Zodiark ( Final Fantasy XII boss ) Zodiark is an optional boss , and the most powerful Esper in " Final Fantasy XII " . He is fought in the special dig site of the Henne Mines and defeating him unlocks his license on the License Board . Zodiark is also fought in stage 97 of " International Zodiac Job System " Trial Mode . Finding Zodiark . To gain access to the optional area of the Henne Mines , the player must acquire ten Espers and talk to Geomancer Yugelu in Jahara to have him open the door that leads deeper into the mines . Zodiark is found at the very end . The path to Zodiark is littered with strong foes , but the player can use the Immobilize glitch to avoid them . As the Immobilize glitch requires the party leader to be a decent distance away from the rest of the party , the trek will still be difficult . Fleeing is not suggested , as certain enemies can transport to the space in front of a character , and if there are many teleporting enemies the player ' s path may become blocked . Without a correctly trained party , the trek to Zodiark can be harder than the Esper itself . Battle . Once the party enters the battlefield they cannot leave until they defeat Zodiark . As soon as the party enters the area Zodiark casts his special move , Darkja , a powerful Dark - elemental cinematic attack that has a chance to instantly KO a target , and can inflict Blind on a character even if he or she is KO ' d . The Esper starts the battle with Reflect , Protect , Shell , and Haste . Zodiark ' s Banish Ray will usually inflict 9 , 999 damage , instantly killing a target without the Bubble status or a Bubble Belt ( with Bubble it is possible to break the HP limit , although the screen always displays 9999 as the max ) . At half HP Zodiark erects a Magick Wall , making him immune to magick attacks for two minutes . At quarter health Zodiark begins using Shift to change his elemental weakness ; once the player figures out his vulnerability ( he is initially weak against Holy ) , he will change it . When Zodiark ' s HP is HP Critical , his attacks grow stronger and faster . Darkja is used more often than before . The most dangerous part is when his HP is almost gone . Zodiark ' s Battle Cry will make his attack stronger . Once Zodiark puts up the physical paling , physical attacks will be useless from then on , as Zodiark will only erect it again as soon as it falls . Strategy . It is recommended for the party to be at least level 70 . Bubble Belts , strong weaponry and equipment that absorb Dark - elemental damage will be useful . It helps to equip Black Masks for this purpose . Absorbing Dark - elemental damage will not spare a character from an automatic KO from Darkja , and there is no equipment available that can protect against it . Shields are useless in the battle as Zodiark ' s attacks ignore evasion . The only shields one might want to equip are the Shell Shield for the Auto - Shell , and Demon ' s Shield for absorbing Dark . Good weapons to equip are Tournesol , Zodiac Spear , the Masamune , Holy Rod , the Excalibur , or even the Wyrmhero Blade . Good accessories include the Bubble Belts , Hermes Sandals , and Genji Gloves ( to the Masamune wielder ) . Before entering the map where Zodiark resides , the party should cast Protect , Shell , and Haste . Regen , Bravery , and Faith are also useful . It is possible to use Berserk , although for this battle it may be better to use sober characters . The player should enter the battle with only a weak character who is not a member of the main party because right at the beginning Zodiark casts Darkja , and there is no reason for the entire party to be exposed to it . After Darkja the player can bring in the main party . The party should dispel Zodiark ' s status enhancements and be ready to use Dispel / Dispelga throughout the battle . It may be too risky to use spells as Zodiark keeps changing his elemental weakness , but non - elemental spells like Bio and Scourge can be considered . The player should plan to react and recover from Darkja : when the main party falls , the player should bring in the reserve party and heal with Arise or Phoenix Downs ( preferably the character would be equipped with Pheasant Netsuke to mimic Arise ) . The reserved party can fight for a bit , but they probably will not be as strong as the main party . At times the main party may need to be switched in to heal the reserved party . This technique is important when it comes closer to the end of the battle when Darkja isn ' t the only worry . It ' s good to keep the party spread out so area attacks like Scathe won ' t affect everyone . The first part of the battle is simple . One strategy is to cast Berserk and Bravery on the strongest physical attacker . If Holy - elemental weapons are in the player ' s possession , equipping them is suggested for it is Zodiark ' s weakness for the time being . The fight becomes more difficult when Zodiark has about half of his HP left and he puts up a Magick Anti - Magick . The party should keep attacking him and try to keep him dispelled , but when the shield is up it is impossible to dispel Zodiark ' s buffs . When Zodiark ' s HP is close to one quarter , he will begin changing his elemental weakness , and the player should change their weapons to non - elemental ones . This is when the player should start to use Quickenings . The battle could end immediately with a long enough Quickening chain . If that doesn ' t finish him off , Zodiark will begin to use a Anti - Magick and Magick Wall , and the Anti - Magick will never fall making physical attacks pointless . Casting Scourge or Scathe repeatedly is suggested . The player can take away the party ' s weapons and equip Demon Shields to absorb Dark damage , as magick can be cast just as well without a weapon , although staves can boost Magick Power . Zodiark can cast Reflect and the Magick Wall both . The player must beat Zodiark by casting preferably non - elemental magick . Scathe is the most powerful one , but takes a while to cast , so one might opt to using Scourge instead . The Opal Ring accessory allows the user to by - pass Zodiark ' s Reflect status . It is useful to have one character constantly dispelling him , however , to slow him down when Zodiark uses up a turn to re - cast his buffs . If the party is at a high enough level they can try to power through with a strong party buffed with Protect , Haste , Shell , Bravery , Regen and Berserk on all members . After saving at the Gate Crystal , the player should bring in two members from the reserve party and use the Immobilize glitch to travel to Special Charter Dig and dispel Zodiark , and bring in the main party . Under the barrage of heavy attacks Zodiark will not use Darkja and will constantly try to cast buffs and use Shift , but will be unable to put up the Anti - Magicks . Rewards . Defeating Zodiark unlocks its sprite on the Sky Pirate ' s Den and earns the player the title of Zodiac Knight . The player will also gain the ability to control Zodiark as a summoned Esper . As summoning Zodiark uses up all of the summoning character ' s MP , which may be needed for healing and buffing , one may consider giving Zodiark to Basch as he has the lowest MP .