For $3, you’d assume a DLC pack that’s supposed to add two characters to the game would immediately bestow said characters upon the player. That doesn’t happen with Final Fantasy XIII-2. I’ve just attempted the Lightning & Master Sergeant Amodar DLC for the eighth time and it just doesn’t happen that way. Square Enix made it seem like the crystals that would allow players to summon Lightning or Amodar in battle would be auto-drops.
They’re not.
If you’re lucky, you’ll get one of the character crystal in under 10 tries. If you’re lucky.
Which means you need to have a game-plan, going in to the battle. You want this match to be quick and precise. I won’t lie to you, your first time it’ll probably take 15-20 minutes to beat the duo. But after your fourth match against them, you should be able to manage them in under 10 minutes.
First, you Serah and Noel to have the right roles leveled. For this battle Noel is going to be a Commando, Ravager or a Medic and Serah will be a Ravager, Sentinel and Medic. When I first beat Lightning and Amodar, hereafter referred to as L&A, Noel was a level 99 Commando, level 26 Ravager and level 52 Medic. Don’t worry much about Noel’s RAV stat – you’ll just be using it to build up the Stagger gauge. My Serah was a level 76 Ravager, level 40 Medic and level 50-something Sentinel.
Next, you need the right monsters. A Pulsework Knight (Pulse Knight) from 5 AF Bresha Ruins is essential. You’ll find him in the sewer-area. Level him up to level 20 with Vitality Bolts. You also should have Chichu in your party. He’s a hidden monster found in the XXX Archelyte Steppe. Send Mog over to the red patch of flowers near the hunter’s camp and he’ll find him. Level Chichu up to at least level 15.
From there, you need to build the right paradigms. Here’s what you’ll want and when you’ll use it.
- Serah as RAV, Noel as COM, Pulse Knight as SEN: This is your default paradigm. Use it when L&A are both present and one of the two is staggered.
- Serah as RAV, Noel as RAV, Pulse Knight as SEN: Use this if you want to quickly stagger L&A.
- Serah as SEN, Noel as COM, Chichu as COM: Use this after Amodar has been defeated and when Lightning has been staggered.
- Serah as MED, Noel as MED, Pulse Knight as SEN: Use this if HP gets low and you’re out of potions.
If you need to heal, have the party leader do it using Potions. My Serah had the Improved Potions passive ability and I found that was more helpful than switching to the paradigm with two medics.
Now, another optional paradigm to have ready is Serah as SAB, Noel as SYN and Pulse Knight as SEN. I wouldn’t recommend it. Sometimes you can inflict Imperil on Amodar and occasionally Lightning can catch the Deprotect and Deshell status effects, but on the whole it isn’t worth it. Noel’s SYN effects will be worn down by Amodar’s status ailments and Serah’s debuffs don’t do much good, especially when Lightning’s on her own at the end. On the whole, they don’t last long enough to be worthwhile and I’ve found it’s much easier to just go in swinging relentlessly.
You’ll want to take down Amodar first. He sends off grenades that inflict status attacks. You’ll be tempted to go after Lightning first, since she acts as a healer, but I found it’s much quicker to just go after the big boy first.
Also, supposedly finishing off L&A with a monster’s Feral Link attack is supposed to give a higher chance of a crystal drop rate. It’s too hard to prove or time that in this battle though, since L&A almost always die while staggered, so don’t go crazy agonizing over it.
Most of all, be patient. I’ve fought the good fight eight times now and still don’t have either Lightning or Amodar to show for it.
