Smash! A Malevolent Menace

Mission Name: Smash! A Malevolent Menace Start NPC: Requirements: Mega Bonanza Kupon Suggested Level: 75 Title: Mog House Handyperson Repeatable: Yes Reward: Angel skin key Oxblood key 750 Experience Points or Limit Points Previous Mission: A Challenge! You Could Be a Winner Next Mission: A Moogle Kupo d'Etat (Fin.)         Replay Cutscene      Cut Scene Name   NPC (F-5)

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Walkthrough

• Buffs wear upon entry! This includes any Scroll of Instant Reraise (enchantment based reraise such as from Reraise Earring will remain though). Buff inside.
• Examine the Throne Room door for a cutscene involving the final boss. Examine it again to enter the battlefield.
• Experience is not lost upon death.
• If you lose, you must go back to A Challenge! You Could Be a Winner and redo the entire set of Northlands mini-game quests, starting from the Lonely Evergreen in Beaucedine Glacier.
• It is possible to Reraise in this fight as long as you stay outside of aggro range. The Henchmen Moogles will not despawn.
• As with other add-on missions, anyone can help regardless of their mission progress or add-on ownership. These are only required in order to obtain the mission reward.

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Fight

• The fight is against Riko Kupenreich, a large Moogle.
  • Many damage sources will do roughly 3 times normal damage against all targets. This includes Drain, which can restore a BLM's HP to full in a single cast.
    • Because of Riko's low damage tolerance, it is possible to hold him almost indefinitely using Drain to heal one's self.
  • Blue Mage Physical Spells, such as (Hysteric Barrage (blunt) and Frenetic Rip (blunt)) will deal about average damage to Riko. While Blue Mage Magical Spells will be far more impressive than average (such as Self-Destruct dealing 2300 damage with an HP pool around 1000/1200).
  • Riko Kupenreich is susceptible to Gravity and Bind though highly resistant.
    • Sources differ to the degree to which Riko will resist these spells. It seems possible Riko will resist them more often or not at all. Partial resists are likely as well.
    • It is sometimes possible to kite Riko with Gravity if your party needs to heal.
  • Riko Kupenreich does not use normal attacks, but instead throws bombs at his target when he is within range. The bombs have an additional effect: Knockback. Utsusemi will not block damage from these. The bombs seems to be AoE damage, since when he throws one and lands in log you can read "Riko Kupenreich hits..." followed by more than one target name.
    • It is possible for a mage to tank Riko using Stoneskin and Phalanx without taking any noteworthy damage (much less than any non-mage job).
    • The Knockback effect will not interrupt spell casting if one's back is against a wall.
    • The bombs may be Fire elemental damage. Barfira, Fire Carol and/or Shell may reduce their average damage.
  • Can use Bill Toss, which is a Gaze Attack that inflicts Terror.
  • Can use Washtub, which is AoE 200-400 damage Stun and Bind, absorbed by shadows.
  • Riko Kupenreich must be defeated ) in order to win.

• First and Second Phase:
  • At 75% HP, Riko will Draw In and use Crystalline Flare, a moderate (~400-700) damage AoE that pierces shadows and inflicts a 10-20 second Stun effect and fairly long Blind effect.
    • While requiring excellent timing and luck, the triggered Crystalline Flares can be stunned by Weapon Bash, other JA's/spells untested.
    • Highly recommended to apply any form of AoE Stoneskin (Earthen Ward, Diamondhide, Accession Stoneskin) to reduce the damage from this attack. The stun effect lasts long enough to let Riko's attacks bring any player that has hate to critical HP .
    • It is also recommended to use AoE healing as soon as the stun effect wears off, such as (Healing Breeze, Curaga, Accession Cure, Healing Ruby).
    • Riko can use Crystalline Flare at any point during third phase, regardless of his HP.
  • Riko will not Draw In people who have no enmity.
  • At 50% HP, 5 Black Mage Henchmen Moogles will spawn near Riko and attack his current target. Riko himself will retreat to the top of the stairs, where 2 more White Mage Henchmen Moogles will repeatedly cast Cure V on him until he is at 100%.
    • The WHM moogles cannot be damaged at all, and despawn when Riko is at 100% HP. Riko cannot be damaged until all the BLM Moogles are killed (and their bodies have disappeared) and he has rejoined the battle. When he reaches 100% HP, he will rejoin the fight regardless of how many BLM moogles are left.
    • Henchmen Moogles have access to all Tier IV and Tier III -ga Black Magic spells.
      • They are highly susceptible to Sleep and Silence.
      • These spawn directly on top of Riko, and will physically attack whoever is near before casting their spells. Because of this, make sure any designated sleepers are standing decently far away from Riko when he hits 50%.
    • They have 3 TP moves:
      • Flowerpot - single-target damage; Stun, Amnesia, and Blind.
      • Mog Bomb - small AoE 200-400 Fire damage.
      • Mog Shrapnel - conal weak AoE damage (~20-200).
    • The henchmen appear to absorb 1 element. The element is random.
      • On Iceday a Thunder IV Healed the Henchman Moogle for ~500 HP
    • If you kill the Henchmen Moogles before Riko Kupenreich has returned to 100%, you can return to the door and recover as he will not re-aggro.
    • Henchmen Moogles can be Aspired for MP. The amount of MP drained can reach cap with relative ease, even for BLUs and SCHs.
• He does THIS TWICE, you have to repeat this step two (2) times at 50% before you can kill at third phase.

• Third Phase:
  • At 50% HP he will summon his Henchmen Moogles again, but he will not retreat to heal himself nor will he gain any damage immunities. He will not do anything special at 75% HP in third phase.
    • Recommended to Sleepga the remaining minions and use all 2 hour abilities to finish Riko.
    • Beware of Crystalline Flare at this point. If your party is stunned while the Henchmen Moogles are awake, you will more than likely wipe.
    • In case of a wipe Riko will not regen his HP.
  • In the Third Phase, Crystalline Flare becomes a normal TP move and does not trigger a Draw In. This means you can hide all but one member out of range of Crystalline Flare and push Riko over the 50% mark, thereby avoiding the dreaded Crystalline Flare + 5 BLMs Party Wipe Combo. If the backup Sleepga is focused, no one dies. if not, only 1 member is lost.
  • In the Third Phase, it is possible he will open with Crystalline Flare, and at any time after. Just more likely to see it at and after 50%.

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Strategies

• Smash! A Malevolent Menace/Strategies