As you descend deeper into the mysterious Ultimate Lair, you learn that this is where the God Bhunivelze experimented with creations in order to surpass humanity. By making the beasts fight for survival and then infusing them with the souls of chaos, he hoped to create a being that surpassed all others and could replace humanity once they overstayed their welcome. That monster was Ereshkigal.
Named after the Mesopotamian deity of the underworld, Ereshkigal is the one of the two superbosses found in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Appearing to be a cross between a Wyvern-class enemy and a Cie’th, this monstrosity represents the ‘pinnacle’ of creation as far as Bhunivelze is concerned. So how can Lightning defeat such a monster and prove humanity’s worth? The answer is careful preparation, relentless assaults, and understanding just what this monster is.
| Schemata 1 | Schemata 2 | Schemata 3 | |
| Garb: | Splendid Admiral | L’automne | Equilibrium + |
| Weapon: | Chaos’s Revenge | Demon Claw | Morgenstern |
| Shield: | Gridanian Sigil | Noblesse Veronique | Noblesse Veronique |
| Accessory: | Crippling Hood | Silk Scarf | Warrior Hunter’s Mask |
| Accessory: | Collector Catalog | Dawn Gauntlets | Enlister’s Gloves |
| Ability 1: | Heavy Slash | – Thundara – | Heavy Slash |
| Ability 2: | – Guard – | Deprotect | Light Slash |
| Ability 3: | Poison | Imperil | – Attack – |
| Ability 4: | Slow | – Aerora – | Aero |
Items To Bring: At the very least bring along a few items that revive and restore EP. The rest is up to your personal preference although some kind of En~elemental potion is advisable.
In short, the strategy you want to employ is one of the most aggressive you will ever find in this game – relying on spells, physical assaults and a plethora of status ailments. Before the battle begins, circle around to the back of Ereshkigal by staying as close to the walls as possible. With over 7,000,000 HP, the 25% HP reduction of a preemptive strike is a huge help. As soon as the battle begins, cast Slow from Schemata 1. Then use Attack from Schemata 3, and alternate between Aerora and Aero (Schemata 2 & 3) to raise its stagger meter. When the meter gets red, immediately switch to Schemata 1 and use Heavy Slash as the equipped Chaos Revenge offers a Quick Stagger Auto-ability. During this initial onslaught, don’t forget to keep refreshing Slow.
Once the first stagger is achieved, Ereshkigal will be self inflected with Fog leaving Grand Impulse – a land based attack – its only offensive option. If you time your spells and light slashes successfully you’ll be able to remain aloft – thus canceling the damage of Grand Impulse. Also, during its Grand Impulse attacks the stagger power of your spells will quadruple; so time your attacks well. Keep pounding away until you achieve a level 3 stagger. The moment that happens, cast Deprotect, Imperil, Poison (which you might need to cast twice), and Slow if it has worn off.
With a level 3 stagger achieved and your status ailment s inflicted, start pounding away with Heavy Slash from Schemata 3 during a chain of Overclocks. If at any point Ereshkigal casts Bravery or Protect, use the corresponding Heavy Slash, which will transform into Bravery Feeder or Protect Feeder – and thus transfer the boost to you. While you are pounding away, make sure to take a moment to refresh its status ailments. Since Imperil is cast on it, you might want to bring along some kind of En~elemental potion to add damage to its newly found weakness (I used EnAero).
By time it uses Awakening to give itself a bunch of boosts, you should be close to done. Recast status ailments and steal its buffs for yourself again while you keep pounding away. If you don’t care about Battle Score, then you should use an Ether and go back to Overclock. As long as you keep refreshing your Poison, Ereshkigal will fall eventually, but it all depends on if your will to pay the price for a slow victory. If this battle takes more than approximately 4 minutes, Ereshkigal will use Super Nova that is most likely to kill you instantly. So get ready to revive yourself and keep pounding until you claim victory over the 14th Day.
With the Transform Bravery of Splendid Admiral as well as the enhanced ATB recovery of Equilibirum+ , this is actually a very fun and doable fight once you get used to it. If you have yet to defeat Aeronite then this battle is good practice. If you have already defeated Aeronite, then this battle is a breeze. Just make sure to keep that Slow up because Ereshkigal’s magic attacks are fast and staggering.
Ereshkigal was actually the refined version of this Final Fantasy XIII Cie’th design that never made it into the final game.
The Insightful Panda 
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So i haven’t even fought the stupid thing yet, but I am getting ready to. One very useful strategy that has been getting me through this game that I haven’t heard anybody mention yet (I think maybe I actually invented it! Yay!) is to assign the same type of technique onto the same button onto each of your garbs. I put medigard on all of my garbs, but most importantly, I always assign it to the square button. That way I can respond to attacks faster because I do not have to check to see which garb I have assigned. I always know Medigard is the square button. I like to assign magic to the circle button, debuffing to the x button, and attacks to the triangle button. Garbs with locked abilities will allow you to change what button the locked ability is assigned to. Doing this will speed up your reaction time in battle. I really nailed caius with this strategy.
Oh yah, I do that myself. Always leave heavy attacks for Triangle and lighter attacks/aero for X. Guard is Square like you and Circle is a base attack/-Ra Spell.
Though i didn’t know you can alter which spot that ‘locked Garb abilities’ falls into. That would have indeed made things easier. Good catch Sean!