Boss Battle: Chaos

Having restored the power of the elemental crystals you can now travel 2,000 years into the past, to the Temple of Chaos as it used to be, where the real arbiter of Earth’s distress resides. To reach him you’ll have to defeat each of the elemental fiends a second time, and to make things interesting, each fiend has been given increased stats and had their weaknesses removed. Still, the strategy for defeating them remains much the same. Cast Haste, Saber, Shield, Invis and Nul, and then tear into them with physical attacks and strong magic. Heal, rinse, repeat. In the Southwest corner of Tiamat’s floor you’ll find the Masamune, the strongest sword in the game. It’s usable by anyone, for a change. Make sure to snag it.

When you reach the heart of the temple you’ll discover that the monster who’s been causing you so much trouble is actually Garland, the Cornelian Knight that you killed in the opening minutes of the game. After his death the elemental forces sent him into the past where his hatred festered and Chaos consumed his spirit. From 2,000 years ago he sent forth the elemental fiends to enact his revenge, thus touching off a time loop that’s destined to repeat forever unless you can stop it. It’s really a fairly interesting concept. If only Square had developed it more during the game.

After revealing the mystery behind the game’s events Garland will transform into an embodiment of Chaos, and battle will ensue. Its go time! Chaos comes fully stocked with all of the major elemental spells that you’ve been seeing from regular enemies in the Temple: Blaze, Ice Storm, Lightning Storm, Poison Gas, etc. If you have a White Mage, please feel free to cast NulAll. If you’re like me, white mage-less, I would actually advise against casting Nul spells. You’re going to get hit with at least one large spell before you get all three Nul’s cast. Your time is more wisely spent casting Shield and Invis, or simply casting preemptive heals. Chaos doesn’t have quite the magic resistance that some of the elemental fiends did, so go crazy with your Black Mage and use up all the Flares and level III attack spells that you can.

Combine with Haste/Saber physical attacks and, with any luck, you’ve just beaten FF1. Congratulations!