Thiefcat's Guide to Lvl 20 Avatar Fights.Follow

I'll be the first to say I don't like this guide.

First off: These are AVATARS. Notice the capitalization. In NO WAY will they be very much weaker on the day their element is weak to. They STILL have double elemental status in the area you fight them. You said against...Garuda? that you had one of Carbuncle's Searing Lights resisted for half damage.

I went on Lightsday for every fight, never had a single resist. All SLs did 210 DMG, each and every time. That's a minimum of 18 Unresisted SLs on Lightsday, but it's actually more, because the only two Avatars I beat the first time were Garuda and Leviathan.

To all you new SMNs, trying out these battles, go on Lightsday, when Carbuncle is strongest. You'll be happier you did.

Secondly, all I took was 1 Yagudo Drink, 1 Boiled Crab or Fish Mithkabob, 1 Pamama Au Lait, and 2 Ethers. I only started bringing the two Ethers after I'd already beaten Titan and Shiva, just to be on the safe side. I believe I might have brought along 1 Potion also to a few of them, only used it once. You don't need Hi-Potions at all, especially not 4 of them.

As for the rest of the guide, besides the items and the choice of day, nothing else was really wrong.

I did all the battles as a Lvl 20 SMN, Summoning Skill wasn't capped, but was at most 6 from the cap (not really a big deal as no one knows for sure what Summoning Skill really does). Never got anything higher than Protect I (from myself). Got teleported, use Protect, Aquaveil, and a barelement if it applied. Shiva doesn't cast Sleep to my knowledge. I believe they're restricted to only using abilities they'd have in your hands at 20.

I don't think you needed to make this guide. It may have helped some, but you act like you're the be all end all person when it comes to the Level 20 Mini Battles.

Didn't rate you in either direction, though, I'm pretty sure you can't rate anybody unless you have an average rating of above 3.00.

Very nice guide ^^ rate up. One of the few ways you could die is the moment you hit SL, the avatar hits their 2-hr, i.e. Diamond dust. anyway to prevent this?

Great Guide, thank you. This has helped me so much!! I just became a lvl 20 Smn Yesterday and took on my first battle with Shiva and won. Took on Ifrit today and Won, so I desided to take on Ramuh on lightday. Everything was going good, following what you said to a T. but after the first Searing Light I ran up, Carby died Ramuh gave chase. I recasted hit the second searing light. but I got caught on Carby and Judgement bolt took me down to red and took the rat out. I tried to run and use a hi potion in hope I would live. But I fell short and died ;_;. Oh well thank you again for this great guide ^_^

Quick Note :

You only need FAME 2 in every place to get to fight them !!!

The thought had crossed my mind. Dual Hermit Wand to summon and then switch to dual weapons to melee. Too bad Utsusemi:Ichi is level 12. But if that was usable, it would probably make the mini-fights boring. I am a Taru, so I prefer not to melee since I have less HP and STR, so I never tried melee subs.

The battles are really fun right now as SMN/WHM so I let myself get killed by Titan during the end just so I can fight him again without having to walk there.

lest so far i have lost all my avatar battles my last 2 have pissed me off the most. these were shiva and ifrit. i have followed the strat. to letter. Now on these last two battles carby has failed his 3rd searing light strike. like he just stops and he is right next to shiva or ifrit. my 2hour hasn;t worn off yet infact it doesn't wear off for another 30 secounds. so needless to say i get killed. I have become most unpleased with this, can ne1 tell me whats wrong?

Awesome guide. It helped me defeat some of the avatars so far. This should be stickied. Thanks so much Thiefcat XD

Yeah...on of my attempts before I beat him, I lost to Ramuh because of Judgement Bolt. Hang in there, you'll get him soon. There is a little amount of luck involved with these fights.

If Carby is gone and my HP is in orange, I use my hi-potion first before I summon. I lost that particular Jugdement Bolt fight because I thought my HP was fine to summon and wham...I'm dead when I was about done casting.

This is a great guide. With your help I've gained 4 new summons in less than 24 hours.

Thanks again.

By the way, can i increase fame in Jeuno for Norg?
I am not very sure abt my fame in Norg, will check it in Jeuno based on the Rice Ball price but how do I gauge it?

Any other simplier ways to increase Norg fame before I leave for Norg?

Its been a while since I posted. I wanted to say thanks again, I guess the old saying third time is a charm really does work. FOr my third time on ramuh I won. The only pain is Judgement bolt nearly took me out again. but I ran down used my hp potion started to cast. took a step bad cast. ramuh hit second cast bad. got angry third cast went ouff I engaged and started swinging got carby out did the searing light. I was at 50 hp and ramuh was in mid swing to kill me when he fell over.

So luck I was. Now im headin to levi tonight. Now to take down the water god and I am set

hmm Falko, so I just needs to turn in 20 zinc ores to get sufficient fame?

Just had to say THANK YOU. I did my first avatar battle (Leviathan) went just like u said. Killed it in 4 min. and 3 sec. And i c what u mean about getting snaged on the edge wow. stared to freak me about for a sec. But pulled it togeather and killed it. So thank you very much.

I checked last night. My fame was 166 riceball. That was what it was when I went to fight Leviathan since I haven't done any quests after that.

I had done a few yagudo necklaces quests and 1 zinc ores quest prior in order to obtain the NIN and SAM quests.

So just do enough until your riceball price is 166. It might work at 167 or 168, I don't know cuz I didn't try. But I know it didn't work when mine was at 169. I just did enough so that hopefully I wouldn't go to Norg for nothing. I need to get more fame anyways in order to get my NIN scrolls so might as well.

This guide is sweet. I got all the avatars in 2 days. One thing to add. I used pear au laits at beginning of battle. I only had to use Hi potions on Ramuh (2 houred) and Garuda when one of my Searing lights misfired.

In total I lost three battles. One wasn't a mini fight... (Don't play till the late hours of the night and click the crystal instead of trading fork ><)

This is a sound guide. There is some luck involved, but I feel like I can win every batle 95% of the time using these strategies. Thanks Thiefcat!


Now to get 65+ to get Fenrir.... ><

I know it is nice to be prepared, but for any cheapskates like myself out there, it is definitely possible to do these fights with the bare minimum in foods. I used Fish Mithkabobs/Boiled Crabs, whichever was cheaper, and 2 Melon Drinks per fight. I brought 2 Hi-Potions for safety but after the first 2 fights I never needed anymore and sold them at the end. I did not touch any instant MP drinks.

Same method as described here, except slightly different positioning. First SL near the "Crack", second one farther down, at which point I'd run up near the "Nest" and wait for the 3rd. I think I only got resisted on SL perhaps once in all the fights. Titan was my first, and after dying to him a few times I got the timing down pat and the rest were a breeze. Just follow the same pattern of MP and timing, and use your good judgement. I've done the Mini's and the regulars, and I can attest that these are a lot more exhilirating! Fenrir might change that though ^^.

I'd just like to toss in my thanks for this awesome guide. I was able to beat all the avs with your help Thiefcat.

Heres my score:

Titan: 1/0
Garuda: 1/0
Ifrit: 1/0
Ramuh: 1/0
Leviathan: 1/1 (Would've been 1/0, but I lost my head and forgot to use an ether after the first Searing Light. ^^;;)
Shiva: 1/1 (This was a tough fight. More than all the other solo avatars Shiva knows exactly when to use her 2h to screw you up. I won this battle with 38 hp and NO hi-potions left meleeing the last few seconds.)

Important things I feel should be mentioned:

ALWAYS go into an av fight with a decently powerful staff. I recommend a Holly Pole. Make a macro to switch from your Hermit's Wand to the Pole when you start to melee, if you do. (The macro is: /equip Main "Holly pole" ) My third Searing only killed 2 of the avs I fought, the rest ended with melee. If I hadn't brought that Holly pole into my Shiva fight, she'd have slaughted me at the end.
Banish is all well and good, but I've only had 2 banishes go off for more than 15 hp damage in an Av fight, and using a Holly pole is worth a good 10 points each hit.

Keep a cool head. This is absolute in an avatar fight. Doesn't matter how well prepared you are, if you don't have a cool head on your shoulders, then you'll mess up and die. Just take a deep breath before you cast Carbuncle in front of "The Crack" and keep your strategy in mind. Do this and you have a vastly lower chance of losing.

I used the equipment recommended here, but in case you're curious this is what I went in with:
4x High Potions (5 for Ramuh. Used every one of em. I'd recommend bringing in 6 at least for each battle, if you can afford it.)

3x Yagudo Drink (Generally I only used 1 in combat. For Shiva and Ramuh though, don't wait till the Drink wears off to recharge. Use another one after the 2nd Searing. You'll probably need it.)

3x Ethers/Hi-Ethers (I used Hi-Ethers for most of my battles, but only because Ethers are apparently rare on the AH for Bismarck. I do NOT reccommend you use Hi-ethers. They take way too long. Go and buy some Ethers for 5k from the infirmary in Upper Jeuno if you have to. Only use Hi-ethers if you absolutely have no choice. I'd also reccommend you use 4x ethers or hi-ethers. I couldn't afford to, but there were times I wished I had.)

12x Boiled Crab (Ended up with 4 left over. Boiled Crayfish works as well. I couldn't really tell a huge difference, but I imagine it made one even if I couldn't see it.)

Hermit's Rod
Holly Pole
Black Robe
Scentless Armlets
2x Physical Earrings (INVEST IN THESE. Shiva would have killed me without the extra hp.)
Windurst Ring
Saintly Ring (I never healed myself in battle. This was just something I threw on. It's not really important.)
Black Slacks
Light Solea (Honestly I didn't see that evasion helped me much. I don' t recall ever seeing the Avatars miss me, not even once.)
Heki (SP?) Obi +1
Cape +1
Happy Egg


That's what I used to win. But whatever equip you're using, remember that a cool head is the most vital thing of all. If you panic when something screws up, then you're already dead. Just suck it up and think real quick of your next step.

Also, allow for some of your own strategy. Don't follow Thiefcat's or anyone elses to the letter. Make some leeway as you see you need to. This will help when something goes wrong that's not listed in the guide, you'll be able to react more naturally.

The guide is freaking excellent Thiefcat, and I commend you and all the others before/after you who added to the strategy.

Edited, Mon Feb 28 22:14:54 2005 by MagicWeaponZill

The mini-avatar battles are lvl 20 capped. This means that you can enter less than or more than 20 but will be temporarily reduced to lvl 20 if you are over lvl 20.

And to maximize your chance of winning, it is best to be at least lvl 20.

I'm glad you got lucky with your fight. Wish I had gotten lucky enough to not have spent enough.

Finally got my last avatar last night, Leviathan.

That brings my attempts to:

Ramuh: 3 (Losses due to paralysis)
Shiva: 3 (Losses to Diamond Dust and Blizzard II)
Titan: 2 (Losses to SL being resisted, twice)
Ifrit: 1
Leviathan: 1
Garuda: 1

Each time, I used a yagudo drink, 2 ether/hi-ether (ethers sell out a lot) and a fish kabob. My equipment? Complete crap. I was wearing a kingdom aketon (Def:1) for crying out loud. :) Protect III/Shell III from wife's WHM before going.

I think I ended up spending about 120-140k gil for all the avatar fights combined.

Searing Light was resisted a total of 5 times in all the fights put together, and I always fought the avatars on their 'weak' days. I never had the chance to fight on Lightsday.

Just a little lesson i learnt and want to share.

1st Use Hi-Potion!
Don't be a cheapstake like me to use Potion >.< Because of this i lost my 1st battle with Titan. I also panic and keep drinking Potion which aggro Titan >.<

2nd Ask for Protect and Shell
Having Protect IV and Shell IV makes a huge different. Garuda was like doing peanuts damage to me 5-6. While without, Titan due like about 10-40 damage... can't remember clearly.

3rd Check you have all your stuff!
I lost my fight with Garuda partly because i forgot to bring Ether!! >.< Still i managed 2 searing light and almost defeat Garuda, if not for me standing next to Garuda stupidly (/slap myself) waiting for my mp to fill. Garuda use her ?spell, kill of my Carby and half my hp. And i wasn't able to cast Carby after that.
Well, you can guess the result.

Today i noticed something with my battle with Shiva. Before Shiva uses the Diamond Dust >.< you will see the red colored lines 'shooting' out from her body just like when your Carby uses it's 2hr. Well, i'm sure this is nothing new, except that the red lines stayed for so long that i didn't think Shiva was going to do anything special... but after i got another SL off again, just a few steps later, Diamond Dust...
My poor Carby die, my hp is red, but managed to get Carby out again, but Shiva simply wants to keep hitting me :( my Carby can't get enough hate...
I'm just wonder what i did wrong this time /sigh

Titan 1/2
Garuda 0/1
Shiva 0/1


Edited, Mon Mar 14 09:28:57 2005 by Amoryff

Fist off i like to say that this was the key part to my success with the battles... At the time I have Titan, Garuda, Ifirit, and Shiva...(Bought to go fight Ramuh) and the only fight I lost was the Shiva Prime battle because I didn't sub right...

Which brings me to my next point... now this may sound weird but I have found that my key to success other than this guide was subbing Paladin... (I know sounds crazy right?) I hadn't lvled up my whm so i wasn't gonna bother... I had spent time getting to lvl 20 and i wanted these damn avatars NOW! Well i thought... hmmm Pld has banish and I knew that was a key part of warding of failure if searing light didn't hit full power for one of the 3 blows...
Well after subbing pld i noticed the perks for the battles...

1. a few extra HP and a little bit extra defense
2. the Defense Bonus job trait which is definatley nice ^^
3. Banish spell
4. ummm... pld's kick ass!

Now my success rate with pld sub is 3 for 3 (I used rdm sub on titan before i discovered this) Anyone else try this yet? Well I hope this helps any future smn's with the battle.

update... got all my avatars XD and am still undefeated with pld sub...

Edited, Tue Apr 12 03:11:59 2005 by HaliardTehGreat

Someone might have posted this already, but 4 pages is too many to look through. Anyway in your walkthrough you said,



Maybe they changed it in a recent update but last night i fought shiva at 3:00 am pacific time, and then when i woke up at 11:30 am i fought her again, that is only 8 and a half hours.. i think.. i hope ;) anyways, thanks for the great guide im sure it will help me out a lot!

I used a slightly different macro system for ease, thought it might help, I've posted this to other threads too, if you've already read it feel free to skip.

Well, after a dozen or so tries I'm suddenly having a whole lot of success. When I tried to figure out why, I realized that knowing how the fight would go wasn't enough, the key was in the macros, so i'll tell you what I'm using, maybe it will help somebody else out there, I know it's made all the difference for me.

First, I should say that I have subscribed to the "crack" method, and is the basis for my first casting of Carbuncle. Outside the crystal I cast Aquaveil, and use a fish mithkabob. I then enter the crystal, and run to the "crack", where I use my first macro:
/ma "Carbuncle" <me>

When Carbuncle attacks the avatar I then cast my second macro which I have named "Start":
/item "Yagudo Drink" <me>
/wait 5
/ja "Astral Flow" <me>
/wait 5
/pet "Searing Light" <bt>

Doing the two macros here assures me that carbuncle has engaged the avatar, and that I am not in danger. It also assures the quickest use of the first searing light so I can get off three before my yag drink or 2 hour wear off.
After Carbuncle has jumped in the air, I take off for the other side. When I reach the other side, and Carb has been defeated, I cast my next macro, "Carb2":
/ma "Carbuncle" <me>
/wait 7
/item "Ether" <me>

You may wonder why I didn't tack a searing light on here. It's because the time between summons varies. The avatar can take longer at times to kill Carb, so this gives the flexibility of the trigger in my own hands. Of very special note, I had trouble timing the second and third searing lights, but finally figured it to be when carb had been recasted, my ether had kicked in and my mp reached 55. That represents exactly one minute (2 mp/3 sec=40mp/min regenerated. Include -5 mp for casting Carb, then add 20 for ether= 55 mp). When it reaches 55 I use my "Sear" macro:
/pet "Searing Light" <bt>

After getting off my second sear I return to the top, and recast Carb2, followed by Sear. The only other advice I have is to make sure you have stopped running before hitting "carb2". Too many times I lost a fight I should have won because I made that mistake. Other than those specifics I have nothing else to add, the rest of this post has been uber-helpful. Hope this makes things that much easier. Good luck!!

Travis...aka Petite (Remora)

days do matter trust me.

get some elemental resist gear it really helps.

this guide helped beat my first fight ramuh since everyone says he is the hardest i'm not worried about the others