The boss:

Ice titan is - obviously - a gigantic titan made entirely out of ice. His first appearance was in Hercules, and he is arguably the second most difficult boss in the game. His hits aren't as lethal as the heartless bosses, but are much harder to avoid and stack quickly. That's why you should have quite a lot of levels under your belt. Luckily grinding this battle over and over again is one of the best ways to gain exp. Since every time you damage him you gain 24 exp points (possibly up to 120 in the final mix).



Getting to the battle:

After you've beaten Hades cup a mysterious battle labeled ??? Appears. Choosing the battle brings you to battle with Ice titan. After you've beaten or lost to him the battle is labeled Gold match



Preparations:

If you're high leveled and competent enough you may just stick with whatever equipment you have. If you're not so certain about your skills, though you should include as much ice-nullifying equipment (Blizza/rd/ra/gun ring, Ray of light, Shiva belt etc.). Every single one of Ice titans attack is ranged and ice-based so that should decrease your damage by at least 60 %. You may also want to stack up on elixirs or if you're lacking them ethers. For your abilities include at least glide (or fast-glide if you've got that), dodge roll AND ESPECIALLY GUARD. Without the last one you won't be able to damage the titan at all. For you quick-magic put at least cure. If you use aero Ice titan will use stronger attacks that can't be deflected so don't cast that at any point. (also put on your second chance and leaf bracer if you're playing Final mix)



The battle:

I'd be tempted to just say that guard everything and leave it at that, but I'll try to be more professional.

FIRST PHASE:

At the beginning of the battle Ice titan only has few attacks at his disposal. His main attack is summoning a bunch of flying ice-darts that glide towards you. When you guard these darts they fly back towards Ice titan and damage him. These darts fly at different patterns, and some are likely to hit you every time you use guard. You may try to minimize the damage by quickly dodge rolling out of the way of remaining darts that fly towards you, and only focusing on guarding single darts that are flying towards you and dodging the rest

The other attack Ice titan uses at this point is summoning a bunch of ice pillars from beneath you (much like Cerberus used to do). These pillars are fairly easy to dodge just by running around, but they do sting quite a bit and have an annoying tendency to kill you if you stop to heal yourself. That's why you should make sure to heal yourself often, even if you feel like you still have a lot of HP.

SECOND PHASE:

After you've played enough dead man's volley with Ice titan he will fall down to his knee. At that point he is suspectible to damage. You may use ragnarok if you want to, but I'd suggest that you just mash him with X-button. Also don't forget to heal

THIRD PHASE:

Ice titan rises up and goes completely insane with his attacks. He'll summon a hailstorm of ice darts that you may either guard for damage or dodge. You may fight this phase just like the first one or use a slight cheat. Go to the top of the stairs at either side of the arena and then glide to the opposite side. When ice titan is turning he will automatically shoot single ice darts that you can guard back to him. Once he gets near you just glide back to the other side from behind his back.

It's also at this point that Ice titan gets a new attack. He summons three massive ice blocks that fall to your head from above with a distinct sound. This attack does rather heavy damage, but is easy to avoid just by moving to some direction. It can easily take off your guard though se be vary. It goes without saying that you shouldn't under no circumstances heal while this attack is going on. After enough damage the titan goes back to the second phase.

FOURTH PHASE:

Ice titan goes ballistic with his ice darts again, but this time around there are also ice blocks falling to your head. They shouldn't bother you too much though since successfully guarding an ice dart will likely also guard that one, and if you take damage from the dart you'll be immune to damage for a mere second.

You can't use the gliding trick very well at this phase, because Ice titan also summons ice block while turning. That's why I suggest that you head to some corner of the arena and stay there until he falls down. Along with his previous attacks Ice titan now also uses a frigid breath that freezes you solid and gives you nasty damage if it hits. You should dodge it by jump-gliding out of the way. While moving around be careful not to slip on ice. It won't give you damage but may make you an easy target for upcoming ice darts. Back to the second phase

FIFTH PHASE:

At this point Ice titan probably has less than two whole bars of HP and he'll attack you with everything he's got. Along with the aforementioned attacks he may now lift his hands up and summon a blizzard towards your general area. This attack deals nasty damage that will hit you multiple times so I suggest that you stay clear out of its way. Easy way to dodge it is by going to one of the corners of the are (at the top of the stairs). When you're there the attack should just go around you, and you'll be safe if you don't wander too far away. While the blizzard is going mind the ice blocks falling from above.
For the rest of the battle Ice titan will alternate between phases 2 and 5 until he's dead. Once you beat him you gain a hefty amount of exp, an humorous cut-scene and a great sense of victory (also Diamond dust-keyblade, Ansem's report and an achievement in the final mix.

Next time: The one-winged angel, bane of Aerith and owner of a 10-minute long summon attack: Sephiroth


SUPER SECRET BONUS GUIDE: How to beat Rock titan:
Run to another one of rock titan's legs, choose lock-on and mash X-button. He will be incapable of doing anything useful.

uusretrohippi : I look forward to trying Kingdom Hearts in the future. I had a friend who was crazy about the series but I never had time for it before. One of these days though...