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Rubenator's Level 20 Avatar Fight Guide

This Article is a Community Guide
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This a guide made specifically for the low level player wanting to earn their avatars.

Fame

In order to start the mini-fight quests, you must obtain Fame 2 in the corresponding area.

Avatar City Quick Fame Quest Quest
Titan Bastok Only the Best Trial Size Trial by Earth
Shiva San d'Oria Only the Best Trial Size Trial by Ice
Ifrit Kazham Mandragora-Mad Trial Size Trial by Fire
Ramuh Mhaura Mandragora-Mad Trial Size Trial by Lightning
Garuda Rabao Only the Best Trial Size Trial by Wind
Leviathan Norg Shady Business Trial Size Trial by Water

The "Quick Fame Quests" are just suggestions, see the fame page or Quick Reputation for details.

Preparation

I credit the basics of this strategy (and the name) to Marrigan of the Remora Server.

Equipment

Here is suggested equipment to take with you into the fight. Please note that MP+ gear is generally not needed. The Kitron Juice / Yagudo Drink take care of the perpetuation cost, and the Astral Flow Blood Pact: Rage uses all of your MP anyway. The importance is in the refresh. In general, maximum HP is much more important than your maximum MP. You need enough max MP to be able to keep Carbuncle out for about 3 minutes, summon him 5 times, and use 1 Poison Nails, and have 40 MP left to Searing Light while under the refresh of a Kitron Juice / Yagudo Drink. Any maximum MP over this amount is wasteful. I guesstimate a safe maximum MP to be anything above 130.

Weapon

Shield

Ammo

Neck

  • Any

Earrings

  • Any

Body

  • Any

Hands

  • Any
  • Carbuncle Mitts ~Suggested for players that have them
    • If you have them, WEAR THEM.

Rings

~Optional but useful

  • Any

Back

  • Any

Waist

  • Any

Legs

  • Any

Feet

  • any

Items

Bring the following EVERY time you fight an Avatar

Food: Any defense/hp food, but here are a couple suggestions~

Drinks Bring either~:

  • 2 Kitron Juice ~highly suggested
    • 2,500 Gil each -- Requires "Rhapsody in Fuchsia" Key Item (for this price) -- although anyone can buy it from curio moogle on your behalf (as long as you're not on Trial account).
    • This will result in you having extra MP to spend on Aquaveil/Cures/etc while waiting for your blood pact rage recast timer.
  • 2 Yagudo Drinks:
    • 2,000 Gil each -- Requires "Rhapsody in Crimson" Key Item (for this price) -- although anyone can buy it from curio moogle on your behalf (as long as you're not on Trial account).
    • This will result in you getting exactly 40 mp during your blood pact rage recast timer so, if you cast any other spells (such as cures, you may be delaying your blood pact, so having hi-potions ready to go is suggested).

Potions:

  • 3-4 Hi-Potions
    • 600 Gil each -- Key Item "Rhapsody in Umber" required (for this price) -- although anyone can buy it from curio moogle on your behalf (as long as you're not on Trial account).

Ethers: Bring either~

  • 2 Ethers ~Suggested
    • 1,250 Gil each -- Key Item "Rhapsody in White" required (for this price) -- although anyone can buy it from curio moogle on your behalf (as long as you're not on Trial account).
  • 2 Hi-Ethers
    • 1,300 Gil each -- Key Item "Rhapsody in Umber" required (for this price) -- although anyone can buy it from curio moogle on your behalf (as long as you're not on Trial account).
    • Hi-Ethers are more dangerous. They have a VERY long usage time, and slow your spellcasting times including Carbuncle. I have been successful using them though.
  • 6 Mulsums -- 500 Gil each -- Key Item "Rhapsody in White" required (for this price)-- although anyone can buy it from curio moogle on your behalf (as long as you're not on Trial account).
    • You will have to use 3 of these at once during the fight if you choose to use them. Be very careful to use them far from the avatar so as to not generate extra unnecessary enmity.

Spells

Know the following spells for your White Mage sub:

If you wish to use a Blue Mage sub know:

Skill

Evasion: The level 20 cap is 51, so if you think yours is low skill it up.
Summoning Magic: The level 20 cap is 63. Summoning Magic lessens the chance of your casting getting interrupted, so skill it up.

Macros

You should make a macro set of the following:

Put the Carbuncle macro somewhere comfortable, you will be using it a lot. Put the Astral Flow and item use macros somewhere where you will not accidentally hit them (like don't put them too close to your Carbuncle macro).

Pre-fight Tips

Now it is time to get into the meat of the strategy.

Operation Carbuncle Shield

Strategy Notes

  • Try not to do ANYTHING near the avatar besides running and using Blood Pact: Rages. It is called "Operation Carbuncle Shield" because Carbuncle is your shield. He can't do that if you generate too much enmity. So if you want to cure or buff yourself, do it far enough away that the avatar won't notice. Now there will definitely be times when you have to use a Hi-Potion or summon Carbuncle while the avatar is pummeling you; but try to keep it to a minimum.
    • The range of assault is slightly farther than the avatars agro range. Use this to your advantage.
    • The range of magic detection is a fairly long distance. Take care when casting spells.
  • If you are under attack, use Hi-Potions sooner than later. You never know when the avatar is going to do something mean.
  • Once you activate Astral Flow if you are using Yagudo drink instead of Kitron Juice you must only use items for healing. No curing with magic or else you wont have enough MP to use Searing Light.
  • Note that Astral Flow only lasts 3 minutes, so you can only use 3 Blood Pact: Rages while it is active.

The Fight

Okay. You just entered the BCNM fully prepared and as a SMN20/WHM10. You ate your Food right before you went in and it just became Lightsday. You walk halfway to the avatar, stopping at the bend in the road. You do the following in this order as quickly and carefully as possible:

Now run up most of the rest of the way towards the Avatar. As you approach, slow down, target the avatar and begin spamming your assault macro. You are trying to order Carbuncle to attack from the VERY edge of the pet command's range. DO NOT get aggro from the avatar. As soon as the command executes successfully, RUN AWAY! Head back to a little bit behind the "halfway point." Carefully watch Carbuncle's HP (use the Pet HP macro if nescesary). As soon as Carbuncle dies re-summon him. Now DO NOT assault the avatar. You will have the avatar's hate so Carbuncle will automatically run to the avatar and start attacking. You do not want to assault because that generates unwanted hate on yourself. As soon as you finish summoning, run back to the protocrystal and behind it. Watch Carbuncle's HP carefully, and re-summon when he dies. This time, before you run back up the path, stand RIGHT next to the avatar, and use Poison Nails. Do not run until Carbuncle has jumped into the air. You must stand close to the avatar so in the event that using a Blood Pact: Rage turns the avatar's attention to you, Carbuncle will not be "Too far away" because the avatar followed you. After Carbuncle is airborne run to the top of the arena behind where the avatar started. At this point your Kitron Juice / Yagudo Drink refresh, Aquaveil, and Barstonra/Barwatera may wear off soon. As soon as you reach the top of the arena, start doing the following in order, being ready to pause and re-summon Carbuncle when he dies (likely while you are in the middle of doing something).

If before you know it the avatar is chasing after you before you finish, skip the other steps, just make sure you are at near full HP and used your second Kitron Juice / Yagudo Drink. So while you were doing this Carbuncle died once, you re-summoned, continued, and now Carbuncle is about to die again. Before Carbuncle dies, activate Astral Flow. When Carbuncle dies, re-summon him, run right up next to where the avatar stops to attack Carbuncle, and use Searing Light. Once again, do not move until Carbuncle is airborne. Now RUN down the ramp and towards where you started. At this point the avatar should be well below 50% HP and ready to use it's Astral Flow Blood Pact. You MUST keep your health above 150 HP if you want to survive the blast. If you are lucky you will not be anywhere near the avatar when it does it. Warning: Carbuncle WILL die when the avatar Astral Flows; be prepared to re-summon at anytime. Now, once you are out of the avatar's hate range, use 1 Ether, or 1 Hi-Ether, or 3 Mulsums, depending what you bought. Now you must "stall" until your Blood Pact: Rage is ready again. To stall, just keep re-summoning Carbuncle and running away. When your Blood Pact: Rage is finally ready, do not use it unless you have recently re-summoned Carbuncle, otherwise the avatar will probably kill Carbuncle before he finishes using Searing Light, and you will have wasted a Blood Pact: Rage. Remember to stand next to the avatar when you activate Searing Light, and make SURE you have at LEAST 40 MP. After your second Searing Light the avatar will "probably" die. If it does not, use another Ether and stall some more and hit it with your third and final Searing Light for the kill. Because of the nature of this strategy, you generally only need 2 Searing Lights to hit, so if you mess one up you still have a chance! The beauty of this strategy is that if executed perfectly (and with a little luck) you can win and only have used some food, 2 Kitron Juice / Yagudo Drink, and 1 Ether (or 3 Mulsums). So that's the basic strategy, but I had to explain it as if the avatar never did any unexpected attacks that kill Carbuncle in 1 hit. You kind of have to wing it and follow the guidelines when that happens. Use Hi-Potions generously, but generally use them out of hate range. Now the worst case scenario while fighting the avatars, is right when you are standing next to the avatar and activate Searing Light, but the avatar uses their Astral Flow Blood Pact before Carbuncle finishes using his. This is very bad because Carbuncle just got killed, and you are mostly dead. Best thing to do is quickly use a Hi-Potion and re-summon Carbuncle (this is where the Hermit's Wand and Aquaveil come in handy).

So, if that did not make any sense, here is the overall plan:

  • Assault from max range
  • Don't do actions other than Blood Pact: Rage with the avatar near you.
  • Stall a bit with carbuncle auto-attacking and use Poison Nails to deal some damage to the Avatar. (important to ensure you have enough damage done in case one of your 3 Searing Light is resisted.)
  • Use astral flow and do your best to get good hits with 2 out of 3 Searing Lights.

Notes on Specific Avatars

Titan

  • Easiest avatar.
    • Very slow to damage (compared to the others).
    • No annoying status effects.
    • You can use Barstonra.

Ifrit

  • Slightly more difficult than Titan.
    • Hits harder.
    • No annoying status effects.

Leviathan

Garuda

Ramuh

Shiva

Blue Mage sub?

I personally believe it is best to use a White Mage sub job for these fights, but some people think that a Blue Mage sub is best for the avatars that you cannot defend with a Bar-spell (all but Titan and Leviathan). The spell Cocoon is used to significantly boost defense.

Ninja sub?

The only real reason to do this would be to Dual Wield Hermit's Wands.

End Notes

There are other ways to go about doing the avatar fights, but this strategy I found to be cheap and effective.

This is my first guide. Feel free to ask questions or give suggestions on the discussion page.

Source entry: Rubenator's Level 20 Avatar Fight Guide. Cached on this server on 5 November 2026.

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