Final Fantasy XIII-2 Walkthrough Part 8: Academia

Your time in Academia will begin with a series of battles against Cie’th Ghouls. As they approach you, you’ll notice the Mog Clock functioning a bit differently than you’re used to. There is no way to escape these battles, so you’ll simply have to hit the enemies before the hand leaves the green area or end up in a battle at a disadvantage. Luckily, these mandatory encounters will at least provide you with valuable Potent Orbs, although they will provide little in the way of experience. Along the main path there are multiple chests, which you can either pick up now and risk battling more monsters, or save for later when the area isn’t quite so hostile.

There will be paths leading to both your left and right. The left ramp dead ends at a chest, which contains Casino Tickets. These tickets will be helpful if you decide to spend any significant amount of time in Serendipity, which is essentially a gambling hotspot. Grab the tickets and proceed up the ramp to the right to advance to the next location. Turn towards the left once your reach the top of the ramp to begin a cutscene. Examine the nearby terminal to trigger a series of battles with security robots. These battles are necessary to remove the barriers that block your further progress.

You will also get a map of the area. Speak to the woman looking at a computer monitor near Chocolina to initiate a massive side quest, called Academic Rank: Paradox Professor. In order to complete this quest, you will need to completely explore ten different maps. Be sure to explore thoroughly from now on if you intend to eventually best this daunting side quest, but don’t even bother stressing about it as you won’t be able to fully explore that many maps for a while. You should also see a chest nearby, which contains the Farewells Gate Seal.

Chocolina will have some new items for you, so you should take the time out to buy The Raging Arc and Blazing Spirit if you have the 9,000 gil to spend on them. Proceed further down the hall, following the path to the east until your path is blocked by three Koboldroid Yins. Engage them and defeat them quickly using your preferred loadout. Keep going on this path and ascend the stairs leading to the south. These will deposit you in a medium-sized room with multiple exits. The best way to go is straight towards the back of the room. You will have to fight a Fencer to get through. This opponent can be somewhat difficult because it tends to focus its strong attacks on one party member at a time, so use a more defensive loadout if you must. Kill it and leave through the exit on the left, towards the northern end of the map.

A cutscene will play, and afterwards you’ll be left to fight a Taxim and a Ghoul. Kill them quickly and move on. Use the nearby control panel to change the direction of the automated walkway, and follow the new path to the Grand Avenue area. Grand Avenue is very linear, so you should follow it to its end, at which point another cutscene will play. From this point onwards, almost every enemy you face will be a Nelapsi or a Taxim. These creatures are slightly stronger than those you’re probably used to fighting in the wild, so exercise caution. You’ll need to make a right-hand turn, and then follow the path as it curves left. Keep heading straight down this path, ignoring the various offshoots that head out to the left and right. When you finally reach a dead end, follow the path as it heads north to initiate a cutscene. Jump over the section of broken path that blocks your progress and head south.

Follow the path to the right, then follow it as it curves left, ignoring the part that keeps moving straight. Also ignore the path that branches off to the right as you’re heading further south. When you reach the corner, follow the path to another medium sized room, where you’ll have to face another Fencer. After the enemy is dead, the security barriers will go down. Level your party up, then approach the waypoint to finally be free of the maze.

Unfortunately, you’ve left the maze only to be shoehorned into a series of mandatory enemy encounters. After a cutscene, you’ll be thrust into battle against a Cocytus and a Nelapsi. Kill the Nelapsi first. The Cocytus won’t be so easy. It has a large health bar, and its Levinbolt attack is surprisingly powerful. Additionally, the Cocytus is immune to Lightning, although it is relatively weak to Wind. This won’t be immediately apparent in the first battle, however, so do what you can to drive its Chain Gauge up before bringing it down with the Relentless Assault Paradigm. After defeating the Cocytus, a cutscene will trigger displaying the enemy’s weakness to Wind, and another will pop out. You’ll have to defeat this one, too.

After beating the second Cocytus, yet another cutscene will play and you will be thrust into a boss battle.

Boss Battle: Zenobia

You will have to attack multiple targets during this battle, so stay nimble. Zenobia itself is unable to be damaged thanks to its Defensive Stance ability. Instead of attacking the boss itself, destroy the Vaballathus tentacles around it. Use the Relentless Assault Paradigm to lead a merciless attack against the tentacles; Zenobia cannot be damaged until they are gone.

After destroying the tentacles, switch over to a more measured Paradigm. Having two Ravagers and a Medic out can be very helpful here. Replace the Medic with a Commando if you have the Grimoire Hat equipped, and use potions to heal yourself. Stagger Zenobia and attack. Upon lowering its health significantly, Zenobia will use Defensive Stance again and attack with renewed zeal. Immediately switch to a defensive Paradigm to suffer the brunt of the attack. Heal up while you wait for the tentacles to reappear.

Once the tentacles are back out, repeat the pattern of using Relentless Assault to destroy them and then building up Zenobia’s Chain Gauge. Stagger it again to finish it off, but not before a lengthy Cinematic Battle Action consisting of up, left and O/B, right and O/B, right, and X/A repeatedly.

 

You will receive a Tower Artefact, Zenobia Grament, and 6,000 experience points. Head to the Gate and travel back to Yaschas Massif. In the Pass of Paddra area, you’ll have to use a Wild Artefact on the Gate to access Augusta Tower.