Bahamut is an optional boss in Final Fantasy V. Mentioned in the Sealed Tome along with Leviathan, the party may choose to fight him and obtain him as the Level 5 summon after acquiring the first tablet in the Pyramid of Moore in the merged world.
Bahamut first appears as a dragon-shaped landform in Bartz's world. The landform is the location of the warp to Galuf's world after pieces of the adamantite are placed in each meteorite.
Bahamut prepares to fight the party.
In the beginning of the merged world the airship will be inaccessible. When Bartz, Faris, and Krile obtain the first tablet, the landform transforms into the dragon and tells the three to meet him at North Mountain.
The airship will land near where the Library of the Ancients used to be. When they make it to the mountain's summit, Bahamut flies over the mountain and the fight starts.
Stats[]
Battle[]
Mega Flare.
Bahamut is vulnerable to Darkness, Silence, Slow, and Stop. He is immune to Earth damage and possesses the Heavy flag. Due to his very high level, it can be difficult to inflict any status ailment, especially if the party's levels are low.
Bahamut has a different phase for every 5000 HP remaining, until he has less than 10000 HP where he stays on his final phase. He wields a variety of elemental party-wide attacks.
At the start of the battle, Bahamut will do nothing 2/3rds of the time, and casts Mega Flare for the remaining third. Mega Flare is his most powerful attack, dealing massive party-wide non-elemental damage.
When his HP is below 35000, Bahamut switches to using physical attacks; Atomic Ray, which deals party-wide Fire damage; and Frost, which deals party-wide Ice damage and inflicts Sap.
When his HP is below 30000, Bahamut uses physical attacks; Blaze, which deals 1/4 of max HP Fire damage to the party; and Earth Shaker, which deals party-wide Earth damage.
When his HP is below 25000, Bahamut uses physical attacks; Lightning, which deals 1/4 of max HP Lightning damage; and the Blue Magic Aqua Breath, which deals party-wide non-elemental damage.
When his HP is below 20000, Bahamut uses physical attacks; Maelstrom, which attempts to set the party's HP to single digits; and Ice Storm, which deals party-wide Ice damage.
When his HP is below 15000, Bahamut uses physical attacks; Poison Breath, which deals party-wide Poison damage and attempts to inflict Poison status; and Zombie Breath, which deals party-wide non-elemental random damage and inflicts Zombie if anyone dies to the attack.
When his HP is below 10000, Bahamut uses physical attacks and Mega Flare once again. Mega Flare becomes twice as frequent compared to the start of the battle, occurring 2/3rds of the time every turn.
Strategy[]
The party can have Float status active before starting the fight to avoid Earth Shaker.
There are many viable accessories that can be chosen for this encounter. Reflect Rings can reflect Mega Flare and Atomic Ray, but most healing and buffing spells will be reflected too. Flame Rings absorbs Blaze and Atomic Ray and negates Frost (Sap status still inflicted) and Ice Storm. Coral Rings negates Blaze and Atomic Ray, but Lightning will deal half of max HP damage instead of just a quarter. Hermes Sandals are always good options to get turns faster.
Shield-wielding classes can also make use of Flame Shield, Ice Shield, or Aegis Shield for more elemental absorption or spell dodging, though this means they cannot use Two-Handed or Dual-Wield for extra damage.
As Bahamut is mostly passive during the start of the battle, the party can take advantage by using that time to buff up and try to inflict status ailments. The Time Magic Hastega is always beneficial for faster turns, then Summoning Carbuncle should be done early to protect and reflect against the eventual Mega Flare.
Temporary level boosting by mixing Samson's Might or Dragon Power or by singing Hero's Rime greatly improves the party's damage. Additionally, increasing level makes it more probable for the Time Magic Slow to connect, as well as the Blue Magic Flash. Level boosting also increases the HP shield from the summon Golem's Earthen Wall, blocking more of Bahamut's physical attacks. The Blue Magic Mighty Guard can help mitigate damage from most of Bahamut's attacks. Other defensive support options include mixing Dragon Shielding and Resist Poison for characters without protective gear equipped.
Once Bahamut casts Mega Flare (ideally reflecting it onto himself), the party should begin attacking. Jobs that rely on attacking, such as Knights and Samurais, can use Two-Handed or Dual-Wield for higher damage and higher chance of critical hits. Mystic Knights can charge Flare Spellblade for additional damage. If Flare was not yet acquired, Bio Spellblade can inflict Sap against Bahamut, and Drain Spellblade is handy for added recovery. If available, Rapid Fire is very potent over using normal attacks. Ninjas can Throw Fuma Shurikens or any elemental Scroll if their normal attacks are weaker. Samurais can consider Zeninage if they are or were boosted to a high level, though it will cost some gil. Dragoon's Jump is a good way of attacking as it can help avoid Bahamut's many party-wide attacks.
Mages should be using their strongest attacks, such as White Magic Holy, Black Magic Flare, and/or Time Magic Meteor. If available, Dualcast and/or the Time Magic Quick can multiply a caster's damage output, albeit at very high MP cost. Blue Mages can also use Level 3 Flare, which has a lower MP cost compared to Flare, or if their level was boosted to 99, they can use Goblin Punch for free. Summoners can attack with Leviathan, Syldra, or (if someone is KO'd) Phoenix.
Other forms of heavy but unreliable damage includes Gaia's Cave-In and Gust (Twister and Earthquake are other possible outcomes from Gaia which are ineffective), or Sword Dance. Dance attacks should have Sword Dance's frequency increased via Lamia's Tiara or Rainbow Dress.
When the team has dealt around 30,000 damage, Carbuncle should be re-cast to protect against the final phase's possible Mega Flares.
For healing, the Blue Mage's White Wind bypasses reflect and makes it more useful than White Magic if Carbuncle or Reflect Rings are being used. If the team cannot withstand Bahamut's party-wide attacks, having a Hasted character Hide can avoid wiping, and if Bahamut is Slowed, it should be possible to revive two characters safely after revealing. Revive, if learned, can also be used for a full team revival by the hiding character.
For versions other than the 2013 port, singing Romeo's Ballad inflicts Stop status for a short while. Three characters possessing Sing can prevent Bahamut from ever getting a turn, allowing one damage dealer to finish him off. In the 2013 version, the Heavy flag drastically reduces ailment duration, which makes this strategy nonviable.
Other appearances[]
Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade[]
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