Top 5 hardest bosses in the mainline Final Fantasy games

Final Fantasy is a franchise that is well-known for having tough bosses, both required and optional. However, beginning with the very first game, there were often hidden, optional superbosses that stood heads and tails above the actual final bosses. No matter the game in the series, there will be at least one boss encounter that stands out for being incredibly frustrating.

However, only a few of them can stand out as the most powerful, most frustrating bosses in Final Fantasy history.

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The most difficult to fight Final Fantasy boss, ranked

Like the previous lists, there is a particular criteria for the “hardest bosses in Final Fantasy.' This is to prevent the list from being dominated by just one game, or a pair of games, in particular remakes.

Criteria for the list

• No remakes
• No remasters
• No re-releases
• No MMOs

Otherwise, Final Fantasy XIV would completely overrun the list with bosses, and so would Final Fantasy XI - such as Absolute Virtue. Various remasters and remakes would also crowd the list since each of them tends to come with new, difficult bosses. With that in mind, which are the hardest mainline Final Fantasy bosses?

The hardest Final Fantasy bosses

• Warmech (FFI)
• Omega Weaopn (FFV/VIII)
• Ozma (FFIX)
• Ruby WEAPON (FFVII)
• Yiazmat (FFXII)

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5) Warmech (FF1)

The very first superboss for the Final Fantasy franchise had to make the list. The later releases of the game made Warmech easier to best, but on the NES? Many players have never even seen this boss. He has a 1/64 chance of being encountered in the final path before Tiamat.

Warmech can heal itself, and is pretty free with the Nuclear spell - the strongest spell in the game. Oh, it also regenerates, because why not? If players run into this boss by mistake, it’s going to be their end. Players should focus on hasting melee characters, dropping Blink/Invisira, and healing, as those are the only things that will be of immense help against Warmech.

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4) Omega Weapon (FFV/FFVIII)

Omega in Final Fantasy V can be avoided. It moves around on the screen in the Interdimensional Rift, right after a save point. It appears in Final Fantasy VIII as well, with a guaranteed level of 100. Most fights in the game scale with the player, but this one does not. In the later editions, the fight does scale though. This means the PSX version will always have more than a million HP.

It can immediately slay party members with a level divisible by 5, and can obliterate health pools with attacks like Light Pillar, Terra Break and Megiddo Flame. It does absolutely inhuman damage and can consistently drop players without much effort.

Having max HP is important, and so is a nice stock of Megalixirs. Auto-Haste/Auto-Protect/-Spd-J will help as well, as well as focusing on limit breaks (so use the Aura spell).

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3) Ozma (FFIX)

Let’s be honest: Kuja was a really disappointing boss in Final Fantasy IX. Thankfully, Ozma is there. The multi-colored hovering ball is one of the strongest bosses in the franchise, period. It’s speculated that Ozma is actually an Eidolon, since it appears in an Eidolon Cave.

What kind of horrifying attacks can it do? Doomsday, Flare, Meteor, Holy, Flare Star, Curse, Level 4 Holy, Level 5 Death, Death, and Curaga. That’s only a brief selection of the skills the massive superboss has access to.

It’s also a pain to unlock, but it’s worth it for players that want a challenge. It’s also smart: It won’t use elements the party will absorb, or use status ailments the party is immune to. This just means he’ll likely use Meteor more often!

Auto-Life is so important against Ozma, and Quina/Steiner will help thanks to their high damage, HP and counter skills. Being quick on the heal is going to be the most important thing to keep in mind though, because Ozma does not mess about when it comes to damage.

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2) Ruby WEAPON (FFVII)

It was a toss-up between Ruby and Emerald WEAPON from Final Fantasy VII, as both offer incredibly frustrating superboss battles. However, Ruby WEAPON often leaves the player fighting a 1 vs. 1 battle, thanks to its Whirlsand ability.

Since the player’s party members get 'ejected' from the party, they can’t be brought back via the Final Attack+Phoenix combo. With enough abuse of W-Item, players can stack Hero Drinks and Elixirs to stay in the fight, and then spam powerful attacks like Omnislash+Mime, if Cloud is left in the party.

It has an incredibly high defense, so attacks that deal fixed damage or ignore defense are of the utmost importance in this battle. However, one thing that can help is going into the fight with only one character alive, and then Life 2+All to bring them back early. Players can also fight alone, and use Knights of the Round (+HP Absorb), Hades (W-Summon), and Mime.

While there are quite a few ways to defeat Ruby WEAPON, it is not to be underestimated, as it’s a terrifyingly powerful foe.

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1) Yiazmat (FFXII)

The ultimate Elite Mark in Final Fantasy XII, this optional boss is also the hardest boss in the game, if not the entire franchise. With over 50M HP, it’s not uncommon for this fight to take well over an hour to complete.

Since players can’t break the damage limit in the original release of Final Fantasy XII, the fight is even harder. Yiazmat can only be fought after defeating Hell Wyrm, and all of the Rank VII Marks, except Shadowseer.

It also regenerates HP when left alone, so players have to be aggressive. It has a ton of Magicks, Technicks, and Augments, and when its HP is below 50%, it also reduces damage taken. If that weren’t bad enough, at below 10% HP, it will cast Reflectga once. Hunt 45: Farewell to a Legend is not a Hunt to take lightly.

Players can leave this fight to restock, but beware, he does heal. Having the main melee character use Genji Gloves, Bravery, Haste, and Berserk can make the fight a bit easier to manage. But understand, this is not a joke fight. It’s the biggest, baddest, most ruthless boss in the mainline entries.

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There are so many bosses that should be on this list, but the criteria leaves them out. Penance from Final Fantasy X for example, because it is only in re-releases and the International Edition. A wealth of challenging bosses await fans of the series, and this is just a selection of the meanest.