Dahaka (boss)

Dahaka is a boss in Final Fantasy XIII. It is a flying Pulse fal'Cie the party spots soon after their arrival in the said land. It frequently flies by the party during their journey to Oerba, until it returns to its roost atop Taejin's Tower.
As the party completes the Cie'th Stone missions throughout the tower, Dahaka appears and is struck down by the Menhirrim. At the top of the tower Dahaka challenges the group turning into a dragon-esque form atop a giant orb.
== Stats ==
== Battle ==
Dahaka has three attacks that damage the party and modify its abilities and resistances. Fulminous Firestorm deals fire and lightning-elemental damage and can inflict Imperil, and has Dahaka use only fire and lightning spells afterwards and absorb the aforementioned elements. Bone-chilling Breaker functions similarly, but deals ice and water-elemental damage. Diluvial Plague is weaker, but inflicts numerous status ailments, removes ailments from Dahaka and enhancements from the party, halves all elemental damage to Dahaka and grants immunity to Deprotect, Slow, and Imperil, and allows it to use wind-elemental spells. Additionally, its Foul Utterance attack damages a single party member and has a 3x Dispel effect.
When Dahaka is staggered, it will fall to the ground and slightly damage nearby party members, but will be incapacitated for 30 seconds. Should Dahaka be staggered while it charges for an attack, the attack will be canceled.
Dahaka can cast Faith on itself, as well as Haste after the initial special attack, and casts Doom after 20 minutes of battle time.
=== Strategy ===
The leader can have a Doctor's Code equipped, and it is recommended to have a full bar of TP before the battle. It is useful if a party member knows Dispel for the Saboteur role, and the leader knows the technique Dispelga to dispel the status ailments after Dahaka uses its special attack. It is recommended to have a Medic who knows Raise, but this is not necessary.
Recommended paradigms include:
* Relentless Assault (COM/RAV/RAV)
* Combat Clinic (SEN/MED/MED)
* Aggression (COM/RAV/COM)
* Evened Odds (SAB/SYN/MED)
* Diversity (COM/MED/RAV)
* Bully (SAB/SYN/COM)
As with most boss battles, it is good to start by applying Libra. The party should start out with Relentless Assault to drive up the chain gauge and Dahaka should be quickly staggered. If it uses one of the weather changing attacks (Firestorm or Bone-chilling Breaker), the party should continue with Relentless Assault if Dahaka is close to getting staggered (as being staggered will cancel the attack); if the boss is not close to being staggered, the party should switch to Combat Clinic so the Sentinel can mitigate the damage and the Medics can heal right after.
One can also shift to Evened Odds or Bully to have the Synergist cast buffs (at least Haste) while the Saboteur throws some debuffs on Dahaka while either a Medic heals (in Evened Odds) or the Commando attacks to keep up the chain gauge (in Bully).
thumb|left|Dahaka staggered.
The party should aim to stagger Dahaka and drive up the chain gauge until half the gauge is depleted, then switch to Aggression to deal damage and Dahaka should be defeated in two to four staggers. Near the end of the stagger the party can switch to Diversity to heal a little while not being attacked.
When Dahaka buffs itself, the party should dispel it as soon as possible. If Dahaka uses Foul Utterance and the leader has yellow health, it's best to use a Potion before the attack lands. When Dahaka uses Dilluvial Plague and the debuffs show up, the party can use Dispelga to rid of them instantly, or summon an Eidolon.
Despite halving physical damage, Dahaka is susceptible to Deprotect and Imperil. Inflicting Imperil and buffing the party with Enfire or another En- effect lets the party deal double damage in every hit. Fang can also cast Slow if she is in the party. Though any party combination can work, Sazh as a party leader may be a good idea so he can cast buffs manually to desired targets, and because of Dahaka's size, his area Blitz attack is likely to connect in a large way and deal immense damage when Dahaka is staggered.
== Etymology ==
Dahaka shares its Japanese name with Taharka, a boss from Final Fantasy IX.
== Related enemies ==
* Anima
* Barthandelus
* Orphan
Category:Bosses in Final Fantasy XIII