Level Cap : Level 89

Cup Unlocking Condition : Capture a Deava, level it up five times, and release it for the storyline end and its replacement by Aka Manah. Do the same for him, his replacement (Aeshma), and his replacement (Shahi). Now capture a Tomb enemy and level it up five times and release it. Repeat this with its consecutive replacements: Dorumen and Monument and Ultima Weapon. Don’t alter their default names. After getting Ultima, there will be some more story to deal with and you’ll be able to fight this Cup in the Colosseum. After fighting the cup, defeat Omega Weapon and pick him for your party after the fight. Level him up five times and release him, then Shinra comes on. You can now play the altered version of the Cup, the Shinra’s Strongest Creation Cup. Play it and level up and release Shinra as usual and you’ll get the Cup back to the Demon’s Cup.

Nothing much legitimately difficult in either Cup; the only thing you ought to worry about is Almighty Shinra.

BOSS - Almighty Shinra¶

BOSS ANALYSIS : Take note that Shinra will begin the battle in Auto-Regen and Auto-Spellspring, meaning he’ll heal HP over time and his MP costs for his various abilities are zero. He happens to also have a regular attacking pattern:

• Clione (ten physical random-target hits, each 1.5x stronger than Attack)
• Attack
• If above 25% HP, Ultima - if not, Final Impact (14 unblockable random hits, each removing 1/8 of the target’s max HP/MP)
• Attack
• If over 50% HP, Full Break (all Stat Breaks together in one hit) - if not, Fireworks (physical to all; ignores Defense)
• If not Hasted, use Haste - if Hasted, use Final Impact
• Loop

MAIN STRATEGY : Opening the fight, and quickly so, with Mighty Guard or Protect on everyone will be very critical to your survival. As it happens, Shinra’s Strength, Magic, Defense, Magic Defense, and Luck are all maxed out at 255: non-piercing damage from you will be minimal, and anything hitting you will be immensely painful. Clione, Final Impact, and Fireworks are especially dangerous in this regard. Clione is multi-hit, although Protect-blocked. Final Impact is unblockable and guarantees at least one death and the remaining girls on average will have lost 3/8 of their HP and MP. At non-full HP, you could see two deaths immediately from that one attack. Fireworks is also a problem, as it pierces Defense, providing the highest amount of damage possible in the game short of instant death: it is considered a 255-Strength attack with targets of 0 Defense. Its basal power level is only 24 (whereas Attack is 16), so it’s not exceptionally powerful, but it will definitely bring you to your knees if your HP is not very high.

So, how to do this? Opening with Mighty Guard will be a great, great idea. Recommended job classes include a Gun Mage for said Mighty Guard, who will later become an Alchemist or Dark Knight at your discretion. The other two are a certain Dark Knight and a certain Alchemist. The Alchemist has the valuable Mix skill Miracle Drink - comboes being listed in the nearby link - that you can use as much as you need to nullify damage. I’ve no knowledge of how long it lasts, but I remember hearing someone go half an hour with it before, so … yeah. Keeping in mind that it nullifies all damage, you’ll love that.

Your offense needs to be … well, anything that pierces Defense works well, really: since Shinra has 255 Defense and 255 Magic Defense, it makes no difference which way you go. That said, considering the stats of the Dresspheres themselves, I feel Dark Knight to be the best: even though Darkness will penalize your HP (without Ragnarok, which you should equip for that exact reason), it is strong, based on a high Strength stat, and ignores Defense. So, yeah, it’s a good idea.

From there, it’s not too difficult: just loop Darkness and Miracle Drinks as needed.