough. And they can often be found in pairs, so come prepped for a full-on superboss level fight. Ribbons, ultimate weapons, and high level characters will help to make this fight easier, but not easy.
