Barthandelus 2..... phhhhht!

It took awhile. No cheats or easy ways out that I'm aware of. Just hit him hard and often until he staggers orange, then hit him harder and faster. Oh, yeah, and stay alive, meaning heal up. Nothing fancy: Ruthless, Combat Clinic, Relentless Assault. Equip reducing items for 30% daze, 30% poison. You need to stay in the game. You'll need an eidolon toward the end. It won't take B. out, but it will heal up your party. Then once more from the beginning. With feeling. Max out your Level 4 CP players, and don't use low-level players in crucial roles. Grind, if necessary.

I used Lightning, Fang and Vanille. Your tastes may vary...

The Vanille theme is available on the Extras menu option when you beat this obstacle.

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Hmmm... Final Fantasy has one resonant theme throughout its many incarnations, 13 so far — short shrift for entities which set themselves up to be gods and demand worship from human scum. No matter how subtle, no matter how persuasive or awe-inspiring, whether Occuria or fal'Cie or whatever, the human scum invariably finds itself revolting ... and humiliating the high-maintenance pretenders to godhood.

In the end, playing these games through to conclusion leaves you with two huge impressions: a) there are deeper dungeons than these, and b) there are deeper, cooler heavens than those we've seen so far. As explorations of the human will to spiritual life, these games rank above the Pilgrim's Progress and maybe even reach as far as Tolstoy — Mikhail Bulgakov at least.

Barthandelus

After several days, I got rid of the upside-down choir. Now we've got the bad boy himself to deal with with Team Lightning, Snow and Vanille.

Part 1. The Choir

Ruthless (commando, ravager, saboteur)
Combat Clinic (medic, sentinal, medic)

Part 2. Laughing Boy

Ruthless
Combat Clinic

Yes, that's the same as before. Stay sharp about Destrudo and make sure you're in Combat Clinic well before that strikes. Mix in an occasional Relentless Assault, Solidarity, Diversity or whatever, but don't get carried away. Time is of the essence! Develop a major sense of urgency immediately. Strategy here is to stagger this clown at least once, maybe twice, and get his green line down to about 1/4 normal.

Then hit him with Odin. Watch your purple line, and whatever you do, don't bring on Odin until you've got a good chance to finish off Barthandelus with Sleipner!

Piece of cake, but unfortunately I survived with only two stars. Now on Chapter 10, The Fifth Ark

The only other advice I could add is Concentrate! Once you've won this scrimmage, it'll seem easy, but it's still kind of a high water mark for nasty bosses.

Chapter Ten, by the way, unlocks some nice rewards just for being there. Sweet!