Black Elemental (Final Fantasy X-2)

Black Elemental is a boss in Final Fantasy X-2. It was once Jyscal Guado who became an unsent, and is located in the 40th cloister of the Via Infinito under Bevelle as a boss and in Cloisters 81 to 99 as a normal enemy. It is the strongest fiend in the Elemental family. It uses Black Element's model from Final Fantasy X.
== Stats ==
== Battle ==
Black Elemental has high Defense and Magic Defense, making most physical and magical attacks ineffective. It uses Berserk as well as Flare and Ultima, both of which can easily deal 9,999 damage to one or all members of an unprepared party. While Berserk and Flare can be reflected, the latter dealing 1,000~2,000 damage, Ultima bypasses Reflect. Black Elemental can't use Flare and Ultima if its MP is siphoned. Once the Black Elemental hits 3,333 HP or lower, it may use Absorb on the character with the highest remaining HP to steal 3/16 of their remaining HP and MP. Absorb can be learned as a Blue Bullet.
In Oversoul, the Black Elemental can use level 3 elemental spells, as well as Regen and Full-Cure to restore its HP. It has a 25% chance of using Regen on its turn and will use Full-Cure once it hits 5,499 HP or lower, assuming it hasn't used Full-Cure yet.
After defeating the Black Elemental, a chest is left behind containing six accessories, one of them being the rare Cat Nip.
=== Strategy ===
The player should prevent their party from going berserk and nullify the Black Elemental's magic via Black Mage's MP Absorb, the Gun Mage's Absorb, a Samurai's Magicide, the Mana Spring and Soul Spring items, or Concherer/Shell Shocker's Gunk. A Songstress can use Magical Masque to nullify all magic attacks. Reflect and Shell can grant additional safety margins.
Once the Black Elemental's MP is gone, one can focus on killing it. The Gunner's Table-turner is the best offense, as it inflicts more damage to enemies with higher Defense. Also, the Cheap Shot ability does a critical attack regardless of Defense. One can also learn the Annihilator skill from the Experiment on a Gun Mage, which ignores Magic Defense. Even with modest stats, by Chapter 5, when Black Elemental is encountered, Annihilator always inflicts 9,999 damage (or more with Break Damage Limit). Alternatively, Blue Mage's Elementillery can take it down quickly.
Black Elemental can be bribed for approximately 65,000 gil. Alternatively, if the party has enough gil, a Samurai's Spare Change can instantly defeat the boss at any level. The player should equip the Highroad Winds or Mounted Assault Garment Grids to ensure the first strike.
Despite Black Elemental's extremely high defense and magic defense, it has relatively low HP. A Samurai can make short work of the fiend with approximately three uses of Sparkler. A Dark Knight using Darkness also works, although it's much riskier. At least two characters should be immune to Berserk, one being the Samurai or Dark Knight. As long as the player defeats the Black Elemental before it can cast Ultima, it's a fairly easy fight.
Another strategy involves using captured fiends. One can employ a high-level Bandoleer species fiend (e.g. Viper Sniper) that knows Full Auto, which ignores defense. With a high Strength stat, the Bandoleer fiend can defeat the Black Elemental easily, as long as it can survive the latter's Ultima and Flare spells. For this reason, equipping the Adamantite (obtainable from completing the Machina Panzer's fiend tale) is recommended, as long as the player can afford the reduced Agility in return for significantly higher Magic Defense. Another option is to teach the aforementioned Sparkler or Fireworks on a high-level creature with a high enough Strength stat that it can deal at least 9,999 damage (10,998 with Break Damage Limit or Total Limit Break should the Black Elemental be Oversouled) with Fireworks. In New Game Plus, if Ormi is in the party and has learned Supercollider, he can use it to defeat the Black Elemental in one hit (two in Oversoul without without Break Dmg. Limit learned) if he has high enough stats.
In Oversoul, equipping element-resistant/absorbing equipment is recommended as the Black Elemental has an equal chance of using each of the level 3 elemental spells or Ultima. If the Black Elemental casts Regen on itself, the party should use Dispel on it immediately.
== AI script ==
=== Normal ===
Basic Pattern:
Turn 1
 If (No character is Berserked)
 Use Flare (1/2 chance)
 Use Berserk on character who is not Berserked (1/4 chance)
 Use Ultima (1/4 chance)
 Else
 Use Flare (2/3 chance)
 Use Ultima (1/3 chance)
Turn 2
 Repeat Turn 1
Turn 3
 If (Magic Up has not been used 5 times)
 Use Magic Up
 Else
 Repeat Turn 1
Repeat from Turn 1
Remaining HP Pattern:
If (Has less than 1/3 of max HP remaining)
 Use Absorb on character with highest remaining HP (1/4 chance)
=== Oversoul ===
Basic Pattern:
 Use Firaga on all characters (1/5 chance)
 Use Blizzaga on all characters (1/5 chance)
 Use Thundaga on all characters (1/5 chance)
 Use Waterga on all characters (1/5 chance)
 Use Ultima (1/5 chance)
Remaining HP Pattern:
When (Has less than 1/2 of max HP remaining and has not used Full-Cure)
 Use Full-Cure on self
Random Pattern:
When (Not in Regen status)
 Use Regen on self (1/4 chance)
== Creature Creator ==
The Black Elemental can be recruited into the party with either a Trap pod M or Trap pod SP targeting the Elemental species after the player defeats it in Via Infinito Cloister 40.
=== Fiend Tale ===
:I am the daughter of a maester in the Bevelle Temple. I studied the great traditions and rituals of Yevon since the time of my youth so that I may follow in his path. Though I was destined for greatness, I was met with disaster. I was assassinated by an anti-Yevon group.
:Do you know how maesters live? They have to live a virtuous life to serve as an example for people who worship Yevon. They sing hymns at daybreak and spend most of the day inside the temple, studying the teachings. Bevelle Temple takes a half day to fully clean. At dusk, prayers are offered to Zanarkand and thoughts are given to the fate of Lady Yunalesca. I was but a child, and there was much I did not understand. But I studied hard and lived a humble life.
:I had a good friend, about my age and height. The two of us were inseparable. We always sat next to each other at temple school. She, too, was the daughter of a maester. We kept each other going in our quest to become future maesters of Yevon. Oh yes, we would sometimes even grow enamored with the same person! I wonder what she is doing these days... I look like this now, so even if I. want to go see her, I can't. My hope is that she lives a long, fruitful life as a maester, for the both of us.
:There's one thing I just cannot understand. I have always obeyed the teachings of Yevon. So why would I be turned into a fiend? I do remember being killed at the temple, but... Why did I not undergo the sending? What became of my father? I must know the truth!
One notable Black Elemental was created from the spirit of a young girl who believed that she was a daughter of a maester in Bevelle Temple. Having studied the traditions and rituals of Yevon since the time of her youth, and knowing the inner workings of Bevelle Temple, she wanted to become a maester like her father. She even befriended another girl who wanted to become a maester.
She was attacked by an Al Bhed assassin working for an anti-Yevon movement. She found it odd that someone like her, having a virtuous life, ended up becoming a fiend instead of being sent. With Shinra creating a pocket world from her memories, the Dark Elemental learns she was a decoy and that her friend was the maester's real daughter with her dead body buried in secret. It appears the real daughter died during Sin's attack on Bevelle.
=== Stats ===
The Black Elemental has low Strength, Luck, and Evasion, and mediocre Agility. Its power lies within Magic, and it has high Defense and Magic Defense (even at the lowest of levels), and decent Accuracy. Upon joining the Gullwings, it has already learned Flare, Magic Up, Absorb, Ailment Def. (complete protection against all status ailments), and Tetra Eater (absorbs all four main elements), and can learn Ultima, Magic Booster, and One MP Cost during battle. Ultima can be learned by surviving a finishing move (available at Level 45 and higher), such as Meteor from Humbaba, while One MP Cost (Level 20+) and Magic Booster (Level 30+) can be learned when Magic Up has been used.
As with the other Elemental species fiends, it is preferable to don the Black Elemental with the Black Mage dressphere to increase its Magic power and shorten the charging time of its spells. It may also be beneficial to replace One MP Cost with Spellspring by consuming a Ragnarok to completely eliminate MP consumption, and Tetra Eater can also be replaced with Omnistrike to allow absorption of Gravity and Holy.
Level	HP 	MP 	Strength	Magic	Defense	Magic Defense	Agility	Accuracy	Evasion	Luck
1 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
10 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
20 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
30 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
40 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
50 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
60 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
70 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
80 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
90 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
99 	4,980	631	162 	199 	234 	229 	80 	107 	2 	3
=== Abilities ===
Command Abilities	Auto-Abilities
 	
=== Fiend Arena ===
The Black Elemental appears alongside the Mushroom Cloud in the Fiend Arena, forming the Shady Duo team. This team appears in the Grand Cup: Hard and Farplane Cup tournaments, the former of where it also appears alongside another enemy team, Tonberry the Ripper (Mega Tonberry). These two teams commonly defeat any enemy teams they run into and are introduced after the player's third win in Grand Cup: Hard to make early access to the Youth League Tournament (and subsequently the Mascot dressphere) significantly more difficult.
As the Shady Duo team is extremely dangerous at the point in which they are unlocked, the player must have mid-high-level creatures (Level 50+) with high overall stats (especially Magic Defense), including a Tonberry, as well as keeping the Cheer Gauge to one or two stars for increased defenses whenever the Black Elemental and Mushroom Cloud attack. The creatures must have learned either Darkness, Sparkler, or Fireworks, along with Vigor and either Life or Full-Life to be able to deal enough damage to the Mushroom Cloud and Black Elemental and heal or revive as needed before they get a chance to finish off the party. Eliminating Mushroom Cloud first is important, as its Pernicious Powder attack will lower the party's Magic Defense, thus making it easier for the Shady Duo to finish them off. Wearing the Adamantite is recommended to reduce the damage of the Shady Duo's Black Magic spells.
In the Farplane Cup, while the Shady Duo is far from the most difficult enemy team, there is a very small chance that they will beat Trema.
== Etymology ==
== Related enemies ==
*Blue Elemental
*Dark Elemental
*Gold Elemental
*Red Elemental
*White Elemental
*Yellow Elemental
=== Final Fantasy X ===
*Black Element
*Blue Element
*Dark Element
*Gold Element
*Nega Elemental
*Red Element
*Yellow Element
*White Element
Category:Bosses in Final Fantasy X-2