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Each and every Ba’al has a gimmick and this one’s all about biting off more than you can chew, literally. This christmas tree-like apparition can cause the Gluttony effect on your characters, converting damage into HP recovery, but KOing them if they heal more HP than they have.

Its standard attacks include Iluminacion, which deals heavy light-based physical damage to all party members, Granite, which dispels beneficial effects and makes the party weak to water, and Vichyssoise, a water-based magic attack on the party.

To turn the tables, it can use Aperitif to try and inflict Gluttony on all party members. Afterwards, it likes to use Plat du Jour to heal your party, instantly KOing anyone inflicted with Gluttony. Finally, if anyone is KO’d, it occasionally uses Gibier to send KO’d characters Out of Battle.

First things first, you’ll want the Astrologian’s Elemental Barrier to nullify Redshirt’s elemental attacks. Be sure to combine it with Mist or Blast Spellcraft or the Black Mage’s Group-Cast All so you can cast it on your party. Depending on your caster’s speed, Prescience might help too.

Next, to deal with Gluttony, consider stacking equipment that boosts Mind, such as the Magus’s Robe, Magic Armlets or even dual-wielding staves (for your healer at least). Status Barrier doesn’t work on Gluttony, but since it’s still an ailment, having high Mind can ward it off.

If anyone does get hit by Gluttony, prepare for the worst by casting Reraise or Resurrection Mist to get them back on their feet before the start of the next turn. Definitely don’t leave any KO’d characters around for long as Redshirt loves to swallow them, removing them from the field.

Otherwise, if you can handle all of that, the Ba’al isn’t anything special. Its Magical Defence is fairly high, but not enough to handle the likes of the Time Mage’s Meteor. For the most part, you should use the most conveniently powerful moves you have, targeting its weaknesses if you can.

Like before, you can make this fight easy by fielding a team of three ghost mages and a tank (refer to Ghost Mage Onslaught from our Recommended Builds section if you need details). How easy? One turn KO easy! Now who’s the one who’s bitten off more than they can chew?

Neo Version¶

Neo Redshirt copies Neo Turtle Dove by having maximum Physical Defence and Magic Defence. Other than that, it’s essentially the same Redshirt you know and love, but with far better stats.

You’re probably unsurprised to learn that Neo Redshirt can be defeated using a similar strategy to Neo Turtle Dove. That is, by using a reworked version of the Ghost Mage Onslaught , which swaps out Chainspell for the Black Mage’s Pierce Magic Defence.

Again, because of your reduced damage output and Neo Redshirt’s superior HP, you’ll be unable to KO the scarlet fiend in one turn, but a single onslaught should slice off more than a third of its health, which is good enough. With that taken care of, you need to sort out your tank.

Your courageous tank should have optimal Physical Defence and cast Elemental Barrier on themselves under the influence of Prescience. Because of Gluttony, you should also have a ghost mage cast Reraise on the tank (when your party’s not attacking). Don’t forget Granite can dispel Reraise.

One last thing: Don’t cast Elemental Barrier or Reraise on the same turn as your ghost mages attack. Because Ventriloquism affects all spells, it will turn those spells into Rain versions and cast them on Redshirt instead, potentially endangering your tank.