Barthandelus (boss)

Barthandelus is a powerful boss in Final Fantasy XIII. He is fought three times, each time with a distinct appearance. He is often fought at the ends of chapters and is one of the harder bosses of the main story. 
== Stats ==
== Battle ==
=== First encounter ===
Barthandelus has four adornments attached to the sides of his head that shield him from damage and attack the party with elemental attacks, while he buffs them and strengthens their attacks as they are destroyed. Once all are removed, or after Barthandelus's HP drops to 60%, he will begin to attack the party himself. He can open up his face to execute his Thanatosian Smile attack. Other attacks include Ruinga, Baptism in Ruin, and his ultimate attack, Destrudo.
;Strategy
Recommended paradigms:
* Diversity (MED/COM/RAV)
* Solidarity (COM/MED/SEN)
* Relentless Assault (RAV/RAV/COM)
* Combat Clinic (MED/MED/SEN)
* Evened Odds (MED/SAB/SYN)
* Bully (COM/SAB/SYN)
The party should start with Diversity and turn their attention to the adornments, using a Librascope at the start of the fight to deduce the respective elemental weakness for each one. After each adornment is destroyed, the party should switch to Evened Odds or Bully and buff up, hopefully getting a Slow on the boss as well. The party should then switch to Relentless Assault or back to Diversity to stagger him.
Once Barthandelus begins to cast Destrudo, the chain gauge resets even amid stagger, though he can still be staggered while charging. After charging for 30 seconds, Barthandelus will unleash the attack unless he incurs 12,000 damage before then, which will weaken the move. The move can be weakened further if he incurs another 20,000 within the next 15 seconds, which will force him to unleash the attack. Instead of backing off and defending when Barthandelus begins charging Destrudo, it's wiser to heal up with Potions (with the leader having the Doctor's Code accessory equipped), and continue attacking with Tri-disaster or Relentless Assault, depending on the party.
If, when Barthandelus begins charging Destrudo, the team lacks buffs and is in low health, they need to switch to Evened Odds and heal up to 100% while the Synergist buffs and the Saboteur weakens the boss, then switch to Solidarity to mitigate some of the damage from the attack. After Barthandelus has used Destrudo, the party should swap to a paradigm with at least two Medics (Combat Clinic) to restore the lost health, but can soon change to a more balanced/offensive paradigm.
Barthandelus will cast Doom on the party leader if the battle lasts over 20 minutes. The timer will pause temporarily when an Eidolon is summoned.
=== Second encounter ===
The battle plays differently than the first encounter. At first, Barthandelus only has access to a relatively weak single-targeting laser attack. As he switches form, he uses the laser attack more frequently, and gains status-inflicting area-of-effect spells, including Poisonga, Cursega and Dazega.
By the time Barthandelus transforms into his fourth form, his persistent laser attack can occasionally inflict Pain and Fog, and he gains access to two new attacks: Apoptosis, which removes all status enhancements from the party and all status ailments from Barthandelus, and Thanatosian Laughter, which inflicts piercing damage to all party members (its damage is unaffected by damage reductions like Protect or Resist Magic: +%). Thanatosian Laughter hits up to 16 times for minor damage per hit. Like before, Barthandelus will inflict Doom on the party leader after 20 minutes have elapsed. Barthandelus is vulnerable to Deprotect, Deshell and Imperil. 
;Strategy
One particular strategy requires Vanille as a Saboteur. Also recommended is a Sentinel and Lightning as the party leader. Due to Apoptosis, Synergists are not particularly effective.
Recommended paradigms:
* Dirty Fighting (COM/SEN/SAB)
* Delta Attack (COM/SEN/RAV)
* Mystic Tower (RAV/SEN/RAV)
* Solidarity (COM/SEN/MED)
* Entourage (MED/SEN/RAV)
* Relentless Assault (RAV/COM/RAV)
Starting with the Dirty Fighting paradigm, Vanille can inflict Deprotect, Deshell and Imperil while the Sentinel draws his laser attack and Lightning attacks. Once the debuffs are inflicted, the party should shift to Delta Attack for two turns, then shift to Mystic Tower. Once Barthandelus is staggered, the party can shift back to Delta Attack. If anybody's HP falls into the red zone, Solidarity can be used to heal.
Being afflicted with Poison or Curse can be safely ignored, but Daze costs valuable time. A Rainbow Anklet can help prevent this. If Lightning is afflicted with Daze, the player should shift to Solidarity until Vanille removes it. If Vanille is hit with the status, the player should shift to Entourage with Lightning as the Medic and remove it with Esuna. If Barthandelus uses Apoptosis, the party should shift to Dirty Fighting to reapply the expired debuffs, but only if they are in a relatively healthy state. If Barthandelus begins readying Thanatosian Laughter, it is best to shift to Solidarity immediately.
With this strategy, Barthandelus should yield before he has a chance to inflict Doom, even with an under-leveled party, but in case he does cast it, one should use Relentless Assault and go for stagger if he still has over 400,000 HP remaining, and summon Odin just before the Doom counter reaches zero to buy more time.
Triumphing earns a Goddess's Favor accessory (shortens the duration of status ailments), 100,000 CP, and a Crystarium expansion.
=== Third encounter ===
Thanatosian Laughter.|thumb
Barthandelus has lost the ability to inflict status effects, but retains his standard laser attack, which a Sentinel should be able to withstand. He uses Ultima for moderate damage to all party members. Thanatosian Laughter is his strongest attack, which puts all party members' health to HP Critical. Unlike before it now deals fractional damage, though it can still kill party members if they are afflicted with Deshell. As with the previous two battles, Barthandelus may inflict Doom on the party leader if the battle takes over 20 minutes.
;Strategy
For this strategy, a party of Fang, Lightning, and Hope works best, with either Fang or Lightning as the party leader.
Recommended paradigms:
* Combat Clinic (MED/SEN/MED)
* Tireless Charge (COM/COM/MED)
* Diversity (RAV/COM/MED)
* Mystic Tower (RAV/SEN/RAV)
* Bully (COM/SAB/SYN) or Evened Odds (MED/SAB/SYN)
* Relentless Assault (COM/RAV/RAV) (optional)
Bully or Evened Odds should be the default paradigm. Using a Fortisol and an Aegisol beforehand isn't needed, but they make the battle easier.
Starting off with Fang debuffing Barthandelus, the player should aim to get Deprotect, Deshell, Slow, and Imperil on him, with the latter making for easy staggering. Afterward the party should switch to Diversity or Mystic Tower to drive up the chain gauge. Once he's staggered, the party should stay in Diversity until the gauge is around 400–500%, then switch to Tireless Charge or Relentless Assault, depending on the party's health. If at any point while driving up the chain gauge the party is in good health, the player should switch to Mystic Tower.
When Barthandelus is about to use Thanatosian Laughter or Ultima, the party should shift to Combat Clinic. Thanatosian Laughter is usually quickly followed by Ultima so healing immediately is necessary. If the party's health is low, even if the chain gauge is high, healing the party is more important than driving up the gauge. If the party heals fast enough, they should be able to catch it since the chain gauge depletes slowly. If the party's buffs or Barthandelus's debuffs wear off, the party should switch back to Bully or Evened Odds to reactivate them.
== Other appearances ==
=== Pictlogica Final Fantasy ===
=== Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade ===
=== Final Fantasy Record Keeper ===
FFRK Barthandelus FFXIII.png|First fight.
FFRK Barthandelus 2nd FFXIII.png|Second fight.
FFRK_Barthandelus_3rd_FFXIII.png|Third fight.
===Final Fantasy Brave Exvius===
==Behind the scenes==
When Lightning is the party leader in any of the three battles with Barthandelus (this is guaranteed during the first encounter), she may utter his name upon shifting paradigms. This is also true with Snow, Sazh, and Fang, all of whom can be potential party leaders in the second and third fights. Fang will call Barthandelus by his real name, Snow will call him "Dysley", and Sazh will call him "Primarch" or "Slime-arch".
Despite the significant increases in power with each new encounter, Barthandelus's level is actually lower each time.
== Gallery ==
Ultima from FFXIII.jpg|Ultima.
Barthandelus 1 Artwork.jpg|Concept art of Barthandelus's first form.
Barthandelus 2 Artwork.jpg|Concept art of Barthandelus's second form.
Barthandelus 3 Artwork.jpg|Concept art of Barthandelus's third form.
Dysley Face Morphs Art.jpg|Concept art depicting Barthandelus's facial transformations during the execution of Thanatosian Laughter.
== Etymology ==
Thanatosian Smile and Thanatosian Laughter refer to Thanatos. 
== Related enemies ==
* Right Pauldron
* Right Ailette
* Left Pauldron
* Left Ailette
* Anima
* Dahaka
* Orphan
* Orphan (final boss)
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Category:Bosses in Final Fantasy XIII