JP Boss Guide by /u/Zurai001

Multiplayer Enemy AI by /u/TFMurphy

BOSS: Hashmal the Subjugator (XII)

Difficulties: 160 (Ultimate ) and 220 (Apocalypse )

Mastery Conditions:

• Win with 4 or more party members alive.
• Reduce Hashmal's DEF.
• Reduce Hashmal's ATK.

Overview:

• Hashmal has a weird elemental profile - he is weak to Wind, absorbs Earth (this makes sense), resists Holy, and nulls everything else.
• He starts the battle with Protect. Throughout the fight, he will activate Counter Protect when hit with a physical attack, and Counter Haste when hit with a black magic attack. He is also able to use both Protect and Haste as a standard non-counter ability.
• Don't be fooled by the mastery conditions - most of Hashmal's damaging attacks are magical by nature. His only physical attacks are the standard ST piercing PHY attack, an AoE piercing PHY attack, and starting from about 80% HP, he adds a standard ST piercing PHY counter attack to his arsenal.
• His two standard magical attacks are Roxxor (heavy Earth magic damage to one target), and Quakeja (very heavy Earth magic damage to all targets, medium chance to Slow on hit).
• When his HP drops below 40% for the first time, he will activate Complete MaBarrier (JP name, couldn't find English one), as an interrupt, which grants him 2 turns of full invincibility (i.e. all your attacks will miss). He will then use Ultimate: Roxxor, which drops 3 random target's HP to 1, uses an ST piercing PHY, then a NAT piercing ST physical that hits 5 times randomly, after which it repeats this pattern every 6 turns (i.e. each Ultimate: Roxxor is 6 turns apart).

Tips:

• Given that his standard Haste and Protect spells bypass Reflect, don't bother trying to Reflect him.
• It's tempting to drop Protectga, but the only physical attack he has that does not bypass Protectga is his 5-hits attack at his weakest phase. This attack also happens to be NAT, meaning it can't be Tauntaliated, so bring both Protectga and Shellga.
• Have a dedicated Banishing Strike/Dispel user on hand. Hashmal frequently applies both statuses to himself.
• Alphinaud BSB is great to use here - he's weak to Wind, and Alph's commands are Summon based, meaning that they won't trigger his counters.
• Gilgamesh's BSB is also a good pick here - the BSB grants him natural Tauntaliate, which helps with his standard attack and counter attack, but also it comes with a Banishing Strike command which he can use to Dispel Hashmal's buffs.
• Bring Astra or Affliction Break to deal with AoE Slow. Hope it doesn't proc much. Prioritize for Earth-resistance or Slow-resistance.
• Lastly, try and have an AoE heal ready for Ultimate: Roxxor, just so someone doesn't randomly die to a random attack next turn.