There isn’t exactly a ton to do in Academia 400AF from a side quests perspective, but it is still a mandatory visit if you plan on collecting all of the Fragments. The first Fragment here is one that you should already be working on, if you are a total completionist that is. The Academic Rank: Paradox Professor quest will reward you with the Academic Rank: Paradox Professor Fragment. You will also get the Battlemania Fragment Skill in Serendipity, which makes rare monsters spawn more often. You will have to explore 100% of ten different Historia Crux locations, often including multiple versions of the area in the timeline.
The Graviton Core Delta is also located in Academia 400AF, but you should have obtained this already for story purposes. If not, just head down towards the bottom of the ramp by Chocolina in the New Town area to discover it.
Optional side quests and Graviton Cores are all well and good, but the main attraction in Academia 400AF is the optional boss Geiseric. To find this creature, go to the New Town area and head to the east.
Boss Battle: Geiseric
This battle should be a fast one, as Geiseric will use Geiseric’s Fist to help himself out if the battle wears on for too long. Cast Protect on your party and Deshell on Geiseric and then immediately switch to an offensive Paradigm. When you see notification on the screen that Geiseric is about to use his Percussive Blow ability, immediately switch to the Tortoise Paradigm to withstand the attack before switching back to attack the enemy more. You may also wish to heal a little bit using the Discretion Paradigm.
The second time that Geiseric uses Percussive Blow, higher-leveled parties may not wish to switch back to Tortoise, as this second attack is slightly less powerful. You can simply heal yourself while continuing to attack using a mixed Paradigm such as Diversity. Switch from this Paradigm to the Cerberus Paradigm once you have fully healed and cast Ruin repeatedly, as the boss is weak against these attacks. Once the Chain Gauge is starting to get higher, use the Tri-Disaster Paradigm (three Ravagers) to drive it up quickly and stagger Geiseric. Use your most powerful attacks to bring the beast down relatively quickly.
You will receive 1,000 experience points and 5,000 gil for defeating Geiseric.
