Catalyst Weapons and Nebilim Guide

[Natsumi]

It's everyone's favorite sidequest, finally explained! ...well, mostly.

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FAQs
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Q: How do the Catalyst weapons work?
A: They work exactly the same as the Devil's Arms in ToS- they gain a certain amount of strength for each kill the character makes. Ex. Each time Tear kills a monster, the Unicorn Horn will get a little bit stronger.

Q: Do I need to fight Nebilim to use them?
A: Technically no, you can equip them as soon as you get them. However, you won't have access to their power-per-kill ability until after you've fought Nebilim.

Q: Do they have elemental attributes?
A: Even though the story says that 3 are based on the 1st fonon (shadow/darkness) and 3 on the 6th fonon (rem/light), if you go into the status screens, there is no attack attribute. So, thankfully, the Catalysts are neutral.

Q: WTF? These are weak!
A: If you've beaten Nebilim, talked to Peony, and talked to Trithiem (without any Catalysts equipped)... Each character needs to kill more enemies. The Catalysts' power increases by 1 each time a character kills an enemy.
If you haven't beaten Nebilim... If you've got all the Catalysts, fight Nebilim, make sure all Catalysts are un-equipped, then talk to Peony and then to Trithiem.

Q: I killed a lot of monsters, and Lost Celesti does about 2000 damage per hit. But the Equip screen still says it's Guy's weakest weapon!
A: Their true strength won't show up in the Equip screen. Nobody really knows why.

Q: I think I missed one of the weapons! D:
A: No, you didn't. There's no cutoff for any of the catalysts or any part of the quest, so you can do the sidequest any time you want.

Q: Do they start powering up after I beat Nebilim, or do kills before that count?
A: Every kill a character makes since the beginning of the game counts towards the Catalysts' full power. If you buy "carry over battle data" in the grade shop, then the amount of kills each character has made (among other things) will be carried over. So by your third playthrough, nothing will be able to oppose an unlocked-power Catalyst (as long as each character sees a lot of battles and kills a lot of monsters).

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ABOUT THE CATALYSTS
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There are 6 catalysts- Nebilim, Unicorn Horn, Blood Pain, Heart of Chaos, Lost Celesti, and Holy Quelquatl. They are found in various places throughout the world, although some make you jump through a few hoops to get them.
After you get all 6 catalysts, it's off to Nebilim's Crag to fight Gelda herself and unlock the power of the 6 catalysts.
Their true strength will not show up on the "equip" screen, by the way.

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NEBILIM
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Equip: Luke

To obtain: Obtained automatically after fighting the Blade Rex the first time the plot sends you to the Meggiora Highlands.

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INTERLUDE - ACTIVATING THE SIDEQUEST
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After you recover the flightstone from Reiner in Daath, you can formally activate the sidequest. To do so, make sure Nebilim is unequipped, and talk to Tritheim. After he's done, go to Keterburg and talk to Nephry.

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LOST CELESTI
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Equip: Guy

To obtain: As soon as you've activated the sidequest by talking to Trithiem and Nephry, you can get Lost Celesti. Talk to Peony to get the sword, and a funny scene.

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BLOOD PAIN
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Equip: Jade

To obtain: After you get everyone back after the Absorption Gate, go to St. Binah. Talk to Elder McGovern, then talk to Glen in the inn. Exit St. Binah and approach the rappig (which should be right near the city), then talk to Glen again and he'll give you Blood Pain.

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HOLY QUELQUATL
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Equip: Natalia

To obtain: You must have Mieu Wing and you must have completed the Mieu Fire 2 sidequest. Go to the Abandoned Factory. Remember that partially raised ladder that you couldn't get to the first time you came here? Use Mieu Wing under it to get up. You should see a cable car and a switch across a gap. Use Mieu Fire to hit the switch, then go back to Baticul. Take the new cable car back to the factory to find Holy Quelquatl.

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HEART OF CHAOS
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Equip: Anise

To obtain: After you clear the Radiation Gate, enter the Daath cathedral. Play hide-and-seek with Florian (the most sadistic thing you could be made to do, as the cathedral is huge). When you find him, you'll get to keep the rod that he ran off with, Heart of Chaos.
NOTE: One of the 4 colored glyphs will take you right to the spot where Florian is. However, I don't remember which one it is...

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UNICORN HORN
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Equip: Tear

To obtain: Go to the castle part of Eldrant, the area after where you fought Sync. You must activate all the blue orbs- hit them with Mieu Fire to turn them red. You can hit one right away. You'll have to rotate a block and reflect the fire off it to hit another one. Head to the next room. Knock over the two ladder blocks, then proceed to the next room. In here, you'll have to fight monsters called Guardians. If the attack that kills one is Dark-elemental, you'll get a dark fonstone. If the attack is light elemental, you'll get a light fonstone. Get one of each. Approach the large purple thing in the middle of the room and use a light fonstone so the room rotates. You'll be back in the ladder room. Don't step on the switch yet, or you'll have to get another light stone. Take the ladder to the right, and Mieu Wing under the blue orb to turn it red. Then, go back to the switch Tear noticed, and step on it and the room will rotate back to normal. Remember that door you opened? Go through it- you'll be in the room with the large fonstones again, only on the upper level. Approach the large yellow-white thing in the middle of the room and use the shadow fonstone to get the room to rotate the other way. Move towards the camera to the next screen. You'll find 2 blocks to rotate. Rotate them so that they make a "V" shape, then step on the switch in the room to rotate it back to normal. Remember earlier, there were two orbs that you couldn't reach hanging beside each other? Stand between them and shoot Mieu Fire at the blocks you just rotated (this may take several tries). While the fire is flying, use Mieu Wing so that you're floating between the orbs. This makes it so the Mieu Fire hits you instead of turning the orbs back off. Notice that a door opens. Head down the stairs and through the door. On the other side is the Unicorn Horn.

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PREPARATIONS
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You've been all over the world. You've got all 6. Now it's time to unlock their strength.
But before you head off to meet your doom (which may very well happen), MAKE SURE that you buy a full stock each of Apple Gels, Lemon Gels, Melange Gels, Life Bottles, and if you want, Miracle Gels. Orange Gels and Pineapple Gels are also strongly recommended. Equip each character with their strongest weapon and armor, then rest up at an inn.
Nebilim's Crag can be found north of Search Point 15, but it's in the middle of a blizzard, so you'll need the Refined Flightstone to get there. Look for a mountain that's cracked in half. That's it. Land just outside it, and make any last preparations. The fight ahead is tough. But, this is what you were waiting for.
SAVE. Then, enter the crag.

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GELDA NEBILIM
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HP: 320000 (doubled on Very Hard or Unknown)
Items to Steal: Tutti C. Core
Items dropped: Blue Dice, Red Verbena
Recommended level: 70+

Strike Artes: Light Spear Cannon, Soveregn Gale, Surge Breaker, Banishing Sorrow, Star Stroke, Beast
Arcane Artes: Light Blast, Searing Sorrow, Thunder Beast, Quake Stroke
Fonic Artes: Ground Dasher, Blessed Drops, Absolute, Infernal Prison, Thunder Blade, Divine Saber, Prism Sword, Meteor Storm, Time Stop
FOF Changes: : Raging Mist, Gravity Well, Gugnir, Mighty Deluge
Mystic Artes: Big Bang, Innocent Shine, Mystic Cage, Indignation, Fortune's Ark, Rending Saber, Fragmented End

Yes, Nebilim cheats by having FOF Changes and Time Stop as regular Artes. I know it's not fair. This entire fight isn't fair. You had to know that going into this. Get over it. >.>

Reccommended party: Tear is a must. If you're using Anise, equip the Reala (Time Traveling Girl, stolen from Arietta on Mt. Roneal) head for Resurrection, which you'll need. A lot. Don't put in both Luke and Guy, as the one you're not controlling won't be smart enough to get away from Neblilm when she winds up to launch an arte at them. As for the last members, it doesn't matter who you pick- go with what's worked in the past. Bring Natalia if you want extra healing, bring Jade if you want another big gun, and bring Anise if you want an extra Resurrection-user who's pretty handy at fighting also.
For Anise, Jade, Tear, and Natalia, if you're not controlling them, it's a good idea to turn off all their Strike artes- this will discourage them from charging at Nebilim, though they still might.

There are several different strategies you can use to fight Nebby. To summarize them- spam Revitalize, Free Run a lot, hit her whenever she's open, and guard/guardian/magic guard like hell.

If you fight her on normal, the only Mystic Arte she will use is Big Bang. But, she'll still use all her Strike and Fonic artes, including Time Stop.
On Hard, she'll add in Mystic Cage and Innocent Shine. On Very Hard and Unknown, all of her Mystic Artes are fair game.
Big Bang and Indignation cannot kill you. They can reduce your HP to 1, but they can't kill you. Fortune's Arc might also be like this, it's been a while since I fought her.

Nebby will OverLimit at least 3 times during the battle. When this happens, free-run circles around her and make sure not to get hit.

Be careful when meleeing her, as her strike artes hurt just as much as her spells. It's recommended to only melee her when she's either casting or immobile after casting. When you do melee her, use 1 combo, then get out of there unless you want an especially painful Light Spear Cannon in your face.

Her spells can be dodged easily with Free Run- if you continuously run around her in a large circle, she can't hit you. If you run in your circle relatively close to her but not close enough to get hit with a strike arte, she'll usually aim for you. (note: USUALLY. If half the party's dead and the other character is casting Resurrection, Nebby'll aim for them just as much.)

Remember: Square + Down is your friend. Use it if you can't free-run away in time, or she decides to pull out a Mystic Arte, Time Stop, or Meteor Storm.

Be prepared to do a lot of character-switching, as the AI isn't smart enough to understand GET-THE-HELL-OUTTA-THERE when a big nasty Prism Sword circle appears under them.

Don't be afraid to use a lot of items. This is the fight you've been saving them for. Because after you've crushed Nebilim, the final boss is a cakewalk. And, you can always buy more items.

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WHAT NOW?
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After you've beaten Nebilim, the stored power of the Catalyst weapons will be unlocked. If you want a couple extra things, though (a title and some character backstory), here's what you do.
Make sure all catalysts are un-equipped first, otherwise two of the conversations won't trigger.
Talk to Peony for a scene.
After you've spoken with Peony, head to Daath and speak to Trithiem. You can now view Nebilim, Professor Nebilim, Young Jade, and Young Dist in the character book in Yulia City.
If you're playing the English version and fought her on normal or hard mode, the sidequest ends here.
However, if you fought her on very hard or unknown, or you're playing the Japanese version... After you've spoken to Peony and Trithiem, head to Baticul and speak with Pere to get the Tactical Leader title and costume for Luke.

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CONGRATULATIONS, YOU DID IT!
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That's it for now. If you want, post your own strategies for dealing with Nebilim, as well as other advice. I'll also take strategies for soloing her, and taking her on on higher difficulty levels.

Hope you found this guide useful!
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[Natsumi's DeviantArt][#1 Nanaly Fan][Super mega ultra massive Legendia fan]

[MSquared]

hey good guide if u wanna know what warp to take to find Florian its the bottom right on..it looks gold i think

[armslave009]

[Comatose]

... Any suggested level for Very-Hard mode? >>; Luke's at 67, and the rest of the party is at around there as well. My battle party for her was originally Luke, Guy, Tear and Jade (I don't have the Reala doll for Anise), but I'm figuring on kicking Guy out for Natalia.

I suspect my main problem is that I'm under-levelled, so it'd be nice to have a rough estimate to go by... x_X;

[Medomai]

Higher higher. Much higher than 67 if you're gonna do it on Very Hard.
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[Comatose]

That's what I figured... Tear's Innocent Shine = 15 damage... That was definitley an insult to injury... Any recommended level though? 100? Higher?

[Medomai]

I'd personally recommend around 120, but I'm pretty bad at guessing, seeing as I haven't tried it myself. Maybe 125. Hard is harder than Normal, and she was easy at level 85 on Normal so add 20 levels per difficulty... Around there is my guess. It also depends on your ability with Free Run. XP

You might want someone with a little more experience with Nebilim to give you a better level recommendation.
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[Comatose]

I'm good with free-run, I can dodge her attacks without any problem. ... It's my stupid AI party members. xD And the fact that my attacks are just too weak to last long enough. Her Mystic Cage Mystic Arte hurts. x_o;

But yeah, I think I'll just tackle her on my third playthrough and buy the 10xexp from the grade shop. By the time I level up enough I would've had a third playthrough in, anyway. xD;

[Medomai]

XD Good point. Yeah, I'm on my third, too. I didn't feel like leveling up that much for a Very Hard battle.
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[Mrs._Curtiss]

Doing Nebilim on Very Hard was probably one of the most enjoyable things I have done in this game, even if it took two and a half hours. I cannot wait to do it on Unknown; however, I have a feeling that with 10x exp in this playthrough, that by the time we get there it'll be far too easy. >_>
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Icon By: MetalGoat ***Sig by: Bunnywisk ^_^

[Colonel_Jade_Curtiss]

I've beat the game about 4 times , and the 10x exp is good.....but by the time you get to Van you can have full hp and tp. By the time haft the game was over all my of my charters were 100+ in level. If you want to beat the game fast yeah get it but if you want a chllange don't get it. It's does come in handy faceing bosses and in some side-quest(better if you plane to fight Neblum with it , but that is all it's good for). I choess to have a hard to with my bosses.

Levels:Jade:143
Guy:132
Luke:145
Tear:!39
Natalla:148
I can't rember the rest....
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"I, who stand in the full light of the heavens
command thee, who opens the
gates of hell, come forth divine lightning! This ends now! Indignation!"
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[Allpurposeknife]

Fought with Nebilim on Very Hard difficulty with around lvl 150 guys for a half hour.I died when she had around 120000 hp...
Started to think about eating the controller with some salad.
I was fighting her for a half hour and I ran out of life bottles.
WHAT NOW?!

[joeluke9]

use magic

[Smith]

Don't try Unknown, hard and long as hell.

My guys were roughly 140's

I was Luke, and had Tear, Jade and Anise. Set them on guard and shortcut the strongest moves. Ran circles around Nebilim and had the comps cast like mad. She usually goes after Luke, the other person she went after was Tear, fortunately Tear can haul ass so I switched controls and led Nebilim away from the rest of the group. Only use life bottles on Luke (and use them right away), keep tear alive with recovery items, and use resurrection on the other two.

Took me 22 mins on very hard with plenty of life-bottles, lemon and pineapple gels left over. Oh yeah, revitalize is your friend.
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I show you driving!

[Mutenroushi]

I defeated her on Mania with a level 90 party
Very long but fantastic battle!
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