Surging Menace

Surging Menace is the second Trial on Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and the first multi-layered Trial. The players face several Bosses until fighting the Greater Demon.
==Battle==
The battle has several phases and all of them with their respective trickeries. The player has to prepare with an adequate party and equips/items that can adapt to all of them. HP, MP, fallen members, items used, carry over the next stages as usual.
===Metal Gigantuar===
This Gigantuar is different from those usually found on events. It has 2,100 HP but extremely high defenses that will make damage very hard through conventional means. It will mostly attack with 1,000 Needles for fixed damage and Taunt that does nothing.
If the player uses an item or ability it will counter with Workload x10 and then utilize 10,000 to quickly ravage the party. Fixed Damage from abilities or craftable items (Bomb Arm, Earth Drum, etc.) works, but it is recommended the player weakens the Gigantuar first so as to guarantee its death upon using items.
The Gigantuar has no Elemental resistances, is vulnerable to status breaks and susceptible to Sleep and Paralysis.
===Bombs & Balloons===
The Bombs and Balloons behave as typical as their kin, using modest Fire Attacks and normal attacks and will self-destruct once their HP reaches 50% or less. The problem is that each of them has 30,000 HP and the Balloons can implode on all the party which can result in a wipe.
All of the enemies are weak to Ice so strong Ice attacks will work. They are also susceptible to Poison, Blind, Paralysis and Disease.
===Io & Searcher===
Io has 230,000 HP while Searcher has 60,000. Io utilizes powerful Physical Attacks like Crush and Wave Cannon to a single target and Particle Beam for much stronger damage to the whole party. It can also use Plasma for Lightning Magic damage and Paralysis to a single target. Particle Beam is used while the Searcher is alive, and upon its defeat will use Energy supply depleted which is a free turn.
The Searcher uses Flash to Blind the party, Repair to heal Io and Charge Core for a small MAG buff to Io.
Both Searcher and Io are weak to Lightning, but Io resists Earth and Wind (+100%). The Searcher is only immune to Petrify while Io is susceptible to Blind and Paralysis. Both are vulnerable to status breaks.
===Architeuth & Tentacles===
Architeuth and the Tentacles have 90,000 HP and 45,000 HP respectively. 
There are 4 foes but each one has limited number of actions so defeating a part will make things much easier. Architeuth uses Blizzara, Watera and Waterga as its main attacks.
The Tentacles can use Revitalize for heals, Ink to blind the party and Blizzara.
All of them are weak to Fire and Lightning and resistant to Earth. Vulnerable to Breaks and susceptible to all status ailments, except Petrify.
===Greater Demon===
The Trial's true challenge, Greater Demon has 280,000 HP.
The Greater Demon attacks mostly through normal attacks and spells like Fira, Thundara and Blizzara. It uses Graviga as a threshold ability upon reaching 70%, 50% and 30% of HP as its sole move. It can use Concentrating Magical Power to increase the power of its Magic attacks next turn, and Dark Wave to remove the Status modifiers applied on him.
It is weak to Light, resistant to Lightning, resistant to Blind (60%) and immune to everything else and susceptible to status breaks.
==Strategy==
The battle will be long and the player will have to account for several things at once. The most important however will be to bring damagers that can damage all enemies at once, as it will make three of the stages much easier to beat. They can be Physical or Magical, although elemental variety is also welcome.
For the Gigantuar, the player should weaken it through chains of normal attacks until half or more of its HP is depleted, then finish with it a barrage of damage consumable items, the next turn. Bomb Fragments, Earth Drums, or other items will do nicely.
For the Bombs, Ice damage will defeat them quickly, however since they can implode on the party, defeating them in one go is the best way to survive. As such bringing several units that can utilize AoE Ice attacks are a good choice. Even if Lightning is an element effective for two stages after, if choice needs to be made, Ice should be prefered as it guarantees survival and progress whereas the other stages can be survived through other means.
For Io, the main tactic is to abuse Status Ailments and Lightning Damage. The Searcher should be defeated quickly to prevent Io from using Particle Beam which is a dangerous attack. Elemental protection against Plasma works, so Barthundara should be used (it is easily acquired by a handful of Green Mages, or Carbuncle and even as an obtainable item to equip). 
For Architeuth and Tentacles, Lightning and Fire attacks will kill them quickly. Their magic attacks can hit hard but with Barblizzara/Barwatera, they can be survived. Nichol learns both so their threat is easily mitigated. Status ailments also work.
For Greater Demon, there is a handful of things that can be done. The player should ensure to always inflict Breaks on Greater Demon whatever they may be, but preferably DEF/SPR debuffs at the start of each turn and then damage it. This will ensure maximum damage. However Greater Demon will use Dark Wave to remove these changes. Even if the debuff won't last, it should be applied continuously as it will cause Greater Demon to use Dark Wave at the start of each turn and waste an action, significantly reducing its threat. When charging its Magic power, the player should heal and Guard. Elemental mitigation is feasible, but tricky given it uses 3 elements.
Graviga will not kill the party but requires to be healed as it will leave the party deeply weakened. Buffs are also effective since Greater Demon won't dispel them. Blind can be used to reduce the threat of its Physical attacks.
Summing all of the above, the player is free to choose their units. Noctis and Lightning are stellar due to their elemental coverage, while Noctis also can inflict status ailments through Fire Flask and Cover can restore MP. If the player is not confident on their survival abilities, they should bring two healers, one tank and 3 units for damage. An MP battery if possible is also useful although items can suffice, although they should be high tier items like Hi-Ethers, Mega-Ethers, Elixir or Chocolates.
Category:Final Fantasy Brave Exvius Trials