Final Fantasy XIII-2 End-Game Walkthrough Part 33: The Void Beyond ???AF

There is but one objective here in the end-game of Final Fantasy XIII-2, but it is a pretty big one. You can unlock a Paradox Ending here by repeating your battle with Caius at the end of the area. After you reset the story progress in the area, however, the version of Caius that you will face will be much stronger than the one that you had to battle before. Try to use Sentinels heavily during this battle, as casting the Mediguard skill especially can prove quite helpful when trying to stand up to Caius’ heavy attacks.

It’s also worth noting that you can’t return here directly from the Historia Crux. You’ll have to close the three separate Gates in Yaschas Massif 01XAF, Sunleth Waterscape 300AF, and Academia 4XXAF to get back here.

You’ll have to replay the entire story of the Void Beyond ???AF area after obtaining the Paradox Scope. Caius is, if anything, even more challenging here than he was during the final battle, so be careful. His attacks may be unexpected, because he was so much weaker here earlier than he will be now. You will also only have use of Serah in this section. Without Noel here to back you up, keeping your party members alive will be even more important than before. This is why you should arrange your Paradigm Deck to include numerous Sentinels before the battle starts. Head into the menu and examine your Paradigm Deck arrangement. As mentioned earlier, you’ll want a monster that is capable of the Sentinel Paradigm in your Deck, as Serah is physically weaker that Noel, and far weaker without his aid in battle, and if she falls here you are basically done for.

A good Paradigm Deck for this battle, one that is ready for any situation that you may reasonably come across during this combat, is as follows: Building Block (Synergist and Sentinel,) Misdirection (Commando and Sentinel,) Lifeguard (Medic and Sentinel,) Slash and Burn (Ravager and Commando,) Arcane Defense (Ravager and Sentinel,) and Stumbling Block (Saboteur and Sentinel.) When you have your party arranged, go into the Crystarium and level up if necessary. Save your progress and proceed with the story in this area to initiate the battle against the new and improved Caius.

Boss Battle: Caius Ballad

Like in the final battle against Caius, this incarnation of the boss will cast Body and Soul and Absolution to power himself up. As Caius buffs himself, you should do the same. Start off in the Building Block Paradigm and cast buffs on yourself, preparing for the harsh battle ahead. As soon as Caius is done buffing himself, which will probably be before you have finished buffing yourself, he will proceed with a few quick, harsh attacks. You may wish to switch to the Lifeguard Paradigm to heal before returning to Building Block to finish your buffing, if you couldn’t do so before Caius attacked.

After you have finished powering your party up, switch to the Stumbling Block Paradigm. It is now time to begin undoing all of the work that Caius has done on buffing himself. Use Deshell as well as a series of debuffs to weaken the boss back down to his normal state. You may also wish to cast Poison as well. Like with many bosses, the success rate of this attack is actually pretty low, but it will slowly drain Caius’ health and cancel out his ability to regenerate. It’s a gamble, but it can pay off in the end.

When you have finished with debuffing Caius, switch to the Arcane Defense Paradigm. Build his Chain Gauge up using magical attacks. Don’t get your hopes up as the Chain Gauge reaches its maximum, though. Like in the final battle, this version of Caius will cast the Chain Break ability to reset the Chain Bonus back down to 100%. After resetting the Chain Bonus with Chain Break, Caius almost always casts another Absolution on himself, buffing himself for upcoming attacks. It’s annoying, but it almost always happens this way. You will just have to grit your teeth and build the Chain Bonus again. Do this by switching to the Stumbling Block Paradigm. Again, undo all of the buffs that Caius has cast on himself and cast Deshell as well. Like before, you may want to cast Poison. It’s a rare occurance, but if it sticks you’ll the thankful.

All of this time, you will be defending against Caius’ attacks and dispelling his buffs about as much as you will be attacking or doing any real damage. It’s important to switch back to the Arcane Defense Paradigm quickly after debuffing Caius, as this is your only opportunity to deal any sort of real damage. The window for attack is small, so use it intelligently. It will be in your best interest to cast spells or launch attacks that will wound Caius, so that he can’t regenerate as much health.

You can safely beat the battle by using these tactics repeatedly, but it’s a slow grind to do so. More opportune players with stronger parties will want to pick and choose moments of vicious attack. This is where the Slash and Burn Paradigm comes into play. At certain points in the battle, Caius will temporarily cease attacking and begin to slowly circle your party. As soon as you see this animation trigger, switch to the Slash and Burn Paradigm and launch an all-out attack. Quickly switch back to a more defensive Paradigm to weather the following attacks. Use this guerilla-style tactic to defeat the boss faster.

Once Caius’ health reaches zero for the first time, he will regenerate himself. Any wound damage that you have inflicted will remain, however, so it’s in your best interest to wound as much as possible so that the inevitable regeneration won’t be as substantial.

Upon defeating Caius, you will be transported to the Historia Crux. You will see a new location, New  Bodhum ???AF. Proceed there to view the Paradox Ending and obtain the Transcript: Beneath a Timeless Sky Fragment along with 10,000 experience points.